Do you think this is enough?

[momof4crazykiddos]

This is our first disney trip and as it gets closer Im getting anxious. I am going to be ther MArch20-28. Tickets already bought and condo paid for! So my question is do you think 2000 will be enough for the extras? There is 6 of us going 2 adults and 4 children. We are staying offsite in a condo so some meals I will be taking and making myself and breakfast and most lunches will already be bought and eaten in room. So those meals are not included in the 2000. I have booked CRT which is paid for chef mickeys and crystal palace. The rest of our out to eat meals will be off property. Im just nervous and want to make sure we have enough. Thanks for any input!!

Barbara

 

[Nayan]

Staying offsite is a great deal, but actually packing up, heading back to your room, eating lunch and then heading back out might be a major time-waster. Breakfast in the room is doable, and money-wise advisable! I would suggest taking a small soft-side cooler and putting in a locker at the front of the park. That way, you can head out the gate, grab lunch and head back in, saving time and money.

As far as the 2000, if you budget it it should be more than plenty. The big thing is souvenir's, and with kids it's doubly so! Maybe make a budget of a certain amount for each of them and waiting until almost the end of the trip to do some shopping. That way, they will get what they really want and not so much try and grab everything they see .

 

[Brer Shay]

So you're basically planning 9 dinners for 6 and say 5 lunches for 6 plus souvies. I think $2K is PLENTY. The souvies are really your wildcard. Set a per child limit, or daily limit on that and you'll be fine no doubt.

 

[SandrA9810]

going off property for every meal is tough. You're looking at 30mins just getting to your car at MK. The other parks aren't so bad. So plan on bringing lunch with you in a cooler. Do dinner half on/half off property. And even eating off property can be just as much as eating at a CS. So i'd suggest looking at allears.net to plan out places to eat, sharing some of the larger platter meals. And bring plenty of your own drinks, that's what racks up very very fast.

 

[darthspud]

how old are the children? are they old enough to handle thier own money with/ with out a bit of help? How about putting money on 4 giftcards that each child has to spend for the entire trip.. that way the kids can learn to budget their money and also if they want a special snack or something then they have to pay for it ect.. but yeah 2000 should be plenty..

 

[momof4crazykiddos]

Thank you all so much for your replies. I did buy a softsided cooler to take lunches in the parks. My kids are 12 10 5 and 2. I will def check out the cs menus on allears and see what we come up with.

Barbara

 

[luvdisney00]

We are a family of 5 and usually go with the dining plan. One thing that we have found is that eating a CS lunch when we have a sit down (TS) dinner planned is that one CS meal per person is WAY too much food. My kids are 14, 12 and 7 and we are easily able to order 2-3 CS meals and share with everyone having plenty to eat. If you are eating a TS dinner you may not need huge amts of food for lunch so it may cost a little less. Of course it is always better to overbudget and have money left over than to not have enough.

I also agree with pp that it is way too much time and energy to eat offsite unless you are leaving the park for the day or for a while anyway.

Good luck!! You should have an awesome vacation!!

 

[Leader of the Club]

OMG! You will all have so much fun! We are going March 20-27th and can't wait. We usually stay on site and have the dining plan.

On one trip we stayed off-site. We ate breakfast in our room and took lunch and snacks with us. It was great not having to stand in line to get lunch and everyone just ate when they were hungry. We ate dinner in our condo, but it was early-January so we didn't want to stay out too late and my youngest was only 3months old.

Remember to budget in your daily parking fees.

As for spending money for the kids, I usually give them $10 (one year was $20, but we had more that year) a day to spend however they wish. they can spend it that day or save it up a few days (or all of the days) and make a bigger purchase.

Have a GREAT time!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Don't forget that it will cost $14 per day for parking. If you are there for nine days that comes to $126.

 

[momof4crazykiddos]

Thanks! We will only have to pay parking for 6 days because the first night we are staying on property.

Barbara

 

[meghanlea]

so it's a little late for the holidays, but put their money on a gift card. Santa, the easter bunny, v-day, etc. are times my kids each get a 25 gift card to save up for the trip. My kids each have like 100 or more (ive lost count) through cards to spend how they want. We will cover food, the pirates league/BBB, etc. but as far as shirts, toys, or what they want that's what their cards are for.

 

[MinnieLove]

$2000 - with tickets and lodging paid - you will be fine. We spent a week in March last year with 2 adults and 3 kids and only spend $1200. Stop by the grocery and pick up breakfast items and snacks. Dont forget a case of water. We ate a large breakfast every morning at the condo. Took snacks and water to the parks. In the afternoon we had lunch in the park and 3 meals would feed the five of us. And then usually ate dinner on the way home. We actually brought back leftovers to the condo and would eat them later in the week. I think we bought about 150 groceries, and spent approx. $30 on lunch and $40-50 on dinner. And the kids were so tired and busy they didnt care about eating. They preferred the snacks I brought more than anything. We probably only spent 200-300 on souvies the entire week.

We also got facepainting and the boys got their hair cuts in the barbershop (gel and mickie confetti included) for $13 a pop. Three pairs of ears. I dont feel we skimped on anything.

You will be fine. If your kids want to souvies like shirts - buy outside the park.

Have a great vacation! My advice - take pictures and more pictures.