Last fall my family was able to take a trip to Disney with my parents (who graciously financed the operation (thank you)) and my sister’s family. There were 10 of us total (6 adults and 4 kids), and we all stayed on-site at the Polynesian for eight days. We had dining plans and park-hopper tickets. We lived it up while we were there and found ways for my parents (thank you) to save thousands of dollars with points and miles, but they still spent thousands (thank you).
However, this post is not about that experience. This is about how to do it as cheap as possible! While you won’t be onsite at a luxury Disney hotel, you’ll be near the grounds with transportation to the parks. You won’t have a dining plan, but you will have a kitchen in your room and free breakfast. You also might be packing everything you can into a carry-on and meeting some new friends on the plane, but hey, you’re going to Disney World for cheap!
Flights
What you do here will largely depend on what flights are available from your local airport. If you have the option of non-stop flights with Frontier, it is really hard to beat their prices. Allegiant, Spirit, Sun Country and Southwest are other lower-cost options.
Right now, Frontier Airlines has a great deal for family travel, “Kids Fly Free”. As long as one adult is a member of their “Discount Den”, one child can fly free for each paid adult on flights on select days. The “Discount Den” also gives discounts on paid fares. I found tickets from several airports for as low as $34 to Orlando that also qualified for “Kids Fly Free”. The “Discount Den” does cost $59.99/year, but using it even once will more than cover the cost.
If we assume $49 each way, with two free kids tickets, plus the $60 for the “Discount Den”, your total for four tickets to Orlando would be $256! Yes, Frontier makes you pay for everything, but with just a little planning you can avoid most extra charges. In sunny and warm Orlando, you may be able to get by with just the personal item for five days. But if you can’t make that work, then pay to check one bag and load that sucker up and it’s $60 round-trip. You can choose to pay for seats (starting at $6 each) or play the lottery and see what you get. Since this is “Disney World on the Cheap”, we are going with no checked luggage and no seat assignments.
accommodations
Since this is the cheap plan, we aren’t staying on property, but that doesn’t mean you are far from the magic of Disney. There are a number of points hotels at various tier levels near the grounds. I’m going to focus on budget options, as that will give you the most bang for your buck. These are still very nice hotels with quite a few amenities. At each of the hotels I suggest, you’ll find free breakfast, free transportation to the parks and other great amenities.
hilton brand hotels
My top two choices both fall under the Hilton brand portfolio and both offer separate sleeping areas with 1-bedroom suites. You can get a 1-bedroom suite with either a king bed or two queens and either set-up you choose you will also have a queen pull-out in the living area.
The Homewood Suites by Hilton Lake Buena Vista-Orlando is my first recommendation. Like the other hotels listed below it also includes a free shuttle to a Disney park and free breakfast. In addition, it includes a full fridge, a two burner stove-top, microwave and a dishwasher. The current standard rate is 40,000 points/night. You can also get a fifth night free making a five night stay cost 160,000 points.
The Embassy Suites by Hilton Lake Buena Vista-Orlando has the same basic lay-out as the Homewood Suites, but doesn’t have a full kitchenette (just a microwave and mini-fridge). It does, however, have a nicer pool and an evening reception with snacks and drinks. It comes at the same 40,000 points/night and also has a fifth night free option for 160,000 points for five nights.
Hilton points are fairly easy to acquire. Right now with a referral you can get 100,000 points with $1,000 spend in three months on their American Express no annual fee Hilton Honors card (use this link, as our offer is better than the public offer). Each partner can apply, and then pool their points. This would give you over 200,000 points with no fee, enough for six nights. There are other two other credit card options, the Hilton Ascend and the Hilton Aspire (again these are our links, but are better than the public offers). These two cards would earn more points (150,000 after spend requirements), but since they carry an annual fee that isn’t waived, I’m going to disqualify them from my Disney World on the Cheap protocol.
Marriott Bonvoy properties
The second option isn’t quite as cheap for hotels, but can be useful. The Marriott Bonvoy group has several hotels in the Disney area. I was able to locate three that meet my free shuttle and free breakfast requirements. These hotels can be done with one credit card application, but that card does come with an annual fee in the first year.
The Firfield Inn and Suites Orlando-Lake Buena Vista, The Springhill Suites Orlando-Lake Buena Vista at Marriott Village and the Fairfield Inn and Suites Marriott Village are all fairly similar. They all have free breakfast and a free shuttle. They all will also cost 25,000 points/night with a fifth-night free for 100,000 points total. The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card comes with 100,000 points after spending $5,000 in 3 months. The card carries a $95 annual fee which, unfortunately, is not waived the first year.
To get the points for five nights it will take an extra $3,000 in spend and $95 in annual fees vs. going the Hilton route, but you’ll have one less credit card application. For people who are concerned about the number of accounts on their credit report, this could be important.
Park tickets
This is the hardest area to save money for Disney. There are techniques to save 5-10% by buying discounted gift cards, but since are going for cheap here, 5-10% won’t cut it. So instead, we are going to use a “travel eraser” credit card and a discount ticket broker.
My favorite Disney discount ticket broker is Undercover Tourist. They offer slight discounts over purchasing directly from Disney, about $100 in our example. The real benefit of buying them from these brokers is that they will code as a travel agent with your credit card companies, which allows us to use purchase erasing cards to offset the price!
Travel eraser cards allow you to redeem points at a fixed rate for certain purchases. They are nice because you can use them on expensive travel items (like Disney park tickets) that you can’t otherwise discount. Unlike miles with specific airlines or hotel groups, though, you can’t get out-sized value. They are always worth a fixed value (usually 1¢ each).
The current best offer for a travel eraser credit card is the Barclay Arrival Plus. You will earn 70,000 miles after spending $5,000 in three months, and best of all, the annual fee is waived for the first year. The card also earns 2 points per dollar spent and each point is worth 1¢. After meeting the spend you’ll have 80,000 points, worth $800. In this example, each adult will apply for the card therefore giving them $800 in value each.
Doing separate transactions, each parent will purchase one adult and one child five day admission, which will total $865.19. You’ll be able to erase at least $800 for both of these. This brings your total out of pocket cost of four park tickets for five days down to $130.38!
Application guidelines
I’ve recommended four total credit cards for this family’s Disney Trip. I would get your hotel points first, so that you can nail down your dates based on availability. Depending on your spending habits you can apply for both American Express Hilton credit cards at the same time. The sooner you meet your spend, the sooner you can book your hotels and flights. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the $2,000 in required credit card spend shouldn’t take too long for most families of four. You’ll have your points rather quickly and can move on to booking rooms and flights.
Once you know your dates for your trip you can work on the two Barclay Arrival Plus cards. These will probably take a little longer to complete the $5,000 in spend. I wouldn’t apply for the second until you’ve completed the first card. The best part is that you don’t need to have the points in your account when you make the purchase you want to erase. After you’ve made your park ticket purchase you have 120 days to redeem your points. This means you can buy your park tickets even before you’ve earned your sign-up bonus. Then once your bonus posts, you’ll go back and erase the charge.
Your total spend for the four credit cards will be $12,000, but by spacing out the credit card applications this should not be a big problem. To meet high minimum spend requirements in the past, my family has pre-paid bills like utilities, phone, cable or internet. As long as you are able to pay off your credit card each month this can be a great way to get your points quickly.
total costs
By following this plan. the family will be able to get five or six nights in a hotel with a shuttle to the parks and free breakfast (completely free!), four round-trip air tickets (about $256) and five nights of Disney World park tickets ($130.38) for under $400! If you’d like help building your own Disney World trip or any other family vacation, please contact us at Peakawardbooking so we can get you on your way for cheap!
