Our Budget Tips

[BusterBluth]

I see a lot of folks posting about struggling with the rising costs of WDW. It's a fact that Disney's prices have gone up faster than inflation and faster than wages for most folks in the US. We've been hitting WDW since the mid 90s, so we've seen first hand how crazy high the prices have shot through the roof. As an example, way back in 2011, we splurged on the Dessert Buffet in MK for the fireworks show; the cost was an astounding $32 per person! Well, that's a bargain now. It's well north of $100 a head, for the same experience.

I see quite a few folks posting about ways to get a handle on their vacation expenses. Here's some things we do and have done, as far as cost. Perhaps new visitors to WDW will find this useful although I'm sure many of these suggestions have been made in the past ad nauseum:

1) Stay Offsite. Don't make the mistake of thinking that a Disney vacation only counts if you're staying in a Disney hotel. You'll find bigger, cheaper accommodations in nearby Kissimmee. The roads into WDW are so good, that if you're driving in early (see below), you can often get to the parks before many Disney hotel guests, still waiting in line on their buses. We're owners at Orange Lake; I'd much rather stay in a 3 bedroom / 3 bath resort condo rather than an overpriced tiny suite on property. And, we're maybe 15 minutes away from any of the 4 parks, at most. Just an idea: look into renting a nearby house. I'm not knocking folks that choose to stay in a Disney hotel. We've done it too and have greatly enjoyed it. But, to be honest, I enjoy off-site a lot more. Orange Lake's River Island pool complex blows any Disney pool out of the water (pun intended!).

When our kids were very small, one week we stayed in a tiny, cheap motel just a mile from WDW. The motel was definitely nothing special. We had a world-class vacation anyway. You want to enjoy the Disney resorts? Definitely go visit them for lunch, to take a break from the parks, or for a nice dinner, or just to marvel at the lobbies and grounds. But, you can save a fortune by not paying to sleep there.

2) Eat Breakfast in Your Room. And maybe, eat dinner in your room too. Meals and accommodations are going to be your biggest controllable expenses with a trip like this. If you're eating groceries you've purchased, that's not an extra expense. You'd be eating your own groceries if you were at home. If you eat a high-protein, healthy breakfast in your room, you're going to have more energy for the parks versus if you had gorged on a sweet-roll or pastry after getting onto Main Street USA. Having a place with a kitchen definitely helps here, but in the past, we've made ample uses of coolers and microwaves. For the 2001 trip I mentioned above, we ate breakfast cereal in the mornings, enjoyed a nice lunch in the parks and then ate sandwiches for dinner in our room.

3) Arrive Early. This is not the vacation to be sleeping late. You're paying a fortune for those park tickets. Make them count by getting past the gates before the masses arrive and start clogging up the queues. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the parks open. Plus, if you're staying off-site (see above), you'll want to avoid ugly traffic later in the day on I-4 and Hwy 192. Maximize your park time.

4) Don't Buy From Disney: There's a number of reputable 3rd party ticket vendors; I think we saved about 10% from our last tickets. Bring your own sunscreen, notepads for autographs, hats, ponchos, etc., from your hometown. Bring your own snacks into the parks. Bring your own re-fillable water bottle. Hwy 192 has a variety of shops for souvenirs, if that kind of shopping is your thing. Personally, the only souvenir I cared for were the edible types.

5) Drive instead of Flying: This one's easy for me, cause I HATE flying. If you're in driving range, consider a drive as opposed to hopping on a plane. I know this is not an option for a huge number of folks. But if you're around 10 hours away or less, a drive will be more economical (time and money) for you. One big caveat on this is safety: a flight is 500X safer than driving. This varies a great deal by person, but to me, anything beyond 10 hours, you're probably better eating the extra expense and flying, so that you're not cannibalizing precious vacation time by just driving. For us, we're about 9 hours away; flying would save us around 4 hours of time. With the elimination of Magical Express, that gave us yet another reason to not only not stay on-site but not to fly.

6) Go Off-Season: When we started visiting, off-season was Sept through May. Nowadays, it's really hard to tell. In 2018, I was floored by how low the crowds were on July 3rd. My guess is that summers are so hot in Florida now, most folks are looking to come during the fall & winter holidays. One thing I do recommend is getting a subscription to a solid crowd calendar website, to better plan ahead.

7) Just Say No: You don't need extra party tickets, VIP tours, ride photos, family castle shots by a Disney photographer, signature dining, etc. Your park tickets alone give you more than a week's worth of enjoyment. We've been visiting for 25 years and have yet to see it all. So, keep the Disney vacuum cleaner out of your wallet. Take your time and enjoy the landscaping, the architecture, the music, the monorail, the street performances and the characters. Except for Captain Hook. I just don't trust that guy.

8) Enjoy Fast Food: Disney Quick Service is leaps and bounds beyond what it used to be, and with mobile ordering, you will save time. QS meals are large and can often be split among 2 people. A QS meal isn't too far removed from what you'd pay in the real world, given that you're in the busiest theme parks on the planet. Plus, the variety available is stunning, even in Disney's least culinary adventurous park, Magic Kingdom. Do a little research and make a list of special snacks and treats and QS meals to try on your next trip. It'll be much cheaper than plopping down your entire party at a table service restaurant. During our last trip, I waited way too long to make any meal reservations, so we had to rely on QS a lot. And, it was great!

If you do these things, I think you'll find that a WDW vacation is about the same cost as or maybe even cheaper than a week at the beach or at a ski-resort. This past spring, we enjoyed a road trip into Springfield Illinois (definitely not a spring break destination). I was taken aback by how much we were spending on meals and on hotels. It was almost as expensive as our upcoming Disney trip is going to be. We can't make vacations cheap, but a Disney vacation doesn't have to be radically more expensive than any other kind of excursion.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Honestly, I agree with some of your logic but not all of it. We are more about planning our budget for what we want and can afford rather than forgoing parts of the trip we find essential. Not knocking your ideas, it just seems extreme not to treat yourselves occasionally.

We stay onsite (we are DVC) and even if we were not, we'd still stay onsite. Time is money. DH gets aggravated with traffic outside the bubble. We like to be in the bubble. We want to be in the bubble. In 1996 we decided it was essential.

We grab a bite before we go out in the morning and bring a bottled coffee with us unless we are having a breakfast at Topolino's or Boma. Occasionally, we will eat at our villa if we come back for a swim. Otherwise, snacking and eating out (QS is mostly ok) is part of the trip and we often do split a QS or snack. We rarely eat out when home so this is part of the vacation. We no longer do rope drop or commando trips and sometimes don't even do rides. Often, we go in late in the afternoon to enjoy a nice meal and the evening fireworks.

We are a 26 hour one way drive. We fly on SWA points for free. No comparison. I wish we lived closer so we could drive but love where we live.

May and September are excruciatingly hot. We go for F & W at Halloween which is still hot. There really are no "off season" seasons!

We often include one experience during our trip. It just depends on if we feel like it. We don't buy "stuff" we don't need at home, so we both buy a piece of clothing or a bag that we will wear for years to come. We have a Disney wardrobe, sunglasses etc which were purchases but are now part of our trips.

It is a treat to go to Boma, Topolino's and Steakhouse71 at least once a trip, especially when our son and DIL are with us. They live 3500 miles away so meeting at WDW is special. If they lived close, we'd go out to eat at least once a month. Still spending a fraction of what we would if they lived nearby.

Many good ideas in your notes, but some things are worth paying for. Some things just go with the territory. Disney is expensive and we are now going likely every 18 months or so rather than twice a year. We went twice in 2022 (5 weeks) and skipped 2023.

As long as you enjoy your trips, no reason to change anything. Newbies often overspend, but they should pick and choose savings that works for them and does not take away from their big trip.

 

[BusterBluth]

Right, I wasn't aiming my post at veteran visitors like yourself, but rather it's meant for someone planning a family trip for the first time or maybe for a return visit. And, I don't mean to imply not to indulge; just to be careful about those extra expenses cause they add up real fast.

And, yes, flying definitely makes sense in your case! I would fly that distance, as well.

 

[BusterBluth]

We're also arriving in 2 weeks and I'm dreading that heat!

 

[kathy884]

Good tips.

We do 1, 2, 3, and 7, but I'm not sure I would even call the week long trips we do to Orlando a WDW or theme park vacation, but they are inexpensive for sure except for the two theme park days we usually do. The deals for offsite timeshare condos are incredible (quality for the cost) and better than anywhere else I have ever traveled. Orlando is and has always been overbuilt meaning there are offsite deals to be had.

We when we have gone for a week we really have gone more for a lovely inexpensive place to do a family reunion (great offsite timeshare deals) and usually only in the six days we are there do two park days (one to the Magic Kingdom (with some mix up to hit other Disney parks on occasion) and one park day at SeaWorld). We usually do a Disney resort / monorail day too and then do lots of hang out time with family at our nice condo -- pool, tennis, shuffle board, mini golf / par three if offered at resort, a day trip to a beach if weather is nice, cards, movies at the condo. And we do a lot of cooking in or maybe I should say cooking out because of grilling (saves tons of money with a large group).

Bringing our own food into the WDW park many of our party just eat the sandwiches, fruit, and snacks we bring in and don't even do #8 (quick service). With a group of 10, we usually bring in 15 sandwiches, fruit, cheese / cracker snacks, and juice boxes. We keep these in a soft sided cooler that grandpa keeps with his scooter. We also bring a cooler backpack.

For #3, I am totally bummed that onsite get to start a 1/2 hour earlier than offsite. It makes sense onsite should get an advantage given how much they are paying, but it's tough for me to take after decades of being able to be offsite and being some of the first people in the park. Previously all we had to do was avoid morning extra magic hours. It means I don't like doing the Magic Kingdom as much as I used to. Having been so many times though I am OK skipping popular rides that have crazy lines. We do though now buy the lightening lanes so kiddos can do some of their favorites with shorter lines. Rope drop before used to mean we almost always felt we were ahead of the crowds - no more now. We are the first offsite visitors to enter, but can't enter for a full 1/2 hour after offsite enters.

Since we live far away and have freebie air point to use, we almost always fly. Rental car costs can be pretty hefty though. We usually only have to get one car, as one of our relatives lives in Orlando and we have his car to use. Since we are spending more time outside doing sports like tennis, etc. we like to go in the winter or spring when the weather is nice. I'd personally rather stay home than go during the hot / humid season. That's just me though. Water based activities are OK then, but theme parks for me, no thank you. Since we are only buying a one day ticket for WDW, #4 isn't really necessary as Disney doesn't discount one day tickets. Interestingly enough too, many in our party skip our WDW day and do a resort day instead. The whole gang though always goes to SeaWorld (This is our family and extended families favorite park). For years Seaworld offered a deal to do a second day for free and we used to do two days at SeaWorld then. Now that that deal is not offered anymore, we just do one.

I'm not recommending these tips to other people though. It's important to note that for us, we are getting together with extended family at a fun inexpensive place that has great amenities that are high quality, not doing that WDW vacation. We throw in a theme park or two that we all love, but that is not the primary purpose of our trip. We've done this annually for decades though. For so many people though, they are going to want to be doing a lot more of the theme parks as that is the purpose of their trip.

 

[barkley]

we also live too far away to drive so one way we've saved is by comparing return flight times and frequently finding that late afternoon/early evening flights to be more cost effective. to save more we opt NOT to kill time at the parks or on property but rather to book a day rate at the airport hyatt for the day of departure. we grab some food on the way to the airport, drop off the rental car (and we've saved often by being able to eliminate an extra day of rental with an earlier return), check in and RELAX. our kids have used the pool in the past while i've just enjoyed relaxing with the knowledge that we are just a short walk to the tsa point. i was curious to see what the rates run these days so i just checked-a room with access to all the amenities from 10 am-6 pm runs around $119 which is far less than we would spend killing time, another day of parking fees...on property.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

I see a lot of folks posting about struggling with the rising costs of WDW. It's a fact that Disney's prices have gone up faster than inflation and faster than wages for most folks in the US. We've been hitting WDW since the mid 90s, so we've seen first hand how crazy high the prices have shot through the roof. As an example, way back in 2011, we splurged on the Dessert Buffet in MK for the fireworks show; the cost was an astounding $32 per person! Well, that's a bargain now. It's well north of $100 a head, for the same experience.

I see quite a few folks posting about ways to get a handle on their vacation expenses. Here's some things we do and have done, as far as cost. Perhaps new visitors to WDW will find this useful although I'm sure many of these suggestions have been made in the past ad nauseum:

1) Stay Offsite. Don't make the mistake of thinking that a Disney vacation only counts if you're staying in a Disney hotel. You'll find bigger, cheaper accommodations in nearby Kissimmee. The roads into WDW are so good, that if you're driving in early (see below), you can often get to the parks before many Disney hotel guests, still waiting in line on their buses. We're owners at Orange Lake; I'd much rather stay in a 3 bedroom / 3 bath resort condo rather than an overpriced tiny suite on property. And, we're maybe 15 minutes away from any of the 4 parks, at most. Just an idea: look into renting a nearby house. I'm not knocking folks that choose to stay in a Disney hotel. We've done it too and have greatly enjoyed it. But, to be honest, I enjoy off-site a lot more. Orange Lake's River Island pool complex blows any Disney pool out of the water (pun intended!).

When our kids were very small, one week we stayed in a tiny, cheap motel just a mile from WDW. The motel was definitely nothing special. We had a world-class vacation anyway. You want to enjoy the Disney resorts? Definitely go visit them for lunch, to take a break from the parks, or for a nice dinner, or just to marvel at the lobbies and grounds. But, you can save a fortune by not paying to sleep there.

2) Eat Breakfast in Your Room. And maybe, eat dinner in your room too. Meals and accommodations are going to be your biggest controllable expenses with a trip like this. If you're eating groceries you've purchased, that's not an extra expense. You'd be eating your own groceries if you were at home. If you eat a high-protein, healthy breakfast in your room, you're going to have more energy for the parks versus if you had gorged on a sweet-roll or pastry after getting onto Main Street USA. Having a place with a kitchen definitely helps here, but in the past, we've made ample uses of coolers and microwaves. For the 2001 trip I mentioned above, we ate breakfast cereal in the mornings, enjoyed a nice lunch in the parks and then ate sandwiches for dinner in our room.

3) Arrive Early. This is not the vacation to be sleeping late. You're paying a fortune for those park tickets. Make them count by getting past the gates before the masses arrive and start clogging up the queues. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the parks open. Plus, if you're staying off-site (see above), you'll want to avoid ugly traffic later in the day on I-4 and Hwy 192. Maximize your park time.

4) Don't Buy From Disney: There's a number of reputable 3rd party ticket vendors; I think we saved about 10% from our last tickets. Bring your own sunscreen, notepads for autographs, hats, ponchos, etc., from your hometown. Bring your own snacks into the parks. Bring your own re-fillable water bottle. Hwy 192 has a variety of shops for souvenirs, if that kind of shopping is your thing. Personally, the only souvenir I cared for were the edible types.

5) Drive instead of Flying: This one's easy for me, cause I HATE flying. If you're in driving range, consider a drive as opposed to hopping on a plane. I know this is not an option for a huge number of folks. But if you're around 10 hours away or less, a drive will be more economical (time and money) for you. One big caveat on this is safety: a flight is 500X safer than driving. This varies a great deal by person, but to me, anything beyond 10 hours, you're probably better eating the extra expense and flying, so that you're not cannibalizing precious vacation time by just driving. For us, we're about 9 hours away; flying would save us around 4 hours of time. With the elimination of Magical Express, that gave us yet another reason to not only not stay on-site but not to fly.

6) Go Off-Season: When we started visiting, off-season was Sept through May. Nowadays, it's really hard to tell. In 2018, I was floored by how low the crowds were on July 3rd. My guess is that summers are so hot in Florida now, most folks are looking to come during the fall & winter holidays. One thing I do recommend is getting a subscription to a solid crowd calendar website, to better plan ahead.

7) Just Say No: You don't need extra party tickets, VIP tours, ride photos, family castle shots by a Disney photographer, signature dining, etc. Your park tickets alone give you more than a week's worth of enjoyment. We've been visiting for 25 years and have yet to see it all. So, keep the Disney vacuum cleaner out of your wallet. Take your time and enjoy the landscaping, the architecture, the music, the monorail, the street performances and the characters. Except for Captain Hook. I just don't trust that guy.

8) Enjoy Fast Food: Disney Quick Service is leaps and bounds beyond what it used to be, and with mobile ordering, you will save time. QS meals are large and can often be split among 2 people. A QS meal isn't too far removed from what you'd pay in the real world, given that you're in the busiest theme parks on the planet. Plus, the variety available is stunning, even in Disney's least culinary adventurous park, Magic Kingdom. Do a little research and make a list of special snacks and treats and QS meals to try on your next trip. It'll be much cheaper than plopping down your entire party at a table service restaurant. During our last trip, I waited way too long to make any meal reservations, so we had to rely on QS a lot. And, it was great!

If you do these things, I think you'll find that a WDW vacation is about the same cost as or maybe even cheaper than a week at the beach or at a ski-resort. This past spring, we enjoyed a road trip into Springfield Illinois (definitely not a spring break destination). I was taken aback by how much we were spending on meals and on hotels. It was almost as expensive as our upcoming Disney trip is going to be. We can't make vacations cheap, but a Disney vacation doesn't have to be radically more expensive than any other kind of excursion.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, but if (#3) you are paying a lot for tickets, why not stay on property (#1) to take advantange of early morning hours and, in some cases, extended evening hours? I'm not really going to WDW to hang out in the hotel room, so as long as it's big enough for everyone to sleep, that's good enough for us. I know some people like to hang out at the resort, but to me, there are less expensive places to do this instead of WDW.

 

[BusterBluth]

yeah, the early morning entry is a big selling point, for sure. But for someone who's on a budget, the cost difference between on and off property is massive. And if you're going during off-season, missing that early morning entry isn't as big of a deal.

 

[kathy884]

yeah, the early morning entry is a big selling point, for sure. But for someone who's on a budget, the cost difference between on and off property is massive. And if you're going during off-season, missing that early morning entry isn't as big of a deal.

When I've done the math (and I've done this a few times), I find that for similar quality / amenities that an offsite condo rental is 1/3rd the cost of renting DVC points. Basically for the kind of lodging I prefer, I'd pay triple to stay onsite.

Despite having done around 30 trips as an adult, I've only stayed onsite three times and for each of those it was a business conference at the Contemporary that DH was attending with his company footing the bill for the room.

I'd love to have the early entry, but when it's on my dime I'm just never willing to pay the extra monies for the onsite experience. I do have a bit of a bean counter personality and the offsite timeshare condos we stay at are just so nice.

When we did Disneyland Paris we stayed onsite at the Sequoia Lodge, but I got a killer rate off season and got my tickets on the UK website when the dollar was quite strong against the pound. It still would have been less expensive to stay offsite, but the cost differential wasn't as great. There also, onsite got in an hour earlier than offsite, usually letting us get a good three or four popular rides in before the general public entered the park.

 

[BusterBluth]

Yeah, the offsite resorts are amazing but my kids don't fully appreciate them. When we stay at Orange Lake, I'm always pointing out to my daughter that not only are you getting your own bedroom, you're also getting your own bathroom! As a kid, I could not have imagined that kind of luxury. Back in the 1980s, it was 5 of us squeezed into a single dinky motel room off Hwy 192 for 3 nights.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I see you were focusing on newbies. It is often a shock when people add up the necessities of a Disney vacation, or their view of necessities. When we first bought DVC in 1996, we got a 3 BR Grand Villa and treated family a few times. Even though we provided rooms and I cooked several big meals, one family in particular was not prepared financially, even though they had been several times before. We found out during the trip they were maxed out on credit cards and bought a 60K SUV right before the trip which made it quite uncomfortable for us as hosts. They complained about not having any money... That was the last time we invited anyone other than our son and DIL (they have brought friends but they get their own villa). We sometimes hear "do you still own that Disney thing" but ignore it?

People are shocked when they hear it is at least 10K for a week for four people (transportation included) and that is a REALLY tight budget. 15K-20K a week adding in ADR's and an upgraded villa...is really easy to reach.

Personally, I think a family that has a "planner" can figure out a good budget, however trips with multiple families can be a disaster. I have helped dozens of friends plan family and multi family trips and everyone came back happy because they were prepared. I'd say the best thing a newbie can do is either find a friend who enjoys Disney planning or going through a travel agent who specializes in Disney so the financial pain is exposed early on!

 

[Willow Ufgood]

1) I don't think it's a mistake to think that it's not a Disney vacation if you don't stay onsite. There are many lovely offsite locations but they aren't a Disney location. To me it's the difference between an Orlando vacation and a Disney vacation. Surely, if I wanted to save some money I could split the difference and spend part of my stay in an offsite hotel/AirBnB/rental home and part in a Disney resort.
2) Part of vacationing is eating out as far as we are concerned. Cereal and protein bars get pretty mundane after a few days and then we want a jot breakfast where everyone gets to choose what they want from a menu. It's about finding balance. I cook and wash up at home. I don't want to do it every day of vacation too.
3) Arriving early might work for some mornings but we don't want to do it every morning. Getting up early and hitting the parks means that we will likely want to take a break very early in.the afternoon. Then it's a struggle to get everyone out of the pool and back into the parks for evening shows and fireworks. We would much rather take our time in the morning, have am early dinner in the park or nearby resort and the power through until park closing.
4) Sometimes buying from Disney is a better move. If you follow the gift card thread you'll see people who are getting 10%, 15% even 20% off the face value of Disney gift cards. Apply those cards to ticket purchases and Disney comes out ahead. We don't buy essentials from Disney but sometimes things get forgotten, broken or it's just too expensive to bring additional luggage. We use Instacart or other shopping services to get diapers, wipes, and other bulky items delivered.
5) Driving is out of the question even though I hate airports. It's a 17-20 hour drive. We use rewards points you book flights. We each get one free checked bag on American because I have their branded credit card. We get 2 free checked bags if we fly Southwest.
6) Off season is great if you can manage it although there are very few off seasons at Disney anymore. It can be tough to work around school and extra curricular activities. My brother played football and it's practically a year-round sport with speed and weight training during the winter and spring, mini camps after school lets out and 2 weeks of preseason overnight camp. The summer months from May to late September are prime hurricane season. We even had to postpone a trip because a hurricane went thru in early November. It's also hotter than the surface of the sun. And that makes long days on the parks unbearable.
7) I agree that first time visitors don't need all the pluses. But for veteran park visitors the occasional extra is nice. And isn't that what a vacation should be about?
8) We aren’t big fans of fast food. It's a huge departure from our regular diets and we end up feeling bloated if we don't stick to healthier options. The park QS is just okay once in a while but there's no way that we could eat it every day for a week. We need leafy greens, steamed veggies and lean proteins. It's difficult to find those at QS locations. UberEats or Grubhub are great for getting prepared meals from offsite restaurants. We just use reward points from a credit card to load up on Uber and Instacart gift cards when there's a "sale" requiring a reduced number of points.

One thing that I suggest is that if you like a cocktail, wine or beer during your stay it's much more affordable to bring your own alcohol than it is to buy drinks in the bar. Instacart will deliver alcohol if you are present to accept it (can't have bell services take it). We like to enjoy a glass of wine in the evening when we're sitting on our balcony and watching the boat traffic on the lake.

 

[BusterBluth]

1) I don't think it's a mistake to think that it's not a Disney vacation if you don't stay onsite ...

Yeah I get what you're saying. My point is simply that a great Disney vacation can be had by a newbie without going all in on the bells & whistles. It frustrates me to no end, when there's something in the media about how unaffordable Disney is, and they're adding in things that aren't strictly necessary. There really should be more nuance in the news, when they report on how expensive a WDW vacation is.

If you can swing an on-site resort, have at it. We've done it in the past and it's great. But we've also vacationed in WDW just doing the bare minimum; it was also great. I suppose I should caveat what I said earlier about that minimalist trip. If memory serves, we were doing 2 meals out of a cooler in the motel room and a table-service meal or quick-service meal most days in the parks. That was way back when we were young. We're older now (*sigh*) and enjoy lots of Disney snacks, table service restaurants, and we're also doing the Halloween party in a couple of weeks.

I'm not trying to be a hypocrite. I'm just pointing out that none of that stuff is necessary to have an amazing vacation. Cause WDW is amazing. Both of my kids are addicted to the parks, and in-between trips, I often find myself day dreaming about the Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, zebra domes, and Mickey waffles.

The gift card phenomenon is interesting; I saw a couple of posts about that yesterday and it's something definitely worth investigating!

 

[BusterBluth]

We found out during the trip they were maxed out on credit cards and bought a 60K SUV right before the trip which made it quite uncomfortable for us as hosts. They complained about not having any money... That was the last time we invited anyone other than our son and DIL ...

People are shocked when they hear it is at least 10K for a week for four people (transportation included) and that is a REALLY tight budget. 15K-20K a week adding in ADR's and an upgraded villa...is really easy to reach.

OMG, if they were maxed out on credit cards, WDW is the last place on earth they should be visiting. Holy cow. What on earth were they thinking???

Just thinking back, we did a 10-day stay back in 2018 I think, at the Art of Animation in a Lion King suite. 10K sounds about right; I think that's what we spent in total. We didn't do the dining plan, but we had APs and Tables in Wonderland. It was a really nice trip, but the food court in the resort needs more than half a dozen songs. At the time, I had a work laptop and tried to get some reporting out for my contract job. I was always up very early just out of habit, way before anyone else in our room, so I would schlep my PC out to the cafeteria for about an hour. I could probably still recite those 6 songs from memory.

 

[BusterBluth]

oh, i just remembered something amusing about the cheap-o motel from our long-ago trip. This was way before smart phones with GPS; back then, I was printing maps with directions from Yahoo. Remember those days?

So, I called the motel for more specific directions even though it was barely a mile from WDW. "Are there any nearby landmarks to your place?"

"Yeah, there sure is. Disney World!"

 

[_19disnA]

One choice I haven't seen listed yet is ................'go to Disney less often'. Disney has always tended to be an expensive vacation. Now the ever increasing prices, larger crowds and the excessive amounts of planning needed, we just don't find the VALUE to be there compared to the past. Disney rides/shows don't change that often so even in the past we found that every 3-5 yrs seemed about right for us to visit. We have MANY others places we like to vacation that don't cost nearly as much as Disney, aren't as crowded and don't require weeks of advance planning to try to optimize how we spend out time. We have NEVER been the type to get up early when on vacation because after all it is a VACATION. We like to relax, do things spontaneously and be flexible with our schedule. Part of our reason to go on vacation is NOT have rigid daily schedules like you would during the typical work week.

If you live a long distance from Disney, driving vs flying can include other additional costs. You might need to pay for a hotel and the associated meals if driving in one day isn't practical.

Disney isn't the only place we like to vacation and lately see less reason to plan another trip there and this is just fine with our family.

 

[BusterBluth]

All true, but again, my post is aimed at the newer, less experienced visitor, perhaps even a first timer. I'm sure repeat visitors are already aware of all this stuff.

 

[MrsPete]

As an example, way back in 2011, we splurged on the Dessert Buffet in MK for the fireworks show; the cost was an astounding $32 per person!

I've got this Dessert Buffet figured out. I bring in two, maybe even three boxes of Little Debbies -- voila! Dessert Buffet.

1) Stay Offsite. Don't make the mistake of thinking that a Disney vacation only counts if you're staying in a Disney hotel. You'll find bigger, cheaper accommodations in nearby Kissimmee. The roads into WDW are so good, that if you're driving in early (see below), you can often get to the parks before many Disney hotel guests, still waiting in line on their buses.

I've done onsite, and I've done off-site. They're both great, but they're kinda different vacations -- the question is, Which Disney experience do you want?
- Onsite you're immersed in the Disney Magic (which is both good and bad) 24/7. With the included transportation, it's easy to allow your party to split up. If you have small children, it's easier to go back to the room for a mid-day rest. And the early /late park access is wonderful. You get more from your expensive tickets, but you pay in terms of space and comfort.
- On the other hand, off-site is more relaxing because you have more space. This is particularly nice on arrival day, a mid-week rest day, and leaving day -- because you can cook a nice meal and hang around your condo. I disagree about being able to beat the Disney guests on their busses, especially when we're talking about Magic Kingdom.

Eat Breakfast in Your Room. And maybe, eat dinner in your room too.

Agree -- bringing food is one of the best /easiest ways to save money. Even if you're in a hotel room, you can manage Pop Tarts, cereal, and similar. Add sandwiches, pudding cups, cookies, etc. If we have a kitchen, I make up a plastic tub with really good sandwich fixings (chicken salad, the good sandwich meat, Chipolte Aoli sauce, bacon) so people can pull out the tub and make up a super sandwich.
We don't tend to want to eat much in the parks -- we're hot, and that knocks down our appetites. We tend to eat breakfast in the room /condo, buy a Quick-Service meal mid-day in the parks (and that's for sitting down, cooling off, hydrating just as much as actual food), then -- after returning to the room and showering -- we want a good snack in the evening. Something filling because our lack of eating earlier catches up to us. Ideally, if we have a kitchen, I make up good stuff from home (pizza dip ready to pop in the oven is a favorite, French fries with chili-cheese, even just pizza) and pop it in to the oven.

3) Arrive Early. This is not the vacation to be sleeping late. You're paying a fortune for those park tickets. Make them count by getting past the gates before the masses arrive and start clogging up the queues. Arrive at least 30 minutes before the parks open. Plus, if you're staying off-site (see above), you'll want to avoid ugly traffic later in the day on I-4 and Hwy 192. Maximize your park time.

So, so true.
To add to this idea, don't pay for tickets for your arrival day or your departure day. You can't possibly max out your park time. Instead, use those days for activities at the resorts: Dinner at the Polynesian, then watch Magic Kingdom fireworks from their beach. Take a fireworks cruise. Go to Beaches & Cream for the Kitchen Sink. Play Mini-Golf.

Bringing our own food into the WDW park many of our party just eat the sandwiches, fruit, and snacks we bring in and don't even do #8 (quick service). With a group of 10, we usually bring in 15 sandwiches, fruit, cheese / cracker snacks, and juice boxes. We keep these in a soft sided cooler that grandpa keeps with his scooter. We also bring a cooler backpack.

I can see bringing snacks, but I'm not going to haul whole lunches around. No way.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, but if (#3) you are paying a lot for tickets, why not stay on property (#1) to take advantange of early morning hours and, in some cases, extended evening hours? I'm not really going to WDW to hang out in the hotel room, so as long as it's big enough for everyone to sleep, that's good enough for us. I know some people like to hang out at the resort, but to me, there are less expensive places to do this instead of WDW.

The price difference is real. Just to add solid info to this thread, I picked a random week mid-September next year. Here's the real difference -- room only, no tickets:
A standard room at Pop Century (no frills here -- single bathroom) for two adults /two children is $1,467.
A 3-bedroom /2 bath condo through VRBO with a kitchen, washer/dryer -- same week /same number of people is $844 ... a savings of over $600. Yes, time is money, but for $600 you can pay for an extra day of tickets. That's a lot of extra time. If you're willing to go more than 10 minutes away from Main gate, you could get a less expensive condo.

2) Part of vacationing is eating out as far as we are concerned. Cereal and protein bars get pretty mundane after a few days and then we want a jot breakfast where everyone gets to choose what they want from a menu. It's about finding balance. I cook and wash up at home. I don't want to do it every day of vacation too.

I agree that meals out are part of vacation -- but we look for a balance between eating out and watching the budget.

OMG, if they were maxed out on credit cards, WDW is the last place on earth they should be visiting. Holy cow. What on earth were they thinking??

I suspect they weren't thinking.

 

[kristenrice]

Here's my additional contributions to all of the fabulous ideas that have already been tossed out there...

1) Consider one of the Disney Springs-area hotels. They are not technically on-property, but many of them still allow you to enjoy the early entry privilege. Many of them include things like free breakfasts, multi-room family suites and shuttle transportation to the parks.

2) Bring a quality, insulated water bottle and take advantage of the opportunities to refill it. I am a HUGE soda (or "pop", as we call it here in Michigan ) drinker and I find that I prefer water at WDW. I think it's because a bottle/glass of pop is about $5 at most locations.
2a) If you have a particular beverage you just cannot get enough of (for me, it's Diet Coke), then order a pack (or 4!) from a delivery service (Publix, AmazonFresh, etc). A 12-pk of cans is half the price of a refillable mug. The bonus is that I do not need to make the trek from my room to the refill station whenever I am thirsty.
2b) If plain water is not your thing, bring some "mix-ins"....Mio or any of the powdered packets are a great way to add flavor and sometimes even electrolytes and vitamins

3) Get a TargetRedCard (consider the debit card if you want to steer-clear of credit cards) and buy Disney Gift Cards ahead of time. You will save 5% off of the value of the card. A $100 card will cost you $95. It's not much, but think of all the things you can use a gift card for...EVERYTHING* on Disney Property! Food, lodging, tickets, Lightning Lane, souvenirs...taking 5% off of a $10,000 vacation will save you $500. (*Cannot be used at select vendor carts)

4) PLAN AHEAD! If you give yourself at least 12 months to save, you can do it in smaller, less painful increments and then by the time it is time to go, you've acquired a nice nest egg.
4a) Use sites like Rakuten, RetailMeNot, Ibotta, etc to earn rebates on your everyday purchases. Do not be deterred by the small amount. Yes, it's only 1-2%, but if you are spending $500 a month on these purchases anyways, that's another $60-$120 in your pocket at the end of the year.
4b) Adding on to 4a...take advantage of credit cards that offer cash back for those everyday purchases. Me, personally, I use my AppleCard with ApplePay as much as I can. I earn 2% on every purchase which can include "big-ticket" items like my car insurance and cell phone bill (*BONUS: I have T-Mobile which gives me 3%). I save about $160/yr with just those two items.
4c) Consider opening a "vacation savings account" at an online bank and make small, automatic deposits with each payday. Ally Bank (for example) has a 4.0% interest rate with no minimum balance or deposit requirement. If you deposit just $25/bi-weekly, you will have $650 + interest after one year.
4d) Use "receipt scanning" sites (Fetch Rewards, Receipt Hog, etc) and redeem the rewards for Uber/Lyft gift cards, or Amazon gift cards which can be used for AmazonFresh food delivery. Just by scanning your grocery receipts, you can earn enough points in a year for about $50 worth of Amazon or Uber/Lyft gift cards. Personally, I use Fetch and Receipt Hog and I scan my receipts into both of them. I've earned about $100 between the two of them in the past year.

5) Order kids meals at the QS locations. Now that there is mobile ordering (and even before), it is very easy for adults to order kids meals. They are "appropriate-sized" portions AND they include a drink! (This is one time that I will indulge in a pop). The kids meals are usually about 40% cheaper than the adult-size meals and they help curb the over-eating that inevitably occurs on vacation.

Those are the only hints I can come up with at the moment. I am a DVC Member so I haven't looked at lodging costs in quite a while.
I can say that we recently took a family trip to Disney's HHI resort and I spent under $3500 for a 7-night trip (we drove) for 4 adults. We had two nights in hotels on the road, with 2 rooms booked each night. We ate out a few times, cooked a lot in our room, went mini-golfing and took a chartered off-shore fishing trip. There was nothing that we wanted to do that we didn't do and THAT is how I like to vacation.

 

[redrosesix]

I am one of those that prefers staying in the Disney bubble but we've had longer trips and done half on, half off. At one point we owned a timeshare but it's actually cheaper to rent one. So we have a basic rule: stay in Disney for Disney days, and offsite for other places like Universal and even Disney Springs and the water parks.

A big yes on bringing food to the parks including sandwiches, unless you have a special meal like Sci Fi or Akershus planned. we mostly eat breakfast in the room because it's more relaxed and we're sometimes up too early for the food court. Meals in the room work too...we always have lasagne with salad and garlic bread at least once on any trip.

And for the new people...don't think you need a Mod or Deluxe resort when a Value Resort will do. we've been to every resort and most of them are just hotels for us because we travel to other places too. The All Stars and AoA are accommodations that you'll never see anywhere else. Even when we stay a whole day at the resort, they're enough and most kids prefer them because they're just fun.