Planning A Disney Trip On A Budget – Life as we know it is getting back to normal! I can’t tell you how excited I am (and I know you are too). But what I miss most in recent years is planning our family’s Disney trips. Yes – it really is a magical place.

And if you’re worried about how the Disney parks will fare during the pandemic, relax. In the first quarter of this year, they recovered their pandemic losses as profits rose above pre-pandemic levels.

Planning A Disney Trip On A Budget

Now, who’s ready to start planning a Disney trip? Planning a Disney trip on a budget is not for the faint of heart, but it can be done. In fact, it is one of my spiritual gifts.

Planning A Trip To Disney World On A Budget: A Full Guide

The best way to plan anything is to do a lot of research, right? The same goes for Disney vacations. And luckily, there are a million different resources that focus on doing Disney World “the right way.”

But when it comes to the holidays, the only sure way to do that is to make sure your finances are in order! No one wants to go into debt on vacation – not even to Disney World.

So the first thing you should do when planning a Disney trip (or any other budget vacation) is budget. EveryDollar is my favorite budgeting app. Not only is it free, but it helps take the guesswork out of creating a budget.

Your budget helps you save, know where you need to cut back, and actually gives you the freedom to spend. And on a Disney trip, you really want to spend.

How Much Does It Cost To Go To Disney World In 2022 & 2023?

For a family of four, it costs an average of $4,000 to $10,000 or more to go to Disney World, which is a lot of money. But you can do it for less. There are many ways to save on your dream Disney vacation – thousands of dollars, in fact.

If you’re in a good financial position (and now is the right time for your family), these 10 Disney World tips will help you stay on budget and maximize your experience (at no extra cost). are you ready

You guys – it’s not a popular idea, but you don’t have to spend every day of your vacation at the Disney parks! Trust me, your feet will thank you for hanging out at the park one day a week and at the hotel pool the next. Even if you’re staying on Disney hotel property, the pools make you feel like you’re still in the park! They are themed, huge and amazing.

There are also many other places you can go on your “off-park” days and still be immersed in the magic of Disney. Visit Disney Springs for shopping, dining and free entertainment. Head to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort for dinner and stay on the beach to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks – FREE! (The boat dock is also a magical place to catch fireworks.)

Disney Planning Printables

This one tip will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars on Disney park tickets, depending on how many people you’re going with and how many days you’re staying.

It might seem like a good idea to buy a $174 Park Hopper ticket and get into all four Disney World parks in one day. However, if you’re staying for several days, you can stretch your budget even further if you forego park hopping for a day or two and visit one park per day. The average price for a single park ticket per day is $109 (for ages 10 and up), a savings of $65 per person per day.* (A single park ticket for children ages 3-9 costs about $104.)

However, keep in mind that Disney will reduce the price of your day ticket when you buy for at least three days. And always check their calendar when you book your trip – the prices change daily too!

When you buy your tickets, you need to make sure you reserve your seats for the theme parks you want to visit. It would be boring to buy tickets to the park without reservations. Also, tickets are non-refundable, so be sure to triple check before hitting “send.”

Disney World Planning 101: Where Do You Start?

It’s important to be realistic about how much you can and want to do each day. Moving from park to park can be time-consuming and exhausting, especially with little ones. But if you’re only going for a few days, maybe you can book one of your park hopper tickets and spend the next full day at the Magic Kingdom – which, trust me, is totally possible and amazing and worth it!

Always try to buy discounted Disney gift cards! If you’re a member of a big discount store like Sam’s Club, you can buy Disney gift cards for about 4% off! And if you use your Red Card debit card at Target, you’ll get 5% off! Sure, it might not seem like much, but anything helps to save money.

These gift cards can be used to pay for park tickets, Disney hotels, on-site dining and more. While that’s not a lot of money, it’ll save you $40-$50 for every $1,000 you spend—and that’s like eight Mickey Mouse popsicles!

I love Disney food. Seriously – give me all the food! But what don’t I like? meal plan. This is a way to pre-pay for meals on Disney property, but it doesn’t really save you money. In fact, to make sure you don’t lose money, you have to do the math on the site (while you’re waiting in line for your Dole Whip). For example, if you have a lot of ice cream sandwiches during the day, you will probably miss out on your fries at dinner. And who wants to do that?

Planning Your Disney World Trip Budget: 9 Unexpected Expenses

Here’s the solution: Pay for your meal with cash. This way you know how much you spend during the day. And if you use the envelope system at the parks, you’ll know how much you’re starting with (and how much money you have left) after each purchase. Plus, you don’t have to waste time trying to figure out if you’ve hit your quota for the day. That exhausting sound! Pro tip: If you decide to dine out, Disney allows you to make your dining reservations well in advance using the new Disney Genie service in the Disneyland app.

Did you know that Disney allows you to bring food into the parks? This is a potentially huge savings in your budget! You can pack a nice picnic lunch of sandwiches, fruit, water bottles, crackers—whatever your family likes—and store it in lockers inside the park for $10, $12, or $15 a day, whatever size you need. .2 Does not exist. coolers allowed, so only bring items that don’t need to be ice cold. Instant savings!

Another way to save on food is to cook at the hotel itself! It is worth preparing your own meals if you only do it a few times during your stay. Garden Grocery is an Orlando-based grocery store that delivers groceries to your resort. You can order food up to 120 days in advance! If your order is less than $250.3, you will have to pay the shipping fee

This is a huge time saver, because if you’re there and ready to go when the park opens, you can reserve it for your favorite rides. The lines are quite long during the day, but if you get there early, you won’t have to wait long.

How Much Does It Cost To Go To Disney World In 2023?

Now, if you’ve been to Disney before, you know what a luxury FastPass was to skip those long lines. But FastPass has been discontinued and replaced by the Disney Genie service, which helps you plan the day you want while you’re at the park. Not only does it give you a map of the park, but you can also use it to see the queues for the ride. You can upgrade to Genie+ (the latest version of FastPass) to skip the long lines. . . It costs just $15 a day to use, and you can only skip the line once a day. But if you don’t want to spend money to save time in those long lines, you should definitely get to the parks as early as possible!

What’s a family vacation without the memories to prove it? Disney’s PhotoPass photographers will take professional photos of you for $199 at the park. You can access the photos online after your trip, but that’s a pretty big hit to your travel budget. The great thing is that you can ask Disney photographers to take your picture with your phone or camera. They still want to take your photo with their camera (but you don’t have to buy it). This way you get the picture right away and save $200. Score!

You can find really cute Mickey ears online. I found two pairs

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