Category — e. What to Budget for Walt Disney World

DISNEY WORLD FREE DINING DEAL FOR MOST DATES LATE MAY THROUGH EARLY AUGUST

Walt Disney World has released a Free Dining deal covering most arrival dates from May 27 through June 26th, and July 7 through August 6, 2025.

“Free Dining” means that guests with the deal staying in an eligible DVC or deluxe room get the Disney Dining plan for their stay for free, and guests staying in a value or moderate resort get the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan for free.

At the simplest level, you get credits for two meals and a snack per night of your stay, plus a refillable mug, per person on the reservation:

For more on the Disney Dining plans, see this.

Not all room types will be available under this deal. Moreover, a room rate discount deal is also available that covers all of these dates. Some groups will see better savings with the room rate deal.

For details on this deal, see this.

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DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DISCOUNTS FOR LATE SPRING AND SUMMER

Walt Disney World has released a group of room rate discounts covering stays of four consecutive nights or longer most nights from May 1 through September 30, 2025.

Savings range from 15% through 30%. Available rooms for the deal are in three groups of savings, and in each group, savings are 5% better for stays of 5 nights or longer than for stays of four nights.

DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DISCOUNTS OF 25-30%

A group of mostly DVC and deluxe resorts is available for discounts of 25% to 30% per night.

DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DISCOUNTS OF 20-25%

A mix of select deluxe, DVC, and values resorts and rooms, plus most of the moderates, is available for discounts of 25% to 30% per night.

DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DISCOUNTS OF 15-20%

The campsites, the rest of the values, and Caribbean Beach are available for 15-20% off.

Not all room types will be available under this deal. Moreover, a Free Dining deal is also available for May 27 through June 26, and July 7 through August 6. Some groups will see better savings with free dining.

For details on this deal, see this.

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DISNEY WORLD HOTEL DEAL

Walt Disney World has released a set of hotel discounts that cover “most nights” March 25, 2024 through October 3, 2024.

Discount levels off of regular prices range between 10% and 35%.  In general (with some interesting exceptions) the highest discounts are for more expensive hotels, longer stay lengths, and earlier in the year.

SAVE 25% TO 35% AT MOST DELUXE AND DVC RESORTS

Most of the deluxes and Disney Vacation Club resorts offer savings of 25% to 35%.

SAVE 20% TO 30% AT MOST MODERATE RESORTS

Most of the moderate resorts offer savings of 20% to 30%.

SAVE 15% TO 25% AT MOST VALUE RESORTS

Most of the value  resorts offer savings of 15% to 25%.

SAVE 10% TO 15% AT THE POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT

The Polynesian Village Resort gets its own savings class of 10% to 15% off….

SAVE 10% AT A MIX OF RESORTS

Finally, lower 10% savings are available at a mix of value, moderate, and (mostly) DVC options that usually have really strong demand anyway.

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Walt Disney World has released a deal–or rather, a group of deals–for various dates from January 9, 2024 through March 24, 2024.

More complicated than most Disney World deals, this one has two “book-by” periods, two different stay periods, and five different discount groups.

At its most basic, the deal offers discounts on posted room rates at Disney World hotels. Savings range from 10% to 30%.

• Book by December 15, and in most cases you’ll save an extra 5%
• There are two date periods: most Sunday to Thursday nights January 9 through February 22, and most nights February 25 thought March 24

However, because in addition to this there are five different discount groups, I’ve organized the deal by hotel name to perhaps make things easier to track:

BOOKING THIS NEW DISNEY WORLD DEAL

More details are available on Disney World’s website here.

Availability is limited, and in the past, at any given resort, the lowest-priced rooms have been particularly hard to book.

Disney World also has available a dining deal that overlaps with the dates of this room rate deal, which might be better for some visitors. You can book online or over the phone, but  good travel agent, such as my friends at Destinations in Florida, can book the best deal for you—contact them using the form below:

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DISNEY WORLD’S DINING PROMO CARD DEAL

Disney World has announced a new dining deal that covers a varied set of arrival dates from late October 2023 through early March 2024.

More specifically, the deal includes arrival dates:

• Most nights 10/27 through 11/1
• Most nights 11/25 through 11/29
• Most nights 12/9 through 12/25
• Most Sunday through Tuesday nights 1/9 though March 5

The deal works by offering a virtual “Dining Promo Card” which can be used at most Disney-owned table service and quick-service restaurants and, since you need to eat anyway, thus represents a savings on what you’d otherwise spend on a Disney World visit.

The value of the amount placed on your “Dining Promo Card” is a function of how many nights you stay, where you stay, and which nights you stay. A minimum four night stay is required to get the deal.

The amount placed on your “Dining Promo Card” per night varies from $60/night to $200/night. The higher amounts are restricted to the more expensive Disney World hotel rooms.

DISNEY WORLD DINING VALUE OF $200 PER NIGHT

Values of $200 per night are available at many of Disney’s DVC resorts…

…and also all of Disney’s Deluxe resorts.

DISNEY WORLD DINING VALUE OF $120 PER NIGHT

Values of $120 per night are available at all of Disney World’s Moderate resorts.

DISNEY WORLD DINING VALUE OF $60 PER NIGHT

Values of $60 per night are available at all of Disney World’s Value resorts.

BOOKING THIS NEW DISNEY WORLD DEAL

More details are available on Disney World’s website here.

Availability is limited, and in the past, at any given resort, the lowest-priced rooms have been particularly hard to book.

Disney World also has available a room rate deal that overlaps with the 2023 dates of this Dining Promo Card deal, which might be better for some visitors. You can book online or over the phone, but  good travel agent, such as my friends at Destinations in Florida, can book the best deal for you—contact them using the form below:

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This page includes both general guidance on estimating your Walt Disney World budget, and specific guidance on what to budget for the post-Thanksgiving weeks that I recommend.

WHAT TO BUDGET FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD

“What should we budget for Disney World?” is the hardest simple Disney World question to answer.

This is because smaller families, families whose kids are younger, families staying at a less expensive hotel, families going during a less expensive week, and families on shorter trips will pay less. Larger families, families where everyone is over nine, families staying at a more expensive hotel, families going during a more expensive week, and families on longer trips will pay more.

• A parent and one younger child, with three days of tickets and three nights in one of the three least expensive Disney-owned hotels, the value resorts All-Star Music, Movies, and Sports, during one of the less expensive price seasons, could spend as little as $1,850 in Orlando
• Add another parent and another younger child and this same trip jumps to $3,125
• Stretch the same less-expensive season trip out to the 8 hotel nights and 9 ticket days I recommend for “only visits” and the in-Orlando price nears $7,300
• Stay this long in one of the more expensive deluxe resorts instead, and the price is more than $10,000
• Stay in the hotels I recommend and visit during my top-rated week and the price increases to between $9,500 (at Art of Animation) and $14,000 (at the Polynesian)

(All the figures exclude transportation costs and souvenirs.)

ESTIMATING BUDGETS

Consider the following variables:

• Dates of the visit. Walt Disney World price seasons for hotel rooms vary tremendously over the year. Ticket prices also vary by date, as do the costs of ticket add-ons such as Genie+.
• Group size and age structure at planned check-in date. Kids less than three years old don’t require theme park admission and aren’t charged at buffets. Kids from three to nine are charged a little less than older folk for theme park tickets, and less for kids’ meals and kids’ buffets. Kids ten and older as of the check-in date are charged the same as adults for theme park tickets and table service restaurants. With the exception of the Disney Vacation Club rooms and the Fort Wilderness campground, Disney includes two guests aged 18 or older in the room at the base price. Additional guests in the room over the age of 18 will be charged extra.
• Number of days in the parks and nights in your hotel. The per-day cost of park tickets goes down over longer trips, but longer trips still cost more than shorter trips. More hotel nights means more hotel costs.
• Dining choices.  Eating only quick service meals will cost an adult an average of $55/day. Add snacks, an alcoholic drink, and a table service meal, and you’ll easily average $100/day.
• Targeted hotel. Walt Disney World hotel rooms are available for prices from just over $130 per night to over $1,300 per night, depending on hotel type and time of year.
• Transportation costs. These vary greatly depending on mode of travel.

You can get more specific estimates, and also play with hotels and dates, by pricing trips out on Disney’s website.

USING DISNEY WORLD’S WEBSITE TO ESTIMATE MOST OF YOUR COSTS

Once you have ideas about where to stay, when to go, and for how long you want to visit, input your information. Start with hotel and ticket costs, as these vary the most. Visit your My Disney Experience account (don’t have one yet?—see this) and sign in.

Click “Places to Stay” (top center)…

…and when the next screen opens, input your check-in date, check-out date, and party size, and pick your hotel.

On the next screen click Package.

On the next page select the number of days for your tickets at the top, and at the bottom pick “base ticket.” Click through to get your final offer total.

Then skip get your total offer.

This will give you the base costs for lodging and tickets. To this you need to add:

• Core dining costs–use around $55/day for those who will eat off the regular counter service menu, and ~$30/day/person for those who can thrive with the kids menu (see the bottom of this page for an example lunch/dinner menu, with kids at the bottom.
• Dining upgrades–additional costs beyond the above for any snacks, alcoholic drinks, and special meals you will be booking.
• Ticket upgrades.  Paying for Individual Lightning Lanes and Genie+ will save time but add costs–budget $30-$50 per person per day (the lower number for long trips, the higher one for short trips)
• Souvenirs, snack and extras
• Transportation

BUDGETS FOR THE RECOMMENDED WEEKS

For the #1 week this site recommends, assuming you are a family of 4 with one child younger than 10 and one older, on a first and perhaps only visit, budget if you can:

• $14,000 if you are staying at the Polynesian, or

• $9,500 if you are staying at Art of Animation

Add to this budget the costs of getting your family to and from Orlando, to and from the airport if you are flying, and some funds for contingencies and souvenirs.

This budget includes Walt Disney World Resort hotel accommodations, food, park tickets, and a few special meals and special events (all for a family of four with one younger than ten, after-tax):

• Nine days of park tickets, at about $3,200

• Additional attraction-related costs for Individual Lightning Lanes and Genie+. This can cost another $900-1,000 over nine days in the parks

• Dining at around $2,300. This will cover nine days of dining, mostly at the counter-service level but also with four to six more expensive table service meals

• Approximately $700 for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

• Lodging costs: $6,800 for 8 nights at the Polynesian, or $2,300 Art of Animation

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