There’s no getting around the fact that a holiday to Walt Disney World isn’t cheap. You may find cheap flights, get a good package deal or discover at good hotel rate, but once you add on extras such as Theme Park tickets or car hire, the cost of your holiday starts to add up. While it’s not cheap, a Disney holiday is very good value for money, and sometimes you can pick up some fantastic deals and offers to bring the overall cost of your holiday down. However, if you are considering a Walt Disney World holiday and feel it is stretching your budget a little, here are a few things you can do to save for your trip
Loose Change
A favourite of ours, once our holiday is booked we start throwing all of our loose change into our “holiday moneybox”. A couple of weeks before we go, I empty all the loose change and exchange it for dollars. While it doesn’t cover all our spending money, we have in past collected around $100, which is a nice little extra amount to take with us! This past trip, we’ve even had a moneybox for our boys to put pocket money etc..into for them to contribute to their spending money. Again, it’s not a huge saver, but every little bit helps.
Pay-As-You-Go
Many travel agencies will let you pay off chunks of your holiday as and when you have the cash. This is a great option for those who maybe struggle to save, as it means you can pay portions of your holiday when you get paid each month for example, as opposed to keeping a larger sum of cash over for when your final holiday payment is due. We used this method when paying for our Disney Honeymoon. We paid portions of our holiday off each month, and each time we found a little extra cash, we paid that off too; this meant we had our holiday paid in full a lot earlier than anticipated, which in turn gave us more time to save some extra spending money!
Exchange Currency
Once you’re holiday is paid off, or you know its covered, the next thing you need to save for is your spending money. Whilst how much you decide to take with you is entirely personal, a handy tip to easily get your spending money gathered is to change smaller amounts of cash into dollars as and when you have the money. Just like paying bits off your holiday, this can be an easier way for non-savers, or for anyone looking for a way to gather extra spending money without feeling pressured. Even changing £5 a week whilst doing your shopping can add up, particularly if you have booked more than a year in advance!
Plan well in advance
Like everything, the longer you have to save, the more cash you’ll have to spend. If you’ve priced a Disney holiday for this year but have found it out-of-budget, consider having a look at next years early booking deals and make a commitment to save for your dream holiday a little longer. The extra year will give you more time to plan and save, and with so many early booking offers (including Free Dining), you may even get a holiday package that’s better value for money. If you’re savvy at saving, you may even consider saving for a year and using the cash you have sitting to bag a great last minute deal!
Ask for Cash
Another favourite of us to help boost our spending money! If anyone asks myself or my husband what we’d like for our birthday/christmas/anniversary, we tend say we’d love some dollars. Family who are asking for ideas tend to be pleased at the ability to get us something useful that helps us enjoy our holidays. Every little helps, and a few extra dollars received as gifts is a little less you’ll have to budget for yourself!
Regardless of how you choose to save or budget to pay for the cost of your Walt Disney World holiday, it is important to remember to not leave yourself too financially stretched. You won’t enjoy your time away if you are feeling the financial pressure of your holiday. The best advice is to do a little research so you know roughly how much your trip will cost and then to give yourself plenty of time to save so you can fully enjoy a Dream Disney holiday
