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One of the things that I love the most about travel is that incredible moments can occur.
On our trip this past summer to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, I kayaked to an undiscovered island, walked down a deserted beach with my family, was surprised with a cake for my 40th birthday, and completed a strenuous workout running up and down a long hill. Each of these was a moment that I will remember forever.
Of course, along with the incredible moments that occur, we are also faced with some lows. On the same trip, we woke up in the middle of the night to a raging storm that threatened to tear our tent from the ground, had to turn around on my trip to the undiscovered island due to weather, and even got sea sick on our ferry ride back to the mainland.
It is not fun being sea sick on a ferry ride!
Travel seems to amplify both the highs and the lows of life, forcing us to truly get out of our comfort zones.
One place that exemplifies the extreme highs and lows of travel is Disney World. I loved to watch my daughter meet her favorite princess and participate in a princess parade. It was great to see my son’s faces light up as they designed a car on Test Track and flew over the Eiffel Tower in Soarin‘. We also loved to experience new foods, drinks, and cultural experiences at the Epcot World Showcase.
Many of the moments experienced at Disney World will be moments that will be remembered forever.
However, along with the highs at Disney World, we may also have to put up with long lines, tired children, and a continuous sucking sound coming from our wallets.
Disney World is expensive!
Well … duh! This is not exactly Earth-shattering news. Most of us know that a trip there will cost a lot of money. This is why we save for it for many years before we go or make plans to be in “Disney debt” for 5 or more years. Many of us may even plan to not go to Disney World, strictly because of the money involved.
Personally, I find it difficult to say that I can’t do anything only because of money. If I decide not to go to Disney World, I want it to be for a better reason than I simply can’t afford it!
So … maybe there is a better way? Could we go to Disney World and not have the costs from the trip follow us around for the next 5 years?
Could we do Disney for less money?
Since my family and I have went to Disney World twice in the past few years, I have searched for money saving tips a lot. And, honestly, there aren’t many out there! Disney does a real good job making people pay full price for the trip.
I think it has something to do with an old economic principal called supply and demand. Many people put going to Disney World on their bucket list and are willing to pay just about anything for great experiences with their kids.
Honestly, that kind of makes sense to me. After all, many people know that experiences are more important than things. Perhaps going to Disney is one of the coolest experiences that we can buy for our children?
So, if we decide that we want to go to Disney World, let’s at least try get the most out of the trip for the least amount of money!
Disney World Hotels for Less
There are a few things that can add up to make a Disney World vacation expensive. One of these is the place that we stay at. We certainly don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on our trip and then stay at a place that we can’t stand to be at.
On our trip to Disney World this past April, we stayed near the parks for 3 nights and then stayed near the ocean in St. Augustine, Florida for 3 nights. This provided a good mix of the craziness of Disney World, coupled with the relaxation of being by the beach. Our kids, who were 7, 9, and 11 years old at the time, absolutely loved the way the trip was set up!
Still, staying near Disney World can be very expensive! For instance, the resort that we stayed at could have cost over $300 per night. Despite the expensive price tag, we still stayed there. However, we did not pay over $300 per night.
Instead we paid a total of $0 to stay at this resort!
Our resort had 5 pools, a lazy river, putt-putt golf, and many other activities for the kids and adults to do. And we got it for free!
The key for us was using credit cards that gave us points towards free or discounted hotel stays. Many of the credit cards that we have used before offer introductory benefits that can equate to 5 or more free nights at a hotel, plus ongoing benefits of 1 free night per year. This website allows you to compare the benefits of different hotel travel cards. If you want to read more about some of the benefits of using credit card rewards, just click on my travel hacking page.
To finish off our trip, we stayed near St. Augustine. This hotel was decidedly less fancy than the resort that we stayed at near Disney World, but it still was a very comfortable place to stay.
Not only did we get to stay at this hotel for free, but we also got a free breakfast, which our three kids loved!
We absolutely love our hotel reward points!
Disney World Parks for Less
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get into Disney World for free. On our first trip to Disney World, we were able to save hundreds of dollars on the parks by going through a timeshare presentation. I would only recommend doing this if you are 100% sure that you will not buy a timeshare. Timeshares are one of the most expensive ways to travel and timeshare presentations are usually really good. The salespeople are excellent at selling these properties. Don’t even think about going to a presentation unless you know that you won’t purchase one.
Again, I really can’t overstate it enough. Timeshares are awful. Please, please, PLEASE don’t purchase one!
Now that I got that out of the way, a better way to “save” money at Disney World is by going for 5 days or more. If you go for 5 days, the fifth day only costs $18 on an “off-peak” day. Days 6-10 are similarly inexpensive, costing less than $18 additional per day.
This still means that you are spending a large amount of money on the first 4 days of Disney! But going for 5 days or more is better (and even cheaper) than just going for 3-4 days and trying to squeeze everything in with a “Park Hopper” option during those days.
Another way to save money at the Disney World parks or even to get in for free is to use cash back credit cards. There are a variety of credit cards that can offer bonuses up to $500 after spending a certain amount of money. The Capital One Savor card currently offers a cash back back bonus of $300 after spending $3,000 within a 3 month period.
You can also get travel credit cards that offer cash back on “travel” spending. Unfortunately, Disney World parks do not count as travel spending. However, you can work around this by purchasing your tickets from the website Undercover Tourist.
Just like with hotels, travel hacking with credit cards can allow you to save a significant amount of money on every part of your Disney trip!
Avoiding “Vacation Spending”
When we were at the Magic Kingdom on our first Disney trip with our kids, we sat down to watch a parade. It was hot out … not unbearable, but about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. As we were sitting down, I noticed that a vendor was walking down the parade route selling spray bottles with a fan attached to them. These bottles probably cost less than $1 to make at a factory in Bangladesh, but I was curious to see what Disney was charging for them.
Unfortunately, I found that Disney was charging $20 for each one … and the vendor quickly sold all of her spray bottles!* Some families bought a bottle for each person, including one for each adult! Now, maybe each family around me had a net worth in excess of $5,000,000, but maybe they were just buying them as an act of “vacation spending”.
It is always easier to spend money when you are on vacation.
We know that our vacation is going to cost us thousands of dollars and we set out to ensure that it actually does! Nobody needed one or even five of those spray bottles, but they sold out anyways.
Instead of excessive vacation spending, set a budget for souvenirs and extra purchases. We give our kids some money to spend on vacation purchases and then encourage them to bring a little bit of their own money if they want something extra. This ensures that they will take time to think about what they actually want instead of just buying everything in sight five hours into the trip (as my daughter sometimes wants to do).
So avoid excessive vacation spending and enjoy your trip to Disney World! If you are able to save some money on your trip, let us know how you did it. No matter what, don’t leave the park with $5,000 in debt!
* Guess what I found in the trash on my way out of the park? Yup … some of those spray bottles!
Let us know how you have lowered the cost of your vacations by checking out the comments below.
And thanks for reading!
~Nathan
Let’s keep living a great life … with the help of money. So what’s next?
- You can travel for free by using rewards credit cards.
- You can get motivated and get out of debt.
- You can check out the next post or the previous post and continue to learn.
But no matter what you decide to do, let’s leave the ordinary behind and take action today!
