Walt Disney World offers famously extravagant VIP experiences, like the private tours for $950 an hour, but you can spend as little as $50 to experience some hidden gems at Disney theme parks and hotels. These under-the-radar offerings often get overlooked among more high-profile add-ons, but some provide much more bang for your buck.
We share our list of favorite Disney World experiences that cost under $50, but feel like VIP perks. These are ways to add some extra fun to your vacation without spending a ton of money. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including new changes for Disney World’s weakest Star Wars ride and Disney wanting guests to reduce phone use.
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Cake Deliveries
Guests can pre-order a Mickey Mouse Celebration Cake, and Disney will deliver it directly to their table at over 40 select table-service restaurants.
The cake comes in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate. It’s shaped like a dome, with chocolate ears on the side creating Mickey’s silhouette. Guests can request celebration engravings on the ears, too.
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Cake deliveries are available through the My Disney Experience app and/or when making dining reservations. Pending availability, diners can also request a cake at the restaurant’s check-in podium.
The Mickey Mouse Celebration Cake costs $45, and Disney says it serves 4–6 people.
Caring for Giants
Caring for Giants is a splendid 1-hour guided tour at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Guests learn about the park’s elephant residents and enjoy an extended viewing period of the elephant habitat from a private area on the Kilimanjaro Safaris savanna.
I recommend booking the earliest available tour time, as the weather will be ever so slightly cooler than later in the day, and the elephants are more likely to be active in the morning. See our review of this tour, which is still surprisingly cheap for its amazing access and experience.
Guests should be aware that this is not quite a “backstage” tour. Yes, attendees see the elephants from an area inaccessible to other guests, and they do travel backstage to get there, but this is not a tour of the elephants’ overnight quarters or medical facilities. This is primarily an opportunity to gaze upon the elephants for much longer than you get to while riding Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Caring for Giants costs $39 per person. Guests must be at least 4 years old. Disney also offers a similar experience for rhinos, described below.
Disney Golf Clinics
Many guests don’t realize Walt Disney World is home to four full-scale golf courses. Disney Golf Clinics are available for any skill level, focusing on guests’ full swing or short game.
Disney Golf Clinics cost $30 for a 60-minute class. Private lessons are also available at a higher cost. Depending on how busy the Disney Golf Clinics are, you may end up the only group there, which turns the experience into a private lesson at a lower price!
Harmony Barber Shop
Yes, there really is a barber shop on Main Street, U.S.A., at Magic Kingdom. It’s directly across from the fire station, in the secluded left corner of Town Square. This is just one of many hidden things to do at Disney World.
Harmony Barber Shop offers haircuts for children and adults alike. Kid haircuts start at $20, and adult haircuts start at $21. Beard trims are available for $8.
The barber shop is known for its “first haircut” milestone package, which costs $28 and comes with a Mickey Mouse ear hat and a certificate. Cast members also cut off a lock of hair for the guest’s family to keep.
Aerophile – The World Leader in Balloon Flight
You may have seen a helium balloon swaying in the breeze while visiting Disney Springs. On clear days, you may have even seen it from a distance at EPCOT.
That’s Aerophile – The World Leader in Balloon Flight, an upcharge 8-minute ride up to 400 feet in the air. To put that height in perspective, that’s over two Cinderella Castles high!
A ride in the Aerophile balloon costs $30 for guests ages 10+ and $25 for guests ages 3-9.
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Behind the Seeds
Behind the Seeds is a 1-hour backstage tour of Living with the Land, the greenhouse-focused boat ride at EPCOT.
Guests learn about the science that drives Disney’s on-site planting and farming efforts. Best of all, they get to walk along the ride’s pathways, providing an awesome view of a classic attraction.
Expert horticulturalists may find Behind the Seeds somewhat outdated compared to modern technology. During my family’s tour, the cast member guide openly said most of Disney’s planting practices were revolutionary when EPCOT opened in the ’80s, but aren’t considered the cutting edge of the industry today.
Behind the Seeds costs $39 – $49 per person, depending on the date.
Spanish Mosaic Art
Guests can participate in a 2-hour Spanish Mosaic Art class at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. During the program, guests decorate a small slab with tiny tiles, creating a mosaic to take home as a souvenir.
The class takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 1 PM in the Dahlia Lounge of Gran Destino Tower. This makes it a nice midday break away from the busyness of the theme parks, especially on hot days.
The Spanish Mosaic Art class costs $30 per person. Disney offers the course to all guests, not just those staying overnight at Coronado Springs.
Wild About Painting
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge hosts a weekly art class called Wild About Painting. Guests are provided with a canvas, paint, and all the supplies they need to create their own work of art.
The 2-hour class is on Wednesdays at 1 PM inside Jiko – The Cooking Place. For guests who aren’t staying overnight at Animal Kingdom Lodge, the visit is an opportunity to explore this beautiful resort, including seeing the animals outside.
Wild About Painting costs $45 per person. Disney recommends Wild About Painting for guests ages 12+.
Up Close with Rhinos
Up Close with Rhinos is a 1-hour guided experience at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
Similar to the Caring for Giants elephants experience described above, Up Close with Rhinos provides a close-up, extended viewing of the white rhino habitat on the savanna of Kilimanjaro Safaris.
For admirers of rhinoceroses, this is the best way to see the animals during an Animal Kingdom visit. Otherwise, you’ll only see them pretty quickly during a ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Fort Wilderness Archery Experience
Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground offers some of the most unique recreation opportunities of any Disney World resort. This includes archery lessons.
The Fort Wilderness Archery Experience is a 75-minute group class. The class accommodates 10 guests, which could make it a fun, private activity if you happen to have 10 people in your travel party. Groups of less than 10 guests will share the class with guests from other parties.
The Fort Wilderness Archery Experience costs $49 per person. Guests must be at least 7 years old.
Up Close with Rhinos costs $49 per person.
EPCOT Scavenger Hunts
During seasonal festivals at EPCOT, guests can take part in scavenger hunts. This self-guided activity is a fun, family-friendly way to tour the different countries of World Showcase.
Guests can purchase a scavenger hunt map, which provides clues for where to find hidden objects throughout the park, such as Spike the Bee hiding in the topiary display pictured above.
Here’s the full list of EPCOT scavenger hunts:
- Figment’s Brush with the Masters during the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts
- Eggstravaganza and Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration during the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival
- Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit and Remy’s Hide & Squeak during the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
- Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays
Regardless of whether guests complete the scavenger hunt, they can present their finished or attempted map to a cast member at select stores throughout EPCOT to receive a prize. The prize is usually a figurine or a small kitchenware item.
Maps cost $12 and can be purchased at Creations Shop, EPCOT’s flagship gift shop, as well as at select few other merchandise locations.
Wilderness Explorers
Inspired by Russell’s scout troop in Pixar’s Up, the Wilderness Explorers is a free educational program at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Guests can pick up a Wilderness Explorers manual at designated locations throughout the park. At most animal habitats and a few other special spots, a Wilderness Explorer cast member is standing by to share knowledge with guests about the creatures that live there.
The Wilderness Explorers program is one of Disney World’s best freebies. Visiting all of the Wilderness Explorers stations in the park basically amounts to a few hours of insight, the equivalent of a guided tour, but enjoyed for free. Guests also earn a special completion sticker when they visit all the stations.
EPCOT Food Strolls
During each EPCOT festival, guests can participate in a food stroll challenge.
EPCOT festivals introduce dozens of limited-time food items served from booths scattered throughout the park. Disney designates a handful of items from these booths as being part of the seasonal food stroll. Upon purchasing each item, guests receive a stamp, and after receiving five stamps, they can redeem a prize.
Here’s the list of all EPCOT food strolls:
- The Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine during the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts
- Garden Graze during the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival
- Emile’s Fromage Montage during the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
- Cookie Stroll during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays
The prize is usually a free cookie or another form of sweet treat.
EPCOT Passports
For guests interested in an interactive way to tour the countries of EPCOT’s World Showcase, but uninterested in the scavenger hunts or food strolls described above, an EPCOT passport is a great purchase. Resembling a real passport, the small book is a travelogue for your EPCOT journey.
Each nation represented in World Showcase has its own 2-page spread in the EPCOT passport. At each country’s pavilion, guests bring their passport to the Kidcot Fun Stop, where a cast member will write a greeting in the country’s native language and stamp the passport.
I like how the EPCOT passports encourage having conversations with cast members, embodying the spirit of EPCOT by learning new things and meeting new people.
The passport costs $17 and can be purchased at most EPCOT gift shops.
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