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Best Ways to Save Money on A 2024 Disney World Trip

Disney World is the happiest place on earth, but it’s also one of the most expensive, which means you might be wondering what the best ways to save money on a 2024 Disney World trip are. If you’re wanting to treat yourself to a trip to the biggest theme park in the world but don’t know how to work it into your budget, I have accumulated some tips on how to not completely drain your wallet.

How To Get Discounted Disney World Tickets

Using A Target RedCard To Get Discounted Disney World Tickets

One of the easiest ways to make a dent in the price of your Disney World tickets is by signing up for a Target RedCard. A Target RedCard gives you 5% off your purchases, which means you can buy Disney gift cards and get that 5% off! This doesn’t sound like a lot, but when your trip is well into the 100s or 1000s of dollars, the 5% can add up a bit. When signing up for the Target RedCard, you can choose if you want to open a debit, credit, or reloadable card, and the application process is very simple. Then, use these gift cards to buy your tickets as well as make purchases in the park.

Using Undercover Tourist To Get Discounted Disney World Tickets

The next way to get discounted tickets for the parks is by using Undercover Tourist. Undercover Tourist is an authorized ticket seller offering discounts on tickets to different major theme parks like Disney World, Universal, and LegoLand. The only catch is that they don’t sell passes to Disney World for a less than 3-day stay. However, if you’re planning to spend 3-10 days in the parks, then be sure to check them out for some big savings!

Pink and BlueDisney World Magic Bands
Disney World Ticket Discounts On The Disney World Website

Another way to get discounted Disney World tickets is to constantly check the website for offers and deals, such as the Florida Resident discounts and the Military discounts. These typically apply to 4-5 day tickets. Disney’s offered discounts change every now and then, so be sure to check the website for their current deals.

How To Get Discounts On Disney World Resorts

Disney is constantly offering discounts on their resorts. However, this typically only applies to some of their more expensive stays. On a few occasions, you will be able to find discounts for the value resorts, such as a recent promotion for Disney+ subscribers. Military discounts apply to resorts as well.

Another option is to use DVC Rental Store to rent other people’s Disney Vacation Club points! What does this mean? This means that Disney Vacation Club members are offering their points up to be rented and used for discounts on things like resorts! This is one of the best ways to save money on luxury resorts. However, you won’t be able to get a refund once the purchase is made, so make sure you know what you want.

Staying Off-Site At Disney World: Pros and Cons

One big way to save money on lodging during your Disney World trip is to stay off-site. You can also get a nicer hotel for a better price, as Disney charges a lot for even their cheapest hotels. However, you need to know what you will be missing out on by doing so.

Staying on-site at Disney World Resorts provides you with free transportation to and from the parks as well as free parking at the parks. Otherwise, you will have to pay a parking fee. This is the biggest con to staying off-site, as having free, reliable transportation can be a major help. A few off-site hotels do offer transportation to and from the parks, but typically, they don’t run very often and will cost you more.

Other cons are that you might not be able to stay as close to the parks, and you miss out on certain perks like receiving wake-up calls from Disney characters, having Mickey-shaped waffles for breakfast, and more. However, if you don’t find any of those things necessary, consider staying off-site and saving some money!

Mickey-Shaped Waffle from one of the Disney World hotels

How To Get Discounts On Disney World Merch

It’s no surprise that some of Disney’s merch comes with a hefty price tag, so what do you do when you don’t want to spend $40 on mouse ears or $70 on a sweatshirt? Visit Disney’s Character Warehouse! Disney’s Character Warehouse is a store full of discounted Disney merch. Don’t go in there and expect to find the latest and greatest merch though. Most of this stuff is here due to it being seasonal, overstocked, or pretty old. For example, if you visit one of the stores in January, you will probably find a lot of the leftover Christmas stuff, and you might even find Disney merch from a few years ago.

How To Save Money On Disney World Transportation

Driving towards the entrance to Disney World

If you don’t feel like driving and parking at the parks, or you don’t have your own car, you might want to try rideshare services like Uber or Lyft. If you don’t have a Lyft account yet, you can use a referral code for a few dollars off your first ride.

My Lyft Referral Code: ALEXANDRA41609

The most complicated way to save money on parking at Disney World is to park at Disney Springs, where parking is completely free. Once you’ve parked, you will take a bus to the nearest resort, where you will then hop on another bus that can take you to your desired park. While this will save you some money, it will definitely cost you some time (which might be just as valuable).

How To Save Money Inside The Disney World Park

Now for a few ways to save money inside the parks. Did you know Disney lets you bring in your own food and drinks (but no coolers)? If you don’t want to spend your money on the park’s food, you might decide to pack your own meals. You can also bring in your own water bottles! At any of the concession stands around the parks, water is extremely overpriced, so bringing your own bottle can really save you some cash. The different quick-service restaurants at Disney do provide free cups of water if you don’t want to bring your own.

Also, bring your own portable charger! I’d recommend buying a Fuel Rod on Amazon because Disney has several Fuel Rod stations where you can exchange dead charging rods for fully charged ones. This way, you won’t have to keep charging your portable charger. If you buy Fuel Rods on Amazon, you can buy a 2-pack for a little over $30, but if you wait to buy them in the park, you will be spending at least $25 for just one.

No matter what, you will be dropping a decent amount of money on your trip to Disney World, but at least with some of these best ways to save money on your 2024 Disney World trip, you’ll be able to save yourself some cash and worry.


Twenty Something Traveler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Affiliates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com.


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