Great thread! Thank you!
You mentioned budgeting $100-$150 per day for the parks...
I'm curious... what is this for? We have the dining plan and plan to bring water & snacks. We plan to purchase a few souvenirs. However, if I spend this much extra per day, I will be disappointed. What am I missing?
Our meal plan didn't include our children because they were under 2. It also only provided for 2 meals a day, and our babies eat 3 meals a day plus snacks. Because our ice chest leaked, we didn't end up bringing our own drinks and refrigerated snacks into the parks.
We easily spent $25/day on food/fruits for the babies and $20/day on cold drinks (we were there the hottest week of the year). We also tipped 20% with every table service meal, which was generally around $20-25. When we averaged our other "extras," it added up to about $100/day. We bought 4 stuffed toys, 2 fans, rode the carousel and train at DTD, bought a couple of necessities at the resort store (stain stick and a tiny detergent), and enjoyed a few adult beverages during the trip (like 3-4 the entire 8 days total). We also tipped the limo drivers $25 each way and bought groceries prior to getting to the resort (which cost $80).
It added up super fast!
What great information! We don't have twins but are taking our 17 month old in January, and I found this so helpful! We've been to Disney many times before just the two of us, but this will be our first family vacation; we've never even stayed in the same hotel as a family. I do have a question, though. How did you do nap times? Would they just sleep in the stroller or would you go back to the resort? And while they slept (if you were at the resort) did you just play on phones, relax, etc.? Sleeping is my only concern with LO, just because I don't know what he'll do in the pack and play if he can see us, LOL. And same for night time; he usually goes down around 7:30 (though I'm leaving room to be way flexible) and I'm not sure what we'll do in the room while he sleeps, until it's time for us to go to bed.
We travel a lot, so spending time in the same room is common for us. It was tougher at Disney though. I would recommend putting the pack n play (since you only have one) in an area behind the curtain (if staying at a moderate resort). Our plans were to play on our laptops and watch TV with our wireless headphones...though by the time they finally settled down...I was ready to sleep too! We mostly just played on our phones. If our budget had allowed, we would have MUCH preferred a Deluxe Resort with a balcony as that is the ideal situation.
We aren't going back to WDW for a few years, but knowing what I know now...I wouldn't go unless I could stay in a place with a balcony or a suite. We didn't want to spend the extra $100-$150 per night, but it might have been worth it in hindsight!
Nap times were varied. At home, our nap time is very structured and they always nap at the same time. Unfortunately, that didn't work for Disney at all! We tried going back to the resort once for naps, thinking that would help, but it didn't. They just screamed for an hour in their pack n plays!
We pretty much let them nap at will in the stroller. Rarely did they nap at the same time. The kid who was awake generally went with one parent for some one-on-one time and a ride or two, while the other parent sat in a cool place with the napping kid in the stroller.