This summer, we knew it was time to get back home. And by h♡me, we mean Disney. No, we’re not from Florida, but doesn’t Disney World always feel like home? We miss it when we’re away and from the moment we leave, we’re already planning our next trip back. There’s just something about Disney that keeps us coming back again and again. Maybe we like to drop tons of money on unnecessary purchases… or maybe, JUST maybe, it really is magical.
So, if you’re like us and love to visit Disney frequently, there are some pro tips we have for you to keep your trip budget friendly. We know we can’t “do it big” every trip or we wouldn’t be able to visit so often! We still indulge A LOT and do all of the things we want, but it’s about planning & preparing in advance, as well as hotel location! We only went for 3 days, but through careful planning, we got everything in we wanted to and kept the trip aligned with our budgets!
1. Stay at an All-Star Resort.
We’ve stayed at the big 3– the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian, and the Contemporary– and they’re AMAZING, but if you’re trying to do a quick, budget-friendly trip and NOT drop $1000+ a night, you can get the Disney experience at The Disney All-Star Resorts too! You still get all the perks of staying at a Disney Resort (most importantly, Disney transportation to/from the parks). It’s more of a “motel” set-up, but the rooms are fairly spacious (2 king beds– one folds down), clean, and newly remodeled! We stayed here for $125 a night! When we do a quick trip, where we go to the parks every day and don’t spend time in the room, the All-Star Resorts are perfectly fine with us! They do have a nice pool though if you plan on doing a resort day or 2! Let’s be honest, we’re pretty high maintenance when it comes to hotel stays; we love it here and have stayed several times with no issues!
Oh, and with the themed hotel rooms, there are LOTS of cute photo ops all over the resort! We did a photoshoot with the 101 Dalmatians this year (see above)! ♡
2. Plan your meals in advance.
We made reservations and/or plans for all of our meals— some we splurged on (Cinderella’s Royal Table & Chef Mickey’s) and some were just quick bites (Dyno Bites)! When you make your reservations ahead of time (60 days in advance), this allows you to know in advance how much you’ll spend on food. Many of them you even pay for in advance due to the insane demand for these fancy character-dining experiences. You must make them exactly 60 days in advance though or they will be unavailable!
If you are taking kids, or you are a big kid who just likes getting photos with the characters (like us! lol), character-dining is the way to go and a sure-fire way to see the characters and have the best photo ops! We recommend the following Character-Dining experiences that one or both of us have done (some are currently modified, closed, or not offering character dining due to COVID-19*):
- Cinderella’s Royal Table (Princesses @Magic Kingdom)
- Chef Mickey’s (Mickey & Friends @ The Contemporary Resort)
- The Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh & Friends @ Magic Kingdom)
- Ohana (Lilo, Stitch, & Friends @ The Polynesian Resort)
- The Garden Grille (Chip, Dale, & Friends @ Epcot)
- Tusker House Restaurant (Safari Mickey & Friends @ Animal Kingdom)
- Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Princesses @ Epcot)
- Mickey’s Backyard BBQ (Mickey & Friends @ Fort Wilderness)
3. Get your plane tickets in advance.
We booked our trips to Florida and back well in advance by watching for the best deals on plane tickets! Do this before booking your trip and plan your trip around the best times to fly (if possible). Just make sure you are more than 60 days out so you can also book the restaurants and activities you want to do at Disney and don’t miss out on those things! (Of course, we plan matching airport outfits too.)
4. Plan your activities in advance.
Plan any activities you want to do in advance too (many of these you see the price and pay for ahead of time). You can schedule most of these right along with your dining reservations. Ash did the Droid Depot (Droid Building Experience) and it was so much fun! We’ve also done the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular in the pat.
5. Plan/Order/Make your park apparel in advance.
Resist the urge to buy the ears from Disney or the super expensive shirts and plan what you’ll wear ahead of time! We ordered basic tees from Etsy and added our own bling/style to both of them! We also made outfits from items we already had in our closets along with ears from our already purchased collections! We did purchase new ones this year (animal print ones) for Animal Kingdom from a small business we found through our blog and have always loved– Best Day Evear!
More Photos from the Trip
Enjoy planning your Disney trip! You can read ALL of our Disney posts here. If you used any of our suggestions or recommendations, let us know!! Tag us on Instagram too (@venturealamode)!
xo,
Ash & Er
PS. You can shop all our outfits from our most recent Disney trip (and others) on our LTK page!
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