Disney World is an expensive vacation any way you do it. But there are ways to maximize what you get for your money.

The last time we went to Disney World was January 2018. We usually choose to go the second week of January. Being from NY, it’s usually been cold for a couple months by then, so we’re ready for a trip to Florida right about then. It isn’t usually too unbearably hot in Florida either, an important factor for me because I don’t like the extreme heat. In fact, we usually need to start out with hoodies in the morning and bring them back out again at night, which is perfect for me. It’s the slowest week of the year, bringing in only about 60% of their average admissions. With some research, planning, and a little strategy, you can almost avoid lines all together. When we went that week in 2012, we managed to get to every ride in every park and got signatures from all of the characters. We also stick to visiting the parks in weekdays instead of the weekends, again for less crowds to deal with.

When you go to purchase your tickets, I highly recommend checking out Costco before booking anything. They can often offer you rates lower than any travel agent could. So check out their packages and see if they fit what you’re looking for, it could save you enough to make a big difference, being worth buying a membership even if you don’t plan on taking advantage of shopping.

Last time we went, we got the meal plan because it’s something we had never done before. I mistakenly got it for all of us, if I were to do it again, I would only get it for half of us. We had a ton of food left over at the end, literally grocery bags full of food. I liked the convenience and the fact that I wasn’t worried about money. We could get what we wanted and tried things that we may have other wise not gotten. However if I added up the price I paid vs what I would have paid if I bought the same items outright, the meal plan definitely cost more. We also only did counter service meals and not character dinners. Because we only had two days in Magic Kingdom and one day in each of the other parks this time, we spent all of our time getting everything in that we wanted to do. If we were to go again within the year or two, we would do more of the “extra” stuff. But since we could barely fit in all the included entertainment, we skipped the extra cost entertainment on this past trip.

Before I wrap this up, I want to share my favorite Disney World story with you. I took my foster daughter to Disney World before I adopted my kids. She was a tough little girl. Turning 12 soon after the trip, she already started smoking, had a pregnant friend from school, and had experiences that so many adults would have a hard time handling. I didn’t know if she and her twin sister would like Disney World or if it would be uncool and babyish to keep up with their image. She was in awe from the second we stepped foot in there. It really is such a magical place. We waited in line to see Ariel, a long line. She got up there, had her pics taken with Ariel, from The Little Mermaid, and got her autograph. We were walking away and she said to me, “I think she’s wearing a wig” to which I thought, well it would be hard to find someone with that color hair to hire for that job. Before I could finish my thought, she said, “you can’t even tell it’s a wig in the movie!” The animated movie. It melted my heart and I knew right then and there that she was getting the full Disney experience that she so deserved.

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*pic- Disney World in January, 2018