10 Ways to Save Money On Your Walt Disney World Vacation
Disney World is a premium vacation destination and it’s priced accordingly. And this isn’t unique to Disney. I hear the same things about Universal Orlando and Royal Caribbean Cruises which are also premium vacation brands. The demand is there, even from international travelers, so it’s unlikely Disney is going to drop prices any time soon.
This is all fine and good, but if you’re priced out, you’re priced out. I'm Darren from OrlandoParksGuy.com and I have 10 tips that will help reduce the cost of a Disney World vacation including tickets, hotels and dining.
#10 Disney World Tickets
I’ll begin with the one that we have very little control over - Disney World ticket prices. Tickets for the 4 theme parks are expensive, there’s no way to put a pretty face on it. But Disney isn’t Six Flags after all. And while you could purchase tickets from a wholesaler, they have confusing cancellation policies and you’ll need to pay for them upfront. Whereas if you book a Disney vacation package, the tickets are refundable up to 30 days before your check-in date and are covered under one $200 refundable deposit. I typically recommend buying them directly from Disney just for the convenience.
Disney uses a variable ticket pricing system, so every day of the calendar year has a different price. So, why not use this to your advantage? You will save money on tickets if you can visit Disney during January, August, and September. You could save as much as $100 per person and you’ll also have fewer people in the parks during this time.
For example, a 4-day ticket in August is $514 per person. But a 4-day ticket starting on February 16 is $685. A saving of $171 per ticket. A family of 4 would save $684. That’s a decent saving.
And if you’re wondering, some of the most expensive ticket prices are seen in March for Spring Break, November because of Jersey Week and Thanksgiving, and December because of all the Christmas events.
#9 Disney Gift Card Hack for Disney World
While Disney World often has room discounts available for most nights of the year, there is a travel hack that gets you an extra 4 to 5% off. Disney Gift Cards sold at Target, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale usually sell for less than the value of the card. For example, a $50 Disney Gift Card might sell for $48 and a $500 Disney Gift Card might sell for $584. I’ve seen e-gift cards sold online with more of a discount than in-store gift cards. So you may want to check both. If your vacation is $3,000, you’ll save another $187 just by paying with gift cards.
Another travel hack I have is to buy additional gift cards to take with me so I can purchase food while at Disney. Nearly every restaurant at Disney World accepts Disney Gift Cards.
See my article on Disney Gift Card Scams
If you’re not a member of BJ’s, check their website, they often have free membership trials available. And if you have the store’s credit or debit card, you may even get reward points for purchases. Disney World and most Disney Travel agents will accept gift cards for payment. But there is one downside.
If you need to cancel your Disney World reservation, Disney will only refund back to the original form of payment. They will not issue a refund check or place the refund on a different card. It’s important to hold on to your gift cards until travel is completed.
#8 Consider your length of stay
When I was a kid, my parents would take me to Disney for nearly a week. we’d stay at the Polynesian, sometimes at a Moderate Resort, and sometimes even off-property in Kissimmee. But today, Disney has outpaced inflation so a week at Disney World will cost considerably more than it did 5 to 10 years ago. If my parents had to pay today’s prices, adjusted for inflation, I’m not sure we’d be going as often as we did back in the day.
So, we may have to come to terms with the fact that 1 week in Disney might now be a long weekend or a 3 to 4-night stay.
Another thing I recommend is to take time off during your vacation. Plan a pool day, go resort hopping, take a ride on Skyliner or the Monodail, and visit Disney Springs. This means fewer ticket days - which is one of your biggest expenses. It’s fun to walk around and explore. And Disney Springs has plenty of complimentary live entertainment. Most packages include complimentary minigolf and 2025 packages include free water park admission on your arrival day.
This is a popular strategy that many European visitors use. They often come to Orlando for an extended vacation, or holiday as it were, but they’re not in the theme parks each day. This means less money on tickets, less money on expensive theme park food, and less money on merch. And you’re still on vacation - at Disney!
#7 Mid-Week vs. Weekends
One of the tips i see a lot online is to book your trip during the week. Disney World hotels follow the hotel industry where Friday and Saturday night stays cost more than weeknights. So, a great way to save a little money is to book your vacation Sunday through Thursday. Disney doesn’t charge a lot more on the weekends, so if that’s when it makes the most sense to go, I don’t think it should hold you back.
And if you’re flying into Orlando, you should also consider airfare costs, which might outweigh the higher cost of a Saturday night stay. I find that the cheapest days to fly are typically Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. So check airfares first. And it’s widely believed that the best time to purchase airfare is on Tuesady afternoon.
#6 Affordable Ground Transfer to Disney World
At one time Disney used to offer complimentary airport transportation on Disney’s Magical Express. It was free but it was slow - often taking over 90 minutes to get to your resort, as it made multiple stops along the way. And it would take 2-3 hours to bring you back to the airport.
As Uber became more popular in Orlando, more people began using that to travel direct. Often is less than 30 minutes from point A to point B. Likewise, the operator of Magical Express began negotiating for more money when its contract with Disney was up for renewal. Fewer riders + more money - equals why we don’t have this service today.
But you can still use an airport shuttle - you just need to book it directly with Mears Transportation. They were the ones who operated Magical Express by the way. The cost is around $18 per person, each way. I still think you should research the cost of using Uber, especially if you have a larger family. I find that Uber rides between Orlando International and Disney cost around $80 each way. A ride on Mears which will be the slow boat to China, will be in the area of $72 each way for a family of 4.
#5 Do you Need a Disney Dining Plan? Probably not.
Disney offers 2 dining plans and while I do think they are a good value, if you’re budget-minded, I think you should skip it. See, the Dining Plan is a great tool, but it’s not really about saving money. It’s a convenience - really - designed to give your vacation a more all-inclusive feel. I have an entire video that explains the Disney Plans in full. I’ll link to it in the description.
See my video on how the Disney Dining Plans Work
If you plan on a lot of character meals, or eating most of your meals in the parks, for example, the dining plan is the way to go. But you can save money without the plan if you prefer to do it yourself.
#4 Save on food and meals at Disney World
And speaking of doing it yourself, food, beverages, and snacks at Disney are expensive. This should be no surprise because you’re a captive audience here. But the good news is that Disney World is surrounded by grocery stores that deliver. Instacart is my favorite service because you can choose from a variety of stores in Orlando. And if you want to buy from Costco, you don’t even need to be a Costco member with Instacart.
One of my favorite examples to give is that a bottle of water at Disney World costs about $5. But if you use INstacart, you can purchase a case of 50 bottles of water from Costco, for $4. So 50 bottles of water for less than the price of one bottle of water in the Disney parks. Most hotel rooms have a mini fridge that will hold small items, and microwaves can be requested from housekeeping once you arrive, free of charge.
Disney allows you to bring your own beverages and snacks into the parks - that’s perfectly fine. Just remember that you cannot bring glass, alcohol or loose ice into the parks. The loose ice is because it creates a slip hazard if it spills on the ground.
I’ll link to an article I have on my website OrlandoParksGuy.com that provides tips for grocery delivery at Walt Disney World. Instacart, Amazon, Publix, and Walmart all have delivery fees and of course you’ll need to tip the driver, but you can still save money
See my article on Grocery Delivery Services at Walt Disney World
#3 Do you need Park Hopper?
Park Hopping is a ticket add-on that allows you to visit multiple Disney parks on the same day. Generally speaking, it’s a one-time cost of about $100 per person and it will be valid for each day you have a ticket. It’s not possible to purchase a park hopper for just some of your days.
Now this feature can offer great savings, or it can be totally unnecessary. I like to recommend Park Hopper for those who are planning on a short stay. This will allow you to make the most of your days. For example, if you only have a few days at Disney, maybe you want a half day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and a half day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. With Park Hopper, you can do that. Or, maybe you just want to experience your favorite attractions, and then hop to the next park.
On the other hand, if you plan a longer stay, you can skip Park Hopper. I also recommend skipping Park Hopper if you have young children. I remember when my son was small, we were lucky to get through one full day at a park, let alone hopping to other parks. The little ones move at a snail's pace, they want to see everything and don’t forget to leave time for a good meltdown or two. This all takes a lot of time. Park Hopping would be a rather ambitious goal with little ones.
#2 Is Lightning Lane at Disney World Worth it?
Lightening Lane, formally Disney Genie+, formally FastPass, allows you to bypass the lines at many of the attractions at Disney. This service used to be free but I can’t think of any theme park in the country that doesn’t charge for this. I know this is a highly debated topic and full disclosure, I still think it should be free. As a Passholder, I’m in the parks all the time, but my only choice is to shell out a lot of money for Lighting Lane each time I go, or wait in a long line for an attraction that I probably experienced a few days ago.
But it’s here to stay and we just need to accept it. But I don’t think you need to purchase every day and for every park. Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood studios offer a lot of value with the purchase of Lightening Lane. This is because there are many opportunities to use it at Magic Kingdom, and there are so few rides at Hollywood Studios.
The studios have a lot of headliner rides like Rise of the Resistance, Rock n Roller Coaster, and Mickey’s Runaway Railway. Everyone is competing for these rides, so if you can use Lightning Lane on seven just or two of them, you’ll save about 2-3 hours in line. The downside to purchasing Ligtening Lane at Hollywood Studios is that there will be long waits in between your selections.
I think you can get by without it at Epcot, just be there for your rope drop. Same thing with Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Get there as soon as the park opens and you’ll have a major headstart that will last until about 10 am. So it’s a great time to the safar and the attractions in Pandora.
#1 Staying Off Disney World Property to Save Money
It’s often debated whether or not you should stay off-property. Now if you’re budget allows you to book a Deluxe hotel like the Polynesian or a moderate hotel like Caribbean Beach, it’s better to stay on Disney property.
But if you’re looking within the value hotel category, so between $120 - $150 per night, and if you’re trying to reduce costs as much as possible, you can get a lot more value at certain off-site hotels.
The new Flamingo Crossing Area located on Disney Property just behind Animal Kingdom is full of chain hotels, a small restaurant district, and a Target Store. These hotels are often under $130 per night and many of them have family suite accommodations.
They all offer free breakfast but the theme park shuttle isn’t free. And if you drive to the parks, you’ll need to pay the parking fee of around $30 per day.
I especially like the Drury Plaza Hotel at Disney Springs. It’s an upscale tower hotel with rooms similar in square footage to the Disney Deluxe Hotels. Rates are usually between $150 and $180 per night, so right on par with Disney’s value resorts - which do not include free breakfast or snacks. The Drury also offers a complimentary breakfast buffet each morning, free snacks during the afternoon, and free evening appetizers. Plus the Drury operates its own Disney shuttle bus - which is provided free of charge.
I reviewed the Drury Plaza Hotel a short time ago, you can see more about this hotel including what makes their breakfast buffet extra special. To see if this is a good option for you, check out my video. I’ll see you over there.
Have questions about planning your Orlando vacation? I have answers! Contact me now to get more out of your vacation.
Since 2010, Darren has been making Orlando vacations easy! As an Orlando resident, he is able to provide insider, expert advice on Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Florida-based cruises.
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