Walt Disney World Does Not Cost $10,000 – Seriously!

Last weekend, I hired a wonderful photographer to do pictures of my daughter. The photographer told me how much she would love to take her children to Walt Disney World, but cannot afford the $10,000 price tag.

“10 thousand dollars!” I exclaimed. “Who told you it would cost that much?!” Apparently her friend booked through a travel agent and paid that much. Wow… let me tell you what I’m envisioning:

• 4 return First Class tickets on Air Canada from Toronto to Orlando
• 7 night’s of Deluxe Level accommodations at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Concierge level
• Magic Your Way Park Hopper ticket and Water Park Fun & More tickets
• And that package would also include the Magic Your Way Premium Package where you receive unlimited use of recreation facilities (golf, fishing excursions, water sports), admission to Cirque du Soleil’s Show, theme park tours, preferred viewing for fireworks and professional portraits!

Unless they had won the lottery, I never would sell a package like that to a Guest. As a Disney Vacation Specialist, I pride myself on my reputation, making my Guests happy and I care more about the quality of my Guest’s magical vacation over how much commission ends up in my wallet.

If you’re on a budget, we can work within it. There are different levels of accommodation to suit various budgets. One of the things I discourage my Guests from doing is spending money on things they don’t need. For instance, I don’t feel that families need the park hopping option with their tickets. It can make for a lot of running around that’s unnecessary. What you can do with a regular base ticket is visit Magic Kingdom in the morning, leave for a swim and nap and then return to Magic Kingdom later in the day for dinner and fireworks. No Park Hopping required. Another travel agent may try to sell you on the perks of flexibility, I’m going to sell you on saving the average family of four over $200 by NOT adding it to your package.

Going in December/January/February? If you are, I’m never going to suggest the Water Park Fun and More option for your park tickets. It’s just too cold! And to get the most use out of it, you’d need to visit the water parks at least twice. Look – I just saved that same family over $400 by NOT adding this to their package!

Flexible with your vacation time? Go during Value pricing season. The resort accommodations are less expensive at this time of year (typically January, end of August, September, early December) and are more likely to be subject to a discount over high peak travel times such as Christmas, New Years, March Break and Easter.

And then, I kid you not; I can come up with a list of free (and some other relatively inexpensive) things to do at Walt Disney World for your family when you have a partial day to spare.

So do what I’m doing with $10,000 – (hopefully) having my kitchen redone. I’m taking my daughter to Walt Disney World for a lot less than that!

Kathryn Dickson is a Disney Vacation Planning Specialist with Fairytale Dreams and Destinations. Fairytale Dreams and Destinations which is the only TICO registered agency in Ontario that deals specifically with Disney destinations. You can contact Kathryn at 905-857-3611 or by email at kathryn@fairytaledestinations.com

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