How to do Disney in less than $1500

Ok full disclosure, the cost was probably closer to $1600 but this also included the most expensive ticket admissions: Harry Potter World. More on that later...

While we are still on the high from our joyous, childish adventures in the happiest place on earth, I wanted to share just how we did it on such a low budget. I tried multiple times in college to get a group of friends together to go to Disney for spring break, and of course the biggest obstacle was cost.

Disney is the epitome of cash cow organizations. I can't even be mad about this fact. It's like a children's Las Vegas - you pay tons of money to go there, only to spend even more money. So how did we do it? I think the first important point is why was this worth it?

Aside from the obvious reasons to go to Disney world, this trip was worth every minute because my opportunities for vacation are slim. We were so fortunate that Parker's summer break and my off-time coincided for once, so as they say - go big or go home.

Here are our 5 tips for an economically responsible trip to Disney World:

1. Go for 3 or more days. We spent one day at Universal for Harry Potter
   
   World prior to going to Disney itself, and I mentioned above that this was the most expensive part. Here's why: apparently if you choose to only buy tickets for 1 day of admission (to either Universal or Disney), prices can run you close to $200/person for the day. If you buy a stretch of at least 3 or more days suddenly your price per day drops to around $90/person/day. Crazy, right? They want to trap you there for longer so you spend more money. Makes sense. Additionally, it's ideal to pick low season times when ticket prices are cheaper (duh), but not everyone can control that so it's a minor point to be made.
2. Stay at an outside hotel. Though this saves you money on the up front cost, Parker and I debated the whole week whether or not staying outside of Disney was worthwhile. I say this because if you stay in a Disney resort, you have access to Magic Hours - aka extra time in the park when other people can't come in. More time = more time to spend waiting in line for the Avatar ride :) However, the outside hotel was pretty cheap. Most importantly, it came with a free hot breakfast. Breakfast is everything, and this leads perfectly into my next tip.
   
3. Snacks on snacks on snacks. The price of food was surprisingly less expensive than I originally expected. Most quick service restaurants ran adult meals around $12-20 and kid's meals at $7-10, but this is the kind of stuff that adds up quickly. Parker and I operated under the rule of "one treat per day" - meaning we could buy one food item in the park each day. Most of the time we spent that money on kids meals or splitting an adult meal, but at least once I treated myself to some ice cream, an ice cream sandwich to be specific. (It was amazing, they let me have two different flavors of ice cream. So. Worth it.) For snacks we brought a large variety of protein bars (we stick to Larabars and Rx bars only - old habits from Whole30 die hard, plus
   
   excess sugar and hot days don't mix well), beef jerky, trail mix, pretzels, and dried fruit. If you still feel like you'll be hungry, you'll either surprise yourself, or need to become comfortable with the fact that you're about to spend hella money on food at the park.
4. Bring a refillable water bottle. This seems like an obvious tip, but I saw tons of people at the park buying Dasani bottles of water for $4.00. Repeatedly. Disney is ok with you bringing in pre-filled water bottles. We personally brought a Camelback so it was easier to access and carry and filled this up a few times in the park. Fo free. 
5. Parking vs. hotel shuttle. So our hotel had a shuttle to and from Disney available at $5/person roundtrip. While this seemed like a good idea, we were pretty restricted on times that the shuttle would pick up and drop off. Parking is $20/day, and you can hop from one park to the next with this admission fee. Personally, this is worth it to me as someone who wants to be in the door right when the park opens. Just to do the calculation, we decided the extra $10 spent was worthwhile here. Ideally you find a hotel that has a complimentary shuttle service, or maybe this is a reason that makes staying on site in Disney more worthwhile. That being said - this is implying that you also chose to drive to Orlando in the first place (which I recommend as an obvious choice for saving money). Living 4 hours closer to Orlando now is really glorious for us.

   

   This one of multiple pictures a Disney photographer took for us with our own camera. For the win.

6. Have Disney photographers use your camera for photos. This is sort of a bonus tip. There were plenty of photographers working for Disney taking pictures of families in prime locations. They have a very convenient program where they scan your magic card or bracelet after taking the photos and you can access these things from the Disney World app. While this is awesome, I don't really care to pay for those photos. Luckily about 99% of the photographers were more than happy to snap pictures in the exact same spot with their same skill level with my own camera. Yes, they will even do this with an iPhone as well. 

Overall take-home point: you can go to Disney on a budget. You just need a little planning and self-control (trust me I had moments of nearly snatching cotton candy right from a little kid standing near me). Trust me, it's so worth it. More to come eventually on our takes of each park!