So, I have been getting a lot of questions lately about how I save money on a trip to Disney. So here are some of my best “practices”. If you have specific questions on your trip, I’m not a travel agent, but always willing to talk Disney and give my opinion if I can! We plan on taking M as much as we can. Not always for a full week, so that is a big money saver. I’m okay with going down there for a long weekend. Don’t get me wrong, it’s sad to leave on a shorter trip but if it gets us there more often, I’m good with it.

“C”lue- My biggest one is to go off peak season and the Fall is our favorite time. They usually do some dates with the “free dining plan”, and that is another money saver. If you are going to be down there for some of the days that qualify, you can split your trip up and get the free dining for part of it. Their Halloween event at the Magic Kingdom is phenomenal and it’s Food and Wine festival at Epcot. I know that the older kiddos are in school, and my mom (a retired teacher) will kill me for this, but take them out of school if you can.

“L”ink- The Chase Disney card. This website gives you both options. The pay one will sometimes “pay” for itself within a few months, but you need to look at both options to see which one will work better for you and your family. You can rack up “Disney Dollars” and those can be used to pay for your trip and/or things onsite. The one with an annual fee you can use towards flights as well.

“T”hought- It’s always a debate for us on whether to stay at the Value resorts and upgrade to the dining plan with one sit down meal and one quick service meal (YES! You can do that and just pay the difference!) or to just stay at a Moderate Resort and get the dining plan we want. My best advice on this one? Ask the people at 1-407-W-Disney or your favorite travel agent. They will price out both plans for you. I never try to do it myself on the web. They can do it quicker and somehow always get me better pricing than I see anyway.

Hope this helps and honestly, I’m always open for a Disney talk if anyone has other suggestions or questions!