How Much Our April 2026 Disney World Trip Actually Costs: A Full Pre-Trip Breakdown

I’m heading to Disney World next week with my two kids — and our hotel is completely free. Here’s exactly what we’re spending (and not spending) on this trip.

We’re doing it again.

Next week, I’m packing up the kids and heading to Disney World, just the three of us, and thanks to credit card points, cashback strategies, and a whole lot of Disney gift cards, we’re covering the majority of this trip without spending much out of pocket.

If you’ve been following along, you know we love breaking down the real numbers. Not theoretical “you could save” projections, but the actual, here’s what we’re paying costs. So before we leave, we wanted to walk you through every dollar of this trip and show you exactly how we planned it.

The short version? Our hotel is free. Our park tickets are free. And we have $1,275 in Disney gift cards to cover food for all five park days — earned almost entirely through TopCashback rewards built up over time.

Let’s break it all down.

The Trip at a Glance

Here’s what we’re working with:

• Who: Me and my 2 kids (family of 3)
• Train: Amtrak from New York to Jacksonville, FL (and returning Charleston to New York)
• Car rental: Picked up in Jacksonville, driving to Miami for a quick visit with friends, then up to Orlando
• Hotel: Hyatt House Orlando / International Drive — 6 nights, completely free on Hyatt points
• Park tickets: Using our Incredi-Passes (already paid for and saving us money trip after trip)
• Food: $1,275 in Disney gift cards from TopCashback — that’s about $85 per person per day for our 5 park days

The Full Cost Breakdown

Here’s every line item for this trip, side by side — what it would cost at retail versus what we’re actually paying.

That’s a savings of over $4,700 — or roughly 81% off the retail cost of this trip.

The $1,100 we are spending out of pocket is mostly just transportation for the trains and the car rental. Everything else? Covered by points and cashback rewards.

How We Got 6 Hotel Nights for Free

This is always the question we get: “How do you actually get free hotels?”

For this trip, we’re staying at the Hyatt House Orlando / International Drive for 6 nights. The cash price for our stay would have been $1,111.50. We paid $0.

We used 57,000 World of Hyatt points to book the entire stay.

Here’s the thing — we earned those points from the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card. The current sign-up bonus on this card is 60,000 points after meeting the minimum spend. That’s more than enough to cover our entire 6-night stay, with 3,000 points left over.

One card. One sign-up bonus. Six free nights.

If you’re not familiar with how hotel points work for Disney World trips, we have a full breakdown in our guide to using Hyatt points for Disney World hotels. And if you want to compare Hyatt to Marriott and Hilton options, check out our best hotel credit cards for Disney World post.

Important note: Hyatt is changing its award chart in May 2026. They’re expanding from 3 redemption tiers to 5, and rates are expected to increase by 60% or more on some properties. If you’re thinking about booking a Hyatt near Disney World on points, it’s worth looking into before the new rates take effect. We’ll be writing a full breakdown of those changes soon.

Park Tickets: $0 Thanks to the Incredi-Pass

We’re using our Disney Incredi-Passes for this trip, which means no out-of-pocket cost for park tickets.

We did a full breakdown on whether the Incredi-Pass is worth it in our Incredi-Pass savings analysis post. The short version is that if you go to Disney World more than twice a year, the annual pass starts saving you serious money. We’ve more than hit our break-even point, so every trip from here on out is pure savings on the ticket side.

For this trip, that saves us $2,630.91 in ticket costs, that’s $876.97 per person for 5-day Park Hopper Plus tickets, times three of us.

$1,275 in Disney Gift Cards — How We’re Eating for (Almost) Free

This is one of our favorite strategies, and it’s one that any family can start doing right now.

We have $1,275 in Disney gift cards that we earned through TopCashback rewards, built up over time. We didn’t buy these all at once — we’ve been stacking cashback earnings from regular purchases and converting them into Disney gift cards gradually.

That $1,275 covers our food for all 5 park days. That breaks down to roughly $85 per person per day — which is a solid Disney dining budget that lets us enjoy sit-down meals without stressing about the bill.

And here’s the key: we didn’t pay for these gift cards out of pocket. They came from cashback rewards we earned on purchases we were already making.

If you want to learn how to start building your own Disney gift card stash, our eat for free at Disney World post walks through the full strategy. And our cashback apps for Disney World post covers all the apps we use and how to stack them. For the most details on Cashback Apps check out our Cashback App ToolKit.

Transportation: Amtrak + Rental Car

This is the one area where we’re paying cash, and we’re good with that.

We’re taking Amtrak from New York to Jacksonville for $548 (3 tickets). I chose the train over flying for a few reasons: it’s a more relaxed experience for us, there’s no baggage stress, and the kids actually enjoy it. Plus, it gives us flexibility to pick up a rental car in Jacksonville and make a quick side trip to Miami to visit friends for 2 nights before heading up to Orlando.

For the return, we’re catching the Amtrak from Charleston back to New York for $314. I like breaking up the trip this way — it lets us see a little more of the coast and avoids the rush of trying to get to the airport after a week at Disney.

Our rental car is $238.81, booked through Priceline. We also ran it through TopCashback to earn cashback on the booking, because why not stack savings even on the things you’re paying cash for?

Total transportation: $1,100.81 and that’s the only real out-of-pocket cost for this entire trip.

Before you book anything for your trip (hotels, rental cars, tickets), run it through TopCashback first.

You can earn real cash back on purchases you’re already making. Use this same strategy for all of your regular purchases, not just travel!

Planning This Trip as a Neurodivergent Family

If you’re new here — I’m autistic and have ADHD, and my kids are neurodivergent too. That shapes every decision we make when planning a Disney trip, including this one.

Here are some of the things we’re factoring in:

My daughter was approved for DAS (Disability Access Service). This is a huge one for us. DAS lets her get a return time for attractions instead of waiting in a traditional queue, which makes a real difference for sensory regulation and anxiety. If you’re not sure whether DAS is right for your family we cover the full experience in our Disney World for neurodivergent families post.

We’re staying off property on purpose. The Hyatt House Orlando / International Drive isn’t on Disney property, and that’s intentional. After a full day in the parks, we need somewhere quiet to decompress. On-property resorts can feel like the stimulation never stops between buses, crowds, music, pool noise. An off-property hotel gives us that reset. The Hyatt House also has a kitchen, which means we can do low-key breakfasts and snacks in the room instead of starting every morning in a noisy restaurant. We bring fruit and healthy snacks to the parks (and buy the fun ones in the parks too). But I find my kids and myself function better when we eat at least some fruit and vegetables.

We’re not doing rope drop. We know the common advice is to get there early and go hard. That doesn’t work for us. We go at our own pace, take breaks when we need them, and leave when the kids are done, not when we’ve “maximized” our ticket. The Incredi-Pass makes this possible without guilt, because we’re not trying to squeeze $200 worth of value out of a single-day ticket.

We pack a sensory kit. Loop earplugs, noise-canceling headphones, fidgets, familiar snacks, sunglasses. These go everywhere with us. If you want to see exactly what we bring, it’s all in our updated packing list for Disney World post.

We build in flexibility. Our plan is loose on purpose. We know which parks we want to hit, but we don’t have a minute-by-minute itinerary. If someone needs a break, we take a break. If a park day turns into a half-day, that’s fine. The goal isn’t to do everything, it’s to have a trip where everyone feels safe and regulated.

We’ll be sharing more about how all of this plays out during the actual trip in our post-trip recap. Because saving money on Disney World is great, but it only matters if your family actually enjoys the experience.

What This Trip Would Cost Without Points & Cashback

Let’s put it in perspective.

If we booked this trip at full retail, paid cash for the hotel, bought regular tickets, and paid for all our meals out of pocket, we’d be looking at nearly $5,820 for the trip.

Instead, we’re spending $1,100.81.

That’s a savings of over $4,700, or about 81% off.

The Strategies Behind the Savings

None of this happened by accident. Here’s a quick summary of the strategies we used:

1. Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card — The 60,000-point sign-up bonus covered our entire 6-night hotel stay (57,000 points used). One card, one bonus, $1,111 saved.
2. Incredi-Pass — Our Disney annual passes eliminate ticket costs on every trip. We’ve already passed the break-even point, so each visit is pure savings.
3. TopCashback — We’ve been earning cashback on everyday purchases and converting those earnings into Disney gift cards over time. That’s where the $1,275 in gift cards came from.
4. Priceline + TopCashback for car rental — Even on our cash expenses, we stacked cashback to squeeze out extra savings.

This is exactly what we mean when we say the magic shouldn’t come with financial stress. You don’t need a huge budget to take your family to Disney World. You need a strategy.

Want to Build Your Own Disney Points Strategy?

If you want to start building a strategy like this for your family, here’s where to begin:

Our free Disney Points Cheat Sheet breaks down which points can cover what, the best cashback apps to use, and the stacking order that maximizes your savings. It’s the same framework we use for every single trip.

And if you want a personalized plan built specifically for your family’s goals, credit cards, and timeline, our Disney Points Action Plan is a custom strategy designed by a CPA who has used these exact methods to save her own family thousands on Disney World.

We’ll be sharing a full trip recap after we get back — including our hotel review, restaurant reviews, the Amtrak experience, and a complete breakdown of how every dollar played out.