The summer vacation season is here and your kids have been begging for one thing: a Disney World Vacation Trip! Trips to Disney World have been an integral part of the American family life for decades. Everyone remembers the time when they first met Mickey Mouse, dropped down the Tower of Terror, and the majesty of Cinderella’s Castle.
First of all, all cheap Disney World Trips involve planning. You don’t want to wait till you get to Disney World to find a hotel. Create a budget. Plan everything out. Write and estimate expenses.
Travel
Are you going to drive or take the plane? With the high gas prices, it actually might be cheaper to fly than drive. Calculate the mileage and figure out how much gas money you will have to pay. Will the drive take more than a day? Calculate hotel fees. Usually highway hotels run about 150 a night for a family for four. Figure food expenses in as well. Traffic around the highways near Disney can also be messy. Remember, you are not the only ones driving down to Disney! The upside for driving is that you have a car to get around. You will not need to rent one.
Food
What are you going to eat on the trip? If you’re planning a cheap Disney World trip, you might want to eat off Disney World. Most of the dining in the park is of the fast food type: pizza, chicken fingers, burgers, etc. However, this does not mean fast food prices. A simple burger meal (typical McDonald’s fare) will set you back around $10, almost twice the cost of a McDonald’s value meal. A good way to eat cheap in Disney is to divide your dining choices. If you are living in an off site hotel, it is usually a good idea to go to the supermarket and get some groceries for breakfast. Maybe get some bread and make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast. Lunch, however, is the tricky part. You don’t want to leave the park for lunch. Therefore it is recommended and unavoidable to have lunch in the park. The food’s not that bad. However, for dinner, the family can choose to go to a restaurant off site. There are many family restaurants around the Disney area, such as Denny’s or Pizza Hut. You can also choose to prepare food yourself if your hotel has facilities such as a kitchen or microwave.
Hotels and Lodging
Are you going to stay on the Disney World Resort or off the resort? Obviously staying on the Disney World resort has its perks. If a family decides to stay in Animal Kingdom’s lodging, they are treated to free safari tours (giraffes, monkeys, etc.) right in their own backyard. However this comes at a premium. A cheaper alternative would be to stay in an off site hotel, say in Kissimmee, which is 15 minutes away by car. There are tons of discount coupons found in vacation hotel ad books in service stations on the highways of Florida. Want to go on cheap Disney World Trips and still have the Disney Resort Experience? Divide your time between the Resort and an offsite hotel. There are onsite Disney resorts for a reasonable price. These resorts are called “Value” and have rooms that are priced at $82 a night. People who stay on Disney World Resorts can also participate in “Extra Magic Hours.” These are times when certain theme park attractions are available to those who stay on Disney Resorts.
Tickets and Admission
Buy tickets in advance online. Plane tickets are much cheaper when they are brought months in advance. Same thing with Disney World tickets. Don’t wait to buy the tickets when you get to the park. Buying tickets online also saves you line waiting time. With your tickets already in hand, you and your family can zip by the lines and enter right into the park. Disney offers “Magic Your Way” tickets. The price per day of these tickets get cheaper the more time you spend at Disney World. Usually, these tickets allow you to visit one of the four theme parks per day. There are additional packages that you can add on. However for a cheap Disney world trip, some of these add-ons are not needed. There is a “Park Hopper” add-on that allows you to visit more than one park per day. However, that is not needed as one park is really enough for one day. There are more than enough attractions in each park for one fun day in Disney. Regrettably you will have to be selective about what you see and what you ride. Look online before you go. Plan out what shows you and your kids want to see. Plan out what rides you must ride.
All this planning will make for a fun and cheap Disney World vacation trip!
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