Budget help

[CandMmommy]

1.
With 2 adults and 2 daughters almost 3 yrs and 5 years is 120 bucks a day reasonable including 2character dinings?
In other words, will it even out? We plan to carry snacks and have breakfast in the room every day except Minnie's breakfast day. My kids will more than likely split a meal or little dd will share with me.
2. What else will we need $ for? DD are getting 100disney card from my parents before the trip. Can u think of anything else?
3. Is there a target or similar nearby? We rented a car
Thanks!!

 

[Madhatter7]

That price would last for the 3 of us, if we didnt plan on buying anything at all! Merchandise is pricey but food is also, check out allears.net for food prices

 

[CandMmommy]

I should have said 120- day for food only. We won't be paying for food for the 2 year old. We will be sharing though

 

[todzwife]

The character meals are EXPENSIVE. I'm assuming you're talking 2 character meals total and not per day. You're looking at about $90-$100 for a character meal (I think adults are about $30 and kids are $25, not including tip? someone correct me if I'm wrong).

If you plan to ONLY eat that one meal in the park and maybe do a snack (which will run about $15) you could pull it off.

Breakfast in the hotel
Snack from home/store etc.
Late character meal lunch
Dinner at an outside venue?

Good luck! I'm planning on $100/day for us and we aren't doing character meals except for 1 time.

 

[Bossy22]

Depends what you plan on eating but I think it is quite doable. My wife and I ate for about 60 a day and we had a couple of nice sit down meals including Blue Bayou but we didn't always eat in the park and we were budgeting!

 

[CandMmommy]

We are for sure doing Minnie at plaza inn for breakfast and Ariel's will be reserved and depending on princess experience. If we don't have to wait in a rediculous line and get pics, we may skip Ariel's.
We will eat in the parks 1time a day, maybe twice but will mostly be quick service. We will go back for naps, so it might be lunch that we eat elsewhere.
What about souvenirs and such. Are there some reasonable things for young children to buy with 100 in 4 days?

 

[starry_solo]

120/day for food for 4 is reasonable, especially if you're only doing 2 character meals total.

It depends on how long you want to wait for the princesses vs. Ariel's Grotto.

Lunch at the Plaza Inn (fried chicken) is extremely generous and refillable soft drinks

Breakfast with Minnie is great! If you set it up for a late breakfast, you might be okay to skip lunch (have a snack or a very light lunch) and then have dinner in the park.

If you eat at Riverbelle Terrace, make sure you get the Steamboat (pancakes, eggs, sausage or bacon) for $7.49 or $7.99 and a side of potatoes ($1.99). That is a much better deal than getting the Mark Twain (eggs, sausage or bacon, potatoes, and a biscuit) for $7.49-7.99 with a side of pancakes ($5.99). Sis & I usually split those two and with our drinks, they are great and filling.

If you want refillable coffee, go to the coffee place on Main Street (not the one that is closed, but the one close to the fruit cart). Keep your receipt and you get refills on coffee all day.

 

[CandMmommy]

We are for sure doing Minnie at plaza inn for breakfast and Ariel's will be reserved and depending on princess experience. If we don't have to wait in a rediculous line and get pics, we may skip Ariel's.
We will eat in the parks 1time a day, maybe twice but will mostly be quick service. We will go back for naps, so it might be lunch that we eat elsewhere.
What about souvenirs and such. Are there some reasonable things for young children to buy with 100 in 4 days?

 

[Halloweenqueen]

LOVE Minnies and think it's worth the expense for the character experience. Another choice would be Storytellers. You don't have to buy the buffet there. You can order off a menu. I'm sure kids meals are much cheaper there. Skip drinks, they are always overpriced. That would make a great character experience for a budget meal.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

For our trip in 2009 I budgeted $100/day but prepaid our Ariel's vouchers. We had 2 adults, 2 kids ages 7 and 4, a toddler and a 9 month old. It was plenty. We brought lots of snacks. Had breakfast food in the rooms and even sandwich stuff for afternoon breaks.

Last August pricing for Minnie's is $28/adult $14/child 3-9. Plus tax and tip

 

[pinkprincess30]

Yes, there is a target just up the street. If you walked out of the DLR Security entrance and turned right it would be on the left, a few blocks down. You would definitely need to drive. We picked up a sweatshirt there after my son lost his

 

[CandMmommy]

Thanks do much for the target and budget info. I'm budgeting 120 for the days we fly in and out too, and we wont visit the park those days, so I'm hoping it all evens out!

 

[Brady's Mom]

This is how we budget food money for our trips.

$15 a meal (CS) for anyone over 11 or 12
$8 a meal (CS) for anyone under 10

We plan the $15 each since that seems to be the most expensive CS meal, and some of the TS restaurants have similar pricing.

DH and I frequently share a meal and add a salad since neither of us wants to be stuffed and we always rationalize that we can buy a snack later if we're still hungry.

We haven't done a character meal because I have a hard time justifying paying that much for mediocre food. And we always seem to see plenty of characters since we usually go off-season and we don't have girls so we skip the princesses.

We have breakfast at the hotel and we bring sandwiches, chips, celery, carrots and apple slices in for lunch - our kids would choose nuggets and fries or cheeseburgers and fries for every meal if we didn't. We feel healthier and have more energy than when we eat too much heavy fried food and we don't feel stuffed and then queasy since we've eaten too much.

So - for our trip in March - we'll have 2 kids and 2 adults - I'll plan about $45 a day for food in the parks (or off-site) and we can add some snacks or whatever if we want. With as many trips as we've had - this strategy works great for us.

 

[Huff]

There are two Targets near Disneyland. One at Harbor and Chapman, about 1 1/2 miles south. The other is at Harbor and Orangethorpe, about 5 miles north. The Orangethorpe store is also close to the Disney Character Warehouse which is a Disney merchandise clearance store.

 

[mydisneymoney]

Many of the meals can be split between two adults and for sure between an adult and a child. It is a way to save money. Bringing in your own snacks is also a super idea. Snacks for all, not just the kids. Same with bottled water, bring in your own first thing in the morning. Also, if you buy a soda at a counter services, ask for a large without ice and then ask for a couple of cups with just ice. That way you get a large cup full of pop and not one full of ice with some pop in it.

There is also a Walmart a few blocks away as well. They also have a large suveniour section right out front. T-shirts are much cheaper then in the resort.

 

[Laurawill]

What about souvenirs and such. Are there some reasonable things for young children to buy with 100 in 4 days?

Definitely! I don't know if you are thinking 100 per kiddo or for both, but either way that is sufficient. If it is 100 total, then decide ahead of time if mouse ears are important, those are about 15 each. For the rest of their souvenirs, I would wait to see what strikes the kids fancy and then get no more than one new item per day. Last time we went our daughter really wanted a bubble gun, and on the night we went to Fantasmic she really wanted one of those light up spinning toys. Total we spent about $50 on her souvenirs for a 3 day trip.

If it is 100 per kid, I would encourage them to pick one nicer item (ie princess costume ) and a couple smaller items and not just spend it all on a bunch of little stuff that will be lost or broken within the week.

 

[CandMmommy]

Many of the meals can be split between two adults and for sure between an adult and a child. It is a way to save money. Bringing in your own snacks is also a super idea. Snacks for all, not just the kids. Same with bottled water, bring in your own first thing in the morning. Also, if you buy a soda at a counter services, ask for a large without ice and then ask for a couple of cups with just ice. That way you get a large cup full of pop and not one full of ice with some pop in it.

There is also a Walmart a few blocks away as well. They also have a large suveniour section right out front. T-shirts are much cheaper then in the resort.

Oh this is awesome. Thanks. I was looking for a place to go buy snacks and lunch stuff

 

[millerette]

There is a toddler meal for kids under 3 which is cheaper than a kids meal. I believe the toddle meal is $3 and kids is $5. Both the toddler and kids meals come with a drink. Like you said sharing food with kids is a great idea too. My daughter is almost 2 and we also feed her breakfast in the hotel and pack in snacks for the day. Have fun!

 

[ORMom2Four]

This is how we budget food money for our trips.

$15 a meal (CS) for anyone over 11 or 12
$8 a meal (CS) for anyone under 10

We plan the $15 each since that seems to be the most expensive CS meal, and some of the TS restaurants have similar pricing.

DH and I frequently share a meal and add a salad since neither of us wants to be stuffed and we always rationalize that we can buy a snack later if we're still hungry.

We haven't done a character meal because I have a hard time justifying paying that much for mediocre food. And we always seem to see plenty of characters since we usually go off-season and we don't have girls so we skip the princesses.

We have breakfast at the hotel and we bring sandwiches, chips, celery, carrots and apple slices in for lunch - our kids would choose nuggets and fries or cheeseburgers and fries for every meal if we didn't. We feel healthier and have more energy than when we eat too much heavy fried food and we don't feel stuffed and then queasy since we've eaten too much.

So - for our trip in March - we'll have 2 kids and 2 adults - I'll plan about $45 a day for food in the parks (or off-site) and we can add some snacks or whatever if we want. With as many trips as we've had - this strategy works great for us.

yep, that's pretty much what we plan on too--$15/meal per adult. It adds up when 2 of our "kids" are teens We eat breakfast at the hotel and I pack the young kids (ages 8 and under) lunch and bring it with us. We have a hard time justifying $8 on an uncrustable pb&j and some carrots

We also bring a cooler filled with soda and ice to save on drinks. We carry it on the stroller.

 

[CandMmommy]

yep, that's pretty much what we plan on too--$15/meal per adult. It adds up when 2 of our "kids" are teens We eat breakfast at the hotel and I pack the young kids (ages 8 and under) lunch and bring it with us. We have a hard time justifying $8 on an uncrustable pb&j and some carrots

We also bring a cooler filled with soda and ice to save on drinks. We carry it on the stroller.

So ur allowed to bring in a cooler? And how much does it cost to get a locker?