A family of 4 will spend a whopping $vi,033 on a typical Disney World trip. Here's the total breakdown.

rich family of four paid too much for disney world 4x3

Matt Stroshane/Disney Parks; Samantha Lee
  • When Walt Disney Earth opened its gates in 1971, a ticket cost $three.50. Now it starts at $109.
  • There are plenty of additional costs, from food to lodging to souvenirs to transportation.
  • For a family unit of four, a typical trip tin can cost upwards of $6,033. Read our full breakdown below.
  • Visit Insider'southward homepage for more stories.

This story is part of our inside look at how Disney has dealt with COVID-19. Read the other stories in the series here.

From $three.l to $224 in l years

A ticket to Disney World in 1971 cost $three.fifty.
Reuters

When Walt Disney World opened its gates in 1971, a ticket cost $3.l.

Today, if yous adjust for aggrandizement, that translates to about $23. But the price of a single-day ticket has far outpaced that — now it costs between $109 and $224, depending on when yous travel and the ticket option you cull.

Transportation, lodging, and food expenses further increase the cost of a Disney holiday. Hard-and-fast prices tin modify for a multifariousness of reasons: occupancy rates, "peak" travel days, Disney Holiday Gild benefits, Florida residency discounts, number of days visiting, and more than.

As such, the numbers below are field of study to change. But all in all, a typical five-day trip tin can cost a family of four $6,033.

Admissions tickets: $2,316

Security officials checks numberless as people enter Walt Disney Globe'due south Magic Kingdom in 2001.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A i-day standard ticket to Walt Disney World starts at $109 and increases on peak travel days. Between Christmas and New year's day'due south, for instance, daily rates increase to $159.

Calculation the selection to "hop" between Disney World's four theme parks increases the price of a peak ticket to $224, or $191 on nonpeak dates.

The cost of adding additional days to the same visit drops the cost of each sequent mean solar day. A nonpeak, non-park-hopper ticket, for instance, will cost $107 on the second mean solar day, all the manner down to $52 on the 10th solar day, at which point the discounts cut off.

All upward, a family of iv could pay $2,316 plus tax for five days' worth of nonpeak, park-hopper tickets. (Those are prices for guests x and upward; those ages iii to 9 receive a slight discount on their daily ticket price, and children two and under enter for complimentary.)

Food and dining: $one,100

Topolino's Terrace at Disney's Riviera Resort.
Matt Stroshane/Walt Disney World Resort/Getty

There are more than 400 places to eat at Disney World, with at least xc total-service restaurants to choose from. Repast prices vary, but quick-service restaurants, where meals range from $xv to $20 apiece, are the most economical option.

There are besides dining plans. The least expensive is the quick-service programme, which provides ii quick-servicemeals and two snacks each 24-hour interval. The pre-pandemic cost for this plan was $55 per person historic period ten and older and $26 for children ages iii-9.

For our hypothetical family of four, this comes out to $i,100.

Character dining experiences tin costs $62 per person ten and older or $37 for younger children. At higher-terminate restaurants like Tiffins in Animal Kingdom, entrées like the surf and turf tin can ready y'all back $65.

Snack costs also add up: a funnel cake with whipped cream at Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom costs $7.99; a Mickey pretzel is $6.79; and a churro is $vi.nineteen. A cup of soda starts at from $3.99, and alcoholic beverages start at $ten.

Accommodations: $two,617

The Walt Disney Globe Dolphin resort.
John Greim/LightRocket/Getty

At that place are more 25 Disney resort hotels to cull from in value, moderate, deluxe and deluxe villas categories. Staying off-property tin sometimes be a less expensive alternative to Disney-themed hotels.

A nonholiday weekend stay at a "value" resort in July costs $259 per night for a standard room, or $581 per night plus fees for a family suite.

A four-night stay in one of these family unit suites will cost $ii,617, plus tax. Almost all of Disney's rooms take a 4- to six-person limit, too, and so if your party is larger, plan on paying for an actress room.

Meanwhile, a nonholiday weekend stay in December at a "moderate" resort costs $379 per night for two queen beds in 1 room. A weekday-merely stay in April at a "deluxe" resort is $1,056 per night for a standard room with a view of the park. And a one-night weekday stay at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows will set you back $3,491.

Transportation

The parking lot at Disney World'due south Magic Kingdom.
Joe Raedle/Getty

At the moment, Disney Earth offers gratuitous "Magical Express" transportation from Orlando's international aerodrome to Disney hotels, though the visitor plans to cut that service in 2022.

Boosted costless transportation options exist, including buses, h2o taxis, monorail, and aeriform gondolas, from Disney backdrop to each theme park.

All the same, guests choosing to rent a car or drive their own should program on additional fees. Airfare, of course, is another expense, and tin vary widely depending on location and time of twelvemonth.

Per-night parking fees offset at $15 at Disney's value resorts, $twenty at moderate resorts, and $25 at their palatial and deluxe villa resorts. Theme-park parking ranges from $25 to $45 per day with standard and preferred parking options available.

Trade, souvenirs, and additional expenses

Guests at Disney Earth look ahead toward Cinderella'due south Castle.
Disney Parks

With almost 300 places to shop at Disney Globe, there are plenty of places to spend actress cash.

Pivot trading is an particularly pop hobby for many Disney aficionados. Costs of a single pin commencement at $nine.99 or $15.99, depending on the details and intricacies of the pivot; "colossal" limited-release pins toll as much as $120 each.

Guests can likewise hire a Disney bout guide to accept them through alternative entrances of popular attractions, bypassing the lines. Costs start at $425 per hour, with a vii-hr minimum required.

Retention Maker is a popular add-on photograph service that allows guests to purchase the rights to all of the photos taken by Disney PhotoPass photographers. It'due south nonrefundable and costs $169 if purchased in advance or $199 if purchased in-person. A $69 single-day option is also available.

For $177, you tin reschedule or cancel altogether otherwise nonrefundable vacations.

Means to relieve money

Disney World's Epcot park in 2003.
Matt Stroshane/Getty Images

Purchasing almanac passes, watching for seasonal promotion offers, saving $200 past purchasing the holiday with a Disney-brand credit bill of fare, or becoming a member of Disney'southward Vacation Club are some of the tricks that savvy Disney goers have taken advantage of to save money.

Dining plans are some other big way to lessen the financial burden of a trip. In nonpandemic times, guests are allotted a sure number of snack and meal credits. Information technology'due south also possible to share meals or bring outside food and drink.

All the same, guests must proceed track of their own dining credits, and any unused credits expire upon checkout — then if you don't use all of them, yous might stop up wasting money.

Nearly five months of mortgage costs

A trip to Disney World doesn't come cheap.
SOPA Images/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Insider

In sum, for a family of iv all 10 and older that visits Disney World for five days:

  • Park-hopper, nonpeak tickets for everyone: $2,316

  • 4 nights in a family suite at one of Disney'south most economical hotels: $2,617

  • Disney'south to the lowest degree expensive dining programme for anybody: $1,100

The grand full: $6,033.

That doesn't take into account airfare or whatsoever other transportation costs, which vary greatly from family to family unit.

In sum, fifty-fifty the most cost-conscious five days at Walt Disney World requires a family unit to coughing up virtually five months of mortgage payments — an amount that could deter some, simply not all.

"I've traveled to Disney Globe more than than a hundred times," the Oregon-based travel agent Bonnie Sawyer told Insider. "I call up it's an feel that everyone should take at to the lowest degree once in their lifetime."

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