As we’ve thoroughly documented, trips to Disney World can be pretty expensive. At the end of the day, there’s no truly cheap way to go to Disney World. You’ll always need park tickets, and unless you win those somewhere or get them as a gift, they’ll come at a decent cost. If you’re coming from out of town, you’ll need a place to stay, plus you’ll have the cost of getting to/from the resort. And what, are you going to starve while you’re there? Or deny your kid the thrill of a bubble wand? Of course not! So dining and merchandise just add to it. And we haven’t even mentioned Lightning Lanes yet…
In this post, we’ve put together a list of ways you can save on your next trip to Walt Disney World across six areas:
Hotel
Park Tickets
Flights
Food and Drink
Lightning Lanes
Everything Else
This isn’t just about doing Disney “cheap” (if there is such a thing), though. We’ve got Disney travelers of all styles in mind. Even if you’ve got money to spend, there’s no reason to spend more than you have to (the single best item on this list can save you thousands on deluxe stays, for example). So, let’s get on with the best ways to save at Disney World…
WAYS TO SAVE ON YOUR HOTEL STAY AT DISNEY WORLD
Your hotel stay, from how many days, to which hotel, to how you book, is one of the best places to start saving on your Disney vacation.
Pick the Cheapest Dates
Disney World prices vary a lot through the year, but almost every month has low-priced dates and high-priced dates. Oftentimes, changing your dates by just a week or so can take you from a really expensive date to one of the cheapest times of the year.
Generally, cheaper dates are found before Presidents’ Day and in August and September. Read more about the cheapest times to visit Walt Disney World.
Rent Disney Vacation Club Points
Everyone talks about how much this is the biggest Disney travel hack no one talks about, and yet it remains the best Disney travel hack that no one talks about. Renting Disney Vacation Club points is a way to stay at deluxe villas for a significantly reduced price. Discounts of 50% off Disney’s rack rates—discounts in the thousands of dollars—can be found by going this route.
We’ve rented points from David’s Vacation Club Rentals a few times, including a stay at Disney’s Aulani, and have been very happy with the results. If you’re already set on a deluxe stay, consider this a way to save money. If you were in the moderate price range, you’ll want to consider this possible route to an upgraded stay.
Consider the value resorts
The value resorts at Disney World can make for an amazing time. We love Disney’s value resorts, particularly Pop Century and Art of Animation, and they’re still in the rotation when we take trips to Florida. At the value resorts, you get all the perks of a Disney stay, like free transportation and Early Entry.
While we love the ambiance of these resorts, maybe you’re a bit unsure. Well, take it as an opportunity to enjoy everything Disney World has to offer. Instead of lounging at your hotel, spend your time at the parks, the water parks, or Disney Springs.
Gran Destino - Deluxe Feel at a Moderate Price
One of my favorite hotel options at Walt Disney World is the Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs. Make no mistake, this “moderate” option is definitely more luxurious than some of Disney’s deluxe hotels.
While it has downsides—the transportation is less than ideal and the pool is a walk from the tower—it’s moderate pricing more than makes up for these shortcomings.
Get The Right Room Types
From Riviera’s cramped Tower Studios (2 adults + 1 crib) to suites that fit twelve adults and a crib, Disney World’s rooms come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Knowing which rooms can fit your party—particularly your large party—can make a world of difference. WDW Prep School has a great overview of options for larger families.
If you want a bigger hotel room but don’t want to spring for a deluxe resort, there is a great option in between — the suites at Art of Animation. These are amazingly themed suites that go for far more than your standard value room but less than many deluxe rooms. They also come with microwaves, which can help you save on food costs. We’ve also reviewed the non-suite rooms at Art of Animation here if you’d like an overview of the resort.
Shop Around for the lowest hotel price
Disney World typically has anywhere from one to five different deals posted that will allow you to save on your hotel. The best place to check will always be the Walt Disney World offers page itself. These discounts can be as high as 30% for some rooms. MouseSavers has a great page of historical information on Disney deals!
You can generally re-book your Disney reservation at a lower price if a discount pops up after you've booked. We suggest checking on your travel dates monthly (if not weekly) after you've booked. If a discounted rate appears, call Disney and ask to re-book at the lower rate. If you book with a travel advisor, they’ll keep an eye on this for you.
Sometimes the Disney website will be the best place to book your stay, but sometimes you'll find better prices at other sites. We’ve often found that Undercover Tourist can have prices better than Disney even when Disney had some sort of special ongoing offer.
Some of our other favorite hotel sites include: Hotels.com, Expedia, and Booking.com. We’ve also got a guide to getting the best rate on your Disney hotel.
If you book a Disney hotel, just be sure to visit the Disney website and confirm your reservation by linking the hotel confirmation number with your account. Even if Disney has the lowest rate, you can probably shave the price down by using discount Disney gift cards.
Consider Off-Site and Airbnb
Larger parties especially might find significant enough savings at off-site hotels or Airbnb. Learn more about Staying at an Airbnb for Disney World Trips.
Generally, we feel that the Disney perks are enough to justify staying at a Disney hotel if at all possible, but some non-Disney hotels—like the Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve—get a decent share of the Disney perks.
Use Credit Card Points and Perks
There used to be a variety of options when it came to booking Disney World stays with points. These have become more limited, and while you might still be able to occasionally use a credit card travel portal to book a Disney hotel, this usually won’t be good value.
These days, the best options for points and miles enthusiasts are going to be:
The Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve (Marriott Hotels)
The Disney Springs Hotels (Hilton operates a few, for example)
Other off-site hotels.
The Swan & Dolphin get a large host of perks at Disney World. The Disney Springs hotels get Early Entry, which is a really important perk. Most other off-site hotels won’t get perks, but you might find at least find good opportunities to leverage points or perks for things like upgrades or free meals.
WAYS TO SAVE ON YOUR WALT DISNEY WORLD TICKETS
Unquestionably, Disney World tickets are the hardest part of your trip to save on. Even so, we've come up with a few ways you can save either by finding discounts or through effective time management on your trip.
Use An Authorized Discount Ticket Seller
Our post on buying discount Disney World tickets covers the different authorized ticket sellers we recommend. These are companies that Disney has authorized to re-sell tickets at prices usually lower than you’ll get buying from Disney themselves.
That post also covers some of the special rates (AAA and Military, for example) that you might qualify for.
Check The Disney World Website For New Deals
Disney is getting more creative with luring people in, which often means more discount opportunities. In the past, Disney has offered deals like 4-park magic (each park for one day over four days) and mid-day magic (allowing entry only after noon). There’s even been 3-park tickets that exclude Magic Kingdom. Check the Disney site for the latest ticket offerings.
Plan a No Parks Day
Maybe you know you want a weeklong vacation, but that doesn’t mean you need seven days of park tickets. Especially if you’re going to get park hopper, consider cutting a day off your ticket. If you’re hopping effectively, you definitely don't need as many days as you otherwise would. Even doing four parks in three days is pretty easy.
From mini-golf to monorail rides to hotel crawls to just lounging poolside, there is plenty to do at Disney World that doesn't require setting foot in a park. We've got a guide to planning a Walt Disney World no parks day!
Consider An Annual Pass
Disney World’s annual pass is an attractive option if you're planning multiple multi-day trips in a year. It’s also attractive on a single, longer trip if you can take advantage of all the discounts it offers (especially room discounts). Definitely do a price check and review the perks of the annual pass if you’ve got multiple trips in a 365-day period or if you've got one trip of seven or more nights.
Skip Park Hopper
While we love park hopper, it is rarely necessary. In fact, our standard recommendation these days is four full days, one day at each park (no hopping). Giving up flexibility isn’t ideal—one day could get badly rained out, or your favorite ride might break down, etc.—but with savings into the hundreds, this is one area that’s easy to get some valuable savings. You can read more about Disney World’s park hopper tickets here.
Consolidate Your Trips
No one knows better than me how much the travel brain starts churning when you see your kid has a long weekend or that you’ve got a Monday off you’d forgotten about. But Disney World tickets are priced so that multiple short trips cost a lot more than a single long trip.
However frequently you plan to visit, consider cutting down your frequency and taking longer trips. Because adding additional days to tickets is cheaper on longer stays, families can save a lot doing this. What's more, longer trips will leave you time to enjoy some things you might skip on a shorter trip, like restaurants and resort days.
Avoid Shady Characters
Don’t go too out of your way to save—it winds up costing you money. Specifically, avoid sites like eBay and Craigslist. The better the deal you get on those sites, the more likely you're getting ripped off and just be out a bunch of money. With all the other ways to save, it's just not worth the risk!
Ways to Save on Getting to Disney World
When it comes to flights, we’re less optimistic about deal hunting than we used to be. With Disney World trips getting more and more expensive and flights representing a smaller overall share of your trip costs than before, this just isn’t the time to get cute.
The bottom line is that you can’t have a good trip at Disney World unless you first get to Disney World, and overthinking this by buying third party tickets for an airline you’ve never heard of out of an airport two cities over is a recipe for expensive disaster. Keep it simple, silly.
Nonetheless, there are a few budget-minded tips we want to give so you can make sure you’re at least not wasting money when it comes to booking flights…
Use Google Flights
I know this one is obvious for some people, but if you’re like someone I know who insists on having “all the airline apps” in order to search for flight prices—maybe just use Google Flights to check prices instead.
Mind Your baggage Policies
For starters, we’re totally fine with flying low-cost airlines. We’ve made plenty of trips on Spirit and Frontier, in particular. But one of the important things for low-cost airlines and all other airlines these days is to keep the baggage policies in mind.
There are two key things here. First, if everyone in your party is going to need a checked bag or a carry-on, you might find that flying with an airline that includes those for everyone is the cheaper option. But if you only need one checked bag or carry-on, you might find that it makes sense to buy, e.g., two tickets without baggage and one with baggage.
Second, if you’re going to be buying souvenirs at Disney World, you’re probably going to be coming home with more than you left with. Depending on how you pack, this might mean additional baggage on the way home. You don’t want to get caught at the gate with an extra bag—the fees are highest in that case.
Mind Your Flight Times
This isn’t strictly a way to save money on or using flights, but it can be something that can impact the overall cost of your trip by a few hundred dollars. Pay close attention to when your flights arrive and depart and how you’ll be able to maximize your time in Disney World on your travel days.
If your flight gets into Orlando at 7PM or leaves Orlando at 7AM, you don’t need a park ticket that day. Conversely, if your flight gets into Orlando at 7AM or departs at 7PM, you probably do want a park ticket that day. It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of finding the cheapest flight times, but those extra visits on travel days could be, for example, the difference between needing park hopper or not.
Book Directly With the Airline
With tickets we endorsed third-party sellers but told you to avoid shady options. With flights, just buy directly from the airline website. While third-party flight websites sometimes have slightly better pricing, we’re firmly of the belief that buying direct is worth the additional cost.
If you need to modify your flight, or add baggage, you’ll have an easier time doing that if you’ve booked direct. If you want to be sure you get emails or texts about flight changes, you’ll want to book direct. If the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight, life will be easier on everyone—you and the customer service rep you have to work with—if you’ve booked direct.
Consider Driving
If your family is large enough and the drive is short enough, driving may be the most cost-effective way to get to Walt Disney World. You’ll have free self-park at your Disney Resort and free standard parking at the parks if you stay at a Disney resort (though you'll probably favor the resort transportation options). You can read more about driving and parking at Disney World here.
Ways to Save on Your Walt Disney World Food and Drink
Food and drink is one of the more flexible areas of Disney spending (unless you let Disney lock you into a dining plan). A lot of factors determine how much you'll spend on food, from what discounts you have access to, to which restaurants you have to eat at, to what type of room you book. Here's how to save on food and drink at Walt Disney World.
10% off dining with Disney Visa
The Disney Rewards Chase Visa credit card has a 10% dining discount perk at certain Disney restaurants (including some great ones like Jiko, Biergarten, and Narcoossee's). The full listing can be found at Chase's site here.
Do the “scenic” restaurants for breakfast or lunch
There are lots of Disney restaurants to try. Some of them (Biergarten, Be Our Guest, and the Sci-Fi Diner are three that come to mind) are really more about the experience and the scenery than the food.
If you want to experience those restaurants, try and get a reservation (or just stop in) for a meal other than dinner. Dinner will be more expensive than the other meals, but you wont be blown away by the food. Disney Tourist Blog has a list of the best themed Disney World restaurants.
Skip or Master the Dining Plan…
The biggest mistake you can make with the Disney dining plan is getting it as a matter of convenience. First, having stood behind hundreds of people trying to use the plan in line, I can tell you it isn’t that convenience.
But more importantly, if you aren’t putting the time and effort into getting every cent out of the dining plan, Disney is making money off you. So if you care about saving on food and you're willing to sacrifice flexibility to do so, be sure you’re using your credits for the maximum possible value (dinner-show packages tend to be a good example of this, as is using snack credits for festival food at Epcot).
…Or Get the Dining Plan for Free
If you have to have a dining plan, or you’re willing to stick to a dining plan when you can get it for free, keep your eyes open for a Disney World package that comes with a free dining plan. These packages are usually offered in the late summer or fall. Check out MouseSavers for the historical deals.
Ask for cups of water Or Use Water Bottle Refill Stations
This one is pretty obvious on hot days when they’re lining the cups up, but you can go to any Disney quick service location and get a free cup of ice water. Don’t pay for bottled water.
If you bring your own water and don’t like filling up at drinking fountains, there are a few water bottle refill stations, including at Cosmic Ray’s in Magic Kingdom, the Odyssey Pavilion in Epcot, outside Hollywood Studios (at the new restrooms between the bus stops and Skyliner), and in the two Pandora ride queues at Animal Kingdom.
Order the Double and Take Your Drinks To Go
If you’re getting cocktails at Disney, the double is always better bang for your buck. If you're more into beer, like us, then get your beer to go. You can bring it pretty much anywhere (except on buses, in pools, or in photos with characters, notably). Save yourself having to finish off one beer right before your meal just to have to order another.
Get a refillable mug
Not for everyone, but the refillable resort mug is a good option if you'll definitely be having one or two beverages at your resort daily. You can find more on the mugs over at Disney Food Blog.
Use your mini-fridge and Resort Microwave
All rooms at Disney resorts have mini-(or full-size) fridges. These are great for storing leftovers! Most rooms won't have microwaves, but you can use the resort microwave (usually located in the store or at the quick service restaurant) or only keep cold food (salads and dessert, for example). Alternatively, look into a studio villa or a suite at the Art of Animation for rooms that are reasonably priced and have microwaves.
Get Groceries
How you manage your groceries will depend on the type of room you have, but there are options for getting groceries at Disney World. Remember that you don't have to cook a five-course dinner to save money. Just having the groceries to throw together quick lunches can result in big savings over paying for meals at the parks. Disney Tourist Blog has you covered with options for getting groceries at Walt Disney World.
If you qualify, consider tables in wonderland
Tables in Wonderland is an awesome restaurant discount program for Florida Residents, Disney Vacation Club members, and Walt Disney World Passholders. Those limitations, and the up-front cost ($150 DVC and AP, $175 Florida Residents) take away some of the magic from the program, but the 20% discount on meals, including alcohol, at a long list of restaurants can make this program more than worth its cost.
Split a meal
This works better at some places than others. Pecos Bill, for example, gives you decent portions and access to an awesome condiment bar. Two adults can easily split an order of fajitas by taking advantage of that condiment bar. Check out Couponing to Disney for more tips on splitting meals.
Other Ways to save at Walt Disney World
Savings can be found in other nooks and crannies of Disney planning and the Disney experience. Here's 6 final ways to save on your trip!
15% off tours + Other Discounts with the Chase Disney Visa
The Disney Rewards Chase Visa credit card gets you 15% off most park tours, like the amazing Keys to the Kingdom tour and Backstage Tales tour. You'll also have access to other discounts, including on merchandise. The full listing can be found at Chase’s site here.
Borrow Disney's Photographers for personal use
Disney's Photopass photographers will take photos using your own camera if you ask. You won't get any of the magical effects, and their cameras are probably a little better than yours, but you're still getting professional shots at the more desired angles in the parks, and you'll save over $150 by skipping Memory Maker (note you will be missing out on ride photos this way). You can read more about Disney World PhotoPass and Memory Maker here.
Save on Merchandise / Dining / Miscellaneous With Discount Disney Gift Cards
You shouldn't buy tickets with them, and you probably shouldn't book hotels with them, but discount Disney gift cards can be a good way to save on your dining, merchandise, and other miscellaneous spending at Walt Disney World.
Pack whatever you’ll need…
Head over to Traveling Mom and work backwards from that amazing list. Obviously how much you can pack will depend on how your family is allocating your baggage, but on recent Disney trips we've had to purchase ponchos, Ibuprofen twice, and dramamine. Nothing in Disney World is cheap, and the longer you'll be there, the more likely you'll need some things you might consider non-essential.
…Including things for the kids
We don't have kids, but one of the favorite tips I heard a while back was to bring little Disney things a kid might want, rather than buying them at the park. Think discount Mickey or Minnie ears, glow in the dark toys for night time at the park, simple Disney toys, and a new t-shirt or two. Give these to your little ones as a part of the “Disney experience” without having to actually buy them at Disney prices. Mouse For Less covers this as part of saving on Disney at the dollar store!
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And at 180 days out it's time to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World FastPass+ strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom FastPass, Epcot FastPass, Animal Kingdom FastPass, and Hollywood Studios FastPass.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.