Walt Disney World: It's Not Just for Kids

A few tips I’ve picked up regarding saving money on a Disney World vacation

*Pick your time of year carefully. The product of a school teacher who loathes heat, my first few trips to Disney as a kid were during what Disney dubs”peak season”-peak for crowds, and prices. My last peak season trip was in March of 06-I paid more for my room then than I have in any of my trip since then.  This is one of those areas where being an adult at Disney World utterly rocks-you can ignore school schedules all together.

*Know your discounts-the most readily available are AAA room-only discounts (which you don’t need to book through AAA for, you can get them by calling Disney). Other room discounts include Annual Passholder (AP) rates, free dining, and other package discounts at certain times of the year. To keep appraised of package discounts as they come out, I recommend keeping an eye on a Walt Disney World message board. Disboards.com is my message board of choice, but there are other ones out there.

*Weigh your options regarding tickets. Look at a ticket price chart like All Ears’-do you want the option to go to more than one park (Park Hop), do you want the option to go to waterpark or Disney Quest?  I’ve found that the best ticket prices can be found on Undercover Tourist’s rates that are only accessed through a Mousesavers’ newsletter.  Mousesavers, incidentally, is one of the nest sources for Disney discounts.

*When you stay on-site at a Walt Disney World resort, you can take their free shuttle, Disney’s Magical Express, to and from the airport

*Consider the Disney Dining plan.

*If not on the dining plan, do some research into meal costs and advance dining reservations (ADR’s). I like sit down meals, so for economy reasons I eat lunch as my sit down meal, and have counter service for dinner (it’s slightly cheaper that way).  Also, as you are dining sans kids, you don’t need to worry about ending up with an unusual mealtime and a possible hunger meltdown.

*Think about getting a Disney Visa card, not only can 1% of everything you charge be converted into Disney dollars but you can access promotional codes before other guests

*Some use a Disney specialist travel agency to keep track of discounts for them

*Save on hydration by shipping water to yourself at your resort from Staples or Costco.

*Think about joining a rewards program such as Sunshine Rewards for extra Disney money-there are Sunshine Rewards’ members who have paid for entire vacations with their earnings.

*Check out the Disney-area Restaurants on Restaurant.com

*Consider heading to the Disney Outlets for souvenirs.

*Get Open Table points for an Opentable Cheque

*Check out OrlandoCoupons.com

What’s your favorite way to save on your Walt Disney World vacation?

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