Be honest - how much should I bring

[lilmissie]

We are heading down to WDW in 4.5 weeks (roughly) Resort/park passes are paid for. That leaves us with food (for 5 - two adults, three toddlers - 3, 3, 2), and suvineers. We won't be able to buy a lot of suvineers as we are flying and only have so much room in our suitcases. We have a $600 gift card already. I was thinking another $1000 would be enough. Am I being realistic?

 

[Priorityonecb]

I can't help with you with the food budget, we are big fans of the dining plan. We typically budget $50 per person for souveniers. To cut down on spending impulsively we "window" spot the entire trip...then our last afternoon we go shopping for the one or two things the girls have seen throughout the week that they can't live without!

 

[powellrj]

I think its more than enough. We budget $200 a day for our family of 4 and that includes 2 teenagers who love to eat!

Check http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm for menus and prices for meals and if they are table service, budget your tips and taxes. We are really not a souvenir family, so we usually just budget $50 per person for the whole trip.

We also need money for airport parking and meals, and thats included. I think you really have more than enough!

 

[Darcy03231]

You don't say how long you're going for, but I will assume a week. I took my niece for her first trip last fall and it was just the two of us (she was 4). We were on the dining plan and not including BBB, MNSSHP tickets and a rather expensive watch I bought, I spent an additional $400.00. That was mostly extra snacks/drinks and tips.

 

[lilmissie]

Sorry we will be done for 6 days (arriving around 4pm on Sunday to about 2pm on Saturday). We couldn't be a dinning plan. I'm glad to hear I'm being reasonable.

 

[monorailsilver]

I think that will be more then enough.

We went last year for 9 days & brought just under $1500 (I am thinking around $1300-$1400 & we came home with money). We are a family of 5-2 adults & my kids were 7, almost 5 & 2.

We spent about $300 ish on souviners with that money.

We bought 5 mugs with that money too.

We ate at RFC ($75), Chef Mickeys for dinner (dd2 ws free), Ohana's bfst (dd2 was free) & WCC other then that we did CS meals.

 

[reducereuserecycle]

that seems like more than enough to me

 

[JLKennedy]

We're going down next Friday for 10 days, on the dining plan and we'll bring a bit more than a thousand for me & hubby and 2 kids.

 

[MinnieForMe]

As long as you are not planning on character meals, I think you'll be fine. You can get counter service meals under $10.00 a person if need be. I would pack snacks for the toddlers to avoid buying them. I just fill a tupperware with snacks so they don't get crushed. I also bring our own lifejackets/floaties/blow ups/googles in this duffel bag. I'm guessing you are entitled to a bag per person and we've never found a need to pack bags for the kids. We just throw there stuff in with ours.

 

[lilmissie]

We have three meals planned. Chef Mickey's supper (DS3a/b's bday), Coral Reef (just DH and I going!!), and Hollywood N' Vine (fantasmic supper). Otherwise sticking to cs/qs meals. Planning to eat breakfast in the room. And bring in snacks and possibly lunch. I am sure our hotel supplies life jackets so I don't have to worry about those. And for our baggage we do have to pay $15/per bag but I think we can fit it all in one (possibly two).

 

[tmccullough]

I think it's more than enough. Remember when eating at a CS restaurant, the kids meals are HUGE! You could buy one kids meal for all three to share. Check out the dining menus ahead of time to pick the best bang for your buck with food - if your kids are like most, it's chicken nuggets and mac&cheese or fries that they want. We've gone with and without the dining plan and there are plenty of affordable dining options. HTH!!

 

[tinkmom2]

The first year we went we were a family of 3 with a bun in the oven. We stayed for 7 days. We budgeted $1000.00 for food. Maybe $100.00 went to souvies. We ended up coming home penniless! Never again! From that point on we always got the meal plan. So my advice is to really keep track of your budget or have an emergency fund. We also got stranded in MCO for a extra day because of our plane breaking down and then weather. Thankfully they gave us food vouchers and put us up in the Hyatt.

 

[phins_jazy]

We're a family of 5 (me, dh, 10, 4, 2) and we plan on bringing around that same amount. I hope it will be enough. We plan on doing $100 for dh and I and $50 each for the kiddos in souvies. The rest will all be food. We'll have a car and we're staying in a rental house so we'll hit up the grocery store and plan on making a lot of meals at the house. We'll be bringing a cooler with lunch in it every day too.

 

[neonurse]

You can save alot of money by bringing your own water. $2.50 a bottle!! Also bring some jc boxes for the kids. You can bring them down with you in your suitcase as well as cereal bars, cereal and snacks and that leaves room for souveniers on the way home. I was told to allow $200 a day and we came home with lots of money. I think it depends if you plan on eating in the park everyday. If you have a rental car you can drive to restaurants like Cici's pizza (great pizza buffet with salad and dessert for $5.00 pp) or the golden corral ($10 for adults and less maybe $4-5 for kids) A buffet which is nice with the little ones. We save alot of money by bringing drinks into the parks as well as sandwiches and snacks. That saves money for popcorn, mickey bars and dole whips!!YUM!
Have a great trip!

 

[diamondpixienc]

The additional 1K should be plenty That is all we planning for souvenirs, tips, etc. However, we are on the DP and are planning to eat breakfast in the room, and bring snacks and water for the kiddies. You should be fine. I hope you have a magical trip

 

[tigger51276]

When it was just myself, if money was tight then it was $50 a day, if money was a bit more plentiful then $100 a day (that is for food and souviners). Then when my DD was 2 I started planning for $125-150 day and that has held pretty well for the last few years. This year it will be myself and my DD5 and DD1 and my plan is to still try to get away with $150 a day but i'm going to put aside $175 a day and try not to use the extra $25.
I think you should be just fine with what you have saved for the trip.

 

[Namsupak]

A lot of it highly depends on what you want to eat, table service or counter service as well as how many meals you want to eat a day plus or minus snacks. For example when we go we usually dine at two table services a day and one counter service. Looking at your budget 600+1000 for a trip of about 5-6 days (not sure when you are arriving/departing) would give you approximately 260-320 per day. That sounds reasonable if you plan on eating mostly table services and/or character meals. Plus you will have plenty of money for souvenirs and maybe the Hallowen party. Hopefully you have made reservations though for any table service restaurants you want. If you know where you want to eat and want a more accurate budget go to a website like allears.net to look at all the menus.

 

[wdwfan16]

We usually budget $250/day for food and souvenirs. We usually come home with some.