Hello Preslie and welcome to planDisney!
September is my favorite time of the year to visit Walt Disney World! You will be arriving for your magical adventure on my wedding anniversary! Over three decades ago my wife and I were married in a hot air balloon in Orlando and spent our wedding day at the Magic Kingdom! Now we spend most of our wedding anniversary weeks with Mickey and Minnie at our favorite place in the world!
Preslie, to answer your question about preparing a budget for a five-day trip to Walt Disney World, it really depends on your personal situation and how much you can afford at the time. I know this is a generic answer, but a trip to Walt Disney World really does depend on your current situation. When my wife and I had young children, our budget was small and we booked the value resorts and crunched every penny. When we became empty nesters, we seemed to have a little bit more flexibility in our travel budget, so we upgraded to become Disney Vacation Club members! Whether it was value resorts or DVC resorts, we have always had a great time and made amazing memories!
A few things I would suggest as you gear up for your September adventure, look for Disney Gift Cards to use during your trip. I always look for sales and grab as many Gift Cards as I can afford at the time of the sale. I will always take a couple of physical gift cards on my trip to use as payment at most every meal and for souvenirs. You can combine multiple smaller Disney Gift Cards into one larger Gift Card, up to $1,000, at
disneygiftcard.com. On the web site just make sure you name your card and do the same with the physical card by using a sharpie to identify it so you know which card you are taking with you on your trip!
Another thing that saves our family money once we get to our resort is we always purchase the Disney Rapid Fill Refillable Mugs. You can enjoy refills of soft drinks, coffee, or tea at any resort's self-service beverage location for the length of your vacation! For our family, this pays off in about one day! Another tip, since there are usually four different colors of mugs, if you have more than four people in your family and purchase five mugs or more, take a sharpie with you to initial the tops of the mugs so you know who's mug it is. There’s nothing worse than getting a mouthful of diet soda when you are expecting coffee!
There are so many free things to do at Walt Disney World! Take the Walt Disney World Monorail on a resort hop to my favorite resorts,
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort,
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, and
Disney's Contemporary Resort! You can spend a whole day exploring the lobby areas and grounds of these spectacular long time Disney favorites! End your night at the Polynesian beach area watching the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom, with a Dole Whip in hand, of course!
Preslie, at least for my family, it's not about the money we spend, it's about the memories we make, and you are going to make some lifelong memories on your own budget! One thing to make sure you have budgeted for is a Mickey Bar or two! Have a great time!
Kurt