First Steps into the Magic

Have you always wanted to take a trip to Disney, but feel like it’s too overwhelming or too expensive? We are here to give you the best tips and advice on how to start planning your vacation. Yes, it can seem overwhelming to begin with, and even worse than that, not affordable, especially for a large family, but there are SO many ways you can save on a Disney vacation!!

First, let’s talk a little about Disney World itself. When most people think of Disney, they think of a huge castle, a few rides, and Mickey Mouse walking around the park. Well I’m here to tell you that there is so much more to it than that. Did you know that Walt Disney World consists of 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping/dining district called Disney Springs (more on that later), and over 25 resort hotels to choose from. All on Disney property!! Remember when I said it could seem overwhelming? There is so much to see and do that you definitely won’t get it all in on one trip alone. That’s why we are here to help! We will try to give you the best advice on how to get the most out of your magical vacation.

When we plan our trips, we always start with a budget. There are four major expenses to consider when it comes to a Disney vacation. Tickets, resorts, dining, and souvenirs. All of these can add up extremely fast and can also seem very daunting when it comes to planning your trip. That’s where we come in to help ease your mind and hopefully give you a little advice on how to save on these expenses and to not feel so overwhelmed. We always hate to hear that a family has had a horrible experience at the happiest place on Earth. Most of the time, those bad experiences are the cause of not knowing how to plan your Disney vacation. Trust me when I say, you CANNOT just go to Disney and wing it unless you are a regular park goer. If you just decide to up and go and not plan a single thing, it could cause you to have a really bad experience and Disney is not about bad experiences and we don’t want that either!

Tickets

Your first big expense is your tickets. Tickets are a biggie! You will need to decide how many days you plan to visit the parks. We recommend 4 days, one day per park. Keep in mind when purchasing tickets through Disney, the more days you purchase tickets for, the cheaper they are per day. They also offer a park hopper ticket for an additional cost. Park hopper tickets let you enjoy more than one park per day and are a great option if you are pressed on time and want to get all the parks in. Kids under the age 3 do not require a ticket and children 3-9 have a lower ticket rate. If you are wanting to save a little on tickets, be sure to check the time of year you are going. In our last blog, we talked about how in the peak season tickets are higher, so just make sure you check that out when deciding to go. Disney also offers discounted tickets to members of the military all year round. So if you or your loved one is a part of the military be sure to check this out! Tickets are probably going to be one of your biggest expenses especially if you have a larger family, so please just take that into consideration while planning.

Resorts

There are SO many resorts to choose from on Disney property and around the Disney area! One big question a lot of people ask is; should I stay on or off Disney property. There are tons of benefits to staying on Disney property such as, complimentary transportation to and from the parks, extra magic hours that could be before general admission in the morning and/or after parks close, and to just be completely immersed in Disney theming. There are four different categories of resorts on Disney property: Value, Moderate, Deluxe, and Deluxe Villas. Value being the least expensive to Deluxe and Deluxe Villas as the most expensive. If you enjoy camping, they even have a very large campground! We have stayed in almost all of the resorts on Disney property and you just can’t go wrong with any of these resorts! If you want the full Disney experience, then definitely stay on property!!

If you are looking to stay off property to save a little money, there are many resorts that are described by Disney as “good neighbor” resorts. These resorts offer many of the same benefits as the ones on Disney property. Not all of these resorts offer free transportation and if you are planning on driving to the parks, you will have to pay for parking and it can get extremely expensive. That’s something to keep in mind when planning your budget. If you have a very large family, then there are plenty of rental houses near the parks that may be a great option for you.

If you choose to stay on property, there are quite a few ways to save on the resorts! Many people like to start planning their vacations about a year in advance. Which is great! The sooner you start, the more likely you will be prepared. However, if you are looking to save a little money on your room, Disney does not offer room discounts that far in advance. If you choose to go ahead and book your room in advance, make sure you check back closer to the time of your visit to see what offers Disney has posted. You can always go back and change your reservation and ask for the discount to be applied on your stay. One way we have found to save a little money on resorts, is what we call “resort hop.” Just like other hotels and resorts, it is a little more expensive to stay on the weekends rather than stay during the week. If our stay includes staying through the weekend, we like to stay in a moderate or deluxe resort during the week and hop over to a value resort for the weekend. Sometimes it all has to do with what deals Disney offers as well. One resort may be cheaper for one part of our stay than another. We always just play around with deals until we find what we want, or the best deal!

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Dining

When we go to Disney, we feel like we never stop eating. Why? Because the food is so DELICIOUS and there are thousands of options to choose from when it comes to dining! Just like planning anything else at Disney, choosing your dining options can become overwhelming and a daunting task. Once again, this is where we come in to help ease your mind!

Disney has the option of purchasing a dining plan. This is an option of pre-paying for your dining while at the parks. There are a few different price levels to choose from depending on your budget needs. However, the dining plan option is only available to guests staying at a Disney owned resort. Another reason to stay on property right?! Once you purchase your dining, you will be given “dining credits” to use each day at the parks. The dining plan may seem expensive at first, but to us having your meals already paid for before you go, makes you feel like you are not spending as much once you are there. We will go more in depth on this topic in a later blog.

There are so many dining options to choose from in the parks and also at the resorts. They offer different levels of dining as well. One of those, is quick-service restaurants, which is equivalent to fast food options. It is a counter service option on which you will go to a counter to place your order. Reservations are not required to eat at a quick-service restaurant. There are many of these to choose from and have a range of many different cuisines. Disney also has table-service restaurants. These are equivalent to a sit down restaurant where your food is brought to you by a server. While it is not a requirement, it is highly recommended that you make advanced dining reservations at these locations. There are many different snack booths spread across the parks to get all your wonderful and delicious Disney treats! Who wants a Mickey bar? Is that even really a question?

If you feel like you don’t want to pay to eat in the parks, there are many options just outside the parks. However, I would not recommend leaving very far off Disney property if you are planning on coming back to the parks. It can become very time consuming and you will lose valuable time that you could be spending in the parks! Disney does allow you to bring in small coolers with food and drinks. If you are looking to save a little on your food, its always fun to bring in sandwiches and snacks to have a small little picnic in the park!

I could go on and on about dining, but we will save that for another time. There is an abundant amount of information about dining options, dining prices, how to reserve dining etc. We will soon talk about our favorite restaurants and what all Disney has to offer! Seriously there is so much to choose from!

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Souvenirs

Whenever you travel somewhere, you always have to get a souvenir right? Well, from simple magnets to diamond castles, Disney has almost anything you could want to choose from! Be sure to save some in your budget for all the wonderful souvenirs the parks have to offer. We suggest to not spend your money on these things at the beginning of your trip. Wait until the end when you’ve seen what all they have offer. We like to go and buy Disney gift cards in the months and weeks leading up to our trips. This helps tremendously when we are ready to buy all of our merchandise. The gift cards can also go toward your resort stay (if staying on property) and it can even go towards your dining! So go out and buy those gift cards and start saving up! Think of it as making payments on your vacation!!

Once you’ve factored in all of these major expenses and set your budget, then it will be time to start the real planning!! For me, I LOVE to plan. Some people hate planning, and that’s where I would like to come in as a resource/planner for you! Please reach out to me if you need help with your planning or just need some advice along the way! See ya real soon!!