I love to travel internationally as most of you know, but there is something very special about returning to Disney World as an adult and being able to fully appreciate and experience the magic, but also the genius and hard work it took to create this incredible park.

One of the biggest complaints about Disney World I hear is that it is so expensive… Most vacation packages run about $250/per person per day at a minimum, with most families visiting for a minimum of 5-7 days. This adds up quickly! If you add on the meal plan, souvenirs, additional parks and tickets, transportation. No wonder people don’t want to visit!

However, I have visited Disney World close to two dozen times… and I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make it as inexpensive as possible while still having a great time. Here are my top tips to make the most of your Disney trip without spending the most.

Stay off property

The only time I have ever stayed on a Disney property was during cheer competitions. I have stayed at the Hilton Buena Vista Palace (around $150/night when I stayed in June 2019) and loved it. It’s right across the street from Disney Springs and they have buses to the parks which made it super easy. When I’ve visited with my family, my dad usually books through Hotels.com and gets a vacation rental for around $150/night. These usually have 2 bedrooms and a pull-out couch, which is perfect for the 5 of us! Already you’re saving around $100 a night at least.

Shorten your stay / Use Park Hoppers

When I visited Disney World for cheer, we only had 4 hours to visit the parks. We would visit all 4 parks in 4 hours. I completely understand wanting to stay for a week, but you are just adding more and more to your cost. I have a post on how to maximize your Disney trip and how we visit 4 parks in 2 days and then spend one day at Universal. It is absolutely possible and you still experience everything fully!

You can easily do Disney World (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot) and Universal in 3 days with 5 days maximum. The best way to go about this is to make a plan and use park hoppers. Make a list of all of the rides you want to ride at each park and get to work!

For my family, we spend a day at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, then Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, then Universal. We spend the least amount of time at Magic Kingdom and try to leave that park around 11 am/noon after riding Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, the teacups multiple times, and stock up on Mickey Mouse Rice Krispies. After we leave Magic Kingdom, we head to Epcot and start our Drinking Around the World. This is by far the most expensive part of our trip.

A way to make Drinking Around the World less expensive is to either stick with beers or split cocktails with a friend!

Park Hoppers part 2

As of May 2021, a standard one-park ticket is $109 per day. A park hopper ticket is usually around $180 (they are currently not in use due to COVID-19) per day. So if you plan on visiting multiple parks, I definitely recommend the park hopper option.

If you plan on visiting for 2-4 days as I recommend, you can save nearly $60-80 using the park hoppers. I have always used park hoppers, and once you use them, you will never go back! You have the freedom to visit whichever park you’d like whenever you’d like, thus maximizing the opportunity to visit more parks each day! You can even hop back-and-forth between parks. We’ve started at Magic Kingdom, gone to Epcot, then back to Magic Kingdom for the fireworks.

Transportation

Thankfully, if you fly to Orlando, Frontier now offers cheap cheap flights. My family has always been crazy and has driven from Memphis to Orlando. It’s a twelve-hour drive, which isn’t fun but is doable. We drive 17-18 hours every summer to Fort Myers Beach, so 12 hours to Orlando is nothing lol.

Whether you drive or fly, transportation can be a big cost. If you drive, you have to worry about gas and parking. Parking at major hotels can be $20+ a night. If you fly, then you have that obvious cost of flying. Figure out which cost is more beneficial to you.

One of the best things about Disney World though is the buses. There are buses in between all of the Disney hotel properties and the parks and between the parks. If you drive like we do, we usually drive to one park ($25 to park for one day) and then use the buses.

If you don’t want to pay for parking, you can also uber. Orlando is one of the cheapest cities for Uber.

Bring your own food and drinks

Disney has always been very chill about guests bringing in their own food and drinks. I’ve even occasionally brought in my own alcohol (shh…) in my college (and maybe some post-college) days. Food and drinks within the park can be VERY expensive. Bringing a lunch box for everyone with some easy-to-pack meals and snacks will help save a ton of money.

Some ideas for quick meals:

Uncrustables (my one true love) or any kind of sandwich
apple or any fruit slices
empty insulated water bottle to refill at water stations around the parks
trail mix
granola bars
squeezable yogurt
mini salad
veggie box (carrots, celery, broccoli, snap peas, etc. with a dip)

Ideally, anything that doesn't have to stay completely refrigerated and will sustain you throughout the day while you’re walking and standing a lot! We usually eat breakfast before heading to the parks, bring snacks for lunch, and splurge on dinner/drinks.

Souvenirs

Everyone wants the Mickey or Minnie Mouse ears or a t-shirt, but I once spent $65 on a sweatshirt… Don’t make my mistake. Oftentimes you can get souvenirs prior to your trip at a Disney store for half the price or online for even cheaper.

In my opinion, the only souvenirs worth buying are at Epcot since they’re from other countries around the world. You can get perfume in the France pavilion, fresh caramels in Germany, olive oil in Italy, Sake in Japan, etc. Those are the souvenirs worth buying if you must buy something. Otherwise, save your money.

Some people will buy Disney gift cards with their credit cards when they get points back at grocery stores or Target, Walmart, etc., and use the gift card for souvenirs or tickets, and get cash back for the purchase. I personally have never gone this route, but if you’re in the credit card points/cash back game, this is a good option for you.

Overall, I think you can visit Disney World without breaking the bank and still have a great time. Disney World is EXPENSIVE, and people love to hate on it. I truly think it is magical. Is it manufactured? Yes. But every single employee there is excited and willing to do anything and everything to make sure every single guest has an incredible time every time. The genius and artistry it took to create those parks are unparalleled and that’s why it is so expensive and still one of the top tourist attractions in the world. Go experience some magic.

If you have any tips on how to visit Disney cheaply, drop them in the comments below!

How to visit Disney World without breaking the bank