Mom Street USA | Doing Disney on a Budget

Disney vacations are expensive — but they don’t have to be! In this episode of Mom Street USA, we’re breaking down all our best Disney on a Budget tips so you can plan a magical Disney trip without breaking the bank. From booking smart to saving on food, tickets, and souvenirs, we’ll show you how to make the most of your Disney dollars.

💰 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• How to plan and pay for your Disney trip over time
• When to go to Disney World for the best deals (and lowest crowds!)
• The truth about Disney park tickets, park hoppers, and discounts
• Budget-friendly resort options (on and off property)
• Tips for saving on dining, souvenirs, and Lightning Lanes
• Disney gift card hacks that actually work
• What to skip (like MagicBands and Memory Maker) to save even more

Whether you’re planning your first Disney vacation or you’re a seasoned pro looking to cut costs, this episode is packed with real-world Disney budget tips for families who still want all the magic — without the financial stress.

🎧 Listen now to learn how to do Disney smarter, not pricier!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome everybody to Mom Street USA. My Nie is Jackie
AKAA wishes Mama, And on this episode of Mom Street USA,
we are touching on a topic that I feel like
kind of just goes hand in hand with any time
you talk about a Disney trip, and that is doing
Disney on a budget. So I feel like this is
a little timely given that just this week we got

(00:27):
some increases in prices at Disney. But today the hope
is to give you some tips and tricks to be
able to save some dollars on your Disney trip. We
are going to talk a little bit about a few
of the other parks, but primarily focused on Disney. However,
I will say a lot of the tips that I
give you today will easily transfer to other theme parks

(00:50):
that you are planning to visit. We have talked about
this topic a long long time ago on mom Street,
so my hope was just to revisit today, give you
some reminders, maybe jog your memory about some of the
most basic things that you can do in order to
help your bank account and have a little bit of
a budget and maybe some savings ideas whenever you go

(01:13):
to the Disney parks. So Again, like I said, Disney
is expensive, but there are some things that you can
do to help save money and still have the most
magical trip when you go to visit the parks. So
this will hopefully serve as a starting point or maybe
a reminder point for some of you. If you've heard
some of these tips and tricks before, it may just

(01:34):
be a place that you go, oh right, yes, that's
something that I need to start doing to help budget
for my upcoming trip, or to help budget before I
book my next trip that I want to take. So
we're going to talk primarily about two different kind of
categories because we're going to divide it into the timing

(01:55):
of things. So we're going to talk about before you
go on your trip and then during your trip. So
those are kind of what we're going to hit on
for today's episode. So let's start by jumping into what
can I do before I go to Disney to help
myself save money and set a very realistic budget for

(02:18):
my trip. So the very first thing that I always
suggest to anybody who's wanting to go is do your
best to book your trip well in advance. I know
it can be hard sometimes depending on work schedules, depending
on school schedules, depending on budget like we're talking about,
but the earlier you can book your trip, the better

(02:40):
it's going to be for you overall. First of all,
this will help you pay a little bit as you go,
So Disney doesn't officially offer any sort of payment plans
for their trips or for you know, your bookings that
you do through them. However, depend on how far out

(03:01):
you book, and depending on what you book, you may
have some different options. So if you book a package
through Disney, you are going to be required to put
a two hundred dollars deposit down for that package deal.
That being said, the remainder of your balance for your
trip will not be due until thirty days prior to

(03:22):
check in, so you have all of that time to
make whatever payments you want towards your trip, So you
can put yourself on a payment plan if you so
choose to. Now, if you book like a room only deal,
that is a little bit different in that you will
pay the equivalent of one night ahead of time like

(03:43):
when you book, and then the remainder of your balance
will be due a check in, so again you still
have time if you can book early enough it just
depends on timeframe. With that, now, I will say with that,
if you end up booking your tickets or purchasing your
tickets separately from my everything else, the entire amount of
that will be due at time of purchase. So keep

(04:04):
that in mind. A couple different ways to look at that.
Disney typically opens their reservation availability at least a year
in advance. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's a little less,
depending on the time of year and when things open,
but almost always Disney is going to open that at

(04:24):
least a year in advance. So that gives you the
ability to really plan ahead and look at your budget,
figure out your timeline if you do want to create
kind of your own payment plan for yourself. The other
thing that this will help you do if you do
book your trip while at advance is if you are
someone who is flying to the parks, you and your

(04:45):
family are not close enough to drive, you're going to
be taken a plane. This gives you the ability to
use some of the apps and websites that are out
there and available to help you track some flight prices,
so things like kayak Hopper, Google Flights, even just some
of the apps within themselves for like I know I've

(05:07):
used it on Southwest and Frontier and some an American
and some of those will even have you know, the
varying prices in their apps as well. But that just
gives you the ability to look at what are these
prices going to do? Where are they at now where
I am, Do I think they're going to go down?
Do I want to wait? You know, all those types

(05:27):
of things. It's a little tricky to get into and
I'm not going to even try to go into the
logistics of when to book your flights because it really
varies depending on the airline and the airport and things
that you're using. But if you book enough in advance,
it does give you a much longer time frame to

(05:47):
kind of shop for some of those cheaper prices for
your flights. Now, speaking of flights, we're not going to
talk a ton about packing today, but looking at different
options for what bundles they have for you know, everyone
is charging for carry ons or for checked bags now.
A lot of places are charging for carry ons now,
So take a look at some of that and really

(06:09):
shop around when it comes to your flights that you're
looking at and what airlines you're planning to use because
at face value, something might look less expensive, but when
you get into those hidden fees, that's where they really
get you when it comes to the prices. So again,
booking further out gives you the ability to look at

(06:30):
your flight prices, but then also don't forget to look
at some of those checked bags, carry ons and maybe
figure out how to save yourself money some money there
if you're able to use just carry ons or something
like that. So that is the main tip that I
will give as far as like before you go booking

(06:52):
in advance, things like that. Now, as far as setting
yourself a budget, this is really going to depend on
a lot of different into variables, so it's hard for
me to give specifics when it comes to that. The
first thing that you really want to think about, though,
is once you've set your budget, a way that can
help you save money when it comes to the Disney

(07:13):
theme parks is using Disney gift cards to help you budget.
There are lots of different places that you can get
discounted gift cards. You can get them through Target with
your Red card or Circle card. I don't remember what
they call it now. I feel like they just rebranded
and changed the name. But discount gift cards through Target.

(07:35):
You can get them through Sam's Club if you have
a membership. You can get them through Costco and BJ's
if you have a membership as well, So a couple
different places, and they will run different deals throughout the year.
Like I know that Sam's Club always runs like a
Black Friday deal for theirs. Target a lot of the
times with some of their Circle Week deals that they'll run,

(07:55):
They'll run a deal on like entertainment gift cards that
you can keep an eye out to see if Disney
is included in that as well, and those typically will
run you anywhere from five to about nine or ten
percent off of the price of your Disney gift card.
So that can come in handy because not only can
you use Disney gift cards when you're down in the parks,

(08:17):
but you can actually use them to pay for your
to pay for your stay. You can use them for
your resort, you can use them to pay for tickets.
You can use them for a ton of things. Now,
a couple things about that. Number One, if you use
a Disney gift card to book anything tickets your resort,

(08:38):
hold on to that gift card do not throw it
away until after your trip, when you've come back and
you've spent all your money at the Disney parks, because
if you happen to need to change your reservation, you
need to modify it, you have to cancel it, any
of those reasons. They're going to refund you on the

(08:58):
method of payment that you need. So you want to
make sure you still have that gift card in hand now.
If you don't, there are ways that they can work
with you to figure out another way to refund you
that money, but you want to make sure that you
hold on to that until after your trip. The other
thing that you can do is you can actually combine
smaller quantity gift cards online. So if you go to

(09:22):
Disneygiftcards dot Com, you can type your codes in there
for your gift cards and actually combine them up to
one thousand dollars per gift card. So that can be
a really convenient way to kind of keep track of that.
I know a lot of people that talking about budgets
and kind of setting yourself up to save ahead of time.
I know a lot of people that maybe once a

(09:44):
paycheck will go to Target and with their red card
they'll grab a fifty dollars Disney card for five percent off,
and that's part of their budgeting because they just include
that in their weekly or bi weekly or monthly purchases
that they make. So that's definitely a really good way

(10:05):
to start setting yourself up for a budget for your trip,
and then to also save some money while you're doing it,
because while five percent sounds really small, when you look
at the amount off that five percent is off of
tickets and resorts, it can be a really, really massive difference.
So that is a really important thing to keep in
mind when you're planning for that budget and trying to

(10:27):
save a couple dollars here and there. The other thing
to really consider this early on is deciding how long
you really think you want to stay. So let's talk
about that and kind of what may weigh in on
those decisions that you make. Now. The one thing that
I will stress that I think is so important and

(10:50):
super helpful is actually using a travel agent to book.
So travel agents should be completely free. If they're not free,
find a different travel agent. But travel agents are free
to use they actually if they're booking a Disney trip
for you or one of the other theme parks. They
get paid by that company to book, so they are

(11:10):
completely free. They are experts at finding these deals, and
they should know a ton about the resorts and all
of those types of things. So you want to use
a travel agent whenever it comes to booking your Disney trip.
It's going to save you a headache and it's going
to give you a ton of really good information right

(11:31):
at your fingertips through them. So the other thing is
checking the calendars for cheaper times if you have a
flexible schedule. So Disney actually now on their website gives
you an option when you're looking at ticket prices to
look at when the cheapest timeframe is. So if you

(11:54):
go on to the Disney site and you're looking for tickets,
you can click there's an option that says like fine,
cheapest time or something like that. But typically speaking, January February,
as long as it's not a run Disney event or
a holiday, is a really good time to go when
it comes to prices. And then also August September is

(12:15):
a really good time to go. Again, avoiding any sort
of events and things like that, which can be a
little tricky to do. You got to do a little
bit of extra research looking into that, but those are
going to be some of the best times to go
if you're looking for cheapest day rates for your resorts
and for your ticket prices as well, So all of
those things can kind of play into deciding how long

(12:38):
you want to stay and looking at what your budget
is going to be for overall for your trip to
then start to figure out how much you can save
doing these different options that I'm going to talk about
in this episode today. So that all being said, the
other thing to really consider for your trip is what

(12:58):
parks you want to visit and what locations you want
to go to. So we've talked recently more about different
different Orlando theme parks. We've started to branch out a
little bit and talk about Universal, SeaWorld, Lego Land, some
of those a little bit. If you are planning a trip,

(13:23):
considering another location might be something that you want to
do to maybe still have a theme park day, but
maybe save a couple dollars from having to go to
Disney all the time versus maybe visiting one of these
other ones. So just a quick overview of what the

(13:44):
different theme parks in Orlando kind of compare. It's a
little tricky because there's so many different ticket options at
Disney and Universal especially, but even at SeaWorld and Lego Land,
they've got different package deals and things like that that
you can look into as well. So all of these
again you really have to look at dates and things

(14:06):
like that. So if you're looking at cost comparison for
theme parks, the big two to compare are Disney and Universal,
right and looking at how much it costs to visit
them for a day, So looking at the three day
ticket option just as kind of a basic comparison when

(14:27):
it comes to the Disney and Universal theme parks, a
typical three day ticket at Disney is going to be
around five hundred dollars per person. Again, these prices will
change based on when you're going, how busy they expect
it to be, is it peak season, is it slow season,
all of that, But around five hundred is what you're

(14:48):
going to be looking at for a typical three day
ticket to Disney. A three day ticket to Universal closer
to four hundred, so a little bit cheaper when it
comes to Universal's cost currently at this moment, when I
looked at these prices, I was looking like beginning of
March of twenty twenty six, if that kind of gives

(15:08):
you a ballpark. So it was like before the super
busy season, after the slow season, kind of maybe hopefully
somewhere in between was what I was going for, But
again who knows. So around five hundred for Disney, around
four hundred for Universal. So if you can kind of
do that quick math for how much per day that
is now looking at SeaWorld and Lego Land, SeaWorld, a

(15:30):
daily ticket ranges anywhere from seventy to one hundred and
twenty five. The busiest times and the most expensive times
are going to be on the holidays at SeaWorld, so
if you're looking at a holiday trip, you're going to
find more expensive tickets around then. Now for Lego Land,
a daily ticket is anywhere from fifty four to eighty

(15:51):
nine dollars. Again, the holidays are going to be the
more expensive times when it comes to Lego Land as well.
So SeaWorld and Lego Land are definitely le a lower
cost option for a park day. If you still want
to be able to go on rides, you still want
to be in a theme park, you still want to
have fun with your family, those are some options that
you can look into. Disney and Universal are close in cost,

(16:13):
but Disney is a little bit more expensive when it
comes to tickets. Now, one more thing that I do
want to just talk about with tickets is also something
to consider when it comes to budgeting and if you're
trying to save versus splurging and spending, is the type
of park ticket that you get. So Disney and Universal

(16:34):
both offer a base ticket what they consider like a
basic base ticket, and then a hopper ticket or a
park to park ticket, So they both have these options.
Your base ticket, your basic ticket, is going to get
you in one park per day. You are hopper option
or park to park option at Universal is going to
get you into more than one park per day. Now, Disney,

(16:57):
a park hopper will give you access to all four
of their theme parks. Some of them will also do
water parks. That's another cost on as well, but most
of the time, your Hopper ticket is going to get
you access to all four of the Disney theme parks. Universal.
If you remember back when we did our Universal episode,
we talked about Universal having twenty five different ticket combination

(17:22):
options since they opened Epic Universe, So you have to
look and see because some of their park to park
tickets will offer Universal studios and islands of Adventure, some
of them will include Epic, some of them will include
one day at Epic in a couple of days at
the other. So you need to kind of look around
and see and shop around. Again, travel agents are going

(17:42):
to be your very best bet when it comes to that.
Especially Universal tickets can be very confusing, so having someone
that you can chat with about that can be a
massive help whenever it comes to booking for Universal tickets.
But again that being said, let's look at Disney versus
Universal for that three day ticket. Again, Disney we started

(18:03):
around five hundred. You are going to add about eighty
five dollars per person if you want to add a
park hopper for that three day ticket. For Universal we
started at four hundred, but you are going to add
about ninety six dollars per person for that hopper ticket

(18:26):
over at Universal. So in the end you're looking still
a difference between the two, but it you know, it
evens out in the end. Disney having four parks, Universal
has three. Again, lots of different things to consider when
it comes to that. But again, looking at low times
when ticket prices start a little lower can help you

(18:49):
save and looking at do I really need a Hopper
ticket or can I get away with just doing one
park per day can also save you a ton of money.
Whenever it comes to booking your trip. The last thing
with the tickets to consider is you really want to
look at the dates. Once you've picked your dates for

(19:09):
your trip, you really want to look at what date
you want to start your ticket on, because even day
to day sometimes those ticket prices can vary a lot,
so keep that in mind. They have those price calendars
on their websites readily available pretty far in advance for
you to be able to look at the individual day
ticket prices, so don't forget to look at that and

(19:33):
take a look before you officially pick your dates if
you have the flexibility to do so. The other thing
to keep in mind is that Disney is still offering
the free water park admission entrance on check in day
if you're staying in a Disney resort. They have extended
that into twenty twenty six. They haven't announced yet when

(19:54):
that will end, but they have started to extend that
into twenty twenty six, so something else to consider. You
may be able to get that freebie, which will save
you money when it comes to your Disney trip overall.
So that's kind of tickets in a nutshell. But let's
talk about what else you can do before your trip
to help you do Disney on a budget. One of

(20:15):
the other things that I love to tell people to
do is taking your kids when they're free. So kiddos
that head to the Disney parks before they turn three
years old are free of charge. They do not have
to have a ticket that you pay for for them.
They're able to just join you on the rides that

(20:36):
they are, you know, eligible to ride height wise and
things like that. So that is one of the biggest
ways to save some money when it comes to planning
a Disney trip. We did take both of our kids
for their first trip before they turned three because it
was significantly cheaper when we didn't have that extra ticket

(20:56):
cost to use. So that is something to consider depending
on your timing and if that's something that you're able
to do. But that is a big way to save
a little bit of money on some tickets when it
comes to the Disney parks. Something else to consider is
what type of resort you're going to be staying at
So there are so many options that you can look

(21:20):
at to choose from. We just did an episode on
our mom Street top ten Disney Resorts for kids, so
that is a great reference point if you're someone who
is visiting and needs help looking at resorts. Not all
of those are super budget friendly, so keep that in
mind if you are looking for budget friendly. Not everyone
on that list is. But looking at the value category

(21:44):
when it comes to Disney resorts is going to be
your cheapest so you can search and sort that way
on your webs on the website whenever you go to
like price out your vacation and look at what your
budget's going to be, using the Value resorts category is
going to be your cheapest options at Disney. The Value

(22:05):
category includes all three of the all Star resorts, It
includes Pop Century, and it includes Art of Animation. With
the catalysts that the family suites at Art of Animation
are not really in that value price range, so it
would just be Little Mermaid rooms, Standard rooms at Art
of Animation, plus the other ones that I mentioned. A
couple things to consider because I know a lot of

(22:28):
people also talk about staying off property at Disney or
staying at a Disney Springs resort or a good neighbor hotel.
There are so many options. A couple things to consider
considering whether or not breakfast is included. Now at your
Disney resorts, it's not you're going to have to go
to a food court or a quick service or a

(22:49):
table service and pay for your breakfast. But on some
of the resorts that you can stay at that are
off property and not Disney owned, but nearby, they may
have breakfast included. Thinking about things like the benefit of
staying on property is that early park entry. So if
you're not familiar with that, Disney does offer early park

(23:09):
entry for all of their Disney resorts. You get thirty
minutes of early entry extra time in the morning, so
you get to go into the park thirty minutes before
anyone else who is staying off property at one of
those other resorts, or nearby at an Airbnb or wherever
it may be. So that is a perk of being
able to stay on Disney property. Transportation is another big one,

(23:35):
and this is one of the reasons why a lot
of people like to stay on Disney property is because
then you have the ability to take Disney transportation anywhere
else on property that you want to go. You don't
have to rent a car, you don't have to uber,
you don't have to spend extra money. Talking about Disney
on a budget, you don't have to spend that extra
money to get where you need to go. You can

(23:57):
use Disney transportation. It is completely free of charge to
use the buses, the boats, the skyline or the monorail.
All of those options are completely free. So being able
to do that maybe alone, will help you look at
the cost difference between off property and on property and
help you save a little bit of money. Because even

(24:17):
if you're staying at a resort that has Disney transportation
that is included, a lot of those shuttles are not
really great when it comes to timing. They maybe only
have a few hours that they run, They maybe only
have set pickup times a couple times a day. So
there's lots of different little details to look into when

(24:40):
it comes to transportation from getting from your resort to
the parks if you're staying off property, So some of
those reasons are good things to look at when it
comes to comparing off property cost versus on property cost
and then determining like I said, whether or not you
need a car, or if you have a car, that

(25:01):
may be a big factor for you as well when
it comes to that, because transportation is a big thing. Planning,
transportation from the airport to and from the parks, all
of that is a big cost that you might want
to look at. Now, if we're talking about transportation from
the airport to the parks, looking at something like the

(25:21):
Mears Connect shuttle is probably going to be one of
your most cost effective means of transportation. Now that being said,
depending on how many people are in your party, it
may or may not be. So again, you've really got
it when you're looking at your budget, sit down and
look at these costs. Because if Mears is going to
be fifteen dollars a person and you've got five people

(25:42):
that are going to be traveling, you know, math that out.
An uber that fits five may be cheaper. You just
really have to check and see. Uber costs can ebb
and flow a little bit with the how busy they
are are around the airport. Same with lift you know,
all those types of things. There are tons of different

(26:04):
car services you can look at those get on the
more pricey end though, So I would really look and
compare how much is it going to cost us to
take something like the Mears Connect bus and then what
would it cost for us to do an uber ride.
Even if you're not at the airport, you can still
look on the Uber and the lift app to see

(26:24):
about how much approximately it's going to be to get
you to and from wherever you're going for your resort.
So again, those costs are something to consider when looking
at trying to do it on the more cheap, budget
friendly aspect or for something like this, do you want
to do it just quickly as possible? Right, just get

(26:44):
to the resort as fast as we can from the airport,
because if you're doing something like Merors, you may have
to wait. Let's be real, you likely will have to
wait for other families and other guests that are also
going to be taking that because it is more of
a public transit option when it comes to getting the
transportation from the airport. A couple other things to keep

(27:07):
in mind before and as you're kind of planning your
trip and thinking about what are ways that I can
save some money, don't be afraid to schedule a resort
day to save some money on park tickets so we
talked about tickets just a little bit ago, and we
talked about the differences and cost and different parks and

(27:28):
things like that. But also not being afraid to use
your resort as a day that you don't necessarily have
to book the parks can be a massive way to
save some money. So what we like to do is
we typically schedule at least one, if not one and

(27:48):
a half to two resort days on our trips because
it still gives our kids a ton to do. Then
go swimming, they go to the arcade. There are so
many things that these Disney resorts to do that you
can easily spend an entire day just at your own
resort and your kids and you will have plenty to do.

(28:08):
So that is a really good way to kind of
break up the week, save a little bit of extra money,
and still have some fun activities and things to do
whenever it comes to being at Disney. So that is
something I always suggest, not only for saving money, also
for giving you your whole group a break from being
in the parks, because being in the parks too many

(28:31):
days in a row can really take a toll on you.
So being sure that you kind of break that up
to give yourselves some rest so you can sleep in.
You're not having to get up early to go early entry,
you're not trying to stay late for fireworks. You know,
you can just relax and have a more low key,
relaxing day at your Disney resort and save some money

(28:51):
in your budget that way. A couple other things as well.
You can before your trip also starting to purchase essentials
months ahead to be able to watch for sales. This
is another one that I always do because I think
it's so helpful when it comes to some of these
costs that you forget about beforehand. So when we're talking

(29:13):
about Disney budget, we talk about the tickets, we talk
about the resort, we talk about maybe transportation and some
of that kind of stuff. But there's a lot of
essentials for a Disney trip that we don't always talk
about when it comes to budgeting. We don't remember that
you might have to buy some new outfits, new shoes,
you might have to buy some ponchos, you might have

(29:34):
to buy a stroller cover for rain, you might have
to buy you know, all those little odds and ends
things that you need for your Disney trip that you
might forget to include in your initial budget that you're
making for your trip. So starting to purchase things ahead
of time and looking for those deals, looking for deals

(29:56):
on Amazon Prime Days and Target Circle Week and just
say that they're running online on different websites, you know
back to school sales or you know, so many many
websites and retailers run deals for holidays and so many
different sales that you can look for. You can plan

(30:17):
your outfits ahead of time. Be with this to start
to spread out those clothing purchases. If you're someone that
likes to do the matching shirts or coordinating outfits or
things like that, starting to kind of plan those well
in advance so that you can spread out some of
that purchasing can be really helpful for your budget. And

(30:38):
if it's something you're purchasing directly from Disney, if it's
a shirt, you know, Disney Store online does offer some
family like coordinating shirts that you can get, you can
use Disney gift cards for those. We talked about Disney
gift cards earlier today, So things like that are really helpful.
A couple kid items to consider looking at a ahead

(31:00):
of time that will save you money in the long run.
Are just little like trinkety gifts that you can get
them ahead of time, so that way when you get
to the parks might help them not ask for as
many gifts in the gift stores when you're in the parks.

(31:20):
So things like bubble wands that you can get online,
glow sticks, little small toys that you can get, things
that are fidgets, things that are magnets that you can
stick to, things, all sorts of different little toys that
they can have on the plane and the car in
the parks in a stroller. You guys that are our

(31:43):
parents are used to traveling with little kids. You guys
know exactly what I'm talking about. But any of that
kind of stuff. Purchasing those items ahead of time so
when you get to the parks, they're not all asking
you for a thirty five dollars bubble wand because you've
already got them one that you maybe only paid five
dollars for, but it's just as cool as that Disney one.

(32:05):
It's still got Mickey and Minnie on it, and it
still makes bubbles happen. So things to consider beforehand purchasing
to make sure that you can save a little bit
of money when it comes to that. Something else to
consider ahead of time is your stroller. If you're someone
who's going to need a stroller in your during your
trip because you've got kiddos that need to have that

(32:28):
accessible to them, really consider whether you want to bring
your own or you want to rent. Now, there are
so many different things to consider with this. First of all,
if it is a brand new stroller, that's a really
big risk of having it be damaged on the plane,
having it be damaged in the park, having it get

(32:51):
you know, things get misplaced, things get stolen unfortunately at
all of the theme parks. So just something to consider.
I tend to like to bring our strollers from home,
but also anytime I've brought my stroller from home, I
knew that I had a backup at home that I
could use if something happened to the one that I

(33:14):
took to the parks. So just really considering what stroller
you want to take and whether or not you need
to rent one. Now. If you don't have a stroller
backup at home, renting one may be a good idea
because it may end up being cheaper than what you
might have to pay for a new stroller. If yours

(33:37):
gets ruined when you're on your Disney trip. So again,
just something to consider based on your needs, based on
your budget, based on your comfortable comfortability level of renting
versus taking your own. Now, if you do want to rent,
I do just want to mention we do have an
affiliate link for Kingdom Strollers in the link in our

(33:58):
bio on our social media page, so if you want
to check them out, Kingdom Strollers is a fantastic company
to rent your stroller from, so you can find the
link to their website in our social media bios. Let's
talk about magic bands. This is a big cost for
a lot of families that are going, especially if you've

(34:18):
got multiple children in your group. So are magic band's
worth the price and worth putting into your Disney budget?
I tend to lean towards no. Here's why Disney now
anymore you have full access to everything you need directly

(34:40):
from your phone or your smart watch. Those to me
are easy enough to use that if you are really
trying to save money on your Disney trip, you don't
need to purchase a magic band as long as you've
got a functioning digital wallet on your phone or your
smartwatch or both. You do not need a magic band. Now.

(35:03):
One thing I would consider is if you don't have
let's see, say you're not comfortable using a digital wallet
and you want to use an actual physical card, I
would grab a lanyard or a badge, real or something
to use for your card, just to keep it more
conveniently handy, because having to pull it out of your bag,

(35:25):
out of a wallet, those types of things is a
little less convenient when it comes to skinning into the parks,
when it comes to if you're using lightning lanes, all
those types of things. So I would just consider that
as maybe a purchase you want to make for at
least one of the grown ups in your group to
have something that's easy access for those cards, if that's

(35:46):
your choice. But magic band's overall, I just if you're
really on a budget, I don't think they're worth it.
So that is something that you can just opt out of.
If you're staying at a Disney resort, that's going to
save you twenty five to their five or forty dollars
per person, and that can be a massive expense depending
on the size of your group. A couple other things

(36:07):
to consider and how they will affect your budget. If
we're talking about doing Disney on a budget, first one
being the memory Maker. This one's really hard. We've talked
about PhotoPass before here on mom Street, and I love
the PhotoPass cast members. I love the ability to have
them take your photo. But here's the deal. If you

(36:30):
are on a very strict budget and you are trying
to make your money go absolutely as far as you
possibly can when it comes to Disney, I do not
think you need to buy the memory Maker because nine
times out of ten there's going to be a cast
member available nearby to take a photo for you on

(36:51):
your own device. If you're going to visit a character
or you're going to a PhotoPass spot, those photographers will
use your device. You just have to ask them kindly,
would you please take a photo on my phone? They
are more than happy to do so. So do you
need the memory Maker? No, if you're on a budget
at Disney, I do not think it's something that you

(37:12):
need do. I think it's a great product to have
if your budget allows, absolutely, because then you don't have
to have this added stress of where's my device? Your
camera versus my camera? All of that can be a
little stressful sometimes if you're you know, trying to herd

(37:33):
the cats while you're in the Disney parks and your
children are running around like chickens with their heads cut off,
you may want the ease of that. So it really
depends on your budget. That memory Maker runs anywhere from
about one seventy to two hundred, and that's good for
the length of your trip, and only one person needs
to purchase it, So it just depends on if you're

(37:54):
willing and able to spend an extra two hundred dollars
on that when it comes to your Disney trip. A
ton of Disney trips without memory Maker and still gotten
some fantastic photos from our trips, So keep that in
mind as well when you're looking at your budget. Something
else that you will find as you are booking your
trip and looking at your budget is the Disney dining Plan. Now,

(38:16):
sometimes you can get lucky and you can find that
this dining plan is included in your resorts stay. They
do run promotions for this a lot of the times
it's during like early summertime, but there are other times
a year that they also will run it as well.
But this is something to consider depending on your eating

(38:40):
preferences for your group. If you are someone that you
like to eat it a lot of table service, you
like to eat a lot at quick service, you like
to have sit down meals, this may be a really
good thing to look at. If it's not free or included,
I don't know that it's the most cost effect let

(39:01):
me let me let me take that back. It is
not the most cost effective way to eat at Disney.
If it's included and it's free, you can absolutely take
advantage of that. If it's not, I do not think
on a budget, visiting Disney and using the Disney Dining
Plan is a good way to use your money, because
what you pay versus what you'll have to eat to

(39:25):
get your money back is way more than you think.
Most of the time, I cannot tell you how many
times I see on you know, social media, Facebook groups,
people saying I have all these extra credits left off
of my dining plan that I didn't use. So like,
that's just money that is, instead of being utilized towards

(39:46):
things in the parks, is just being given to Disney
and you're not getting anything back. So really look at
that dining plan. I really only suggest it if you're
on a budget when it's included. If it's not included,
I don't necessarily I really suggest purchasing that for your
trip unless you know for a fact that that's how
you want to eat. But we're going to talk a

(40:07):
little bit more about food a little bit later when
we jump to what you can do during your trip.
So put a pin in that and hang on to
that thought here. But let's talk about a few more
things to look at before your trip. A couple more
notes on food before we get to the during your

(40:28):
trip option. With food, do keep in mind if you
are on a budget when you're visiting Disney and you
want to do sit down restaurants, it is definitely feasible
if you are. You know, even if you are on
a restricted budget, you just really need to look at
the prices on menus, look at how much the food
is going to cost, is it prefix or is it

(40:50):
you know, per entree pricing, and then consider buffets because
I feel like buffets a lot of the times you
can get more money's worth and more food that you
know for sure you want to eat, especially when you're
traveling with kids. If you've got kiddos that maybe are
more particular in their food options something to consider as well.

(41:11):
Let's talk about my favorite topic to consider before your trip,
lightning lanes. Now we've talked about lightning lanes. We've done
in depth overviews and deep dives on how to use
the lightning lanes and what they are and how much
they cost and all that kind of stuff. So if
you hop back a few episodes, I just did a
refresher on Disney lightning lanes not that long ago for

(41:33):
multi pass and single pass rides. But looking at our budget,
do we need lightning lanes? This is a very specific
question depending on what parks you're going to, when you're going,
and what rides your group wants to do. Those are

(41:55):
the top three questions that I ask anybody who needs
my help with lightning lanes. That's where we start because
the answer to those will help dictate whether or not
you need to purchase lightning lanes for your trip. So
let's talk about the Disney parks again. Some of this
can also transfer to Universal, but their express pass is

(42:19):
vastly more expensive than the Disney lightning lanes are, So again,
when you're on a budget, probably not. But let's talk
about lightning lanes at Disney for the different parks. Here's
kind of my general rule of thumb when it comes
to purchasing lightning lanes for Magic Kingdom, they can be
super helpful, and I would definitely suggest, if you're able

(42:43):
to find a little bit of wiggle room in your budget,
purchasing the single passes for Tron and Seven Doors Mind Train.
If you purchase those two, you probably don't need multi pass.
You can probably get by without, but those that would
be my suggestion for Magic Kingdom. Again, blanket suggestion depending
on the rides. If you're not a thrill ride person,

(43:04):
you probably don't need those rides. Right at Epcot, if
you use early park entry correctly, you probably don't need
lightning lanes, But you definitely want to get a single
pass for guarding to the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind because it
will have a very long wait. And then you can
utilize single rider lines there as as well, if you're

(43:25):
able to, if you're in a group that is eligible
to do that. Ratituy Remy's Ratituey Adventure in France has
a single rider line and the test track has a
single rider line, so those are really great options as well.
At Animal Kingdom. Most days, you're not gonna need lightning

(43:45):
lanes at Animal Kingdom, unless you're visiting during like Christmas week,
you might want to get them then, But generally, speaking
of the Animal Kingdom currently as it sits, you do
not need lightning lanes. I would get a single pass
four flight of passage, and that would be the most
cost effective way to kind of utilize lightning lanes at

(44:05):
that park. And then as far as Hollywood Studios goes,
it is a giant pain. There are so many rides
there that are really hard to get on. I do
suggest utilizing multi pass there. It's really hard to book.
It's not a super fun park to navigate with lightning lanes,
but I do think having them is extremely helpful at

(44:27):
Hollywood Studios. So overall, single passes are almost always a
really good idea if you're able to have at least
a little bit of money in a budget to utilize
lightning lanes for rides. Multi pass for sure at Hollywood Studios,
also very helpful at Magic Kingdom if you're able to.

(44:47):
But again all of that depends on what time of year,
what rides you want a book, and what parks. So again,
those are kind of my blanket suggestions, but it is
not a one size fits all when it comes to
lightning lanes because it is so dependent on your trip,
your group, and what rides you want to do, all
of those good things. So that is kind of my

(45:11):
overview of what to do to help save money and
what to consider for your budget when it comes to
before your Disney trip. But let's talk about things that
you can do during your Disney trip to help stay
on a budget and to help save money to help

(45:31):
your budget be happy whenever it comes to visiting the
Disney parks. So during your Disney trip, there are several
things that you can do that will help your budget
stay where it needs to be. First thing that you
can do, and this is a little bit before, but
also kind of during, is ordering groceries. So this is
something that we are huge fans of in my family

(45:55):
and it helps us save a ton of money because,
let's face it, theme park food is expensive, and unfortunately,
like I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast episode,
Disney has been starting to raise some of its prices.
Even without that price increase, it's still expensive. Theme park

(46:17):
food is expensive, So what we tend to do is
we will either order groceries or if we've got a car,
we'll go and pick them up, so that way we
can eat breakfast in our room or grab something in
the morning granola bar, protein bar, those types of things.
We will pack our lunches. So Disney does allow for
you to take in food from the outside into their

(46:40):
theme parks, So we always pack our lunches to take
into the parks because it saves us so much money,
even just as a family of four. And then we
also will pack snacks for the afternoon. That way we're
not tempted to buy as many things in the park,
and we can get some snacks that will last well
in our park bags and will be way more cost

(47:01):
efficient and cost effective for us as a family than
purchasing things in the parks. We do typically eat dinner
in the parks because you can only eat so many,
you know, sandwiches throughout a week, So we do typically
do dinner in the parks, and we'll do like a
quick service restaurant for dinners, but that means we're only

(47:22):
purchasing one meal per day at that inflated Disney price,
So having snacks and things like that are a massive
massive way to save a ton of money. And this
is why I was mentioning earlier that the dining plan
is almost never worth it if you're paying for it.
If it's included for free, different story, But if you're

(47:45):
paying for that dining plan, it's almost never worth the
cost because you can very easily save a ton of
money just by ordering some groceries to your room or
running to pick them up. Another way, as far as
eating goes making smart choices when it comes to eating

(48:05):
by using quick service restaurants instead of sit down table
restaurants that are going to have a cheaper cost per
person for the quick service. So table service you're going
to see anywhere from probably starting around thirty five dollars
per adult, whereas quick service you can find things that
are significantly cheaper than that. You're going to be looking

(48:27):
at fifteen to eighteen per adult, maybe depending again on
what you're ordering where you're going. Lots of prices vary,
so you can always look up all of those things
online in the apps or on the websites to get
an idea. But quick service are going to be your
best option when it comes to trying to eat on

(48:50):
a budget at Disney. Sharing meals is a really good thing.
A lot of the times when you're in that Florida heat,
you don't need a full meal all on your own,
so having someone that you can share with, sharing with
your kids will do that a lot. Or sometimes my
husband and I will split meals. It just depends on
how hungry we are and what we're getting and where

(49:11):
we're going, things like that. But also ordering kids meals,
this is something that I'm a huge advocate of because
you can find a lot of really good kids meals.
It's not just only you know, chicken fingers and mac
and cheese everywhere. Now, don't get me wrong, there are
a lot of chicken fingers and mac and cheese which
I will happily order off of the kid's menu, but
there are a ton of other options for kids menus

(49:32):
as well. Those are going to be a lot cheaper
of an option, and they're still going to have a
good amount of food. Some of these kids meals get
as much as the adult meals, So just keep that
in mind, take a look around make sure you're not
missing out on a cheaper alternative, especially if you're someone

(49:52):
that doesn't eat a ton or wants to split something.
You can look at those options as well, and that
will definitely you save some money. Now, if you're also
looking at the best way to save some money for
snacks in the parks, a couple things to consider. The
big one is the refillable popcorn bucket. So it looks
like a kind of large price point outright. You can

(50:17):
find some popcorn buckets around twenty five dollars. Some of
them go upwards of forty if they're more specialized or more,
but the basic version you're gonna be able to find
for around twenty five dollars. This is one of the
most cost effective snacks in the parks because after that,
your refill price is two dollars and fifty cents, So

(50:40):
that is going to save you a ton when you
can after you've purchased the initial popcorn bucket, you can
go back to any of the kiosks for the remainder
of your stay and get a refill for that significantly
cheaper cost. So that is my biggest suggestion when it
comes to park snacks is to do it. Pot corn bucket,

(51:01):
have a refillable one, and the nice thing is then
you can take it back with you and you have
this fun little souvenir that you get to take home
with you and you can use it on future trips
as well. Another thing just to consider, and I feel
like this is a given, but I do just want
to mention it. As far as saving money is making
sure you have a reusable water bottle with you, especially

(51:23):
during the hot months. Now, if you're visiting during the
winter when it's not quite as vital, you still got
to drink your water. You gotta stay hydrated, but it's
a little bit easier to just grab a cup of
water at a quick service restaurant. You may or may
not need a big, giant reusable water bottle, but if

(51:44):
you are someone that is going to be visiting during
the summer, make sure you have your own water bottle
with you because otherwise you're going to be paying gosh
five dollars for a bottle of Dasani water, and you're
going to be doing that for every person in your grip.
So if that were me, I'd be spending twenty dollars
a day just on water at minimum. You don't want

(52:06):
to do that. Make sure you have your own water bottle.
I love the O Walla brand personally, but again, there
are tons of really great water bottles out there. Make
sure you have a reusable one with you so that
way you are not caught having to buy water in
the parks. Also remember quick service restaurants will give you
free cups of water anytime, any anywhere, any quick service

(52:28):
that you go to. That being said, if you're someone
that doesn't love water and doesn't like to just drink
plain water, bringing your own flavor packets instead of purchasing
juices and gatorades can be another really big way to
stay on budget. You want to do a little bit

(52:49):
of comparing to see though the cost of like a
liquid ivy packet versus the cost of a Gatorade packet
versus you know, those types of things. But speaking flavor
packets for flavoring your water is going to be significantly
cheaper than purchasing a gatorade or a soda or a
whatever at the parks. So that is definitely the way

(53:12):
to go when it comes to wanting something else to
drink if you're not a water person. The other thing
while you are there is one of the hardest things
when it comes to budgeting is trying your best to
limit your souvenir purchases. I am so guilty of overspending
my budget because I found these cute souvenirs. I found

(53:34):
this new set of ears, I found this new shirt,
or my kid wants this new toy. But really being
strict on your souvenir budget is another massive way to
save you money because Disney merchandise is expensive. Ears are
thirty five dollars at a minimum. If you want a sweatshirt,
you're looking at at least fifty to sixty dollars. Spirit

(53:57):
jerseys are eighty dollars. Lounge Fly backpacks are ninety dollars.
So it adds up so quickly. So doing your best
to stay on a budget and stick to that budget
is really hard, but I have faith that you can
do it. This is where your Disney gift cards will
play a massive role. And this is something that we

(54:20):
do with our kids. We give them a gift card
as a set amount on it, and once you spend it,
it's done. So think about maybe giving yourself a budget
on a gift card to help you stay in line.
So that way you know, Nope, when my gift card
money is done, I am done with my souvenirs. For
this trip. Again, I know it is so hard to do,

(54:45):
but if you're on a budget, that is my best
suggestion when it comes to merchandise and souvenir shopping, and
then as far as like what souvenirs to get, you
can find things for under ten or fifteen dollars. It's
not a ton, but you can find it in the
Disney parks. You just have to know what you're looking for,

(55:07):
so do some research on what you want so you're
not kind of sticker shocked when it comes to looking
at prices for some of the merchandise that you may
be wanting. Now, those are kind of my basic during
your trip check budget tips. Let's just give an example

(55:29):
of what a trip may look like, just so you
guys kind of have a ballpark budget on the low end.
Because I feel like when you are visiting the parks
and trying to plan a trip, if you've never gone before,
or it's been a long time since you've gone, or
you know you've been with your parents, but now you're

(55:50):
an adult and you want to try to go on
your own, it's hard to know where to start. Aside
from contacting a travel agent. Well, let's look at a
couple trip examples just to give you kind of the
low end basic budget for room and tickets. Again, this
is not going to include transportation and all the odds
and ends little things that you need to buy. However,

(56:13):
if you want to go to Disney, let's say you
want four park days, you want to do one park
per day, so five total days, and you're a family
of four and you're staying in a value resort. That's
kind of the base level trip that I would suggest. Again,

(56:34):
you can get into how many days you want to go,
how many days you have do you do hoppers do
you do non hoppers. I suggest base tickets just because
I think that it's more cost effective to extend your
trip a few days and do a base ticket than
it is to try to cram it all in with
park hoppers. That's my personal opinion when it comes to that.
So a four day base ticket plus five total days

(56:58):
of a trip for a family of four at All
Star Sports, which is one of those value resorts, that
is the low end of the cost comparison. Again, these
prices were like beginning of March prices, so kind of
hopefully somewhere in the middle, but you're going to be
looking around three eight hundred and sixty dollars for that trip,

(57:21):
So that is kind of base level where you're going
to want to start. When it comes to doing Disney
on a budget and trying to stay and go as
cheaply as possible, you're still going to be looking at
just under four thousand dollars for a family of four,
So kind of ballpark that is at least what you

(57:42):
need to know you can spend to make the most
of your time. Now, a similar trip at Universal, again
just for cost comparison. I know a lot of people
mix and match their trip. Some people do two days
at Disney, two days at Universal, Lots of different options.
Talk to a travel agent or if you need help,
send me an email Momstreet usagmail dot com. But as

(58:06):
similar trip at Universal, if you're going to be doing
four park days now with Universal, they don't necessarily offer
a base ticket with their packages on their website. It
may be available if you book through a travel agent.
I don't know one hundred percent if I'm being completely honest,
But so this is a four park day, but it
is park to park because that is what they offer

(58:26):
with their package deals. Five total days a family of
four at Cabana Bay, which is one of their low
end resorts. There, you're looking at three ninety five dollars,
so still in that three thousand range, but less than
your Disney for a similar length trip at a similar resort.
Something to consider. So again, looking at where you want

(58:50):
to go, how many days? What is my budget that
I'm going to be looking at? Those are things all
to consider and considering whether or not Universal is some
that appeals to you, or See World appeals to your
Lego Land, any of those that we talked about earlier
in this episode is something to consider. So again, that
just kind of gives you a general price point to

(59:12):
kind of start with. So if you are trying to
decide whether or not you have it in your budget
to be able to go, or you want to start
setting money aside now so you can book in a
year or two, that four thousand is really a really
good benchmark when it comes to that if you have
a family of four. Now, if you're just on your own,

(59:35):
you have to think that through as well, But for
a standard family of four, if you will around that
three to four thousand mark is what you're going to
be wanting to look at for your Disney budget. Okay,
hopefully you got some helpful tips and tricks throughout today's episode. Again,
these were just kind of some overviews of different things

(59:57):
that you can consider, different things you can do. You're
someone that's like I need more help than this, send
us a message. We over here at mom Street are
happy to help and happy to help you brainstorm and
look at different options and things like that. I am
not a travel agent, but I love to help people
look through and plan their trips out. We do have

(01:00:18):
partner travel agents with our good friends over at Chip
and Co. So if you need someone, head over to
their website and take a look at the different affiliates
that they have over there, because they do have some
travel agents that are more than willing to help you
when it comes to pricing out vacations and things like that. Again,
travel agents should be free. Don't use a travel agent

(01:00:39):
if they're going to cost you any extra for their services.
But I hope that all of this was helpful to
get your gears turning when it comes to doing Disney
on a budget. Like I said, please reach out. If
you need additional help or have questions, you can find
us momstreet USA at gmail dot com or you can
find us at momstreet USA on several different social media platforms.

(01:01:02):
Send me a message. I'm happy to help you take
a look at a potential trip option for your future. Also,
if you are have not headed over to our new
Patreon page, you're gonna want to head over there because
by the time this airs, there is going to be
a giveaway over on our Patreon account that we are

(01:01:24):
going to be doing a giveaway for some haunted mansion
pin set and that will be exclusive over on our
Patreon account. So we are momsterreet USA over there as well.
The link to that is in our social media bios
and in our link tree that is linked in our
bios as well, so be sure to head over there

(01:01:45):
and take a look. That is going to run through
the end of October. We will pull the winner on Halloween,
October thirty first and post that over on Patreon, so
you have to head over there if you want to
be entered into that. But other than that, thank you
all so much for being here, Thank you for your support,
Thank you for listening wherever you are listening. If you

(01:02:05):
wouldn't mind being sure that you're following subscribing, leave us
a rating, drop a comment somewhere wherever you're watching from,
and let me know what your favorite way to save
money at Disney is. I'd love to hear from you,
but for today, that is the end of our time together,
so we will catch you on the next Mom Street USA. Bye. Everyone,