Financial mistakes not to make at Disney World:
- Booking a more expensive resort – If you think you will only use the resort as a place to lay your head, don’t pay for a more expensive resort.
- Booking the dining plan/Not booking the dining plan – Don’t just assume you will or won’t need the dining plan. Do some research ahead of time to see which one is the best choice for your family.
- Buying more ticket days than you need – You can always add extra days to your tickets if you decide to stay longer but they will not refund the extra days you don’t use.
- Adding Park Hopper – Unless you are 100% positive that you will Park Hop, don’t add it ahead of time. Instead put the amount that Park Hopper would cost you on a gift card. Then if you are at the parks and decide to hop, it will cost the exact same as if you paid for it ahead of time and you will have the money on a gift card. If you don’t hop, you’ll have the extra money to purchase more souvenirs or put towards your next trip.
- Buying too many souvenirs – Set a budget for every member of the family plus a family budget. That way each person has a set amount to spend and then the family as a whole has a budget for things to decorate the home or commemorate the trip like an ornament for the Christmas tree.
- Buying water in the parks – A bottle of water is up to $3 in the parks. Ship water to the parks if you are flying and carry it with you or ask for free water at the counter service/snack stands.
- Buying autograph books at the parks – The autograph books just aren’t the best. They are expensive and don’t have that many pages. Instead bring your own from home (check Etsy) or have the characters sign unique items like autograph photo mats or pillowcases.
- Staying offsite – If you decide to stay off site, don’t forget to budget in $20 per day for parking plus the cost of your rental car. If you stay on site, you can use the Disney Magical Express to get to your resort from the airport and then use the park transportation to get around Walt Disney World.
Learn more about planning your Walt Disney World vacation. Plus overwhelmed with all the planning? Destinations in Florida can help you plan your perfect trip.
Lesley says
Yes, I too, would like to know where people are staying if they are staying off site. And … go!
Janine says
So we are going down to WDW Again next spring (yay) we seem to have leftover food when we use the dining plan. We will be staying in Fort Wilderness and most likely driving. I was thinking I’d we could purchase the dining plan for only the days we are in the park? Does it work that way?
Elaine says
The amount of you you receive is based on the number of nights you are booked for. If you are staying 6 nights but only purchasing 4 day passes, the plan will give you food for the 6 nights.
Try down sizing the package you purchase and consider paying out of pocket for the table meals or whatever. Also, the dining plan is not always the cheapest way to go! My family of 5 spent $600 on food for our last trip…saved me $500 off dining package!
Disneylover says
Nope.. dinning plan works with the days u are staying in resort…
Russ Callahan says
For the water option there is a gas station on property ( a couple of them) I buy a case of water from there for around $6 more expensive then some places but way less then the parks. If you fly in it is a good option.
Bobbi says
While everyone has their own opinion on this, I don’t feel that Staying Offsite is a “financial mistake not to make”. We have a large family and staying off site was a much better value than staying at the park. We also have the added benefits of a washer/dryer and a full kitchen which saves us money on dining. I think that, while it may not benefit some, it certainly saves us money.
Britney says
I agree 100%. Stating offsite (despite the cost of parking) saved the most money. And we got a private pool :)
Nola says
Where did you guys stay?
Jen says
Stay off site is wonderful for large families. We have 5 of us, so having a 2 bedroom condo, full kitchen, 2 bathrooms and washer and dryer is a life saver. Even with our rental car (which we can get some groceries with and go to the beach with) it still cheaper for us than staying in a Disney resort.
Jess Lee says
This is one of the ways our family has saved money. we drive to FL. So we have our own vehicle yes parking costs, but we have stayed on an affiliate resort and used the bus system and it ended up being more of a hassle (especially for little ones)and we didn’t have the option to head back to the room (for afternoon breaks … Aka meltdown time block. For naptime ) planning ahead and getting a room that is super cheap (hey its just for sleeping) and refundable makes planning easier. We have the room held and if for some reason wthe plans fall through we are not out anything or much and its amazing how low you can get the prices if booked early enough. (We spent our honeymoon going to universal and Disney and when you are broke college students any savings can help, otherwise we would never have gotten a honeymoon.)