Économisez sur l'hôtel à Disney World

Disney World is a must-see destination… but it’s very expensive for families!

Découvrez ces astuces pour économiser à Disneyworld sur l’hébergement grâce aux points des programmes de fidélité !

Table of contents

Foreword

Parents of two young children (2 and 4 years old), Disney World will be one of our next family vacation destinations.

With this goal in mind, we have set our credit card applications strategy for the year.

The goal is to save money at Disney World on the main expenses of the trip:

Hotels or other accommodations (Marriott Bonvoy / Best Western / travel credits for Airbnb)
Amusement parks entrances (AIR MILES)
Expenses in amusement parks (AIR MILES)
Airfares tickets (AIR MILES / Aeroplan / travel credits)
Car rentals (AIR MILES / travel points)

In this first article, we’ll show you our strategy to save money at Disney World on the hotel with Marriott Bonvoy points! A future article will show you the hotels accessible with Best Western Rewards… and even airbnb accommodations accessible with points!

Découvrez en fin d’article comment il est possible grâce à notre stratégie de réduire drastiquement la facture d’hôtels !

Save money on hotel at Disney World with Marriott Bonvoy points

The Orlando area is well stocked with Marriott Bonvoy hotels.

To view this map, visit our full Marriott Bonvoy hotel page.

Marriott Bonvoy utilise une grille tarifaire de 8 catégories pour distinguer ses 7,000+ hôtels.

Category	Off-Peak	Standard	Peak Season
1	5,000	7,500	10,000
2	10,000	12,500	15,000
3	15,000	17,500	20,000
4	20,000	25,000	30,000
5	30,000	35,000	40,000
6	40,000	50,000	60,000
7	50,000	60,000	70,000
8	70,000	85,000	100,000

Ainsi, il en coûtera entre 5,000 points et 100 000 points pour vous offrir une nuit gratuite dans l’un des 7,000+ hôtels appartenant à Marriott Bonvoy.

Low/high-season pricing will come into effect in 2019. This will be based on hotels and not generalized throughout the portfolio.

There are Marriott Bonvoy hotels in ALL price ranges.

The points cost of Marriott Bonvoy hotels at Disney World

When looking close to the amusement parks:

Epcot
Magic Kingdom
Animal Kingdom
Hollywood Studios
Seaworld

… we find that hotels cost between 17,500 and 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.

disneyworld cible hotels marriott bonvoy 1

4 nights with points = the 5th free!

The big advantage of the Marriott Bonvoy program is to offer the fifth night when the first 4 nights were paid withpoints, which saves 20% in points!

Thus, for a 5-night stay, the cost per night will be between 14,000 and 40,000 points depending on the hotel!

The list of Marriott Bonvoy hotels around Disney World

Here is the full list of Marriott Bonvoy hotels around the main amusement parks and points of interest:

Disney World/Lake Buena Vista
Animal Kingdom
Seaworld
Universal Studios
Orlando ^MCO Airport
Downtown Orlando

Hotel	Category	Tarif par nuit	Tarif 5 nuits	Location
ORLANDO AIRPORT MARRIOTT LAKESIDE	4	25,000	100,000	AÉROPORT ^MCO
Sheraton Suites Orlando Airport	4	25,000	100,000	Aéroport ^MCO
Fairfield Inn Orlando Airport	4	25,000	100,000	Aéroport ^MCO
Residence Inn Orlando Airport	4	25,000	100,000	Aéroport ^MCO
SpringHill Suites Orlando Airport	4	25,000	100,000	Aéroport ^MCO
Courtyard Orlando Airport	4	25,000	100,000	Aéroport ^MCO
Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel	4	25,000	100,000	Aéroport ^MCO
SpringHill Suites Orlando at Flamingo Crossings/Western Entrance	4	25,000	100,000	DisneyWorld / Animal Kingdom
TownePlace Suites Orlando at Flamingo Crossings/Western Entrance	4	25,000	100,000	DisneyWorld / Animal Kingdom
Walt Disney World Swan	6	50,000	200,000	Disney World/Lake Buena Vista
Walt Disney World Dolphin	6	50,000	200,000	Disney World/Lake Buena Vista
Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando, Autograph Collection	5	35,000	140,000	Downtown Orlando
Marriott Orlando Downtown	4	25,000	100,000	Downtown Orlando
Residence Inn Orlando Downtown	4	25,000	100,000	Downtown Orlando
Aloft Orlando Downtown	4	25,000	100,000	Downtown Orlando
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center	5	35,000	140,000	Kissimmee / Lake Buena Vista
Bohemian Hotel Celebration, Autograph Collection	5	35,000	140,000	Kissimmee / Lake Buena Vista
SpringHill Suites Orlando Kissimmee	4	25,000	100,000	Kissimmee / Lake Buena Vista
Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando Kissimmee/Celebration	4	25,000	100,000	Kissimmee / Lake Buena Vista
Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas, Lake Buena Vista/Orlando	6	50,000	200,000	Lake Buena Vista
MARRIOTT’S ROYAL PALMS	6	50,000	200,000	LAKE BUENA VISTA
Marriott’s Imperial Palms Villas	6	50,000	200,000	Lake Buena Vista
Marriott’s Sabal Palms	6	50,000	200,000	Lake Buena Vista
Orlando World Center Marriott	5	35,000	140,000	Lake Buena Vista
Residence Inn Orlando Lake Buena Vista	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
SpringHill Suites Orlando Lake Buena Vista/Palm Parkway	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
Courtyard Orlando Lake Buena Vista at Vista Centre	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
Fairfield Inn and Suites Orlando Lake Buena Vista	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
Delta Hotels Orlando Lake Buena Vista	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
SpringHill Suites Orlando Lake Buena Vista in Marriott Village	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando Lake Buena Vista in the Marriott Village	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
Courtyard Orlando Lake Buena Vista in the Marriott Village	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
TownePlace Suites Orlando Theme Parks/Lake Buena Vista	4	25,000	100,000	Lake Buena Vista
JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes	6	50,000	200,000	Seaworld
The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes	6	50,000	200,000	Seaworld
Marriott’s Cypress Harbour Villas	6	50,000	200,000	Seaworld
Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve	5	35,000	140,000	Seaworld
Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld^®	5	35,000	140,000	Seaworld
Marriott’s Harbour Lake	5	35,000	140,000	Seaworld
MARRIOTT’S GRANDE VISTA	5	35,000	140,000	SEAWORLD
Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando at SeaWorld^®	4	25,000	100,000	Seaworld
SpringHill Suites Orlando at SeaWorld^®	4	25,000	100,000	Seaworld
TownePlace Suites Orlando at SeaWorld^®	4	25,000	100,000	Seaworld
Residence Inn Orlando at SeaWorld^®	4	25,000	100,000	Seaworld
Four Points by Sheraton Orlando Convention Center	3	17,500	70,000	Seaworld
Castle Hotel, Autograph Collection	5	35,000	140,000	SeaWorld / Universal
Courtyard Orlando International Drive/Convention Center	4	25,000	100,000	SeaWorld / Universal
Residence Inn Orlando Convention Center	4	25,000	100,000	SeaWorld / Universal
SpringHill Suites Orlando Convention Center/International Drive Area	4	25,000	100,000	SeaWorld / Universal
Courtyard Orlando South/John Young Parkway	4	25,000	100,000	SeaWorld / Universal
SpringHill Suites Orlando at Millenia	4	25,000	100,000	Universal Studios
Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando Near Universal Orlando Resort	4	25,000	100,000	Universal Studios
Residence Inn Near Universal Orlando	4	25,000	100,000	Universal Studios
Four Points by Sheraton Orlando International Drive	4	25,000	100,000	Universal Studios
Fairfield Inn & Suites Orlando International Drive/Convention Center	4	25,000	100,000	Universal Studios

The best Marriott Bonvoy hotels at Disney World

For a family who wants to save money at Disney World, it’s important to choose their hotel! Some Marriott Bonvoy hotels offer:

real apartments with a kitchen, a very important aspect with children. This is the case for those brands:
- Residence Inn
- TownePlace Suites

Free breakfast for all, regardless of Marriott Bonvoy status. This is the case for those brands:
- Residence Inn
- TownePlace Suites
- Fairfield Inn and Suites
- Springhill and Suites

So if you really want to save on hotel at Disney world and on food, you’ll have to choose a Residence Inn or a TownePlace Suites.

For us, the hotels that have the best value around Disney World are these:

TownePlace Suites

TownePlace Suites Orlando Theme Parks/Lake Buena Vista hotel is conveniently located in Lake Buena Vista, just outside Disneyworld.

It is also across the street from Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets stores.

Pour faire votre épicerie dans les supermarchés Winn-Dixie et Publix qui sont à proximité, n’oubliez pas d’utiliser une carte de crédit sans frais de conversion en devises étrangères afin de sauver 2.5% sur chaque transaction:

The hotel has “studio rooms with 2 bed queens and kitchen” or suites.

The cost per night is 25,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

For 5 nights, it will cost you 100,000 points (with the fifth night free)with no additional fees!

Our second choice would be the TownePlace Suites Orlando at SeaWorld^® hotel which costs the same points, but is on the SeaWorld side.

Marriott Hotels WITHIN Disney World

If you have more Marriott Bonvoy points in your account, you could treat yourself and stay at one of the two Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Disney World:

These two hotels are Category 6 and therefore cost 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.

For 5 nights, it will cost you 200,000 points (fifth night free)! However, a “resort” fee of 33.75 USD/night is added to the total.

As official Disney World hotels, you get many advantages by staying at one of these 2 hotels including:

Extra Magic Hours
Fast Pass + / My Magic +
Complimentary transportation to parks
Free parking within the parks (but not at the hotel)

Caroline T. tip in the group: If you take one of these two hotels with Marriott points, you have to call Disney to add the reservation in the Disney profile (MyDisneyExperience). The addition is manual.

Our strategy with Marriott Bonvoy credit cards

Now that we have a “points goal”, from 70,000 to 200,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a 5-night stay at Disney World, let’s set the strategy to earn those points !

In Canada, there are 2 Marriott Bonvoy credit cards:

Anyone can get a business card from American Express: any individual can have income and business expenses,American Express will not require any proof.

Application for Bonvoy Cards

For one person, it is possible to apply for both cards on the same day: consumer card and small business card.

But it is of course possible to spread out the application over time, in order to carry the required purchases ($1500) during the first 3 months after application in order to unlock the welcome bonus of 50,000 points.

Within a couple, like Audrey and I, we each applied for the 2 cards (consumer and small business cards), which allows us to each earn:

60,000 points with the Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express^® Card.
60,000 points with the Marriott Bonvoy™ Business American Express^® Card.
16,000 points for the minimum spending required on the 2 cards
That’s 136,000 points per person!

Our couple will have earned 272,000 Marriott Bonvoy points by applying for the 4 cards for only $540 annual fees!

So a stay at Disney World would be fully paid thanks to the points (it costs only between 70,000 and 200,000 points for 5 nights). You might even have points left to offer you other free nights or a longer stay!

When applying for a Marriott Bonvoy card, don’t give your spouse’s Marriott membership number!

Each card holder must have his/her own membership number. Once the points are in your Marriott Bonvoy account you call Marriott to transfer those points from one account to another!

Transferring points to a single Marriott Bonvoy account

Now that you’re each at the head of a Marriott Bonvoy points capital, you’ll need to merge them together in one account to book 5 nights (or more) in a row!

Marriott Bonvoy allows all members of its loyalty program to transfer points to another member, free of charge, up to 100,000 points per year by calling 1 801 468 4000.

Note: you can transfer points to any Marriott member: spouse, relative, friend, co-worker…

Conclusion

As you probably know, staying close to Disney World/SeaWorld/Universal Studios amusement parks is usually expensive! Here, for a few credit card applications and a budget of $120 to $570, you could save a lot of money on your stay at Disney World and Orlando!

Come and chat with many members of our facebook group, and discover their tips for saving at Disneyworld!