I get many questions from people who are thinking about visiting Walt Disney World and want Disney World vacation tips and suggestions. Disney vacation planning can be very involved and confusing as well, so the goal of this series is to start at the beginning, and look at everything you need to think about, in the general order you need to think about it. Each week’s post will be numbered and will eventually link to all the others so that, when complete, you will have a guide with all the steps and information you need to plan your own Disney magic.

This week’s post is going to focus on the final step prior to researching your accommodations: How much can you afford to spend?

In many ways, in planning an affordable Disney family vacation, this may be the most important step, as you really need to have a budget in mind at the very beginning, or this can quickly escalate into anything but affordable.

Be honest with yourself and be realistic. Not having an extravagant budget does not mean you can’t have a fabulous vacation! On the contrary, that is what The Affordable Mouse is all about!

But having an idea at the beginning, what you can truly afford to spend will help you greatly in your subsequent planning. Whether you can afford $2000 or $10,000, knowing your budget will then help all the other pieces fall into place.

You may splurge in some areas, and scrimp in others, and only you will decide which are the areas of your Disney vacation that are most important for you to splurge on.

This is also the time, now that you know approximately when you are going and for how long, to see if there are any Disney promotions that you can take advantage of, such as savings on packages, free dining, or room discounts. Don’t book yet, because you want to compare with other options to see if the “deal” is the right one for you…but see what is out there first.

So for your action plan for this week:

1. Determine your approximate budget
2. Decide of the various aspects of your vacation (accommodations, transportation, tickets, food), which are the most important (the things you are willing to spend more on) and which are less imp0rtant (those that you can scrimp on). For example: stay at a nicer hotel, but save money on food. Or splurge on table service meals every night, but drive instead of fly.
3. See if Disney is offering any special promotions for the time you plan to visit that may apply to you. Note the details, but do not book yet.

OK? We are laying the groundwork here, so that next week we can start researching the first “big” thing to book: where you will stay!

Enjoy planning your affordable Disney family vacation. Have a magical day!