It was my ninth visit, but my first time to actually be in charge of planning the whole trip. Obviously Disney is pretty expensive as far as vacations go, and can be a little intimidating to think about tackling with toddlers. But there are plenty of ways to save money here and there, and doing it all with little ones isn't bad at all with some planning ahead. I certainly am not an expert, and our trip went far from perfectly (mainly because we were fighting with stomach flu the whole time! Yikes!). But I thought I could share a few tips and ideas that we followed (or want to try in the future, based on our experience this time). I'm not going to get into which parks to visit, which rides to go on, Fastpass strategies, or anything like that. I'll just be focused on saving money and working with toddlers/babies.
UPDATE 3/1/18: I've now posted part 1 of 2 covering parks, attractions, and most of all, how to use Fastpass+. Check it out!
1. Go During the Off-Season
You can save a lot of money and headaches by going during one of Disney World's off-seasons. Hotels will be cheaper, whether you're staying on or off-property (see #2), and crowds will be significantly smaller, which means less time waiting in lines and more time having fun. Check online for a crowd prediction calendar for the year you're planning on going. Usually late January to early February is a perfect time to go - not only is it their slow season, but the temperatures are just right in Florida at that time of year.
Tip within a tip - even if you're there during the off-season, you're going to want to avoid Magic Kingdom on the weekends. It can still be super busy, especially on Saturdays, but on Fridays and Sundays, too. Use those days to take a day off (see #3) or visit the other parks.
2. Consider Staying Off-Property
There are pros and cons to staying in a non-Disney hotel or condo, so go through them all and decide what's going to be best for your family.
The main advantages to staying in a Disney resort (besides just the experience) are having Disney transportation to the parks, and getting other resort perks like Extra Magic Hours. What made up our minds to stay off-property was the cost and the size of the rooms. The cheapest Disney hotel averages $110 per night, and we're talking about a very small standard hotel room. If you're only going to be in your room for sleeping and getting ready in the morning, this isn't as big of a deal - though we all know that more room with toddlers is better for even that amount of time. But if you're taking days off (see #3), you're going to want plenty of space for them to run around and play. And if you're going to be making food at all (see #4), you're going to want a kitchenette at the least.
I was able to score a room with a separate bedroom and a kitchenette on Airbnb for only $55 a night. The separate bedroom, with a door, was important for us for two reasons - first of all, Buttercup still wakes up at night, and we didn't want her waking Sugarplum. Second, on our days off we were able to put both of them in the bedroom for naps and we could stay up in the living area without bothering them.
Even with the added cost of parking for $20 each day at the parks, we still came out on top. But personally, I still would have stayed off-property even if we had had to pay the same price as for the Disney hotel, just so that we could have all of that extra space.
If you're interested in details, we stayed in this room at Parkway Palms Resort. It was a 10-15 min drive to all of the parks from there, and close to grocery stores, etc. We had very few complaints! Besides Airbnb, you can also try sites like VRBO to look for rooms owned by individuals.
3. Take Days Off
If you've ever been to Disney before, you know that it is extremely tiring. This is even more true for little ones! Even if they're not walking like you are, they'll be tired from travel and from being off of their normal schedule, and potentially getting to bed late (yes, this happened to us pretty much every night, despite our best efforts). You are definitely going to want to take as many days off from going to the parks as you can afford! If I could, next time I would take a day off in between every park day. But of course, more days off means more days paying for a hotel, and more days off of work, so that probably won't be possible. Anyway, for your sake and your kids', take at least one day off to let everyone just hang out at the hotel and recuperate.4. Take a Cooler Into the Parks
Yes, Disney will let you take a cooler in! Their only requirements are that it be smaller than 24" long x 15" wide x 18" high, and that you do not bring in alcoholic drinks or glass containers (other than baby food jars). This gives you several options. You could choose anything from just taking in a few snacks, to taking in all your meals, or anywhere in between. Obviously the more you bring in yourself, the more money you save, and the healthier your food choices can be, too! We bought a couple of pounds of lunch meat at the beginning of our trip and made sandwiches to take in for lunch every day, plus bringing in food for Buttercup and snacks for everyone. We usually would end up eating a late lunch and then snacking throughout the evening, and waiting to make up something quick (think frozen meals or Hamburger Helper) when we got back to the condo at night.Of course even if you are taking in all of your food, there may be some things here and there that you want to splurge on. For us, it was Mickey ice cream bars on our last day in the park, and fish and chips from the United Kingdom pavilion in Epcot. Yum!! But overall, taking in food saved us a ton of money, plus it saved us from standing in even more lines to buy food.
5. Forgo the Disney Dining Plan
While we're talking about food, make sure that you do plenty of research and consideration before signing on for the Disney dining plan. If you're planning on buying all your meals and snacks in the park, then it could be worth it for your family (though I would still try to research how much the meals will actually be costing you to make sure you'll be saving money). But if you're planning on bringing in food at all, it's probably not cost-effective.
6. Budget for Character Meals
If you're not using a dining plan, but are planning on doing a character meal on your trip, you should be aware that these meals cost a good bit more than other table service restaurants. I'm not saying that you should skip it, because we've always had a lot of fun at our character meals. Just keep the extra cost in mind as you're budgeting for your trip.
7. Rent a Stroller from an Outside Source
Even if your little one(s) doesn't normally use a stroller at home, I would highly recommend having one for your Disney trip. There is a lot of walking involved, and those little legs tire out easily. The last thing you want is for your kids to get tired and grumpy prematurely, or to end up having to carry them around the park!
Having said that, the strollers that they offer for rent at Disney World are made of hard plastic and have very little storage. If you don't want to bring your own stroller from home, then I would recommend looking into the many different companies in the Orlando area that you can rent from. We used A Baby's Best Friend because they offered the lowest prices for the type of stroller that we wanted to rent, and we had no complaints. They were very easy to work with, and the stroller was in perfect condition. Because the stroller was a normal style that you would use anywhere else, both the girls were able to nap in it, and we had plenty of space to hold water bottles, jackets, our cooler, etc.
As a secondary stroller tip, I personally would recommend getting a double side-by-side stroller if you have 2 children. We considered all the possibilities, including a sit-and-stand or getting two separate strollers, and I'm glad we went with the side-by-side. The sit-and-stand would have been much less comfortable for Sugarplum, and she would not have been able to nap at all (even though she only did that on one day). They can tend to be a bit harder to navigate, too, since they're so long. We decided against two separate strollers so that one of us would always have our arms available, either just to take a break, or to hold Buttercup when she got tired of riding. The side-by-side was very easy to maneuver, and the girls liked being able to see each other and see everything around them. It was pretty bulky and hard to carry when folded, but that's only an issue when getting on and off a bus or tram, and it's not likely that any other stroller would have been much easier. We didn't have any major issues with it fitting through any openings in the park.
8. Your Kids Might Not Wear Their MagicBands
MagicBands are one of Disney's newest features. If you book a stay at one of their resorts, the MagicBands come free with your tickets. If you're not staying at a resort, you can purchase them separately. You can simply scan your MagicBand for entry into the park, and it also holds all of your Fastpasses and all of the photos that the PhotoPass photographers take. They were nice and convenient for DH and I, who were wearing them on our wrists the whole time. Sugarplum, on the other hand, only wanted to wear hers for short amounts of time, and complained if it was too tight, which means it fell off her wrist multiple times. We ended up keeping it in an outside pocket of our backpack most of the time, which wasn't too bad as far pulling it out to scan for Fastpasses. But then she'd decide that she wanted to wear it again, and then it would come off again...long story short, her MagicBand was left somewhere on the Little Mermaid ride and was never seen again. Thankfully, we had her ticket with us, too, and were able to use it for the rest of her Fastpasses.
The moral of this story is, if you want to get a MagicBand for your toddler, you might want to consider an alternative to having them wear it on their wrist. Perhaps you could hang it on a keychain, so that it was still easy to access for scanning. I've also seen people taking out the center portion of their MagicBands (the Mickey head part) and using it to make necklaces, keychains, etc. If your child wears a lanyard for their Disney pins, you could possibly come up with a way to hang it on the end of the lanyard. And if all else fails, it wasn't too big of a deal to just keep her ticket in DH's wallet and pull it out each time, either.
9. Try Decorating Your MagicBand
Like the cute characters on some of the MagicBands, but don't want to pay the extra money for them? Buy a plain colored one, and decorate it yourself. I used nail polish for mine, and had no issue with it rubbing or washing off. The clear coat on the top cracked a little bit when I put the band on the first time, but it was barely noticeable.
Even if you don't want to take on something quite as intricate as mine, you can still customize your MagicBand with simple designs like dots or Mickey heads. Look online (Pinterest or Etsy are great resources), find some inspiration and give it a go! Also, keep in mind that you can sketch out a design on your MagicBand with a pencil (I used a soft-leaded art pencil) before you start painting. That helped me out a ton.
10. Shop for Souvenirs at Walmart
This was in my original plan for this trip, but our schedule got thrown off because of sickness and we didn't end up making it. However, from what I've been told, you can find great Disney souvenirs like t-shirts, hats, etc. at the local Walmart and pay a fraction of the price. Now, if you're like my sister M, your souvenirs *have* to come from Disney itself to be legitimate. And of course if you want really specific or specialty items, such as trading pins, you'll need to stick with shopping at Disney. But if you're just looking for cute Disney stuff and want to save a ton of money, I would definitely check it out.
11. Stay Away from Disney Springs
My sister M would flip out about this one, too. Maybe you love shopping and crowds, or like my sister, you just think going to Disney Springs is part of the whole experience. If so, that's great, you should go and have fun! But if you've never been to Disney Springs (formerly known as Downtown Disney), I just feel I should forewarn you that it is like another day in the parks in and of itself. It's huge, there will be a lot of walking involved, there will be a ton of people, there are rides that your kids will want to ride but they cost extra money, and navigating the main store (World of Disney) is a big pain. The good thing about shopping at World of Disney is that most of the merchandise you see in the parks, plus more, can all be found in that one store. It's nice to be able to see it all at once and compare the things you like, rather than impulse buying in the park and then seeing something you liked better later. But if you're not worried about impulse buying, and you want to avoid the madhouse, do yourself a favor and shop at Walmart and in the parks.
12. Ask for Gift Cards
Once you know that you're going to be making a trip to Disney World, start asking for gift cards for birthdays, Christmas, etc. You can do Disney gift cards, or VISA gift cards, or a combination of both. DH and I accumulated a total of $370 in Disney and VISA cards and cash, which put a nice dent in paying for gas, parking, and souvenirs.
13. Get the Disney World App
The app is called "Disney World" and it's free! Not only can you use it to book and modify Fastpasses, make dining reservations, and link your MagicBands to your tickets, but it also has live wait times for all of the rides and some of the character meet and greets. This makes it so easy when you're in the park to find out what is nearby that has the shortest wait time, so you can make the most of your time in Disney.
14. Take Advantage of Rider Swap
Also known as "parent swap", this is an opportunity for you and your spouse to go on rides that your kids are too small for still. You'll have to ride by yourselves, but all you have to do is go up to the Cast Member at the entrance, tell them you want to do rider swap, and they'll give you a voucher to come back later and go through the Fastpass line to ride again. This way one parent can stay with the kids while the other rides, then vice versa. If you're like us, your time will be plenty taken up by kids rides and character meetings, but it's still nice to take some time for yourself on occasion! Disney has some great roller coasters and other fast-moving rides that are fun for adults and older kids.
15. Don't Be Scared to Take Them Young!
No, Buttercup (age 14 months) didn't understand the purpose of the trip at all, and she didn't want to have anything to do with any of the characters. But she was able to ride everything that Sugarplum could ride and even enjoyed a few of the rides like the carousel and Magic Carpets. Yes, she got pretty worn out by the end of the week. But she took naps in the car, in the stroller, in my arms, or anywhere else she could get them, and she recovered quickly once the trip was over.
No, Sugarplum (age 3 1/2) won't remember the trip in a few years. But boy, did she have a great time, and we had a great time watching her. She was at the perfect age to really enjoy all the magic of Disney, and we have videos and photos to remember it all by for years to come.
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