Disney World Vacation Budget

 

Disney World Vacation Planning Step #1: Set a Budget

This essential, and often overlooked, step lays the foundation for planning your Disney World vacation. I won’t beat around the bush, a Disney vacation can be expensive. For a family with children flying in from across the country or a couple seeking a romantic getaway in the lap of luxury it can add up quickly. Fortunately, there are ways to keep costs reasonable and setting a budget is the first step. Here are a few planning issues that are affected by your budget:

How long you can stay? – Length of stay based on your budget is a combination of daily costs and how pricing works. For example, ticket prices decrease per day the more days you purchase and certain vacation package discounts also require minimum lengths of stay. Annual passes and other other discount cards may come in to play for extended or multiple trips.

Scheduling your trip – Resort prices and discount packages fluctuate during ‘seasons’ based on visitor demand and holidays. If you are on a tight budget and have flexible travel dates this can really work to your favor.

What type of hotelChoosing a resort can be the single most important decision when it comes to staying within your budget. Prices on Disney property can be as low as around $75/night or well over $500/night depending on resort class, location, discounts, and season.

Transportation options – The decision whether to fly or drive, use free Disney transportation or rent a car, can be impacted by how much you have to spend.

What discounts will work best – Disney offers multiple discounts to prospective guests. The two most popular are free dining, which comes as part of a room/tickets/dining package, and room only discounts. Your budget, party size, resort class, and dining preferences will all play a part in that decision.

What, if any, extra activities or events to your itinerary – Disney World is more than just four theme parks. There are also two water parks, a shopping district, premium dining, golf, tours, and much more. Time and money are the limits in this aspect of your trip. The most common additional expenses you will incur during a Disney vacation are food and souvenirs, which gives you some insight into why there are so many of both options available.

 

I’ve put together some examples of the average base costs to give you an idea of where to start with forming a budget. This is for a party of two adults and one child between 3-9 years old to give a mid-range of costs. Costs are averaged since resort prices can vary quite a bit by season and discounts. Food budgets are for 2 counter service and 1 table service plus drinks/snacks. This is another area that can swing wildly.

The chart below is based on:

  • 2013 base tickets (single park per day) including tax (add $63 each for Park Hopper)
  • Food – Adult $50/day, child $25/day
  • Resorts – Average rack rate plus taxes (similar to summer season without discount)

 

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You should now have a rough idea of what your minimum Disney World vacation will cost.  To this you will still need to add transportation costs, souvenirs, etc., but at this stage you need to decide on length of stay and resort choices.  In Step #2 we cover deciding When to Go.

More information and tools for creating a budget for your entire trip and saving money are forthcoming.