I’ve been to Disney World many times, and I like to think I know how to do it on a “budget” … at least, a loose one.
Recently, my partner and I planned a last-minute trip to the theme park on our way to visit family in Southern Florida for the holidays.
Between flights, transportation to and from the airport, lodging, park tickets, food, and souvenirs, we spent about $1,600, or $800 each … for about 48 hours in the Disney bubble.
Here’s a look at what we spent, ways we saved, and what we might do differently next time.
We stuck with a value resort since we wouldn’t be spending much time in our room
We spent $237 on our flights from Fort Myers, Florida, to Orlando and landed a few hours before we planned to visit Disney World.
By the time we arrived at our value resort, All-Star Music, our room was ready for check-in ($319 for two nights).
We tend to choose value resorts because they are the cheapest hotels on Disney property. Plus, stays come with complimentary bus transportation to the parks and Disney Springs.
All-Star Music was the cheapest of the five Disney value resorts when we booked, and our room provided us with enough space for our short stay.
After grabbing some snacks at the hotel food court ($25), we took a much-needed nap and got ready to visit Magic Kingdom.
Since we attended a seasonal event, we didn’t need buy separate park tickets
Fortunately, past me unknowingly helped me save during the trip.
I had two unused tickets to last year’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party — an additional ticketed event held at Magic Kingdom — that I was able to put toward a new party date. I just had to pay the difference, which was $21 for both tickets.
These tickets typically run $169 to $209 per person, and they felt virtually free since I’d already paid for them in the past.
We also didn’t need to buy a park ticket because we were able to enter Magic Kingdom at 4 p.m. on our event day — and we could stay until midnight.
Several drinks and treats were included with our ticket
When we arrived at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, we each got an ornament and a Mickey-shaped peppermint marshmallow.
Our ticket also included festive treats and drinks, like cookies and hot chocolate, that we picked up throughout the evening. I’d estimate we consumed at least $30 worth of treats.
We got our sugar fill with those and purchased a few savory bites, like my favorite meal at Magic Kingdom, the ham-and-Gruyère croissant sandwich with chips ($11) at Gaston’s Tavern.
We also got popcorn for only $2.50 because we got a refill in our reusable popcorn bucket — it’s a must-pack item for every Disney trip.
I kept my souvenir purchases to a pair of mix-and-match character ears ($46 for a headband and two characters to go on it) and a commemorative event pin ($23).
The party also included performances, a holiday parade, fireworks, character meet and greets, and access to classic rides (which sometimes have shorter waits than a normal park day).
We got to ride all the Magic Kingdom rides we wanted to (some multiple times) without having to pay extra for line-skipping Lightning Lane passes.
A Magic Kingdom ticket on its own can run upwards of $200 depending on the day, so the special event add-ons, like unique character meet and greets and complimentary snacks, definitely make the ticket price worth it.
These events are my hack to a cheaper Disney day if you’re down to have a late night and stay in one park instead of opting for a flexible-but-pricier park-hopper pass.
If it’s your first time at Magic Kingdom and you can get a one-day ticket for the same price or less than the party ticket, I’d stick with the former so you can go at your own pace.
Our second day was focused on eating around the world at Epcot, and we didn’t spare any expense
We purchased two single-day tickets to Epcot for our second day, which cost us $381.
On longer trips, we normally opt for the flexibility of park-hoppers, but we didn’t want to spend our limited time traveling between parks. Plus, the flexible multi-park ticket would’ve cost over $70 more per person.
Since we were staying in Epcot, we didn’t buy Lightning Lane passes.
I don’t think they’re worth it here because the park doesn’t have many rides — plus, we could use single-rider lanes to skip large waits at both Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Test Track.
Most of our money was spent at on food and drinks from booths at Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.
We revisited festival classics, like the filet mignon with mashed potatoes ($20 for two orders) from the Canada pavilion, and tried some new favorites, like the flauta de barbacoa ($9) from the booth in Mexico. We loved the latter so much we got it twice.
Other favorites included the warm carrot cake with cream-cheese icing ($5), which I get every year, and my favorite drink, the Ottawa Apple ($16.50).
Some bites were just OK, like the chicken dumplings ($6) in the China pavilion.
However, I’m glad we looked into festival menus in advance to plan which booths we wanted to prioritize. This helped us save time and money while getting me more excited about our trip.
I shelled out the most money on collectible pins
Every time I go to Disney, I know I’m going to put most of my souvenir budget toward collectible enamel pins, and this trip was no exception.
Many of these pins can only be purchased at Disney parks, and collecting and trading them is a popular hobby.
On this trip, I was trying to complete a set and only needed one more pin, so I bought multiple mystery two-packs at about $23 each.
Ultimately, I spent $165 on mystery packs, which is more than my share of the hotel. I didn’t complete my set and I ended up with way more pins than I wanted (or needed).
Next time, I’ll buy one or two pins that I can pick out myself instead of mystery packs. I also plan to hold off on buying more until I can swap the ones I don’t want at one of the trading stations in the parks.
We ended our trip with a free activity
After our full Epcot day, our last afternoon was spent walking around Disney Springs.
The shopping and dining spot has free parking and is a nice place to wander if you’re wanting to be part of the Disney bubble without forking over hundreds for tickets.
Then, we headed to the airport for our flights home ($197).
All in all, we enjoyed ourselves and made the most of our 48 hours
Many people could spend what we did on our two-day trip and stay at resorts with nicer amenities or have more park days and sit-down meals.
However, because this trip was last-minute, we were happy with anything we made the time for, and since it was shorter, we felt better about having a higher food and souvenir budget.
Those were our priorities, especially since we never spend enough time at our hotel to justify booking a nicer one at a higher nightly rate.
We could’ve made the trip more affordable by spending less on souvenirs, which we will likely do next time. However, now I have more pins to trade for my next trip — and a way to remember one of our favorites.
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