Planning a vacation to Walt Disney World can be an exciting but daunting task. With so many options and activities to choose from, it can be easy to overspend and blow your budget. However, creating a budget is essential to ensure that you can enjoy your trip without worrying about your finances.
When we talked about The Basics, we discussed what kind of trip you’d like to have. Using that as a guideline, you can determine what your budget will need to be in order to make your dream vacation a reality. I know that talking budget can be a bummer, but it’s important to know where you stand so you can start making some of the fun decisions about your trip!
Factors that affect a Walt Disney World Vacation Budget
When developing your budget, it’s important to consider the following factors which can make your trip more or less expensive:
- Time of year for your trip
- Duration of your trip
- Number of people in your travel party
- your vacation style
Think of these factors as your levers to pull which can drive the cost of your vacation up or down.
Time of year for your trip
The time of year that you vacation at Walt Disney World is one of the biggest factors in what your total trip cost will be. This is because not only do resort rates vary by season, but park ticket rates and extras like Disney Genie+ also vary by day! It’s the invasion of Big Data helping corporations maximize revenue! Generally, the more popular a vacation time and more close to a holiday, the higher the crowds will be and the higher your costs will be.
The most crowded and Expensive times to visit Walt Disney World are:
- Christmas and New Years Eve
- Thanksgiving
- Spring Break (March and April)
- July 4th
- Halloween
- Other federal holidays
If you’re planning your vacation for one of the above times, be ready to spend more money on your trip and spend more time waiting in lines.
“But wait,” you might ask, “what about Summer when the kids are off school?” You’ll generally find bigger crowds and higher prices at the beginning of Summer through to around the 4th of July, but after that, you’ll actually start to find some pretty good deals for stays at Walt Disney World. Turns out it’s ungodly hot in Florida in July and August (who knew?) and the word has gotten around. If you can stand the heat (and the pretty much daily afternoon thunderstorm), it’s not a bad time to visit – and bonus, no guilt for taking the kids out of school!
Duration of your Vacation and Your Travel Party Makeup
If your dates are inflexible, one way you can affect the total cost of your vacation is to consider how long your trip will be and who you’ll be traveling with. The more nights you stay, the higher your hotel and dining costs – and let’s face it (at least for me) your souvenir spending.
I once analyzed our spending after a four day adults-only trip with my husband and frankly was shocked by how much we spent per person per day on food, alcohol, and souvenirs. Ladies and gentlemen, it was over $300/day PER PERSON. It’s possible to go vacation crazy and I have proof. I’m just glad it was a relatively short trip!
The ages of the folks you’re traveling with will affect your overall budget as well. Kids under the age of 3 are free to get into the Walt Disney World theme parks, so feel free to bring as many of those tykes as you can handle. There are reduced rates for children vs adults for theme park tickets, but it’s really not as much as you’d hope for – only a few dollars difference.
Your Vacation Style
Obviously my husband and I have a different vacation style than many budget-conscious folks, and we certainly could make our trips cheaper by ratcheting down our spending. But for us, letting loose and enjoying big fancy meals and indulging in shopping is part of what vacation means to us. It’s important to really think about what you consider what you enjoy about being on vacation and planning your budget accordingly.
If you’re looking forward to enjoying the finer things complete with signature dining meals nightly and paying more for the convenience of staying closer to the parks and less waiting in line, you’ll want to budget for a deluxe style vacation.
If vacation for you means a focus on family time at the pool, some sit down dinners, and lots of time enjoying the parks, you’re probably more of a moderate style vacationer.
If going to Disney for you means rope dropping the parks every day and staying through to the nighttime spectacular, you’re probably a value style vacationer.
So, what does that all mean when it comes to expectations for your budget?
Sample Walt Disney World Vacation Budgets
I based these sample budgets on a family of four – two adults, a 13 year old, and an 8 year old. This pricing is based off of actual pricing pulled from the Walt Disney World website as of April 2023.
Summer Travel
For a family of four staying 5 nights at Walt Disney World with a 4 day ticket with one park per day over the summer, you can expect to spend:
- Value Resort: All Star Music – $3,089
- Moderate Resort: Port Orleans, French Quarter – $3,950
- Deluxe Resort: Polynesian Resort – $5,510
Holiday Travel
For a family of four staying 5 nights at Walt Disney World with a 4 day ticket with one park per day over the Christmas holiday, you can expect to spend:
- Value Resort: All Star Music – $4,138
- Moderate Resort: Port Orleans, French Quarter – $5,230
- Deluxe Resort: Polynesian Resort – $8,653
Your Mileage May Vary
It’s important to keep in mind that these are just estimates and your actual costs will depend on your specific travel dates and the type of room you choose. Additionally, be sure to budget for food, souvenirs and other incidental expenses. Depending on how you plan to eat (sit down meals vs quick service meals), you should budget around $75 to $150 per person per day on food. Plan on spending around $50-$100 per person for souvenirs over the course of your trip. (Or per person per day if you travel like I do…)
Creating a budget may not be the most exciting part of vacation planning, but it’s an essential step to ensure that you have a great trip without breaking the bank. By setting a budget and sticking to it, you’ll be able to enjoy all that Walt Disney World has to offer without the added stress of overspending.
So, start planning your dream vacation to Walt Disney World today and enjoy all the parks have to offer without worrying about your budget!
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