[00:00:00] Dana Stanley: Today, we’re not talking about budgeting for your Disney World trip. We’re talking about the sneaky costs that don’t really make it onto your spreadsheet at all, but will absolutely show up on your credit card. Because I think for most of us, budgeting comes fairly easy and simple when you’re thinking about Disney World.

[00:00:23] Dana Stanley: ’cause you’re like, okay, I have our hotel, our tickets. Our food, and hopefully most people think about like souvenirs and the Mickey ears. Those all usually make it onto the list. But if you’re anything like me, you are okay with spending money on things that you know are worth it, but only if you’re prepared for them ahead of time.

[00:00:49] Dana Stanley: Like I don’t like the feeling when I feel like I just keep swiping my credit card, whereas if I know about the expenses ahead of time. And I expect them, and I was already mentally prepared for them. I have that feeling that each dollar was accounted for already and going where I want it, especially when it comes to Disney World, because if you haven’t heard, prices have gone up across the board even since a few episodes that I recorded about first time trips, the prices have gone up and.

[00:01:23] Dana Stanley: I’m never going to encourage you to book a trip when you genuinely can’t afford it. That’s never going to be like my tone on here, because I think if you can’t afford to not only go to Disney World, but can’t afford to. Stay at the place that you had your heart set on or do the experiences that you wanted to do.

[00:01:46] Dana Stanley: I am just of the mindset of then don’t go and just wait until next year, or wait until you save enough money to go the way that you want to.

[00:01:54] Dana Stanley: So what I’m going over aren’t like hacks to save money. Or budgeting quote, secrets of like how to get a great deal on a Disney trip because while, yes, there are some ways to save a little bit of money in Disney World for sure. I wanna go over the things that you don’t expect and can creep up on you after you save up the money to book that trip.

[00:02:19] Dana Stanley: Formal intro.

[00:02:21] Dana Stanley: So in this episode, I’m breaking down the hidden costs that most people don’t expect, especially when you’re traveling with kids and how to plan ahead of time for them so you don’t feel like you’re being nickel and dimmed every two seconds. Once you’re there, let’s get into it.

[00:02:38] Dana Stanley: Before you even leave home, and this is definitely something as like a passenger princess like myself, I don’t think about, to be honest. And my husband lovingly reminds me that I never have to think about this. And that is when you are flying to Orlando, if you’re like us, you’re most likely driving your car.

[00:03:01] Dana Stanley: And to park your car at the airport, you are going to be paying every single day to have it in the lot.

[00:03:07] Dana Stanley: Now, if you fly often, this is going to feel like a total no-brainer. But when you’re thinking about like the Disney trip as a whole. I know for sure that this most likely won’t be a line item, so if that is you and you are not getting dropped off at the airport, just make a little note. Hey, we have to pay for parking at the airport.

[00:03:27] Dana Stanley: And the next one is definitely optional, and that’s travel insurance. But if you’re renting DVC points or maybe you’re going during hurricane season, this could be something that you end up adding later as your trip gets closer and you might not have budgeted for it. So right under the parking lot line, you could add travel insurance as well.

[00:03:47] Dana Stanley: And since we’re talking about things that are happening before you even get to Disney World, I’m going to include the number one thing that I probably struggle the most with, and that’s like the last minute shopping. So I really don’t go crazy with shopping before a Disney trip because we go often enough.

[00:04:10] Dana Stanley: We have plenty of secondhand or vintage Disney t-shirts. I am an outfit repeater. I don’t feel like I need something new every single time. Maybe I’ll grab like one or two things, but nothing crazy. But it’s these like little last minute travel things. Like mini deodorants or or those sanitizer wipes that you want for the airplane.

[00:04:35] Dana Stanley: Just almost like the travel section and target with all the mini toiletries, just running errands before a trip can really add up. So what I do now is I have a dedicated little bin in my closet that just has the label travel on it. And I just keep everything in there that I know I’m going to need for travel and Disney.

[00:04:59] Dana Stanley: So things for on the plane for the kids, like we have little essential oils that I like to have on hand in case anyone’s like teething or has a tummy ache. I don’t want to be double buying these things when I can’t find them. So like blister band-aids little travel containers that you can. Empty like your perfumes and shampoos into, I don’t keep those like in my bathroom because that’s when I can’t find them.

[00:05:26] Dana Stanley: And then I will end up running out and buying them again. And six months later I realized that I had them all along and I hate that. I hate double buying things that I already have.

[00:05:36] Dana Stanley: So that is a great way to keep that from happening is even as you’re packing for Disney. Just have a little basket or bin or bag in your closet, and as you accumulate things, just put them in there so they’re all in one place.

[00:05:52] Dana Stanley: For sure. Even before you set foot in Orlando, these little pre-trip costs can add up fast. But once you land in Florida. That’s when the real like unexpected costs start. The first one you’re gonna be hit with, which you hopefully please figured out and thought about ahead of time, is your transportation from the airport to your hotel.

[00:06:17] Dana Stanley: So if you went to Disney years ago, there was a free shuttle bus called the Magical Express. That is gone. And even the least expensive option called Mirrors Connect, you’re going to have to pay for that. So if you have a big family, this could add up. And I’m not even including like a car rental under sneaky cost because most likely if you’re listening to this, you’re going to be staying at a Disney resort, I hope.

[00:06:45] Dana Stanley: And we’ll be taking advantage of the free transportation to and from the parks once you’re actually on property. Because if you aren’t staying on property, you will have that kind of sneaky cost of paying for parking because if you rent a car or you’re driving your own car, you’ll be paying for parking at each Disney World resort, and you can actually end up paying a little bit more to have the preferred parking section that’s closer to the gate.

[00:07:15] Dana Stanley: The free parking is only there for resort guests.

[00:07:20] Dana Stanley: While we’re on the topic of just transportation for the moment, another cost that’s going to come up that you wanna budget for is your stroller or is your stroller. So if you are not gate checking your stroller, which is what we do, which is a hundred percent free through the airline, they will check your stroller at the gate.

[00:07:41] Dana Stanley: If you haven’t done that before. But if you decide, Hey, it’s just easier for us to rent a stroller once we get there. We don’t need a double stroller at home. We don’t have one. This could be one of the last expenses that you cross off the list of renting some type of stroller,

[00:07:58] Dana Stanley: and then once you’re on property, if you’re staying at a Disney resort. And you are taking advantage of the transportation to and from the parks. Technically, that’s all free, but you for sure are going to still be spending money because that’s when we get into the dining and drinking and snacks.

[00:08:19] Dana Stanley: And the first thing that comes to mind are your tips and gratuities. At the restaurants specifically. So something to keep in mind if you’ve been considering the Disney Dining Plan. A lot of my friends who are like very into budgeting love the Disney Dining Plan, not because it saves them a ton of money, but they feel like everything is accounted for and budgeted ahead of time.

[00:08:45] Dana Stanley: They know how much they’re going to be spending on food ahead of time. But what you may not think about is that you still have to add gratuity on top of that. So like hopefully 20% on all of your meals, even if you’ve added the dining plan or a free dining plan promotion. Don’t forget that you’re responsible still for tipping your cast member at any table service restaurant.

[00:09:12] Dana Stanley: Something to note is that. Is that Hoopty Do review over at Fort Wilderness and Cinderella’s Royal Table. And Magic Kingdom. When you book that reservation, you’re going to prepay for your whole meal, and that will include gratuity. So if you’re eating at either those places. Make sure when you look at the receipt, you look at it, it’ll have any extras that you got, like alcoholic beverages that you’ll have to pay for, but it should have the gratuity already paid for.

[00:09:42] Dana Stanley: So just make sure that you’re not adding anything and paying it twice.

[00:09:46] Dana Stanley: Same thing. If you are a group of six or bigger, again, just check the bill because the gratuity should already be on there. On the topic of dining, another thing that people definitely forget about is if you just don’t show up to a reservation and you didn’t cancel it within two hours, there’s actually a fee of $10 per person.

[00:10:12] Dana Stanley: So like my family, we would have a reservation of five that would be $50 if I just decided to not have lunch at Jungle Navigation Co. And I forgot slash didn’t know that I needed to cancel, and that can really hurt. So make sure that you set even like an alarm on your phone two hours before a certain dining reservation that maybe you’re ho-hum about and you’re not sure if you’re gonna make it that way you don’t miss that cutoff.

[00:10:39] Dana Stanley: And if you’re the type of person that doesn’t love a lot of dining reservations and you’re just going to quote, grab something, this could be something that sneaks up on you as well of just those little things. When you say we’ll just grab a bagel or a slice of pizza. Those things all add up, especially when you have a bigger family and you’re getting drinks for everyone.

[00:10:59] Dana Stanley: So just something to think about ahead of time and don’t just assume that it’s going to be this easy, cheap thing.

[00:11:06] Dana Stanley: One of the best ways that I like to save money in Disney World is to Instacart a bunch of, is a bunch of snacks and like easy breakfast things to our resort room. It’s great. It’s what I recommend, but that’s something again, to account for. For example, on our recent trip, I actually ended up Instacart twice, and I didn’t love that feeling of a running out of things and B, having to, do the delivery fee again, do the tipping.

[00:11:38] Dana Stanley: My driver again, just. Just because I genuinely just forgot or underestimated how much I needed of something. So it was fine, like I needed to do that order. It was something that I needed, but I wish I had just had a little bit more forethought of how much I was going to need to avoid having those two trips.

[00:12:00] Dana Stanley: Now at the resort, you can now at the resort, Disney will hold your Instacart orders or any grocery orders and keep them cold or frozen for free. There’s no cost for that. But if you don’t actually go physically to the bellhop and ask for your groceries and cart them upstairs, which. 99% of the time, that’s actually what we do.

[00:12:24] Dana Stanley: We bring an empty stroller and we just lug all of our groceries on there and head back to the room. There have been occasional times when it’s just easier for me to call down and say, Hey, I’m in room. Blank, blank, blank. Can you come? Just bring my grocery order for me. But if you have Bell Services come and deliver your groceries to your room for you, you are gonna be charged $6.

[00:12:48] Dana Stanley: This is just like a flat delivery fee. It’s not like per bag. It’s $6. It’s not the end of the world. I’ve done it and it has honestly been worth it. But then once the bellhop is there giving you the groceries. You wanna tip them. So you know, add another five or $6 on top of that. Just something to keep in mind.

[00:13:08] Dana Stanley: And if you want to avoid that, just go down and get it yourself.

[00:13:12] Dana Stanley: Now, the difference with groceries versus an actual like package. So for example, I have had an actual physical package delivered to our resort. If they’re holding like an actual delivery and it is not groceries, they will charge you $6 per order just for holding the package. I don’t know why it’s different than groceries, but it is, so you’ll see that itemized on your bill at checkout.

[00:13:42] Dana Stanley: Another thing that could be overlooked once you’re at the resort is your housekeeping tips, just kind of, uh, afterthought. Very much appreciated when you are getting. Your room turned over every day or every three days, depending on the type of room that you’re in, especially with little kids. Maybe you need more towels than normal or the just refreshing things a little bit more.

[00:14:07] Dana Stanley: That’s something to keep in mind is to tip your housekeeping crew.

[00:14:10] Dana Stanley: And speaking of kids, and you’re at the resort, I don’t do it unless I have a washer and dryer. In my resort room, and that’s just laundry. But there are laundromats at the resorts that you can use if you don’t have a washer and dryer in your room, which is really nice. So when I looked up the pricing of the laundromats, I found that it’s $3 per wash, $3 per dry, and then if you get like a little packet of detergent, it could be around a dollar 50 from the vending machine. They also have detergent. In most of the small gift shops at each resort as well. But just something to think about if you, if your kid had like a blowout or an emergency and you absolutely wanted to do a load of laundry,

[00:14:59] Dana Stanley: I would budget around 10 bucks if you wanted to do laundry while you’re down there.

[00:15:04] Dana Stanley: So we’ve covered all of the things that I thought about immediately when I imagined, getting ready for Disney. Being at the resort and being in the parks. And then after I wrote all of those things, I came up with three more, just like very random, like, oh, right. I just thought of these costs, the things that kind of come after the fact or sneak up in ways that you don’t realize.

[00:15:29] Dana Stanley: And the first one was minivans or Ubers or Lyfts. So no matter where you’re staying there most likely will be a situation. That you won’t want to take a bus or the free transportation, especially if you are like me. I like to eat at a lot of the resorts and it usually ends up never being the resort that I’m staying at.

[00:15:53] Dana Stanley: So let’s just say we are staying at Boardwalk and I wanna have dinner at Citrico over at the Grand Floridian. I could take a free bus to Magic Kingdom and then I could take the monorail to Grand Floridian. And if my whole vacation sketch works out that way, I will certainly do that. But nine times out of 10, we’re just at the resort and we wanna go eat.

[00:16:17] Dana Stanley: And in that scenario, I am going to be calling an Uber. Or if it’s after fireworks and we had a really long day, maybe the baby skipped a nap and we were like hanging on by a thread. My mom mind cannot imagine getting on a bus or waiting for a bus or. Heaven forbid, have to wait for a second bus and have a crying child.

[00:16:41] Dana Stanley: So I will call a minivan from Magic Kingdom to get us back to the resort, and these can all add up. And there’s a wide price difference depending on if you’re just taking Uber or a minivan. So you know anywhere between 20 bucks to 60 bucks and then you’re tipping the driver again as well. As a parent, we love them, but it is an expense to account for.

[00:17:04] Dana Stanley: And that’s just to help make our lives as easy as possible with the kids. I don’t want to be on the struggle bus, no pun intended, with the kids. And so to really make things as comfortable as possible, I spend a lot of money on just stroller, logistics, and like organization. So the rain cover for the stroller.

[00:17:28] Dana Stanley: The organizers that you can attach to our stroller. Our stroller is the twin from Zoe, and it has like a custom organizer kind of built in that fits perfectly that I love. But then we also have our stroller fans and just like extra hooks to just k keep things organized. So in my mind I’m like, okay, each of those things is $15 or $30 on Amazon.

[00:17:55] Dana Stanley: Just making our stroller as optimized as possible. One of the things I am never skipping, no matter how stingy I am feeling, is our lightning lanes, whether that is Multipass or Single Pass, this is Disney’s upgraded line that you can pay for that just goes faster than the regular line. So especially with the kids, I have a 9-year-old, five-year-old, and now 2-year-old.

[00:18:24] Dana Stanley: My goal is to reduce standing and waiting around as much as possible, and lightning lanes is the easiest and fastest way to do that.

[00:18:33] Dana Stanley: But something to keep in mind is that lightning lanes are on dynamic pricing, so it fluctuates a lot from the attraction and the park and the day. So you could spend $20 on one ride. Or 14 on another and just not really think about that until you’re checking out. Especially if you’re visiting, let’s say Magic Kingdom, and maybe that’s the only park that you’re visiting that’s going to be the most expensive multipass of all four parks.

[00:19:02] Dana Stanley: Just something to keep in mind that even the time of year can affect that. But the good thing is that if you are staying on property, you can book all of your Lightning liens seven days before you even get there. So it is a very hard hit all at once, seven days before your trip, but then once you’re actually in the parks, it doesn’t feel as bad.

[00:19:23] Dana Stanley: Just forget about it.

[00:19:24] Dana Stanley: I had mentioned before that I think most people do think of souvenirs ahead of time, and you may have been warned about the post ride gift shops that are usually at the exit of a ride. Like for example, when you’re getting off of Frozen ever after an Epcot, it dumps you right into a gift shop. And the kids, if they’re really into ELs and Anna, like that’s gonna be.

[00:19:51] Dana Stanley: They’re heaven and they’re probably gonna want something. Those things I think are a little bit more obvious. But the thing that gets me every single trip is there are a lot of activities at the Disney World Resorts that may catch you off guard. I like, for example, we’ve done lots of tie dye t-shirts at Beach Club, which I wanna say.

[00:20:15] Dana Stanley: We’re maybe like $14 each. But we’ve also painted ceramics we’ve done bracelet making at Animal Kingdom Lodge. There are just so many little activities that are like a small extra fee. And like for us, like we have two kids and now a third that’s gonna be interested in doing his own. So that’s like an unexpected thing.

[00:20:36] Dana Stanley: It’s really hard to say no to. The cast members are really great helping them with these projects, and then they get to take them home. So I do think they’re worth it. I do think they’re worth it. Like my 9-year-old still wears her tied eye tees at least once a week. She loves them and kids wanna do it, so it’s a nice souvenir, but it’s just one of those hidden costs that may sneak up on you when you’re walking around the resort.

[00:21:00] Dana Stanley: Maybe you have a rest day or a pool day, you’ll see a table out with some type of activity. It’s nice to just have that in your head ahead of time. Yeah, Disney World just isn’t about budgeting for like just your tickets and meals and rooms anymore. It’s really preparing for all those little things that yes, will definitely make your trip easier.

[00:21:22] Dana Stanley: And I think, honestly, more magical. But sometimes it can just be more expensive than you planned, and that’s where that icky feeling comes in. But if you go into it expecting these little hidden costs and then planning for them, you get to put that out of your mind when you’re on your trip and focus on what actually matters and the fun and being with your kids and not thinking about money the whole time.

[00:21:49] Dana Stanley: Thanks for listening to today’s episode, and I will see you next week.