Planning Your Walt Disney World Budget

OVERVIEW

I have published two related series of articles on this site—titled The Tightwad’s Guide to Walt Disney World, and The Comfortable Guide to Walt Disney World.

As a step related to each, I bring together here budgeting advice from various parts of this site into one place, to set the stage.

This site notes that while you can have a great trip for $3,000 or less (before transportation costs), for the best first family trip to Walt Disney World, you should budget if you can between $5,300 and $8,400, plus transportation.

What I want to reiterate here is that when you go and where you stay have more of an impact on your budget than how long you stay.

MORE DETAILS ON PLANNING YOUR DISNEY BUDGET

When you go matters because Disney changes seasonal prices multiple times over the course of the year.  Staying at the Polynesian during the most expensive time of the year can cost you $2,700 more than it would cost if you went during the cheapest period.

Where you stay matters because Walt Disney World has resorts priced at many different levels. Staying at the Polynesian instead of Art of Animation during the lower cost season will cost you $2,400 more.

Combining these effects—staying at the Polynesian during the highest cost time of the year instead of  at Pop Century during the lowest cost time of the year—costs you a whopping $5,100 extra!!

These points so far may be straightforward.  What isn’t so obvious is why shortening your trip doesn’t save as much as you’d think.

The basics are as follows: your transportation costs you as much for a short trip as a long one, and—because of the way Disney prices theme park tickets—so, essentially, do your park tickets.  So all you save from a shorter trip is your hotel and food costs.

Here’s an example.  If your airfare costs are $1,500, then a four night, five day trip—about half of what this site recommends—will cost you, at Art of Animation during the lower priced seasons, a minimum of $4,250: $1,500 for airfare, $1,200 for park tickets, $550 for four nights at Art of ANimation, and $1000 for the Disney Dining Plan, refillable mugs, and extra snacks etc.

However, if you stay for 8 nights and 9 days, your trip will only cost $1,600 more.

This is because airfare costs are the same either way, and the way Disney prices park tickets is that while you pay an arm and a leg for the first three days of tickets, ticket days after the third are almost free—e.g. around $12/day/person.

Another way to think about this: two four night trips are MUCH more expensive than one 8 night trip—because you have to pay airfare twice, and you pay twice for the most expensive first three days of your park tickets.  Two four night trips would cost at minimum $3,100 more than one eight night trip!!

(See this page for the assumptions modeled into the above.)

So the takeaways for the first time family visitor:

• Think carefully about whether you need to stay in anything fancier than Art of Animation or one of Walt Disney World’s other value resorts
• Think carefully about what is really getting in the way of your going during one of the less expensive seasons
• While a shorter trip does save you cash, the savings are not at all proportionate to the amount of time at Walt Disney World that you lose.

LINKS FOR WHAT TO BUDGET FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD

For the basic December trip recommended by this site

• See this for what to budget during the basic December trip
• See this if you are on particularly tight budget, for (difficult) ideas to reduce the December trip budget by more than $1,000

For help getting to much lower budget numbers,

• See this for links to current Walt Disney World deals and discounts
• For basic Disney World budgeting concepts, see Planning Your Walt Disney World Budget
• To design a trip around a specific budget target–e.g., what you can do for $2,500–see this
• For reducing your lodging costs,
  • See The Tightwad’s Guide to Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
  • See this for links to current Walt Disney World deals and discounts
• For reducing your dining costs,
  • For ideas on cutting your dining costs compared to what this site recommends, see this
  • For a period during which dining is sometimes free, see The Tightwad’s Guide to When to Go to Walt Disney World
• For reducing your transportation costs, see this

For Walt Disney World price seasons,

• See this for resort price seasons
• See this for Disney Dining Plan price seasons
• See this for Walt Disney World theme park admission tickets

PUBLISHED SO FAR IN THE COMFORTABLE GUIDE TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• The Most Comfortable Time to Goto Walt Disney World
• The Comfortable Guide to How Long to Stay at Walt Disney World
• The Most Comfortable Place to Stayat Walt Disney World:
  • 1. The Options
  • 2. Recommendations
• The Most Comfortable Way to Travelto Walt Disney World
• The Most Comfortable Way to Tour the Theme Parksat Walt Disney World:
  • 1. Minimizing Planning Time
  • 2. Minimizing Advance Planning
  • 3. Reducing Daily Scheduling
  • 4. Eliminating Early Mornings
• Planning Your Walt Disney World Budget

PUBLISHED SO FAR IN THE TIGHTWAD’S GUIDE TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• The Tightwad’s Guide to When to Go to Walt Disney World
• The Tightwad’s Guide to Which Night to Check In
• The Tightwad’s Guide to Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
  • 1. The Tightwad’s Guide to the Best Resort Hotel Bargains
  • 2. The Tightwad’s Guide to Resort Deals and Discounts
  • 3. The Tightwad’s Guide to Getting Deluxe Rooms at Rock Bottom Prices
  • 4. The Tightwad’s Guide to Staying Off-Site
• The Tightwad’s Guide to How Long to Stay at Walt Disney World
• Air Travel 201: The Tightwad’s Guide to Cheap Flights to Walt Disney World
• The Tightwad’s Guide to How to Eat at Walt Disney World
• Planning Your Walt Disney World Budget

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