Enjoy an amazing family experience at Walt Disney World, the most magical place on earth!  While at the Magic Kingdom, visit with all your favorite Disney characters, explore lands of enchantment, and experience spectacular fireworks and thrilling rides!  Travel around the globe and experience 11 different countries at Epcot’s World Showcase!  Embark on an African  safari and come face to face with live exotic animals at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!  Don’t miss a thrilling ride through scenic jungle landscapes on Kali River Rapids.  Movie magic comes to life at Disney’s Hollywood Studios where you will see blazing stunt spectaculars and Broadway-style musicals! You can also race along dark freeways in a stretch limo, blast off on an outer space adventure, and enter The Twilight Zone if you dare!

Savvy Travel total for this trip for our entire family of four including:  7 hotel nights, round trip airfare, admission tickets to FOUR Disney theme parks for 6 days…..

$838.26 

***For an example of how to Savvy travel this trip, scroll to the bottom of this post 🙂

Sign up for our FREE Savvy Travel guide 

Florida can be very humid!  What do you need to be sure you have with you on this trip?

• A hat for everyone!
• Metal drink containers that will keep your drinks COLD!  Fill with ice while still at your hotel!
• Sunscreen!
• Chapstick!
• And either take with you or purchase while you are there, a water bottle with fan ($20/ea at the park and worth every penny)!

What are some of the exciting things to experience at Walt Disney World?

The Magic Kingdom Park:

The Magic Kingdom is a must see, where fantasy becomes reality!  Visit Cinderella’s Castle…

Experience OVER THE TOP animated parades, character experiences with Mickey and friends, and lavishly themed restaurants.  Visit Fantasyland, Fairytale Hall, Tomorrowland, and Adventureland!  Take a ride on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, visit the Haunted Mansion if you dare, ride on the Liberty Square Riverboat, or fly on Aladdin’s Magic Carpet!  And my personal favorite:  It’s A Small World 🙂

Be amazed with the new spectacular laser light and outstanding firework show!  Happy July 4th America!

Epcot Center Park:

Discover a slower pace at this park and visit 11 different countries as you travel around Epcot World Showcase!  You will transition from country to country as you walk around the large beautiful reflective lagoon.  You will discover several boat rides, authentic restaurants, shops, and shows that will give you an overview of the country you are in.  Blast off on a journey into our solar system, hold on tight for a rocket ride to mars aboard a NASA style shuttle simulator!  Experience the Seas with Nemo and Dory.

Enter the China pavilion through the distinct triple arched ceremonial gate designed after the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.   The Jeweled Dragon Acrobats entertain guests throughout the day.  Journey through ancient and modern China while watching a 360 degree film shown in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.  While shopping you will find pandas, Yixing teapots, and Chinese lanterns!  While visiting China you will find footbridges and relaxing peaceful bamboo groves.

Visit Paris, France …. the city of LOVE!  See the beautiful flower carts and street side artists!  You can sit at a bistro table and enjoy a glass of champagne and croissant while you gaze upon the Eiffel Tower that is 1/10th the size of the original.  Watch the 18-minute film that takes you on a trip through France to see the French countryside and the busy cities.

See the 83 foot authentic replica of the original campanile in St. Mark’s square.  The romance of Venice shines through the Venetian bridges and gondolas along the lagoon.  While in Italy, taste authentic Italian pasta and delicious pizza cooked in massive stone pizza ovens!  The quaint shops feature fine Florentine soaps, creamy Italian chocolates, and Venetian glass jewelry!

Walk the cobblestoned German platz and check out the replica of the medieval castle.  Enjoy a frankfurter sandwich, soft pretzel, and apple strudel while visiting Germany!  Visit the quaint shops that contain everything from teddybears, original black forest Cuckoo clocks, hand painted eggs, and beer steins!

The landscaping in Canada is beautiful!  There is a 30′ waterfall and boulder filled stream.  The shops carry art glass and beautiful ornaments that feature Canada’s seasons.  In the Maple Leaf Mine, the Circle vision 360-degree theater features the film “O’ Canada – Journey the Land of Grandeur”!

See the vibrant colors of Mexico!  You will find colorful carts and shops offering Mexican jewelry, pottery, and leather goods.  There is also a great collection of pinatas and worry dolls to check out while you enjoy the air conditioning of the pyramid!  You can feast on tacos, churros, and tostadas.   You can even taste authentic Mexican tequila!

Do you want to build a Snowman?  Set sail on a musical boat ride through Frozen- Ever After in Norway!  (this ride was one of Emily’s favorites 🙂  After your boat ride visit the Norwegian town square that features cobblestone streets.  You can feast on open-faced sandwiches and Kringles (candied pretzels)!  While shopping in Norway you will find Swedish preserves, sterling silver jewelry, and Norwegian trolls!  You can also hop on the Viking style boat ride that takes you through a mystical forest where you will encounter trolls!

While in Japan see a towering blue roofed pagoda, which is a replica of a 7th century Horyuji temple, that is surrounded by beautiful gardens.  You will find streams full of water lilies and colorful koi fish.  This is a peaceful place to take a break among the Japanese maples and bamboo garden.   You can shop for bonsai trees, chop sticks, and Hello Kitty!  You can dine on traditional Japanese cuisine that includes chicken, beef, and seafood cooked with yummy sauces.  You can even try sushi and hot sake!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park:

Encounter the Magic of Nature with Animal Adventures and Entertainment!  The centerpiece of the entire park is the breathtakingly beautiful Tree of Life that awakens after dark.  It represents the intricate balance of nature.  There is a theater inside the Tree of Life root system that showcases one of Emily’s favorite attractions, the movie “It’s Tough to be a bug!”  It is an 8-minute 3D movie that shows a glimpse into the animal kingdom 🙂

Hop on the Kilimanjaro Safari for a REAL safari ride through a replica of an African savannah!  Most of the animals are roaming free, so after boarding your HUGE 4×4 all terrain vehicle you will drive through the mud and right past rhinoceros, giraffes, african elephants, and more!  Thankfully the lions ARE behind a fence!  One of Danielle’s favorite rides 🙂

Experience a breathtaking over the water light show at the River’s of Light show!

Kali River Rapids is a roaring river rapid ride through jungle landscape!  This is one of Emily’s favorite rides and she made us go on it many, many times even though we were soaking wet 🙂

One of our favorite family restaurants, “Rainforest Cafe” is located right inside Animal Kingdom!  Call ahead for a reservation

Disney Hollywood Studios Park:

A park dedicated to celebrating the magic of movies, television, music, and theater!  Hollywood inspired attractions that include roller coasters, 3D Movies, live stunt shows, and live musicals!

The live Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular was over the top amazing and one of Jessica’s favorite events!  🙂

Do you want to build a Snowman??  For the First Time in Forever – A Frozen Sing-A-Long Musical was amazing and one of Danielle’s favorite events!  🙂

Experience Hollywood’s Golden Age inside the replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater!  Once inside the theater you can hop on “The Great Movie Ride” that showcased the evolution of movies over the years.  One of Jessica’s favorites 🙂

Hop on The Toy Story ride that is also an interactive game that you play while on the ride, highest score wins!  We went on this twice, so fun!  This was one of Jessica’s favorites 🙂

***Example of how to Savvy travel this trip:

(Below is an overview of how to savvy travel this trip, for complete details please sign up for our FREE Savvy Travel Guide that gives complete step by step instructions.)

NOTE:  These are real life examples of using points and miles for this trip, as travel card benefits can change, make sure you read the current offer before applying for any travel cards.

You will want to earn all the points for the hotel AND air fare before booking, because you want to make sure you reserve them at the same time to ensure your hotel dates match up with your airline flights 🙂

Overall, in my savvy travel opinion this trip can be as inexpensive or expensive as you make it.  You will have airfare and hotel (savvy traveling can help with most of those costs), then you are left with food and transportation around Orlando for the most part!

Airfare Example:

NOTE TO KEEP IN MIND-

Chase Ultimate Rewards are some of the best transferable points out there!  Due to their transfer value (1 Chase Ultimate Reward point is equal to 1.2 Southwest Rapid Reward points or United MileagePlus miles!)

You and your spouse/significant other can each earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points by taking advantage of travel card benefits.

So, for this trip, after you earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points they can be transferred to either your Southwest Rapid Rewards account (Note: transfer points do not count toward earning the Southwest Companion Pass), or they can be transferred to your United MileagePlus frequent flyer account.  There are a total of 11 different Airline and Hotel transfer partners for Chase Ultimate Rewards.

There are several airline options when flying to Orlando, Florida, so I will just list a few different options for savvy travel hacking your way to Orlando, Florida.

Example Option-A:  United-

Join the United MileagePlus Frequent Flyer Program.  You will want to create a “United MileagePlus frequent flyer” account for each person in your family that will be flying.

Enter your individual MileagePlus frequent flyer number when you apply for the travel card.

You and your spouse/significant other can each earn 40,000 bonus miles by taking advantage of travel card benefits.

After you and your spouse/significant other have each earned 40,000 miles, you will have a total 80,000 miles in your United MileagePlus Frequent Flyer Accounts.   You will use those points to purchase round trip tickets via United Airlines  for your family.

Say you have a family of four, it should take 25,000 United MileagePlus miles to purchase a round trip “Economy Saver Award” ticket for each family members to fly round trip from most other areas within the continental United States.  So, you could use 25,000 United MileagePlus miles x 3 (people) = 75,000 total miles to purchase 3 round trip tickets, then you would just need to purchase one ticket out right for your fourth person for approx $300-$400 (depending on when you fly).  Still a great deal considering you will only be paying approx $300-$400 (+tax of $11.20 per ticket) for all of the four round trip tickets!  You can also spend more on the card to build up more points to your account or transfer points from other loyalty programs.

Example Option-B:  Delta Airlines-

Join Delta SkyMiles Loyalty Program  You will want to create a “Delta SkyMiles Member” account for each person in your family that will be flying.

Enter your individual Delta SkyMiles Member number when you apply for the travel card.

You and your spouse could each earn 40,000 SkyMiles miles by taking advantage of travel card benefits.

So, after you have each earned 40,000 SkyMiles miles, you will have a total 80,000 miles in your SkyMiles Member Accounts.   You can use those points to purchase round trip tickets via Delta Airlines to Orlando, FL for your family.  Say you have a family of four, it will take about 25,000 SkyMiles to purchase a round trip ticket for each family member to fly.

So, you will need 25,000 x 4 (people) = 100,000 total miles to purchase all four round trip tickets.  Since you will have 80,000 miles between your two (parents) Delta SkyMiles Member accounts you will have enough miles to cover three of the round trip flights!  You can spend more on the card to build up more points to your account.  You will still have to pay the $11.20 per ticket tax for each of the four round trip tickets.

Example Option-C: Southwest-

Another great choice would be Southwest since you can utilize the companion pass (check out our page on the Southwest Companion fly free pass).

If you have a family of four (like me), and two of you (both parents), are able to earn the Southwest Companion Fly Free Pass, then that would mean that each parent could name one of the kids as their Fly Free companion, and thus the kids fly free for the year that the pass is earned (hopefully strategically earning it in January so it is good for the entire calendar year), PLUS the following calendar year!

It takes 110,000 Rapid Reward points to earn the Southwest Companion Fly Free Pass, those Rapid Reward points can be earned by taking advantage of the travel card benefits and rewards, and thus earning the Southwest Companion Fly Free pass.  Both you and your spouse/significant other can each earn the Southwest Companion Fly Free Pass.  Then you can use the rapid reward points that you earned to purchase the first two tickets (for parents), then you would use the Southwest Companion Fly Free Passes to purchase the other two tickets (for the kids)!

Join the Southwest Rapid Rewards.  You will want to create a “Southwest Rapid Rewards” account for each person in your family that will be flying.

Enter your individual Rapid Rewards number when you apply for the travel card.

Hotel Example:

Join the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) Rewards Program.

Enter your Starwood Preferred Guest rewards number when you apply for the travel card.

You and your spouse/significant can each earn 25,000 bonus starpoints by taking advantage of travel card benefits.

After you have each earned 25,000 starpoints, you will have a total 50,000 points in your SPG Rewards account.

Once you have the 50,000 bonus points in your SPG Reward Account you are ready to make your reservation, you would go to Starwood Hotels.com to make your reservation or call SPG customer service at 519-637-6500.  We stayed at both of the following hotels in Orlando, FL due to our airline flight schedule and hotel availability, so we will list our favorite features of each hotel below:

***We stayed two nights at the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort, 12205 S. Apopka Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL.  Check out their website photos, it is a great family friendly place!

It took 7,000 starpoints/night to redeem each free night at this resort.  7,000 x 2 (nights) = 14,000 starpoints.  Points covered the room fee, we just had to pay the $22/night resort fee!  To make our reservation I called SPG customer service at 519-637-6500 so I could get help with the availability at all the area resorts and match it up to my flights and our stay at the Disney Dolphin Resort.  Their customer support is outstanding!

We all LOVED this resort! 🙂   Our room was a “Florida Bunk Bed room” with free wifi and free shuttle to Walt disney parks.  We had a couch and chair in the living area with a tv and small fridge, microwave, and coffee maker.  As you walk toward the bedroom there were two bunk beds with a little reading light built into each bunk bed that Jessica and Emily LOVED 🙂  There was a full bathroom and full separate bedroom with another tv and a slider door that lead out to our own patio that faced the pool 🙂

Jessica and Emily loved the pool and especially the water slide at this resort the best 🙂  They spent a lot of time at the waterslide!  We could always find chairs and fresh towels at the huge pool.  All the rooms circle around the pool, so every room is close to the pool.  This resort had a fantastic outdoor bar and grill right by the pool with a great menu and yummy food at reasonable prices.  There was a beautiful fire pit area to sit around and roast s’mores (smore kits are sold at the on site grocery store!).  There is also an indoor restaurant, a mini grocery store on site where you can buy milk, creamer, ice cream, snacks, etc.  There are also many restaurants within walking distance of this resort, it is a great location!

The staff at this resort was the friendliest of anywhere we have ever stayed!  We were also presented with a $40 food voucher upon check in just for being SPG members and booking our room with points!  We used the vouchers to cover dinner at the pool one night 🙂  When we go back to Florida, this is where we will stay the entire time, LOVED IT 🙂

***We also stayed five nights at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, 1500 Epcot Resort Blvd, Lake Buena Vista, Florida.  Check out their website photos, it is an over the top resort!  The second pic below was the view from our hotel room!  The first pic is the back of the Dolphin Resort that faces the Disney Swan hotel (they are on the same property and you can also use their pool!)

It took 10,000 starpoints/night to redeem each of the four nights with points at this resort, plus you get the 5th night free when you use points for the first four nights!  10,000 x 4 (nights) = 40,000 starpoints + the extra free 5th night!  Points covered the room fee, we just had to pay the $25/night resort fee!  To make our reservation I called SPG customer service at 519-637-6500, so I could get help with the availability at all the area resorts and match it up to my flights and our stay at the Disney Dolphin Resort.  Their customer support is outstanding! 🙂

The starpoint free nights that you can redeem with points at this resort are your basic hotel room.  It included free wifi and free bus shuttle to The Magic Kingdom and Wild Animal Park and free boat shuttle to Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios!  Our room had two double beds, small fridge, one tv, coffee maker, nice bathroom, very nice upscale room.  The resort had several great restaurants to choose from on site.  There are no off site restaurants within walking distance of this resort.

The “Picabo” on site restaurant has yummy family affordable cafeteria style food.  Some of our family favorites:  Emily:  Mac n cheese  Jessica:  Tuna Sandwich  Danielle:  Beans & Rice bowl topped with cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and salsa  Mike:  Build your own burrito.  Total cost about $40 for all of us.  This restaurant also contains an on site small grocery store where you can purchase milk, cereal, snacks, some toiletries, etc.

The “Fountain” on site restaurant offers yummy hamburgers and other American favorites.  Some of our family favorites:  Emily:  Hot dog w/ fries  Jessica:  Hot dog w/ sweet potato fries & chocolate shake Danielle:  Cheeseburger w/ sweet potato fries & chocolate shake  Mike:  Bacon burger, fries, and chocolate shake.  Shakes were a little pricey at about $4/ea, but very yummy!  Total cost about $63 for all of us.  This restaurant also contains a complete ice cream, soft serve, and sundae menu along with an ice cream bar that serves ice cream to go! 🙂

Poolside food and drink service at this resort was the bomb! 🙂  They brought us free huge cups of ice water (this was so great because it is SO hot and humid you need lots of water), and the food was yummy!  Family favorites at poolside were:  Emily:  Chicken strips w/ extra ranch dressing 🙂  Jessica:  Hot dog w/ fries  Danielle:  Salad  Mike:  Chicken strips.  Total cost about $30-$35 for all of us.

There is also a pizza food truck that parks near the pool that sells yummy “to go” pizza that you can eat pool side for about $9 each for a small pizza with four slices of either cheese or cheese with pepperoni.

There was also an additional outdoor sit down restaurant that we didn’t try, only because we liked being near the pool since it was so hot.  There was also a nice steak & seafood restaurant on site that we didn’t try either, but it looked yummy.

This resort was LARGE, when I say large, I mean HUMONGUS!   To go to the pool we went down the elevator about 8 floors, then down a hall to an escalator that took us down to pool level, then we traveled through several winding hallways, and finally reached the door that headed out toward the pool.  Once outside that door we trekked over past the adult lap pool and over to the main pools that were huge, beautiful, over the top amazing with waterfalls, small water slide, several jacuzzis, and a bridge! 🙂

It was difficult to find open lounge chairs since the pool was so crowded but once we did find chairs life was good.  The trek TO the pool wasn’t too bad on the way there except if you are trying to maneuver a 7ft blow up alligator through the elevator, escalator, and hallways!  Going FROM the pool to the room was a long walk when you are all wet and just want to get to the room.  The poolside service for the bar and grill had great speedy service and yummy food!

So, as far as Starpoints go, we had 56,000 in our SPG Starpoint account to use on hotel for this trip and we used a total of 54,000 starpoints to cover the 7 nights at the above two resorts:  14,000 starpoints at Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort and 40,000 starpoints + the free 5th night when you reserve four nights with points at Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort !!

Savvy Travel hack to cover a huge portion of the cost of your Disney Park tickets!!! 🙂

You can purchase your Disney theme park tickets from Undercover tourist with one or more flexible travel redemption credit cards:

How does this work?

Flexible travel redemption credit cards are the easiest travel cards to use in my savvy travel opinion!  You are allowed to “erase/delete” (get credited) from your credit card statement purchases that are coded as TRAVEL.  So you make the travel purchases on your travel credit card during time period allowed and meet the required spend (your travel purchase can be part of the required spend!) on the credit card in order for the travel credit bonus points to be awarded in your account.

Then you log in to your credit card statement and just “erase/delete” the charges from the card statement!  You can only “erase/delete” charges that were billed to your flexible travel credit card and coded as “travel”.

So, hotel expenses count; like hotel nightly resort fees and taxes, rental car fees, and in this case any purchases made for tickets from Undercover tourist.  Since Undercover Tourist codes the charge to your credit card as “travel” since they are coded as a travel agency! 

There are no shipping costs and tax is included in the ticket prices.  You can spread the tickets out over two or more cards also!

***This is how we did it:

***Travel Card# 1 (Danielle’s card):

Earn 40,000 “Arrival Miles” by taking advantage of the travel card benefits.

I used this card and ordered- One 4-Day Magic Your Way Ticket – with 2 Extra Days (E-ticket) – Adult for $394.35 AND ordered One 4-Day Magic Your Way Ticket – with 2 Extra Days (E-ticket) – Child for $373.58 for a Total of = $767.93.

Once we met the minimum spend on the card, the travel credit bonus points were awarded in my credit card account and I just had to log into my travel card account and use the travel credit bonus points that were worth $460.00 (40,000 pts from meeting the required spend to earn the bonus and an additional 60 points ($60) from earning 2 points/$1 spent to meet the minimum spend).  So $767.93 – $460.00 = $307.93 is what I spent for one adult ticket and one child ticket!

I needed two more tickets, so Mike also applied for the same travel card:

***Travel Card# 2 (Mike’s card): 

Earn 40,000 “Arrival Miles” by taking advantage of the travel card benefits.

I used this card and ordered- One 4-Day Magic Your Way Ticket – with 2 Extra Days (E-ticket) – Adult for $394.35 AND ordered One 4-Day Magic Your Way Ticket – with 2 Extra Days (E-ticket) – Child for $373.58 for a Total of = $767.93.

Once we met the minimum spend on the card, the travel credit bonus points were awarded in my credit card account and I just had to log into my travel card account and use the travel credit bonus points that were worth $460.00 (40,000 pts from meeting the required spend to earn the bonus and an additional 60 points ($60) from earning 2 points/$1 spent to meet the minimum spend).  So $767.93 – $460.00 = $307.93 is what I spent for one adult ticket and one child ticket!

The following card is an even a BETTER DEAL!

*** Travel Card# 1 (Danielle’s card):

Earn 50,000 “Venture Miles” by taking advantage of the travel card benefits.

Use this card and order- One 4-Day Magic Your Way Ticket – with 2 Extra Days (E-ticket) – Adult for $394.35 AND order One 4-Day Magic Your Way Ticket – with 2 Extra Days (E-ticket) – Child for $373.58 for a Total of = $767.93.

Once you meet the minimum spend on the card, the travel credit bonus points will be awarded in your credit card account and you just need to log into your travel Card account and use the travel credit bonus points that are worth $560.00 (50,000 pts from meeting the required spend to earn the bonus and an additional 60 points ($60) from earning 2 points/$1 spent to meet the minimum spend).  So $767.93 – $560.00 = $207.93 is what you would spend for one adult ticket and one child ticket!

(then repeat process for spouse card #2)

***Make sure:

#1  You order your tickets from Undercover Tourist because they are considered a travel agency and the tickets will be coded as a travel expense to your flexible travel redemption credit card when billed and is the only way you will be able to use the credit on your card account.

#2  Have your ticket order from Undercover Tourist billed to one (or spread out over a couple) of the flexible travel redemption credit cards

Restaurants in Orlando:

Check out Deals from Restaurants.com to SAVE some money!!

Transportation in Orlando, Florida:

Hotel Shuttles – most hotels will offer some free shuttle service to the parks, so be sure to check the shuttle at your hotel first.

Uber – when there is no free shuttle available from your hotel or if the shuttle times don’t match up with your schedule, go Uber all the way!  Our Florida trip was our first experience with Uber and it was great!  Download the Uber app and use this promo code to get you started.   There are LOTS of Uber drivers in Orlando so there is always one right around the corner so be ready out front when you request a pick up!

Even to/from the Airport Uber was fantastic and so much cheaper than other transportation services!

**Check out our Reward Travel Credit Cards

Check out all our featured trips: to Washington D.C., Maui, Hawaii, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida and get inspired to travel!  Each featured trip offers examples of how to offset the cost of the trip by using travel points and miles to help cover airline and hotel costs.  We also include family tips with each trip for best restaurants, family tours, free museums, best beaches for family snorkeling, what loved about the hotels we have stayed at, and what your family should take on each trip to make and amazing family vacation!

Learn how to travel like we do!  Sign up for our FREE Savvy Travel Guide to learn how to Savvy Travel.  You will also get access to our step by step instructions on how to savvy travel this trip along with our other featured trips!  Check it out, you will be amazed at how it will open up travel to your family 🙂

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