Daydreaming of a magical Disney World vacation but worried about the cost? Do not stress!
Disney World is one of those destinations that a lot of people dream of going to, especially if you have kids, but it doesn’t have to cost a small fortune.
The trip we most recently took to Disney World was in October of 2025 during our road trip through Florida over Halloween and during EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival – neither of which we had done before.
I’ve been to Disney World three times but this was Jonlee’s first trip to Disney World as an adult and I wanted to make sure he got the full experience just like I did. And because we live and travel in our van, doing it as cheap as possible was top priority.
We have all sorts of hacks for a cheaper lifestyle without compromising on the stuff that really matters and makes it all worth it and I wanted to share how we made this possible for us and how you can do the same.
Disney World is an awesome experience and I want you to have an even better time knowing you saved a ton of money and had the whole thing paid off before you even got there!
In this post, I’ll share exactly how we experienced all four Disney parks for less than $800—even during the busy holiday and festival season. These are our top tips and tricks for an unforgettable trip that won’t drain your bank account.
DISNEY CREDIT CARD PROMOS
Before you book ANYTHING, be sure to check out Disney’s credit card promos. Jonlee and I are usually not ones for credit cards, as we prefer to keep what we put on credit to a minimum, but we felt that it was worth it for this because Disney can get very expensive very quickly.
So, at the time of our booking in August 2025, they were running a promo where if you got accepted for the Disney Premier Visa through Chase you get a $400 statement credit when you spend $1,000 within the first three months of opening.
We thought, ok cool.
You typically need a FICO score of about 700 or higher but don’t let that stop you from trying if your credit isn’t great. Disney offers two different types of cards through Chase – the Premier Visa with an annual fee and just the plain Disney Visa with no annual fee.
Take a stab at applying for the Premier Visa and worse case, you’ll get the regular Visa. Either way, it’s a great way to start bringing down the cost toward your overall trip price by using it for things you would be buying anyway (groceries, gas, etc.).
In addition, each credit card gets you the chance to earn rewards dollars that you can later redeem as cash for any Disney purchases.
Count your statement credit toward your ticket purchase and voilà! You’ve met the $1,000 threshold, got money off your ticket price, and earned rewards dollars!
Once you’ve been approved, it’s time to plan the next step: booking the actual park tickets.
BUY YOUR PARK TICKETS THROUGH A LICENSED DISCOUNT RETAILER
This is another crucial step in saving big when it comes to Disney World. Buying your tickets through a discount retailer can save you hundreds of dollars!
Popular options include AAA and Undercover Tourist. I found that AAA had the overall better deal than Undercover Tourist at the time of our booking but check around and do some research to see where else you might be able to snag a deal.
I used to work for a hospital network back home and through my employment there they offered discounted tickets for all kinds of things, including Disney World. It was an awesome perk to the job for someone who loves to travel!
Disney also offers discounts if you’re a Florida resident, military, or a Disney+ subscriber.
So check around and don’t be afraid to ask friends and family for what resources they may have, as well.
Bottom line, you DO NOT have to pay full price for Disney World park tickets!
ONE PARK PER DAY
My other tip here is that you purchase a base ticket for each day at a park and only go to one park per day – i.e. not getting a park hopper pass (see comparison below).
This actually saves you a bit of money by not paying extra for the “freedom” of going to multiple parks in one day. I promise you, going to more than one park per day is not necessary.
There is so much to do in each park that you will want to spend the full day at each one to make the most of it!
Here is the cost comparison of the base ticket prices vs. park hopper tickets as of January 2026 through AAA:
✔️ Base tickets:
❌ Park Hopper:
As we see here, the total price between base and park hopper differs by $83.43 per ticket.
That’s a big deal when it comes to planning your trip and getting the best bang for your buck.
At the time, AAA was offering $20 Disney gift cards for every ticket purchase (this screenshot shows it’s now for diningdollars), so Jonlee and I bought our tickets in separate transactions but with the same credit card, therefore doubling our gift card value to $40.
You may choose to do more than four days at the parks for a cheaper per day cost (but higher total cost) but for our trip specifically we just did enough days for each park.
*Pro Tip* Your 4 days of park tickets are valid for 7 days, so you can choose to use them in any order you’d like.
For example: You purchase 4 days of tickets for one park per day and choose to go to the parks every other day instead of consecutive days in a row to enjoy some other activities, like going to Disney Springs, or just relax and recoup for a day after each park. You have the freedom to plan it how you choose depending on how many days you plan on being in Orlando.
SKIP THE EXTRAS
You’re likely wondering about all the extras and add-ons that you’ll see when purchasing your park tickets.
Nowadays there’s a ton of different ways to elevate your trip with stuff like dining plans, lightning lanes, early entry, special character meets, water parks, park hopping, etc. and they might be really tempting but I assure you, you don’t need any of these things to get the full experience.
Disney World is a well-oiled machine that works in favor of the guest. Everything is very well-organized and streamlined for you to have the best experience possible, even with a base ticket and no frills.
I have been fortunate enough to have experienced Disney in both fashions and I can genuinely say that it is 100% more worth it to go with the budget side of things than the expensive version with fast passes and extras.
Disney World isn’t the most magical place on earth for no reason – it lives up to its name no matter where you’re coming from, so only spend what you need to.
Even going during a holiday and a popular festival, we faced no issues with long lines for rides or seeing anything we wanted to see. Some people get scared about missing out during these high seasons because of everyone thinking it’s going to be “so packed” but I’ve seen it for myself and it was totally worth skipping the extras to save money instead.
USE THE DISNEY CREDIT CARD POINTS WHILE YOU’RE IN THE PARKS
Going back to the credit card for a second.
Whichever card you end up getting, both will earn you points toward cash redemption that can be used at any U.S. Disney location including Disneyland in California.
You will receive a redemption card that can be used online at the Disney Store, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. It can even be redeemed at AMC Theaters for Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movies or just as a statement credit toward your balance on your account.
As mentioned earlier, for the Disney Premier Visa you need to spend $1,000 for a $400 statement credit. Therefore, based on the rewards percentage of what you purchase with the card, you could be earning hundreds of dollars worth of free money back toward your trip (see image below).
Once we got our card, Jonlee and I used it for everything.
We purchased our tickets in August and went to Disney in late October which only gave us two months to earn points. However, since we used it for everything, even in that short time we were able to rack up $70 in rewards!
My advice, of course, is to open the card as soon as possible before your trip and accrue as many points as you can beforehand so you have rewards money to use for souvenirs or something special while you’re there, like a character meal.
Jonlee and I were able to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival’s delicious treats with the rewards money we earned back.
And the best part was that we didn’t plan on eating at Disney at all in order to keep costs down (see next tip!) but then we got to enjoy multiple special treats anyway and that made it all the more magical and worth saving for!
Speaking of eating, let’s talk about additional ways to cut down costs while you’re actually in Disney World.
PACK YOUR OWN FOOD AND DRINK
I’m going to be honest here – at first, I did not think we were going to actually stick to just eating what we packed in our bags while being at Disney World because once you’re there it’s so easy to get caught up in all the cool stuff and want to spend your money on everything.
But surprisingly, we did it and it wasn’t nearly as hard as it seemed because we made sure to pack things we actually wanted to eat. That’s the real trick here – pack food you will actually eat and you won’t feel tempted to buy alternate or additional food.
Disney allows you to pack food and drinks in a backpack as well as allowing guests to leave the park and come back for any reason if needed.
If there’s something really cool and unique, like the Food and Wine Festival for example, and you want to splurge on something, enjoy it using your rewards dollars! That’s what it’s there for.
As far as drinks, we just brought our reusable LifeStraw bottles that we take everywhere and used Disney’s water fill-up stations located throughout all the parks.
This saved a ton of money on food because each meal will run you about $15 to $20 on average.
In the case of Jonlee and I, if we each ate two meals a day at those prices for four days we’d be looking at about $240 total on the low end. That’s a lot of money to be saved by taking a quick trip to the grocery store beforehand.
*Pro Tip* If you do want to order food in the parks, I suggest ordering a kids’ meal. It’s usually half the price of an adult meal and comes with just as much food.
I learned this hack from a friend and it’s tried and tested and a great one to use!
HOW TO STAY FOR CHEAP
Now don’t hate me for saying this…
But Jonlee and I stayed four nights at Disney World completely for free…
Let me explain.
First off, we live and travel full-time in our van – so our house is mobile.
But also, we planned our Disney trip with one of my best friends and her husband from Georgia. So, because they’re from out of state, they obviously had to travel to Disney World, which they did by car, and get a hotel.
Luckily for my friend, she was able to get a great deal through a family friend on her and her husband’s resort stay.
This in turn helped us because we were able to stay in their resort’s parking lot for the four days as guests completely for free.
Again, this is a special circumstance and will not apply to everybody. But if you live in a van and plan your trip with friends or family, you can absolutely park in the lot for free AND take advantage of the free shuttle services between all the parks so you don’t even have to move your van for those few days.
But if you are not a nomad, there are ways to keep costs down that don’t involve living in a Cracker Barrel parking lot for a week (although that is an option😅).
Here are some suggestions on how to keep accommodation affordable:
BOOK A BUDGET RESORT
Book at one of Disney’s budget resorts that include All-Star (Movies, Sports, and Music), Pop Century, and Art of Animation.
These are motel-style resorts but with the same ammenities as all the other resorts including free transportation and early entry options.
I personally stayed at the All-Star Movies resort when I went to Disney the second time and it was beautiful! I wouldn’t even consider it “motel-style” – it was much nicer than that.
It was very modern and clean and had a huge pool with lots of other activites like lawn games and an outdoor bar. Again, Disney does not disappoint and by choosing a “budget” option you are not getting any less Disney.
The reason I suggest staying on Disney property specifically is to take advantage of the free transportation. Parking per day can range from $35 to $50 depending on where you park. You mind as well put that money into a nice resort and not worry about driving while you’re there.
Another perk to this is that you can use your rewards dollars to book a place before your trip if you accrue enough in advance. Or on the flip side, you’ll earn rewards dollars from the booking to use towards something else.
STAY OFF OF DISNEY PROPERTY
If staying in a Disney resort is definitely off the table for you budget wise, there are tons of places to stay off of Disney property.
My preference is usually an AirBNB or VRBO type of situation because I find them to be much cheaper than hotels most of the time.
Check out booking.com or similar for the best deals near Disney World and compare getting an Uber or Lyft to the parks instead of paying for parking each day as an alternative. You may save quite a bit of money that way.
STAY WITH A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER NEARBY
Save on accommodation altogether by bunking with a friend or family member for a week while you visit the parks.
This may not be accessible for everyone but if you do happen to know someone in Orlando or surrounding area, take advantage of it!
You’ll have to pay for parking each day but that is technically cheaper overall than booking a resort.
FINAL SPENDING REPORT
Ok. Here it is.
This is the breakdown of what Jonlee and I spent at Disney World in 2025 over a holiday and festival season.
For two people to go to Disney World for four days and have the full Disney experience for less than $800 is pretty dang good!
Obviously, not having to pay for accommodation was HUGE in our situation and saved us a ton of money. I don’t want to undermine what that did for us. I understand not everybody will have the same setup but you can still save hundreds of dollars by following these tips.
Overall, for two people I would recommend saving about $1,500 for a Disney World vacation and for a family I would at least double that to $3,000 or more.
It’s always better to have more saved than not enough, of course.
Don’t become overwhelmed by stories of people reportedly spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a trip to Disney and thinking that you’ll never be able to afford it. Don’t get me wrong – people do do that – but it doesn’t have to be that way and that’s the good news.
No matter your budget or travel style, there are creative ways to experience the magic of Disney World without overspending.
Whether you take advantage of the perks of a Disney credit card, opt for staying in a budget resort, or pack your food everyday, a little planning goes a long way.
I hope this helps and guides you to do Disney World cheaper than you thought it could be without really sacrificing anything.
If you have any questions while planning your trip I’d be happy to help however I can! Leave me a comment or send a private message here.
Now that the planning is over, it’s time to get excited for your trip!
Our YouTube channel has tons of videos from our Disney trip if you’re interested in seeing more (I linked the playlist below!)
For additional budget tips and how we travel financially conscious, check out How We Financially Prepared for Life on the Road.
Thank you for reading! See you guys in the next one😊
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