Planning your first-ever Disney World vacation?
Well, it’s time grab your Mickey ears and your walking shoes because I’m about to give you the lowdown on what a magical trip for a family of four (two adults, two kids) to Disney World in 2025 is gonna cost. Let’s go!
As we were saying, go ahead and strap in because we’re going to break it all down for you on what it’ll cost you to travel with a family of four (two adults, two kids) to Disney World in 2025. Spoiler alert: it’s not cheap. But we’re here to help with budgeting tips and tricks and we also always share all of the deals and discounts. So, let’s break down the budget and get you ready for your Disney World trip!
The Family Adventure Begins: Hotel Options
Alright, parents, let’s dive right into it. The first major decision you’ll need to make is where to stay, and Disney’s got plenty of options for every budget. Since we’re all about keeping it real, we’re gonna start with Disney’s Value resorts, the most affordable choice for a family-friendly stay within the magic.
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort: If you’re looking for the absolute cheapest room on Disney property, this is it. A standard room here will run you around $191 per night. Sure, it’s the budget option, but it’s still packed with all Disney magic and easy access to the parks.
But hey, if you’re feeling like spreading out a bit (especially with kids in tow), there are other options too:
- All-Star Music Family Suite: Want more space? For around $434 per night, you’ll get a living room with two Murphy beds, two bathrooms, a kitchen space, and a master bedroom. Perfect for families who need a bit more room to stretch after a long day at the parks.
- Art of Animation Family Suites: With themes based on Cars, The Lion King, and Finding Nemo, these suites are a hit with the kids. But they’re pricier at about $587 per night for a Lion King suite that sleeps six. But we will say, you can book a moderate room for this price as well.
For those of you looking to save even more, consider staying at Disney’s Pop Century Resort, which is directly on the Skyliner route (a super convenient sky gondola that takes you to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios). You can snag a preferred room here for around $267 per night.
But for the sake of this budget, let’s go with the cheapest option: All-Star Sports. For a family of four staying six nights (June 16th-22nd), your total so far is $4,238, which includes hotel and standard park tickets.
Payment Plan Perks
If that number has you feeling a little faint, don’t worry because you don’t have to pay it all upfront. You can lock in your vacation with a $200 deposit and pay off the rest over time through Disney’s website or app (so long as it’s all paid off 30 days before your arrival date). This is a great way to make the cost a little more manageable.
Disney does also release deals and discounts from time to time! We’re talking free dining and room discounts up to 25-30%. It just depends on the time of the year. We will share all those details on the blog and our Instagram, so follow along so you don’t want to miss out. On top of that, if you book through Small World Vacations, their team will monitor for you and make sure you don’t miss a sale.
Dining Plans: To Add or Not to Add?
Now that we’ve got the hotel and tickets out of the way, it’s time to think about feeding the family. Disney offers Dining Plans, which allow you to prepay for your meals. You can either go all out with sit-down meals or keep it casual with a Quick Service Dining Plan. For this example, we’ll go with the quick service option, which adds $1,006 to our running total, bringing us to $5,244.
The dining plan lets you enjoy Disney’s iconic snacks and meals without having to stress about swiping your card at every meal, but it might not be the best for everyone. Also, you’ll still need to tip your server at table-service restaurants.
Getting There: Travel Costs
Now that we’ve got our stay sorted, let’s talk about how to get the family down to the Most Magical Place on Earth. Depending on where you live, driving might be more affordable than flying. But with gas prices in Florida averaging around $3 per gallon, and potentially needing to stay overnight at hotels along the way (around $100-$200 per night), those savings might disappear quickly.
Still, since you’re staying on Disney property, you’ll get free parking at the parks. That’s a win, especially considering it usually costs around $30 per day.
For travel, let’s budget around $500, which brings our grand total so far to $5,744.
Lightning Lanes
Gone are the days of free FastPasses (RIP). Now, Disney has Lightning Lanes, which help you skip the regular lines at popular attractions. For a family with younger kids (like Little Sally and Little Timmy), this can be a lifesaver. Let’s budget for four days of Lightning Lane access at $30 per person, per day.
That’s an additional $480, bringing our total to $6,224.
Souvenirs and Extra Magic
Let’s not forget about the magic extras. Whether it’s a pair of Mickey ears, a princess dress, or a lightsaber from Galaxy’s Edge, souvenirs are a big part of the Disney experience. For this trip, we’ll budget $50 per family member, which comes out to $200.
Here’s a quick hack for you: Buy some Disney-themed goodies ahead of time on Amazon or the Disney Store website to save some serious cash. With the souvenirs added, our total climbs to $6,424.
The Safety Net
And finally, because life happens and unexpected costs have a way of sneaking up on us, let’s add a $200 safety net for emergencies, tolls, or those last-minute Mickey bars.
The Grand Total
Drumroll, please! After all is said and done, the total cost for your family’s magical Disney World vacation in 2025 comes out to $6,624.
Budgeting for a big trip like this can feel mighty intimidating when you see all the different costs laid out at once. But fear not! There are ways to start saving BEFORE you set foot inside the Disney bubble. Let’s go over a few practical tips to help you make that magical trip a little easier on your wallet.
- Saving Tip #1: Look for Discounts
Disney loves to sprinkle a little pixie dust in the form of discounts! Throughout the year, they offer room discounts for select dates, and scoring one of these can shave off a chunk of your hotel cost. - Saving Tip #2: Travel on Weekdays Instead of Weekends
Here’s a strategy that’s saved many families a decent chunk of change: traveling during the weekdays. This isn’t a foolproof method (especially during peak holiday seasons), but in general, you’ll find cheaper prices on everything from hotels to park tickets and even flights if you plan your trip for Tuesday through Thursday.- Why? Because weekends are when everyone’s heading out to vacation—meaning higher demand and higher prices. Plus, weekdays often see lower crowd levels, which means more space for you and the fam to explore the parks. (Pro tip: Be cautious with Mondays, though—airfare prices can spike due to business travelers hitting the skies.)
- Saving Tip #3: Reach Out to a Travel Agent
Tracking down deals and making sure you’re ALWAYS getting the best rate can feel like a full-time job, and, honestly, who has time for that? This is where travel agents come in clutch. And guess what? Their services are completely FREE to use!
We know planning a Disney World vacation can be a huge undertaking. There’s a lot to figure out such as transportation, hotels, dining, Lightning Lanes, and more. If you’re looking for help planning your next trip, we suggest checking out Small World Vacations! They can help you navigate the planning process and assist you with getting great deals. Take the stress out of planning by giving their free services a try.
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2 NEW Perks For Your 2025 Disney World Hotel Stay
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Will you be heading to Disney World in 2025? Let us know in the comments!
beautiful gorgeous says
If you have a family member that is a school teacher, you will have to ditch them. Traveling on the off season is cheaper.
Tim Schulze says
Ok. Let us say we have a lower middle-class family that wants a Walt Disney World vacation. If we use the Pew Research on what’s middle class for 2024. We find that a household in New Jersey has the highest level of income annually to be considered “middleclass” at $64,224. This means they would be paying 10% of their annual income for 6 nights. Other states have lower annual income to be considered “middleclass then does New Jersey so they would be paying higher then 10% of their annual income.
Looking online most money manager web sites suggest that you should budget somewhere between 5% to 10% of your budget for “Fun” but this includes going out to eat, movie tickets/rentals, sporting events, gym memberships and streaming services, vacations etc.
In these economic times, it is just not realistic that the American middle class should “shoot themself in the foot” and consider a 6-night stay at Walt Disney World.
The saddest news here is that The Walt Disney Company already knows this. They know what American families can afford. They want the upper middle class and upper class. This will keep their profits high and park crowds low.
Walt’s words of welcome on the opening day Disneyland “To all who come to this happy place: welcome. Disneyland is your land. ” Just doesn’t seem to exist anymore as a company goal.