Budget for spending money

[adc]

How much for park spending should I be ready for? We have DDP and plan to be at Disney 2.2-2.8.

I was thinking of $400 in cash and $500 for debit card.

That's plenty right? We aren't big spenders and won't be going crazy on souvenirs. Maybe snacks, haha. We are skipping downtown Disney and have a boy so no BBB or any big extras.

I want to be realistic.

 

[adc]

CC not debit card!

 

[dsneprincess]

I would think you will be fine, if you stay sane in the gift shops. Usually boys don't look for a lot of souvenirs.

 

[adc]

I would think you will be fine, if you stay sane in the gift shops. Usually boys don't look for a lot of souvenirs.

I think you are right. He's three so he's not quite to the souvenir stage.

In another thread folks were talking about 2k and 3k. Yikes!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

How much for park spending should I be ready for? We have DDP and plan to be at Disney 2.2-2.8.

I was thinking of $400 in cash and $500 for debit card.

That's plenty right? We aren't big spenders and won't be going crazy on souvenirs. Maybe snacks, haha. We are skipping downtown Disney and have a boy so no BBB or any big extras.

I want to be realistic.

We typically take a 100.00 per person for a 6 day trip for souvies and snacks. We are not clutter collectors though. I agree if you buy what you really want and will use and not just sit on the shelf you should be just fine

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[njpyro]

We're going 1/29-2/3 with the dining plan. We are bringing $100 per person, and usually bring a good portion of that home. That being said, we are not big eaters, so the dining plan covers 90% of what we eat, and usually only have to buy a few snacks or coffee. we are not big on buying souvenirs either. We collect pins, but buy them ahead of time and only trade, so they count as our souvenirs. I found the biggest expense is tips on all the table service meals, so plan for that.
When we travel with small kids, we go to the dollar store and the dollar section at target and buy glow sticks, because they seem to be what kids want the most when it's dark out and everyone else has them.

 

[java]

Don't forget tip money.

 

[supergoofy]

Since he's 3 this wont help a lot but when we go to the parks(Disneyland) we do DTD on the last day.

This really helps with the I want game. My kids see something and its "I want" and an hour later we will hear it. Its stimulation overload. With a trip to DTD on the last day they get to see everything for a week and get what they really want.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

We're doing $100 each for souvenirs. Snacks and drinks normally cost us probably $40/day for a family of 4 (We don't use dining plan). I think you have planned plenty.

 

[LJSquishy]

A three year old doesn't really need any "extras", so you should be able to plan ahead of time how much money you want to set aside for items you might purchase for him (stuffed toy, book, ears, etc).

We hate souveniers so we don't set aside any money for "stuff". We also did not bring much cash because cash can easily get lost. I think we only brought around $20 in cash to use for concierge tips and shuttle tips. We charged meal tips and extra food/beverages (such as alcohol) not included on the dining plan to our credit card (well, technically our KTTW card which was linked to our credit card).

It's always best to use a credit card for any purchases because you can always dispute the charges if something doesn't look right. I've read maaaaaaany stories about people losing their cash. In my opinion cash is a hassle anyway because you pretty much have to only have $1 bills because your tips will be all different amounts ($7, $23, $18, etc). I personally don't want to leave a $15 tip when I really wanted to leave an $11 tip just because I didn't have any $1 bills. Add little things like that up over an entire week long trip and you could have overtipped by $100+.

 

[cmkling]

We usually give the kids $20 per day each.
Having a set amount helps them budget what they want to spend their money on. I guess we spend about the same amount for us per day outside if food too.

 

[travelgirl06]

Our DD was two, so we let her look around in the shops throughout the trip and told her she could pick one thing on the last day. We had a good idea of what she liked, so we helped guide her to things that were within the price range we wanted to spend, she wound up with a princess doll and grandma also bought her a little stuffed toy. DH and I aren't big on souvenirs, but we usually spend $20-$50 at the Japan store (chopsticks are an every-trip purchase, plus sometimes dishes or snacks) and I usually spend around $20 at Basin.

If you have DDP you should be mostly covered for meals - don't forget about tips and extras if you want them (appetizers, drinks, etc.) ! We usually bring snacks to make in the room for breakfast and do that most mornings (aside from a few restaurants that we love for Kona), depending on appetites splitting CS meals and snacks can also help you stretch the meal plan (some of the meals are large, and we frequently prefer to split a few snacks throughout the day vs. all getting our own snacks just once).

Last trip we had most of our meals, snacks, and souvenirs in our KTTW card (no DDP) and I think we wound up at around $700 or $800 for 5 nights - this included most meals, tips, some alcoholic drinks, souvenirs, first haircut for DD, lots of snacks, etc. So your estimate of $900 for 6 nights sounds like it should be fine and allow for a few treats .

 

[twinmomplus2]

I feel cheap reading some of these but always don't have an issue w money.So for us it works. I actually use the same method my parents made us use as kids.
If its 3 of us traveling myself and 2 thirteen year old boys.
Every day gets a separate envelope. 100.00 in cash and a 50 dollar gift card.
We are not big eaters and do stay DVC so breakfasts are in the villa.
We do one sit down a day typical cost is 65-75
We use the gift card and cash. I do not deny pretzel, popcorn etc. we buy it freely and always have money at the end of the day.
$$ at the end of the day is slush $$ for whatever.
Kids get 50 each on like day three after they look around a bit!
Our big expense treat is Basin on our last night.
And we can spend anywhere from
100-150.

 

[Marionnette]

How much for park spending should I be ready for? We have DDP and plan to be at Disney 2.2-2.8. I was thinking of $400 in cash and $500 for debit card. That's plenty right? We aren't big spenders and won't be going crazy on souvenirs. Maybe snacks, haha. We are skipping downtown Disney and have a boy so no BBB or any big extras. I want to be realistic.

$900 for a week would work fine for my husband and me. We 're not big on buying souvenirs but we do like to have nice TS meals everyday.

Figure on about $20 per TS meal for tips for 2 adults on the DDP. Add extra if you enjoy a cocktail or wine when you eat out. You may not need to spend anything extra on snacks or a 3rd daily meal. The DDP seems to have more than enough food for most people.

Don't forget other tips, snacks/meals at the airport, and also anticipate the unexpected expenses (pain relievers for headaches, cost of laundry supplies for clothing emergencies, cab fare to a clinic in case of illness, etc.) you might want to bring a credit card along in case of an emergency.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We (me, ds12 and dd9) were there for 9 days in October. My adult dd had her own money. I took right around 1000 but that covered the drive there from Ohio including fast food, gas and 2 hotels. That really only left us about 600 (the kids each had a 100 gift card we got free with reward bucks). We didnt run out. We split tips, I bought a few things for myself and one thing each for my 3 kids. Dh did put enough in my acct for gas and hotel on the way home. I brought a little home.

 

[burnurcomputer]

Depends on what you think you might want to have as a souvenir.

We spend much more money then some of you admit too, lol! If I'm buying jewelry, its not going to be the craptastic plastic and cheap metal, its going to be fine jewelry, but that's all I buy in real life. That's is going to cost quite a bit more!

I get t-shirts, sweat shirts, socks and sometimes shoes (that I plan on buying). I like to wear my Disney, not eat it or drink it.

Plastic bath toys can be a fun way to get an item that your child can use, may want to use, and can be easily used outside the tub for a multi duty toy.

We also look at art when we go and have started our Disney home pieces. My oldest has an Oswald piece that was drawn for him and we framed. It was less then $40 to have done and with havi8ng the framing done here, it matches his décor and his style.

Some people like Kitchen items, and buy them at Disney. Some people like tech and buy Disney tech items when they visit. Some people like to buy Pins, my mom like to buy magnets......just try to think ahead on what items (if any) you would like to get and then price it out based on that.

 

[happymommy]

Since you are already on the dining plan, you get two full meals as well as one snack per day. I found that the one time we were on the plan (free), it was quite a lot of food (my DD and I can frequently share a CS meal and be satisfied). A 3 year old may just want a little snack and a drink to satisfy between meals, so I used to always have a backpack with me when the kids were younger with healthy (or not so healthy) snacks on the go. It also helped with boredom.

I agree to factor in tips for the TS meals. Maybe one souvenir, something special. Some fun things for kids are free, like the masks in Epcot. My kids used to love them.

Of course, adult beverages in Epcot can be pricey!

Now that my kids are older, we skip most souvenirs completely. I think you can plan on a budget and easily stick to it. Some folks do buy a lot - we're not big shoppers so usually if we're in a gift shop, we are getting out of the heat or rain! I can't imagine spending 1K or 2K on extras, but many folks have collections of things they enjoy buying. For me, it's the $8 beer that is a killer! Still, worth it usually when it's accompanied by a stroll around a beautiful park!

 

[kiramay]

The DDP will cover your meals and a snack, so you just need to figure tip, alcohol, extra snacks, and souvenirs. We went for 6 days with a family of 5, no dining plan. We packed breakfast and snacks, and spent about $980 for food, tips, and drinks. Each kid had one $30 gift card for a souvenir.

For the next trip I'm budgeting $1200 for the week and packing breakfast and snacks again. I think I'll give the kids more for souvenirs this trip as they'll be older.

 

[KaLyn]

I know this thread is 2 weeks old, but it's the most recent. I'm figuring out how much we need to take with us. So far on my list I have...

ME Driver Tips
OOP meals (cause I NEED to try things like Tonga Toast lol)
Restaurant Tips
Cab Fare
Cab Tips
Souvenir Money

What else am I missing? TIA!

 

[Marionnette]

I know this thread is 2 weeks old, but it's the most recent. I'm figuring out how much we need to take with us. So far on my list I have...

ME Driver Tips
OOP meals (cause I NEED to try things like Tonga Toast lol)
Restaurant Tips
Cab Fare
Cab Tips
Souvenir Money

What else am I missing? TIA!

Emergency cash for things like Tylenol, Band Aids, or anything else that you need that you either forgot to pack or else didn't anticipate needing. My sister once went on vacation without packing underwear for one of her sons. I once forgot to pack a bathing suit for myself when we were vacationing at the beach. It happens sometimes. If you have a CC on hand to cover those things, then you'll be fine. Otherwise, make sure that you bring extra money for that kind of stuff.

Some people also tip Mousekeeping. $1-$2 per person per night is pretty much the standard amount.

If you kids like the resort arcades, you'll want money for that.

And don't forget change for pressed pennies if you think you might want to collect those!