Cash to take for trip???

[josh0208]

We are leaving 3 months from today!!!

The airfare, house and car are paid off.

All I have left is tickets which I plan to buy next month.

My last thing I need to worry about is cash on hand. We are renting a pool home so I'm planning on stocking the fridge for the 7 days we are there.

How much does everyone recommend I bring for spending. I'm sure I will probably have lunches at the parks. My plan is to bring our lunch from the house. But I still have to think about drinks and treats while we are there.

I read the post about cost of souveniers and think I'll plan for $20 limit for each boy (ages 4 and 6) and 5 days at the parks. I think that's plenty. So that's a total of $200 for their souveniers.

Do you think $500 in cash is plenty? Do you recommend I do all Disney dollars for the kids? I could keep it all in my bank and just use my debit card. Is that a problem in Florida?

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

If that $500 includes the kids' souvenir money and the grocery money, I think that you're going to be a little short on cash by the end of the week.

Figure on spending at least the equivalent of your normal grocery bill for the week's worth of food. And since you're probably going to use more convenience foods than you normally would, add another 30%-50% more to the bill. For my family of 4, that could easily be close to $180 for the week, or about $25/day.

Parking at the parks will be $8/day since you're staying offsite. For 5 days, you're looking at $40.

Even at only $10/day for snacks in the parks (and that's a very conservative number), you're adding another $50 to the total.

There will be tolls to pay from the airport and the gas tank will need to be refilled before you return the car. Figure on at least a tank of gas (estimating about $30) and another $10 in tolls.

By my estimate, that would leave you in the hole.

Now, if you plan to use a CC, debit card or ATM withdrawals while you're there, there should be no problem. But I would not be comfortable with only $500 in funds to cover a 7-day vacation at Disney.

PS - Regarding the Disney Dollars. They're cute and fun to have but they're only good inside Disney's boundaries. Albertson's, Goodings or Publix is going to want good ol' US currency. I might get a few for the kids to spend but I wouldn't turn my bankroll into Mickey Money.

 

[disneysteve]

There is very little that you actually need cash for. Parking and some free-standing snack carts. Everything else takes credit or debit. So there's really no need to carry much cash. Plus you can always tap the ATM if you need more (yes, you'll pay 2 bucks for the privilege but its safer than carrying large amounts of cash). I usually go with $200-300 and never spend it all.

 

[CarolA]

Never take more "cash" then you can afford to lose..... Cash will not be replaced if you lose it or it's stolen.

Just to give you an example, we flew to Europe last summer and on arrival one of the chaperones lost $7,000 in traveler's checks!!! IF that had been CASH we would have been in BIG trouble. (It was a HUGE hassle getting them replaced, but we were able to do it!)

 

[rockin_rep]

There is very little that you actually need cash for. Parking and some free-standing snack carts. Everything else takes credit or debit. So there's really no need to carry much cash. Plus you can always tap the ATM if you need more (yes, you'll pay 2 bucks for the privilege but its safer than carrying large amounts of cash). I usually go with $200-300 and never spend it all.

ITA. We use very little cash as both our debit and credit cards earn points (FF miles and hotel nights). I like getting something more for my money.

And if needed, the ATM fee is totally worth it.