Whew, that was a long title. But I feel like since we got back from our Walt Disney World trip, that's been what I've been sharing - and happy to share - with anyone who asks. So I might as well blog about it!
I did my math, checked it twice, and for our family of four we spent under $150 per person, per day, for our five day vacation.
How?? I'll tell you.
I did oodles of research before we even decided where to stay, how to book, and when to go. I checked crowd calendars, looked into every single resort option both on and off Disney property, and compared dozens of price figures side by side. Sure, it was time consuming, but it was also really fun!
Savings #1 - Go during off-peak season.
Savings Amount: Varies by time of year, helps you to get more "bang for you buck" - less time spent waiting and navigating crowds.
When looking at the crowd calendar (these can be found on Pinterest, some will vary so it can be good to cross-reference) it seemed as though the days in February that we wanted to go - because it was DG's fourth birthday - were low crowd times, off-peak prices, and really nice weather! The weather WAS beautiful, perfect for spending all day at the parks, no rain, and warm enough to swim in the afternoon. The prices were some of the lowest all year. End of August/early September or mid-October through early November were comparable/lower prices in comparison. Additionally, we could have saved even more if we had stayed Sunday-Thursday or Monday-Friday rather than Saturday-Wedneday, but my husband had very limited time to take off from work. We went around the first weekend in February, and I'll say this - I read it on one other blog AFTER we returned that February is becoming a busy season at Disney. Turns out the secret is "out" and many families are choosing to visit Disney World in early February as well. We did see some decent crowds especially on Saturday, Sunday, Monday which meant longer wait times than expected. This also may have to do with the dance competitions that are hosted that weekend and families staying longer after competition has wrapped up.
Savings #2 - Renting DVC Points.
Savings Amount: 50% off in our case, changes with seasonal rates.
Yes, I'm talking about renting points from Disney Vacation Club members. This can be done a few different ways, I chose to use David's Vacation Club Rentals because it's risk-free and they handle all of the communications with the members. We also paid via PayPal so we were able to pay for our rental over six months with no interest. This allowed us to stay at the Polynesian for around the same price as staying at Art of Animation with the current Disney promo that was going on which we used for price comparison. It was even cheaper than any of the moderate or deluxe resorts - plus it allowed us to watch fireworks from our room, enjoy top-notch amenities, and have quick transportation via the monorail transportation. It was truly a win-win for us.
Savings #3 - Ticket savings!
Savings Amount: $40+ per person
Three quick tips here:
1) Join MouseSaver's Newsletter and use their link to get Undercover Tourist's best prices on tickets. We scored a free day this way - five days for the price of four. Something to consider: the longer you stay, the cheaper tickets are per day.
2) Forgoing the park hopper option. It really didn't make sense for us. While Disney has great transportation systems in place, unless there's a specific reason that you need to park hop, we found that it would just be a waste of time rather than committing to one park per day and just enjoying all that park has to offer.
3) Kids under three are FREE. This is something some people don't realize, but it really does pay to take your young child to Disney. Not only do they stay and play free at the parks (they don't count toward room occupancy and do not need tickets) but they can eat off your plate for free as well - but I'll elaborate on that some more next.
Savings #4 - Dining Plans.
Savings Amount: $300+ in total
This one saves you time and money: opt for a Deluxe or Regular Disney Dining Plan rather than paying as you go. We used this handy calculator: http://distripplanner.com to find that we'd save roughly $300 by getting the Deluxe Dining Plan. We knew that we wanted to do a lot of character meals and buffets. Many of these meals are served family style or buffet style and with young children this is a huge benefit because you're in and out faster so you have more time to enjoy the park plus you don't have to wait for cooked to order food. This also allowed us to have some higher quality meals that would have cost our little family of four $200 and worked out to be half that on the dining plan. You also pay in advance so there's no concerns about budgeting - plus you can plan your days better with Advanced Dining Reservations - very helpful with little ones. And speaking of little ones, under three can eat as much as they want at family style and buffet meals at no charge. Even at traditional sit-down meals there was always enough food on the Deluxe Dining Plan that Noah was able to have his fill of favorite foods between appetizers, entrees, and desserts.
*Bonus Savings* because you know I just can't help myself!
Transportation Savings:
#1: Skip the rental car and use Disney's Magical Express.
Savings Amount: $150-$250
This convenient and very fun transportation picks you up at Orlando International Airport and takes you back, too! They play this cute little video with Disney travel info along with classic Disney cartoons. It totally eliminates the need for other transportation. This isn't applicable if you're driving to Disney, but for us a 2-day drive just wasn't happening. We were able to wait and checked airline prices every Tuesday, so when I found flights for under $80 each, I snapped them up. The boys loved flying on the airplane so it was actually a very exciting experience to begin and end the trip.
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