Walt Disney World Budget Tips from a Penny Pincher

As fun as it is, Walt Disney World vacations are also expensive.  Especially when traveling with a family, many guests are looking to save as much as possible on their Disney vacation. There are layers to how extreme you can go in vacation penny pinching.  I hope that this article can provide some ideas for ways to save on your next Disney vacation!

1. Know Your Goal

Saving money can be tough, the best way to begin is to know what goal you have in mind.  Maybe you are looking for a way to do a Disney vacation sooner than you originally planned.  Perhaps you want to save enough money to return to Walt Disney World later in the year or you hope to save enough to budget for a vacation extra like a dinner show or trip to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for your little one. Knowing your saving goal from the start will keep you motivated and diligent as you plan and make spending decisions during your vacation.

2. Hack Your Travel Dates

So much saving can happen by playing around with travel dates.  If you have any flexibility in vacation time and can visit Walt Disney World during a slower time of year, you will reap savings rewards of lower ticket and resort prices.  If you are serious about saving on a Walt Disney World vacation, the best thing you can do is be super flexible with travel dates and be willing to vacation during a time you may not have originally considered.

3. Coupon for Vacation Necessities

Regardless of if you are normally a couponer or not, taking the time to shop sales and snag coupon and rebate deals for your Disney vacation will pay off. Three months before your vacation make a list of the items you will need to purchase like snacks, sunscreen, toiletries etc. Glance at grocery store and drugstore sales ads in the months leading up to your vacation to buy these items on sale and with coupons.  Stack savings by adding rebates to your shopping trip and you may just make money on vacation essentials that you were going to buy anyway!

4. Harness Those Reward Points

If you are not already using a credit card that gives you cashback or travel rewards, start looking for the best fit at the onset of your vacation planning process. Do notpay for a Walt Disney World vacation without getting some form of reward for spending. If you already use a credit card reward system, plan in the months leading up to your vacation to use the reward points/cashback you have earned to offset vacation costs.  Regardless of if this means using airline miles to travel to Orlando or cashback to gas up the car and buy snacks for the trip, use reward points to work for you.