Lots of us dream about heading to Walt Disney World, but not many of us dream about budgeting for it. With many Brits seeing it as a once in a lifetime trip, lots of consideration goes into making it a magical trip. That normally starts with the budget. Knowing what to budget for and what to include in your costs can be tricky to work out, which is why we have this guide. Our Ultimate Guide to Disney World Budgeting covers you from flights to Mickey Ears and the hidden costs Brits might not be aware of. Let’s get budgeting.
Understanding costs: breaking down your Disney World budget
Breaking your budget down into individual costs helps you work out what you need to include to create your perfect trip. It also helps you to decide where you can make savings. Your basic Walt Disney World budget will include:
- ESTA/Visa costs
- flights to Florida
- travel in Florida
- accommodation
- food
- park tickets
- spending money
This guide will look at budgeting options at each step.
ESTA
An ESTA for each member of your group is the first cost to budget for. This is $21 per person, which works out at approximately £17 in 2024. It is the same price for adults and children. You cannot enter the USA without one, so it is an essential cost you must include in your budget.
Flight budgeting
The journey from London, UK to Orlando is 4340 miles, so your flight is a big part of your travel costs. Flying into Orlando MCO, the closest airport to Walt Disney World, is the most common route Brits choose, as the transfer time to Walt Disney is less than an hour. Flying into other Florida airports such as Tampa or Melbourne can be cheaper, but the transfer time increases.
Flight costs fluctuate depending on the day you book your flights, the day you choose to fly, and the season. Tuesday and Wednesday are often considered the cheapest days to both fly and book your flights.
Book flights separately or as part of a package
When booking flights separately you need to take into consideration what is included as part of your flight. The best way to do this is to decide what you need from your flight to work out the true cost. Don’t get caught out thinking that booking flights separately is cheaper, only to find you need to add on hold luggage for everyone as you need two weeks clothes for four.
What do I need from a flight?
Consider what your party needs for your holiday when flying to Orlando by asking the following questions:
- Do you need hold baggage? How much will you pack?
- What class do you want to fly in: economy, business, or first-class? Comfort levels increase with class level.
- Do you have flexibility on your departure date?
Deciding what you need from your flight makes a big difference to the amount you need to budget for flight prices. If you want to travel with just hand luggage, have flexibility in when you can fly, and are comfortable flying in economy, you will be able to book the cheapest flights.
What to budget
From our experience flight prices of around £500 per person in economy return to Orlando from the UK, including hand luggage and a 23kg baggage allowance, is around average. It’s possible to achieve this price, or less, all year round. Flights around all public holidays and during school holidays are usually higher, but that’s not to say that a bargain can’t be found.
Booking as part of a package gives piece of mind and can lead to some discounts on your overall holiday cost. If you have annual passes for theme parks, free accommodation, or you like to do it yourself, booking flights separately can be equally cost effective.
Getting to and from airports
Remember to include the costs of getting to and from the airport at both destinations when budgeting.
In the UK
When you are heading to your UK departure airport on travel day, decide how you will do this. Consider whether you will:
- take the car,
- use public transport,
- ask a friend or family member for a lift.
You can then factor in things like airport parking costs, taxi costs, or people’s availability. Also consider whether you want to have something to eat and drink at the airport, whether you will buy duty free and set yourself a budget for this.
In Florida
When you land in Florida you need to have a plan to get to your resort. These are some options to consider:
- A taxi to you resort
- Private transfer
- Mears – providing transfers to Disney resorts
- Car hire
You will book these after your holiday, but you need to pop them in your budget to work out your total holiday cost. And don’t forget any transfers, will need to be returns. Budgeting for your time in the airport for your return flight is also a smart move when boarding a trans-Atlantic flight. Decide whether you will eat in the airport or outside of the airport, and if you intend to buy things like bottles of water for your flight home. Budgeting for these items helps you keep costs in check.
Adding your airport spending to a budget is a great way to make sure there are no financial surprises on your travel days. There’s nothing worse than a delay and being out of money.
Accommodation Budgets
Budgeting for accommodation when going to Disney World involves the onsite vs offsite debate. Deciding which type of accommodation will meet your holiday needs best will help you to budget.
When you are heading to Walt Disney World, accommodation rarely includes dining options. At most you may get breakfast included, so you will need to budget for food too, but more on that shortly.
Onsite accommodation
Staying in onsite accommodation is the more expensive option on paper. You will need to budget more initially to stay in a Disney resort. The accommodation level you choose at Disney: Value, Moderate, or Deluxe, will impact your budget. Value accommodation is the cheapest option and Deluxe the most expensive. Disney Guest perks, which vary very slightly, are part of the cost of your accommodation.
Disney guest perks to consider when budgeting from the UK
All Disney resorts offer the following guest perks which impact your budgeting:
- Free resort parking for the duration of your stay
- Free transport from your resort to all Disney Theme Parks, open Disney water park, Disney Springs, and other Disney resorts.
- Early theme park entry – this can save you the cost of a Lightning Lane or two, every day. Working out at, at least a £10 per person, per park day saving against Lightning Lane purchase.
- From 2025, free entry to a Disney water park on the day you check-in to your Disney resort.
In Moderate Resorts guests enjoy no additional perks, it is the standard of the accommodation and amenities that differs. In Deluxe Resorts guests have all the parks of Value and Moderate resorts and they get:
- extended evening hours – going to the park to enjoy attractions for an extra hour on select nights when it is closed to all other guests.
The difference in the amount you need to budget for between a Value Resort stay and a Deluxe Resort stay from the UK is high. The cost of Disney perks add-up though. Staying in a Disney resort can offer big savings to your overall budget. Onsite accommodation can work out the cheaper option for UK visitors who do the maths.
Disney Promotions
Disney run promotions if you book your park tickets and Disney resort accommodation together, where you can get free Disney Dining Plans. This reduces the amount you need to budget for food costs while on holiday. Also offering reduced price exclusive UK park tickets known as Magic Tickets, booking with Disney direct can help your budget.
For example, staying in a Value resort with the free dining offer for dates in 2025 will include one meal and drink per day. Saving around £300 per person on food over a two-week holiday is a budget consideration you need to make.
Offsite accommodation
Offsite accommodation is usually cheaper at first glance. The accommodation style you can choose falls into three categories:
- Room only: you get a bed and en-suite bathroom. Motel/Hotel style. Smallest option.
- Suites: Bedroom and an ensuite bathroom with the additional amenities of a small kitchenette area where you will have a fridge, microwave, and some means of cooking. May have lounge area. Mid-size option.
- Villas: A whole house, sometimes with a pool. Largest option.
Offering better value for money on paper, you can find some excellent Walt Disney World deals staying offsite. There are, however, some hidden costs which Brits can overlook when pricing up their holiday. Keep an eye out for the following when budgeting:
- Daily resort fees that are payable upon arrival for use of hotel amenities. Averaging around $25 (£20) per day for room only and suite accommodation.
- Daily car parking charges if you have a hire car.
- The cost of getting to Disney Parks. Some resorts offer shuttle buses to the parks, but not all are complementary; you may need to pay a small fee to use the amenity.
Offsite accommodation often has more amenities, which means you have more money saving options for food available to you during your holiday. If you have cooking facilities you can cook meals and if you have a fridge freezer, you can purchase chilled snacks.
Villas
At the higher end of the offsite accommodation budgeting options, villas offer UK guests a lot of flexibility and a real escape from the hustle and bustle of the parks. With full kitchen facilities, cooking your own meals and making park snacks can save a lot of money.
The amenities available, such as washing machines and driers, also mean that travelling with just hand luggage is easy. Villas do not have car parking charges and resort fees are absorbed into the cost of the villa, so you have no surprise costs upon arrival.
Villas in Florida are also quite large. If you are planning a multi-generational trip, including grandparents for example, villas can work out to be very budget friendly as you can split the cost of a villa. If you purchase combined park tickets, villas also provide a great base.
Budgeting for Park tickets
Park ticket prices vary depending on whether you book in the UK before you go or pay on the gate at the Disney Parks once you arrive. Gate prices are more expensive in comparison with the ticket options available to UK guests who buy tickets before they depart, so we always recommend budgeting to buy here in the UK. It will save you money.
Budget to buy in the UK
Buying tickets before you depart from UK vendors will be more budget friendly. Tickets can be bought direct through Disney and other travel companies affiliated with Disney, all of whom offer a 7- or 14-day Magic Ticket. The Magic Ticket is the UK exclusive ticket. If you intend on splitting your time between Disney Parks and other theme parks, like Universal, Attraction Tickets offer packages with combined entry ticket prices.
Magic tickets
The UK specific Disney Parks ticket. This ticket is extremely budget friendly if you intend on mainly spending your time in Disney, offering guests lots of exclusive experience perks. 14-day Magic Tickets are the most common UK visitor ticket purchase, and they offer the following perks:
- 14 park days out of an 18-day period
- Access to the 4 Disney theme parks and the open Disney water park at the time of visit
- Park hopping is included in UK tickets, so you can visit more than one park per day.
- Free mini golf experience before 4pm daily
The UK Magic Tickets cost £519 during low season and £559 per person during peak season in 2024. The current offer direct through Disney offers 7 days for the price of 14, the tickets are the best budget option even if you want a few days at Disney World. With prices coming in at just under £40 a day in peak season if you spend 14 days in Disney Parks.
Combination tickets
These tickets are available through vendors such as attractiontickets.com, who we recommend. They offer combination prices for Universal and Disney tickets for example, but you can also add on other tickets to Florida attractions such as the Kennedy Space Centre. Combining the tickets can lead to some significant savings and they do have seasonal offers which are worth keeping an eye out for. Free Magic Bands, discounts on Black Friday, and other offers have led to some great savings on the cost of park tickets.
Budget to buy in the US
US park tickets, which UK visitors can buy when visiting, have additional budgeting considerations. It is cheaper to buy before you fly in our experience. Buying tickets on the gate in the US, Disney Park tickets are sold according to three criteria:
- By theme park.
- By number of days.
- With or without park hopper, (which allows you to visit more than one park in a day).
The price varies daily, seasonally, and according to your ticket requirements. If you want to have park hopper on your ticket it will cost more.
A 4-day park hopper ticket on the gate in May cost $684 (£533). Booking a 14-day magic ticket in the UK cost £529 and gave access to the water park which that ticket did not. If you plan to park hop and visit more than three days, it is more cost effective to buy your park tickets in the UK.
Special event tickets
Disney hosts special ticket events throughout the year, but arguably the two most popular are Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. You need to budget for these events on top of budgeting for your regular park tickets. Each one costs up to £200 per person for an evening’s entry to the park, including unique experiences and offerings. If you are visiting between August and December 24th you will likely be able to book one of these parties. We recommend booking early from the UK direct with Disney or through Attraction Tickets, as events sell out fast. Tickets are released about three months in advance.
Annual Pass
Annual Passes can be purchased by UK guests from Disney directly and from Disney Guest Services once you arrive in Walt Disney World. UK guests can only purchase the highest-level Annual Pass, the IncrediPass. The cost of this is $1,499 per person, plus tax, (working out at £1,250) and is only really a consideration for those people lucky enough to be visiting Walt Disney World two or more times in a year. Offering benefits which include free standard parking and 10% discount on merchandise in the parks, the pass provides regular UK visitors with money saving benefits.
Lightning Lane System
The system offers guests the opportunity to purchase queue passes once they arrive in the US if they are UK guests. The cost is variable, depending on park and day. Guests can choose to purchase a multipass for use in one park per day or a single lightning lane for a chosen ride. The extra cost per guest per day, is around $25 for Magic Kingdom Multipasses and $15 – $20 dollars for single lightning lanes for chosen rides. Include Lightning Lane purchases in your budget in case you need it.
Food and dining costs
The cost of your holiday does not include food and dining as standard when visiting Walt Disney World, unless you choose to add a Disney Dining Plan. Food and dining costs vary according to the experience you wish to have, choosing onsite or offsite venues for dining will impact your budget.
Disney Dining Plan
If you can get free Disney dining with your Disney Resort booking you will make savings. Free Disney Dining Plans include at least one meal and one drink onsite at Disney every day for the duration of your stay. If the free dining promotion is not available, you can choose to purchase a Disney Dining on top of your holiday cost. This will be a big cost to budget for. However, it does reduce worries about budgeting for food while you are on holiday.
The question of whether a Disney Dining Plan is value for money for UK guests is answered here. If you are staying onsite and intend to be exclusively based in Disney Resorts, having a dining plan will reduce your stress. Having a strategy to maximise the plan if you choose to purchase one is necessary. You will need to plan for table-service meals in advance to dine in the restaurants you want. For some Brits a dining plan will be more budget friendly. For others paying as you go, even when staying onsite, will reduce the amount you need to budget for.
Food budget inside the parks
Food options inside the Disney parks are more expensive than outside. Choice is wide, but in comparison to the vast array of food available beyond the Disney resort, Disney dining is restrictive and not well tailored for all. The average quick service meal costs $15 dollars or less, about £12 a meal, excluding a drink. Budgeting around £50 or $63 per day per person to eat in the Disney parks is realistic. This would get you 2 quick service meals with a non-alcoholic drink and a snack or two. If you want a character table-service meal, you will need to budget at around $70 (£55) per adult for that experience, and you’ll need extra to leave a tip.
Character dining experiences vary in price, with breakfast experiences costing less than dinner experiences. We recommend a late breakfast character dining experience to save some pennies when budgeting for food. Our personal favourites are Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian or breakfast at Toppolino’s, the character interactions are brilliant, and we really like the dining experience.
Food budget outside the parks
You can get away with budgeting less to eat outside the parks. If you have a villa and want to cook that will save money. Expect to find that shopping costs more than in the UK though. Walmart is our equivalent of Asda while Publix is more like Waitrose.
Eating out
Dining off site is cheaper, and there are a lot of options outside of the Disney Parks. Quick service from Wendy’s can be as little as $7 (£5) per person. While a large one-topping Dominos pizza can be picked up for less than £10.
Sit down dining is comparable to the cost in the UK, but you need to add tax and tips to your bill. This will increase the price on the menu, which makes dining more expensive in some places. You can check out menus and prices before you visit to help you budget food costs accurately if traveling with a tight budget.
Self-catering
Choosing to self-cater in Orlando is a great way to save money. Taking snacks to the park with you will help with reduce costs, although this can be difficult to do in high summer temperatures. You’ll need a small cooler bag to prevent food from going horrible. In the cooler winter months, taking snacks in park bags is much easier.
Self-catering in a villa is most convenient if you want to cook during your holiday as you have access to a full kitchen. Not many people will want to self-cater on park days. After walking 20,000 steps the thought of cooking isn’t appealing, but the kitchen amenities in both villas and suites make taking take-out food home easier.
Food shopping in the US
Food shopping in the US is an experience, with a bag of cereal the size of a bag of dog food here in the UK. A trip to Walmart is an outing we recommend. Food is more expensive depending on what you choose to buy. Don’t believe the hype that fresh food is extortion. Fruit is often organic and sold in a larger amount. Large salads in Publix are about a third of the cost of a Disney salad and there is no real UK equivalent for a Publix salad.
Food is generally sold in larger quantities than in the UK. If you are heading to the supermarket, visiting early in your holiday will save you the most money. Getting all your park snacks in one trip will help your budget. If you have a freezer, you can pick up Mickey Sandwiches in boxes of 8 for less than a price of one in the parks. The only downside is that you don’t get that Instagrammable park picture with a Mickey Sandwich.
Budgeting food
A food budget of £100 per adult and £50 per child per day for all meals will give you a reasonable budget for your holiday. We advise character dining is booked at the 60-days before travel mark. If you are planning a couple of Disney character dining experiences during your stay, budgeting this amount should include the experiences. We recommend adding more to your budget if you intend to drink more than one alcoholic drink per day.
Transportation in Florida
Getting around Disney is easy and budget friendly, travel to and from the airport is a one time cost. If you are staying offsite or want to explore Florida outside of the Disney bubble your transportation budget will increase. Car hire, car parking, and fuel costs will need to be in your budget.
Budgeting for car hire
Hiring a car provides flexible travel options for getting around Disney and Orlando. The average cost of an SUV for 2 weeks is around £1000. Fuel costs in the US are considerably cheaper than in the UK. A full tank for an SUV costing around $45 (£40). If you only want to do Disney theme parks during your holiday and you are staying in Disney accommodation, car hire may not be budget friendly or needed.
If you can avoid car hire, you will save money. However, if you want to see more of Florida hiring a car is the budget friendly way to do this. A few advantages of hiring a car include:
- flexibility to head to shops outside of the Disney bubble,
- means to visit other attractions,
- ability to eat wherever you like.
You will need to add fuel and car parking costs into your spending budget for holiday, as well as the cost of the hire car in your budget before you travel.
Car Parking at Disney
If you hire and car and you are a Disney resort guest, car parking at resort and at the theme parks is FREE.
If you are staying offsite, car parking will cost you $30 a day for standard parking. This is about £23 a day. You only pay once, and you can move your car during the day if you park hop.
Disney also offer Preferred parking, which is parking closer to the entrance of the park for $50 a day. This is about £39 per day.
You will need to add car parking costs to your budget if you are staying offsite. This can run away with quite a lot of cash so consider this cost when you are making accommodation choices. The more days you are at Disney theme parks, the higher the parking cost.
Airport Transfers to Disney
Airport transfers with Mears Connect cost less than £30 per person return to Disney resort hotels from MCO airport. (Prices start at $16 each way). This service is efficient and works well for anyone not hiring a car, transport is by coach.
You can choose other options for transfers to resorts, such as an Uber. This will cost around $50 without a tip, £40, each way from MCO. Or you can look into private transfers, the cost of which will be higher and variable.
Travel around Disney parks
Transport around Disney is free using the Walt Disney Transportation service. All resort and theme park guests at Disney can make use of free transportation to explore resorts and park hop. Free Disney transportation is varied and you can enjoy rides on:
- buses,
- boat,
- the sky liner,
- monorail.
Offsite travel costs to Disney
Some offsite hotels offer complimentary transport to the parks, cutting your Disney travel budget significantly. Some accommodations charge a small fee for transport to the park. Offsite options, such as villas, will not include any free options to get the parks. You will need a car or to consider using a taxi, which may cost more than the daily parking charge return. If you will have travel costs to the theme parks, include this in your budget.
Travelling offsite without car hire
Disney do not make it easy to leave the Disney bubble without a car. Transportation around the huge resort is free, but they offer no transportation to take you offsite. If you want to leave you will need to get an Uber. This cost is around $25 (£20) return to the nearest supermarket including a tip.
You can book excursions through vendors like attractiontickets.com who offer transport as part of some ticket prices. The Kennedy Space Centre is one example. You need to work out how often you want to leave the resort and how many of you there are. Then see if the car hire cost will work out less.
Spending money: souvenirs and merchandise
No budget would be complete without spending money. When you are heading to Disney, you are going to want souvenirs and merchandise. Remember, you need to add tax to the price of all purchases, including souvenirs, in Florida. We like buying Minnie Ears, amongst many other things. Disney fans – be prepared to want everything. Setting a personal and realistic budget is the way to navigate this expense.
How much spending money should I take?
If you budget for food and transport separately, you can set aside an amount for souvenirs and merchandise. If you don’t, add your food, transport, and souvenir spend together to work out your ‘spends’ budget.
A budget for souvenirs is personal, but around £200 per person will be enough to buy a couple of Disney souvenirs.
Buying Disney merchandise in the parks
Merchandise and souvenirs on the Disney resort have a higher price tag than offsite souvenirs. Here are a few popular purchase examples to help you with your budget:
- Minnie Ears $34.99 = $37.26 (with tax) = £29.30
- Spirit Jersey $69.99 = $74.53 (with tax) = £58.60
- Mid-size cuddly toy $18.99 = $20.22 (with tax) = £15.90
- Cap $19.99 = $21.28 (with tax) = £16.75
- Mug $18.99 = $20.22 (with tax) = £15.90
The parks also offer exclusive park only merchandise and we have always found the products to be good quality. Perhaps better quality than the cheaper offsite and licensed Disney products.
Buying offsite
Buying Licensed Disney products offsite is a cheaper option when purchasing souvenirs. Shops such as Walmart have many options costing a fraction of the cost of purchasing products at Disney. Your purchase will not be the same product as you find in the parks though. If you have a car, head to the Character Warehouse Outlet stores. Here you can pick up Disney Parks Merchandise cheaply, although it may not be current stock.
Reducing your souvenir budget
There are hacks that you can implement to bring magic to your experience and reduce the cost of souvenirs. Purchasing items from home before you travel and giving them as surprises is one way to do this. We discuss this and more souvenir budgeting tips in 10 ways to save money on your Disney souvenirs.
Achieve your budgeting goals faster
Budgeting for all this for one holiday can feel daunting and unachievable. That’s why we recommend having two budgets for one trip. A before booking budget and an after booking budget. Running two budgets alongside each other is easy, especially now you know exactly what you need to include in both.
Achieving your Disney Budgeting Goals Quicker is our take on creating a budgeting strategy to make you feel good. There’s nothing worse than trying to reach goals that feel impossible to achieve. Why not have a read and see how good it feels to set yourself small and achievable budgeting goals.
Conclusion
There you have it, the Ultimate Guide to Budgeting for Disney from the UK. Don’t forget to check out our other guides for more budgeting information. With further tips and advice to make your budget work for you, we’ve got you covered. See you at Disney!
