Are you a splurger or saver at Disney?

We (2 adults) save on some things so that we can splurge on others.

We don't buy breakfast - we bring oatmeal and granola bars/nuts with us and drink the in-room coffee. We split snacks and lunch (mostly so we save room for more treats later) and use filtered water bottles in our resort, while relying on free QS water in the parks. We don't buy may souvenirs - usually just a Christmas ornament, and we may only do one or two TS restaurants. We try to rely on WDW transportation instead of Ubers and Minnie Vans.

That said, we do splurge on a deluxe resort stay. We love the Boardwalk area for it's proximity to EP and DHS (which cuts down on our need to take Disney Busses). We live in the Mid-Atlantic but splurged on APs - to me, the ongoing discounts/perks make up for the initial cost.

Our trips are 100% saved/budgeted for before we arrive, and it's such a nice feeling to not have to worry about (but still be conscious of) how much we are spending during the trip. We over-estimate our budget so that if we want something we haven't planned for, we have the money to do it and don't need to give it a second thought.

No matter what the cost of your vacation, the feeling of peace and freedom you get from properly budgeting for your trip is a magical experience in-and-of itself.
 
I'm usually a splurger on merch, but a saver when it comes to accommodation and food. I make good use of the DDP where and when I can.
 
I always splurge at Disney. :) And i always save on my hotel. Im only at my resort to sleep/shower, so i always go with a value resort.
 


We go to WDW 2X per year, we're DVC members. We are careful about spending at home so that when we go to WDW we don't think much about how much we spend. I will say that we stock our villa with snacks, drinks, light sandwich type stuff. It's partly to reduce cost, but also it's nice to enjoy the room and have a bite or drink in private.:earsboy:
 
We splurge on food and accommodations and save money elsewhere (sticking to one park per day opposed to a Park Hopper).
 
My jaw is on the ground at what some people spend to get to Disney! I'd never be able to go. lol I'm definitely a saver but it doesn't really feel that way to me. I could never bring my own food into the parks because to me, the food is half the fun so I plan for most of my money to go to that. I typically do two sit down meals a day and budget about $100 a day for food but I almost always chose to stay off property because I drive down and HATE WDW busses. So I usually get a room around the $100 a day mark that is twice as nice as any room I've stayed in on property and I've tried Deluxe, Mod and Value and clearly you're just paying for the brand. Back when I was an AP holder in the good old days you could get a room at AKL for about $135 and POR for $75 night...THAT'S the only time I've stayed deluxe and moderate. I'm sorry but this new $240 a night for a mod is stupid IMO. Not when I can stay at the Rosen Center for $99 and have a plush bed. Sooo...I feel like I'm splurging, but I spend less than $1000 each trip for sure. Oh and back when they used to sell non expiration tickets...I'd buy a couple of 10 day tix and use those for short trips here and there and saved a bunch. I used those for years! Now Disney has priced me out and I don't go. We just got back a couple of weeks ago from Orlando and we went to Universal and Sea World and skipped Disney for the first time ever. Sea World was $40 and Disney wanted $125. Also, I found that I can go to Disneyland Paris for MUCH cheaper than DRIVING to WDW for the weekend! Sooo...For the last 2 years, we have gone to Paris and London for about $900 for 9 days, flight AND hotel! The train drops you off at the gates of Disney and we do a day trip while we're there.
It's interesting to see how different everyone's priorities are! For myself, I never stay offsite anymore because I loathe driving in Orlando traffic--I've gotten spoiled by Montana's general lack of traffic and never really cared much for driving to begin with, so the WDW buses are a big win for me. And, too, the Magical Express means that not once do I have to get behind the wheel of a car during my vacation--bliss! That alone is worth it to me to stay onsite at a Value, and that's not even going into the intangible benefits of staying within the Disney bubble and just not having to deal with the real world in general. That's part of why I go, so I'm willing to pay more for it. And, well, a trip under $1K to anywhere further than a 9 hour drive from Montana is not a thing for me. Flying in and out of here is expensive as heck.

Interesting note on Disneyland Paris, though. I did the math and figured out that even paying full price for airfare, I could do a week in DLP cheaper than a week in WDW, by my normal travel standards. I spent four days in DLP last year and loved it, so it's something I've been seriously considering doing again once they've finished construction on their new Avengers Campus. The long flight over and back is a killer, though.
 


Interesting note on Disneyland Paris, though. I did the math and figured out that even paying full price for airfare, I could do a week in DLP cheaper than a week in WDW, by my normal travel standards. I spent four days in DLP last year and loved it, so it's something I've been seriously considering doing again once they've finished construction on their new Avengers Campus. The long flight over and back is a killer, though.

Yes! I hate the long flight for sure. I am waiting for the same thing lol!
 
After thinking on this more, our transportation to WDW is probably our splurge. We just refuse to drive the entire way down to Orlando. We will not go if we have to drive. So all in, our transportation costs for our upcoming trip are a quarter of the cost of the entire trip, which is pretty significant in my mind. We're only spending $200 more on our 4 week long Park Hopper Plus tickets than we are on getting to the parks in the first place.

Kind of crazy, but 6-8 hours is really about our limit for a day's driving, and even then we get collectively pretty cranky about it. At that rate it would take us 3 days each way (and we'd have to put in the 8 hours each day, at least--ugh!), which is way too much of our vacation spent being miserable. :)
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top