28 Ways to Save Money on a Cheap Disney Trip

We’ve all been there. And by “there” we mean thinking Walt Disney World is just not affordable. And while most Disney trips are super expensive, there are plenty of ways you can save money on a Cheap Disney Trip instead! Whether it’s with discounted gift cards to buy your trip, or use in the parks, with hacks and special offers. Or even just choosing the cheapest hotel and the cheapest time of year to visit. You can get an affordable Disney Vacation if you know where to look. So, if a Disney Trip is on your family vacation bucket list here are some REALLY EASY ways you can save money on a Cheap Disney Trip.

Wondering how you can save money on a Disney World Vacation? If you’re wondering how much it costs to go to Disney World, then you’re in the right place. In 2025, Disney World costs on average about $360 per person per day or about $7200 for a family of four on a 5 day trip. This includes 5-Day park tickets, a 5-Day stay at a Disney Value Resort, transportation to and from Disney World, Lightning Lane Multi Pass at two parks (recommended Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios), daily quick service meals, snacks, and two table service meals. 

And as taking a trip to Disney World in 2025, only gets more expensive, it pays to know how to save money on a Disney trip when you can. So how can you cut your Disney Trip Cost in half? Here are all our best methods for keeping our one week trips to Disney World under $3000 whenever we visit.

Get a FREE Water Park Ticket on Arrival Day, as a Disney Resort Guest *NEW* 2025

Want to know one way to get a Cheap Disney Trip? Don’t pay for things you don’t have to! Like Water Park Tickets. In 2025, Disney World is adding FREE water park access on the Day You Check In, if you’re a Disney Resort Guest. A $70 dollar value per person we highly recommend taking advantage of this if you are staying onsite at Disney World. Otherwise, if the Water Parks are in your plans, but for more than one day, consider adding the Park Hopper Plus to your vacation package instead. While water park tickets will cost you about $70 bucks per person per day, a park hopper plus add-on is closer to a $22-dollar upgrade and if you were adding the park hopper anyway, it’s a substantial savings. Check out our Best Things to Do at Disney Water Parks to help maximize your day. 

Get the Disney Free Dining Promo Deal *NEW* 2025

Another great way to save close to $700 per person on a one week Disney Trip is to get the food for FREE. The FREE Disney Dining Plan can be added to your Cheap Disney Trip from Jan. 2, 2025- Feb 10, 2025. You can get a FREE dining plan when purchasing a non-discounted 3-night, 3-day Walt Disney Travel Company package that includes a room at a select Disney Resort hotel and theme park ticket with a Park Hopper option. Our Disney Pro Tip here, is to just book a Disney Value Resort. They are the cheapest on property. This offer is valid on most arrivals from May 27, 2025- June 26, 2025, AND from July 7- August 6, 2025. Check out all the Disney Free Dining Deal details in the post. 

Save Up to $200 Per Night on a 3 Day/ 2-Night Room *NEW* 2025

If you’re not traveling during the summer, you can still have a Cheap Disney Trip with Disney deals. Save up to $200 per night on a 3-night, 2-day Walt Disney Travel Company room-and-ticket package at select Disney Resort hotels, valid for arrivals most nights from February 26 to June 30, 2025. Check the Disney Special Offers page for all the details and current offers.

Sign up for Disney Emails

A tried and true trick to get those email discounts is to just make sure you’re signed up for all the Disney emails. This includes Disney Destinations, Adventures by Disney, and Disney Parks in general. Discounts are generated for guests who routinely visit the Disney website, add vacations to their carts, and then don’t checkout. Much like any good “abandoned cart” email you see from retailers, Disney has the same things in place, so you can take advantage of it, by browsing your vacations months ahead of your planned booking to score the best deals. For the best rates on a Cheap Disney Trip, use an incognito window or private browser. Like most things, the Disney Vacation Package prices will go up the more you look at them online. Sign up here.

Subscribe to Disney+ Plus for Disney Park Special Offers

Believe it or not, just being a Disney+ Plus Subscriber means you get discounts on resorts and vacation packages. In fact, you can often get a 25% discount on rooms, and packages, just be on the lookout for offer dates. Last year Disney Cruise Line even had a discount offered for subscribers showing proof of membership to the Disney Plus streaming service. If you’re already subscribing, be sure to keep an eye out for Disney deals that can help you get a Cheap Disney Trip.

Be a Disney Visa Cardholder

We’re sharing all the details about the Benefits of the Disney Visa Card, and discounts on Disney Vacations are one of the big ones! In fact, if you’re looking to visit Disney Parks, or sail with Disney Cruise Line, you can often earn a statement credit with purchases over a certain amount! Check out the latest Disney Visa Card Offer! Spend $1000 and Get a $300 statement credit within the first three months of having the card. Not to mention all the discounts you can get in the parks and on the cruise while you’re vacationing. 

Plan Your Budget

A Disney trip doesn’t have to be expensive, but you still have to know where the money goes. As such read our How to Plan a Disney Budget post for all the line items. Everything from booking your Disney Airport Shuttle to quick service meals, resort fees, parking fees, Magic Bands and more should all be included. Once you have all the numbers down on paper, you can figure out where to cut costs, with the help of this post.

Never Pay the Full Price

Okay, so here’s the thing. Disney has special offers. All the time actually! So many people make the mistake of getting on the Disney website, getting a price quote, and either booking or not booking and leaving it at that. In fact, even if you’ve already booked your high-priced vacation you can still get on the phone and have them apply an offer. If you see that they’re suddenly offering a discount on rooms, packages or dining just call in and ask them to apply it.

Believe it or not, Walt Disney World’s Special Offer Page is updated FIRST and regularly whenever a new offer drops. One of the Best Ways to Save Money on a Disney Vacation is to just keep an eye on this page! This includes room-only, package, and free dining deals. And if you’re looking to get a Disney Hotel through a third party, so you can apply loyalty points, or reward nights for free, you can do that too! Check out all the Disney Hotels on hotels.com to pick from. 

Use a Disney Bounceback Offer

If you’re staying at Walt Disney World this year, be sure to check your room booklet for a Disney Bounceback Offer that you can use next year. These offers are often some of the highest discounts, and can include up to a 35% discount when you book for certain dates. But, you can only book this offer up to 7 days after your checkout date. While this is a quick-think offer, it really pays to know before you go on your trip. If you’re planning a Disney trip for the following year, you can take advantage of this. Check out the Disney Bounceback Offer.

Use a Certified Disney Travel Agent

Don’t want to worry about calling and asking for that discount? Use a travel agent! A good travel agent will make sure you get the absolute best price and they are 100 % FREE to use! Plus, there are often a lot of special offers through travel agencies who will offer little extras, like gift cards, themed goodie baskets, and sometimes even free room upgrades! Here are 10 reasons why we suggest using a Disney Certified Travel planner. 

Book With a Third Party

Did you know you can book Disney Resorts through a third party and still receive the benefits of booking through Disney? Yep, you still get many Disney perks like Early Entry, Advance Lightning Lane and Restaurant booking and more. To give you an idea of how much you can save, we recently booked through hotels.com for a moderate resort and saved close to $200 per night. Furthermore, if you have nights that can be redeemed through a site like hotels.com, you can use those free nights on Disney property too! Did someone say FREE ROOM at Disney? Yep, if you do it right, a free Disney night could also be yours.

Use Reward Points for Hotels Near Disney World

If you’re part of a hotel rewards program like Marriott Bonvoy or the hotels.com rewards program, you can save up your loyalty points for a stay at Walt Disney World. With so many Hotels Near Walt Disney World, why not save money at Disney by cashing out your points? Check out the Top 10 Best Hotels Near Walt Disney World to see which ones could work for you! 

Use Disney Gift Cards to Pay for Your Trip

One of the Best Ways to Save Money on a Disney Vacation is to save a little (or a lot) of money on a Disney vacation is by buying gift cards to pay for your trip.  Love Target? You can save 5% at Target on Disney gift cards when you use your RedCard to pay for them! We live near a grocery chain that offers free fuel with the purchase of gift cards, so we buy our gift cards for the trip there and usually end up earning a few free tanks of gas! Be on the lookout for gift card deals too, some retailers offer extra perks or discounts on gift cards during “sales”. 

Skip the Park Hopper Ticket

Another way to work towards a Cheap Disney Trip is by skipping the Park Hopper Ticket. It does require a little more planning to have to stick to only one Park per day, but it’s definitely doable! And we actually love adding in resort trips on days when we may not be doing a whole lot in the parks. So if Animal Kingdom closes early we head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for activities and an amazing dinner at Sanaa instead of seeking out another park.

If you’re ready to exercise your vacation planning muscle, focus on just doing one park per day. Check out our Disney Park checklists for each of Walt Disney World’s four parks so you can maximize your one-day per-park experience.

Book 4 Days or More for the Lowest Disney Ticket Prices

One of our favorite ways to get a Cheap Disney Trip is to stay longer. At the 4-day mark, tickets begin to dip below 100 bucks per ticket, and at the 6 or 7-day mark, they get close to 60 bucks per day. That said, a longer vacation is always cheaper to some extent just because the per-day ticket price drops. In truth, the best Disney vacations usually last 7-9 days, though we’ll stay for longer whenever we can get it. Check out all our best tips for planning your Disney Day itinerary. 

Skip Lightning Lane ( except in Magic Kingdom)

If you’re traveling during the busiest times of the year at Walt Disney World, then this tip may not work for you. But, if you’re heading to Disney World and looking to save money, you can Skip the $20-$30 per day per person fee for Lightning Lane. And just plan on using good old-fashioned Disney Ride Strategies instead. You know, like waiting in line, and prioritizing rides early and late. Or during meal and parade times, when lines are lower. And while we always recommend LL for Magic Kingdom, because it has over 25 rides, a Cheap Disney Trip is within reach if you can skip the Lightning Lane Passes for a couple days of your trip.

Figure out Food Costs Ahead of Time

A food budget at Walt Disney World is typically about $70-100 dollars per person/ per day. Which can really kill your Cheap Disney Trip goals. As such, we always recommend taking advantage of the Free Disney Dining Plan Promo when you can. While this is typically offered in the summer months, rearranging your vacation plans to accommodate this deal could save you thousands.

Substitute Meals at Epcot Festivals

While there is nothing like a good sit-down dinner at Disney World, sometimes you’re okay with eating a little less. Especially in the heat of Florida. And especially during EPCOT festivals, where there are so many foods to try at the outdoor kitchens. Definitely a major way to save money at Disney. By not footing the bill for lunch or dinner costing upwards of 100 bucks. Instead, have everyone in your party choose 2 or 3 dishes at the festival to hold them over instead. That bill can easily go from $50 bucks a person to $15, so it’s a great option if you’re sticking to a Disney Dining Budget. 

And if you’re visiting during the cheapest times to go to Disney World there are festivals that annually happen during each of these date ranges. 

• Jan- February: Festival of the Arts
• March- July: Flower and Garden Festival
• July- November: Food and Wine Festival
• November- December: Festival of Holidays

Stay Off Property Maybe

While the cheapest hotels at Walt Disney World are Value Resorts and typically $150/ night or less, other Orlando hotels are cheaper. Depending on what you’re looking for. If you’re super strapped for cash stay off-property at a Hotel near Disney World. You can save a lot of money on your room to stay off property. However, there are a lot of other expenses to consider when choosing this option. How will you get around? Will you need to rent a car? If so, how much will that cost?

You also forgo certain discounts when you choose to stay off the property as well. Another benefit of staying off-property is that you can take advantage of places like Airbnb. So, you can potentially have your own kitchen and cook your own food which will save you money too. But, if you’re staying far enough outside of Orlando or combining beach/ Universal Studios vacation, it may be your cheapest option. We most like Disney World Holiday Inn Express for the Free Continental Breakfast and cheap rates. Check out our pros and cons of staying off-property post.

Buy Discounted Park Tickets

The cheapest way to get tickets for 3 days or more is through The Official Ticket Center. They are a trusted retailer of discounted Disney tickets and Orlando’s #1 Ticket agency. We also trust Undercover Tourist for discounted tickets and either place works well. This is only needed if you’re not staying on Disney property with a Magic Your Way package, available on Disney’s website. It’s worth noting that if you’re vacationing at WDW and need a resort and tickets- the package deals are usually cheaper than trying to purchase these things separately. Check out all the Discounted Disney Ticket Offers. 

Use Rewards Sites and Apps

Are you saving for this Disney trip? Or need to cut all the costs you can? Use rewards sites and apps like Ebates, Swagbucks, and Shopkick! Just make purchases as you normally would through the site or the app and you’ll earn cash (or gift cards!) back. It’s super easy and you’re basically earning on things you’re already buying! Also- remember those third-party sites we talked about earlier? Book them through Ebates and you’ll even earn money back on your trip! Sign up through this link and you’ll get $30 just for joining!

Swagbucks is another great way to earn gift cards for your trip or gift cards for places like Target where you can buy your Disney gift card. With Shopkick or Fetch, you can earn quite a bit without spending a dime! Just open the app every time you enter a participating store, scanning items, or uploading a receipt for certain products. I usually use this for our Starbucks runs while at Disney, but you can also redeem it for Target gift cards as well. These are just examples of ways to use sites and apps to save money for your trip; there are tons of options out there! Check out our favorite apps to save you money. 

Change Up Your Meals

One way we try to have a Cheap Disney Trip is by not eating out for every meal. For example, we may eat breakfast in our room, grab a snack at the Park, and then eat a late lunch/early dinner while at the park. This works really well if you enjoy buffets because you can fill up on whatever you’d like and the price doesn’t change. And quick service restaurants are almost always under $20 per meal. Be sure to check out the Best Disney Restaurants on a Budget for the cheapest meals at Disney World. 

You can limit your sit-down meals to just 3 or 4 for your entire vacation and plan quick service meals (closer to 15 dollars a person) for the rest of them. A little planning ahead of time, when you’re booking your table service restaurants, can give you insight as to per-person costs. Remember, Disney automatically charges an 18% gratuity for parties of 6 people or more.

Split a Meal

Another option is to share your meals. Honestly, the portion sizes at WDW are pretty hefty and a lot of times my daughter and I are able to split a meal and still be full. We’d also recommend checking out the prices for the Disney Dining Plan when you book. While the pricing doesn’t always work out, if your stay is longer, it may be cheaper to pre-pay! We also always recommend grabbing a refillable mug for every person in your travel party. This way, you can still bring your packed food into the commissary at your resort, and refill that mug as needed.

Visit Disney During the Cheapest Time of Year

While Disney doesn’t really have an Off-Season, they do have cheaper times to visit Walt Disney World throughout the year. On-season for Disney is the Summer and during Holidays ( think every holiday… and spring break). So this is really dependent on whether or not you can actually travel during slow times, pull kids out of school, get off work, etc.  But if you can manage it, you can save a lot by visiting during off-peak times. Months like January- February, and September- November. Check out our best times to visit Disney posts for your best bets. And the best time for travel during the off-season is when everything is cheaper. This includes flights AND the crowds are much more manageable. When we visited last January, not only was the weather much more tolerable, but it was extremely affordable. We’ve never seen crowds so low. Definitely a win.

Take the DVC Tour on your First Day at Disney

Ever consider the Disney Vacation Club? Depending on where you’re staying you have the chance to get up to a $150 dollar gift card just for taking the tour and seeing what it’s all about. Plus ice cream in the ice cream parlor afterward. Not too sales-y, these people really just want to clear up all your curiosities. It’s a win-win. You get transported at a time of your choice to and from the DVC office where you’ll get the spiel on cost, benefits, etc. plus take a  tour of a DVC villa while you’re there. Then you can use that gift card for a meal or souvenirs later, regardless of whether or not you decide to become a DVC member. Plan for about 1.5 hours.

Use your Disney Magical Extras!

Did you know that when you stay at a Disney Resort you get a little coupon card called “Magical Extras?” This card gets you access to free miniature golf, access to the ESPN complex, and coupons for tons of restaurants and stores at Disney Springs. So you can save 10% or more on everything.

Only Buy Tickets for the Days You’re in the Parks

This is a no brainer. But often people don’t think ahead when it comes to how many tickets you need. In general, skip the tickets for your Disney Arrival Day and Disney Departure Day. This way you’re not spending money on tickets for only a half day. This gives you time to settle into the resort, look around, and get acclimated. If you’re looking to save yet another day without park tickets we always recommend a Disney Springs day, or visiting the Disney Resorts on the monorail, boardwalk and skyliner. All are free to visit, and no park ticket is required. 

Find the Free Disney Souvenirs

One of the best things about Disney is that you can still score free stuff, even when you don’t realize it! You can get celebration buttons, Mickey Straws, free Pirate Maps and Cards when you play the Treasure on the Seven Seas Game at Magic Kingdom. If you’re looking for a way to save money on souvenirs, know that there are plenty on the list to help kids feel special, without spending a dime! Check out all the Free Souvenirs at Disney World that you can collect along the way. All to help save you money while you’re on vacation. 

Beware the Disney Annual Price Increases

Ahhh, Walt Disney World Price Increases. Every February, June, and October, historically, we’ve seen price increases on tickets, rooms, and/ or annual passes. If you’re hoping to renew a pass or book a vacation do so before these months in general. While we sometimes hear ahead of time about the looming price hikes at Disney, sometimes they drop without warning. Don’t get caught off guard. If you’re looking for a cheap vacation, booking sooner with the deals available now is usually going to be cheaper than waiting.

Get a Walt Disney World Annual Pass. Maybe.

Think you can Save Money on a Disney Vacation by getting a Disney Annual Pass? Maybe. In fact, it’s a big maybe. One of our most popular posts, being an annual pass holder breaks down how being a WDW AP has definitely changed how we vacation at Disney.  An annual pass may save you tons of money but only if you plan to be in the parks often. Not only do you get discounts on food and merchandise, but you also get free parking at the parks plus Passholder-only resort discounts as well. Typically, if you plan to spend more than 10 days in the Parks per year, it’s definitely worth considering.

Easy Ways to Save Money on a Cheap Disney Trip

While there are many ways to save on a Walt Disney World vacation, we hope these tips show you that a Walt Disney World can be affordable. And don’t forget to avoid the hidden fees at Walt Disney World to help save you even more money.