Quite a few things are changing in Disney World.

Paid FastPass-like systems are set to debut soon, the parks are getting ready to celebrate the Resort’s 50th Anniversary, the Magical Express is set to end in 2022, and more. And with some of those changes come additional costs that you’ll need to factor into your trip. So, just what would it cost a family to “do” Disney World in light of these upcoming changes. We’re breaking down what you need to know right here.

First, let’s introduce our family. We’ve got Peter (+18), Agatha (+18), Belle (8), and Flynn (4). Our family of 2 adults and 2 kiddos is planning a trip for the holiday season next year (in 2022). Let’s see what it’ll cost them.

Hotel + Tickets

First, we’ll look at the cost of a hotel and ticket package. Our family’s trip will take place from December 15th through the 19th, 2022. There were a variety of options available, from the least expensive…

…and mid-range options…

…all the way up to the most expensive options available.

For our choice, we stuck near the cheaper side with a stay at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, priced at around $214.50 per night.

We then added on 4 days of theme park tickets and stuck with 1-park per day tickets (rather than add on the Park Hopper option — note that the Park Hopper option would have made these tickets more expensive). Also, keep in mind that tickets are date-based when it comes to price, so (just like the hotel rooms) they can vary widely depending on when you choose to visit.

The total for our tickets and hotel stay was $3,118.70.

Click here to see some of the latest Disney World discounts.

Transportation to Orlando

Next, we’ll need to figure out the cost of getting to Orlando. This will vary greatly depending on where you’ll be visiting from. Maybe you’ll be traveling to Orlando via your own car. If so, you’ll need to factor in gas costs. If you’re thinking of driving but are going to rent a car, that car rental is another cost to think about.

Perhaps you’ll be taking a bus to Orlando from your home. You’ll want to factor in the cost of that bus to get there.

Or, you may be flying into Orlando from another location. You’ll want to set aside part of your budget to account for your airfare and any associated fees (like checked luggage or fees for seat selection, etc).

Our family lives in Dallas so we got the cost for a round trip from Dallas Fort Worth to Orlando International Airport. We want them to arrive early so they can spend the rest of their arrival day in the parks. We couldn’t price out airfare all the way into December of 2022 on Google, so we looked at similar dates in December of this year.

The estimated cost for the roundtrip for all 4 passengers was $1,732 based on the flights we selected.

There were other options available, however, and the price can vary depending on what options you select.

Click here to see the average cost to fly to Disney World in September.

Transportation to/from Disney World and the Airport

Next, since the trip is set for 2022, Disney’s Magical Express will already be discontinued. That means the family will need to figure out how to get to and from the airport to their Disney World hotel. There are a variety of options they could use including a rideshare service, a taxi, a private car transfer, and more.

One specific option quite a few families may be interested in is Mears Connect. Mears Connect is a new service that will be offered by Mears starting in 2022. Mears is the company that has been operating the Magical Express on behalf of Disney. Mears connect is said to provide “the same reliable, safe, express service” guests are used to, though it does have some differences compared to Magical Express.

The price for Mears Connect’s Standard Service which is a shared service that includes large vehicles and monitored wait times is about $32 per adult and $27 per child (round trip).

For our trip, it wouldn’t let us look for a Mears Connect transportation as far as December of 2022, so we just got an estimate based on dates in January of 2022.

The total cost was $118.

Click here to see how the cost of Mears Connect compares to an Uber to Disney World.

Parking

Next, we’ll talk a bit about parking. Our family won’t be driving to Disney World, won’t be renting a car, and will be relying on Disney transportation while on property, so parking costs won’t apply to them. But, if you do drive a car (either your own or rented) to Disney and park it at your Disney World hotel, there is an overnight parking fee that you will be charged.

The overnight self-parking rate varies by the type of Disney World hotel you’re staying at. Check out the information below for more details.

Note that special parking rules apply to Disney Vacation Club members.

If you’re not staying at a Disney World hotel and will be using a car to travel to the parks each day, you’ll need to factor in parking costs at the theme parks. Note that Disney World hotel guests get complimentary parking at the theme parks, but guests not staying at Disney World hotels will need to pay to park at the theme parks.

The price for parking at the theme parks is $25 per day for standard cars and $30 per day for oversized vehicles.

Note that once you pay for parking at one of the theme parks on any particular day, your parking will be valid for all of the theme parks for that specific day.

Click here to see everything you need to know about parking in Disney World.

MagicBands

Next, we get to MagicBands! MagicBands used to be free for Disney World hotel guests, but this year Disney stopped providing hotel guests with complimentary bands. If you want to use a MagicBand throughout your trip because you find them stylish, convenient, or just for any other reason, you could utilize a MagicBand from home (i.e. one you already have from a past visit). If you don’t have one from a previous visit or you want a new one, you’ll have to purchase it.

Disney World hotel guests do, however, often get access to discounted rates for select MagicBands, so that might be a good way to grab one while still saving money.

Assuming our family doesn’t want any of the discounted MagicBands, but instead wants to buy some new ones of their own, the cost of the MagicBands can vary depending on the style of the band. The most basic style of MagicBand is now typically priced at $19.99, while others with more elaborate designs or those that are limited edition designs are more expensive.

For our example, we’ll assume that our family buys 1 MagicBand for each member of the group but sticks with the cheapest options available in the park (not the discounted ones available to hotel guests). That would make the total cost of MagicBands about $79.96 (without tax).

Keep in mind that you do not have to use a MagicBand at all if you don’t want to. Guests can ask for a Key to the World card to use during their stay. They can also use MagicMobile and the My Disney Experience app together to do many things MagicBands can do like unlock their hotel room door and scan their ticket to enter the theme parks.

It’s entirely up to you in terms of what services you want to use and what items you want to purchase.

Click here to learn more about Disney MagicMobile.

Food

Then, our family will have to factor in food. There can be a LOT of variation here. Some families will eat exclusively at quick service restaurants. Others will make heavy use of table service spots. Some skip breakfast and just drink coffee in the room. Others like to eat 3 full meals. What we’re saying is pricing here will vary a LOT depending on your family’s own eating habits and how much you’re looking to spend.

Keep in mind that the Disney Dining Plan is not being offered at the moment, but it is set to return to Disney World at some point in the future (Disney has not yet announced a date). It’s possible the Dining Plan could be available again once our family’s imaginary trip takes place.

But, for now, we’ll just estimate food costs without the Dining Plan. For our example, we’ll estimate the cost of 2 quick service meals and 1 table service meal per main day of their visit (16th, 17th, and 18th). We’ll include 2 quick service meals for the day of their arrival (15th) and 1 quick service meal for the day of their departure (19th).

We used Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe as an example for quick service meals and estimated each adult meal (without drinks) would cost around $12, while kids meals would cost around $7. That’s about $38 for a quick service meal.

For table service, we used Jungle Cruise Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen‘s lunch menu as an example. The average cost was about $25 or so for an adult entree (again, no drink), and about $12 for a kids entree. That’s about $74 for a table service meal.

So, in our example, that’s about $150 per day on the full days (450 for 3 days) (2 quick service, 1 table service), $76 for their arrival day (2 quick service), and $38 for their departure day (1 quick service). That’s a total of $564 for their trip.

Again, keep in mind these are just estimates and examples. You could potentially eat items for slightly less or (more realistically) MUCH more in Disney World depending on how you arrange things. Remember these estimates only included entrees, did not include drinks, and there was no allotment for snacks. So, likely the food costs would be higher. For purposes of our example, we’ll push it up a bit to $650.

Disney Genie+

Next, we get to a brand new cost you’ll have to prepare for in the future. FastPass+ is not returning to Disney World. Instead, in its place will be 2 paid FastPass-like systems, the main one of which is called Disney Genie+. With Genie+, you’ll pay $15 per ticket per day to select the next available time to ride an attraction using that ride’s “Lightning Lane” (a.k.a. FastPass lane).

Attraction selections can be made one at a time throughout the day, and over 40 attractions will be included in Genie+ at Disney World.

Paying for and using Genie+ is entirely optional. That means our family can continue to just use the standby lines or virtual queue processes already included in the price of their Disney World tickets if they want to.

But, maybe our family really wants to skip those standby lines and they figure they won’t be back to Disney World for a while, so they really want to make the most of this trip. In that case, they may opt to buy Genie+ for each day of their trip. They could also just buy it for 1 or 2 days of their trip if they’d prefer.

But, for our example, we’ll propose that they buy Genie for each day they have park tickets — that’s 4 days at $15 per person per day, which comes out to $240 for their trip.

Note that Disney Genie (the free planning service) is set to debut fall of 2021, and we expect Genie+ will debut then as well.

Click here to learn more about Genie+.

Individual Attraction Selection

Another thing the family might want to pay for is Disney’s NEW Individual Attraction Selection service.

Note that Disney Genie (the free planning service) is set to debut fall of 2021, and we expect Individual Attraction Selection will debut then as well.

With Individual Attraction Selection, guests will be able to schedule a time to arrive at and use an attraction’s Lightning Lane entrance. Guests can only make up to 2 Individual Attraction Selections per day. Individual Attraction Selection will be available for some of those super popular rides in Disney World like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.

The rides that you can buy an Individual Attraction Selection for will NOT be included in Genie+ (that means you won’t be able to make a Lightning Lane selection for a ride like Rise of the Resistance through Genie+, you’ll have to specifically pay for it individually through the Individual Attraction Selection service).

Again, using this service is optional. Guests can continue to use the standby line or virtual queue arrangement (depending on the ride) which is included in their ticket.

But, let’s say our family wants to purchase 1 Individual Attraction Selection per day for all of the members in their group. That’s a cost they’ll have to plan ahead for. Right now, Disney has not released the pricing for Individual Attraction Selection. But, they have indicated that pricing will vary by date, attraction, and park.

For our example, we’ll use the system in place at Disneyland Paris (which is somewhat similar) as an example. Using that price range as a base, we’ll estimate that 1 Individual Attraction Selection could cost around $13. If you factor in the cost of 1 Individual Attraction Selection per member of their group per day that would be $208.

Click here to learn more about Individual Attraction Selection.

Other Costs

On top of the costs already discussed, our family will need to consider whether they want to pay for additional things for their trip. For example, does our family want to purchase any souvenirs during their trip? If so, they’ll need to think about that cost. For our trip, we’ll set a $100 merchandise limit.

Since they’ll be visiting during the holidays, they may want to also add on the cost of a holiday party. During these special ticketed events, generally, families get to experience special entertainment, holiday-themed treats, and more.

This year, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was canceled, and Disney Very Merriest After Hours is essentially replacing the event. The event begins in the evening, but guests can enter Magic Kingdom as early as 7AM on the day of their event. For our example, we’ll assume that our family would like to attend Very Merriest After Hours if offered next year (or a similar holiday-themed event is offered with similar pricing).

The cost for a date during a similar weekend in December of this year would cost about $975.56 for the entire family.

Keep in mind that our family could lower their overall costs by simply not going to this event OR by purchasing a ticket to this event instead of a park ticket. For example, on the day they fly into Orlando, they could hang out at their resort, use the pool, visit Disney Springs, etc. (for free), and then go to Magic Kingdom for this holiday event (rather than buy a park ticket for that day).

The family may also want to consider the cost of purchasing Memory Maker or buying select PhotoPass photos. With Memory Maker, the family will be able to download photos either from one day or from their entire trip, depending on what they choose to buy.

Or, our family could save money by simply taking photos with their own phones or cameras.

Click here to learn more about Disney Very Merriest After Hours.

Total

In total, the trip is priced as follows:

• Hotel and Tickets: $3,118.70
• Airfare: $1,732
• Mears connect: $118
• Parking: N/A
• MagicBands: $79.96
• Food: $650
• Genie+: $240
• Individual Attraction Selection: $208
• Merchandise: $100
• Very Merriest After Hours: $975.56
• Memory Maker: $169

Total: $7,391.22.

Again, some of these costs may not be the best in terms of planning. For example, our family could easily skip on a park ticket for one day and just rely on the Very Merriest ticket for that day, which could help them cut costs. They could also share meals, or do other things that could either make their trip less expensive or potentially more expensive.

And that’s a basic look at how much it would cost our family to go on a trip to Disney World. Of course, prices can change and vary often and will be different depending on how many people are in your party, what their ages are, what time you’ll be visiting Disney World, etc. But, we hope this snapshot gave you a general idea of where to start your budgets for future trips.

We’ll keep looking for Disney news and working on posts that can help you with all of your future trip planning, so be sure to check back with us for more.

Over half of our readers won’t pay for Disney Genie+ — click here to see what they had to say.

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Are you planning a trip to Disney World in the next year? Tell us in the comments.

The post How Much It Cost a Family of 4 to Do Disney World in 2022 first appeared on the disney food blog.