Top 5 Tips for Deals and Bargains on Walt Disney World Resort Hotels

By Dave Shute

(This page is part of the series The Tightwad’s Guide to Walt Disney World)

INTRODUCTION TO THE TIGHTWAD’S GUIDE TO WHERE TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This site provides precise instructions elsewhere on where to stay at Walt Disney World. These instructions are designed for typical first time family visitors who are not sure whether or not they will ever return.

This page summarizes a series on where to stay at Walt Disney World for a subset of first time visitors: tightwads.

TOP FIVE TIPS FOR DEALS AND BARGAINS ON WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT HOTELS

1. What time of the year you go, and where you stay, have a bigger impact on your overall Walt Disney World budget than how long you stay. 

For this site’s general advice on when to go to Walt Disney World, see this; for why “when and where” are so important, see this; for the single best time for tightwads to go, see this.

2.  Disney World has hotels at several different price levels–for what you get in each price level, see this.  At each price level there is a hotel that provides better value for money than the rest.  See this page to see what these hotels are.

3.  Except at the busiest times of the year, you can almost always find a deal on a Walt Disney World resort hotel–especially if you are flexible, patient, and persistent.  See this page for lots of different ways to get a deal.

4.  You can even get the highest-end deluxe rooms at rock-bottom prices.  See this page for how to do so.

5.  Although I recommend against it for first time visitors, you can also save a bundle by staying off-site.  See this page for how to get started on picking your off-site hotel or vacation home rental.

 

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

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

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RELATED STUFF

• d. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
• e. What to Budget for Walt Disney World
• The Tightwad's Guide to Walt Disney World

4 comments

1 Tooty { 01.07.14 at 9:32 am }

We have an RV and will staying at Fort Wilderness, do they offer discounts there? Other family members will be staying somewhere else, is it better to wait awhile to make reservations in hopes that deals will be avaible, or make reservations early to be sure of a place to stay. Trip planned early Oct.

2 Dave { 01.08.14 at 9:47 am }

Hi Tooty, the campsites at Fort Wilderness are almost always excluded form discounts. For the rest, it doesn’t matter. When the discount comes out, the rest of your group will compete for them the same whether or not they already have a reservation.

3 Laura { 07.17.14 at 5:13 pm }

Hi we are looking to make our first trip with the kids in fall of 2015. I read that oct 17 and 24 would be ideal weeks as far as crowd and prices. We are going with my parents so there will be 4 adults and 3 kids. Where would you recommend staying on a budget. Any other budget tips you have for us? Are package deals cheaper than booking separately and using undercover tourist? Thanks!

4 Dave { 07.18.14 at 7:24 am }

Hiya Laura! My resort recommendations are here–they go by category (the first category, value resorts is least expensive) and within categories from most to least recommended: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/04/26/walt-disney-world-resort-hotel-reviews/

Packages usually don’t save anything, but if Disney offers a deal, you have to buy your tix thru Disney. Those dates there’s a good chance for 15-20% off of room rates (but not at Art of Animation my top-ranked value resort) which will save you about as much as you can expect to save from UT. All my other budget ideas are linked to from here: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/10/03/introduction-to-the-tightwads-guide-to-walt-disney-world/

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