Disney World is many travelers’ dream vacation, but because of the hefty price tag, for many it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Even if you live close enough to drive to the parks, lodging is a significant cost factor. Ways to save money on Disney World lodging include booking a value resort, staying off-property or finding a short term vacation rental. But let’s be honest: a dream Disney trip often includes staying on property in a luxurious resort.
Luckily, we’ve discovered a loophole where Disney fans like you can have your cake and eat it, too: Walt Disney World Deluxe Resorts owned by Marriott that you can book for as low as a $40 resort fee per night!
Maybe you already know this trick: opening up Marriott credit cards and using the welcome bonus points to book select Disney World Resorts–but do you know how to ensure that you always have a steady flow of Marriott points coming in, so many that you can visit Disney as often as every other year? Whether you’re a family with multiple adults opening credit cards and earning points & miles, or navigating points and miles travel on your own, we have tips and tricks up our sleeve for you! We’re outlining multiple methods that will allow you to earn 3-6 free nights at a Disney World Deluxe Marriott resort every other year!
This blog post will cover:
Disney World Deluxe Marriott Resorts to Book on Points
Credit Cards to Open to Earn the Points
How to Never run out of Marriott Points
Tips for Single Travelers
Counting the Cost of Annual Fees
Elite Nights Toward Marriott Status
How to Book a Disney World Deluxe Resort for $40/Night
Did you know there are three hybrid Marriott Resorts–that are also considered Deluxe Disney Resorts–on Disney property, in the EPCOT resort area near Disney’s Boardwalk? The Dolphin, Swan and new Swan Reserve are nestled right in the heart of the action, walking distance from EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. Because they’re Deluxe Resorts, guests are eligible for perks like free boat transportation to adjacent parks, early park entry and extra evening hours.
Additionally, they’re owned by Marriott, meaning you can book these properties with your Marriott points, and pay only a $40/night resort fee (plus a $35/night parking fee if necessary). Rooms are dynamically priced and cost between 45K-66K points/night.
Rating the Family-Friendliness of These Resorts
In terms of amenities, these resorts are great for families, boasting family-friendly dining, expansive pool, beach & recreation areas, waterslides, playgrounds, paid childcare options and arcades.
Traveling parties of five or more should keep the following in mind:
The Dolphin resort standard rooms sleep five, but in double beds (order a rollaway bed for $25/night for a fifth guest)
The Swan/Swan Reserve resorts sleeps up to four in queen beds.
If you frequent Marriott hotels for work, sports or leisure travel, hooray! You probably already have a stash of Marriott points that you can use to book these fancy resorts. If you don’t have a stockpile of Marriott points, don’t worry: we’ve got you covered–you can open credit cards and earn Marriott points through welcome bonuses!
Recommended Credit Cards
First things first: Marriott has a rule, across banks and cards. You can only earn one Marriott welcome bonus—across banks and cards—every 24 months. Keep that in mind as you read this post.
Because it offers the highest amount of points for the lowest annual fee, this card is our favorite:
Open a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card and earn three Free Night Awards up to a 150,000 Total Point Value (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from your account opening. You’ll pay a $95 annual fee in exchange for a free night anniversary certificate worth 35k points. Additionally, earn 15 elite night credits per year and Earn up to 17 bonus points per $1 spent at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® with the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Card.
Pros: You can earn this welcome bonus on this card every 24 months (more on that below).
Cons: The free night awards expire 12 months after you earn them
If the dates you want to book at the Disney World Marriott Resorts cost more than 50,000 points/night, you’ll need extra Marriott points to top off the free night awards. The Dolphin and Swan resorts regularly offer standard room redemptions under 50k/night, while the Swan Reserve standard room redemption is never under 50k/night. You can earn extra Marriott points four ways: staying in Marriott hotels, spending on Marriott cards, earning referral bonus by referring a friend or family member to open the same card, or opening this American Express card:
Open a Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card and earn 125,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. These Marriott Bonvoy® Points won’t expire unless you don’t have qualifying activity on your account for 24 months. You’ll pay a $125 annual fee to hold this card, in exchange for a free night anniversary certificate worth 35k points and Marriott gold status. Earn 15 elite night credits per year and 4X points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide.
Pros: This is a Business card, so it will not factor into your 5/24 count (referring to Chase bank not issuing credit cards to individuals who have opened five credit cards across any bank in a rolling 24-month period).
Cons: According to the fine print, you can only open Amex cards “once in a lifetime,” which some people have anecdotally reported actually means every seven years.
Let’s consider different ways Disney fans can continually earn Marriott points opening these cards.
Strategies for Two Adult Travelers Opening These Cards & Combining Points
Method One: Open one of each card.
Because you often need a combination of free night certificates and points to book the Disney World Marriott resorts, this method is the easiest way to quickly earn three free nights: one traveler opens the Chase card, and the other traveler opens the American Express card. We recommend opening them one at a time, and of course paying them off every month. Once the minimum spends are hit, the result of pooled points is three free nights up to 50,000 points/night plus a stockpile of 75,000 Marriott points that can be used to top of the free award nights, if the desired nights are priced over 50k (you can add up to 15k points/night).
Thanks to Marriott Amex Gold Status
You’ll also enjoy the benefit of the Gold Status that comes with the Amex card, which might get you a room on a higher floor with a upgraded room. Typically on award redemptions, Marriott offers the fifth night free–unfortunately, the three free night awards are not eligible to mix with nights fully paid with Marriott points in order to earn a 5th night free. Remember, the three free award nights expire twelve months after you earn them, so use them or lose them!
Technically, the two travelers could repeat this method in 24 months–traveler number one opens the Chase card first (if they opened the Amex previously), and then vice-versa. This method is only repeatable once, of course, because of the once-in-a-lifetime Amex language–but because Chase allows individuals to earn cobranded welcome bonuses every 24 months, the two travelers could move on to method two, which currently can be repeated ad infinitum!
Working in the Chase Ritz-Carlton Card
When it’s been 24 months since earning the Bonvoy Boundless card welcome bonus, consider upgrading it to the Chase Ritz-Carlton Card instead of closing it. In fact, the only way to get the Ritz-Carlton card is to upgrade another card.
The RC card has a $450 annual fee and is not right for everyone; check out these benefits to see if it might be right for you:
$300 annual travel credit
85K annual night certificate
unlimited free authorized users
Priority Pass (including restaurants) for all users
decent travel insurance
This card might make sense for families who frequent airports with priority pass restaurants. There’s one of these in our home airport, Portland International Airport, so if we held the RC card and had all our kids down as free authorized users, we could eat a free $128 breakfast as a family every time we depart the airport (we used to enjoy this perk through our Venture X Priority Pass, but it’s been devalued to only offer lounge access at airports, not restaurants).
An 85K annual free night certificate is better suited for a luxury Marriott resort than the Swan & Dolphin; however, if you’ll be in Orlando at a busy time and the cash price for the Swan Reserve is over $800, I could see a case for using the Ritz Carlton annual night certificate there.
Method Two: Open two Marriott cards.
In this scenario, one traveler opens the Chase card, and then uses their personal Chase referral link worth 40,000 Marriott points to refer the second traveler to open the same Chase card. The result of pooled points is six free award nights plus 40,000 Marriott points that can be distributed across the six nights & used to top off if needed. Remember, all six award nights expire within 12 months of earning them, so make sure there are six available consecutive nights to book costing no more than 56,000/night within the next year! (note: the free award nights can’t be transferred between accounts or combined–you’ll have to make two separate reservations of three nights each and then call the property to have the reservations linked).
Technically, the same two travelers can repeat this method every two years: after 24 months, traveler one closes their Chase Marriott card (make sure you use your annual free night certificate first). Traveler two refers traveler one to open the card again, using their personal link worth 40,000 points. Two weeks after closing the card, traveler one re-opens the card and earns the three free nights again, then refers traveler two using their personal referral link. The resulting pool of points this second time around is six free nights up to 50k/night plus 80,000 Marriott points! This can be repeated every year until the bank changes it’s rules, Disney World shuts down, the world ends, or…you get the point (pun intended).
Again, consider upgrading to the Ritz Carlton card when it’s been 24 months since earning the Bonvoy Boundless Bonus.
Method Three: Open two Amex cards.
The nice thing about the Amex card is that the points don’t expire, they’re not given out in the form of rigid award nights, and it’s a business card, so you can open it even if you’re 5/24. The referral process works the same way as method two, except Amex only offers 20K referral points, so the resulting pool of points between two travelers will total 170k points–worth considerably less nights than the first two strategies outlined above.
The other downside is, of course, that you can only open these cards once in your lifetime (according to the fine print), or once every seven years (YMMV). So, once you have one of these, consider carefully before you close it & try to reopen & earn the bonus again.
Again, this process is not repeatable–but the two travelers could proceed with the second method and keep their Amex cards open for the free nights/gold status.
If you start with this method and then move on to Chase–and keep your Amex cards open–after two years you’ll have a pool of four free annual night certificates worth 35k each!
Method 4: For traveling parties with one adult
Not everyone travels with a significant other. Maybe you’re a single parent, or an aunt, uncle, grandparent or other adult who wants to treat the kids in your life to a dream Disney trip. Or maybe you just want to go by yourself!!
The best course of action we recommend for a single person is earning the Chase bonus every 24 months, and carefully planning your Disney World vacations around dates when rooms are 50K/night–they do exist! In addition, you could wait and pounce on an elevated 150k Marriott Amex offer, if you’d like to keep that card in your wallet.
Keep in mind that if you open the Chase card first, you won’t have points to top off the free certificates (if the rates for the dates you want are over 50k/night). But, if you open the Amex first, you’ll only come away with 75K Marriott points, which will only cover one night at the resorts.
But What About the Annual Fees?
With any credit card, one must weigh the card benefits against the annual fee. Both cards offer free annual night certificates up to 35k/night, which is not super helpful at the Disney World resorts, but is beneficial at some of the these Disneyland properties. Consider a trip to Disneyland every other year, paying for between 2-4 nights lodging with your free certificates, depending on how many cards you’ve opened. You could also use annual free Marriott certs at one of the Marriotts in this Disneyland Paris lodging post–or at any non-Disney Marriott around the world! To get the most value out of your annual free night certificates, aim for using them to book rooms well above the annual fee you’re paying on the corresponding card.
Marriott Status
Holding a personal Marriott card and a business Marriott card like the two linked above allows you to combine the 15 annual elite night credits each offers, meaning you’ll have 30 elite nights towards status each year. You’ll automatically have Marriott Gold Status from the Amex, and if you stay an additional 20 nights at Marriott and/or participate in targeted Marriott promos, you could reach 50 annual elite nights and earn Platinum Status. Platinum status allows for perks like breakfast vouchers at the Walt Disney World Marriotts! If you’re going to stay in Marriotts for work, sports or leisure travel anyway, this might be a good opportunity for you to earn and maintain status.
Takeaways
No more staying off property, at short term rentals or in value resorts–the affordable Disney World Vacation you’ve dreamed of might be closer than you think! With a combination of Marriott cards and a little pixie dust, begin today, and pretty soon you’ll have annually replenishing annual free night certificates and a perpetual way to stay at a Disney World Deluxe Resort every other year–to infinity, and beyond!
Visit this post to learn more about how we pay for all our Disney vacation expenses–including Disney Admission–using credit card points & miles:
Almost Free Traveling 
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