dayvewc
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2013
- Messages
- 1,667
Sorry, I was getting lost in the explanation and all of your numbers seemed higher than our trips to WDW even with a family of 4. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty; it just seemed overwhelming. Then at the end you asked "or does anyone have a better idea."
I'm just being honest. Your ADR/souvenir budget is 1/3 of our Disney cruise fare for 3 passengers, all inclusive x 4 days..
I don't know. I guess it's my frame of mind right now. I've been in super pay-down mode since the holidays and making great progress. (DR would call it gazelle intensity.) You've been doing so well and hope you can keep up your good progress.
Yeah, I went on the DisneyLand forum several weeks ago and asked for recommendations on where to eat. Based on those recommendations, I made 6 dining reservations. Then about a week ago, I went back and checked menus to see how much to estimate for the meals. The way I did that was took the most expensive appetizer, the most expensive entree, the most expensive dessert and added all those prices, then added $10 for drink and tip, then rounded up to the nearest $10 amount.
That gave me estimates for 4 places at $100 each, and the other 2 at $50 each. (Total = $500) I really don't eat that much, but figured that if I planned the estimate that way, I would definitely have extra funds to pay for the other quick service meals I may eat, and (hopefully) actually buy most (or all) of my souvenirs. Since I'll be staying in a resort with a kitchenette, I figured I'd stop and get food for breakfast and dinners, and based on my eating pattern at home that would be about $50 for the week.
Separately, for souvenirs I always get my mom a Mickey Nutcracker for Christmas on my visits (they run in the $50 - $75 range at WDW) and my standard souvenir for myself is a beach towel (WDW prices in the $35 range, figured one from DL and one from DCA = about $70) Taking the high end, total souvenir budget would be $150, and I doubled that to $300, cause you know prices are higher in California. ;-)
My actual anticipation plan is that IF I keep all the dining reservations, I don't really see me eating more than about $200-250 at the restaurants, but wanted to keep the higher amount in case prices change. That would really let me use the rest of the "dining" fund to buy my anticipated souvenirs, assuming they are similar prices as at WDW.
I guess the real question I had was if other people had a suggestion for balancing the cash on-hand versus the credit card since I wasn't going to have enough cash to cover all the expenses. Yes, reducing the number of ADR's and/or souvenir estimate would help, but going by the numbers reducing those only works if I don't eat for the week or buy anything at all.
On another topic, when I go to WDW, my food budget is usually about $200 ($50 for food at the resort, and $150 for 3-5 TS meals) for a full week (8 days and 7 nights). My souvenir budget is about $100.
And thanks for the compliment on my progress. I think the best progress I've made is getting rid of the ex-roommate. ;-)
Here's hoping your laser-like focus gets you where you want to be!