HOW I THINK DISNEY SHOULD DRAW MICKEY
So you want to go to Disney World...might want to consider taking out a second mortgage on your house.
There's a reason that for the 12 months ending March 29, 2025 Disney's annual revenue was $94.04 BILLION.
The last time I was there (and the only time I'll be there) a bottle of water cost $6 and a Dole Whip (mostly whipped cream) cost $14. Given the chance, Disney will rob your blind at every turn.
But there's some strategies I'll give you that will enable you to keep your money in YOUR pockets if you're planning a trip to WDW.
TICKETS
Tickets to Walt Disney World are the least flexible part of planning your trip. With flights, hotels, and dining, you have a variety of really good options and ways to save. But your options for deals on Disney World tickets are more limited.
TICKET BASICS TO KNOW
Ticket prices vary by start date. This is the most important point. If you want to compare prices between different sellers you need to make sure you check the same start date. There may be flexible date tickets available, but their prices will typically make them a bad option.
Remember, too, that this means you’ll want to compare prices
from different sellers, but you’ll also want to compare prices for different dates. You might find that changing your trip date by a week or so saves you a lot of money.
Ticket prices vary by length and ticket type. Relatedly, there are different types of theme park tickets, primarily standard (one park per day) tickets and “park hopper” (multiple parks per day) tickets.
And those tickets can cover anywhere between one and ten days. Moreover, once you’ve selected a start date and length, you’ll have a range of dates during which you can use those tickets.
Link tickets to your My Disney Experience account. It’s important that wherever you get your tickets from, you link them to your My Disney Experience account. Among other things, this will ensure you’re able to use Lightning Lanes if you choose.
August and September tend to have the cheapest prices. But Disney can release discounts at any time, so you very well might be surprised by lower prices at any time.
It’s important to remember that these tickets are good only for access to Walt Disney World theme parks:
Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
For multi-day tickets, all four of those Disney parks are under a single pricing structure.
Disney Springs is not a theme park, and no ticket is needed to access it. It is an outdoor shopping and dining district.
Finally, let’s talk water parks. Disney used to have a “water park fun and more” option where you could add water park access to your ticket. That disappeared, but they’ve since added the Water Park and Sports ticket add-on for $70+tax. This allows you a fixed number of visits to the water parks and a few other experiences
Which of the park hopper / water parks & sports / park hopper plus options works best for your trip can be a tricky question, but it basically boils down to:
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If you want to park hop, get park hopper
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If you want to go to the water parks, get the Water Park and Sports ticket option
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If you want to park hop and go to the water parks, get Park Hopper plus
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If you want to know how to get the best deal on Disney World tickets, the answer is simple—shop around! So here are some of the companies I recommend you check out…
Undercover Tourist
Discount: About 10% - Difficulty: None - Risk: None
We recommend Undercover Tourist for discount Disney World tickets. We’ve used them multiple times and never had any problems. If you’re at all concerned about buying tickets from a third-party seller, we’ve got you covered with a post dedicated entirely to why we recommend Undercover Tourist for Disney discounts.
Besides saving money, Undercover Tourist also usually has one of the best refund policies when it comes to Disney tickets.
As an example, five days of park hopping for a family of four in October 2025 would cost $3,425 if tickets were purchased through Disney World's website, but only $3,230 through Undercover tourist, that’s easy savings of nearly $200.
Visit Orlando
Discount: Under 10% - Difficulty: None - Risk: None
Visit Orlando / Best of Orlando is an option worth looking into. The pricing can be a little tricky to follow since they price, for example, the Park Hopper add-on separately (in the same way Disney is, to be clear). So, as always, make sure you’re comparing final prices with tax to final prices with tax across all sellers.
Get Away Today
Discount: Varies - Difficulty: None - Risk: None
Get Away Today specializes in discounted Disneyland tickets and packages, but they also sell discounted Walt Disney World tickets.
So far, we haven’t seen any shocking prices on Disney World tickets here, but we want to highlight them as an option to check before making your purchase.
Official Ticket Center
Discount: Varies - Difficulty: None - Risk: None
We’ve never bought from Official Ticket Center, but we’ve seen them mentioned over on Touring Plans, a trustworthy site. Like the other sites on this list, you’ll just want to do a quick price check to see if they’re offering the best deal.
Parksavers
Discount: Varies - Difficulty: None - Risk: None
Parksavers is another option we can’t personally vouch for but which is well-regarded in other places. Like the other sites on this list, you’ll just want to do a quick price check to see if they’re offering the best deal.
I purchased my tickets from Undercover Tourist. They were wonderful and I had no problems with my tickets whatsoever. I did get them at a 10% discount.
HOPPER PARK OPTION
Save yourself the money. If you plan your itinerary right you won't need or have time to hop from one park to another in one day.
WATER PARKS OPTION
Again, save yourself $70. You can buy entrance tickets at the water parks. We found we didn't even have time to hit the water parks and the one day we might have, it was raining.
A one day water park ticket for ages 10+ will cost you $74, For kids ages 5-9: $68. Kids under 3 don't need a ticket.
OR save yourself some cash and take them to a nearby water park like Orlando Watersports ($50 - 10+ years old $30 - 6-9 years old) or take advantage of Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station which is located in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom park and is included in your Disney ticket price!
There's also a FREE splashpad over in Disney Springs.
My sister and I sat and watched the kids playing in this fountain splash pad for over an hour and the kids were having a blast.
Ways to Save on Your Walt Disney World Food and Drink
Food and drink is one of the more flexible areas of Disney spending (unless you let Disney lock you into a dining plan). A lot of factors determine how much you'll spend on food, from what discounts you have access to, to which restaurants you have to eat at, to what type of room you book. Here's how to save on food and drink at Walt Disney World.
My sister and I seldom paid for a meal unless it was a restaurant inside the Disney Parks - and the restaurants we ate at within the park were few and far between! Except for OHana, the food was mediocre at best and was grossly overpriced.
Don't bother with the Disney Dining Plan either. It's a pain in the a$$ to be quite frank and again, grossly overpriced for mediocre at best food. By the way, it's only available to guests who stay within the parks at a Disney resort - another Disney rip you off tactic.
My sister and I spent 10 days at WDW. We seldom paid for a meal the entire time we were there. Want to do the same?
Get yourself a Chase Disney VISA card and before your trip, put all of your everyday purchases on it. Pay off the total balance every month so you don't accrue interest charges or go into debt.
For every purchase you make, you are awarded Disney Dollars that can be used like cash in the Disney parks.
My sister had always wanted to eat at Les Chefs du France, the most expensive restaurant in Disney.
I treated her to dinner at Les Chefs and my Disney Dollars paid for the entire dinner for two. The only money that came out of my pocket was the tip for our server.
The Disney Rewards Chase Visa credit card now has a 10% dining discount perk at certain Disney restaurants (including some great ones like Jiko, Biergarten, and Narcoossee's). The full listing can be found at Chase's site here.
SCOPE OUT SITES LIKE RESTAURANT.COM & GROUPON
Restaurant.com partners with more than 16,000 local restaurants (i.e., not chains) and lets you buy certificates that are accepted as payment.
Put in your zip code to find participating restaurants near you. Find a restaurant you’re interested in, and add their certificate to your cart. When you check out, you’ll get a voucher you can print out and bring with you to the restaurant.
You can also use Restaurant.com to search by type of food, or to find cheap options when you’re planning to go out of town.
I scored a bunch of $40 off a meal coupons for $10 each. They were accepted without question at every restaurant we presented them at. These paid for the majority of our meals at places like House of Blues in Disney Springs.
Similarly, check out groupon.com for dining deals.
SCOPE OUT RESTAURANT WEBSITES
Scope out what restaurants are nearby the Disney Parks! Then visit the websites of those restaurants and sign up for any rewards programs they have - FREE to do.
For example, when we visited Animal Kingdom there was no way we were going to pay $100 or more for lunch at one of the park restaurants. There was a Rainforest Cafe right outside the park entrance.
I signed up for their rewards program and got $75 worth of savings right off the bat as well as priority seating - a plus when dealing with the crowds at the WDW parks!
This is what we both had for lunch along with a shake. It cost us nothing and we didn't have to wait to be seated.
My Landry rewards paid for the entire lunch.
MAKE THOSE FREE BREAKFASTS COUNT!
Book your accommodations where you get free breakfast.
Get yourself an insulated lunch bag and good filtered water bottle.
Photo credit: Rainforest Cafe
Photo credit: Walmart & Kleen Kanteen
When you go for breakfast, pack your lunch for the day from the breakfast buffet.
No, there's nothing dishonest about this whatsoever! Do you really think the price of your 'free' breakfast isn't included in your accommodations price? Don't be silly...of course it is!
In fact, at our hotel the woman manning the breakfast buffet would set aside lunch stuff for us and even make us sandwiches!
Doing this saved us $100 a day or thereabouts. Over a 10 day vacation, that's $1000!
By comparison, one day we ate lunch at one of the Disney counter service restaurants. We each had a soggy sandwich, a small salad and medium soda. It cost us $50 each for food that was barely edible.
We'd find a nice place in the park and eat our breakfast buffet lunch. If we needed more water, we'd refill our bottles at a counter service restaurant soda machine.
MAKING RESERVATIONS TO DINE AT DISNEY PARK RESTAURANTS
What a pain in the a$$ that was and we weren't even eating at that many park restaurants! You must make your dining reservations in advance of your trip. Thing is, there are only specific times for specific restaurants that you can make those reservations! This meant you may have to get up a 3 a.m. to make your dining reservations for Les Chef let's say. You'd go through several days of this to get your dining reservations made!
However, if you purchase your admission ticket(s) through Get Away Today I believe they'll still handle making your dining reservations for you. At least they used to.
ACCOMMODATIONS
If you insist on staying within the Disney parks, then check out the Value Resorts, particularly Pop Century and Art of Animation, At the value resorts, you get all the perks of a Disney stay, like free transportation and Early Entry.
You might also want to check out the Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs. Make no mistake, this “moderate” option is definitely more luxurious than some of Disney’s deluxe hotels.
While it has downsides—the transportation is less than ideal and the pool is a walk from the tower—it’s moderate pricing more than makes up for these shortcomings.
Photo credit: Walt Disney World Resorts
But if you're really serious about saving some bucks, consider booking outside of the parks at a Disney affiliated hotel like we did. We booked at the Buena Vista Palace right across the street from Disney Springs. This is a Hilton Hotel so we could use our Hilton Honors awards points to help pay for our room.
The Buena Vista Palace had it all.
We arrived at Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace by rental car from Orlando International Airport (MCO). The hotel is just over 20 miles from the airport, about a 30-minute drive, depending on traffic.
There was a car rental/return office right in the hotel, which was great. There was plenty of parking right next to the hotel.
The Palace also ran a free shuttle to the Disney parks departing every hour so we never had to pay for parking at the Disney parks.
There was a courtyard across from the fitness center and around the corner from the Disney World shuttle stop.
Our room was a 2 bed queen on the 8th floor of the tower. We never heard a bit of noise from anywhere else in the hotel. There was a balcony, it was small but good enough to see WDW fireworks from.
There’s also a pool, activity lawn, fitness center, arcade, and laundry facilities. Who needed a water park?The pool was extensive, with a main swimming pool, float lagoon with a lazy river, hot tub, and poolside bar. The pool water was heated. There was a small lagoon pool connected to the lazy river that had an accessible beach-entry pool. The main pool was surrounded by palm trees and had 6 cabanas.
The fitness center was on the first floor and had a good selection of equipment, from cardio machines to free weights and balance balls. There were treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, and a Peloton bike.
The first floor had a gift shop, which sold necessities and souvenirs from Disney World and Florida. Near the gift shop was an arcade with prize machines, pinball, racing rides, and Pac-Man.
Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace had a market, casual restaurant and buffet, pool bar, lobby bar, and a sports bar. The grab-and-go market, Citrus 28, was a hub of activity and the busiest dining option in the hotel. Here, we grabbed snacks and had a hot breakfast in the morning. It was open daily from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. The market had a seating area with several small tables and bar seats.
The hotel’s main restaurant, LetterPress, was open daily for breakfast, brunch, and dinner. Its hours were 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m., and it offered a breakfast buffet and à la carte menu. The hot breakfast buffet was $30 for adults or $15 for kids, and the continental breakfast buffet was $20 for adults or $9 for kids. They used to have Sunday morning character breakfasts when we were there but those have been discontinued.
The lobby bar, Sunnies, was open from 4 to 11 p.m. and served drinks and bites, including chicken wings, sliders, and salads.
Featured Image Credit: Jessica Merritt. All images by Jessica Merritt unless otherwise noted.
What's a Disney affiliate hotel? (I guess now they're calling them Good Neighbor hotels). It means that hotel undergoes an inspection by Disney execs once a year to ensure it's up to Disney standards. That hotel then has Disney benefits.
Disney World benefits at this hotel included:
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30-minute early access to Disney World parks
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50% off equipment rental when you book a Disney Golf tee time
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Disney Springs savings booklet
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Hotel shuttle to Disney World parks
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Theme park entry reservations
We spent most evenings at Disney Springs so the hotel being right across the street from Disney Springs was a godsend. Our room rate was under $250 per night with our Hilton points.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
An excellent high-earning Hilton credit card that comes with perks like Hilton Honors Gold status and up to $200 in Hilton credits every year.
The participating Official Disney Partner Hotels are:
• B Resort & Spa Lake Buena Vista
• Best Western Lake Buena Vista
• DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando
• Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Orlando
• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
• Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Waldorf Astoria Orlando Bonnet Creek
• Four Seasons Resort Orlando
• Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
WDW FOR DISABLED GUESTS
uckily, I'd had the smarts to talk to one of the Disney bigwigs before making our trip. She asked me to phone her when I returned from WDW and give me her input. Boy, did that poor woman get an earful!
However, she must have taken me seriously because they've since changed things up to be more accommodating to their disabled guests after I told her everything that had happened to me. WDW was anything BUT friendly and helpful to their disabled guests. I told her I'd go to Universal if in Orlando again but never to WDW again.
Their disability passes for those of us who had physical conditions that prevented us from waiting in long lines in the sun (I guess they don't realize many of us have mobility issues besides) were WDW's best kept secret.
Nowhere did they appear on the WDW website. I only found out about them by stumbling on a blog that mentioned them! This Disney exec clued me in to how to go about getting one, assuring me I would have no problem getting one but to phone her if I did run into any problems.
Photo credit: Walt Disney World
I don't mind providing proof of my disability...but I had to bring a letter from my doctor stating I was unable to wait in long lines and was disabled, I had to bring proof from SSI that I was receiving disability and there was a third form I had to bring that I can't remember at the moment.
You pick up these disability passes at the Visitor Centers located just past the entrance to the park.
I presented all my proof of disability and told the kid manning the Visitor Center that I needed a disability pass. He replied "You don't need one of those. If they see you're on a mobility scooter, they'll know you're disabled."
I'm just not that stupid. I said "No, I'd like a disability pass please."
He continued to argue until I told him "Go pick up that phone over there, dial this number and ask for {Disney bigwig exec) and tell her Pat Jackson needs to speak with her to get this issue cleared up."
He gave me a pass without another word. And it's a good thing I was persistent because half of the Disney employees we encountered at the rides and what not didn't even know what to do when presented with the disability pass. I don't think most of them even knew Disney HAD disability passes! But we never waited in line for a single ride.
Now I guess you don't have to present proof of disability to get a pass and they're no longer WDW's best kept secret. How to get a WDW diability pass. If you're going to need a disability pass then you need to get that all squared away before you even get to the park. The link above will tell you how to do that.
MOBILITY SCOOTERS
I see WDW has now added a page on their website for guests with disabilities as well as a link to help with disabilities.
disability.services@disneyparks.com.
They do have ECV's (mobility scooters) and wheelchairs for rent - $65 per day + a refundable $20 deposit.
But here's the problem with renting an ECV at WDW. First of all, you cannot reserve one ahead of time. They operate on a first come first served basis. So if the park is busy and you arrive after all of the ECV's have been taken..oh well! You're out of luck!
The second problem is that if you are park hopping, you cannot take your ECV from one park to another.
You must jump through all of the Disney hoops again to rent an ECV at each individual park.
We found a much better and more economical solution to get our ECV's. We rented ECV's from Mobility Plus. It cost us $100 each for a 10 day rental, both scooters were brand new, Mobility plus dropped them off and picked them up at our hotel for us and their service was outstanding. At one point we had a problem with one of them starting. One phone call to Mobility Plus and they had us up and running again within 5 minute's time.
Yes, the shuttles are all equipped to take your ECV aboard! If there was any drawback at all, it is that it's tricky to negotiate the 90 degree turn by the shuttle driver's seat (on some shuttles, not all) to get your ECV on the shuttle and the shuttle companies do not allow the drivers to help you.
The shuttles with the side door entrances and ramps were easy on, easy off - a straight shot. The driver will lock down your ECV and you must remain seated on the ECV during the shuttle ride.
As far as the WDW monorail went, they had special easy on, easy off spaces for ECV's so riding the monorail was a breeze. The Disney boats were another story. Very few were equipped to take ECV's aboard so be aware of that.
HOWEVER...I will tell you what happened to us when we left our ECV's at a dock to make a quick run over to see one of the resort lodges rather than wait an hour+ for the boat that could take ECV's on it.
We asked the WDW cast member if we could leave our ECV's at the dock just long enough to take a boat ride over to the lodge and take a quick look around. Sure no problem as long as we didn't leave anything valuable in the ECV baskets. We specifically told her that all that was in our ECV baskets were our empty lunch bags.
This is what we returned to...
A bomb sniffing dog sniffing out our ECV's because most surely we were 'domestic terrorists' with bombs in our empty lunch bags. The cast member who'd told us go ahead and leave our ECV's there had never bothered to pass this information on to her quite obviously paranoid to the point of delusion replacement at shift change.
I was PISSED. I don't pay hundreds of dollars to visit a park to be treated in this manner. Luckily, I had my badge with me, pulled it out and showed it to the WDW security guy with the bomb sniffing dog. At which point he turned to the paranoid to the point of delusion cast member who'd called them and said "She's a COP for crying out loud!"
Of course, a crowd had gathered to witness us being humiliated which I appreciated even less given the entire incident was beyond ridiculous to begin with.
Disney only has a security force that have no legal authority to do anything. The Orlando police have to be called into the park to make arrests, etc. If we really did have a bomb, who was WDW going to call to handle the situation before said fictitious bomb exploded? The 3 Cabaleros?
Secondly, if you're going to utilize bomb sniffing dogs, then you station them at the park entrance where someone would try to smuggle something in to prevent any fictitious bomb from getting into the park to begin with.
So be forewarned if you're disabled and using an ECV in the Disney parks and leave it unattended even with permission of a WDW cast member.
You will be pegged as a 'domestic terrorist' and be treated as such.
With that, on to the Magic Kingdom...