Growing up my husband and I had grandparents that retired to Florida. We spent many childhood vacations visiting the Happiest Place on Earth. Since we both have fond memories of the Disney Theme Parks, we knew when we had our own children we wanted them to experience the magic that is Disney. But, if I’m being perfectly honest with you, our first trip to Disney with our children cost more than I care to admit. After spending what we would consider to be enough money to take at least three vacations elsewhere, we decided we love Disney too much to forego it all together, but we needed a better plan to tackle it.

Below I’ve detailed out the three major components of a Disney vacation and what we did to save a little money. For reference, we had an 8-year-old, 6-year-old and 2-year-old at our last Disney visit in the late spring of 2018.

Travel

From where we live in Kansas City, Orlando is about a 20-hour drive. We can usually make it to Disney in two days driving pretty much the entire day both days. We stay one night in a cheap hotel. Round trip we spent about $500 on gas. Occasionally, I would let my girls pick out a snack at the gas station, but for the most part we ate what we packed in the car. When I searched for airfare for late May I was seeing $350-$400 per ticket. We just missed the 2 year cut off for our baby, so we needed five airline tickets for our family to travel. At least $350 times five people… you can do the math. Driving was a much better option for our wallet, not for my sanity or for the fact that I get car sick all the time, but I took one for the budget this time. If you are able, and of the right mental state to do it, I would suggest driving. It will save you oodles! I need to do another post entirely about how to road trip for 20 hours (each way) with three kids.

Hotel

Disney ranks their hotels in different categories like economy, moderate and deluxe. Now, before you turn your nose up at an economy hotel let me remind you that this is Disney after all and they truly pride themselves on the “Disney” way. Some deluxe hotels may have more amenities or a cooler pool, but the cleanliness of the rooms and the friendliness of the staff will be consistent throughout the Disney Resorts. Your cheapest option, though, is going to be to stay off property. It will cost you to park at the parks ($20 per day), but staying off property will easily save you that amount plus some.  We, however, like the Disney amenities and the entire Disney atmosphere so we chose to stay at Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) in a Hilton Hotel. We were able to use the bus transportation system and use the Disney Magic Bands. Although not an official Disney Resort Property, the Disney Springs Hotels still function as if they are. We were able to stay in a two-bedroom suite (my husband’s family joined us) with a living room and kitchen area for $400 per night (split with in laws). $400 is what we paid for one room at a Disney Resort Property in 2015.

Park Tickets/Food/Souvenirs

There aren’t a ton of ways to save on the actual park tickets unless you are under the age of three in which case you’re free! We did get a small discount on park tickets through LifeMart which my sister in law was able to access through her work. I do recommend spending on park hopper tickets because it allows flexibility in your scheduling.  This is imperative with little ones and allows for naps and meals outside the parks. When we first arrived in Orlando, I hit up the local Wal-Mart and stocked up on breakfast items and snacks for the trip. We rarely ate full meals in the parks unless it was a planned dining experience in which case we budgeted for it in advance. Disney is great about letting you bring in outside food and drinks (no glass) and there were many times my kids were eating a PB&J Uncrustable in line. Eating in line is a great way to pass the time! I also found myself ordering a kid’s meal at times, because it was plenty of food and much cheaper. 

Mickey ears, light up wands, t-shirts, trinkets, souvenir mugs, my girls love a “souvey” as they are fondly known in our family. Call me a softy, but we have a hard time saying no to our kiddos at the Happiest Place on Earth. Good thing we bring grandparents with us, right? 😉 But seriously, these items add up and could end up costing one nights’ hotel stay if you’re not careful! We have found a great method for souvenirs in our house. We usually plan our Disney trips 9 months to a year in advance. This allows plenty of holidays for the girls to ask for Disney gift cards. We constantly receive gift requests for our girls and when Disney is on the horizon it’s a no brainer. By the time it was all said and done, I think each of my girls had about $100-$150 to spend at Disney.

These are just a few things we did to save a little money while staying at Disney last summer. Disney isn’t a cheap vacation, but it is definitely one that will create a lifetime memories for your family.