9 Disney Vacation Hacks to Save Time & Money

Are you planning a Disney vacation with your family in the future? Come get my favourite tips and tricks from our own Disney World holiday that saved us lots of time and money!

Last month, we were able to take a dream vacation with our kids to Disney World. We had saved up money and travel points for several  years for the occasion, and it was absolutely surreal and incredible to finally be able to go! I know traveling with children can be an adventure, so I kept my expectations for the trip low. I was pleasantly surprised with how smoothly our trip went, and how well our children did considering it was the first time they had traveled on a plane or been this long away from home!

Today, I wanted to answer some questions you asked me on social media about our Disney World trip, plus share with you my 9 favourite Disney vacation hacks that saved us lots of time and money.

Disney World Vacation FAQs

How old are your kids, and would you recommend taking them at that age?

My girls are 4, 7 and 10 and I felt like they were the perfect age to enjoy Disney World. My 4 year old was 41″ inches tall, and most of the rides have a minimum height of 40″. She could almost go on everything! I personally wouldn’t take a child shorter than 40″ to Disney World, but I do hear of families taking their babies and toddlers and enjoying that experience, too.

Where did you stay?

We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Orange Lake. It’s a huge, beautiful resort only a few minutes’ drive from Disney. We loved all the amenities, the pool, the full kitchen in our villa and the cost (we paid for it fully with Airmiles – 15 nights). The only thing I didn’t like about it was the high pressure sales for their timeshare.

What are the “must-see” places?

That’s a tough one, because pretty much everything at Disney World is magical! Some of our favourites were the new Pandora land at Animal Kingdom, Cinderella’s Castle (of course), and the new Toy Story land at Hollywood Studios.

Did you splurge on anything?

We pre-booked 3 different character dining experiences in the parks which were very pricey, but we ate in our hotel most of the time and brought lots of snacks in a backpack to the park, so it sort of evened out. The character dining was incredible – my girls loved meeting so many characters and the food was delicious! We also purchased authentic Mickey ears at the park for our main souvenirs.

What was your favourite ride?

There are so many good ones! Mine is probably Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, my two older daughters loved Rockin’ Rollercoaster in Hollywood Studios, my youngest enjoyed Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom, and I think my hubby liked Rockin’ Rolleroaster the best, too.

How did you save money?

We ate at our hotel a lot, we brought snacks into the park, we used our Airmiles and Aeroplan Miles for our flights and hotel, and we bought few souvenirs at the park.

Is it enjoyable for adults?

It sure is! I didn’t want to leave! There are so many incredible details and sights to enjoy in all of the parks, and the weather was gorgeous. Disney Springs was fun to catch a movie and a bit of shopping, and lots of the rides were just as thrilling for me as they were for the kids. I think Epcot would be especially enjoyable to for adults to take their time in and enjoy all of the cultural foods and experiences.

Where did you purchase your passes?

We purchased them straight off the Disney World website and got the Canadian Resident deal.

How did you schedule your days to keep everyone happy and rested?

We stayed a whole 14 days so that we could take our time at the parks and schedule in some non-park rest days. Our family spent at least 2 days at each park, but we’d only stay at each park about 5 hours at a time so that we could rest before and after. We brought lots of snacks and water, and we took breaks to sit and rest when needed.

Did you rent a car?

Yes! It gave our family a lot of flexibility and saved us a lot of time.

Now that I’ve answered some of your FAQs, I wanted to share my top 9 favourite Disney vacation hacks that helped us a ton!

Watch my YouTube video below to hear them all and see some clips from our vacation:

I hope you found this information helpful if you’re planning a Disney vacation with your family. We sure loved ours, and I hope we can go experience the magic again one day!

If you have any more questions or any helpful tips to add about traveling to Disney, please let me know in the comments below!