💸 If just the thought of Disney World conjures the image of money floating out of your pockets and into the hands of one magical mouse, you’re not alone! 💸 Disney World can be EXPENSIVE. Like thousands of dollars for a single trip expensive. Like more than your rent payment expensive.

If you’re planning a trip for 2022 or beyond, you may be wondering how to save money and make your trip more affordable. Is it even possible to save on your Disney World trip? Are there things you can do to save while at the Most Magical Place on Earth as well (not just ahead of your trip)? YES. Yes, yes, and yes. You can save when traveling to Disney World and today we’re going to tell you how!

Hotel, Ticket, and Package Discounts

Look for Discounts

If you know where to look and how to ask, you’ll often find some sort of room or package discount happening in Disney World. Despite what you might think, there ARE ways that you can avoid paying full price for your hotel accommodations!

Disney typically announces different offers depending on the time of year — spring and summer, fall, and winter. These will typically appear on the Disney World website, on a specific page about discounts and special offers. We make it a point here at DFB to stay up-to-date on all of the latest discounts and deals and we share them ALL with you! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to hear about all of the latest offers as soon as they’re announced!

Click here to see our page FULL of information about discounts you can take advantage of right now

Bounce Back Offers

If you already know you’re going to plan another trip back to Disney World before your current vacation is over, be on the lookout for bounce back offers from Disney.

While this might also be a sneaky way for Disney to get you to spend more money by enticing you to book another trip, it can add up to great savings it if was something you were already budgeting for.

Stay Off Property

Staying off of Disney World’s property is another potential way to save a ton of money. You can sometimes find off-property hotels that are surprisingly close to the action and offer some great benefits and a much lower cost.

If you go down this route, just keep in mind that you may need to consider other expenses, like rental cars and parking.

Click here to see how off-property hotels compare to on-property ones

Stick to the Cheaper Options

If you want to stay on property, consider staying at the cheaper accommodations in Disney World. It seems obvious, but it’s true — by opting for a Value or Moderate Resort over a Deluxe Resort, you could wind up being able to afford a longer vacation or stay the same number of nights and have more money leftover at the end.

Consider how much time you’ll be spending in the resort room. Will you just be there to shower and sleep? If so, then you won’t really be spending all that much time at your hotel. Why pay top dollar for a place you’ll barely see?

There might be other reasons why you want to stay at a Deluxe Resort, like monorail access and great restaurants — but remember that you can make reservations at other hotels’ restaurants and visit them WITHOUT booking a stay there, and you could stay at select value resorts and still get access to great transportation like the Disney Skyliner.

Another pro tip? If you are hoping to get a bigger room or a room at a fancier hotel, like a Disney Vacation Club Resort — consider RENTING DVC points (rather than paying cash for a reservation). This could help you stay in some of Disney’s best resorts for way less!

Click here to learn more about the secret way to stay in select Disney World hotels for LESS!

Skip Out on Park Hoppers

When it comes to tickets and add-ons, there are a couple of ways to save a few bucks. First, you could skip out on the Park Hopper option, which will save a considerable amount of money on your ticket. The additional cost of the Park Hopper varies depending on how many days you’re buying tickets for. For example, Park Hoppers currently cost an additional $65 per ticket for a 1-day ticket and $74 per ticket for 2-day tickets.

With Disney World still abiding by the 2PM Park Hopper rule (meaning you can’t hop to a second park until at or after 2PM each day), the value of a Park Hopper isn’t as good as it was prior to the closures. That’s something to keep in mind when weighing the pros and cons of adding it to your ticket.

Click here to see the 3 BEST things about Park Hopping in Disney World and the 2 WORST

Carefully Consider Genie+

There’s also Disney World’s new service Genie+ to think about. Genie+ is a paid program (which replaced FastPass+) which is aimed at helping you skip the lines at certain rides in each park. Essentially, you’ll pay $15 per ticket, per day to view the times at which you can return to a ride and skip the standby line (using that ride’s Lightning Lane instead).

You’ll select whatever ride/time works for you, and then when your time arrives, you’ll go and use the Lightning Lane to get onto the ride faster. You can continue to make the selections 1 at a time throughout the day.

One way to save on your trip is to NOT purchase Genie+ at all. The downside here, of course, is that you’ll risk having to wait in longer lines for your top pick rides as you’ll be stuck waiting in the standby line.

Another way to save a bit of money when it comes to Genie+ is to not purchase it ahead of your trip. When purchasing Genie+ ahead of your trip, you’ll pay for it for the entire length of your stay.

If you choose to wait and not purchase Genie+ ahead of time, you could wind up saving a little bit of money. That’s because Genie+ can also be purchased on a day-by-day basis if you purchase it the morning of the day(s) you want to use it.

By doing it this way, you can opt to only buy Genie+ on 2 days out of your 4 day trip, etc. This could be helpful if you know you won’t need Genie+ as much for certain parks.

Click here to learn our best Genie+ tips for crowded days!

Dining Discounts

There are a few ways to save on your next meal in Disney World too.

Loyalty/Rewards Programs

If you belong to a loyalty or rewards program like Landry’s, you can use your member benefits at Landry’s restaurants, like Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex, and Yak and Yeti.

There are also some other spots in Disney Springs and beyond where a rewards program could get you a discount or free goodies!

Click here to learn more about these programs!

Happy Hours

Did you know that you can find Happy Hour deals in Disney Springs? Various spots in Disney Springs, including House of Blues Restaurant, Jaleo by Jose Andres, and other spots offer special deals during certain hours on select days!

See if you can plan your next Disney Springs meal around Happy Hour and see which restaurants are offering which deals (remember that these deals can change).

Discounts for Certain Members

There are also the standard ways of saving a few bucks on food, like Annual Passholder discounts, Disney VISA Cardholder discounts, and discounts for Disney Vacation Club Members.

These might only be available at select restaurants, so be sure to check the respective membership’s website and, when in doubt, ask the Cast Members. You never know what discounts might just surprise you!

Get Groceries

Aside from those discounts, there are several ways to “hack” your way into saving a ton of money on food at Disney World. 

For example, did you know you can have groceries delivered to your hotel? If you don’t have a rental car or you don’t want to take an Uber to the local grocery store, you can have food items delivered to your hotel — that way, you can save money by doing things like eating breakfast in your hotel room, or packing sandwiches for the park. Be creative!

Many hotel rooms come with a mini refrigerator, so you’ll be able to store some food items in there. Keep in mind that there are certain items you cannot bring to the park, like large coolers, glass containers, or food with pungent odors.

But bringing food into the parks or eating your own food in the hotel room can bring your total cost of dining way down.

Click here to see how getting deliveries at one Disney World hotel has CHANGED

Food Hacks

Aside from bringing your own food, you can find larger snacks that could count as a meal (if you’re a light eater, there are tons of unique options out there!).

You can also make breakfast your “big meal” of the day. That way, you can likely skip lunch and just snack your way to dinner. Breakfast menus are usually cheaper than lunch and dinner menus around Disney World, so that makes the savings even better!

Other tips include buying bottled beverages at merchandise locations (instead of snack carts) where you’ll be able to use your Annual Passholder (or other) discounts; and making sure to grab some FREE water (rather than spend money on a bottle of water in the parks).

Click here to see 15 cheap but filling Disney World snacks for when you’re ballin’ on a budget!

Stick to your budget!

There’s also the more old fashion method of simply keeping a close watch on how much you’re spending. Set your food budget and stick to it! And be sure to read our reviews so you know which ones to buy & which ones to skip!

Click here to read about little mistakes that could cost you BIG money in Disney World.

Merchandise & More

Watch for Signs!

While it doesn’t happen every day, Disney World merchandise can sometimes go on sale, especially end-of-season items around the holidays.

We’ve also seen this happen with EPCOT festival merchandise right around the time when that festival is winding down.

Check Online

You can also look to see if the same items you’re trying to buy in the parks are available on shopDisney, where you’re more likely to run across some sort of sale.

Be sure to scope out which sales can lead to the biggest savings, and consider waiting until one hits to buy the items you want. Just remember that you’ll have to pay shipping on shopDisney unless you hit a certain spending amount or a free shipping offer is available.

You may also find fun Disney options for way cheaper at places like Target, Walmart, or Amazon. If you’re looking to buy items for little ones and steer them away from being tempted by the more expensive items in the parks, consider buying them some souvenirs from cheaper spots online ahead of your trip and then packing them with you. During the trip, you can then take these out and surprise them with little goodies!

Click here to see the 5 Disney Amazon deals you need to brighten your day!

Discounts!

Don’t forget about those discounts! Like dining, you can add up some serious savings if you’re an Annual Passholder, Disney Vacation Club Member, or VISA Cardholder.

Always ask if the location you’re at takes any sort of discount!

Travel Costs

Finally, consider ways to save on travel. Depending on where you live, it may be worth the savings to look into the possibility of driving to Disney World versus flying.

Airfare prices have been on the rise, so it may be an option worth considering.

Click here to read about how to take your dream vacation to Disney World on a budget!

If there’s anything to take away from this article, it’s that there are ways to save some amount of money on your Disney World vacation. You might need to do a little extra work, do some special planning, or otherwise seek out those discounts — but they exist!

Whether you’re in the midst of planning your trip and you want to save big on your hotel accommodations, or you’re about to leave home and want to make sure you’re budgeting your dollars, we hope that you’ll be able to make your next trip as affordable as possible. That way, you can potentially put some money away towards your next Disney World vacation! 😉