You just won the Super Bowl…What are you going to do? I’m going to Disney World!!! Well, we may not have played in or won a Super Bowl, but a year ago, we decided to take our family of five, a grandparent and an in-law family of 4 to Disney World.

That’s a total of 5 adults and 5 children. Let me just say, this was only possible for us on points. Had we paid out of pocket, just for our family of 5 + 1 grandparent, our total cost would have been $8,114. Instead, we spent only $1,289 out of pocket.

Now that I have your attention, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the details of the points. The fun part!

A group of adults and children wearing matching Mickey Mouse shirts and Minnie ears pose and smile in front of Cinderella’s Castle at a Disney theme park, making memories on their miles-earning trip along a street lined with colorful buildings.

Booking the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel

First, we had to secure our hotel. We decided to stay at the Disney Swan, a Starwood hotel property — now part of Marriott. This property is not a “Disney resort” so the dining plan was not offered.

The Disney Swan is affiliated with Disney, so we still had certain perks. For example, we were able to book fast passes and dining reservations earlier, and they offered buses and ferries to the different parks.

We needed a total of three rooms for our party of 10. For my crew of six, all three adults go the personal version of Starwood Preferred Guest Card from Amex plus we opened one Starwood Business Card from Amex — prior to both being rebranded as Marriott cards. This gave us enough points, after merging all of them into one account, to book 2 rooms for 6 nights.

At the time of booking, the point cost was 80,000 points per room for 6 nights. Upon check-out, we had to pay the resort service package and taxes ($33/night) as well as $23/night for parking. This brought the 2 rooms grand total to 160,000 points redeemed, $492.52 cash.

We used Capital One Venture points to offset off some of the resort fees ($166.84) which brought our cash cost quite a bit. Our total out of pocket for our hotel stay of 6 nights with 2 rooms came to $325.68.

Large, colorful hotel buildings with stylized swan statues on the rooftops sit beside a calm waterway with a boat, surrounded by green trees under a bright blue sky—an ideal spot for earning points or miles on your next trip.

Photo credit of Disney Swan website

Our Stay At Walt Disney World Swan Hotel

I can’t say enough about this property. Everyone was incredibly friendly and helpful during our entire stay. We wrote to the concierge before our arrival and asked for adjoining rooms, if possible, and anything else to make it extra magical for our kids’ first trip.

We were delighted to not only have adjoining rooms, but chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room shortly after check-in, along with a note from Mickey & Minnie Mouse. I tried to snag a pic of those beautiful berries before the kids dug in, and only managed to get half of them in a photo as the others were being devoured!

An open card on a white striped surface features Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto at the top and a printed welcome message below about earning points and miles, signed by Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
Five strawberries dipped in chocolate are arranged on a rectangular white plate, with a card and green dice visible in the background on a glass surface, hinting at points and miles waiting to be earned.

The chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room shortly after check-in

Along with a note from Mickey and Minnie Mouse

The property boasts a grotto pool with slide & waterfall, two lap pools, a kiddie pool, four whirlpools, a beach with a playground and many more outdoor fun activities. We LOVED the grotto pool after a long day at the parks. They also had many on-site restaurants that were delish!

Outdoor pool scene with several lounge chairs, umbrellas, and lush trees. A large waterfall feature flows into the pool, creating a relaxing resort atmosphere under a clear blue sky—perfect for earning points on your next miles getaway.

Photo credit Disney Swan website

Getting Disney Tickets

For our Disney tickets, we needed to purchase 5 adult tickets and 4 kid tickets. The fifth child was JUST under 3, so she had free park admittance. We paid for our tickets using a combination of card points.

We ordered our tickets through Undercover Tourist. We opted for the “Four Day Park Hopper Ticket with Extra Day” which gave us 5 days in the parks. Buying tickets from Undercover Tourist also meant the purchase would code as travel so we could erase the purchase with Capital One Venture miles.

Due to the ages of all the kids — 8, 8, 5, 4 and 2, we knew we wanted to have a few days at the Magic Kingdom. We opted for 3 days at the Magic Kingdom, a day at Epcot and split up a day at the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The cost fluctuates on the website but seemed to average around $460 for each ticket. Total cash price for tickets was $2,268.05. But wait….

A man holds a smiling young girl in green Minnie Mouse ears, surrounded by two other girls in purple ears. All wear Disney-themed clothes and enjoy an outdoor event, earning points and miles with people and trees in the background.
A joyful young girl sits on a woman’s shoulders at an outdoor event, holding up teal Mickey ears and a stuffed animal—both wearing Minnie Mouse ear headbands. She’s excited to earn miles and points for future adventures. Other people and trees fill the background.

We used the magic of points! For our party of 3 adults and 2 kids, we used points from three Capital One Venture cards to cover the cost. With that, we were able to offset the entire cost of the ticket with points. The total cash cost of the tickets came to exactly $0!

A smiling couple poses together in front of a fairytale castle at a theme park. The woman wears Minnie Mouse ears, and the man stands beside her; other visitors and festive decorations fill this memorable travel moment.
A smiling woman and man pose in front of a castle at a theme park, both wearing matching “2019” Mickey Mouse shirts. The woman has Minnie Mouse ears, and a small child with mouse ears is in the foreground, capturing the joy of travel and making memories.
Two young girls stand smiling in front of a castle at a theme park, suggesting a magical, fun atmosphere. Both wear black shirts with mouse ears—dressed casually for their travel adventure. Castle towers create a dreamy backdrop.
Two young girls wearing Mickey Mouse ears and Disney-themed clothes stand in front of Cinderella’s Castle at a Disney park, smiling and holding medals, celebrating the miles they’ve covered during their adventure.

Dining At Disney World

You have to wait until you’re close to your trip to book any dining in the park. We knew we wanted to take the kids to Cinderella’s Royal Table to meet all the princesses, and from our research, we knew we wanted to score this reservation at breakfast because it was the “cheapest” option.

When the bill came for our party of 10, it was  $503! We were very pleased when we saw it coded as “travel” on the Venture card bill. Thankfully, we had earned a lot of points, so our breakfast was completely covered with Venture miles. Again, the total cost out of pocket was exactly $0.

A woman dressed as Cinderella stands smiling with five young girls, all wearing colorful dresses and mouse ear headbands, in a decorated indoor setting with greenery and blue curtains, making memories worth miles or points.
Three young girls smile in front of Cinderella Castle at a Disney park. They wear colorful princess and mermaid costumes with mouse ear headbands, enjoying a bright sunny day on their magical miles-filled adventure.

Last but not least, to keep our out of pocket to a minimum, we used the cashback from the Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business. By the time we got to Disney, we had $734.34 available to use towards food, souvenirs, gas, etc. This brought our total out of pocket expense for EVERYTHING from food to fun to resort fees down from $2,023.34 to $1,289!

A young girl in a blue dress smiles next to a woman dressed as Snow White in a busy, ornate restaurant with arched doorways and patterned carpet. Other diners are visible, creating memorable moments on their travel adventure.
A woman dressed as a princess interacts with a group of young children, one of whom is handing her a book to sign, inside a castle-themed room decorated with medieval banners, chandeliers, and colorful points along the walls.
A woman dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid signs an autograph for three young children inside a castle-themed restaurant decorated with international flags, inspiring dreams of earning miles and exploring the world.
A young girl in a purple dress poses happily with a woman dressed as Snow White inside a medieval-style restaurant with arched ceilings and decorative walls, creating a magical moment during their travel for miles. Other diners are seated in the background.
A woman dressed as Snow White stands beside a smiling young girl in a purple and green outfit inside a decorated restaurant with arched doorways, where diners enjoy their meals and discuss earning points or miles.

It was a magical time for all of us, and knowing we did it for the same cost as going to the beach every year, it made it even more magical for this mom! We had so much fun meeting all the princesses — obviously traveling with 5 little girls this was a MUST, riding the rides and eating some great food!

A brightly illuminated castle at a theme park glows with colorful lights at night as fireworks and smoke fill the sky, with silhouettes of people watching in the foreground—an unforgettable scene for those who love to earn points or miles on their travel.
A group of adults and children pose and smile in front of the Crossroads of the World tower at a theme park, surrounded by palm trees and art deco buildings under a blue sky, enjoying their journey fueled by miles and points.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the best smores of all time at The Ganachery at Disney Springs. This is a must-have item when you find yourself in Orlando. Most of all, we had fun as a family just spending a week together surrounded by the magic of Disney!!

A young girl wearing purple mouse ears and a light green hoodie smiles while holding a bubble wand, surrounded by floating bubbles outdoors—making memories worth miles.
Two young girls smile in front of a fairy tale castle, wearing themed outfits and mouse ear headbands, standing by a decorative bench on a sunny day, ready to earn miles and points from their magical adventure.
Three young girls in colorful princess and mermaid costumes smile and pose in front of a large fairytale castle at an amusement park, creating magical memories as they enjoy their adventure and earn points during their miles of fun under the blue sky.
A woman and three young girls pose playfully together outside on a cobblestone path, with a blue ghostly cartoon character—mimicking their pose—digitally added to the scene, making it look like theyve earned extra miles for fun points.