Costs for Disney trips

auburnbride2be · October 2011

Hey! I'm sure it varies widely, but approx how much did you spend for a "conservative" trip to Disney? I'm thinking 2-3 nights. I really want to take DD, but am afraid it is too pricey right now. Anyone with insight??

KT&John · October 2011

We really wanted to take the kids for their birthdays so we researched it. We found some good deals at the Value resorts(All Star Music, Movies etc.). We were looking at 3 nights. A meal plan and "Magic Your Way" tickets were included in the price (meal plan was free!). The cost would have been $1300 to $1500 depending on which resort we stayed at.

I'm sure you could find an even better deal if you looked at off property resorts.

hthomas02 · October 2011

we are going to disney in less than two weeks and while I really have no idea how much it is going to cost us, we were able to book a 3 bedroom condo off-site for $600 for 7 nights and we are literally right outside of "the world". so look into that option too, we booked through vrbo.

dbryson · October 2011

It can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want it. The value resorts with a ticket and food package in the off season will probably be your best bet but the value resorts are kinda noisy and further away from the park. If you are only going for 2 or 3 days you may want a moderate resort to be closer and more comfy.

The more days you go to the park, the less expensive the per day ticket at the park is. Disney bundles to save you the most money with everything. Daily tickets are around $100 and more if you want park hopper. I don't think they drop in price until day three or four.

There is a Publix not too far from the park. You could stay off Disney property and get your food from here....this would save you a lot. But I think parking is $10-$20 a day if you don't stay on the resort property.

My brother works there. Just to give you an idea...we get 30 - 50% off hotel and into the park for free. We usually eat at least one meal each day there and get snacks, water and rest of the food from Publix, stay for 3 to 4 days and let the boys get a few toys/trinkets and our total is around $1,500. Without my brother's discount it would probably be around $3,000 - $3,500 for the same trip.

amanda_holbird@hotmail.com · October 2011

We went last Thanksgiving from Sun-Wed. We stayed at Pop Century and did not have the meal plan. We paid around $850, not including food. We went this past May, Fri-Thurs, stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, and got the deluxe meal plan for free. Our total was around $2,100. You do get your best deals if you can go when they have the meal plan for free or when they have 25 to 30% off the rooms. We fly (use dh's skymiles) so we like to stay onsite so we can use the Disney shuttle to take us to and from the airport. I recommend using smallworldvacations.com to help you book your vacation. Also, the prices I gave you are for 3 of us; Jack's been free since he's under 3, but next time we go, we'll have to pay for him.

kbrickell · October 2011

We stayed at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is within the Disney Park area. We had a 2 bedroom condo that was HUGE. It was so relaxing and nice to not be stuck in the small hotel rooms. We ate almost every meal at the condo, even lunches, except for an occassional snack or something at the park. We drove so we had our own car and were able to come and go to the parks based on our schedule. We did not get a park hopper pass. With the kids being so little I did not think they would be able to handle all of the back and forth and neither would my husband. There is also an entire kids camp at the Wyndham too so if you decide not to go to the park one day and just hang out at the resort and maybe go to downtown Disney there is that option too.

We used Laura from sunorsnowvacations.com she usually is able to get great deals especially if you are flexible and can go at the last min. I think our condo was $120 / night and we were there for 3 nights. She might give you a discount if you tell her who referred you. For us this was the more relaxing option especially since we were trying to stay on budget.

slwprincess · October 2011

Save some cash by staying at the Value Resorts- they are clean and kid friendly and still have all the perks and excellent service you expect from Disney. We fly free so we go a lot and just use the Disney Magic Express- its free when you stay at any Disney Resort. This alone is enough to make me stay on property.

If you are driving down, stop by the local Publix and stock up on breakfast foods that you can eat in the room and snacks for in the parks. If you are flying down, pack a lightweight bag with breakfast/snacks. There are cheap places to eat lunch in the parks if you plan ahead. Like the hotdog stand in Magic Kingdom or the Turkey Leg Stands in all the parks. If you do something like that for lunch then splurge and do the Character Buffet at Crystal Palace or Garden Grill Character Dining at Epcot and you'll feel like you still had the full experience w/o spending a fortune.

Tickets are gonna cost you- there's no way around that when you're only buying 2-3 days. The discounts are for higher number of days. We always buy the biggest number of days they offer w/ a no expiration option and they last us for years. The last set that we bought was 2 years ago and even though we shelled out $500 per person for them, the actual cost per day is only about $25 (10 days in the parks and 10 days in the Water Parks).

Also, my favorite site for saving money is www.mousesavers.com. Read through all their tips and tricks and you'll learn a lot. www.allears.net is another good site for information.

Julesag · October 2011

We just got back from a week at Disney. We stayed in a 2BR condo at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and loved it. Total cost for everything was probably about $2,000, including 4-day Magic Your Way tix (no park hopper), daily parking at the resorts ($14/day), food from Publix and from the parks, tix to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party and the gas to drive to and from. Our condo worked out to be less than $100 night. For us, having the space certainly outweighed convenience, as none of of sleep well if we have to share a hotel room, regardless of how long the stay is. Plus, the condo complex has 5 pools, which DS talks about as his favorite thing about his Disney trip. And we actually won our Wyndham Bonnet Creek stay on eBay. You can save on everything but Disney tix (and you can even save a little bit going through mousesavers). I have a friend who is a Disney travel planner on this side and I can give you her info. She gave us great tips (along with the great tips on here:-)). You can email me at ozziemax1 at hotmail dot com.

Julie

AugustaBride04 · October 2011

Great tips from everyone. Some other things I've found.. Subscribe to the mousesavers newsletter. It will tell you when the promotions are running. Small World Vacations is wonderful and free! They will do all the booking for you with the discount as well as book character meals. Easy peasy. We usually go when Disney is running their promotions. We like to have our space too, so we usually end up staying in a villa at one of the resorts. During one of the promotions we saved 40% off! Another tip I found.. If Disney is not running a promo etc and you are a AAA member, call Disney directly to book. Tell them you are a AAA member and you will get a discount. We did this last time bc we threw together a last minute trip and saved 30% just for having AAA. I have also heard that you can buy your park tickets through AAA at a slightly reduced rate, but found out after we returned. Also, agree with previous posters about Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We would have stayed there last time, but got a great deal at Fort Wilderness and wanted to be closer to the parks.

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