Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's much different! Instead of a 200 yard walk from DL to DCA, park-hopping at WDW takes 30 minutes to an hour. Again, if you're trying to save $$$, you can still have fun at WDW without park-hopping.
It's never taken me longer than about 30 minutes--and that was going from the Magic Kingdom to the Animal Kingdom.
My mom and aunt are Disney enthusiasts, and tend to know a lot of money saving tips.
My son has been able to visit Disney World 4x (he's 15). We live in New England and are not wealthy. My mom is a medical secretary and I work in social services. For 4-5 days, it tends to run us about 1k a person. When it is the 3 of us (my mom, myself and my son), she and I split the cost down the middle.
Here is some of what we do:
*fly JetBlue or bid on tickets. We usually get them for less than $200 a person round trip.
*book the economy or moderate rate resorts in combo with the park hopper passes. I like the Disney Movie resort best.
*if you do these 2 things, transportation is provided to and from the airport and all the parks. There is no need to rent a car.
*the worst thing is the food. That is my only complaint. I do feel like Disney should be ashamed about what it costs to eat, especially if you want something that isn't crap. I always tell people to feel raped when it comes to the food.We splurge 1-2x during the trip for a nice meal.
We also:
-buy the refillable souvenir cups. You can reuse them in future trips. Fill them at the resort cafeteria in the morning and drink water out of them the rest of the day.
-pack granola bars, snacks, and mini cereal boxes from home. Buy milk from the resort grocery store and eat it out if your souvenirs cup so you've had breakfast.
-order delivery from Orlando, not Disney property. Order pizza for a family of 3 or 4 from Disney, you spend $40. Order it from dominoes it whatever, it's the sand place as everywhere else. And they do deliver to Disney property.
Leonard Kinsey talks about more money savers in his book "the dark side of Disney."
In 2006 my wife wanted to go to Disney World for our honeymoon. We couldn't afford it and instead went to San Antonio (in February) which was an easy drive from our home. Wife was determined to go to Disney World and opened up a separate account to put aside money. Even with a few thousand put aside, we still needed to borrow money to fully pay for our trip to Disney World for our 5th anniversary. We went to one of the on site resorts (about mid-level to low level) along with having the park hopper and dinning plan. Even then it still cost several thousands of dollars for two of us for three days in the parks and this was in February, the off peak season rates period. For that amount of money, we could have traveled to other nations or expensive major American cities. The food at the resort was horrible! The food at the parks' restaurants was great. The customer service was great. Our room was in good condition and very clean. She was disappointed that Disney had to stop the handicap head of the line service because of people abusing the service. She lives in constant pain from spinal problems. We rented a motorized chair for her to be able to cover the park grounds. Even then, she was in horrible pain before sunset and we couldn't see the fireworks. Rest of the night was spent on her strong pain medication and laying in bed to recover. The head of the line service helped us to get on what few rides she was physically able to get on (like Soaring).
DW is expensive, but if you want to go bad enough & make it a priority- it can be done. I took my kids as a single parent. We did as some of the above posters have suggested and saved for it by cutting our dining out/movie going,etc on hold for a while and tucked the $ away instead. Travel has always been a huge priority to us as a family. There is nothing quite like Disneyworld & I think it's worth it.
Do the value hotels, have smaller kids share meals,etc.
I promised my family I'd take them to DW even though I knew I couldn't afford it, I was determined to provide them at least a taste of the magic kingdom. We "borrowed" the neighbor's car and drove all night to get there before dawn and parked the car in an industrial area on the north side of the property along the side of the road with the hood up and the flashers on. I could see from google earth that a canal ran right into the park and I told the kids and wife it was the 1st "ride". We put our PBJ sandwiches in ziplock bags and waded into the water with our sandwiches held aloft. It didn't take long before we found ourselves along the banks of the jungle ride enjoying the passing boats and our sandwiches. Security chased us out soon afterwards but the kids are still convinced it was all part of the experience and brag to all their friends to this day about the fun they had in the lazy river ride avoiding alligators and the realistic looking storm-troopers.
Here's a great tip: just buy 4,000 shares of Walt Disney stock (symbol DIS). It pays 75 cents per share in dividends each year, which gives you $3,000 in travel money. The costs go up every year, but so does the dividend. The more you spend at Disney, the more money the company makes and the bigger the dividend.
Here's a great tip: just buy 4,000 shares of Walt Disney stock (symbol DIS). It pays 75 cents per share in dividends each year, which gives you $3,000 in travel money. The costs go up every year, but so does the dividend. The more you spend at Disney, the more money the company makes and the bigger the dividend.
I don't think anyone who can outright buy $259,120 in stocks (at current DIS price) cares about the cost for a Disney vacation.
This is a great (albeit old) thread, which is even more relevant now that Disney hiked their prices again. One idea that I'm surprised hasn't really been mentioned is using travel rewards. If you buy tix from a third party or directly with your hotel, there are ways to have them "erased" with points essentially, if you have the right card.
I won't say the card names on here, in case that isn't allowed, but there are two that come to mind right away, which allow you to "erase" $400-$500 of travel expenses once you earn the card's signup bonus.
Do this with a big family, and you could save hundreds or thousands of dollars not just on the tickets, but hotel, airfare, etc. Maybe it doesn't get brought up, because it's a general concept, but there are a few Disney-specific strategies that you might want to check out.
Obviously, this isn't for everyone, and it's a strategy you would want to use sparingly. But for a big, once in a lifetime trip like Disney World, it could be worth it. Another thing to remember is that it's only a good plan if you have the money to pay off the cards in full. Otherwise, any savings would be wiped out. It's essentially a way to save on the total cost of WDW, not a way to finance it if that makes sense.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
