My family tried 5 hacks to save time and money at Disney World. Most of them failed, but we learned tips for next time.

• My family of 5 tried money-saving and time-saving hacks during a travel to Disney World.
• Ordering groceries to our room backfired, and we wish we had conscionable paid for PhotoPass successful advance.
• Not working pinch a recreation planner was a correction — and it would've been free. 

If you've been to Disney World, you cognize those memories travel pinch a precocious value tag. 

Even regulars tin consciousness it, arsenic Disney conscionable raised nan prices of its yearly passes — immoderate by $100. 

Planning a trip is thing but easy, and going isn't cheap, truthful aft reference countless articles connected some time- and money-saving hacks for nan parks, my family thought we'd springiness immoderate a go.

Here's why they mostly weren't worthy nan effort (and what we recovered worked instead).

Ordering groceries to our edifice sounded for illustration a bully idea, but it backfired 

Trick: Order groceries and snacks to your edifice to save money connected nutrient and drinks astatine nan parks. 

Ordering groceries to beryllium delivered wherever you're staying sounded for illustration a bully measurement to prevention money alternatively of buying pricey nutrient astatine nan parks, but it didn't activity for us.

Unfortunately, nan bid we placed pinch a adjacent supermarket sewage lost. By nan clip nan shop located it, we were backmost home.

On our adjacent trip, alternatively of risking our groceries not getting delivered, we took advantage of free checked bags connected Southwest and packed a suitcase filled pinch snacks. This saved america money passim nan time erstwhile our kids sewage hungry. 

We besides brought on reusable h2o bottles and filled them up astatine meal and for free passim Disney astatine filling stations aliases quick-service restaurants. This saved america money connected drinks and kept america hydrated successful nan basking Florida sun. 

We skipped nan PhotoPass to prevention money but regretted it and spent much to bargain it later 

Trick: Save money by taking your ain pictures alternatively of paying $170 aliases much for nan PhotoPass Memory Maker service, Disney's master photography work offered passim nan parks.

Skipping this work seemed for illustration a no-brainer measurement to prevention money since we could conscionable return photos connected our phones.

As it turns out, professionals return measurement amended photos than we ever could. More importantly, nan PhotoPass photographers tin return photos successful places wherever visitors can't, for illustration connected rides. The pros besides made it measurement easier for my full family to get photos together without asking strangers to return them for us. 

Once we realized really awesome PhotoPass pictures were, we bought nan package. It costs america $200 successful nan parks, which was $30 much than if we'd conscionable bought it successful advance.

We besides missed retired connected a batch of photograph opportunities. Had we been connected committee correct away, we would've stopped and taken much pictures. Essentially, we paid much money for less photos, and it was our ain fault.

We flew successful early to person much clip astatine nan parks connected our first day, but it benignant of backfired 

Trick: Get an early formation connected nan first time of your picnic to maximize your clip astatine Disney World parks. 

We sewage a 5 a.m. formation to Orlando, stopped by our edifice to driblet disconnected our bags, and sewage to nan parks earlier noon. I really thought we'd won this 1 ... but it each fell isolated soon earlier dinner.

The kids sewage cranky. They were exhausted, not only from stepping astir nan parkland each time successful nan sun, but besides from being awoken from their slumber astatine 3:30 a.m. to spell to nan airport.

We ended up going backmost to nan edifice overmuch earlier than anticipated, missing each of nan nighttime fun, including nan fireworks. This instrumentality mightiness beryllium amended suited for teens aliases adults. 

Planning nan travel connected my ain didn't prevention maine money aliases time

Trick: Skip nan recreation planner and book a travel connected your ain truthful it's personalized and arsenic affordable arsenic possible. 

I person ever been a do-it-myself type of recreation planner. And not to brag, but I nailed it connected our first travel to Disney. Everything went great, and my family had a fabulous time. But looking back, I'm not judge I did. 

I made awesome memories, but it wasn't a picnic — it was a quest to get nan champion deals, nan correct reservations, the cleanable meals, and more.

But astatine slightest it was cheaper than hiring a recreation planner, right? Nope.

For our adjacent trip, I enlisted a Disney travel planner who did each of nan activity of making reservations and sewage america a batch of nan champion rates available.

This isn't nan lawsuit for each recreation planners, but nan Disney travel planner costs america nothing. Since we stayed connected Disney spot for 3 nights, she earned a committee from Disney — not us. 

For free, she booked our travel and answered questions passim nan full vacation. I was measurement little stressed and much coming pinch my kids because I didn't person to walk clip buried successful my telephone figuring retired nan adjacent plan. 

Using Disney gift cards for souvenirs worked for astir of our kids 

Trick: Give your kids Disney gift cards pinch a group magnitude truthful they tin bargain souvenirs while sticking to a group budget. 

Some recreation blogs propose buying your kids Disney gift cards earlier nan travel truthful they tin use a group magnitude of money to acquisition souvenirs. The gift cards tin beryllium purchased successful beforehand astatine stores for illustration Target and Walmart. 

By giving your kids gift cards, they cognize precisely really overmuch money they person to walk during nan trip, and you easy group a budget. For a minute, I thought this 1 would salary off.

Two of our kids took those gift cards down to almost nothing, but our 3rd conscionable isn't a large shopper, and he near a bunch of money connected nan card.

The cards don't expire, truthful technically, we aren't retired anything, but now we person to fig retired what to do pinch this gift paper backmost home. If this was cash, we could walk it wherever we wanted, but since it's connected a card, we're forced to fig retired really to walk it connected nan Disney website. 

Overall, aft experiencing nan ups and (mostly) downs of these recreation hacks connected our first adventure, we decided to conscionable clasp spending much connected our adjacent sojourn to Disney World.

This communicative was primitively published connected October 2, 2023, and astir precocious updated connected October 30, 2024.