How to Go to Disney World Without Losing Your Mind—and Your Retirement Savings

Not gonna lie: It’s still going to be *expensive*

For the second edition of Extra Credit, we’re going to Disney World!!

As I write this newsletter, my son and mom are in Orlando, living it up with my aunt and uncle. Freddy’s a lucky kid because he’s already been to Disney a few times—that’s one of the benefits of having family in Orlando (and an amazing aunt who has been expertly ushering us through the parks for years). It also takes some of the pressure off me and Ken from feeling the need to plan the *ultimate* Disney World vacation. And thank goodness, because the cost of a trip to Disney without hotels is steep, and when you start adding in accommodations, it’s sky high.

A recent Wall Street Journal article dove into the rising costs of Disney World vacations, and the details are eye-watering:

“For a two-parent family with two young kids, a typical four-day visit to Walt Disney World, including a stay at a value-priced, Disney-owned hotel, cost $4,266 in 2024, according to Touring Plans, a data provider that helps vacationers plan theme park visits. That cost, before food and transportation costs, is up from $3,230 five years earlier, adjusted for inflation.”

In the WSJ article, Disney argued that these numbers from Touring Data didn’t take into account the many “value options” available and said that “guests don’t need Lighting Lane passes to have a great time.” The most expensive Lightning Lane pass—which essentially allows you to cut the long lines—costs $449 a day. And that doesn’t include admission to the park.

We took Freddy to Disney in 2023, and I joked in an Instagram post that no one cried during our three-day visit. But I was struck by two things. One, it sucked spending all my time on my phone figuring out our schedule based on our Lightning Lane reservations. We didn’t get to really enjoy the park, because we were always rushing to the next ride. And two, everyone at the parks seemed sort of miserable. And I get it: There’s a lot of pressure to have THE BEST TIME EVER when you spend that much money on a vacation to the so-called Happiest Place on Earth™, and sometimes that backfires and everyone just feels stressed.

But you can have fun, and I’ve tapped the perfect expert to help you achieve that goal. The wonderful Heather Boneparth (of the

The Joint Account

) is a three-peat Disney World warrior, having successfully navigated the park with her kids and lived to tell the tale. Today, she shares her wisdom on how to take a Disney vacation with your family and (mostly) not lose your mind or your retirement.

Heather, I’ll let you take it from here!

At some point in your adult life, you may make the pilgrimage to Walt Disney World under duress from your children or someone close to you. A family vacation to Walt Disney World is a Big Thing; however, hundreds of tiny wins and losses will impact your experience. Disney is an emotional gauntlet, a place capable of both bloating your body with serotonin and draining it of every last ounce of shit to give—you are on top of the world or barely breathing! With such high financial and emotional stakes, it’s prudent to be prepared.

When you search for Disney tips, you will notice that DisFluencers own the internet. I respect their hustle and SEO skills, but the intel is littered with affiliate ads. Searching for real information about Disney is harder than finding the recipe on a food blog. Besides, most of these Frappuccino-loving, matching-tee-wearing Disney stans keep their pixie-dusted advice a bit too surface-level for me. For example, it’s not enough to know where to find the best Dole Whip if your kid’s so overheated that she can’t even think straight, let alone be reasoned with. There are layers of information you’ll need to survive and even more to thrive. Yes, thrive.

While I am no DisFluencer, it is one of my alt-career fantasies; and frankly, I’ve got the experience for it. As a kid, I spent many holidays in Orlando thanks to the relationships my grandpa forged as a Pepsi salesman. I spent a week living in the two-story presidential suite at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel when they had no other rooms to move us to after ours sprung a leak. I went to college an hour down the road at The University of Florida, where I met my husband (a Floridian). Now, we plan our visits with our nine- and almost-six-year-old daughters in mind. We’ve also taken them to Disney at six and three, and our oldest at four, when we were some of the last visitors before the pandemic shutdown (what a time for crowds, let me tell ya). No, I am not a DisFluencer, but I will say that my family could be considered “Disney People”: informed and enthused but still worldly and well-traveled enough to know this Biodome of Happiness is a departure from reality that warrants its own set of rules.

I do believe you have the chance to enjoy yourself—if you are committed to making that happen.

Disney requires technical, mental, and financial strategies, and I am going to provide you with some of mine here. Please note, this list is non-exhaustive. It’s meant to jumpstart your thinking and frame your decision making, but everyone has different needs, and when planning a trip like this it’s crucial to remember that.

Okay, friends, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle. Let’s go to Disney World!