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[RRK15]

Hi all!! Those who have gone to Disneyland recently approximately how much did you spend not including airfare, hotel or passes.

My husband, my daughter and I are going soon and think about $1100 US.. We're from Canada and thats about $1500 Canadian since our dollar sucks right now

 

[carrierael77]

How long are you going for?

 

[RRK15]

How long are you going for?

we arrive late on the first day and leave mid day to return home so 5 full days not including those 2.

 

[MissKIA]

There are 5 of us going in May (2 adults, 3 teenagers) for 4 days and I'm thinking about $1500 US. Not happy about the exchange rate either right now!

 

[RRK15]

There are 5 of us going in May (2 adults, 3 teenagers) for 4 days and I'm thinking about $1500 US. Not happy about the exchange rate either right now!

I know!! Lose out close to $400 after exchange.. I need to open a US account if the dollar goes up again. $1500 for 4 days seems about right..is that just for food then? I think if we're smart with our money we should be good. Im only bringing back things for my 3 yr old and my 2 nephews (both under 4).

 

[Diszona]

In all honesty it really depends on what it is you want to do. That should be plenty but if you plan on buying a lot of souvenirs and eating at places like Blue Bayou of Carthay Circle that can quickly put a dent in your budget. I would recommend first deciding what are things you must do, for example eat at Blue Bayou, and then take a look at the menus so you can go ahead and take that off the top and get a feel of how much you will have left.

 

[MissKIA]

That is mostly for food, yes. Our breakfast is included at our hotel, so we plan on having a big breakfast, then something small for lunch (corn dog/pretzel kind of thing) and going out for a nice dinner. We might do a little bit of shopping, but nothing substantial.

 

[RRK15]

In all honesty it really depends on what it is you want to do. That should be plenty but if you plan on buying a lot of souvenirs and eating at places like Blue Bayou of Carthay Circle that can quickly put a dent in your budget. I would recommend first deciding what are things you must do, for example eat at Blue Bayou, and then take a look at the menus so you can go ahead and take that off the top and get a feel of how much you will have left.

Ah i dont even know what places to eat haha we are kind of winging it since its our first time but maybe I should do some more research! Is Blue Bayou a must eat?

Souvenir wise i really only plan to get things for my daughter and nephews (all 3 are under 4).

 

[pinkprincess30]

We are thinking about $25 a day for meals per person (with free breakfast at the hotel)
$10 per day on snacks for each of us (we will bring a lot of snacks in with us and get one special treat per day per person)
$50 per person on souvenirs (total for the trip)
$20 or so (total) for locker rental
$17 a day for parking

So that's a total of about $1000 for a family of 5 (see ages in my signature) for 4 days in the parks.

Our meals might be less as we plan to bring our lunch with us a few days BUT we do have reservations for Cafe Orleans and Rainforest Cafe which may even things out a bit budget-wise. Keep in mind we do not have any plans for extras like F! dining packages, Character meals, etc.

 

[RRK15]

We are thinking about $25 a day for meals per person (with free breakfast at the hotel)
$10 per day on snacks for each of us (we will bring a lot of snacks in with us and get one special treat per day per person)
$50 per person on souvenirs (total for the trip)
$20 or so (total) for locker rental
$17 a day for parking

So that's a total of about $1000 for a family of 5 (see ages in my signature) for 4 days in the parks.

Our meals might be less as we plan to bring our lunch with us a few days BUT we do have reservations for Cafe Orleans and Rainforest Cafe which may even things out a bit budget-wise. Keep in mind we do not have any plans for extras like F! dining packages, Character meals, etc.

I think ur break down makes great sense especially since u plan to bring in snacks etc. i hope to do that too! We also have 1 dinner reservation at Goofys Diner! And dont have to worry about parking as our hotel is walkig distance.

 

[NannyBeBe]

We usually budget $100 per day for food, snacks, drinks, etc., for each adult.

 

[RRK15]

We usually budget $100 per day for food, snacks, drinks, etc., for each adult.

That sounds reasonable.. Right now I have a $200 a day budget for myself, husband and 3 year old and thats doesnt include brkfast since its covered.

 

[nikkislaght]

If you can take your own lunches to the parks that will save you some money .. we do that.. on our travel day we hit Vons..(safeway) get some sandwich makings .. etc and bring that with us.. then we only have to buy dinner... also .. we get gift cards to cheesecake factory and eat their one night... don't know if you have them in Canada, or if you do you can use them in the US, but if you get them at home and can use them here that might save you some conversion fees..
we also bring a lot of snacks from home with us.. we fly JetBlue and they allow us our first bag free.. so we take 3 bags and one is pretty much full of food .. that saves us a ton... and we also have an empty bag for souvenirs on the way home

 

[carrierael77]

Wow, I am normally the cheapest person on the planet. I am planning a bit more. We are going for 9 days total 5 at disney, 1 at knotts, 1 at universal and a day off. I was planning about $3000 for food, souvenirs etc. I figured it was time to let the moths out of my wallet as this is our once a decade vacation. I am normally so uptight about money and am trying so hard not to be on this trip.

 

[YukonMommy]

I think having rules going into it for souveniers is important! There will be a million and one things your DD wants and it adds up quickly!! For our 4 kids our rules are we will buy them 1 article of clothing, their great grandparents gave them $ to buy a hat or ears of their choice, they took $25-$50 of their own earned money and Gramma gave them $25.

We averaged about $250 a day for food (not including brekkie as it was at hotel) for the 6 of us. Somedays we were over (like after a character brekkie, Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, etc and some days we were under. Usually the littlest one shared with me and the 3rd and 4th shared an adult meal (portions are huge!!). We took in our own drinks and refilled them at water fountains.

Have a magical time!!

 

[2tinkerbell]

I usually plan on $150 a day for the 2 of us for food. I purchase 2 meals a day (breakfast and early dinner), a snack, and all the water you want (bring water bottles). I always look at the menus beforehand to get a ball park idea. I give my DD $20 for extra snacks and souvenirs. My DD will have her own money for the couple of extra special things she wants (Alex & Ani exclusive bracelets...lol!). We are also staying at a hotel with breakfast but find that doesn't last very long for us. My DD needs a cooked breakfast. If we do breakfast in the hotel then we have an early lunch (11:00am) and a later dinner so i still plan on the 2 meals a day.

 

[Diszona]

I think having rules going into it for souveniers is important! There will be a million and one things your DD wants and it adds up quickly!! For our 4 kids our rules are we will buy them 1 article of clothing, their great grandparents gave them $ to buy a hat or ears of their choice, they took $25-$50 of their own earned money and Gramma gave them $25.

We averaged about $250 a day for food (not including brekkie as it was at hotel) for the 6 of us. Somedays we were over (like after a character brekkie, Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, etc and some days we were under. Usually the littlest one shared with me and the 3rd and 4th shared an adult meal (portions are huge!!). We took in our own drinks and refilled them at water fountains.

Have a magical time!!

Good point. We have tried giving our kids a Disney gift card to use for souvenirs, they can buy what they want but once the card is empty that is it. We did buy them a couple of things, such as hats (which we all got) and pin lanyards, but for the most part it was up to them to use their cards. That way they could still make some purchases but we knew exactly what the spending limit was. It worked out pretty well the last time.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

We use allears.net for prices for the places we want to eat.
We will have Breakfast at hotel and a few days having chr breakfasts because we like those. We normally have a nice lunch and then snack at night. Eating a big dinner normally doesn't work for my family.
We do take water bottles in with us and soda (the park has no Pepsi so we take our own for most meals) this alone I have added up to save us 30 or so a day. Sometimes more when we drink a lot of water.
We like taking in some snacks, nuts,, cheese, slim Jim's. I am sure we have more I am missing but again this helps.

For things- We make a list of things we want or something like "I want a hat or ears this time) so we look for that. My son likes legos so we will tell him with his budget he could get legos or he can get something Disney and get that lego set cheaper at amazon or Walmart later in the year.
He is good about knowing how much he has and sometimes ill say "Ok this is a gift from me, not out of your money" If i say "are you willing to buy this, he thinks about it and will put back half of what he wants.

We each buy a pin each time we go and that is a Mom buys thing.
Last year he had more from his own savings and grandparents then I did. He also came home with half of it because he decided to save it. Not finding something he really wanted.

 

[tasha99]

Ah i dont even know what places to eat haha we are kind of winging it since its our first time but maybe I should do some more research! Is Blue Bayou a must eat?

Souvenir wise i really only plan to get things for my daughter and nephews (all 3 are under 4).

We love going to Blue Bayou, but you do need to call and get a reservation to eat there. We try to get the first reservations of the day for lunch, and we request a water table as they're seating us. That said, it's super expensive and we learned the hard way: split meals! Last summer we forgot this rule, and no one could finish their food. Blue Bayou's food is okay, but the main thing about it is it's in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We always go in September, when it's hot, so sitting under the stars in air conditioning for a while is a treat.

Also, with teenagers, don't forget the single rider lines at times. We prefer to sit together on a ride, but not if it means waiting in line for an hour. Hope you have a great trip!