Pinching Pennies - Maximizing your Money when planning to visit Walt Disney World

 No matter how you slice it, a Walt Disney World vacation is an expensive vacation (which is why you should always use the -free- services of an experienced travel advisor when planning your vacation). One can argue that the size, scope, and production value of the Walt Disney World parks makes up for the cost, in many cases averaging at about $1000 per person or more during peak seasons.

A quick spin through the web or on any Disney Facebook group will come up with hundreds of money-saving tips ranging from the practical to the downright silly. As someone who books more Walt Disney World vacations in a year than most people will book in a lifetime, I've been able to figure three surefire ways to cut down the costs of your Walt Disney World vacation. While your mileage may vary, the combination of these three strategies always seems to save my clients the most money on their Walt Disney World Vacation.

1.) Book Early

While this may seem to be common sense, I can't express how often I see clients book within six-months or less of their arrival, or wait to try and cash in on a free dining offer, only to find out that they're paying significantly more than their friends who booked months earlier.

Walt Disney World operates under a dynamic pricing model. What this means is that Disney adjusts the prices of both their hotel rooms and park tickets based on both the expected crowd activity, and actual hotel bookings. Each June, Disney releases the next year's hotel and ticket reservations for the upcoming calendar year. This is also the point in time where both hotel reservations and ticket prices are at their absolute lowest. Prices will only increase from there.

The best part about booking early is that, other than the $200 deposit on your vacation, booking early is completely free. When Disney does push a promotion such a Free Dining, they'll be doing so under the current standard rates at the time of the promotion. Yes, it'll look as if you're saving money compared to the standard rate at that time, but compared to the standard rate several months earlier, you'll likely be leaving hundreds of dollars on the table.

If you had to implement just one of these tips, this is the single most important, which is great because it really requires very little financial investment to take advantage of.

2. Use Gift Cards - and Buy them Cheap

One thing that many of my clients are surprised to learn is that you can use Disney gift cards to pay for your Walt Disney World vacation. What makes this really worthwhile is that there are several retailers that sell legitimate Disney gift cards at a discount. Sam's, Costco, and BJ"s Wholesalers all offer discounts on numerous denominations of gift cards. Sam's Club for example, frequently offers $75 worth of gift cards for $71.98, or a $500 giftcard for $485. If you exclusively purchased $500 gift cards from Sam's Club, you'll save approximately $30 for every $1000 spent. On a $4000 trip, that's $120 saved just for paying in gift cards instead of credit or debit.

While that's not a tremendous savings, that is almost the value of Disney's Memory Maker add on!

although paying with gift cards has some financial benefits, it does come with some calculates risks. If you decide to cancel your trip and receive a refund, your refund will be returned to the gift cards, not your bank account, so always keep the physical cards until after you've traveled. This also means that your money is tied up in Disney gift cards one way or another, so of you do cancel your trip, you'll either want to reschedule, or you'll be spending a lot of time shopping at the Disney Store.

3. Get a Disney Visa Card

I know what you're thinking, and I'll be honest, I don't want this to sound like a commercial for the Disney Visa card by Chase... but it really is a secret weapon in saving money at Disney if used responsibly. The Disney Visa offers two options, a free option that yields about 1% cashback on purchases made on the card, and a $50 annual fee option that yields 2%. You can use your everyday shopping to help generate money to a Disney Rewards card, that in turn can be used to pay for your vacation.

When counting expenses such as auto insurance, water, sewage, home internet, and cellular services, my household spends on average $500 per month, which generates $5 in Disney Rewards dollars each month. Add in groceries, eating out, and other entertainment expenses and that may be double or triple per month.

As I mentioned, the only way this makes sense is if you are diligent and dedicated enough to pay the balance down to $0 every month, otherwise you'll be paying more in interest than you would be saving... so don't do that. If you're a current Chase customer you can also sign up for a Disney Rewards checking account if that makes you feel more comfortable! In either case it's an excellent opportunity to earn a small return on money you've already got to spend anyway.

In my experience, most families plan a visit to Walt Disney World once every three to four years. Earning an average of $5-7 rewards dollars each month, that's between $180-$250 to spend on your next vacation, just for using the Disney Visa Card. Even better, is that many vendors and restaurants on Disney's properties offer a 10% discount for purchases over $50, in addition to special rates just for card holders, and photo opportunities only available to card holders as well!

If you do decide to apply for a Disney Visa Card and use one of the links in my post, I may receive a small referral credit at no cost to you.

While these money-saving tips may not fund your entire vacation, I've always been of the mind that every penny counts. If you or someone you know is ready to book your next adventure, I'm here and ready to help!