Money Saving Tips at Disney World WDW

Money Saving Tips at Disney World

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This is an updated list of money saving tips at Disney World and surrounding areas.  Now if we are going to determine how to save money, first need to examine where we spendmoney!  Typically resort guests spend money in the following five areas:

1. Transportation Expenses
2. Park Tickets
3. Lodging
4. Food
5. Souvenirs

It really breaks down to these five areas.  We have tried to gather a comprehensive list of tips and links in these five areas that can help you in your quest to bring down your overall Disney budget!

Money Saving Tips at Disney World – Packages

Before we get into the five main areas, here are a few hints on Disney packages that can help you bring the cost down in multiple categories at once!

• Check Disney’s website often for deals and upcoming events
• Call Disney to see if there are any additional deals not listed on the website
• Use a travel agent to get personalized service and to take advantage of all potential deals that are out there
• Take advantage of “Free Dining” periods when staying onsite

Money Saving Tips – Park Tickets

• Buy Tickets from a Discount Ticket Vendor such as:
• Use AAA to get discounted tickets
• If you work for a large company, check with your HR dept to see if they have special deals
• Consider annual passes if you travel to Disney more than once a year
• Member of the military?  Check for military discounts directly through Disney
• Consider online auction sites such as Ebay for further discounts, although this may carry some risk depending on who you buy the tickets from

Money Saving Tips – Lodging

• Go off-season to get the best prices on lodging
• Stay offsite at local hotels using traditional discount online booking tools such as Undercover Tourist!
• Consider renting a house if you are travelling with another family.  You can significantly lower the cost of your stay and gain the food benefits of having a full kitchen.
• Try booking resorts a level underneath your preference.  You can then attempt to try and get an invitational upgrade to a higher level resort.  This certainly isn’t a guarantee but some guests have been able to do this especially during the off-season.
• AAA can offer major discounts on stays at the Disney World resorts as well as hotels outside of the Disney complex.

Money Saving Tips – Food

• Bring snacks with you.  If you are flying, consider shipping a box to the resort in advance.
• Use Amazon’s free shipping to send bottled waters and other food snacks to your resort
• Hot and thirsty at the parks?  Most counter-service restaurants will give you free ice water in a cup.
• Know when sit-down restaurants shift to dinner time (usually around 4).  Try and eat dinner between 3-4 to get lunch prices, and snack later on at night.
• If you use the Disney Dining plan, you can get a drink with your meal.  Drink tap water for lunch and get a bottled water to go.
• Club Cool at Epcot allows you to get free soda!  Stop by and sample soda from all across the world.
• Try and get a fridge in your room.  Breakfasts and/or lunches can easily be made.  Don’t forget to bring necessities such as plasticware and paper bowls/plates.
• Bring snacks and bottled waters into the parks.  Everyone does it and Disney doesn’t seem to mind.
• If you go to Disney in the off-season you can often get “Free Disney Dining” packages that can save a tremendous amount on food costs.

Money Saving Tips – Souvenirs

• Buy souvenirs BEFORE you go to Disney.  You can purchase them at stores at home, or go to Orlando outlet malls.  The “Character Warehouse” is very close to Disney world.  This outlet store sells official Disney merchandise for heavily discounted prices.
• Have a “souvenir day” near the end of your vacation.  Let the first half of your vacation be for window shopping only, and then allow yourself to buy all the souvenirs on one day.
• Glow sticks and bracelets.  You can buy these at the Dollar Tree or Walmart for very low prices.  Then you bring them to the park and pull them out at night!  Kids all around will be jealous, and if you buy the glow sticks from the street vendors, you will spend a lot of money!
• Ponchos are a purchase everyone will potentially make in the frequently changing weather of Florida.  Summer storms come through and you will get absolutely drenched without one.  Bring them beforehand!  They are easy to store in bags and can be purchased for 75% less when you buy them at home.

Money Saving Tips – Transportation Expenses

• Flying to Disney?  Use airline programs such as Southwest’s “Ding” alert service to send you alerts when certain flights get cheaper.
• Off-season is a great time for cheap rental cars and flights
• Staying onsite?  Disney has free parking if you have a car, and free transportation throughout the facility

Hopefully these tips can help your family to save money at Disney World!

Let’s dive deeper into one of these areas:  Lodging.

Disney Lodging Deals

Choosing where to stay at Disney World can have a significant impact on your Disney budget.  However, there are a few things you need to know about all of the different choices you may make.  Today we will discuss the three main ways you can stay at Disney, as well as the Pros and Cons of each choice.  We’ll also discuss how you can find some good disney lodging deals in the three different categories.  The three categories are onsite, offsite hotel and finally an offsite rental home.

Staying Onsite

Pros

Staying at a Disney resort has many advantages.  First of all, you can get the dining plans.  Many find that the Dining Plan makes their stay much more enjoyable.  Second, resort guests can book restaurants 1-10 days earlier than non-resort guests.  Third, transportation around the resort is free, as is parking at all facilities.  You also can get picked up at the airport free!  Finally, Disney theming is remarkable!  Each resort has its own “flavor”, and you feel you are on vacation the entire time.  The Disney experience doesn’t end when you leave the parks and head to your hotel, it ends when you go home.

Cons

There are only two cons to staying onsite, and the first is money.  Even if you get the best possible deals on these resorts, you can save money by staying in a local hotel or rental home.  There are ways to bring the price down, but it still won’t be as inexpensive as some of the area hotels.  The second con is the lack of space and quality in the lower end rooms.  The value resorts (where most cost-conscious guests stay) have rooms that are small, and are certainly not packed with amenities.  If you aren’t going to be in your rooms very often, this may not matter.  But have realistic expectations about the quality of the rooms in the value resorts.  They may remind you of a lower end motel chain.

Ways to Save Money at Onsite Resorts
The primary way to save money onsite is by going in the off-season.  This will get you the best rates.  If you try going in the summer of during crowded vacation periods, your rates will be much higher no matter where you stay.  Once you’ve decided when to go, there are a few things you need to do:

The first thing is to familiarize yourself with the different plans and packages that Disney has.  We have a number of good articles on this.  Second, look over the different promotions that Disney runs on their website.  Third, CALL Disney to try and get any additional promotions.  If you are a member of AAA or are military or ex-military, you may qualify for additional discounts.  When booking big packages, make sure and ask what the rates are for AAA.  You may find it beneficial to join AAA just for a Disney trip!

Finally, just to be sure, get in touch with a Disney Travel Agent and give them all the information that you provided to Disney.  They may be able to find additional deals and promotions that you weren’t able to, due to their vast experience booking vacations!

Staying at an Offsite Hotel

Pros

Staying off-site opens up a large number of choices.  Orlando is a big town and there are hundreds of hotels to choose from.  You can use reward points, discount websites and find endless ways to lower your overall bill.

Dollar for dollar, you will also have MUCH nicer rooms than you will if you are staying onsite.  If you plan on spending a lot of time in the rooms, this might be a consideration.

Many hotels also offer free breakfasts, which can certainly save you significant money on food.

Cons

You will have to either rent a car or pay for shuttle transportation to Disney.  This will include parking costs for each day at the Disney parks. Also, some local hotels have parking rates just to stay at the hotel!  Before you choose a hotel, make sure and find out the following things, as you can easily spend much more money than you originally thought you would.

• Transportation costs to/from airport
• Parking rates at hotel
• Transportation costs to/from Disney
• Daily Disney parking costs
• Cost of breakfast

While this may seem like a lot of money, the key thing to remember is that even with these charges, you can still save money if you choose the right hotels. Just do your research. I highly recommend Hotels.com to help you figure out the best hotels to stay in.

The other negatives have to do with the loss of atmosphere.  My family typically feels like we are leaving Disney World each time you go off-grounds.  Many other families have felt the same when staying off-site.  You lose a little of the “Magic” when you stay off-site and is something to consider.

Ways to Save Money at Offsite Hotels

Everyone that travels has used travel sites, such as Expedia, Priceline and Travelocity.  These sites can certainly help you find great hotel deals in the Disney area.  Use memberships such as AAA to bring down hotel room and rental car rates.

Have you found a hotel that you want to stay at?  Use google and type in the name of the hotel followed with “discount codes”.  You can potentially save 10-15% more on hotels!

Eat big breakfasts and try and eat small lunches.  Take advantage of the free food as much as possible.

Try and avoid the hotels that have steep parking fees.   There are plenty of hotels with free parking that you can use.

Renting a House Offsite

Pros

Without a doubt, renting a house offsite is the cheapest way to go.  You can get a very nice house that can sleep 12 people for unbelievably cheap prices.  If you are going with another family, you can all share the home and spend 50% of what you would at a hotel.

Homes are nicer, have more room, have full kitchens, private pools, multiple TV’s, grills for cooking, game rooms and many other amenities that can make your vacation a blast.

Cons

You have to clean up after yourself, cook for yourself, and drive to Disney every day as there are no shuttles from private residences!  Just as with offsite hotels, you lose a little of the Disney magic, although the conveniences may make up for it.

You also need to factor in the loss of privacy if you are sharing a house with another family.  This may or may not be a “con” for you, but could be in the “pro” category, depending on who you are going with.  Finally, figure out the distance to the parks from the home you are renting.  Many of the homes are 5-10 miles away, and that can add time to your day.

Tips for Saving Money on Homes

First of all, once again, I’ll reiterate the importance of going in the off-season.  Home owners  know the peak seasons and adjust their prices accordingly.

ASK for discounts.  Remember that when it comes to home owners you are dealing with small businesses or individuals.  They may not have policies that they have to abide by, as major chains do.  If things are slow or they aren’t competing, they may be more likely to cut deals.

Repeat business.  Ask the owners if they give discounts to guests who have rented with them previously.  Many owners do this, giving significant discounts.  They do this because they like to find good renters that don’t damage the place!  Find a home owner or business that you like, build a relationship, and you can save significant money on rental homes.

While Rental homes aren’t for everybody, many people wouldn’t do it any other way, as it’s much easier to relax in a luxurious home than in a cramped hotel room.

Discount Disney World Tickets

When planning a trip to Disney, you must consider all avenues of saving money.  Whether you have a budget or not, finding discount disney world tickets can save you cash, especially if you have a large family.

Now before we look at the ways to cut corners on ticket prices, I do want you to understand one thing:

You will not be able to save a SIGNIFICANT amount of money from the base ticket prices.  At times, the best deals you will find will be 5-10% off.  So please understand that if you find a price that is “too good to be true”, it probably is.  Do some research.  This especially will be the case on 1 or 2 day park tickets.  If you are just going for the day, just go to the front gate and don’t bother with buying online.  You won’t save any money.

That being said, if you are staying for many days and have a large family, you could save a chunk of money, and you need to look at your options.  Let’s investigate a few ways that you can cut the costs on Disney World tickets.

Using a Ticket Broker

This is without question the easiest and safest way to cut costs.  Ticket brokers get unsold tickets from Disney at a discount and sell them back to the public for a small mark-up.  Millions of people have purchased tickets from these authorized re-sellers, so there is no need to worry about the legitimacy of these businesses.  Just go to the website, click on the ticket package you need, and buy the tickets.  It’s a very simple and easy process.

There are two ticket brokers I highly recommend.  Both of them have very similar pricing and are both well respected.

1. Undercover Tourist is a very respected ticket broker and has sold millions of guests tickets at prices cheaper than what you’d find at the gate.
2. Best of Orlando.  The good thing about Best of Orlando is that if you are staying off-grounds and also want to go to some of the Universal parks, you can get those tickets there as well.

Again, don’t expect deep discounts in the neighborhood of 20-30%.  That isn’t going to happen.  But you can still shave some money off of your total expenses if you use these sites.

Online Auction Sites

There are many who do not recommend online auction sites, such as Ebay or Craigslist.  Let’s look at these two websites and examine whether this is a route to take?

1. Craigslist – It is possible to get HEAVILY discounted tickets on Craigslist.  However, you have to get lucky.  You could also get scammed pretty easily.  If you can meet the person or pick them up at the individual’s house, you may feel ok with your decision.  A person that allows you to pick up tickets from their house is unlikely to scam you.  But please be careful.  Although many have purchased from Craigslist and gotten great deals, many have also been scammed.  I can’t recommend it for that reason.
2. Ebay –  Ebay is completely different than Craigslist.  Ebay has developed very good Buyer Protection programs.  If you buy from a respected Ebay seller, you should be ok.  However, there still is an element of risk, and quite honestly, you usually will not get great deals on Ebay.  Your best bet with Ebay is for a great seller to put a “Buy it Now” price that is much lower than they should, but that is pretty rare.  If you happen to find a great deal with a respected seller, I can recommend Ebay, but the odds of finding this are pretty low as most people know what Disney tickets are worth.

The bottom line with online sites is that you are unlikely to get deals that are significantly better.  If you have the time to hunt for weeks for an extra 20-50 dollars, feel free to try Ebay.  But I think just going ahead and buying from a discount broker is the wise choice.

AAA

Triple A may have significant discounts, depending on the AAA office where you live.  I’d highly recommend at least giving them a call and seeing what kind of deals they have.  At times you can find hotel and ticket deals they may actually be significant enough to warrant signing up with AAA if you aren’t a member.

Many times, their ticket prices won’t be significantly different than those you can get from ticket brokers, but it is worth a call.

Other Discounts

There are other ways to get deals.  If you work for a large corporation, you may have special ticket deals due to relationships between your company and Disney.  Check with your HR dept for details.

If you live in Florida, you can get deals for being a Florida resident.  You can get more info on these packages directly from Disney World or using a ticket broker.

Military veterans and families are also many times entitled to discount tickets.  Again, check with Disney directly or from the above listed ticket brokers.

Ultimately, ticket prices are not where you will save the bulk of your money at Disney.  I’d avoid spending too much time focusing on tickets,  as it is the one area where discounts are usually the smallest.

If you want to save money, use a discounted ticket broker.  This will allow you to move on to focus your attention on other areas of your vacation planning in which you can save significant amounts of money.

Do you know of any additional ways to save money on tickets? Let us know below!

We hope you enjoyed our section on Saving money.  At this point in your journey, you’ve learned three things:

Part One: Hints and Tips for staying ahead of the crowds at Disney World

Part Two: Details on how to Plan the perfect Disney vacation!

Part Three: Tips for Saving Money at Disney World

Next, we invite you to our section on Touring plans!  We have a touring plan for each park and we think you will find it very handy to print these out and use them later on!