Disney on a Budget-Part 2

 Our Third Trip to Disney in 2023 

Coming back to Florida for the winter is always exciting. We planned our trip back to Disney in February of 2023 while we were still at the Drury Plaza Hotel during our second trip. Other than taking in all of the Christmas decor at the parks, my objective this time was to scope out the different Disney resorts to see how these fancy resorts compared to staying at the Drury Plaza Hotel. 

Animal Kingdom

We went to Animal Kingdom on the first day and thought their huge Christmas Tree was amazing. We left West Palm Beach at 5:30 AM and go to the park about 1/2 hour before we were allowed in. Since the Drury Plaza Hotel is a Disney partner hotel, we get to go into the park at the same time as the Disney Resort hotel guests; 1/2 hour before it opens to the public.

We were lucky and were able to ride Avatar with hardly any wait at all. As a matter of fact, we practically walked on all of the rides. We were done all the things we wanted to do by early afternoon, so we did the Avatar ride a second time before leaving the park. We ended up buying two coffees each; one at the park and one at the Animal Kingdom Resort Hotel where my husband got a Mickey cookie too. Total cost was about $14.

Checking into the Drury Hotel Plaza

By 3:30 we arrived at the hotel and were able to check-in a bit earlier than the posted 4 PM time. We had a nice surprise at check-in, the front desk lady gave us a $10 discount on the parking. So instead of $25 per night, it was $15. That was a win in my book.  We took advantage of the free coffee and had a fun free supper and two drinks each at the 5:30 Kickback. The service was great and everything was very clean and fresh. Just as good as the first time. I tipped $2 to the bar tenders that night.

Hollywood Studios

Everything went according to plan when we went to Hollywood Studios the next day. We got on the Rise of the Resistance ride first and were able to complete all the things we wanted to do before noon. We explored the Disney Resorts that were along the Sky Line route, including the one were booked at for the end of January; the Pop Century. We got there and found that the whole area played really loud  music and the space was crowded with families with kids. While I understand kids will go to Disney, this was just too much for us. The eating venue was just a canteen, no better but no worse than the free buffet at the Drury. We decided this was not for us and I cancelled our reservations. I don't think we're that much into the Disney Magic when it comes to the hotels.

We toured other hotels including the Swan and Dolphin hotels, the Boardwalk and the Yacht Club. These hotels were posh and had wonderful pool and beach areas! We really liked the Gingerbread displays. I actually would consider staying at the Dolphin hotel as it's about $250 per night if it's not the busy season. The Swan and Dolphin are Marriot hotels but they still have all the perks of a luxury Disney hotel.

We didn't end up having any coffee or snacks at any of the offsite hotels or the Boardwalk as it was too cold to sit outside and none of them seemed to have indoor seating. We went back to the Drury and had free coffee there and relax in our room for the rest of the afternoon. At supper we enjoyed just one alcoholic beverage as we were going to Cirque Du Soleil that night. I just left $1 tip.

Cirque Du Soleil

The acrobats were amazing but the storyline was a bit boring. We didn't like the babytalk sounds the actors made instead of talking. I guess this is to ensure all languages understand them (or misunderstood them equally). We had good seats, top row, center. Our view of the stage and all the acts was perfect.

Epcot

Although the weather finally got warmer on our third day, the crowds got bigger. We made the mistake of going to Soaring before going to the Remy's ride and while the Soaring was excellent, we missed the window of low crowds provided with early entry and we encountered a huge lineup at Remy's when we got there. We ended up waiting for a while and going on our booked Guardians of the Galaxy ride before attempting it again. We did Living with the Land, hoping to see the boasted holiday decorations but it was pretty limited. As a matter of fact, Epcot was the least Christmassy area of all the four parks. By 1 PM we were done with the crowds and we left. We were too cranky and tired to visit any of the nearby resorts. We didn't buy any coffees or treats this day but we did have lunch at the Seasons quick service restaurant in the Soaring building. It was nice that the server replaced the rice that came with the Mongolian beef I ordered with green beans. The cost was about $30 total because we didn't get any drinks; we had our own water bottles. That night, at the hotel, we enjoyed our free meal and got two drinks each. I put $5 in the bartender's jar as we'd had excellent service and their pours were very generous; hence only being able to drink two drinks...

Magic Kingdom

Although we'd been talking about going on the new Tron ride, when it came to booking our virtual queue, we opted not to. It just seemed like we weren't into going upside down or at such fast speeds. I was quite happy my husband had decided this because I really only go on the roller coaster rides so that he doesn't have to go alone on them. We practically walked onto the Seven Dwarf Mine train as well as all the other rides we wanted to go on. We opted to skip the Buzz Lightyear ride because it was just too crowded by then and we were tired of standing in lines. By 1:30 we took the Monorail to the Contemporary Resort and had a bit of lunch at their quick serve restaurant. This cost just over $20 and again, we opted for water instead of sodas or drinks. We wanted to go into one of their lounges but they were either full or not open yet. They also had a gingerbread display.

Overall Cost and Comments

The price of the hotel went down because of the parking, but the SunPass tolls went up. Our Cirque du Soleil tickets were an additional cost as well. 

Hotel: $506.91

Tips: $8

Food and Coffees at Disney Parks and Hotels: $64

Cirque Du Soleil tickets: $205.22

Gas: $50

SunPass: $36

Total Cost for this visit: $862.13. 

Comparing Florida Resident 4 day ticket Passes and Annual Passes

Trips with Annual Pass Costs

Trip # 1 = $1363.12

Trip # 2 = $608.86

Trip # 3 = $862.13

Total cost for 3 trips taken with Seasons Pass = $2,834.11,  for 13 days in parks and a Cirque du Soleil night

At 13 days in the parks for this annual pass, the average cost of entry to parks with free parking: $426.93 (taxes included) = $32.84 each, per visit.

Trips with Florida Resident 4 day Passes

The Florida Resident passes for late 2023 time were $59 each, plus $40 for park hoper options, per day, for a four day pass. If we'd have used the Florida Residents rates for a four day ticket, plus the park hopper tickets it would have cost us $847.44 for the tickets and an additional  $128. for parking bringing the cost of this final trip to $1837.97 if we didn't have the annual pass..

If we would have simply bought the Florida Resident park hopper passes the costs would have had to include parking to the parks. These prices went up from last year so the last trip would have costed a lot more than the first two trips.

Trip # 1 with Florida Resident park hopper pass and parking= $1297.96

Trip # 2 with Florida Resident park hopper pass and parking= $1261.56

Trip # 3 with Florida Resident park hopper pass and parking= $1837.97

Total cost for trip with Florida Resident park hopper pass and parking = $4,397.49

By buying the annual pass, we saved $1,563.38 over the 3 trips we took in 2023. Although, we may not have went on Trip # 2 if we didn't have the annual pass. In this case going on trip 1 and 3 would have saved us $910.68.

If you chose to just get a 4 day ticket without park hopper options, you would save $1,049.78 on the three trips and $482.68 on the two trips.

Conclusion on buying Weekday Annual Passes for Florida Residents

It only makes sense to buy an Annual Pass if you plan on going to the parks more than once in a one year period. If you like to park hop, the deal is even better as you save about $500 more by buying an annual pass.

This amount of savings only works if you stay outside the Disney Resort bubble because parking is free at the parks if you stay at these resorts. You'd have to reduce your savings by around $120 if you stay at a Disney Resort hotel.