How much do you take for spending money?

[SpacedOut]

$100 a day plus credit card for extra's lol

On my latest trip last September, I kept track of all my expenses, credit or otherwise. It seemed to come in line with what other people were posting here, about $100/day.

I did not have the dining plan and bought souvenirs from each park, just to futher clarify that amount, but $100/day seems consistent with what I spent.

Enjoy!

 

[Mom2OakandEm]

Okay please don't flame me but we are a go big or go home kind of family too. Our goal is to go to Disney every other year and this will make our 3rd trip. We have the DXDDP, all of our tips are all ready in envelopes. I also plan 40 dollar a day for any extra snacks/drinks we may decided to get that is not covered by our dining plan. If we have extra money left over from that day we roll it over to the next day and if we get double out per day allowance or have a fair amount left twards the end of our trip, BONUS that means an extra souvenir. We are a family of 4 and each of us will get $900 total to spend on whatever we want. I make the girls pay for the BBB out of their spending money and my hubby pays for his golf out of that too. We got starter lanyard sets and some extra pins to get us started for Easter and the girls got their first autographbook for Easter as well.

A lot of monoey I know, but I tell the girls, hubby and self no a lot during the year to save for the trip and Disney is the one place I do not have to say no. You want a $15 balloon that's a big fat waste of money but yes yes you can.

 

[CristinaML]

$100 a day is what I'm planning as well (with that CC back up). Vacations are a time to splurge for us as well. I plan to have the mousekeeping and meal time envelopes ready, the Christmas Party paid for ahead of time and of course the resort, tickets, and we are going with the meal plan. Just thinking about it makes me want to dance like the banana!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Okay please don't flame me but we are a go big or go home kind of family too. Our goal is to go to Disney every other year and this will make our 3rd trip. We have the DXDDP, all of our tips are all ready in envelopes. I also plan 40 dollar a day for any extra snacks/drinks we may decided to get that is not covered by our dining plan. If we have extra money left over from that day we roll it over to the next day and if we get double out per day allowance or have a fair amount left twards the end of our trip, BONUS that means an extra souvenir. We are a family of 4 and each of us will get $900 total to spend on whatever we want. I make the girls pay for the BBB out of their spending money and my hubby pays for his golf out of that too. We got starter lanyard sets and some extra pins to get us started for Easter and the girls got their first autographbook for Easter as well.

A lot of monoey I know, but I tell the girls, hubby and self no a lot during the year to save for the trip and Disney is the one place I do not have to say no. You want a $15 balloon that's a big fat waste of money but yes yes you can.

Yay! Another go big or go home family! I don't give my kids that much money to spend on themselves, but we still like to live large at Disney. Disney comes but once a year for us. The flights are a tremendous cost for our size family, so we go once a year and stay for 10-12 days. That way we get double the fun for the cost of one flight per year!

My kids save up their own money during the year, and what they earn is what they take. We give them gift cards at every holiday, and then give them $50 in advance for Christmas to spend. Between the 5 kids, they bring around $1000. They pay for their own BBB or PL, and anything else they want. I think it gives them some ownership in their trip, and they are more logical about which souvenirs they will buy. My son only wanted an Aerosmith shirt last year and a couple of guitar picks. That is what he bought. Today my daughter was asking me for a Barbie, and I said "What is more important to you, having that Barbie, or Disney?" She chose Disney. She could have spent her money on that Barbie, but she decided on Disney spending instead. I am very proud of her as she is only 6 and I feel it was a mature decision. The kids help me run my business, so I pay them as employees (did I say that at all? Too tired to look back at old posts. Sorry if I did). That way they have plenty of money, but it doesn't have to come out of my souvenir/fun budget!

$100 a day is what I'm planning as well (with that CC back up). Vacations are a time to splurge for us as well. I plan to have the mousekeeping and meal time envelopes ready, the Christmas Party paid for ahead of time and of course the resort, tickets, and we are going with the meal plan. Just thinking about it makes me want to dance like the banana!

We will probably have the Halloween party paid for in advance as well. If we love it we will buy tickets a second night, but I will wait until we have experienced it once before I do that! I will have the money on hand though!!

Yay! Two dancing bananas!!!

 

[LuckyMouse]

This is our first trip to DW, we are driving and I have already paid for the room, tickets and regular dining plan.

I'm bringing $1100 and $250 in gift cards for our family of 3, (DH, myself and 2 yr old), that will cover gas to and from DW, tips, and anything else we will "need".

I hope that's enough!

Oh and I'm not bringing cash, I just have that amount saved to pay off the Disney Visa when we get home!

 

[cindydare]

Last year we went as a family of 5 (me, DH, DM, DD8, and DS3) for 6 nights. We stayed Club Level, so that took care of most of the alcohol, although we did get drinks at the pool most days. We had the DDP and bought a few souveniers (sweatshirts for us and the kids, and pins for DD). I think I took around $750-$800 in gift cards and we came home with $9 left on the last gift card. I did use cash for tips for mousekeeping and bell services, but all dining tips came from the gift cards. The previous year I only took $600 in gift cards and put $150 on the credit card, so we've spent about the same amount both years!

 

[JLa01844]

Not to make this about tipping... but since you have the Deluxe Dining Plan I would assume you are having most of your meals as a table-service meal? That would be my assumption going with Deluxe...that you wanted more than 1 TS credit per day. So If I were you I would figure out what a couple meals would come to if you were paying OOP, then figure the % tip you are giving the server. Once you average a few meals out just multiply that amount by how many table service meals you will partake in.

For example (using the Dinsey applied standard of 18% for parties of 6 or more) not debating what you should or will tip....

Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace x 3 adults = 86.25
Tony Town Square x 3 adults= $64 ( just through a couple meals and drinks together)
Ohana Dinner x 3 adults= $98.97

Day TS Total = 269.22
18% = 48.45 just for OOP tips. SO I would count on $50 day going toward tipping.

Figure out what you need for tips, then reevaluate how much extra you want for spending money! And have fun!! Deluxe sounds yummy

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Not to make this about tipping... but since you have the Deluxe Dining Plan I would assume you are having most of your meals as a table-service meal? That would be my assumption going with Deluxe...that you wanted more than 1 TS credit per day. So If I were you I would figure out what a couple meals would come to if you were paying OOP, then figure the % tip you are giving the server. Once you average a few meals out just multiply that amount by how many table service meals you will partake in.

Figure out what you need for tips, then reevaluate how much extra you want for spending money! And have fun!! Deluxe sounds yummy

This is similar to what we do. We look at the menus for each restaurant and try to pick what we think each person will order, then go off of that amount for an estimate for tips. I then make a chart with each restaurant's estimated tip so I have a general idea how much of my budget will go towards tipping. I also bring my mousekeeping/ME tips ready to go.

 

[Baymax2DMax]

My family and i are going ti DW forbthe first time and my mother in law will be going also. For a family of 7 (ages range from 1yr, 3yr, 11yr, 17yr and then the adults(3) How much would you guys recommend we take more or less for our trip....im like stressing that we wont have enough. Thanks in advance.

 

[1911]

3 of us and I plan on 1500.00 for meals,tips and swag for 7 days. no dining plan for us due to I don't eat much and disney's all or nothing policy for it.

 

[IslaLila]

I try to think ahead to what I might want for souvenirs and budget accordingly. I don't like collecting a lot of extra "stuff" but I always get a shirt and end up with a couple other things. For this trip I know I'll probably get a spirit jersey, a tshirt, a water tumbler, and since the husband is staying behind this time while I go with other family members, something like a hat for him and some treats. I saw some cute dog collars in the Disney Home store, and I'll probably want one of those too. I'll probably budget 200-300 for those kinds of souvenirs.

 

[Shir Kahn]

My wife and I are taking my mother to WDW for her first time, so we're budgeting big for this one! Normally we plan for about $100 a day, but seeing as this may be her one and only trip, we want to make sure that she gets whatever she wants! Really wish we didn't live 2000 miles away from Disney.

 

[wisteria1019]

I'm not a big eater nor do I purchase a lot of items (I am obsessed with the idea of living in a tiny house and am downsizing accordingly). I am going during Food and Wine, so I am budgeting $80 per day for food and incidentals for just myself.

 

[piratepride]

$300 cash normally....

 

[dclpluto]

I take about 500. Bring most of it home just use cc a lot.

 

[Summer2018]

Between gift cards, cash, and my debit card, I bring about $1,000 total. My husband brings money as well, not sure how much.

 

[Lexx1214]

DH and I are going for 7 days in September. We are staying on site and have the DxDP. We have about $1600 for pure spending money. (We have separate budgets set aside for mousekeeping and dinning tips, as well as OOP drinks at F&W). DH calls this $1600 my shopping budget and that’s pretty much what it is. Being from Canada, there are stores in Orlando that either we don’t have here and the shipping is ridiculous or you have outlets that I’m excited to check out. I also adore Star Wars and collect mugs so I’ll be spending in that.

The last time I went to WDW was with my son in 2011, he was 10 at the time. I gave him $250 to spend and I brought an additional $500 - $250 of my own spending money and) and $250 just in case money. I think I returned home with $20 of that and DS with $0. Money well spent as I still wear the clothes I bought and still use the mugs.

 

[aliciamakino]

So here's a question, and I don't mean it to sound snarky. What are you all buying with all this money?

We aren't souvenier people. I hate having clutter. I hate having something that will just accumulate dust, that I need to find a place for in my house, that is just "stuff." We do breakfast on our own, take in our own water bottle, and then it's usually CS meals. We have done TS meals in the past (usually a little less than 1 per night we're there), so obviously we need to tip that. We don't drink, so no alcohol. Here and there we'll get a snack I guess, but that's not even one per person per day. Pretty much our vacation is our trip itself, not stuff that we buy. I guess we're not the norm?

We are like you. We don't buy too many souvenirs; maybe a shirt for each of us and DD (3 1/2) gets to pick a few small things. We do breakfast on our own, QS mainly, this time adding is a few character meals (Cindy's is already paid for). We are budgeting $500-$600 for food and souvenirs for a 7 day trip.

 

[aliciamakino]

We have $100 gift cards for both of the boys and the hubs.
$250 GC for me (I scrapbook, and so it's kind of a family benefit...so I get more to spend on scrapbooking stuff ).
And we have $250 GC for tips (did a spreadsheet to calculate what we'll need for tips).
We are staying for 16 nights. I still need to get about $300 more for the last night's hotel stay and food for our last two days.[/QUO

Fellow Scrapbooker here.... where are you buying the scrapbook stuff???

 

[YawningDodo]

DH and I are having a "discussion" about spending money.

We have our trip paid for. We are doing the Deluxe Dining Plan. So all of our food is paid for. Since we have 2 snacks a day, DH thinks we only need to take about $500 for souverniers and such. I'm thinking that we need to bring a bit more.

I'm sure that there is a middle ground somewhere, but wanted to ask everyone's opinion. TIA.....

Do you have any kind of record of how much you've spent on souvenirs during previous trips? With my last trip (a cruise, actually, but the idea's the same) I finally started putting together a categorized budget ahead of time to attempt to be more realistic about what I'm actually going to spend, and keeping track of expenses during the trip so I can compare once I get home and see how close I came (I do it by snapping a photo of each receipt on my phone, then whenever I get back to my room I copy the numbers into a printed out table, deleting photos as I go so they don't get counted twice). That way not only can I keep track of whether I'm within my expected budget, but once I got home I added all my real expenses to my spreadsheet and now I can see how much I actually spent per category per day, which will let me plan even better for the next time. I don't think it's especially helpful for me to give you my numbers, as I'm in the camp of people who avoid buying very many souvenirs, but I think the core advice of basing it on what you've typically done in the past stands. Even if you don't have that kind of record, you might be able to make an educated guess, and if you track it this time around it'll help you make an even more educated guess for the next trip.