Planning a Disney vacation can truly be a magical experience as you look forward to spending a few days with your favorite mouse. It can also be an incredibly stressful time as you work hard to make sure that you’ve planned the perfect vacation so that you can spend every minute getting the most out of your visit. Two of the biggest stressors when planning a Disney vacation are money and time. It can often feel like there is never enough of either; however, I think if you take your time, plan, and set realistic expectations you can absolutely make Disney fit into your budget!
Understanding What Is Important To You
Whatever the number you’re going to be working with, determine how you want to spend it. In order to figure this out, consider asking yourself some of the following questions:
- What kind of resort are you expecting to stay in? Do you want to stay in a high-priced deluxe resort or would you be just as satisfied with a moderate or value resort, or even off property ?
- Are you planning to be in the park every single day or can you save money by having a rest day at your resort and spending time at Disney Springs?
- Are there certain things on the “Enchanting Extras Collection” list that you might want to do such as the “Keys to the Kingdom Tour”?
- What are you going to do about food? Bring food with you? Quick Service? Table Dining? Or perhaps you’d like to do a combination of all three.
- Are we going to pay for Genie+ or will we simply use standby lines?
- Is a photopass worth it for us or will we take our own photos?
There are no shortage of questions that you could ask yourself to begin to tailor your Disney vacation but the important thing is that you’re taking the time to really understand the things that matter most to you. Once you’ve got these items narrowed down you can really begin to decide where you’re going to spend the bulk of your budget while in Disney.
Begin To Plan
Once you have your priorities in place, remember to be flexible. The ability to be flexible will help you to reduce the stress you feel as you are confronted with all the different options for your Disney Vacation. Sometimes while planning a Disney vacation we can see things beginning to quickly add up and realize that we either have too many priorities or we have unrealistic expectations.
As you begin to see prices add up you might need to shift things around to fit within the confines of your budget. If you’re like the rest of us, there will not be an endless supply of money to fund your trip so you will likely have to make compromises somewhere. For example, if you were hoping for a deluxe resort maybe you move your stay to a moderate resort so that you can splurge on one of the “Enchanting Extras”.
Don’t Forget Souvenirs
You have made it to Disney and think everything but food has already been covered. This can be true but if you’re traveling with kids you’re either going to have to become really good at using the word “No” as they beg for whatever souvenir they’re currently looking at in a gift shop, or you’ll need to plan for those spontaneous purchases. Again, you can remove the stress of these purchases by setting aside part of your budget for the excited kid (husband/wife) who is begging for that new pair of Mickey or Minnie Ears!
Set Your Number And Work Within It
This will not be a “cheap” vacation. It’s okay to admit that you are splurging on a Disney vacation but you have to remember that everybody has different levels of “splurge. Taking into account the things above, you must be willing to set a number that works for you and your family and learn how to work within that number. If you’re hoping to visit Disney on a more conservative budget, there will likely be moments where you have to choose between two great things because doing both is out of financial possibility, that’s why we talked about priorities earlier. Remember you can have an amazing Disney vacation without doing all of the paid extras!
Men With Mouse Ears 