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130. How Much Does a Disney Vacation Really Cost? · Mom Street USA

0:05
Welcome everybody to another episode of Mob St.
0:07
USAI am your host Jackie. And on today's episode, we are
0:10
talking about something that is very important to a Disney
0:14
vacation, but something that so many of us don't necessarily
0:17
enjoy doing, and that is budgeting.
0:20
So the goal for today is to give you a realistic idea of what a
0:25
Disney budget breakdown looks like.
0:28
So that way it doesn't feel quite so overwhelming because I
0:32
can absolutely feel overwhelming.
0:33
There are so many little details and things to consider when it
0:38
comes to making your budget for Disney.
0:39
So we're going to break it down into some smaller categories to
0:43
help you find like a happy range that your bank account can
0:46
handle for a Disney trip. So for the purpose of this
0:50
episode, I'm going to walk you through the process of each
0:53
step. But your own needs and family
0:56
size and all of that will also vary based on you, right?
1:02
So I'm not going to be able to go over every single different
1:06
makeup of a family need and budget range in this episode.
1:10
So my hope is that it will help you be able to think through
1:14
each step so that way when you are planning for your trip, you
1:18
can adjust what you need and then follow along with your
1:22
family of whatever size. So that way you kind of have at
1:26
the end of this episode, you can have an idea of a breakdown for
1:30
what looks realistic for your group.
1:34
Now, I am a crazy lady. So when it comes to planning
1:38
Disney trips, So I like to track everything whenever we do our
1:42
big family trips. I don't do this as much on my
1:44
solo trips because I just try to do those kind of as cheaply as
1:48
possible. But for my family trips, I like
1:51
to track everything on spreadsheets because I am that
1:54
type of person and I don't do anything super fancy.
1:57
I just have a couple columns and each category that we're going
2:00
to talk about here in this episode in a moment just gets
2:03
its own column and I make notes or I type different things into
2:07
it. And then I have an area where I
2:09
can total all of the costs that I am anticipating in that
2:12
particular section. So that is how I personally
2:16
organize my budget. I know there are tons of
2:18
different ways to do it. You can do a spreadsheet, you
2:20
can do, you can hand write it out if you prefer, like the
2:23
paper pencil method. It really just depends on your
2:26
preference with that. But let's break down our budget
2:30
into these categories to help keep it organized.
2:33
So we're going to talk about tickets, food, travel, hotel,
2:38
and then merchant souvenirs and extra costs at the end.
2:42
So those are kind of our five categories that we're going to
2:45
be working with for today's episode.
2:49
So we're going to workshop some examples and look at some
2:52
numbers as they are current. We know I'm recording this in
2:57
June of 2026 and I'm going to use the first full week of
3:00
September as reference. So that's kind of where we're
3:04
looking like post Labor Day kind of range for pricing.
3:10
Now Please remember that pricing does vary greatly based on the
3:15
time of year. So the pricing that I'm going to
3:17
see in September is going to be vastly different than the
3:21
pricing that we see come December, right?
3:24
Or even January, February. So it really, really varies.
3:28
Sometimes it only varies by 10 or $20, sometimes it varies by a
3:33
couple, $100.00. So keep that in mind.
3:36
If you're on a really tight budget, I highly suggest doing
3:39
some research on what times of year at Disney tend to run
3:44
cheaper as far as like resorts go.
3:46
That's going to be your biggest difference that you're going to
3:48
see. The ticket prices are generally
3:51
within 20 or so dollars, but the resort costs are going to be a
3:55
massive difference depending on the time of year.
3:58
So keep all of that in mind as we go through this because the
4:01
numbers I give you may be very different than the numbers that
4:03
you end up with depending on when you're looking at going.
4:06
So we're going to start with tickets this one.
4:11
All of these are so dependent on your choices and what you want
4:15
to do, but this one is highly based on the length of your
4:17
stay. Obviously I always suggest with
4:21
when you're planning for your tickets to have at least one
4:24
rest day in the middle of your trip to help break up the long
4:27
park days if you're able to. Now you may have a short quick
4:32
trip that you just don't have the ability to do a full rest
4:35
day, but I highly suggest at least having like a sleep in
4:39
morning or a night that you don't stay out to do the
4:42
fireworks or the evening show at whatever park you're at because
4:45
you will just exhaust yourself. Especially if you've got littles
4:48
that are going with you, you want to make sure that you are
4:51
keeping tabs on how they're doing, prioritizing some rest
4:54
for them. Even if you're hoping to keep
4:57
going, they may be telling you to slow down and not right.
5:00
So keep that in mind. And after that decision on how
5:04
many park days you want to do, then the decision comes in
5:08
whether or not you want to park hop.
5:11
So that would be the other decision that you have to make
5:13
based on your tickets. So this decision for me always
5:17
depends on how many park days I have the ability to have based
5:21
on the length of my stay, right? If I have four or more park days
5:25
with my kiddos, especially when they were a little bit younger,
5:28
now they've been more often. Now we know more of what they
5:32
like, what they don't like. So I can anticipate more how
5:35
much time we're going to need in each park.
5:37
And currently, as much as it pains me to say, I love animal
5:41
Kingdom, but the the status of animal Kingdom right now is
5:44
really truly not a full day park.
5:46
So that's something else to keep in mind until we get more things
5:51
open with Tropical Americas. That park you can easily do like
5:55
8:00 to 2:00 or 8:00 to 3:00 probably in that park, but it's
6:01
not, it's definitely not a full day park.
6:03
Now you may use your Animal Kingdom day as your early
6:06
evening or your partial rest day.
6:08
Totally fine. So again, things to consider
6:11
with that. But if I have four or more park
6:16
days, I will typically do 1 park per day because I don't see the
6:20
need to hop around as much. If I have less than 4, I
6:25
typically would consider hopping to be able to hit the highlights
6:29
at each park. And again, it really just
6:31
depends on the makeup of your group, what you think they're
6:34
going to want to do. Do you have kiddos and adults
6:37
that want to do thrill rides or not?
6:39
You know, all those little factors kind of play into those
6:42
decisions that you might be making.
6:45
Remember also with tickets that the more park days you have, the
6:52
less you pay per day, which makes this decision even
6:56
trickier depending on your trip. So let's look at a couple
6:59
numbers. Again, this is based on that
7:00
first full week in September. If you're doing a three day
7:04
ticket, that is a park hopper because like I said, if you're
7:07
doing less than four, I would suggest looking at a park
7:09
hopper. A three day park hopper ticket
7:12
is going to be 476 O 7 for adults and four 6224 for kids
7:19
ages 3 to 9. Now a four day base ticket, so 4
7:25
days, one park per ticket is what the base ticket is. 5/13/96
7:30
for adults, 49622 for kids ages 3 to 9.
7:34
So there's a 40 ish dollar difference between those two.
7:40
So a three day hopper to a four day base ticket you're only
7:43
paying $40 more. Now a four day hopper ticket
7:49
you're looking at 59896. So that's a more significant
7:53
jump. And then for kids ages 3 to 9 is
7:57
58122 with that. So that's going to be a more
8:01
expensive cost. But then let me throw this at
8:05
you, if you want to do a five day base ticket, it is actually
8:11
cheaper than a four day park hopper.
8:15
So you get an extra day and it's cheaper just because you don't
8:18
have the ability to park hop. So A5 day base ticket is 557 O3
8:23
for adults, 53786 for kids ages 3 to 9.
8:27
So you see where you can really get into the weeds with these
8:30
kind of ticket prices. So it's really just best to
8:33
decide how many days you're going to be in the parks to
8:37
start, and then you can compare a base ticket versus a park
8:42
hopper ticket depending on how many days, depending on what you
8:45
want to do. So that's my suggestion with
8:47
tickets. The nice thing about tickets is
8:50
it's a fairly set cost, right? You're not going to have these
8:55
numbers fluctuate by hundreds week to week.
8:58
They may, like I said, fluctuate by 20 or $30, but they're not
9:03
going to be a massive increase in your budget if you are
9:08
debating about which weeks to go.
9:10
So tickets are fairly set in those kinds of price ranges
9:14
because they do depend a little bit now because Disney has more
9:18
dynamic pricing for tickets than they've had in the past.
9:21
So a little bit more now. It depends on what day you start
9:25
your ticket helps to set what the cost is going to be going
9:29
forward. But after that, A2 day ticket is
9:33
pretty much the same, a three day ticket, you know, week to
9:36
week again, other than some of those holiday really, really
9:40
busy times. So that's kind of the gist on
9:43
tickets. Again, look at the length of
9:45
your stay. Try to factor in a rest today
9:48
and then see how many days you've got leftover based on
9:50
that. Let's move on now to food.
9:55
There are so many different ways to do a food budget with a
10:00
Disney trip and it really just depends on your preferences and
10:03
what you guys like to do. This cost is going to be one
10:06
that will vary greatly, family to family, group to group,
10:11
right? But this is also one that is not
10:14
going to change hardly at all depending on the time of year
10:17
that you go. So you don't really see at
10:20
Disney like price increases for the standard like table service
10:24
and quick service options around the holidays.
10:27
They just don't raise their prices for those weeks, so they
10:30
don't have really that dynamic pricing to have to look out for.
10:34
So it really just depends on a couple different options that
10:37
you have. So the first option I'm going to
10:39
talk about is actually an option that we do with my family and
10:42
that is like a grocery delivery packing some food option.
10:47
So this is a method my family uses.
10:49
We typically will do easy breakfast options like cereal,
10:53
pop Tarts, muffins in the room and then we pack our lunches to
10:57
take into the parks. Disney does allow full coolers
11:01
and lunches to be taken into the parks.
11:03
There are specifications on like the size of coolers you're
11:06
allowed to take so definitely check that out on the Disney
11:08
website. And you are not allowed to take
11:10
anything in glass containers, any alcohol or any loose ice.
11:16
But you can like bag your ice up from your resort if you need to,
11:21
a way to keep your stuff cool that's in your cooler.
11:23
But it can't just be like loose ice in a cooler cause of it's a
11:27
safety hazard. So that is a really great thing
11:32
that Disney allows because it does give you the option to save
11:38
quite a bit of money on your trip if you're planning to do
11:41
this. So with this, we will typically
11:44
still purchase dinner in the parks or at the resorts because
11:47
it can be a little tricky to pack multiple meals to take into
11:55
the parks with you, right? Lunch is pretty easy.
11:58
We can do, you know, APB and J for the kids, a Turkey sandwich,
12:02
you know, things like that. Or sometimes my husband and I,
12:04
when it's really hot out, we just prefer to kind of snack.
12:07
We'll have like some granola bars or some fruit, you know,
12:11
for us, because we don't really want a full lunch meal, our kids
12:15
typically still eat the same amount that they would eat at
12:17
home regardless. So, but for us, we like to then
12:21
just purchase dinner in the parks because that's a little
12:23
bit easier so we don't have to think about packing extra food
12:26
to make a make it through all the way through a really long
12:29
park day. So what we do when we're
12:34
planning for this is we count out how many of each meal we
12:36
need in order to plan accordingly for like groceries
12:39
and stuff. So like, OK, we're, we're going
12:41
to need 5 breakfasts. We're going to need, you know, 4
12:44
lunches. We're going to, you know, that
12:45
type of thing. So we can kind of plan
12:47
accordingly. But ultimately, the cost for
12:49
this is going to end up being the same cost as what you would
12:54
pay at home for groceries for breakfast and lunch, right?
12:58
So you're not looking at a huge up charge to your normal week to
13:02
week, month to month budget for breakfast and lunch this way,
13:06
which can be really helpful. Now with dinners, you're
13:09
obviously going to see an increase there.
13:11
And I'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment when we
13:16
talk about like completely paying for everything out of
13:18
pocket, but the only additional cost from what you normally
13:22
would be spending for a week is just that up charge of paying
13:26
more for dinner when you're eating it in the park.
13:28
So we really like this option. We drive down a lot.
13:32
So we tend to get a lot of our, our like shelf stable groceries
13:36
we will just buy and bring with us in our van.
13:39
You can always grab an Uber and go to Walmart or Target or
13:47
wherever. You can always do a grocery
13:49
delivery from, you know, Amazon or Target or or there are so
13:54
many options, right, depending on what memberships you have and
13:57
all of that kind of stuff. But you can definitely get
14:00
groceries delivered as well. So lots of options for that.
14:04
Do keep in mind though, that some of those delivery services,
14:06
which I feel like it's a common knowledge, but just in case you
14:08
don't know, if you're not somebody that uses it that
14:10
often, typically some of those grocery delivery services do up
14:16
charge some of their items whenever you order it through
14:20
like a shipped or a you know, they have like garden Grocer
14:25
down in Orlando and things like that.
14:27
So just compare some costs with that if you're able to because
14:32
with the up charges that a lot of those places do charge plus a
14:37
delivery fee, it may be cheaper to grab an Uber, go get what you
14:42
need, and then grab an Uber back to the resort if you don't have
14:44
a car. So different options there.
14:47
I would definitely price them all out to see what makes the
14:50
most sense for your group and to see, you know, if it's only a
14:53
$10 difference to have it delivered versus going to get it
14:56
yourself, well then that the convenience may be worth that
14:58
$10.00 for you, but really just depends on your particular
15:02
situation with that. Another option for food is the
15:08
Disney Dining Plan. So this is like the complete
15:10
opposite side of the budget, right?
15:12
We talked about groceries and packing food and all that.
15:15
Now we're going to talk about the complete opposite side.
15:17
So the Disney Dining Plan is basically you prepaid for all of
15:23
your meals for the entire week and you get a certain allotment
15:26
of of credits on your dining plan based on what plan you get.
15:31
And we'll talk about that here in a moment.
15:33
But this option is really good if you can get a package where
15:38
the dining plan is included. So they run a ton of different
15:42
promos throughout the year where you can get certain versions of
15:46
the dining plan included or completely included for
15:49
everybody. It really depends again on the
15:51
time of year and what Disney is offering.
15:53
Otherwise, the cost can be debatable as to whether or not
15:57
you save money or at least get your money's worth on the dining
16:02
plan. Now if you are budgeting for
16:06
every and all food experience that you want, the dining plan
16:09
may save you money, especially if you've got grown-ups in your
16:13
group that tend to like a an alcoholic beverage with their
16:17
meals. This can really help with that
16:20
as well. So you got you got to make your
16:23
decision on that. Also just note, there are so
16:27
many videos online about people who have done the Disney Dining
16:32
Plan and they show you all the tips and tricks to get the most
16:36
bang for your buck with that, there's a Tik toker that I
16:39
follow her TikTok handle is toric coupon hunter and she
16:45
recently did a whole mini series on how to quote UN quote, beat
16:48
the Disney Dining Plan on TikTok that I really loved.
16:50
So there are tons of different places that you can go and read
16:55
about or watch about how people kind of use the Disney Dining
16:59
Plan to their best advantage, if that's something that you're
17:01
interested in in hearing about. Now I will mention that anybody
17:06
who's listening to this close to the time that we're recording it
17:09
in June of 2026 for arrivals in 2026, I believe through the end
17:16
of the year. I'm not a travel agent, so don't
17:18
quote me on that. Contact your favorite travel
17:20
agent for more, but for arrivals in the rest of 2026, you can get
17:26
a free dining plan for kids when you purchase a Disney package
17:32
for you and your children that includes you staying at a Disney
17:35
resort hotel. That's a really good deal.
17:39
Kids eat for free basically is what they're giving you.
17:42
So if you are planning a trip for 20/26 or have already
17:47
planned a trip for 20/26 and you didn't see that promo, contact
17:50
your travel agent, contact Disney, figure out what you can
17:54
do to get that added because that's a really good deal if you
17:57
can get the free kids dining plan included in your package
18:01
deal. Now, there are two different
18:03
main options for the Disney Dining Plan.
18:06
If you are paying out of pocket for the dining plan, again, this
18:10
is like nothing that is included.
18:12
This is if you are paying out of pocket for the Disney Dining
18:16
Plan. These are the general 2027
18:19
prices that they've come out with because again, 2026 prices
18:23
are hard to find because they're promoting it as kids eat free.
18:28
So it's a little bit tricky to find.
18:29
Some of this stuff is way easier to find through a travel agent
18:33
and they're going to have a better breakdown.
18:35
The Disney website, it doesn't give it to you in black and
18:41
white. They want you to go through
18:43
price out of vacation at a dining plan and see what the
18:45
total is. So they don't itemize it very
18:47
well for you. You have to go in and like do
18:50
your own math with that. So this again is where I highly
18:53
suggest looking at a travel agent to help you kind of figure
18:55
out this aspect for sure. But if you are planning or
18:59
looking at paying out of pocket for a dining plan in 2027, there
19:02
are two main options. 1 is a quick service option and 1 is a
19:06
table service option for your dining plan.
19:08
So the quick service option, you get 2 quick service meals per
19:13
day and then one snack per day or one non alcoholic drink per
19:18
day. So three items that you get per
19:20
day, a quick service meal, quick service meal and a snack or a
19:24
non alcoholic drink. That comes out to around $63 per
19:30
day per adult and $25 per day per child.
19:34
Now the good thing is Disney has really adjusted back these
19:38
Disney Dining Plan prices. They used to be like double
19:43
this. So I think Disney has seen some
19:46
of the the feedback maybe from guests who have used it and they
19:51
have really kind of adjusted these prices to make it a little
19:53
bit easier to to have people that want to take advantage of
19:58
it. Now the table service option.
20:02
Is for one table service meal per day, one quick service meal
20:08
per day, and then again one snack or non alcoholic drink per
20:12
day. So three options there again, a
20:14
table service, a quick service, and a snack or non alcoholic
20:17
drink. That comes out to around $100
20:21
per adult per day and $32 per child per day.
20:27
So that's kind of your general breakdown now.
20:30
Disney runs promos all the time, Disney runs deals and packages
20:34
all the time. So the chances of you having to
20:38
pay out of pocket for a full Disney Dining Plan are actually
20:41
fairly low currently as we look at the future of what is kind of
20:46
going on with the Disney packages and everything like
20:49
that. But those are your options if
20:51
that's what you do choose to do. Now, there is also a deluxe
20:56
Dining plan option that is not currently available in 2026 but
21:03
will be available again in 2027. Again, details on that are not
21:08
readily available on the Disney website, so you can likely get
21:12
it from a travel agent. Talk to your favorite travel
21:14
agent or if you need help finding that information, send
21:16
me an e-mail momstusa@gmail.com and I can hook you up with a
21:20
travel agent and we can help you figure out those numbers
21:23
together. But that one is more of the
21:28
table service credits. So I believe you get 2 table
21:32
service credits for that one. Whereas like quick service was 2
21:35
quick service, the table service one was one table service, one
21:38
quick service. The deluxe one is 2 table
21:41
services per day. So you really got to like to eat
21:44
at sit down restaurants if you want that one.
21:47
But like I said, unfortunately, I can't see the prices for that
21:49
because it's available just in packages for 2027 at this point.
21:54
Yeah, it's it's a whole thing. Like I said, Disney doesn't like
21:56
to be very black and white about the dining costs, unfortunately.
22:01
Now the thing with the dining plan, again, we talked about
22:04
getting your money's worth. This can be a really good option
22:08
if you're already planning to eat this many meals in the
22:14
Disney parks, right? So if you're already planning to
22:17
eat 2 quick service meals and grab a snack for breakfast, look
22:23
at the cost and see like OK, Yep, I know that at Magic
22:26
Kingdom, I'm planning to eat at Tony's for your table service.
22:31
Then you're going to eat at Pecos Bell for your quick
22:33
service. Look at what you would spend if
22:36
you were to get exactly what you wanted off that menu and then
22:40
see how that breaks down to what you're going to spend on a table
22:46
Service plan. Or look at 2 quick services.
22:48
If you're going to eat at Cosmic Rays and Pinocchio Village
22:51
House, look at what you would spend there and see what that
22:55
breakdown looks like. If it's going to be almost even
22:59
or you're going to be spending less than what the dining plan
23:03
is giving you, well, that may help you make that decision.
23:06
Now, again, if you're going in 2026, your kiddos are going to
23:09
eat for free on that dining plan.
23:11
So that is a huge win. Keep all those things in mind
23:14
when you're planning accordingly for that option.
23:17
OK, enough about the dining plan.
23:19
Let's talk about now the last option for food.
23:23
Kind of broad option, right? There's still so many decisions
23:26
to be made, but let's just say you're going to just go and pay
23:29
out of pocket for whatever you want to eat in the parks in this
23:32
category. If you're going to be paying out
23:34
of pocket, you will have the most control over what you pay,
23:37
right? So this is something to really
23:40
consider if you want to eat at a couple maybe table services, but
23:45
you don't want to do it every day, or you have like 1 special
23:50
character meal you're planning, but then you're going to do
23:51
quick services the rest of the time.
23:53
You know, different options. It really just depends, but you
23:55
will with this option, you will need to price out every meal in
24:01
order to properly budget for food.
24:03
So it just really depends on if that's something that you want
24:06
to do with your Disney budget. I don't mind doing this the way
24:09
that we do it because I'm just planning out the dinners in the
24:13
parks because everything else is already taken care of with our
24:16
groceries that we get. But I am planning out every
24:21
night and where I think we're going to eat or maybe two
24:24
options of where I think we might eat.
24:26
And then I'm looking at, OK, my husband is probably going to
24:31
order something in this general price range.
24:33
I'm going to order something in this general price range.
24:35
My kids are going to spend this much.
24:37
And then I'm kind of getting a general estimate for what I
24:40
think we're going to spend for that night.
24:42
Now I don't always go super specific with that unless the
24:47
menu is like, Nope, I know my kids going to eat that.
24:50
Or like sometimes the, the cost for things is just like a set
24:55
prefix cost, right, Depending on where you're going.
24:57
So like those ones are super easy to budget for because you
25:00
automatically know my kids are going to be $29.00 and the
25:05
adults are going to be $54 or what, you know, whatever it is
25:08
depending on where you're going. And what if you do table service
25:12
reservations and all those types of things.
25:14
So keep that in mind as you are looking through.
25:20
I enjoy doing this part of our trip because I'm a crazy lady,
25:23
like I said at the beginning. So I will typically just use
25:26
that spreadsheet and I will, they usually do like a schedule
25:30
on my spreadsheet. And every night I will write
25:32
down where we're going to go. And then on a separate tab, I
25:35
will go through and do a cost breakdown just for my own
25:38
benefit because I want to make sure that I have enough money in
25:43
pocket when I go down there so I don't have to total it and tally
25:47
it while I'm doing it live. So I like doing that because
25:51
then it, it allows me to not have to think about what I'm
25:54
spending because I already know, Yep, I budgeted for this meal at
25:58
this restaurant. I know how much we're going to
26:00
spend. We're good to go kind of
26:02
situation with that. One last thing that I will say
26:06
when I'm talking about food in the parks is don't forget a
26:11
snack budget, right? And maybe that is partially
26:16
bringing some granola bars or protein bars or things into the
26:20
parks. But maybe some of that is also,
26:23
hey, I know we're going to end up getting a popcorn refill
26:27
every day because we brought our popcorn bucket with us or my
26:30
kids love Dole Whip. I'm I'm going to plan out
26:33
accordingly to have money for Dole Whip.
26:37
All those things are really good options to make sure that you
26:39
consider that whenever you are putting together your food
26:42
budget. So don't forget your snacks.
26:44
It's a very important part of your Disney budget.
26:48
OK, enough talk about food. Let's talk about something else
26:51
that you need for your budget and that is travel expenses.
26:54
So let's talk about how to budget for travel.
26:57
This is obviously a given when it comes to budgets, but it's
27:04
also one of the hardest ones to stomach sometimes, depending on
27:07
how you're travelling and depending on how costs are
27:10
looking at any given time. But with this, you're either
27:14
close enough to drive or close enough that you're willing to
27:17
drive even if you're not super close like me living in Ohio who
27:20
drives like 14 to 15 hours to get to Disney or you're not
27:25
right. So either you're going to have
27:26
to plan to drive or you're going to have to plan to fly.
27:29
Flights have obviously skyrocketed in cost lately due
27:33
to the cost of fuel going up. So using services like Google
27:38
Flights, Kayak or Hopper, all of these options can help you track
27:43
flight prices and you can sign up for alerts through them to
27:47
get notifications when prices drop.
27:50
That is the best way to do it if I am you.
27:54
The other way to do it is to just every day you've got to get
27:58
on and check some of these these prices for these flights.
28:01
You know, once you find the flights that you want, get on
28:04
every day and check and see when the price might drop.
28:07
I was looking for a flight for my husband for a work trip to go
28:11
from Cincinnati to Las Vegas that he had to go on.
28:16
And of all times a random Friday morning at 11 AM, the price
28:21
dropped by like $100.00. So you never know.
28:25
Historically speaking, Tuesday's tend to be the quote UN quote
28:28
day to book because they tend to be a cheaper day.
28:31
I don't really know if that's true anymore, quite honestly.
28:33
So I would set an alert every day, check those flight prices,
28:38
sign up for those alerts to find the best deals that you can.
28:41
And when you see them drop, just book it.
28:44
You know the the chances of it going lower can happen.
28:50
It's so hard to tell what the way prices and things are going.
28:53
So when you see it drop, book it.
28:56
You know, if you are someone that flies often, you probably
29:00
know like what the benchmark prices that you're looking for.
29:03
If you don't fly up often, reach out to some friends that fly in
29:07
and out of the same airport that you do to see what kind of costs
29:11
they typically see. And keep in mind that even
29:14
though some of these budget airlines, like we know Spirit
29:17
went under, but Frontier typically has some cheaper
29:20
flights. If you can do like a Breeze
29:22
airway or some of those other ones that are a little bit more
29:25
low cost, that's a great option. Or if you're someone that's got
29:28
like credit card points or airline points that you can cash
29:31
in, those are other great options to use to kind of help
29:34
to offset that particular cost. I know for me, when I'm flying
29:39
solo, I can typically find flights from Ohio to Florida for
29:46
around 200. If it's under 200, I typically
29:50
book it. Now that's for me as a solo
29:52
traveler. Obviously multiply that out by
29:54
your family size, but flights are not cheap.
29:58
So that is a huge expense to have to kind of plan out for.
30:02
And the other thing that's a little tricky is it's one of
30:04
those expenses that you have to pay all at one time.
30:06
You know, with some of the other things that you pay for for a
30:10
Disney vacation in your like package, you can make payments
30:14
as you go and it's only due, you know, 30 days out or at the time
30:17
of check in, depending on your your terms and conditions.
30:20
But flights are one of those things that you got a book
30:23
totally all at one time, which is really unfortunate when
30:28
you're trying to budget accordingly, right?
30:31
And yes, our, our good friend Jinjin, our live chat here made
30:35
a really good point is booking flights in Incognito mode on
30:39
your browser can actually save you some money also because
30:45
these websites will geolocate and Geo track where you are and
30:50
prices can fluctuate based on that also.
30:53
So if you're booking on a, when you're booking on a browser, try
30:57
to go Incognito mode. Sometimes you also will find
31:01
good deals booking through an app as well.
31:04
So like Southwest and Frontier will sometimes have in app deals
31:09
that if you book through the app, you can find deals.
31:11
So there's lots of different things to keep in mind and you
31:14
really want to start looking at this pretty far in advance.
31:20
You know, I don't necessarily suggest booking, you know, a
31:23
year, a year and a half in advance.
31:25
Sometimes you can't right with these airlines.
31:27
But I would definitely start looking as soon as you know,
31:31
your dates and your dates are fairly set, even if they're
31:33
maybe flexible by a day or two. You want to start looking up
31:36
flight prices to give yourself an idea of what range you're
31:39
currently looking at. But Incognito mode is, is a good
31:42
way to help with that also. Now, if you're driving, other
31:48
things to consider, if that is your route to get there, are you
31:51
taking your own vehicle or your spouse's vehicle, a family
31:55
vehicle, a friend's vehicle? Are you going to rent a larger
31:59
vehicle? That's something else to
32:01
consider as well. When we have gone with friends,
32:06
we have always looked at do we want to rent like a bigger SUV?
32:09
Before I had my minivan before we had, you know, both of our
32:13
kids. So it was like, well, we're
32:14
going to have four or five adults.
32:17
We're going to drive down. We've got a bunch of suitcases.
32:19
Do we want to run a big a bigger vehicle?
32:20
And we have done that on a couple occasions.
32:22
Something to consider, again, considering gas mileage and gas
32:28
costs can maybe help you with that as well.
32:30
If you're, but if your car that you're driving gets really,
32:33
really good gas mileage, maybe you consider, OK, how, how
32:37
minimally can I pack so that we can all fit in the car?
32:40
Because it's going to be a lot cheaper to drive my car down
32:43
than it would be to drive a minivan down.
32:45
Those types of decisions. It sounds really nitpicky, but
32:50
it can make a, a several $100 difference in your budget when
32:54
it comes to your travel expenses for that.
32:57
Other things to consider when driving toll roads, if you're
33:00
driving down there, you're going to probably go across a toll
33:03
road in Florida to get to Orlando.
33:07
Considering gas Phillips, how many times are going to have to
33:10
fill up the tank kind of mapping out, OK, we can go about this
33:13
many miles, you know, how many Phillips are we going to need
33:15
and how much does it cost to fill up a tank of gas in our car
33:18
that we're taking parking costs? If you need to consider that at
33:22
your hotel, now this is included in your fees at your Disney
33:27
resort, but if you're doing like a good neighbor hotel somewhere
33:30
off property, somewhere in the Disney Springs area, it may or
33:33
may not be included with that. So taking a look at that if
33:38
you're going to be driving and parking a car, making sure that
33:41
you're not forgetting about, because some of those have
33:44
parking costs that are, you know, $3035 a day, that really
33:48
adds up if you're there for a whole week.
33:49
So different things to consider. And the other thing also to
33:54
consider is if you do fly when you get there, are you renting a
33:58
car? So again, you just really have
34:00
to consider all of those different options.
34:03
You don't necessarily need a car when you're staying on Disney
34:07
property or even if you're staying at some of those Disney
34:09
Springs resorts, you can probably get away with not
34:11
having a car depending on travel needs and shuttles and all those
34:17
those details for your resort. But I think it's nice to have
34:21
one personally, but that's my personal preference.
34:23
Again, if you're staying at a Disney resort, parking is
34:26
included and you can also drive and park for free at the parks
34:30
as well, which is a really nice benefit.
34:32
So if you're already staying on property, you can go when you go
34:36
to the parking gate for like Magic Kingdom, let's say for the
34:40
TTC, you just tell them you're staying on property.
34:43
They will scan your Magic band or your card, like your key card
34:47
for your, your room or your account, like your wallet, your
34:52
digital wallet to, to confirm that you're staying on property.
34:55
And then you don't have to pay for parking there as well.
34:58
So all of those things are different kind of travel related
35:03
ideas that you might need to plan for.
35:05
Again, I don't really feel like I can give you a price range for
35:09
any of that because it's so dependent on how you're getting
35:12
there, what size your party is, where you're coming from, all of
35:16
those things to be considered to help you kind of budget for
35:19
travel. But that, again, that travel
35:22
expense is going to be one of the biggest expenses that you're
35:26
going to have to get you to get you down to Disney, simply
35:31
because right now fuel costs are insane and through the roof.
35:37
And Jing made another really good point in our live chat
35:40
here. Thanks, Jing.
35:40
Shout out to you for helping. But you can do certain things
35:45
like Afterpay for flights. So there's lots of different
35:48
little options with that. Like I know through my Chase
35:51
account I can do like I can split certain transactions into
35:55
multiple smaller payments. So different things like that
35:59
you can look at as well. Also, if you're planning to use
36:01
it on a credit card, obviously don't put yourself into debt by
36:06
planning to buy flights to Disney if you can, you know, at
36:10
all avoid it. But putting it on a credit card
36:13
and paying it off little by little can also be an option if
36:15
that's something that you need to do in the meantime.
36:19
OK, I think that's enough about travel.
36:21
That part always stresses me out.
36:22
It's so expensive. I keep thinking about this
36:24
because we're planning Disneyland in a couple years and
36:27
I keep dreading in the next two years what's going to happen to
36:30
flight costs to Get Me Out there.
36:33
So we will see. We will see.
36:37
But I am already starting to budget and save for that trip
36:42
because it's it's going to be a lot to get four of us out to
36:46
Disneyland. So let's talk about something a
36:48
little bit more enjoyable and something we maybe have a little
36:51
bit more control over how much we pay for.
36:53
And that is your hotel cost. But this is another big part of
36:58
your your decision for a Disney trip, right?
37:00
Your travel costs in your hotel and your tickets, those are your
37:03
big three of the five that we're talking about today.
37:06
First decision that you need to make is are you trying to stay
37:09
on property or off property? And then second decision from
37:13
that is what level resort fits your wants and your needs for
37:17
your particular group. This aspect again, is really
37:21
where travel agents can help you decide based on your needs.
37:25
Most rooms at Disney resorts, I'm going to focus kind of on
37:29
Disney resorts because that is what I have the most knowledge
37:32
on. We'll talk a little bit about
37:34
good Neighbor resorts here in just a moment, but most of the
37:38
resorts and the rooms at the resorts are standard rooms that
37:42
will sleep 4, some will sleep 5. They'll have a fifth sleeper
37:45
option for a smaller individual that is traveling with you.
37:49
Some rooms at the deluxe properties, that's your highest
37:52
tier budget wise, you can sleep up to like 8 or 12, again,
37:57
depending on your price range. Because if you're looking at
38:00
that many people, you're looking at like villas and things that
38:03
have multiple bedrooms and some of those more expensive options
38:08
for that for that size are going to be in that highest price
38:14
range. So some things to consider with
38:16
that, if you've got a bigger party, consider splitting your
38:20
group and requesting adjoining rooms.
38:23
Consider what the needs are of each maybe family in your group.
38:28
So we did this for our last family trip that we took last
38:32
May. We were there with my extended
38:35
or like my entire immediate family.
38:39
So in my immediate family was my parents, my sister, her husband
38:42
and their two kids, me and my husband and our two kids.
38:45
So there were ten of us total and I looked at some of those
38:49
bigger like deluxe villas and things like that, but the price
38:52
breakdown just didn't really make sense for what we wanted
38:56
and what we needed. So what we opted to do was my
39:00
sister, her youngest was under a year.
39:03
So we wanted to make sure that for her youngest, they had a
39:07
good place for naps and for earlier bedtimes.
39:13
So we opted to look at the Art of Animation family suites
39:17
because they had a separate like master bedroom.
39:21
And then they had, you know, the the kitchen and the TV and the
39:24
other bathroom were out in a space where they could be away
39:27
from their youngest. So to us, it made sense to book
39:31
them one of those rooms. And then we wanted to be close
39:34
by. So we opted to book The Little
39:37
Mermaid rooms also at Art of Animation for my 4, my husband
39:42
and myself and my two kids and then for my parents.
39:45
And we just requested adjoining rooms.
39:47
So our rooms were adjoining. We had that double door in
39:50
between. So we could, you know, get in,
39:52
in and out of each other's space and spend some time together
39:56
and, and all of that. And then my sister and her
39:59
husband had their own space where their kiddos could, could
40:01
be. So that worked out beautifully
40:03
for us. But that's what I mean when I'm
40:05
saying if you've got those bigger groups, you really need
40:07
to consider what you're looking at.
40:11
Because there are so many different options and different
40:14
makeups now, most of the resorts will be able to do like
40:18
adjoining rooms or rooms like next door to each other.
40:22
If you put that in a request whenever you book, that again is
40:26
where travel agents can help because our lovely travel agent
40:28
that we used was able to put that request in for us and that
40:32
was no problem. Whenever we checked in, they
40:35
were able to accommodate that. Easy peasy.
40:37
A couple things to note. Back at the beginnings of Mom
40:39
St. USA, Kate and I went through all
40:42
of the different resorts and we talked in depth about each
40:45
category and what all your options were there.
40:47
Now from those, that was like Season 1 of Mom St. way, way,
40:52
way back when. Pricing may have changed.
40:56
I'm sure it probably has increased unfortunately from
40:59
when we talked about it. But the overviews of all of the
41:02
resorts that we did in those episodes are still the same.
41:04
So if you want more details about the different resorts on
41:09
Disney property, we actually did Disney World and Disneyland.
41:12
But if you want more information about those different resort
41:15
options, go there and see. Now if you guys find that we
41:18
need an update of that, just let me know.
41:21
Comment below and tell me like, hey, I would love an update on
41:24
those episodes. So that way we can give you guys
41:26
kind of a more up to date look because that was probably four
41:30
years ago almost at this point, which is wild to think about.
41:33
So let me know in the comments if we need an update on those on
41:38
those resort episodes for you guys.
41:39
But you can definitely still find some of the information as
41:43
far as like overviews and what each resort has to offer over
41:46
there on those on those episodes.
41:49
If you go back into the archives and you can find those wherever
41:52
you're listening to us. If it's YouTube, if it's
41:53
Spotify, if it's Apple, where wherever you're listening to us
41:57
that is available for you to find.
41:59
Now let's talk about general price ranges.
42:02
We're not going to get into the nitty gritty.
42:03
We're not going to break down every single resort because
42:06
that's not what this episode is aimed at doing.
42:08
But I will say that these ranges can at least give you an idea
42:13
per night of what you're going to be looking at.
42:16
If you're looking at different levels of these resorts, There
42:19
are three different categories of Disney resorts.
42:21
There's a value, moderate and deluxe.
42:24
So value category is your lowest tier as far as cost goes.
42:30
There are five in this category, Pop Century, Art of Animation
42:34
and three All Stars. So All Star music, movies and
42:37
sports. Those generally speaking range
42:40
around 150 up to about 300 a night.
42:44
And that is going to depend heavily on when you're visiting.
42:48
The lower costs are going to be in that offseason, the higher
42:52
costs are going to be around the holidays, Christmas and the the
42:57
busier times throughout the year.
43:00
Your second category is the moderate category.
43:03
That is going to be things like Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans
43:07
resorts, Riverside and French Quarter, Coronado Springs.
43:10
Those are going to range you 275 a night, upwards of 450 a night,
43:18
again depending on time of year, what's going on, availability,
43:22
all that jazz. And then your deluxe category,
43:25
this one has a much wider price range because this is where
43:29
you're going to see all of those like villas and the fancy
43:33
bungalows at the Polynesian and all of that.
43:36
But that is the contemporary Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom,
43:39
Lodge, Polynesian, all of those types of resorts.
43:43
Riviera, I didn't list all of them.
43:45
There's like 15 in this category, I think, but those
43:48
range anywhere from around 500 to 900 for like a standard room
43:54
option. And then they go up from there
43:56
upwards OF23000 if you're paying for villas with club level and
44:02
resort or a Parkview and all of that.
44:06
So tons of different options. It's hard to kind of put you in
44:10
a price range without knowing, right?
44:13
Like what your budget is. Are you looking to do it on a
44:16
budget? Are you looking to splurge a
44:17
little? Are you looking to splurge a
44:18
lot? So kind of think about where you
44:21
may fall. The other thing to consider with
44:24
that is also the amenities that come with it.
44:27
So value amenities are going to be very basic.
44:30
You're going to have a basic food court.
44:33
They have fun themed, themed like swimming pools, but they
44:36
don't have slides. They don't have huge elaborate
44:38
splash pad areas at the value resorts.
44:41
Your moderate level is going to give you a little bit more
44:44
elevated food options. It's going to give you bigger
44:47
splash pad areas, water slides of those things are important to
44:50
you. And then obviously your Deluxe
44:53
is going to give you all that in a bag of chips, right?
44:57
So thinking about your amenities as well as your price range is
45:01
really important too. If you've got kiddos that love
45:04
pool time or you're someone that loves pool time and you want to
45:07
give them access to splash pads and water slides, the moderate
45:10
level at the minimum is what you're going to need to look at.
45:12
So keeping that in mind also when you're looking to budget
45:16
can be a big thing to consider too.
45:18
Now, if you are going off property, let's talk just
45:23
briefly about going off property.
45:26
Let's say you're looking at one of these good neighbor hotels
45:29
that Disney offers. And a good neighbor hotel is
45:31
basically a hotel that Disney recommends that is not on their
45:35
property. But Disney says like yes, they
45:38
get our stamp of approval. They are a good place to stay
45:41
nearby. There are more good proper good
45:44
neighbor properties out in Disneyland than there are at
45:46
Disney World just because Disneyland only has three
45:50
resorts out there. But there's still a huge amount
45:52
of them. And a lot of these are found
45:54
near the Disney Springs area at Walt Disney World.
45:58
But if you're looking at these hotels, I would highly suggest
46:03
looking for the good neighbor hotels that still get some of
46:07
the Disney benefits. And what I mean by that is some
46:11
of these good neighbor hotels still get the like 7 days out
46:16
Lightning Lane access, which is a really big benefit.
46:19
And a lot of these still get the early entry benefit, which
46:23
again, is another really great perk to have for not staying on
46:27
property. You still get to get in that 30
46:29
minutes early to the park for the day.
46:32
So I'm just going to run down a list in case you or someone
46:35
that's like, oh, I want to know what it is that we're we're
46:38
looking at for that. So with the lightning Lane
46:42
benefit, and again, if you need more help on Lightning lanes,
46:45
I've done a ton of episodes or send me an e-mail
46:47
momstusa@gmail.com. But you can book seven days out
46:51
of your check in day if you're staying on property or if you're
46:55
staying at the Dolphin, the Swan, the Swan Reserve, which
47:00
those are all Marriott owned or shades of green, which is the
47:05
military resort. So those four will still get you
47:10
that seven days out booking availability if you are trying
47:13
to do lightning lanes. So that is a massive perk of
47:17
doing that, especially if you're someone that frequents Marriott
47:19
resorts and you have like points and things like that that you
47:23
can use to book over there. That's really good to know.
47:26
The other thing to know is that the those Marriott resorts, so
47:31
the Dolphin, the Swan and the Swan reserve will also do an
47:34
annual pass discount. So if you are an annual pass
47:37
holder and you're coming down, maybe you're looking for
47:39
somewhere new to stay, somewhere you haven't been before, they
47:42
will do an annual pass discount there as well.
47:44
So all those things are good little perks to keep in mind.
47:48
Now if you aren't worried about lightning lanes but you want the
47:52
early entry, the early entry benefit is given to This is a
47:57
long list. I'm just going to read through
47:58
it quickly and then you can do your research thusly.
48:01
But the Dolphin Swan, Swan Reserve, the DoubleTree Suites
48:04
by Hilton, the Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando, Lake Buena Vista, The
48:08
Four Seasons, the Hilton, both Hilton Orlando locations, the
48:11
Holiday Inn Orlando, the Renaissance Orlando Resort and
48:14
Spa. Shades of green, obviously the
48:17
Cigna by Hilton, the Waldorf Astoria, Wyndham Garden Lake and
48:21
the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista. So those options are all really
48:26
great if you want to do early entry and you are not staying on
48:30
property. One of the other perks that you
48:33
can utilize if you are staying at select good neighbor resorts
48:37
is the extended evening theme park hours is what they call
48:41
them for Disney deluxe resorts. So this is a certain time,
48:46
usually twice a week, typically Mondays and Wednesdays, you get
48:49
like an extra 2 bonus hours after park close to still be in
48:54
the resorts. So they offer this for all of
48:56
the deluxe resorts, but they also again offer this for the
49:00
Swan, the Dolphin, the Swan Reserve and Shades of Green.
49:03
So those three, now obviously you have to qualify to stay at
49:07
Shades of Green because it is a military resort.
49:10
But if you are someone that is able to get good deals through
49:14
the Dolphin, the Swan, and the Swan Reserve, those are
49:16
fantastic options for off property not technically owned
49:21
by Disney resorts. Because you get early entry, you
49:25
get deluxe hours, and you get 7 day lightning lane booking,
49:29
you're basically staying on property while still earning
49:32
points for your Marriott account.
49:34
So take that for what it is. If one of those makes sense to
49:40
you, I highly suggest doing that and I've heard great things.
49:43
The Swan and Dolphin are located kind of in the boardwalk ish
49:47
area. If you're familiar with Disney
49:49
property but don't really know where the Swan and Dolphin are,
49:52
that's where you can find them. So they are technically within
49:55
walking distance to Epcot, International Gateway and
49:59
Hollywood Studios. There are also boats and things
50:02
like that that will take you there, but that is where they
50:04
are on property. So they're really convenient
50:06
locations and they're really convenient price range.
50:09
Typically, they usually will fall in that moderate price
50:14
range, but you get all the benefits of being at a deluxe
50:17
resort. So take that info again for what
50:20
it is. But I highly suggest considering
50:22
one of those if you're looking, quote UN quote, off property for
50:26
your resort. So OK, I think that's kind of a
50:30
general breakdown of hotels. Again, we're not getting into
50:34
the nitty gritty. If you need help figuring out
50:36
what works best for you, send me an e-mail contact travel agent.
50:41
That's going to be your best bet to get true individualized
50:45
information based on your needs for your resort hotel.
50:49
Now, the last category that we are going to talk about today
50:54
for our realistic Disney budget is merch, souvenirs and other
51:00
expenses. So your limit and budget for
51:07
this category is obviously completely up to your specific
51:11
situation. For us, we do our very best to
51:17
keep ourselves on a budget for merch.
51:20
However, we're also really bad at keeping ourselves on a budget
51:25
for merch specifically, more my husband and I, the adults are
51:29
really bad. We're really good at keeping our
51:30
kids on a budget. So take that for what it is.
51:35
We know it's a flaw when we go to Disney.
51:37
It's just how it works. But when we budget with our
51:39
kids, what we typically like to do is we give them their
51:44
budgeted allotment that we are going to give them on a Disney
51:48
gift card because this helps them track what money they have
51:50
to spend and allows them to see if they have any left.
51:53
You know, they print that right on the receipt after they make
51:56
their purchase. So we like to do that for them
51:59
because it makes it easier for them.
52:02
It makes it more more visible for them to know exactly how
52:06
much they have left to spend. Now we also will sometimes let
52:10
them contribute their own money that they have from birthdays or
52:15
doing chores around the house as well, but we typically set that
52:18
limit before we go. Sometimes we will add that to
52:23
their Disney gift card, sometimes we will just say Nope.
52:26
Mom and dad will take care of that extra amount and we will
52:30
will equal things out with you whenever we get back from our
52:34
trip. If you got older kiddos, you may
52:38
do something where you send them their budget electronically,
52:41
right? If if they're using a phone or a
52:44
smartwatch, you may send them a Disney gift card that they can
52:47
put in their wallet. You may do like a Venmo or an
52:49
Apple Pay or that's that type of thing.
52:52
Also, I know a lot of parents with teens like to do that
52:57
because then they can give them their allotment on their phone,
53:00
they can use their phone to pay and then it also shows them
53:02
directly there on the screen how much money they have left.
53:05
So whatever method you choose to use for your kids, I highly
53:10
suggest something that is visible for them to be able to
53:13
watch those numbers so that they get an idea of what they have
53:18
left to spend. Now, when it comes to budgeting
53:21
for the grown-ups in your group, you're going to have to figure
53:25
out the best way to keep that in check.
53:27
Obviously, I have not figured that out yet because my husband
53:30
and I are both merchandise enablers when it comes to
53:33
finding things that we like at the Disney parks that we want to
53:36
purchase. So, you know, I'm maybe not the
53:40
best person to talk about merchandise budgets, but a
53:46
couple other things with merchandise that you can do
53:49
ahead of time to kind of prep. Bringing and packing.
53:52
Things like bubble wands, glow sticks, things that you know are
53:57
going to catch the eye of your kiddos can help you save the
54:01
hassle of having to do some of that extra purchasing, right?
54:04
You maybe want something that your kiddo can take home with
54:06
them for their souvenir and will like use or play with or wear.
54:11
Well, a bubble wand may or may not be a good option for your
54:15
kiddo, but you can plan ahead of time with those purchases to
54:20
have them ready to go so you don't have to worry about buying
54:22
them in parks. The other thing you can do is
54:25
chat with your kiddo ahead of time, if they're old enough,
54:28
right, to kind of be able to have this conversation about
54:31
what types of merchandise they may see when you go down there.
54:34
So you can talk about like, OK, when we're in the shops, you're
54:37
going to see things from clothing to Lego sets to
54:41
plushies to play sets to pins to, you know, all of those
54:46
categories. And you may be able to, through
54:49
that conversation, get an idea of what type of item or what
54:54
category of item they might want to buy.
54:57
You may have a girl that really wants a new pair of mini ears.
55:00
You may have a boy that really wants a new Disney hat to wear.
55:05
It really just depends on your kiddo and if you think they are
55:08
like old enough to to kind of comprehend that and have that
55:13
conversation, right. So like for example, when we
55:16
talk about those types of things with our kiddos, my kiddos are
55:19
currently almost 10 and almost 8, my oldest massive Lego fan.
55:25
So we know that we've got to get him to Disney Springs to go to
55:30
the Lego store and that that's likely where he's going to spend
55:33
a portion of his money, if not all of his money, depending on
55:36
how much we have budgeted for that particular trip.
55:40
Now, my youngest loves plushies, blankets, soft items.
55:46
So we know that she's going to be keeping her eye out for
55:50
certain plushies, certain characters, certain toys as we
55:53
go throughout the parks. Those are really good things for
55:56
you as a parent to have in mind when it comes to the merch,
56:00
because otherwise it can be really overwhelming.
56:03
The other thing to consider is Disney merchandise, depending on
56:09
what it is, items can sometimes sell out quickly.
56:12
So I hate to be of the mindset of like, when you see it, you
56:16
need to buy it, but when you see it, you kind of need to buy it
56:19
or you need to get some Intel, maybe from a cast member on
56:22
whether or not it's a super popular item if you're unsure.
56:27
Also keep in mind that certain types of merchandise may be
56:30
easier to find at certain parks. So if you've got a kiddo that's
56:35
into Star Wars or Toy Story, that's going to be really easy
56:39
to find at Hollywood studios. If you've got a kiddo that's
56:42
into like animal based movies up The Lion King, those movies
56:47
that's going to be found most easily at like an animal
56:49
Kingdom. Animal Kingdom also just tends
56:52
to get a lot of merch, like really good new merch lines at
56:56
their stores for whatever reason.
56:59
Take that for what it is. Movies that take place in like
57:02
specific countries, you're going to be able to find that kind of
57:04
stuff at Epcot. So like Winnie the Pooh, Alice
57:07
in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, that stuff's going to be at the
57:10
UK pavilion at Epcot, you know, so you can kind of plan
57:13
accordingly. If you know generally speaking
57:16
what they like and what they're going to be looking for, you can
57:18
kind of plan accordingly. Magic Kingdom is kind of a
57:21
catch, all right? You've got the emporium there
57:24
that's got a ton of different merchandise.
57:26
Disney Springs World of Disney at Disney Springs is the biggest
57:29
merch store on property. So when in doubt, if you're
57:31
looking for something specific, head to Disney Springs and go to
57:36
World of Disney. Now, your kids may surprise you
57:39
when you get there. They may pick something out that
57:41
you never anticipated them wanting.
57:44
That's just how it goes sometimes, right?
57:46
But you can do your best to plan accordingly, to try to help
57:49
guide them because it can be overwhelming, especially for
57:52
little kids that are not used to like walking into a store that
57:56
is filled with toys that they want to buy, right?
57:59
So keep that in mind because it can just be extremely
58:03
overwhelming when it comes to that.
58:05
Now you also have the ability to look at merch at different
58:09
resorts. Some of the merch will be resort
58:11
specific. Not every resort always has
58:15
resort specific merchandise though.
58:17
So keep that in mind. But a lot of the places will
58:19
have like resort specific like cups or ears or shirts.
58:23
So it there's just, so there's so much to look for when it
58:26
comes to the merchandise. So do some looking online kind
58:30
of figure out what categories you're looking for, so that way
58:34
you can plan accordingly with that.
58:36
The other note that I will make is if there is something
58:38
specific you're looking for or like a certain size of a shirt
58:42
that you don't see at whatever location you're at, ask the
58:45
merchandising cast members if they have it first of all.
58:49
And if they don't, ask them and see if they can check the
58:53
database. Because typically your
58:56
merchandising cast members are able to look up on their little
58:59
devices or on their computer system where that item is across
59:05
property and what locations are reporting it as in stock or is
59:09
it sold out across property, right?
59:11
So be sure to ask them to see. Now they can't always look stuff
59:16
up and this is usually only route like there are stores at
59:21
Disney Springs that this will not apply for.
59:24
So like World of Disney, you can ask them to look it up.
59:26
Anything that is like Disney owned and operated, you can ask
59:29
them to look it up. Everything in the parks,
59:32
everything in the resorts, you can ask them to look up, but not
59:34
everything at Disney Springs, but like World of Disney, you
59:36
can absolutely, if you don't see a size of something that you're
59:39
looking for, ask the cast member and if they don't find it at
59:42
their location, you can ask and see if they know if it's
59:45
anywhere else across property. Just to give you a general idea.
59:49
It's not a sure thing, but it'll at least give you an idea of
59:53
maybe oh, this is a really hard item to find or Oh yeah, they
59:57
totally have it at all these other locations.
59:59
This location just happens to be out of the large and this shirt
1:00:02
that I want so. Other things to consider with
1:00:05
merchandise and souvenirs, The other thing in this kind of
1:00:08
extras category to consider are any of these like magical extras
1:00:12
that you may be planning for in your budget.
1:00:15
If that's building a Droid or building a lightsaber, if that's
1:00:18
going to the Bibbidi Boppity Boutique, if that is doing a
1:00:22
capture your moment photography session, any of those extras,
1:00:26
all that, the tours and stuff that you can do it like Animal
1:00:28
Kingdom or any of the other spaces across property.
1:00:32
Those are other things to consider when you're budgeting
1:00:34
as well. So if you're really wanting to
1:00:36
splurge on like a special activity or a special event,
1:00:41
fireworks, dessert parties, you know, there are so many options
1:00:44
that Disney offers. So take that into consideration
1:00:48
as well when you're looking at your budget because you want to
1:00:50
make sure you know Bibbidi Boppi Boutique has like 3 or 4 or five
1:00:55
different packages that you can purchase on there.
1:00:58
There are different options and levels for some of the tours
1:01:02
that you can do at Animal Kingdom if you're looking for a
1:01:05
special experience for your group.
1:01:08
Those are all things to consider also when you're doing your
1:01:10
budgeting because you want to make sure that you have planned
1:01:13
out enough money for that on top of the other money that you're
1:01:18
already planning for for the rest of your trip.
1:01:19
So all of those little extras can add up.
1:01:23
I highly suggest with this category padding your budget a
1:01:28
little bit, right? Because you want to make sure
1:01:31
that you're not going to put yourself into credit card debt
1:01:34
by grabbing an extra pair of mini ears for your kiddo, right?
1:01:38
So pad that budget a little bit. Give yourself a little bit of
1:01:41
extra spending room when it comes to merchandise, souvenirs
1:01:45
and extras. Kind of in the same way that you
1:01:48
want to give yourself a little bit more padding in your food
1:01:51
budget for snacks. This is kind of that same way
1:01:54
also as well. Before we wrap here, I do just
1:01:58
want to give you a few ideas for ways to help you save and we've
1:02:03
gone through this in other episodes as well on Mom Street.
1:02:07
So again, hop back into our archives.
1:02:09
We did like a whole ways to save for Disney episode, but a couple
1:02:13
different options that you have. Several locations will have
1:02:16
discounted Disney gift cards that you can purchase.
1:02:19
You can also use discounted or the the ability to buy
1:02:23
discounted gift cards for like gas cards or like I know like
1:02:27
Southwest Airlines will have discounted gift cards through
1:02:32
like Sam's Club. Look for those everywhere you
1:02:34
go. Target has them, Costco has
1:02:38
them, Sam's Club has them, BJ's has them.
1:02:41
Lots of different places. Do some quick Googling online to
1:02:43
see what locations near you or what locations you may have like
1:02:49
a card, like a membership card to that.
1:02:51
You can find those because like Targets are only discounted if
1:02:54
you have a red card. You know Sam's Club, Costco,
1:02:56
BJ's. You have to have a membership
1:02:58
card to have access to that. The other thing to also look at
1:03:01
for that is that you can sometimes book cheaper travel
1:03:04
through like Costco and Sam's Club through their travel
1:03:08
portal. So same thing goes for like
1:03:11
insurance AAA those places as well.
1:03:15
You can also use different savings apps.
1:03:18
I use one called Capital where it will let me set like a
1:03:23
savings goal and then I can set different deposit amounts that I
1:03:27
want to. So like I can have it set like
1:03:29
$50 a week goes into this particular one or every
1:03:34
paycheck. I put 5% into this account for
1:03:38
vacations. Those can be really helpful
1:03:40
because you can kind of just set it, forget it and let it go.
1:03:44
The same thing can be said for if you are someone who already
1:03:46
has like a high interest savings account, you can dedicate a
1:03:50
portion of that to go to your to, to your vacations, right?
1:03:54
And that can just be like a rolling vacation fund that you
1:03:56
have. We've got one of those that we
1:03:59
use for other expenses and things.
1:04:00
So it it can be one of those where you don't certainly have
1:04:04
to open a new account, but maybe you've already got access to a
1:04:07
more higher interest savings account that you can put money
1:04:10
into. Because when you do things like
1:04:12
through the capital app, that doesn't gain interest, the money
1:04:15
just sits there. So you have to be really smart
1:04:18
about what you're doing with that because if that money could
1:04:21
be in an account that is going to gain interest, that's
1:04:24
probably a better off way for you to save, especially if
1:04:27
you're starting early. So like right now, we have
1:04:30
already started to save for our Disneyland trip two years in the
1:04:34
future. I can use our high interest
1:04:36
savings account to help gain a little bit right as we get
1:04:40
closer to the time when we're going to have to start paying
1:04:42
for stuff. So all of those options are
1:04:45
really great. You can also just go the old
1:04:47
school method of cashing out your paycheck, grabbing a 20 or
1:04:52
two 20s and putting it in an envelope for later.
1:04:54
See a lot of people that do like binder methods where they'll put
1:04:58
they'll cash out their paycheck and they'll put cash in
1:04:59
different envelopes for different things.
1:05:01
Again, just be really smart about how you're doing it.
1:05:04
If you're starting to save far in advance, I would suggest some
1:05:08
sort of method that gets you a little bit of interest if you're
1:05:11
able to, because that's going to be quote UN quote free money
1:05:15
towards your vacation. So keep that in mind.
1:05:18
Those are all really good. Just kind of basic overview
1:05:20
things to think about when it comes to saving.
1:05:23
So with all that information, hopefully this is a helpful
1:05:25
overview for giving yourself a realistic Disney budget.
1:05:29
I know budgeting is not super fun, but hopefully this broke it
1:05:32
down in different ways that you can consider and different
1:05:35
things and and pathways that you can think about when it comes to
1:05:39
creating your own Disney budget for your trip.
1:05:42
If you are someone that still needs extra help kind of
1:05:44
figuring out what resort should I go to?
1:05:47
How many park days should I do? Should I do a hopper or not?
1:05:50
This is my family makeup. Send me an e-mail
1:05:52
momstusa@gmail.com. I'm happy to look over and make
1:05:56
suggestions or I'm also happy to connect you to a travel agent.
1:05:59
I've got several friends that are amazing travel agents so I'm
1:06:02
happy to connect you to any one of them.
1:06:04
If you are in need of someone to help you with your our most
1:06:07
magical Disney vacation, we can also continue the conversation
1:06:10
as always on all of our social media accounts at Mom St.
1:06:13
USA. Our Patreon account is a really
1:06:15
great way to connect with us over there as well.
1:06:19
And you know what, Maybe I'll share some some screenshots of
1:06:22
my planning spreadsheets that I use over there so you guys can
1:06:25
take a look at how I kind of break things down for my
1:06:29
particular groups. If that's something you're
1:06:30
interested in, let me know. But for now, that will wrap up
1:06:34
this episode of Mom St. USA coming up next week.
1:06:37
We will be doing a episode that was requested actually by our
1:06:41
community members here, which is another episode on Disney
1:06:45
without a park ticket, fun resort and non park day ideas.
1:06:49
So we're going to be talking about things that you can do
1:06:51
outside of going to the parks, which may help alleviate your
1:06:55
budget. Look at that.
1:06:56
It's a tie and I love it. But so make sure you come back
1:06:59
for that episode. But for now, thank you all so
1:07:01
much for being here. Thank you for your support and I
1:07:03
will see you on the next episode of Mobster USA.