How to go to Disney with points and miles

Traveling to Disney World in Orlando, or Disneyland in California, Paris, or Tokyo is one of the most popular destinations in the world and a dream for many. However, such a great desire to experience the magic of Disney is often held back by a reality: the substantial cost of the complete experience.

While it is possible to plan most of the trip with points, such as flights and lodging, the biggest expense of a Disney trip tends to be the park tickets, and it is not usually possible to get extraordinary value by paying for them directly with card points, as is the case with flights and stays.

The good news is that there are various alternatives to tackle the cost of tickets and other components of the trip using points and miles, making practically the entire trip paid for this way, thereby saving thousands of dollars in the process.

Here is everything you need to know:

🏨 Lodging (4th or 5th night free)

Hotels, just like flights, can be booked entirely or practically entirely with points.

We have a specific article about flights which you can see here, so let's move on to hotels.

In Orlando, there is a wide variety of hotels of all ranges, from very cheap to very expensive and luxurious, from chains such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, Wyndham, and Choice. You can choose based on your points budget and the type of vacation you are looking for.

💡 Most of the time, we are going to make these trips for at least 4 nights, especially if we want to take advantage of all or most of the parks. In these cases, it is best to take advantage of the free night benefits when booking with points. For example:

If you have Hilton points, you can take advantage of the fifth night free when booking your stay using points by having at least Silver status with the chain, which is obtained simply by having their basic credit card with no annual fee.

That is, if you book 4 nights with points, you can book a 5th completely free. The best part is that Hilton has many properties for all budgets. This is undoubtedly a huge advantage on Disney trips.

For example, we have this Hilton Garden Inn near Lake Buena Vista, whose price per night in points can be as low as 26,000 points per night for 5 nights

In the calendar view, we see ranges where we can stay 5 nights for 26,000 points each, for a total of 130,000 points for 5 nights.

Similarly, if you have Marriott points, you can also get a free night when you book 5 nights with points. Unlike Hilton, you don't automatically get the 5th night free; instead, they discount the lowest-cost one, but you still end up paying for only 4.

If your trip is shorter, or you simply prefer IHG chain hotels, they can help by offering the fourth night free when booking with points. That is, you pay for 3 but stay for 4.

IHG has many budget-friendly properties close to the parks, including brands like Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, starting at just 10,000 to 15,000 points per night for 4 nights (40,000 to 60,000 points per stay).

These benefits are particularly useful for stays of 4, 5, or more nights, as they effectively reduce the average cost per night of your stay by getting a "free" night for each block of 4 or 5 nights booked with points.

The choice of hotel in Orlando will depend on your available points and what you are looking for in your vacation. Some people prefer mid-range hotels, as they spend most of their time out, particularly at the parks, and only need a comfortable, safe, and well-maintained place to rest.

🚘 If you plan to rent a car, which is usually the case most of the time, or if you were already driving a rental car from another city like Miami (which is also often the case), we recommend considering a hotel that includes parking.

If it's not included, this daily cost will add to the trip itinerary, but booking a hotel with points that inherently includes parking ends up being an excellent strategy.

☕️ And at least in our case, we usually look for hotels with breakfast included. This not only saves us money, since we absolutely have to have a good breakfast, but it also saves us time in the morning before heading to the parks.

Most included breakfasts tend to be continental, and the kitchens open very early.

If you have status starting at a certain level with some chains, as is the case with Globalist with Hyatt or Diamond with Hilton, it is possible that breakfast or an equivalent (such as a daily food credit) is covered even in hotels where it is not inherently included.

Daily breakfast included at a Hyatt in Miami for having Globalist status 🫰 10/10!