Walt Disney World on a Budget Part 1

Going to Disney World can be expensive depending on how long your trip is and where you stay. I’m sure the majority of people planning a vacation want to try to save the most money possible, but that doesn't have to mean sacrificing comfort or luxury. In this blog I’m going to break down the costs associated with your trip and the ways to save money (that I've found). After reading this, please feel free to comment with any of your tips to save money. 

Before jumping into ways to save money, I want to note that the length of your trip will be a factor in your overall trip cost. If this is your first trip or if you don’t go to Disney World very often, I would recommend going for at least a week. There are 4 main theme parks at Disney World, so even if you only spent a day at each park, that’s already 4 days. Epcot and Magic Kingdom are our favorite theme parks, so we usually go to each at least twice. On top of the theme parks, you have Downtown Disney, water parks, and various other recreation activities. You also should consider that there are two other large parks within a short driving distance from Disney World: Universal Studios and Sea World.

On our trips, we usually go for between 11 – 14 days (which includes the travel days). I like a relaxing trip where I have the option of going back to the hotel for swimming or going miniature golf, without having to worry about squeezing everything into a short amount of time. When planning your trip, you should consider the following costs:

Tickets

Hotel

Airfare

Rental Car

Food

Note that the discounts and rates listed below are approximate and subject to change.

Tickets

When booking your hotel and tickets, you need to decide if you want to book them separately or in a package. Although I would recommend booking them separately, Disney does offer "Magic Your Way" packages, which combine hotel, tickets, dining, and other options, based on which package you select. One benefit of a package is that it’s more simple and convenient to book. Disney also occasionally offers package discounts, however I have found that the "room only" discounts are offered more frequently.

When buying tickets, Disney offers a base ticket (admission to 1 park each day) with a variety of add-ons. You can buy the base ticket for up to 10 days, with the price per day decreasing the more days you purchase. For example, an adult one day ticket is $101, while a ten day ticket is only $361.

In addition to the base ticket, you can purchase a number of ticket options. These options include:

Park Hopper – allows you to enter multiple parks each day

Water Park Fun and More – includes admission to the water parks and golf/mini golf courses.

No Expiration – Base tickets expire 14 days after initial use. This option means that any unused days on your ticket do not expire and can be used again on your next vacation.

When we've gone in the past, we usually just buy the base ticket with no options. The parks are so large and spread out that we only go to one park each day. If we get tired of that park, we tend to either go back to the hotel or go to Downtown Disney. Also, we usually go to a water park only once during the trip, which is cheaper to pay for separately than adding it on as option. However, the water park option is a good deal if you plan on going to the water parks multiple times on your trip.

Hotel

In the Ticket section above, I've briefly discussed the Disney vacation packages. While booking vacation packages might be more convenient; it is usually not any cheaper than booking your hotel separately (which I recommend). In this section I’m going to cover the best Disney hotel discounts that I've found. Note that in this section and the Ticket section above, I am referring to Disney owned resorts. However there are other non-Disney owned hotels, which you may want to consider. These hotels are often cheaper than Disney owned hotels and have their own discounts. I’ll provide more information on the different types of accommodation options in a future blog.

Before getting into the discounts, I just want to note that discounts are usually announced only a few months in advance (or less). If you wait until the discounts are announced, the most popular hotels may be unavailable. To circumvent this, we usually research what hotel we want to stay at and then book somewhat far in advance. Then when the discounts are announced, you may be able to apply the discount to your existing reservation!

• General Public Room-Only Discounts - Throughout the year, Disney will announce room-only discounts for the general public, typically ranging from 5% up to 30%, depending on your hotel. The more expensive (deluxe) hotels usually receive the higher discount. These discounts are often announced during the less busy times of year (Spring / Fall). Because they are "room-only" discounts, you will not be able to use this discount and combine it with a package. 
• Annual Pass - Please read this section even if you don’t currently have an annual pass! In addition to the general public room-only discount, Disney also offers hotel discounts to their Annual Pass holders at various times throughout the year. The discount amount is typically greater (up to 45%) than the general public discounts above. You might be saying this doesn't apply to you, but it could actually save you money to buy an annual pass if you can use it to get the discount. Here’s an example:

When we went on our honeymoon, we decided that we wanted to stay at the Yacht and Beach club; however the hotel is pretty expensive, with a standard rate of approximately $360/night. Note – this is one of the more expensive hotels at Disney World; you can definitely find less expensive hotels on property. In doing research, we found out there was an Annual Pass Discount being offered for that time. In our case, when we applied the discount, we ended up saving about $840, which included the cost of buying the annual pass. Here’s the breakou

• 10 night hotel without discount was approximately $3600 (plus taxes and fees). Additionally, two 10 day park tickets were approximately $720 ($360 each). So approximate total for hotel and tickets would be $4320.
• 10 night hotel with a 30% discount was approximately $2520 (plus taxes and fees). The price for one annual pass was about $600 and one 10 day park ticket was $360. So the approximate total for the hotel and tickets would be $3480.

• Disney Visa Card – If you plan on going to Disneyland or Disney World, I would highly recommend getting a Disney Visa card. In addition to getting Disney points for your purchases, Disney Visa also offers Discount rates for their card members. These rates are similar to the General Public and Annual Pass discount rates above. It’s just another great way to find discounts.
• Travel Sites (Travelocity) Discounts – When planning your trip to Disney World, even if there are discount rates being offered through Disney, I would still recommend searching for hotel specials on various travel sites (Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc...). On one of our trips, Disney was offering a 30% discount rate on their hotels; however we found an even better deal on Travelocity, which was offering upgraded room views for about 42% off the standard rate. This was a great find and we were able to stay in a Courtyard view room at the Wilderness Lodge, overlooking the lake. 

• Pin Codes – The last hotel discount I’m aware of is referred to as "Pin Codes". Randomly (or maybe not so randomly), Disney will mail select people a Pin Code associated with a certain percentage off your hotel. The codes are linked to you, so the only way to use them is for Disney to send them to you directly. Throughout the years, I've read numerous tips on getting these codes (which I've heard go up to 45% off). One way to get a code is to go on www.Disneyworld.com and request information on a Disney vacation. When you do this they send you a vacation brochure and DVD, but the trick is that it adds your name to their database and increases your chances of getting a code. After our honeymoon, I tried this out. I filled out the form online requesting more information and a few weeks later I got the vacation DVD. Then a few months after that I got a Pin Code in the mail good for 35% off hotels. Unfortunately it was only for a specific time period, so we didn't use it. However this is yet another way to get hotel discounts.

In part 2 of this post, I’ll discuss tips and ways to save money associated with airfare, rental cars, and food.