Disclaimer: We are a family of 5 and Florida residents. Prices vary for residents of other states and during different seasons. Our experience may not be the same as yours. I was not compensated for this post.
Disney, “where dreams come true”! Every kid, young and old, dreams of visiting Disney World. The rides, shows, characters, what’s not to love? The price for one! Visiting Disney is expensive.
Just spending one day at one of their parks can set you back $109+. That doesn’t include food, lodging, or parking. Add all that together and you’re looking at a big chunk of change for a one-day visit.
A Disney vacation requires some frugality and I’m here to help you. Our family of 5 just completed a week-long vacation at Disney World for just $2000. How did we do it?
Disney Tickets
First, the tickets. Over the last few years, Disney has released a special Florida resident ticket in January called Discover Disney. A 3-day ticket is $175 plus tax. That means you can visit one park per day for only $58 a day. It gets even better. A 4-day ticket is $195 plus tax. That’s $49 a day! To visit Disney. Wow, what a deal!
The Discover Disney offer can be used any day through June 20, 2020 (dates vary each year). There are no block-out dates. Plus, you can spread out your visits. Tickets do not have to be used on consecutive days. Be sure to read all the fine print.
We chose to go with the 4-day ticket. Everyone over age 3 pays the same rate. So for our family of 5, we paid $975 plus tax. We paid the majority of our bill with Disney gift cards.
Disney Gift Cards
During the holidays, Target often has a gift card sale. We were able to get $700 in Disney gift cards for $665. That’s a $35 savings thanks to our Target RedCard. The deal used to be even sweeter, but it hasn’t surfaced in the last few years. If you’re planning a Disney vacation be on the lookout.
Tickets = $975
Lodging
Now on to lodging. Being Florida residents and living within an hour’s drive of the parks, we could have easily just driven every day. But that would have added parking fees to our total. Currently, it is $25 a day to park at each Disney park.
Since we own a travel trailer we decided to camp at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground. We stayed 6 nights for a total of $735, tax and fees included. That averages out to $123 per night! It’s hard to beat that nightly rate at a nice hotel with a room large enough for 5 people.
Disney’s Fort Wilderness
Fort Wilderness is camping at its best. There are many different types of sites, from premium to tent sites. They even have cabins. Prices will vary depending on the site type and season.
Amenities are plentiful. They have 2 pools, a nightly campfire sing-a-long, wifi in most areas, laundry rooms, comfort stations, transportation to the parks (bus and water), view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks and electrical water pageant, pony rides, playgrounds, dog park, arcades, and more.
During our visit, we had preferred site #105. It was in the loop closest to the marina. We could hear the water transportation arriving and departing and the nightly electrical water pageant. It was within walking distance to the marina, 2 bus stops, and the Settlement restaurants.
Our site was mostly shaded and pretty long. Our trailer and truck fit nicely. We even had room for a small tent. The site included water, electricity, and sewer hook-ups, a picnic table, and a grill. One drawback is that the sites are pretty close together. You definitely don’t have the privacy you get from a state park campground.
The beauty of staying on Disney property is you are just a hop, skip, and jump away from all the parks. You don’t have to spend the entire day exhausting your family in the parks. We usually hit the parks at opening then came back to camp for lunch and a nap. We then headed back to the park for the late afternoon and evening.
Lodging = $735
Food
We all know that Disney food is pricey. Many choose to purchase Disney Dining Plans. That may work for some, but not us. We ate breakfast every day in our trailer. We then brought snacks and water with us into the parks. Around noon we returned to camp for lunch. We decided to splurge on 1 meal per day at the parks. Most days this meant we had dinner in the park.
We are pretty thrifty and avoid purchasing pricey drinks and desserts. Because of that, we averaged $58 a day for food. We did splurge 1 day and got everyone a treat. So we ended up spending about $290 for 5 meals at Disney.
Food = $290
5th day
After spending 4 days straight in the parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom) we spent our final day exploring Disney Springs and trying out the new Skyliner. If we were to repeat this vacation I would put the down day in the middle of the week. 4 days in a row of theme parks was a bit much for our family.
Conclusion
After all, was said and done we spent right at $2000 for our week-long vacation at Disney. I was actually surprised that it didn’t amount to more. A Disney vacation can be affordable and unforgettable, you just have to budget and plan accordingly. The Florida resident Discover Disney offer is a huge blessing and definitely helped make the week possible for our family.
$975 tickets + $735 lodging + $290 food = $2000!
Looking for more Florida vacation ideas, try these…
- 5 Places to Experience a FL Rocket Launch
- Titusville’s Enchanted Forest Sanctuary with Kids
- Silver Springs State Park, Monkeys and More
- Hillsborough River State Park, a campground close to Tampa
- Lake Griffin State Park, a hidden gem
Disclaimer: We are a family of 5 and Florida residents. Prices vary for residents of other states and during different seasons. Our experience may not be the same as yours. I was not compensated for this post. The opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own.
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