We recently went to Disney for 9 days on a family vacation for only $1438 (hotel, plane, rental car, and park tickets). I have outlined below some tips we used to have a wonderful vacation on a budget!
1. Traveled in the off season: The first thing we did was research when Disney’s high and low seasons are. By traveling in the off season we not only got fabulous deals but we didn’t have to fight the big crowds.
2. Booked early: We booked our trip 9 months before we went to Disney.
3. We did lots of research: We brought 2 Disney travel books and check out some Disney forums to learn all the tips and tricks to having a fun and cheap vacation at Disney.
4. We stayed for 9 days: By staying longer our park tickets and rental car were cheaper per day. A ticket at the gate will coast $79 per day but since we got 7 days we only paid $34 per day. We also booked our tickets online to save money.
5. We avoided money trap:
::We packed food and drinks to take to the park (most people don’t know that you can take food into Disney)!
::Our hotel included breakfast
::We took umbrella strollers with us (they would have cost $31 a day to rent)
::We purchased souvenirs outside of the park. We also picked up some great deals at the Disney outlet before we went to give the girls on the trip.
I have a family of 5 and we would love to go to Disney but feel that we cannot afford it. Would you be able to give me the name of the hotel or the names of the books you bought that helped you budget? I am having hard time and would really love to take the kids next year. Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Tammy,
We read The Unofficial Guide to Disney and The Complete Walt Disney World. I think the name of the hotel was Maingate West Inn. The time of year you travel is key!
I would add that Disney World is a vacation home hot spot. You can rent vacation homes for the same price or cheaper than the area hotels. I used All Star Vacation Homes and their homes are amazing. We had a wonderful relaxing trip and saved money by cooking breakfast and/or dinner at the house instead of getting trapped at the park prices for food. Plus you can ship items to use during your stay from your stockpile. 🙂