Disney on a Budget

[michmickey]

Hi everyone! I am a college student looking to go to Disney over my spring break this year with a few friends. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on saving money or the best way to do Disney on a budget? I've been several times with my family but this will be the first year I have to go alone and I need all the help I can get with a limited budget. Thanks so much!

 

[KevinPage]

Is this thread about @realBobChapek and his philosophy on building new attractions??????

 

[Jon81uk]

If possible pack your own food is probably the biggest advice you will get if you need to do it on a tiny budget, even the cheapest fast food meal in the parks is about $10. Don’t buy soda/water and ask for ice water at counters to save even further.

There are a lot of fixed costs such as parking fees and entry tickets but food is probably the biggest thing that can be adjusted easily

 

[seggerman]

stay in Kissimmee - and if you're driving down, bring a bicycle (with a srurdy lock!)
don't buy any souvenirs
um there's a whole other Disney topic board with a whole area devoted to cost saving measures

 

[Communicora]

Hi everyone! I am a college student looking to go to Disney over my spring break this year with a few friends. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on saving money or the best way to do Disney on a budget? I've been several times with my family but this will be the first year I have to go alone and I need all the help I can get with a limited budget. Thanks so much!

You might have better luck in the trip planning part of the forum https://forums.wdwmagic.com/forums/wdw-trip-planning.6/
If you google, you might find other sites have parts of their message boards that focus on this topic.

I hope you have a great trip!

 

[MattC]

You might have better luck in the trip planning part of the forum https://forums.wdwmagic.com/forums/wdw-trip-planning.6/
If you google, you might find other sites have parts of their message boards that focus on this topic.

I hope you have a great trip!

This⬆. Decide what you want to do and how you want to stay and then research. There is no "one size fits all" way to save at Disney. But going in uninformed will most certainly lead to spending more than you have to.

 

[DryerLintFan]

I agree that bringing your own food will likely save you the most money. And don't go to Disney Springs.... it's a mall with a bunch of restaurants... there's literally nothing to do there but spend money. Bring a water bottle and some gatorade powder and then you can refill at any water fountain. And I know we covered food, but don't buy any snacks unless you reallllllly need them. They add up really quickly.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Keep the trip short and sweet.
Stay at a value resort.
Share a room/beds
Split the price of the room equally.
Opt for base tickets.
Only get tickets for full park days. (meaning if you're arriving on a Sunday and leaving on a Friday only get a 4 day ticket not a 6 day ticket).
Do not get a dining plan.
Eat at quick service locations only.
Get 1 snack per day instead of the 5 you really want lol.
Limit how much you spend on souvenirs.
Do not do anything extra like a dessert party.
Basically go bare bones.

 

[Trackmaster]

Honestly, I'd just stay offsite at a cheap hotel or airbnb, and just do the After Hours instead of buying the tickets. You could punch in three of them for about the same price as tickets, but you'd get on much more, and not have to worry about Fast Passes. If you're not staying at the hotel, not getting the Fast Pass 60+ day window will really hurt you.

 

[dreamfinder]

The price for many things is what it is. Tickets have a pretty big cost, and except for some slight discounts from authorized ticket vendors IE Undercover Tourist and the like, you can't do much to save there. TouringPlans has a handy tool here -> https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/ticket-calculator to help you find the cheapest on a given day.

If you are a college student, car rental prices might be killer. So you would need to see if the increase in those would offset any cost savings from staying off property. If you either are over 25 and can get reasonable car rental prices, or are driving down, then definitely look into staying off property. If you can't, then pretty much just go value, and split it 4 ways.

Bring portable foods, and eat those instead of buying food in park. Don't buy anything in park unless you need to.

Convince people to give you gift cards for birthdays and such, save those up. Nothing much new that isn't already on places like MouseSavers and other websites/blogs. Odds are if it sounds to good to be true, it is.

 

[DryerLintFan]

Great advice about the gift cards!! We were given enough gift cards to cover all the souvenirs on our last visit, and I went with a 4 year old so there were a LOT of souvenirs. If you stay on property, you can even use them for your reservation and your tickets.

 

[Vacationeer]

If you were my niece or nephew and asked me about going on a very tight budget, I'd first ask is how many people what kind of budget are we talking... $600, $800, $1000? Are you flying or driving? The options become much clearer for specific answers.

 

[jloucks]

Are you flying or driving? Based on that, pick the ideal visit length. Shorter is cheaper. However if you are paying a boat-load for plane tickets, shorter is not always better in the grand scheme of things.

If flying, stay on site in economy lodging. Share rooms if possible. If driving, consider offsite, but rental and parking or taxi costs will eat into those savings big time. Last time I checked, it was about break-even to stay in an economy all those things considered. ...and not messing with driving.

Pack extremely dense high caloric foods. Eat only those. The sounds miserable to me, but if on an extreme budget, you cant beat it.

No souvenirs. Order those on ebay later.

 

[Smooth]

Disney on a budget he said......

 

[jloucks]

Disney on a budget he said......
View attachment 418468

I guess it all depends on how limited the budget.

But yea, if you're near broke, you need to avoid WDW like the plague.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Tent camp at Ft Wilderness
Drink complimentary water
Dont buy souvenirs
Eat sammiches that you make.

 

[jloucks]

Tent camp at Ft Wilderness
Drink complimentary water
Dont buy souvenirs
Eat sammiches that you make.

Oh yea, I forgot about the tent camping option.

Lol, thats pretty hard core.

 

[SAV]

Rooms and airfare are more expensive during Spring Break. The biggest money savings is to go at a different time.

For this sample, I picked March 9 -15th since you didn't specify much in your post.

Off-Site would be the cheapest if you have a car since the really cheap hotels won't charge you a parking fee and you would only have to pay the daily Park parking fee. Figure $60 room + $22 Park parking is $82. Even tacking on a Resort fee of $10 per day, you won't find an on-site room for that price. You could stay for about $550 total for 6 nights.

If you don't have a car, then you are almost having to step up to a Hotel Plaza Boulevard or On-Site resort because of transportation. Cheapest On-site is POP Century for $197 per night, Pre Tax. That equates to $1333 for the same dates. You would have to rely on Disney Transportation the entire time and wouldn't have to pay the Resort Parking or Park Parking fees. Cheapest Hotel Plaza Boulevard is $146/nt + $14/nt Resort fee = $1,071.04 for the same 6 nights. But then you would need to use a transportation service from the airport at about $40 round trip per person.

 

[danlb_2000]

stay in Kissimmee - and if you're driving down, bring a bicycle (with a srurdy lock!)
don't buy any souvenirs
um there's a whole other Disney topic board with a whole area devoted to cost saving measures

I am not sure what your point about the bike is, but I would not recommend trying to bike around WDW, the roads are really not suitable for it.

 

[Disneyfreak Jen]

Lots of good advice has been given.

My suggestions...Order kids meals at the restaurants, it’s a bit less expensive but it helps. I also swear by using Disney gift cards. I buy them ahead of time, $25 here and there, and use them for all meals and souvenirs. Ask for some as gifts for holidays, Birthday, etc.