Hey Sidney,
Welcome to planDisney! Thanks so much for bringing us this great question about your Walt Disney World vacation. Traveling with a family of 4 can definitely feel like a budget buster, but there are so many great ways to get the most value out of your vacation. My family and I usually travel with 5 or more, so I know what it’s like to want to ensure that every dollar counts. One of the biggest ways I measure value on a Disney vacation is how we spend our time. I’m happy to share some of my tips for ensuring that we spend our time wisely.
The first thing I want you to consider is building a resort day into your vacation. Purchase your vacation package with a resort day in mind wherever you think you’ll need it. We usually plant one right in the middle of our vacation. This gives the elders who visit with us a chance to rest and even lets tiny tired feet reset themselves after a few long park days. It also allows us to treat the resort hotel like a destination in and of itself rather than just a place to sleep. We enjoy everything our Disney resort hotel has to offer, like having fun at the pool, partaking in our resort’s daily activities, and taking photos with any Disney characters that swing by to visit. You can view your resort’s daily activities prior to your arrival on the Disney World website. Simply search for your resort, click
Recreation, then click on the
Activities Schedule link to see everything being offered during your stay. I linked an example at Disney’s Beach Club Resort, but you should be able to see the schedule for most resorts by following these steps.
After you plan your resort day, consider purchasing
Lightning Lane passes for your trip on the day they are released. Guests staying at Disney resort hotels can purchase Lightning Lane passes as early as 7 days prior to their arrival day. With Lightning Lane Multi Pass, guests can preselect up to 3 attractions per park day at the time of purchase. You will want to be logged in right when the system launches at 7 a.m. for this option so that you have the best chance at snagging great preselects. Lightning Lane passes will save you some time in the standby queue for the most popular attractions and allow you to focus on other park experiences instead. We love spending that time enjoying snacks or entertainment.
My last tip is to consider staying at a
Disney Value Resort during your vacation. Value resorts offer plenty of Disney magic at a lower price per night than the resort hotels you’ll find in the Moderate and Deluxe categories. You’ll still enjoy many of the benefits of staying on property while experiencing the most immersive theming during your stay. That sounds like a smart value to me! Resorts that I favor in this category are
Pop Century and
Art of Animation due to their beautiful theming and proximity to the
Disney Skyliner.
I hope this information is helpful, Sidney.
Let me know if I can help with any other planning questions you have. We’ll see ya real soon!
Sakinah