If you’re planning you’re first trip to Walt Disney World, there are a lot of things you should know. Seriously, a lot. In fact, I spent more time preparing for my family’s first trip there than I did planning my wedding (albeit, the wedding was a small affair, but still…). Our trip in 2012 was the first real vacation my family of four would ever take together, and I wanted to make the absolute best of it, so I spent months reading, researching, and interviewing others who had been before me to learn all the tricks for doing Disney on a budget. All of this work paid off because we had an absolutely amazing time…which is why we went back in 2013, 2014, and already in 2016.
When I first began dreaming of Disney, I was convinced that a trip to Orlando was out of my family’s vacation budget. When I considered all of the costs – roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations, park tickets, and food — I thought that there was no way we would be able to pull it off. However, once I sat down and actually did the research, I saw that it’s possible to have the kind of Walt Disney World vacation we wanted to have for the same price a week’s vacation almost anywhere else we would have considered going. And while I don’t have the space here to tell you all the money saving trips I’ve learned after planning a total of four successful Disney World vacations for my family, I’ll share with you my top five ways to have a great time on a budget at the House of Mouse.
5. Tailor your vacation around what is most important to YOUR family
I am convinced that Walt Disney World has something for everyone, though not everything it offers is for everybody. Depending on the ages and personalities of each member of your party, there will be different levels of interests for each attraction. I am a self-proclaimed mamarazzi, and for me there is NOTHING better at WDW than snapping pictures of my children meeting characters. (Prince Eric gave my littlest daughter her first kiss – on the forehead, of course — and I seriously almost overdosed on the cuteness). My kids, on the other hand, would be happy to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for five days straight. Then, there’s my husband who can’t stand waiting in lines and gets motion sickness so badly he’s unable to use a swing at a playground, so he prefers the spectator attractions. With all of this in mind, I try to narrow down the absolute “must-dos” for our trip so that everyone gets to do their favorite things.
EXAMPLE: My family prefers to spend a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom (the biggest of the four parks at WDW). Since Animal Kingdom doesn’t appeal much to us (the animals are cool, but we can see them at our local zoo for much cheaper), we usually forego that park in exchange for more time at MK.
4. Weigh the best options for your food budget
Three of the four trips we have taken to WDW, we were fortunate enough to have been offered a free Dining Plan. This deal comes along every once in a while for guests who are staying at a WDW resort, and if you can get it, it’s a great way to experience a lot of different restaurants with no risk to your pocket book. On our most recent trip, we paid for the Dining Plan, and we regretted it because when we calculated the costs for what we actually ate vs. the cost of the plan, we would have been better off paying for our food ala carte. That said, every family is different when it comes to eating, especially eating on vacation. Of all the variables in planning a trip to WDW, dining is the one where I believe there is the most flexibility in terms of budget, so do yourself a favor and spend the time reading reviews of restaurants on the property. Oh, and make advance reservations to eat at Be Our Guest restaurant in the Magic Kingdom at least once. It’s magical!
SIDE NOTE: If someone in your party has food allergies (like my daughter), you can indicate this when planning your trip and when ordering your food, and for most allergens, their restaurants are already a step ahead of pretty much every other eatery in the world. A chef even made my five year old special “rice” cream when she was unable to find a treat on the menu.
3. Watch a lot of YouTube videos
My children are the type who like to know what to expect when it comes to everything. When we’re considering a new attraction for them, we’ve learned to Youtube it first. For almost every ride, show, and experience at WDW, there is someone who has videoed it from a first-person POV (usually in high-def, accounting for low-light… these people are serious). Watching these clips with my kids has saved us a lot of tears at WDW. For instance, after watching the YouTube video of “The Great Movie Ride” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it was clear that there were sections of it that were going to be too intense for my children. The same proved to be true for “Fantasmic,” “Dinosaur,” “The Haunted Mansion” and a few other attractions. So, we knew to skip all of those things, and we made great memories doing other things instead.
Now, for those of you who appreciate the element of surprise, perhaps this isn’t something you need to do. However, since time is money spent at WDW, I would rather know what I need to skip beforehand so that I don’t have to spend hours consoling my kids on vacation when they are unnecessarily frightened by a dragon they didn’t expect.
2. Consider staying at a Walt Disney World value resort
When we go to Disney, we are on-the-go at Disney. We don’t plan on WDW being a slow, relaxing vacation. We go there to see and do as much as we possibly can each day (averaging 10-12 hours in the parks each day… and yes, we might be a little crazy). So for us, it doesn’t really matter what our hotel is like since we won’t be in it much unless we are sleeping. If this sounds like your family too, then you should consider booking a value resort. Of all the hotels on WDW property, there are four that are considered the greatest bargain per night, and those are the three All-Star Resorts (All-Star Music, All-Star Sports and All-Star Movies) and Pop Century. All four of our stays have been at one of these resorts, and we’ve had a great time at each of them. Each comes with a large indoor dining area, three swimming pools, and transportation service to anywhere on WDW property as well as many other amenities. You can check out a walk-through of each resort on YouTube.
1. Plan to visit Disney World at off-peak times of the year
Disney World is the least expensive during the times of year that they are the least attended. There are many crowd calendars on the Internet that fairly accurately predict how busy the parks are going to be at any given time. If you want to get the most out of your WDW trip, I would strongly suggest going at a time of year where most people don’t. All four of our trips have been in the month of January, which is historically the lowest attended month of the year. As a result, we get great deals on lodging and food, and the lines are almost all 20 minutes or less. Temperatures are a bit cooler, which has its pros and cons (we have photos of us standing in front of Cinderella’s Castle wearing our winter coats in 40 degree weather), but the benefits of low-attendance make up for having to layer our clothing.
If you have school-aged children and are reluctant to pull them out of classes (or, you’re a teacher and can’t take time off during the school year), then depending on your school calendar, the first few weeks of May and the last few weeks of August are great times to vacation at WDW without having to wait in line for hours.
For most Disney World enthusiasts like myself, the only thing better than planning a trip for our families is helping someone else plan a trip for theirs. So, if these tips have got you thinking about vacation, tap into your friends who’ve already been there. I doubt you’re going to find anyone unwilling to share their vacation photos and stories with you.
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About the Author:
Lisabeth Posthuma is an indie novelist and blogger who resides in Southeast Michigan. She enjoys reading, photography, and obscure pop culture references. Visit her site at www.lisabethposthuma.com.
marie says
couponingtodisney.com is also a great website to check out if you are planning a trip to Disneyworld
DAVID KIRBY says
Thank you so much, Lisabeth. We love Disney and we are actually planning to go soon!