Today’s question is from Peg:
I’d like to take my two youngest (8 & 14) to Disney this fall without spending a fortune. I was thinking two parks in two days would be enough. If you’ve recently been to Disney, I’d love to know what parks your kids enjoyed most and how to get the best bang for our buck. -Peg
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What about the Disney rewards card? I don’t think any one mentioned that yet. Is it a good way to earn money for a trip?
The value resorts are typcially around $80, but you have to reserve early if its not in the off season as they book pretty fast. Especially the newest resort Art Animation. It’s really nice. I didn’t stay there but we visited twice and had lunch& dinner there. We also purchased souv. at walmart, some are the same as what you see in the parks. I also agree with everyone, go in the parks early and ride the popular rides first. We also got a fast-pass for the popular rides so we could ride more than once. If you stay at the Disney resort, there’s a channel that breaks down the most popular rides. Also the resorts have maps of all the parks. And lastly, if you download the disney park apps, you can pull the estimated wait times for rides.
When we took my daughter a few years ago, we packed several Disney toys we bought on sale at the Disney store. Each morning Tinkerbell paid a “visit” to our hotel room and left a special treat! This saved us buying the more expensive items in the parks and she looked forward to going to bed each night to see what new treat Tinkerbell would leave.
We are a family of 8 so staying onsite was not a frugal option for us..with your family size you might find some great deals. We have found success in rentals on ebay (mouselovers is our favorite seller on ebay for Disney homes…often about $600 for the week for a 3 bedroom/2 bath house with a private pool). We bought tickets from Undercover Tourist and found that the best bang for your buck is simple Magic Your Way tickets…usually the price extra per day is very little after 3 so we end up choosing the 7 day ticket and then you don’t hop between parks, you just plan out which park you will see each day. Tickets are the biggest expense for us! We drive instead of flying (16 hrs each way). We made sandwiches and brought water and snacks into the park and ate one meal outside the park usually in the evening and then return to the park of the day. We go in January and often will request restaurant gift cards instead of Christmas presents that we can use for our one meal a day there. While there we purchase souvenirs at Target and Walmart instead of the parks. We have a wonderful time and are planning our 3rd trip this year. The first week of November is supposed to be one of the best times if you like less crowds..right after Halloween and usually they start to set up Christmas decorations within the week 🙂 Have fun!
We have annual passes for Disney land and go often. I think your biggest expense is the admission (and other travel expenses if traveling). Bring your own water, snacks and food. Park in the toy story lot and not the main Mackey and friends, it’s way less stressful. If your coming from out of town, you’d get a better deal at an off site hotel. There are plenty around and many offer shuttle service.
As far as souvenirs, we don’t buy any unless it’s a bday gift or for something special. You can get Disney character items elsewhere for half the cost. Again, their food is very pricey so bring your own. We might splurge on a dessert thought. The church’s are great and only $3.75 and large enough to share. And bring a backpack to avoid the outrageous $13 fee to rent a locker, but be very mindful of what you pack because you don’t want to be too bogged down.
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If you or someone else in your party has special needs, you can get a special guest assistance card that allows you to avoid the line and go in through the exit.
A very cheap way to stay on property is camping at Fort Wilderness! We are going at the end of September and staying 5-nights for $270 (not including tickets, of course
Hi-I’m a Florida a resident and have frequented Disney/Orlando area quite a few times and my first comment is–it all depends on your kids and what they are into. When I was a kid my parents dragged my sister and I around all day just to get “their money’s worth” out of it, but my cousins came from NJ one year and didn’t make it more than 2 hours–yes all that money for 4 tickets and left after 2 hours because it was too hot and they were too tired!…and they were definitely not made of money… So again, if you and your kids are willing to go in for the long haul, then Disney or Universal are well worth it. Note…if you think your kids will be too scared to go on rides like roller coasters (or like other readers have said not tall enough 54″) don’t go to Universal or Islands of Adventure-because they will either be so scared to go on anything or so mad that they aren’t tall enough-or worse, the younger child is not tall enough and then you have to figure out how to take one and watch the other….stressful..
Definitely recommend the off season-so anytime Oct-Dec. During Christmas time- Magic Kingdom has Mickey’s Merry Christmas Party. It starts around 8pm and goes till late in the night and the tickets are around $60 instead of the $100 price tag these days. Bonus, there’s a lot less people in the park overall so less wait times, and there’s still a great parade, show and fireworks. That’s how we were able to take my 2 neices to Disney-otherwise there was no way we were able to afford the 4 tickets we would have needed. Plus, we ate before we got to the park so didn’t have to spend for major meals AND they give out FREE cookies and hot chocolate! It was our neices first time so we stopped at Guest Services and got them “first time” buttons which have been known to score freebies like ice cream and cookies at the cart vendors. I had a birthday button on once and I scored free ice cream as a “birthday gift from Mickey” :)…and I was grown at the time lol
Wherever or whenever you decide to go–to maximize your time–always get there as early as possible and always get your fastpass for the most popular ride you want to go on first (because you can only get 1 fastpass per hour or something like that) then go to the back of the park and do those rides/activities first-because everyone else is still pandering around the front of the park. Then wander back out ot the front of the park-mid to late afternoon since that is when all of those people have made it to the back. The first time I went to Disney with my now husband and stepdaughter-we made it to 3 parks in 1 day 🙂 and totally maxed out our Disney experience.
If you decide to park hop-start at Animal Kingdom first-since the animals usually only come out in the AM when its not so hot. Plus AK closes the earliest (word to the wise-do not leave your car at AK if you are park hopping-drive to the next park then take the monorail-found out the hard way that the monorail back to AK stops running after 6pm..so we had to cab it back…) From AK I’d recommend Epcot or MGM Studios (I personally never spend a full day at either-maybe Epcot, but the highlights at each park could easily be done in an afternoon). Last would be Magic Kingdom as it usually has longer hours. If your not interested in the parade, that is the time to hit some of the more popular rides like splash mountain…you can probably walk right on the ride at that time as everybody else is watching the parade.
It is possible. Others have said to stay off site but with parking and the loss time I would say go off season to a value resort on site. call Disney up and have them work up a bundle for you and ask for any discounts (free dining or hotel discount)
Driving will depend on where you live. for us we had to do a two day drive with food on the road and hotel stay. Then add in gas and well we flew. We did 8 days (6 days int he park with park hoppers) free dining (table service and one quick service and snack a day), airfare, at a moderate resort for 3200 for a family of 3. We used our Disney rewards (Disney visa) for activities and park stuff we wanted to buy.
for Disney for that long and flying it was a good deal
Yes. I have 3 boys age 3, 5, 7. I always pack up food and drinks for them.
I usually pack snacks as well. We as a family like Disneyland park more as there are more rides that all of us can enjoy together.
The Pizza Port is a good place to eat as well. Bigger portions so you can share.
We had annual passes so we went at least once a month or every 2months. That’s what we would do. Maybe once in awhile we’d splurgeand get 1 meal in the park. Taking your own food and or snacks really helps keep the cost down.
Lots of great advice here. This Florida resident and former passholder has only one thing to add:
Best day of the year to go to Disney: Super Bowl Sunday. Perfect comfortable weather, and not a soul in sight.
We just went in May 2013 and my kids were 8 and 13. It was our first trip so we felt like we HAD to go to Magic Kingdom. We did all four parks while we were there. When it was all over, my kids liked Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios the best. They rides and shows at these two parks were most appropriate for their age group. While they enjoyed Magic Kingdom and Epcot, their comments were that MK rides and shows were more for smaller children and MK was more crowded so we waited in line longer and they felt Epcot did not have as many rides and was more “culture” then they were interested in, lol. But check out the ticket prices, we didn’t pay that much more for a four day pass vs the two day. We saved a ton by staying off-site. We stayed in a condo in the Celebration area. We had a 1 bedroom, living room, full kitchen and bath so we had tons more space for a much smaller price. I actually used hotwire and we paid about $33 per night and parking was FREE. The condo was a 2.5 star so it was nice, clean, but nothing fancy. It had several pools, game room, basketball courts, ect. This also helped us save money on food. We ate a big breakfast in our room every morning. I packed a soft sided cooler with snacks/sandwiches to munch on throughout the day and we ate 1 meal in the park each day. Each of the kids carried their own small backpack w/some snacks and a water bottle. Get everyone a wide mouth water resusable water bottle BEFORE you go. Any of the counter service restaurants will give you cups of free ice water. We dumped the water into our bottles and mixed with crystal light packets. We did some research online and checked out the menus at the different restaurants. The restaurants in the parks are expensive, but by checking ahead we were able to accurately budget the cost into our planning and make sure there was something everyone could eat. We made a trip to the WalMart in Orlando and did souvenir shopping there. Much less expensive and we didn’t have to lug our purchases around the park all day. I did buy the unofficial guide book for Disney World and felt it was worth the money and helpful. I think the biggest thing is to plan ahead of time and let everyone know the plan!
Just another thought. We went several years back. When we went, they were running a special for free dining plan for a family of 4 when you booked a room with at a Disney Resort. This covered lunch and dinner for us. We used the snack given to us to buy milk for breakfast and then ate breakfast in our room. Staying at the resort, they picked us up at the airport and took us to the parks saving us on gas or from renting a car. We also took a backpack into the parks packed with water and snacks.
I went last September (2012) with 3 kids, 4 adults. I highly suggest finding a condo outside of Disney. we found an awesome deal on vbro.com (vacation rentals by owner) for $59 a night. the house was 3 br, with a hot tub, and in a gated community with many amenities (pool,game room,playground). we went to the super target and bought food/souveniers. cooked in all but one evening. we were about 10 min from the resorts but we rented a car on thrifty.com, where I found a coupon for 20% off. we did fly I just watched flights every other day or so and as soon as they got low I booked.
At Disneyworld, we stayed off-property and while the price was right, we spent WAY more time than I would have liked waiting for shuttles and transferring to, from, and between parks. The place is huge, and it’s not practical to go back to the hotel mid-day for a swim or nap (DD was 3 then). If we ever go to DW again — which is doubtful given how many other places on this earth we’d love to visit — I’d stay at a Disney hotel just for the convenience.
Disneyland was a different experience. There are lots of hotels within walking distance. Somewhat long walk depending on where you stay, but doable. Shuttles are cheap and convenient. We had breakfast in the room and then came back to the hotel for a swim and late lunch / early dinner at the hotel restaurant during happy hour when appetizers are very cheap. Nachos or pizza that was more than enough for the two of us for like $6. Then we went back to the park for evening activities.
Food in the parks is expensive, yes, but keep in mind whatever you bring in you have to haul around all day, which I detest. I’d rather plan for a meal in the park and not hassle with hauling food around. It’s not so bad if you have litte ones and will have a stroller, but with 8- and 14-yo’s you’ll be carrying it around, and you’ll need to find a place to put it (cubbies or whatever) when you’re on rides.
Lockers are available but they can be a long ways away from where you are, and when we were there, there were no lockers available. My friend left her belongings at a ride entrance, as many people do, and returned to discover that someone had gone through her things. She hadnt left any valuables with her bag, having taken her wallet and camera with her on the ride, but someone stole the packaged snacks she had in her bag. Her daughter’s jacket had been tossed a few feet away.
With an 8-yo and a 14-yo, I’d travel light and not bother with a cooler. A small wallet that fits in your pocket, phone, camera. Maybe a lightweight backpack small enough that you can take on rides with you, but that is all. Water is free and readily available so you don’t need to lug it around.
Oh, and if you do take a back pack, take a couple small plastic bags and put your backpack in it to keep it dry on the rides where you get wet.
The single money-saving, time-maximizing tip I can give you is to get The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and their updated lines app. The book costs around $12 and I think the Touring Plans membership/app was around $7. The people who wrote this guide are amusement park junkies and statisticians. They have done TONS of research to create Touring Plans which will give park goers advice on which parks will be least busy on certain days and dates and even give you suggested orders for rides that will result in the least amount of line waiting time. Their app shows up to date wait times for each ride. My husband and I used this book and their app two years ago when we went to Disney and it made our experience so much better. I think we only waited in line over 30 minutes once or twice.
The book is also chock full of money saving tips, considerations for choosing hotels, and even has a break down of cost of food options in each park.
Also, one more thing to consider is the timing of your trip. October and November (before Thanksgiving) are slower months for the park, and in my opinion, the best time of year to go. The weather is beautiful and since there are less people at the parks you will spend MUCH less time waiting in line and more time riding rides. Have fun!
Hi Peg! I think with your kids being older, they would really enjoy Hollywood Studios. You can do Magic Kingdom and Epcot in the same day and hit up Hollywood Studios the next day in the morning. If you have extra time after visiting that park, you may be able to park hop back to Epcot or MK if you wanted too. I would def. do a park hopper with just 2 days. Check the crowd calendar the mornings you go before you decide which day and which park so you get the most out of your time. Also, I would not go to Animal Kingdom with your timeframe, they would have more fun at the other parks.
Make the most of the day by using FastPass. It allows you to skip long lines. Each ride will give you a ticket with a set time. When it’s time, head to the ride and get in the short line with your ticket. It’s free.
Yes! Fastpass is GREAT!
Get the Unofficial Guide to WDW and then sign up online for TouringPlans.com (you get a discount if you bought the book). But even w/o the book, it’s $12 for the year and worth every penny. Before your trip you enter in your “must see” rides, age of your walkers, day/time you’ll be there, etc and they give you an itemized list of the order or rides you should go on based on historical crowd capacity. You can also get the phone app that links your plan and constantly updates where the shortest lines in the park are. We went on a moderately crowded day–which was extremely crowded–and we had done all of our “must do” rides by lunch (at least 10) and hadn’t waited more than 15 minutes in any line, and many of them we walked right on. My SIL didn’t want to go w/ us and follow a plan and they waited up to an hour for rides that we sailed through.
I agree w/ the other posters that food is a good place to skimp but not necessarily lodging. We stayed at the Wilderness Cabins, which was $$$ but worth it to me because we could go right to the boat to the monorail to the park, so easy and fun for my boys, we got extended magic hours (less lines) and we got a full kitchen so I could cook most of our meals. We had a character b’fast and I’m glad we did–again, if characters are a big deal to you or your kids (they were to me, not to my 5 and 8 y/o boys, go figure) it’s totally worth it. I don’t know if I’d spend the money again, but I’m glad I did it once. The food was great and it was a nice way to end our trip. You have to book way in advance to get decent times so book early.
We did like the other posters, brought a cooler and put it in a locker, brought water, etc., but definitely budget for a Dole Whip in Adventure Land. They’re delish!!
MK is my fave park but I don’t think you can go wrong w/ any of them.
Yes! We did the give a day volunteer program and were able to go to disney land almost for free. We had to ay for one adult and one child who were not eligible… But it saved us a small fortune! We also didnt buy food on disney except for one turkey leg, which goes a long way! This was for a one day ticket to disney world.
We recently rented a house near Disney. Traffic was awful getting into park and the areas surrounding Disney have a lot more crime than you would think. Although the house and neighborhood looked good from pictures, the neighborhood was sketchy at best. We would have been much better off to get a hotel with much less elbow room.
If you’ve never been to Disney World before, consider buying a PassPorter guide. They come out every year and run about $20 on Amazon. The PassPorter is a guidebook, vacation planner, and souvenir all in one. Each hotel, restaurant, park, ride, etc is reviewed by parents and kids. There are lots of maps, stickers, and 14 days worth of pocket pages to store tickets, receipts, and other things in.
Also, every time we go I make a plan. Yes, I really do have a list for Disney! We pick which day we are doing each park based on Extra Magic Hours and we plan to get to the park when it opens. My plan usually has attractions listed together for the morning, then our lunch plans, more attractions and shows in the afternoon, then dinner plans, then more attractions and evening shows. You really will get the most for your dollar if you have a plan. We took our boys to Legoland in FL last week(first time) and we spent a lot of time wondering around and backtracking because we had no plan. Fortunately, it was pretty empty that day and we did get to see and do a lot, but it’s NEVER empty at Disney.
If you can, go in January or February. Cool and not too busy.
I could go on forever but the most important point of vacationing at Disney for me is to just enjoy what you CAN do and not worry about what you MISSED. This goes for rides, meals, souvenirs, shows, or anything else. Your joy will come from what you actually experience, not rushing from one thing to the next.
And, hey, if you don’t ‘do it all’ this trip, you’ll need to plan another one in the future 🙂
We went last august (super hot=extra tiring)
We stayed offsite and were planning to use the shuttle to save money for parking but they had terrible shuttle times.
We were planning to eat the free breakfast onsite but only did once cuz they have an early cut off time and their food was mostly cereal by the time the line went down.
The first day we got there semi early (10am? ) and would stay all day until close but the next day we were so tired that we wouldn’t get inside the park until almost noon. That continued for the week we were there. But we would always stay until close.
Things to buy offsite (target!) A fan spraying bottle, ponchos, autograph books, etc etc
Don’t do the autographs. They are a huge waste of time. Pick one favorite character each and do that.
We did it 2 families with a total of 5 kids – ages 4- 10. It was fun. We want to go again in 4 yrs (or less!)
First of all, late September/October is the best time to go if possible, for 3 reasons.
1. It’s off season, so hotels in general are cheaper.
2. The weather is nicer. It is very hot and humid in the summer.
3. It is less crowded, which is very important if you want to cram as much as possible into your stay. The parks are not open as late (except Epcot which always closes at 9p) but the lines are generally shorter.
As for which parks to go to, it really depends on your taste. I would say Hollywood Studios for sure, for those ages. Awesome rides (Rockin Roller coaster and Tower of Terror if you like thrills) great shows (Indiana Jones and Lights Motors Action) plus fun behind-the-scenes stuff if you’re into that.
Epcot is more of an educational experience, but very enjoyable, IMO. Most of the rides are in the front half of the park, but I couldn’t go to Epcot and not tour the countries! Test Track and Mission Space are some of my faves, but I also like the Living with the Land boat ride and Soarin. If you go to Epcot. Don’t forget to find Klub Kool. They have samples of sodas from different countries. Some are good, others not so much. But hey, free soda!
Animal Kindgom has a couple of good rides (expedition Everest, Dinosaur and the rapids ride) but the rest of the park is somewhat mediocre. Busch Gardens in Tampa is much better.
Magic Kingdom has a lot of the classics and I love MK. Pirates of the Carribean, Slash Mountain and Thunder Mountain are all fun. Space mountain was really rickety last time I went and DH felt ill afterward. MK has also opened a whole new section of Fantasyland which I have not been to yet. But it looks awesome!
Food wise, take a cooler with picnic supplies for at least one meal. You can rent a locker–still cheaper than meals for 4 people. A few years ago, DH and and I went to Hollywood studios (MGM them) and actually kept our cooler in the car and came out of the park to eat lunch. You will not be able to do this easily at Magic Kingdom. Depending how early you get to park, you may not have too bad a walk between your car and park. I recommend a backpack to carry around the park with snacks and water bottles. Most rides have pockets or cubbys in them for your stuff. If your hotel has complimentary breakfast you can snag a couple items (like apples and bananas) to take with you.
If you’re staying in a Disney resort, there are extra park hours just for resort guests. They are different parks on different days. One park will open an hour early, another will close an hour late. You will need to check the calendar on their site to see which parks will have extra hours on which days.
And that is all I can think of for now. 🙂
There is a blog at http://www.couponingtodisney.com that offers many tips and money saving ideas. Its author takes her family to Disney World annually and know the ins and outs.
We LOVE WDW! We are also former DVC owners (we sold our points once my parents moved down there). Without a doubt, the cheapest way to stay on property is to rent DVC points from a member. You can stay at a Deluxe resort cheaper than a Value resort. You may even be able to add the free dining that has been available. Do your homework and check references, but renting points is completely common (even a side business for some). I’ve used the same DVC member for years now and have only communicated with her through email/mail. In fact, I just rented points on Sunday for our December trip. We prefer the Boardwalk because of the location, although we will be staying at Bay Lake Tower in December. Best part, the studios have a fridge, microwave, toaster, etc. It allows you to save on food costs and handle any leftovers. Just Google “DVC points chart” to figure out how many points you’d need. Here’s an example: Oct & most of Nov. would cost you 10 pts./night at the Boardwalk in a standard view Studio (Sun-Thurs). Points rent from $10-$13/pt depending on the member. That is $100-$130/night at a deluxe resort and there are no taxes in addition to the rental fee. You pay the DVC member up front (which is why you should check references), they provide you the confirmation and the rest is just like you booked it yourself. We wouldn’t do it any other way.
My family and I live in Orlando and we have Annual Passes to Walt Disney World (and have had them for 6 years).
You most certainly DO NOT have to spend a fortune on a Disney vacation. There are lots of things that you can do to save money.
But one area I would not skimp on is staying at a Disney Hotel. You can stay at a Value Resort (one of the All-Star Hotels or Pop Century). By staying at a Disney Hotel you will get free parking at the parks (which is a 15 dollar savings right there) you will also be able to take advantage of Magic Hours (where the parks open or close later for hotel guests than they do regular guests- and when your trying to squeeze everything the parks have to offer in a day you are going to need and want those magic hours). Besides Disney does everything first class and that includes their hotels! Micah will call and wake your kids up! The hotel pools are amazing! Everything is decorated and magical! We have stayed on Broadway (at All-Star Music) our hotel room was on a street (Broadway) with a little Central Park at the end, streetlights, billboards for Disney musicals (of course). We have stayed in Baseball (at All-Star Sports) the stair wells for the hotel were giant coke cups and the pool has Goofy throwing “water” balls at you while you swim! And the rooms are always clean and well maintained! Plus you can park your car and take Disney transportation everywhere in the World! Another savings!
As far as the parks, I would recommend (if you are only going for 2 days) Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Depending on your families interests. But seriously any park will be amazing and you will have a wonderful time. Get the free planning DVD (from the Disney website) so that your kids can better see what each park has to offer.
A few other things, you can bring food into the parks. You just cannot bring rolling coolers into the parks. So you can pack a soft-sided cooler and bring snacks and food. Also, you can get free cups of water at any restaurant or stand that serves fountain drinks.
Also if you have the time you can go to Downtown Disney! It’s free to get in and free to park! There is an amazing Lego Store there with wonderful scenes from Disney movies make out of Legos. There are tons of stores to walk around and look at! Also the Ghirardelli chocolate store they give out free samples of the Ghiradelli chocolates.
There are tons more ways to save money and way more things to do. But I don’t want to take up the entire page. So hopefully, I have gotten your started on your vacation!
ENJOY!
I think that is doable. My kids still love Magic Kingdom at 14 & 17, but they are Disney fanatics. Great comments here! We stay at an offsite hotel that we can get for about $150, but it has 2 bedrooms and a kitchen. You do save in parking and transportation by staying onsite.
I’m a Florida Resident and a big Disney fan. We try to go about every 2 years. My kids are 8, 13, 13,(twins) and 16. My oldest still adores Disney, even at 16. We usually go for 3 days when we go, staying at a Disney Value resort. Every time we take a vote on which 3 parks to go to. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom are our faves We love Animal Kingdom, no matter what anyone else says. 🙂 Only 1 of my kids is into riding “thrill rides” with me. We love Disney because there is so much we can do together as a family.
Lots of good tips in these posts on saving money, the one thing that I’ve found that is hardest to budget on is food. Hubby is a teacher so we can’t go in off-season times too often, which rules out free dining for us. We’ve found that we can eat breakfast in our room, get water with our meals in the parks (flavored with drink mix packets), and try to bring in our own snack foods. We usually eat at quick service restaurants and spend around $100 per day on food for the 6 of us for lunch and dinner. Allears. net is a great resource to look at menus/prices for each restaurant. Kristin at Couponing to Disney has some good money saving tips as well.
Living in state, we always drive and we don’t buy too many souveniers, which saves money also.
Hope you have a wonderful trip, Peg!
If you’re going this fall, Disney is offering a free dining promo for most of Sept, and part of October. That dining promo requires you stay for 6 nights/7 days though. I would recommend doing a 4-5 day trip, and just purchasing meals without the meal plan since your kids are older. Pick 2-3 parks and only buy tickets for days when you’re fully there. Aka don’t buy 5 days of tickets if you’re going to be there for 5 days, because you’re wasting park time on transit time. We typically do a week at Disney every year, but only buy 3-4 days of park tickets. We plan for off days, where one day we do put put golf, another we do downtown disney and our resort pool and play areas. Or maybe use an off day to visit another resort for a meal. There’s ton’s of free stuff you can so. At Ft Wilderness there is Chip and Dale’s campfire, where you can meet chip and dale, buy (or bring) your own smores to roast and then watch a disney movie. Ride the monorail, visit other resorts, watch the wishes fireworks show from the Transit Center (I swear, it’s the BEST view of the fireworks and the music is piped in.) When you go to Disney, a large cost is your hotel, and then next most expensive cost is the tickets. You can spread the magic around. There’s also a promo for buying a 4 day ticket and get the 5th free (undercovertourist.com or visitorlando.com) will help you there.
I am an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner and know for a fact you can go to Disney without spending a fortune! The fall is a great time to go and this fall there are many dates when Disney is offering FREE dining which really lowers the cost of your trip. There are also room discounts for select days in the fall as well. Since your kids are a little older I think they will enjoy Hollywood Studios and Epcot the most but all the parks have different things that you won’t want to miss. Disney is an amazing place and brings out that kid in all of us. It’s definitely something you can do on a budget.
Disneyland can be done in 2 days (3 is better), but I do not recommend a 2 day trip to Disneyworld. It is too big and it is expensive to go for a short trip – much better to plan a 5 day trip (or longer). But if you really want to go to Disneyworld – you must go to the Magic Kingdom. Hollywood Studios may also be good if your kids like roller coasters. Get your tickets through Undercover Tourist, and check their crowd calendar so you are going on a low crowd day – that will maximize the amount of attractions you can ride. Be at the park of your choice 30 minutes before it opens so you can enjoy a few rides before the crowds descend. Stay in a Value resort on Disney property and bring breakfast food to eat in the room. Some dates this fall you may be able to get the dining plan included for free with a package – that is a good deal if it works with your dates. Check out mousesavers.com for more ideas on how to save. Have fun!
I agree–unless you live very close by, Disney World {WDW} is not worth a 2 day trip, but Disneyland can be.
It’s not always cheaper to stay off site at WDW when you include transportation, free parking & possible free dining plans.
Again, Disney is not cheap, but well worth the price for Disney fans or a once in a lifetime trip. This year, my “budget trip” for 3 adults an one 3-year old will cost me nearly $5,000 for two weeks.
A breakdown of my costs:
$3, 022 – On-site Value Room, 10-day Park Tickets & FREE dining
$1,185.60 – RT Airfare on Southwest from PDX
$248.43 – Car Rental for length of stay {optional}
$183.19 – Mickeys Not so Scary Halloween Party for 2 adults& 1 child {optional}
+ fuel costs, any additional dining, other costs brings my price to about $5k.
We are considering relocating to FL, so we do need a car for job/home searching, but a car can be optional for most trips.
Keep in mind that Disneyland vs. DisneyWorld tips vary quite a bit. What works at one park may not work at the other, so where you can “walk to” Disney, that is referring to Disneyland. Disney World is roughly the size of San Francisco and you cannot to any of the parks from your room unless you rent a much more expensive on-site hotel.
Do purchase glowstick bracelets, necklaces etc at Dollar stores, Target etc… they are about $1 per pkg.
If you have a car, most Walmart, Walgreens and tons of other stores near the parks have souvieners, t’s etc for much less than the parks.
Pack portable snacks like granola bars, crackers etc or on the go breakfast items to cut down on food costs.
Even when on the Dining Plan – If you dine at table service restaurant in the parks – do lunches instead of dinner. The entree prices are less and your tip will be lower. {There is an automatic 18% gratuity in table service restaurants}
I also want to add – our family really likes the Disney Photopass. I hunt for a coupon code and prepay for a CD of all our photos (have to do this a couple weeks before your trip I think) and then we always keep an eye out for photographers as we roam the parks. We have used these photos for Christmas cards, and also made a scrapbook with them – so we can relive our Disney memories! It’s a bit of a splurge, but we are not big souvenir shoppers, and I feel these photos are more special and longer lasting than a t-shirt. That said – feel free to hand a Photopass photographer your camera – they are happy to take a photo for you. But then you miss out on all the fun special effects, like holding Tinker Bell in front of Cinderella’s castle.
Don’t go without a copy of a book titled, “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World”. We have used it (a new update is published every year) every time we went to see what parks, rides, restaurants are appropriate for children and the recommended ages. It is very useful and also breaks down the spending strategy to get the most bang for your buck. I usually carry it in a backpack to be referred to throughout our visit.
I would do some research here – youve been told about a lot of good websites – it’s a big investment no matter what you do – do your homework
It’s possible to do it very frugally of course but if you can find cheap enough accomodations it’s far better to do more days – the first day and second are very expensive – price per day comes down significantly after that
I will say that my 10, 13 and 15 year olds love disney and found Universal ‘meh’ – it’s a whole different experience – if your kids are all about thrills then go to universal – the rides are much wilder – but the park itself is so much less of an experience – my kids love the rides at disney but also the whole feel of it, all the little magical things – still, after all these years – but my best pal has kids who have no interest in any of that and just want wild rides – universal is best for them – to each his own
In April I took my 4 year old to Disney and I thought the whole time how I would never take my 9 & 11 year old again. It’s really for the 7 and under crowd, especially if you have boys. Universal seems to have much more for the 7+ ages
Disney World allows food in a cooler. We borrowed a friend’s umbrella stroller and wheeled the cooler everywhere. It was not a big cooler. Brought sandwiches and fruits/vegetables for lunch and cold fried chicken and more vegetables for dinner. Also brought trail mix, and lots of cold water bottles.
Use a Disney travel agent!! I had a wonderful experience with Brook at Mouse World Travel. Her services are free and she knows all of the discounts available. She will make a plan for you and tell you the order to do rides and such so that you can get the most out of your day. She will even book your meal reservations and any other extras. I would encourage your to consider more than 2 days if your budget allows!
We are die hard fanatics. We go every year and have also been on DCL. My kids are 5&9. Started when oldest was 4. There are millions of ways to save. But if you want the true Disney experience do everything on property. This Jan we stayed at the new Art of Animation budget hotel and is was beyond believable. The price for Disney in general has gone up a lot over the last year. A budget room at value season used to run about $80/night and now are running approx $125. We are never able to do free dining so we factor that into our costs along with park tickets. Looking to go in Jan/Feb and right now the best I can do is around $2000 for 5n/6d. I have enough points on SW to fly for free. Email me for any other questions. We have a separate travel account for our trips.
Time is money. Eating offsite is way cheaper, but you will lose precious hours. There is really no cheap way to do Disney. But I feel that if I spend my time wisely, do my research, I spend more time in attractions and shows, and less time in lines. Also, if you are doing a Disneyworld trip, planning what days to go to which parks also makes a great difference.
Using a Disney Vacation specialist, like myself and countless others, will help you maximize your vacation. It will seem less like an expense and more like an investment in your family.
Sorry didn’t look at the ages….ask them which park but I would do one park for two days. Either Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios because Hollywood Studios has Star Wars stuff now!! Or buy a park hopper and see what you want in each park and then go the next however be aware if the travel time as well!
I would ask the kids what they would prefer to see…you can look at the maps on-line..and go to one park both days because there is so much to see in every park!! Again..half one day and the other half the next!
I have a few suggestions but not all are “easy”. Doing timeshare presentations are an absolute must for me. They have allowed me to go up and down the strip as well as Disney for next to nothing. While they can be frustrating they can also be very helpful. If you do the timeshare presentation try to go early- they feed you breakfast and then you still have your whole day to do whatever. We have gotten free tickets to The Pirate Dinner show outside of Disney (a must if you have young kids), Blue Man Group, The Arabian knights show and many more. In addition I have received cash (usually 100.00) and free gift souvenirs that have replaced any I would have bought for the kids.
In addition to going to the presentations I really recommend trying to stay at a resort outside the park. In my weakest moment I bought a timeshare at Westgate (westgateresorts.com) and we do love it.
I can get you a pass for 4days for $99.00 at Westgate (1 mile outside of the park with free transportation to Disney) if your interested and no I’m not trying to sell you any thing. I really understand the need for saving money on a trip to Disney and being a timeshare owner we get “passes” to give to friends and family.
You can also buy timeshare stays on eBay and save a ton of money.
Also make friends with locals. Alot of them work at Disney and have access to discounted tickets as low as $50.00 hopper tickets per day including parking. We have done this every time and have gone 4 times in the last 7 years.
There is alot to do outside the park also and can really add to the experience. Some of the things I recommended above are really fun. We took a couple of days to go to the beach. That was a great way to spend the day. Only an hour away and you get quite a view. If you go to Clearwater a dolphn tour is also a must. Captain Memo pirate cruise is a BLAST! I highly recommend it. http://www.captainmemo.com
When at Disney make sure you go on a late day so you can get as much time as possible at the park.
Good Luck,
Kelly
If your only going for two days and your kids are only 42 in or even shorter I recommend Magic Kingdom for both days. Focus on one half of the park in one day and the other half the next. Make sure you get in the light show at 10pm one night and then the next night ride the rides during the show….then there are very little lines.
We just went to Disney World and my kids, even though one was 10, were too short for most of the rides! Even the car ride that goes around the track…he needed adult supervision!!
Also figure out why you are going for the characters or for rides or for both or just the experience! Most character meetings are very long lines and that means less time to wait for rides. However, if you get there early enough you go to the ride you want to and get a fast pass. This means you put your ticket into the machine and get another fast pass ticket. Then you come back to that ride during the time frame on the ticket and there is no wait!! So then you can do something else during the “wait time”.
There is also a character meeting breakfast at 8am but we didn’t go because it was too early for my family! According to others there are very few people who attend this. Also there are extended hours at each park sometime during the week so check out which day is the Magic Kingdom and then pick your two days so you get one day at least with more hours.
Mainly, don’t push your kids and rest when you need too and everyone will have fun!!
It depends on what your idea of “a fortune” is. Disney is not cheap. You can get deals on a room, you can drive, you can get your souvenirs at Walmart. This past year, we went in the off-season (homeschooled, so just planned a much later Spring Break), made our dinners in our room (Wyndham Grand Resort–got it on eBay), packed snacks/drinks to take with us & still went over-budget. Good luck. We’re glad to have made the memories for the kids, but breathed a huge sigh of relief as we drove away from the uber-commercialized Orlando, FL. Next year, we’ll be spending much less on a much more relaxing week at the beach. We’ve done it—don’t have to do it again. Just my 2 cents.
Just went in May… For us (I have a 13 year old, 5 year old, and 2 year old), Magic kingdom and Hollywood Studios were our absolute favorites. Downtown Disney was a waste of time (except the T-Rex restaurant) and Epcot didn’t register very high with my kiddos either. Hollywood studios was my 13 year olds #1, while my princess loving 5 year old couldn’t get enough magic kingdom. I would look into going on an off-peak week and staying at a Disney value resort. We used the Disney dining plan and were worry free. I won’t lie, it was expensive up from, but I worked very hard doing surveys online and earned $1600 in 8 weeks towards our trip.
Another thing to consider, the more days you stay, the lower the ticket price is per day. When we booked our trip a 3 day magic pass and a 5 day magic pass were the same price.
To maximize your time in the parks, use an app like undercover tourist that will tell you what the wait times are at all the rides. Also, take advantage of the fast pass system. You can get one an hour per person and can hold multiple fast passes at the same time.
We covered all four parks in four days, but it was off peak and raining. (The rain didn’t bother us at all.) We did everything we wanted to do, then on the fifth day of our trip, we went back and did our favorites again.
Which website did you do your surveys through? I would love to try that.
There are tons of survey sites like MindField online and Valued Opinions. I have some listed at http://www.myfavedeals.com/p/earn-money.html
Also, I do a lot of mystery shopping and post my trips at myfavedeals.com
Hope that helps 🙂
We recently went to Animal Kingdom at Disney World. I wrote a post on my blog about ways to make the most of a trip there (most of these tips will save you money, too!) http://www.creativegreenliving.com/2013/07/what-to-do-at-disney-world-animal-kingdom-orlando.html
We went last year, and frankly we regret trying to “go to Disney the cheap way.” When we do it again in a few years, we will save and pay to go to Disney. If you are going to do it, do it: stay on-site, stay long enough to do what you want to do, and enjoy yourself. Even if you can’t go this year because you don’t have enough saved, save some more and go another year. We (parents & children) left frustrated because we still spent quite a bit of money to go on the trip and everyone left not feeling like they got to experience Disney in those two days. I don’t want to discourage you, but I hope you can learn from our costly mistake…
I agree that if you have certain things you want to experience & you may not be able to because of lines being too long or whatever that may stop you from being able to get through an entire park in one day (or whatever your time frame allotment is), then wait so you don’t feel you should have after you leave). Or if you want the fancy character meals, souvenirs, etc. & can’t afford them now, then wait until you can if you will leave feeling that disappointed.
We went w/no expectations other than to have a fantastic time together as a family & we knew we had no choice but to stay w/in our budget. We accomplished both & paid cash for our entire trip after saving up for several years. It was our first vacation (aside from an overnight stay at a waterpark hotel for a $110 special once or twice a year) in 11 years and we don’t regret sticking to our stringent budget. For us, we knew if we waited too long all of our kids wouldn’t enjoy it because they would be “too old” so we went with what we had & loved it!! The best thing was the time spent together hands down.
My family and I live in Orlando and we have Annual Passes to Walt Disney World (and have had them for 6 years).
You most certainly DO NOT have to spend a fortune on a Disney vacation. There are lots of things that you can do to save money.
But one area I would not skimp on is staying at a Disney Hotel. You can stay at a Value Resort (one of the All-Star Hotels or Pop Century). By staying at a Disney Hotel you will get free parking at the parks (which is a 15 dollar savings right there) you will also be able to take advantage of Magic Hours (where the parks open or close later for hotel guests than they do regular guests- and when your trying to squeeze everything the parks have to offer in a day you are going to need and want those magic hours). Besides Disney does everything first class and that includes their hotels! Micah will call and wake your kids up! The hotel pools are amazing! Everything is decorated and magical! We have stayed on Broadway (at All-Star Music) our hotel room was on a street (Broadway) with a little Central Park at the end, streetlights, billboards for Disney musicals (of course). We have stayed in Baseball (at All-Star Sports) the stair wells for the hotel were giant coke cups and the pool has Goofy throwing “water” balls at you while you swim! And the rooms are always clean and well maintained! Plus you can park your car and take Disney transportation everywhere in the World! Another savings!
As far as the parks, I would recommend (if you are only going for 2 days) Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Depending on your families interests. But seriously any park will be amazing and you will have a wonderful time. Get the free planning DVD (from the Disney website) so that your kids can better see what each park has to offer.
A few other things, you can bring food into the parks. You just cannot bring rolling coolers into the parks. So you can pack a soft-sided cooler and bring snacks and food. Also, you can get free cups of water at any restaurant or stand that serves fountain drinks.
Also if you have the time you can go to Downtown Disney! It’s free to get in and free to park! There is an amazing Lego Store there with wonderful scenes from Disney movies make out of Legos. There are tons of stores to walk around and look at! Also the Ghirardelli chocolate store they give out free samples of the Ghiradelli chocolates.
There are tons more ways to save money and way more things to do. But I don’t want to take up the entire page. So hopefully, I have gotten your started on your vacation!
ENJOY!
That’s what I was going to say – save until you can do the Disney vacation right. Each day on a multi-day ticket gets cheaper. With older kids, you certainly don’t want to miss Epcot! You can spend two days there and not see everything!
Absolutely go off season so you don’t waste all your time in line. PLUS the spectacular, end-of-day shows are much earlier in February (maybe 8:30pm or 9pm) compared to summer (11pm). So we could be in bed by 10 every night, get a good night’s rest, and be up early and at the park gates when they opened the next day.
And this is the time to splurge a little. We went with the dining plan and it was the best thing we did. That way food was budgeted and paid for and we could eat well for lunch and dinner (did cereal in our room for breakfast). We enjoyed some great restaurants and it made us stop for a bit and connect with one another and communicate! We were well nourished and that meant we felt better and were less grumpy. When we go to our “local” theme park, we usually try to survive the day on shared french fries and various junk food because the prices are so ridiculous, and we pay for it all day in how we feel.
Absolutely you can do it! Look for planning tips on our website.
If you are going to WDW, I recommend Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Those two parks just have a lot to see and do. Water is free at all restaurants that have soda machines, just ask for a cup of water. You can bring your own food into the parks, but another tip is just to split meals or order off the kids menu.
We have stayed at the All Star Resorts and really enjoyed them. It is possible to get great deals on rooms depending on the time of year you go.
For all the necesseties, we have found that once we get to the park area, go to the Super Walmart and stock up on things like sunblock, snacks, and breakfast (because usually you are anxious to get into the parks in the morning and breakfast is the last thing on your mind).
Go for it!
So many great tips I just have a quick one to share. If you’re eating in the park ask for a glass or cup of water at the restaurants with your meal. Water bottles are expensive and the glass of water is free. If you’re buying a beverage buy the large size and split it between your family.
If you have a Costco membership, check with their travel company for a Disney package. Package included hotel/condo (with kitchen) tickets and rental car. If you don’t have a Costco membership, ask someone who does to call and get you a price quote (it might be worth getting a $55 yearly membership just to get the Disney package. We did this the first time we went after I had spent hours looking at all the options of saving money and wished I looked at Costco right away.
We recently went to Disney World for 9 days on a family vacation for only $1438 (hotel, plane, rental car, and park tickets). That is just $359 per person for 9 days! I have outlined some tips in this article-hope it helps!
http://www.centsabletravel.com/a-disney-vacation-on-a-budget/
One thing to add: nothing beats staying on site at Disney! We have been 4 or 5 times and only stayed on site the last time. We will never go back to offsite. On site you have the bus that takes you to the park and between parks, you are able to get in the park each morning before it opens to the public and this avoid longer lines and get a head start. You don’t have to move your car, hunt for parking and then wait in line to get out of the park in the evening. We stayed at all stars value resort and it was very reasonable as part of a package deal and very nice, similar to a comfort inn. Remember even though it says value hotel, it is still Disney and everything Disney is extra nice!
Kathy, I agree!
Staying on property is a big time saver and so much fun!! We rent Disney timeshares to save money. We have rented points from someone in the Disney Vacation Club and stayed at the BoardWalk Villas for just $150 a night (regular price $580 a night – 75% off) and the Animal Kingdom Lodge for just $167 (regular price $355 a night – 53% off)!
Where can you get info on renting points?
We did the Disney Cruise in Jan ’13, they had a “kids sail free” promotion for the off season. Kids were ages 13, 9, 4, and 1 (cousins) and two sets of parents. We all agreed it was way more fun than Disneyland or Disneyworld and we got to see a couple different countries as well! The shows are amazing, characters are everywhere, and the food was nonstop, down to a Mickey shaped ice cream bar to end every day. Oh, and fireworks!
My kids only want to do the cruises now because they like them so much better than WDW. 🙂
I’m not sure which Disney park you’re going to. My family (and extended family) goes to Disneyland at least once a year, and we do it about as cheap as you can I think! Some of my advice will be Disneyland-specific, but most can be applied to both parks.
First – Don’t stay on site. There are many nearby hotels that are close enough to walk but are much, much cheaper. We have a trip planned for the end of October and we’ll be paying around $50/night at a hotel that has fantastic reviews – we’re getting two rooms and once the cost is split between the 7 people going, we’re looking at about $60 per person for a four night hotel stay.
Second – Drive. It may sound like a pain, but it’s much cheaper (unless you have a gas-guzzling beast of a car!). We actually like to go to bed very, very early the night before we leave, then get up at 2-3am and drive. This is great for us because it means my son sleeps almost the whole way down! It takes us about 9 hours with pit-stops, so we arrive at our hotel at around noon. If anyone needs a nap, they take one, but we also like to take that time to do a little walking around in Downtown Disney, or we can spend time in the park – which of course costs more, but it does take some of the hurry-hurry out of the rest of the days if we can get a few of our favorite rides out of the way! Also, since our vehicle gets good enough mileage that we can make it the entire drive on one tank of gas (which is also split between everyone going), we’ve saved ourselves quite a lot of money, so the extra half day is worth it to us. You could spend that half day at the hotel though, and just rest up!
Third – Food. This is the only thing we don’t do much in the way of cost-cutting with. If we were to do so, we’d bring our own breakfast and lunch foods, as well as snacks (making sure the hotel we stayed in had a fridge of course). I imagine we’d eat dinner in the parks, but at the diner-like places that cost less (and, by the way, give you a crazy amount of food), and do one night in a restaurant for a special meal.
Fourth – Souvenirs. We have hats, and that’s it. But since you do have kids of the age of “Oh, mom, can I have that? And that? AND THAT!?” you’ll probably end up with more than just the hats. I suggest buying each kid a Disney gift card. You can get them at any Disney store, or you can order them online (free shipping). That way they can buy their own souvenirs, with the understanding that that’s all the money they can use toward toys and such. Buying a few things before you leave is also a great idea – Disney stuff is all over the place, you don’t NEED to pay park prices for it. As for photos, don’t buy anything to do with the PhotoPass. If any of the cast members ask to take your photo, let them and accept the card they give you (but don’t purchase anything there! you can look when you get home and decide then) and then ask them to take a photo with your own camera. They’ll do it for free and you’ll get the same photo you would have had to pay for. A fun thing might also be to give each of your kids a disposable camera to take their own photos with!
Fifth – Tickets. There’s not really much you can do to get cheap tickets, unfortunately. Sometimes you can get a good deal at a warehouse store, but those are usually for 3-4 day hoppers. If you’re thinking you’re only going to do one park per day, you could buy two single-park tickets, which are cheaper than the hoppers. The site aResTravel has tickets for slightly cheaper than Disney – normally they’re around $5 cheaper, but right now if you’re buying and using the tickets before the end of December, they’re actually $15 off the Disney price (has to do with the timing of Disney’s ticket price increase). And your youngest counts as a child ticket until they turn 10. Also, you can check if you qualify for any discounts – MouseSavers.com has a great list of programs and associations that may have discounts, for example, if anyone in your party has an active military ID, you can get insanely cheap tickets, the military ID holder just has to be part of the group going into the park (so you can’t just have a friend in the military buy you tickets and then not come with).
Sixth – Timing. If you can, go during the week. Fall is already better than Summer of course, but weekdays are even better! Make sure you’re not going over a holiday, and if you’re going in October, double check that you’re not going during a time when any of the local school districts have a break. For instance, I know that a ton of people in my city (remember, we’re 9 hours away!) are planning on going sometime between the 12th and the 20th of October because kids here have a week off of school. Thankfully, we’re going the week after. Fall, Winter, and early Spring are the best times to go in my opinion – except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring breaks of course. In Disneyland at least, during the fall they have it decorated for Halloween, and in the winter it’s Christmas! If you go during the Halloween decoration time, be sure to ride the Haunted Mansion. 🙂
I second Angela’s reply – I’m not sure what park your visiting, but as a former Anaheim Cast Member, here are some extra points. Some of them are Anaheim specific, so sorry if you’re heading to Florida. I’ve never been, so I’m not sure what to suggest in regards to that location.
In regards to hotels, I agree with Angela – stay offsite. In fact, stay outside of the resort area, if possible. The hotels in the Resort area advertise low rates, but don’t include a mandated resort fee from the city that can cost upwards of an extra $20 per night, depending on the season. We choose to stay at the Radisson suites in Buena Park when we aren’t staying with friends or family in the area. It’s down the street from Knott’s Berry Farm, but a short freeway drive to the Park, including complimentary shuttle service if you’d prefer to avoid the $16 per day parking fee.
Disney is currently in the process of revamping the policy of free refills on coffee since Starbucks is being added into the Parks, but you may want to ask about them on your next trip. At the Tomorrowland Terrace, they used to offer free refills all day with your cup and receipt. Because of California state health laws, they would have to toss the cup rather than reuse it, so it didn’t matter if you brought in a crushed cup that had been packed in your backpack for a few rides. Just make sure to hold onto it and the receipt if they offer the refills. Other locations would offer refills by just presenting the receipt. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
If you’re planning on making the trek more than once in 365 days, it may be worth your while to consider annual passes. A trip in September one year and another trip in August the next will save you a considerable amount of money in terms of passes. Plus, an annual pass will earn you a discount on stores and food around the park and in Downtown Disney. If you are considering the addition of parking to your pass, be sure to add it to one of your child’s passes. That way, if one of the adults need stay behind at the hotel, parking is covered without having to add the fee to more than one pass.
For souvenirs, note that the Targets in the area – there is one north and south of the resort on Harbor Boulevard – stock lots of Disney merchandise, as well as your typical prices for the toiletries and other items you may have forgotten to pack. Also, a local clearinghouse company maintains a clearance outlet for dated and overstocked Disney Parks merchandise just north of the Resort on Harbor Boulevard and Orangethorpe. Depending on the season, you can find lots of actual Disney souvenirs marked down to 50%-80% off, sometimes more.
Finally – remember the crowd mentality. People stop for lines and crowds or head towards the most popular attractions first. Lines for Indiana Jones start first, while lines for Splash Mountain and rides at the back of the park take more time to build up. Head there first, and wait for the initial rush to die down before hitting the rides closer to the front of the park. Rides around parade and show areas tend to have shorter lines during the shows and parades. If you can get the kids to nap, areas like Fantasyland and Toontown tend to have shorter lines after bedtime. For the fireworks, try for a spot closer to the Main Street train station. Then, after they’re over, make a beeline to the train, avoiding the crowds exiting the park.
There are more suggestions, I know, but I need to get back to work… hopefully these help!
Darryl
I Love Disneyland And California Adventure! If You Can Go In The Off Season, Definitely Choose That Option! My Favorite Time To Go Is The First Two Weeks Of December. I Have Actually Put My Boys On Independent Study For The Week Before Winter Break For Disneyland (Two Weeks Before, For A Disneyworld Trip). They Can Enjoy Their Disney Trip With A Very Uncrowded Park And Do A Lot More In A Shorter Amount Of Time (Plus Enjoy All Of The Holiday Decorations). When You Come Home They Can Work On All Their Assignments And Have It All Done Before School Starts Back Up (Less Stressful).
If You Have A Credit Union Check To See If They Offer Discounted Tickets. AAA Is A Great Place For Discounted Tickets Also (AAA Branches In So-Cal Even Sell Discounted Annual Passes).
We Stay Well Off Site For $59.00 A Night With A Great Free Breakfast And Drive To The Park ($16.00 Day Or Add To A Season Pass For $139.00 For The Year). Sometimes We Stay Directly Across The Street From Disneyland At The Park Vue Inn (The Closest Hotel To The Disneyland Entrance And A Little Pricier, But The Best Hotel To Stay At Not On Disney Property, Includes An Amazing Breakfast, Fridge, And Microwave In Your Room).
To Save On Meals There Is A Food 4 Less Store Less Than A Mile From Disneyland On Katella, So Be Sure To Pack In Your Food And Snacks (Acceptable At Disneyland). We Actually Leave The Park For Lunch (Drive To A Restaurant Or Fast Food, LOTS To Choose From Close By) And Go Back To The Hotel To Relax A While And Then Pack In Our Dinner And Close The Park.
There Are Walmart And Target Stores Close By For Cheaper Souvenirs.
I don’t think the concept of doing two parks in two days is really your best bet. I think when you price out the differences between two and four day tickets, it’s not too big of a difference. If you go during “value” season, you can easily book a hotel site for $80/night (we’re going for two nights in September for $83/night). We’re local, so we’re going for three days with the thought of hitting up our favorites. However, if this is a first, and possibly only, I think it’s important to take your time and get your moneys worth. There is literally so much to do that we’ve been going my entire life and there is still stuff I haven’t done!
Your best bet is to plan! There are many amazing websites but the three I use the most are disboards.com, easywdw and allears.net. Easywdw has free calendars that show the best park to go to each day. They even have touring plans to give you an idea of what attraction to hit up and when. Allears.net has every menu available on property, so you can even get an idea of how much money to put aside for food. My daughter is eight, but we often split meals, not only because we don’t eat much, but also because it’s so hot we’ve found it’s easier to snack more throughout the day, than to cram a full meal down.
Another thing, if you have a target redcard, you can purchase Disney giftcards for a 5% discount. While it’s not saving a lot, it’s saving something .. and sometimes that’s all that matters. You can use the giftcards to pay off your hotel reservation, however if your trip gets cancelled for any reason, the money will be refunded to your original giftcards. If you’re going next fall, when the $10 off $50 coupons come out around Christmas, it’s a great time to buy Disney giftcards … and you can also double up the 5% discounts with any discounts you get from using their prescription services.
The best overall thing I would suggest since so many factors can be involved is to consult with a good travel agent. We used Triple A when we last went to Disney and could not have been more pleased. She was able to take into acct.our specific needs and wishes . Decide on a maximum dollar amt. you wish to spend before meeting with him or her. Good luck, your family is in for a wonderful adventure.
Unless things have changed since last year at Disney, you are NOT allowed to bring coolers in at all. You CAN bring food in if you have any allergies, but still no cooler. It says so on their site, or at least it did last year.
We drove across the country to go to Disney. We spent under $2,000 for an entire 2 weeks w/gas, food (gluten free), a 6 night stay in a condo w/a full kitchen & pool in St Pete that was a 1/2 block from the beach, hotels w/fridges & some had continental breakfasts for 6 nights all the way there & back (we found deals for those hotels online at Hotels.com, Orbitz, & Groupon), a nice hotel w/a pool & fridge for 3 nights near Disney 10 minutes away (Groupon deal), 3 days at Disney (2 at Magic Kingdom & 1 at Animal Kingdom), 5-6 meals at the parks (THAT was our huge splurge & was about $6-$10 per person per meal, but the meals were really not overpriced, especially since we have to eat gluten free; we didn’t do character meals because they were not in our budget… I believe we ate at the places they consider fast dining or something like that & the portions were great!), Disney parking, AND we got to eat at Ponderosa 3 mornings for breakfast because it was only $5 per person, so we made sure to eat plenty to keep our bellies happy, but not miserable, until lunch (we couldn’t eat 99% of the food there, but what we could eat we ate heartily & thoroughly enjoyed ice cream at breakfast!).
We did bring in some water in our stainless steel bottles w/an extra gallon jug of water to avoid the chlorinated/fluoridated water & a few light snacks that were gluten free.
Due to budget constraints, we did NOT buy any souvenirs @ Disney (we did buy 3 t shirts for $10 at a shop in St Pete & some shark tooth necklaces that were $1 ea) and they wanted $9 EACH for one of the FREE buttons people talk about, nor did we pay for any pictures. We took our own pix & asked people walking by to snap a few of them.
We also didn’t buy any extra drinks at all, aside from ONE frozen lemonade one time at Disney for $4 & that was only because I was pregnant & about to pass out from the heat & pushing a double stroller everywhere w/people constantly walking in front of me. I nearly had a grabber having to hand over $4 for ONE drink, trust me! LOL I have NEVER spent more than a $1 -1.50 on a drink, & even that I haven’t done for 10 years because I always just bring water (we even order water in the rare occurrence we actually go to a restaurant)… I don’t drink coffee, soda, etc. but that lemonade was the best I ever had! LOL
All the way to FL & back home we stopped at grocery stores & bought food to eat. We made sandwiches in our van, ate gluten free cereal we bought if we couldn’t eat anything @ the continental breakfasts, & cooked in the condo kitchen. Even buying food at pricey grocery stores because we were unfamiliar w/which ones were budget friendly being out of state, we still saved a bundle because we prepared it ourselves. We also ate way healthier than eating fast food.
We have some friends who were able to get amazing deals via Disney.com that included the fancy meals, airfare, Disney hotel, & park admission so if you need airfare, I would give them a try.
DEFINITELY go during OFF-peak season to save money & to avoid insanely long lines.. we went in Feb. Also, some friends got caught there in rain & cool weather, so be sure to plan for all kinds of weather just in case so you don’t end up buying clothing at a store or Disney like my friend had to do to keep her kids warm.
Have fun!!
Disney has always had a policy that coolers and food/drink are allowed. We have always taken whatever size we need even, depending on how many people we have with us…ranging from a lunch pack size to a normal large cooler. It’s great they have this policy! Strange that it wasn’t like that for you?..
Hmmmmmm, I remember seeing it mentioned when I was trying to decide if we should bring a wagon or stroller & then I saw wagons weren’t allowed. I just checked their site & it says:
Suitcases, coolers or backpacks with or without wheels larger than 24″ (61 cm) long x 15″ (38 cm) wide x 18″ (46 cm) high. Coolers required for medication may be stored in a locker or at Guest Relations.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/restricted-personal-items/
Q. Can I bring my own food into theme parks and Disney Resort hotels?
A. Guests are allowed to bring food items—such as snacks or foods that do not require heating—into Disney theme parks. Inform a Security Cast Member of any food items when you enter the park.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/outside-food-and-drink/
That blows my mind! Apparently you CAN bring them, but they have to be smaller in size. It also says you can bring snacks, but no food that you will want to be reheated. I even called the 800# to verify no coolers because I read online about being able to bring them in & that was when the Disney rep told me that people w/allergy issues could bring snacks in (as an exception) & to let them know when you entered you had food because of allergies. WEIRD!!
Anyway, scratch that part of my previous post… the rest still stands :).
We took a coolie bag last year. One of those insulated bags. Had no problem.
Planning a Disney trip is more complex than probably what you can glean from just the comments alone. However, I would say that you get more bang for your buck the more days you stay. You may find that you aren’t really out of pocket that much more if you pack your meals and go extra days.
While Disney may seem “expensive” to me it’s one of the few places where you can do so much. If I were to take my family to a zoo, sightseeing, a theme park, to movies and shows, I would spend so much more and not get to do as much.
Lastly, this is all a matter of opinion, but we prefer Disney over Universal b/c Disney is more family oriented. I find that many of the shows and characters associated with Universal are not something I want my kids watching so for us I know we can go to Disney and not have to worry about that. The exception might be some stuff at Hollywood Studios but you can avoid that. Again…just my opinion.
And, if you can go during free dining, it’s totally worth it.
I am a frequent Disney visitor. I live in Florida so it’s a little cheaper for us but we have cut our costs since kids were born. One suggestion I would make is to compare the cost of staying off property with value resort. You have to factor in parking as well. If you drive in from your offsite hotel, will you have to pay parking? How much is that? The transportation provided for off site hotels are not as good as onsite. If you stay onsite, parking is usually included and the bus transport to parks is more reliable. We have found that it is sometimes the same price or cheaper when taking this into account.
Other things we do: eat breakfast in room, bring snacks to park, bring your own water bottle and refill at water fountain, eat smaller meals instead of sit down in park, eat outside the park. We usually do dinner off site, there is a shopping center right outside Downtown Disney with lots of options. As always, set a budget. I find food can be a great place to save money. Don’t be tempted to go to overpriced sit down meals. Instead, grab something simple to eat. Also, it will save you time so you can enjoy more of park.
Have an amazing time. Disney is great at any age. It can be the experience of a lifetime. HOpe you find a way to do it and love it! Good luck.
We were there last October and I would recommend staying on site. They have very affordable accomodations at a few of the newer value hotels. Plus you get some perks like magic hours, transportation, and drinks. We usually go to Disneyland, so Disneyworld was a nice change for us. My kids enjoyed Animal Kingdom the most, followed by Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, then in last place Epcot. They prefer not to go back to epcot the next time we go. If you go in the fall they usually do a free meal plan with your booking. Contact Lily Lahora at Destinations Florida and she will get you the best deal available plus she goes all the time and can give you some great insite! You can find Lily Lahora on Facebook.
Check out “Couponing to Disney”! It is a great blog with a ton of tips. We just got back from our honeymoon, or shall I say, “Disneymoon” and it was a BLAST! We stayed 8 days and nights and had the time of our lives. I found a lot of discounts to use, and we did use a disney dining plan because it was our honeymoon and we figured it would be the only time we would splurge a little! It ended up not even being that bad! With the dining plan, you can order anything off the menu depending on if it is classified as an entree, etc. That meant NO GUILT for us as we ordered WHATEVER we wanted, because the bill always came up as $0! I know that had we not done that, I would have eating a PBJ or chicken sandwich at every meal feeling guilty. Since you’re only thinking 2 days, a dining plan might not be worth it– but if you extended by a day or two, you could get a great deal! 2 days is not enough time to truly enjoy Disney without feeling crazy rushed. We were there for 8 and I’m serious…we didn’t do everything we wanted to! Magic Kingdom is the absolute most fantastic and wonderful park ever. It truly is magical. We went as many nights as we could for the parade, show on the castle, and fireworks. MAKE SURE not to miss that!!! Also, hollywood was truly fun if your kids like rides. GET fastpasses for sure, and we got all souveniers at the walmart outside disney property.
For sure do character meals instead of standing in line to meet the characters. This way they come to you while you are eating and its a real experience. No sense in wasting 30mins-an hour for a picture.
Ticket prices go down the more days that you are there, like 3 days is about the same price as a 10 day ticket.
Even though your kiddos are older, the might still want a little bit of a break so it might be nice to grab a snack and take the train ride around magic kingdom and enjoy a little time off their feet.
If a line is more than 20minutes long, grab a fast pass and come back later. No sense in wasting time there either.
I live an hour outside of Orlando and our family of five purchases annual passes every year to different parks.
My advice:
*Forget about Disney unless your kids are huge Disney fans. Disney Parks are for the young kids with only a couple of coasters that are worth the wait between all of the parks. PLUS, Disney Parks are more expensive than all of the other area theme parks.
*Consider Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure especially if they are Harry Potter fans. Both parks are connected, but separated. Universal usually has deals for purchasing both parks for a very discounted price.
*If your kids love sea life go to SeaWorld Orlando. The shows are amazing – especially the Christmas shows- plus you can do add-ons like pet a dolphin for $7 (yes $7) and penguins ($30). SeaWorld has a couple of coasters that are great!
*If you do SeaWorld, they usually have deals for Busch Gardens Tampa and Aquatica – a year round waterpark (water is heated in the winter. Aquatica is better than the other Orlando waterparks in my opinion, trumped only by Wet ‘n Wild if you are into death defying water slides.
*Don’t forget about Busch Gardens in Tampa (1.5 hrs away) especially if your kids like animals. Busch Gardens blows away Animal Kingdom! Plus, the Cheetah Hunt and the other coasters are the best in the area. Bottle feed a baby kangaroo ($10), feed kangaroos ($5), and add a Jeep Safari for about $40 pp. Shows and food are great (especially for theme park food). Busch Gardens is a two day park – one for animals and one for the coasters.
*If you must do Disney do Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Epcot is for the older crowd who go every year for the flower show in spring and the food show. Busch Gardens in Tampa is better than Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is classic Disney and Hollywood Studios has a few shows and a couple of rides that are worth the wait.
I disagree with those who say Disney and saying money don’t go together. It CAN totally be done. It’s just a matter of what you want to spend on and what’s worth saving more on. We took our 5 year old twins and a 1 1/2 year old and had a blast! We were fortunate to have an RV so we stayed at a non-Disney campground, 10 minutes away from Disney. It cost us $100 for the week. We’d have breakfast in the RV, pack snacks, drinks and lunch for at the park. Then dinner was back at the RV or once or twice in the park but we share our meals with the kids.
We enjoyed Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios most. We did do Epcot and Animal Kingdom too. I agree there wasn’t as much at Animal Kingdom but we just focused on things we couldn’t do at home like the Lion King show and safari ride and skipped the zoo like tour.
For little kids we brought glow sticks from the Dollar Tree for at night time. Also the Walmarts carry the same gift merchandise by the same distributor for Disney at a 1/3 of the cost.
Even with deals Disney resorts are way over priced and other hotels in the area offer shuttle service as well.
It’s a great experience and doesn’t need to break the bank.
We’re leaving for our 3rd trip (in 3 years) to Disney tomorrow. One of the biggest cost savers for us was to buy tickets through Undercover Tourist (online). They sell discount tickets for most of the major parks including Disney parks, Sea World and Universal. I am a bit biased, and I think Walt Disney World is worth every penny. It’s about experiencing the magic of it all! If you’re trying to save $, you definitely want to take a backpack with water bottles and snacks. My favorite park is Magic Kingdom. I didn’t care for Animal Kingdom as much. We had a great breakfast and a safari ride, but there wasn’t much else drawing my attention… Also, there is a small town right near called Celebration, FL. You can go there for some great meals that are often cheaper than the meals at the parks. It’s also a beautiful little place to slow down the pace when needed. Mousesavers.com is a great site for advice, and also there is a Moms panel on the WDW site. They have the best answers to all of your questions. Even if they’re not related directly to WDW. Have fun planning!
I purchased our tickets about half prices from the Children’s Hospital of Florida online. Plus the money goes to Charity so it’s a win/win!
Do they have a website?
I’ve done the same thing. Buy your tickets from Florida Children’s Hospital. They even included a $50 gift card to Planet Hollywood.
I can’t say enough wonderful things about couponingtodisney.com. Disney can be overwhelming, but the site has everything to help you plan, and pay for it without being overwhelmed or coming home with maxed credit cards. It also has great in-depth reviews and testimonials about all the Disney attractions so that you know what will be the must see things on your list.
I have been to Disney 3 times with my family of 5. We only visit one park each time we go. 2 times we went for free from saving up gift cards, etc. This summer we went for $57.04 for all 5 of us. I even wrote a book on my tips on how I went to free and how I saved up for sale on Amazon. It is called “How I went to Disney for Free, Tips on how you can too”. Hopefully it can help you out and cut your spending costs.
YES!!!.. ( we are going in 2 days ! ) we do not have a lot of money. we went last year for “the once in a life time trip” and with a problem with out flight we got free airfare for this year !!
There are a ton of sites on line about Disney.. ( all ears, Disney’s Mom’s panel, just google Disney.)These people have this place tapped !
Go in the off season.. yes September is a non peak season. We are taking advantange of 2 deals. 30% off hotel and free meal plan.
We bring food with us.. and order groceries delivered to the hotel. If you are driving you can get them at the local store.
You will have a wonderful time.. and do not have to go into debt to do it. !
Sue in NJ
We leave in a week! We are staying onsite with free dining. I am thinking their faves will be: MK & AK. The more days you go, the cheaper it is. After 3 or 4 day tickets, it is only $10 per day per ticket. Our offsite backup plan was Windsor Hills (close & cheap)- we were going to get a condo w/ kitchen for 7 nts for $560. Bring your own food to save $. or buy large snacks as meals (ex. cinnamon rolls in MK, loaded baked potato– do your research ahead of time and it will save you some $). Be there for park opening to fit in a lot of rides. Break mid day and go back in the evening. I love the Unofficial Guide and Easywdw. CHeck out Undercover Tourist for tickets if staying offsite. Our travel agent is Shawn King from 3D Travel and we love her. Check out the disboards.com for answers to everything you can think of.
57 days until we leave! Yes, I’ve been counting down… since it was about 180 days, haha. And it’s not like this is the only trip for us, we just went in January! It’s pretty much the only trip we take every year, but it’s always a blast.
We took our 3 girls two years ago. They were 12, 8 and 5 at the time. Our least favorite park was Animal Kingdom. We did not expect this, but they LOVED Epcot. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are great too.
We stayed at a Disney resort. The All-Star hotels are actually pretty reasonable. You also get early admission to a certain park each day. Not having to worry about driving and parking are a huge plus. We also got the dining plan. In my opinion (I’m sure others feel differently), the dining plan is well worth the price. We ate many places and got to try many different things (i.e. dessert) that we would not have otherwise. You will definitely save money by bringing your own food and snacks into the park. I am thankful that they allow that now! We went to an amusement park this summer where a bottle of water was $4.50….
A trip to Disney is very special. I agree with the poster that said “saving money” and “Disney” do not really go together. We saved carefully for our trip so that we were able to enjoy every minute while we were there. It was a fabulous vacation that we will always remember. Could we have saved some money on some things? Probably! We don’t know if we will ever be able to go back again, so I don’t regret a single penny that we spent!
Two days would be perfect. At Power of Moms, we have an entire Disney Guide totally free that can walk you through your Disney experience (so you can make the most of your time and money). I used to work there, and I’m now a SoCal mom of four children, so I’ve put my best ideas into one spot here. Enjoy your trip!
http://www.powerofmoms.com/disney
My in-laws took us on a week long trip a few years ago, and we are planning a much shorter trip back again this year. Since we will not be staying as long (to save money!), my husband and I immediately said we would not return to Animal Kingdom. I wouldn’t have minded skipping Epcot, but my husband loved it. It has a lot more science/interactive type things. If you go to Epcot, make plans to stay for the light show…best part of the day! I just really enjoyed taking my kids on the rides and taking in the shows, so I would suggest Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
I agree with one of the other commenters, sign up for Mousesavers.com’s email updates. We have booked a hotel through their tips, and saved quite a lot. We will be staying in the Downtown Disney hotels (got a great rate through Mousesavers, including no extra resorts fees and breakfast) , which provides free shuttles every 30 minutes, to save on parking.
Reseach the parks first, so you know which rides are most popular, then immediately get a Fast Pass for those when you enter the park. It will save so much time! (Buzz Lightyear in Hollywood Studios was the most popular Disney ride when we went. Sometimes the wait would be 1 1/2 hours without a fast pass! With one, you would only wait about 10 minutes. )
Definitely try to go in the off-season. We started our trip during a busy time, and finished it in the off-season. The first few days, it was not unusual to wait an hour or longer for a ride. When the crowds had all left to go back to school (we were homeschooling that year), we were able to hop onto almost any ride within 10 minutes. The difference was amazing!
Get a map the night before you go and plan where to go. The first day we went, we didn’t do this, and I felt a lot of time was wasted. Every day after that, I mapped out a general, loose schedule of what we wanted to see, and it helped a lot. It is especially helpful to know when the parades and shows begin.
Lastly, if you know you have a bit of time to plan, take time to plan the trip and buy when you see a deal. My in-laws were very gracious to take us, but it must have cost a fortune! They paid up front for everything for a big, flat fee with no huge discounts. My husband and I have been planning our next trip for two years, buying portions of it at a time! : ) We picked up discounted park tickets at a silent auction a year ago, other tickets before the annual price increase about 3 months ago (alerted by Mousesavers and at a discount from Undercover Tourist), our hotel was just booked last week when Mousesavers let us know of some great off-season hotel deals. Amazingly, we are even flying this time, because we got roundtrip plane tickets about 5 months ago for around $120 per person! (We live in WI, and I never would have thought we could afford to fly with our kids!) Buying everything a bit at a time when we found a good deal, instead of all at once allowed us to find discounts on every aspect of the trip! : )
Buzz Lightyear is in Magic Kingdom. Toy Story Mania is in Hollywood studios. If you’re wanting to do Toy Story Mania (which is really FUN,) get there before park open, RUN to the ride and get fast passes, then stand in line for the ride. It can have a wait as long as 180 minutes (from what we saw when we were there).
I agree with the previous comments. I have a four year old daughter that I frequently take to the parks because I am a Florida Resident Pass holder. The biggest saving grace is preparing BEFORE your trip. I purchase Disney gummy snacks and treats that I know my daughter will love so that I don’t have to spend a fortune at the parks.I also bring an insulated lunch box or cooler so that I can carry my own water bottles. The dollar store near me sells the individual lemonade or fruit punch packs that you can add to water bottles, so when we are eating lunch or dinner I add those to the FREE cups of ice water that the restaurants are required to give you if you ask, that cuts down on the begging for sodas which will put you back an additional $3 per person per meal. If you plan on eating at the parks restaurants keep in mind that the meals are generally a good size…my daughter and I usually share.
A few important things to bring are items that you can find at your local dollar store. Things like Ponchos, sunblock, Tylenol, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, baby powder, sunglasses, spray misters or portable fans etc. These are items that you might not think you will need but living in Florida my whole life I can tell you that you will more then likely need these items and not want to pay the park prices for them. They know most people will purchase these items out of desperation and will pay the highly inflated prices for them, so it’s much more affordable to purchase these items at the dollar store or bring them with you from home.
Do your research on where to stay before you arrive for your trip. Most hotels offer shuttles to and from the park which will save you around $15 a day for parking.
I’ve also found a way to save some money on souvenirs for my daughter as well. If you plan on staying for the parades later on in the night I recommend purchasing some glow necklaces and bracelets from the dollar store or any party store. They are significantly cheaper then at the park and my daughter is thrilled to have them to wave around during the parade. If your young ones will want to have the characters sign a signature book its also better to buy a Disney notepad from the Dollar store or Walmart before you leave. It is much more affordable then purchasing at the parks and they will never know the difference.
I don’t know if your a pass holder or not but if you ask whenever you purchase a souvenir or eat at a restaurant about pass holder discounts you will usually get about 20% off.
On a non-money saving note…make sure to get fast-passes for the more popular rides to save you from waiting hours and hours in line!
Hope this helps!
I worked at Disney for a semester. Febuary is a great month to go! Great weather (light jacket in the evening) and just before the rush of spring break… hardly any lines to wait in!
We went in February several years ago and you are so right! Watch out for President’s Day weekend- the Friday before was much busier than the rest of the week had been. Otherwise no lines over 10 minutes. Temps in the 70’s. Wonderful!
Two parks in two days is definitely the least cost efficient way to go.
I would second Micayla’s comment and also add that trying to cram too much into any one or two days is a one way ticket to disaster. I would suggest sticking with one park if you are only able to visit for two days and try to find time to enjoy your resort. If you are thinking of staying at a moderate or value resort, look for free dining to maximize your savings. If you are thinking of staying at a deluxe or villa resort, seek out a room discount. Have a great time!
Saving money and the words “Disney” really do not go together. The only reason we are going is due to Disney dollars I have collected on my Visa. The Disney dollars will pay for the admission. Staying off property will save you a ton of money. We have rented a 4-bedroom 3-townhouse for a little over $950 for 6 days. Depending on where you live, flying might be cheaper if you put a dollar value on your time and wear-and-tear on your car. Sometimes Southwest vacations has good package deals that include admission tickets. Southwest does not own the travel agency that runs the deals and you are not permitted to make any changes to your reservations once you have made them. At the age of your children, Epcot and Hollywood Studios may be your best choices.
I went last year with a 16 year old, 8 year old, and 7 year old. Hollywood Studios was the 16 year olds favorite, and Magic Kingdom the other twos favorite. We all enjoyed Epcot but we did spent about 2 days there. I stayed on property at a value resort, I know there could be cheaper places to stay but the advantage of not paying for parking on the day we left and using Disney Transportation the rest of the time is worth the cost, which really was not much more then other hotels. Bring your own food, or eat the kids meals at counter service places, they do not ask you who they are for. Also, bring your own water bottles (and flavoring if you like), there is water fountains to fill up at or free ice water from counter service resturants.
Just please know that Orlando’s water is absolutely horrible tasting! If we had not had flavorings with us to add to the bottles (and sometimes it required a lot!) we could not have stomached the water! Tastes like it’s straight from the swamps!
I love Epcot for older kids. It is great for kids who love science and gadgets. We stay offsite and rent a car to drive in each day. Some of the hotels offsite have a mini-fridge and toasters. We can eat breakfast in the room and grab dinner after we leave the park.
Please don’t take them to Disney.. They are at the age where Universal Studios would be such a funner place for them. We just went last October and my youngest was just about to turn 9 the next week and my oldest was 10 1/2. We did Magic Kingdom 1 day and the 2 Universals the other. The 1st one was the best with Harry Potter world. Magic Kingdom was really a waste, with the exception of Space Mountain..
I am with Ryan- I take high school and middle school groups to Orlando with my company.
I discourage people from going to DW because US is just so much more fun!
Plus the transportation at DW from park-to-park takes up too much of your day.
However, if you are doing Disneyland in Anaheim- go for it!
I think it’s a lot more fun because it’s more compact (walking between parks).
I second Universal! Just returned from there in February with my 14, 9 and 7 yr old boys. They loved it and didn’t feel like they “missed out” on disney at all!
If you do Universal, make sure both kids are over 54″. There are a LOT of rides that you have to be that tall for. My daughter found it rather dull not getting to go on them. I can’t imagine spending 2 days at Universal. One day for both was plenty for us.
If you have the resolve and will-power…go to a timeshare presentation that offers discount tickets.
I know, I know. People will probably blast me for this. As I said, only do this if you have the resolve to make it through the whole presentation and still say “no”. You can get some REALLY cheap tickets that way.
If not, I do recommend the following:
If you’re buying the tickets online, pay the extra few bucks for the “no expiration” option on the passes. This was a lifesaver for us because hubby and I bought 3-day park-hopper passes for our honeymoon (we’re Florida residents, so we got a good deal) and our first day there, hubby developed stomach flu, passed it to me, and we spent the rest of the week watching sitcom reruns and puking on one another. Thank God we got the no-expiration option, and we could use the last 2 days on the passes for our first anniversary.
TAKE FOOD WITH YOU! I cannot emphasize this enough. Pack a cooler with snacks, juice, and sandwiches, because you REALLY don’t ant to spend park prices on food.
Don’t buy the photos they try to sell you either. The park has employees that walk around with cameras. They take pictures and then give you a chip to carry with you if you want to order photos. But don’t be pressured into buying anything you don’t want. Wait until you get home to look through the pictures and see if there are any shots you feel you absolutely must have. Odds are, the pictures you take yourself will be better and more memorable.
Get a few free things. If this is your kids’ first visits, or if you’re celebrating a birthday or something, ask at the front desk for their celebration buttons. They have special buttons that say things like “It’s My Birthday” or “My First Visit”. Employees look for people wearing these buttons and sometimes give them special treatment. Hubby and I always get anniversary buttons, since we always go on our anniversary. Even if they don’t treat you special, you still got a free button out of it. A nice souvenir.
Stay at one of the smaller hotels to save money. The resorts are nice, and offer interesting experiences, but seeing how young your kids are, I think they’d be happy enough just to go to the parks. Most of the nuances of the on-site resorts will probably go over their heads until they’re older.
Shop for souvenirs OUTSIDE the park. Most of the local Walmarts, drugstores, etc. in that area carry licensed Disney merchandise at a fraction of what it costs to buy the stuff in the park. If your kids want something like a towel or bathrobe with their favorite character on it, chances are you can find it a lot cheaper at one of the stores on your way back home.
If you can, go during the off season and on a weekday. The busiest days are during the summer and on weekends. By going on a Wednesday or Thursday, the park will be less crowded, meaning the lines will be shorter and you’ll get to do more.
I’ve lived in Florida my entire life. I’ve only gone to Disney a handful of times, but you learn quick what to do and what to avoid. There are several websites that can help you get the most out of your vacation. allears.net is a great website with lots of information as is mouseplanet.com.
Good luck, and hope you guys have an awesome time! 🙂
I agree that a timeshare presentation is a CHEAP way to go to Disney. My mantra during those is “You’ve got a great product, but we’re just here for the free stuff.” Just keep repeating it and it will be over quickly. We did this several years ago over Thanksgiving and stayed at an offsite hotel (Wyndham, I think) for $150.00 for five nights plus we got 2 free tickets to one of the parks (Universal Studios). We picked up a coupon book for discounts on food and did the whole shebang (2 adults, 2 kids, gas, four parks, and food) for about $1,000.00. Definitely worth the 2 hour presentation.
I agree…do the timeshare presentation! We actually did that to get a discounted rate for our hotel for the week (offsite from a Disney resort), and stayed an entire week for under $300. If we could have fit in another timeshare presentation into our week’s schedule, we would have done it for discounted Disney tickets. For a family of 5, it was quite expensive!
Where do you get info on timeshares for tickets and hotel
If you homeschool or don’t mind taking your kids out of school, go during the off season. I disagree with staying offsite. The value resorts at Disney are awesome, and you can get a room for as little as $80 a night during certain times of the year. This saves on parking at the parks ($15/day). You don’t have to worry about transportation at all…you can take Disney transportation to the parks. Definitely get to the parks first thing in the morning and hit the most popular attractions first. And use fastpasses for later in the day when the lines get longer.
Yes, and if you check online, sometimes you can get dining plans for free with onsite reservations, even at the value resorts. So then some of your food would be free, too.
If you are lucky enough to get a free dining plan with a table service, then use thsoe to help give more fun experiences with character dining. We went last year at the last minute and I was able to get 5 character meals which meant other disney “attractions” for the kids. We had 2 early morning breakfasts which got us into the parks early. That was great for pictures at Epcot and Magic Kingdom with no one else in the picture. We also had a character breakfast on the morning that we left – so the kids still had a Disney experience without going into the park.
I think that I did pretty well for our first trip… $1,900 for 5 nights at Pop Century for 2 adults and 2 kids, free dining (which we used for 5 character meals), 4 days in the park (no hopper pass). The character meals alone would have cost us close to $600. We used our snack credits for to get snacks for the trip home as well as a few snack “souvenirs” for friends and family.
I’m sure some of the Disney pros out there can even come up with a better deal.
I think you have to shop around for a deal. We did not go in the off season, so we stayed offsite. It was only a short walk to the entrance to the park (one mile exactly from our door to the turnstiles), so we didn’t have to pay for parking.
We also had a fridge in our room, and ate the majority of meals from there. We only ate once at the park, in Toontown, where you can get a (relatively) cheap hot dog at Pluto’s Doghouse.
Before you go, buy some glow stuff (like bracelets) before you go so your kids aren’t begging you for some at night at the parks, which will be significantly more expensive. You can even buy other Disney souvenirs before you go and give them to the kids when you get to the park, including an autograph book, if they’re into that.
There are free things at the park to take advantage of. My son got a badge at City Hall that said he’s a first-timer. Here’s good link with more examples:
http://blog.touringplans.com/2013/06/21/free-stuff-at-disneyland/
We bought our souvenirs at Wal-Mart and paid a LOT less than at the park and the kids were just as happy. We also stayed off site and when we combined the cost of our room and parking, it was still much less than the onsite rooms. I did name your own price on Priceline and got a room at the Best Western for $25 a night (this was in April of 2005 though, so I can not confirm you can get it at that price now). Even throwing in the free meals you might be able to get onsite, it was still a less expensive option. Having said that, we would still consider staying on site in the future. You really do need to check the prices and deals that are available. I would not mind paying a little more to stay on site just for the fun and convenience of it, but if you really need to pinch pennies, chances are, it is still less expensive to stay offsite.
Where did you find a hotel for $80–The cheapest one I could find was $200s
Our kids love sea world and Magic Kingdom. We haven’t been to any of the other disney parks… But Sea World you definitely want to get a map and schedule of the shows. You do not want to go to Sea World and miss the shows… We were so close to the Whale Show we could have walked five steps and touched the whale. It was So Cool. If you stay late at Magic Kingdom, the lines go down as well and you don’t have to wait as long. Take the fairy over and the subway back to parking or vice versa. Both are a fun adventure for the family. Do not take Capri Sun type drinks. The straws are not allowed. They do not want any animals choking on the straws. If you can book two months in advance stay in Kissimmee at West Gate Resorts Villas. It is approximately 5 miles from all the attractions. It is beautiful and reasonable if you can book early. They had a full kitchen, washer, dryer, full living room, king suite, balcony, loft , separate bedroom with two full sized beds and two full sized bathrooms. It was lovely. We went to walmart and stocked up on breakfast items and cooked every morning, ate snack items during the day and bought dinner there. The most reasonable place I found was in Fantasy Land I think. It was this chicken diner. It was delicious and affordable.
You can do it without it being too expensive. Drive rather than fly. Stay offsite instead of Disney hotels. Bring food into the park (which they do allow.) Make sure you show up early, before the announced opening time and do the most popular attractions first so you can see as much as possible in a day. My favorite resources are the book “The unnofficial guide to Walt Disney World” and http://www.easywdw.com. Look especially at the theme park “cheat sheets” on easywdw.
Exactly what Mark said! We just got back a few weeks ago! Get the book–we found ours at the library. Also, look at Mousesavers.com. Lots of info there. Get a good backpack/bag. We went with our 17 and 10 year olds. Had a great time at those ages! We most enjoyed Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. While we did also love most of Epcot, it is so huge you really need more than a day. Also, we could have skipped the whole “world tour” part and never missed it. Be prepared to go early and stay late. You will be exhausted, but a good kind of exhausted! 🙂
Be sure to check what the parks allow for food. Some only allow “Snack” items.
I agree with Mark. We went this past June and we brought our full lunch & snacks to each of the Disney parks each day along with water bottles (Disney parks allow food into their parks). This saved a fortune! We ended up splurging and buying an ice cream treat each day we were there which was close to $4 each. We went early, before the parks opened and waited in line at the gates. This let us ride the popular rides without waiting, which paid off hugely!! Be sure to know ahead of time what the kids want to do & see at the parks you pick and put that on the top of your list for that day. My kids are 8 & 12 and my 12 year old loved Animal Kingdom. Both had tons of fun at Hollywood Studios and of course since neither had been to any of the Disney parks before this trip they both LOVED Disney World! We stayed in a rental vacation home (we went with family, there were 12 of us all in the same 6 bedroom house) which made our lodging super cheap when you divided it out between us. Your biggest expense will probably be your park tickets. Have fun, I know I did 🙂 !!