Estimate for trip costs please!~

[truescorp]

Hello everyone. I have tried to do a search a few times and the search function is disabled. We have a trip coming up Oct 23-30th, and originally had thought we'd be able to have about $1000 extra over and above the cost of the hotel and tickets and MNSSHP. Unfortunately, some life situations have interferred with that projected money amount.
As of this time, I have park hoppers paid for and MNSSHP tickets paid for, and my Wyndham Palms reservation I made through Hotel Kingdom is only about a third of the way paid for. Its not an option to cancel the trip, my kids would be absolutely crushed. But my question to my fellow budgeter's is-whats the least amount a family of four-me, husband, and two kids 4 and 8yrs old-can get away with taking to Disney? I imagine with us being at the Wyndam we will be able to eat a lot of our meals there, but how do you do that while taking advantage of the short October park hours??
ANY answers would be appreciated!!!

 

[Straitlover]

Does your room have a kitchen, or is it like a condo? If it is, you can eat breakfast and dinner both there (if you don't mind eating after 6 PM!). Take some snacks into the parks w/ you, and you should be able to get by w/ just eating lunch in the parks. If you stick w/ mostly counter service, you ought to be able to eat pretty cheap. Maybe you and the 4 YO split an adult meal, get the 8 YO a kids meal and then your DH gets an adult meal. Deb Wills site has all the menus listed if you want to take a look. Believe it's www.wdwinfo.com .

If your place is a condo (not a hotel) and you are driving, consider taking a crockpot. You can start something in it before you leave for the day and have a yummy meal when you get back in waiting for you! Don't forget you can even fix baked potatoes in the crockpot!

 

[truescorp]

For such a quick reply! The Wyndam Palms has a kitchen, and I think that will save us a lot, I was just concerned with getting everything done in the parks that we wanted to do before they close so early.
So Lisa, how much would you say we could get away with budgeting for food? Include in it the Cindy's breakfast(we have ressies so how can you let that go, you know?), and maybe Chef Mickey's or one other character meal.
Thanks in advance for anyone that can help with this!

 

[HM]

We usually figure $100 a day for our family of four. That will usually included 2-3 sit-down character-type meals and our souveniers. I would think that if you skip the sit-down meals and limit everyone to one souvenier that means the most to them, you could do it for around $500 or less....depending on how much you use your room to eat in. -HM

 

[junebugs123]

Hi! Sorry I am not going to be much help on the budget, I am a newbie and clueless. Just wanted to say we will be vacationing the exact same days as you, What day are you doing MNSSHP?

 

[jann1033]

Originally posted by truescorp
[ was just concerned with getting everything done in the parks that we wanted to do before they close so early.
[/B]

I think Oct is slow like early Dec (maybe not as slow but..) so I doubt you'll have any trouble geting things done. usually there is a minimal wait time for rides, nothing like summer months.

don't know if you checked out the connections vocuhers ( top thread on budget board) and menus at www.wdwig.com. hope it helps

 

[kashkdz]

truescorp --

My advice to you would be obviously to obviously budget yourself when it comes to spending money on food and beverages while in the parks. Your kids are close in age to mine (two sons 8,3 and daughter 6). Whenever we go to the parks I carry a backpack filled with snacks (twizzlers, gummies, cookies, M&M's, etc) and drinks, and a water bottle. Whenever the kids want something to drink, I just grab a soda from my backpack and the're happy; the same goes for the snacks. You may not realize it but quite often you'll spend a few dollars here for a snack, a few dollars here for a soda, and after a full day that really adds up. Sure you're going to be buying some snacks and beverages, but this will help curb you're spending somewhat. Also, figure for a family of four (my youngest didn't go last time), you'll probably spend spend about $100 a day total, considering one sit-down character meal a day and all the other ways Mickey siphons the money out of your pocket.

Hope this helps !

 

[Local_Girl]

Hi truescorp,

We are very budget minded as well. Last year we went so far as to have picnic lunches in our car to save some $$. It actually worked out okay--my kids are a little too old for the afternoon nap thing, but it provided some "down time" so we could relax, as well as saving us $30 or so for lunch in the parks. We even did it in conjunction with park hopping to save a bit of time. If you have a car you might consider something similar.

I think you should use your kitchen to the greatest extent possible. Breakfasts there (except Cindy's), lunches out, and dinners back at the condo also, whenever possible. I plan for easy-to-fix meals that my family enjoys. We'll be in a condo for our upcoming trip and this is our general plan (though we are splurging a bit more this year than last). If you want to try a restaurant or do another character meal, go for breakfast or lunch which are usually cheaper than dinner. And regarding sharing meals...we have an almost 10 yr old who won't order off the child's menu (grown up tastes, LOL!!), but can never finish an adult meal. I often share with him, and we get a child's meal for the 7 yr old, and an adult meal for my DH. And don't forget to plan for the occasional Mickey bars...if I recall, we spent about $10 for the 4 of us each time we got a treat.

I really do think you can do meals for much less than $100 per day with a similar plan. Good luck!!

 

[truescorp]

Yes, we'll have a car, and plan to park hop on some days so that picnic lunch may work! You just hate to pinch pennies at Disney, you know? But the more important thing is that we'll all be there, as a family, to enjoy it, so the food shouldn't be the focus, right?
You guys have been real helpful. Oh, and Junebug, we'll be doing MNSSHP on the 24th. Due to the current financial situation though, I'm afraid I wont be able to get the kids new costumes or any for us. They'll have to wear what they wore last year. And I know my kids won't like that! Isn't it amazing how our kids don't realize how good they have it?

 

[junebugs123]

Have fun Trues, we are going to the halloween party on the 24th as well, me and dh won't be in costume either. See you at the parks

 

[TWIRLYWIG]

I have kids that are about the same age. What we do is provide a fanny pack with water bottle holsters for each of us. There are some small packs that fit my 6 year old and 9 year old just right. We refill the bottles whenever we run across a water fountain. The fanny packs also have pockets. They are filled with cheese sticks, jerky, fruit snacks, raisins, nuts and power bars or granola bars, fruit or whatever. If there's room, we also provide FRS radios, just incase they get lost. The fanny packs have been a life saver. They keep our hands free. We've never had problems with loosing the bottles on a ride. They also have saved us big bucks on snacks and drinks and the kids actually like being in charge of their own snacks.

I also suggest leaving the parks, if you can, for lunches and dinners. Disney food is a little pricey, and from experience, I don't think most of it is that good. Also, eat a big breakfast that will hold you over for a while. Sometimes we will skip lunch and just eat the snacks, then have a big dinner. It has worked well for us. My hotel also provides and excellent continental breakfast for free. This year we were able to get the breakfast and nice rooms for $54/night. The breakfast really helps with the food budget. Therefore, I've been able to keep my food budget down to about $70/ day. That's $8 for snacks, $28 for lunch and $36 for dinner. It's often less and because our room has a refrigerator and microwave we often eat in and save more.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your stay!

Twirly

 

[jann1033]

since you have a kitchen ...someone started a thread on crock pot cooking in the "camping" board on here...some sounded very yummy! it would be easier for me to eat in if I knew I didn't have to fuss a lot with it when I got back to the room.

 

[mrsheppo]

If you have your heart set on dining with the characters, instead of a dinner, how about the Ice Cream Social at Epcot at the Garden Grill? It's approx. $8.00 per person and they feature Farmer Mickey, Chip and Dale and I believe Pluto. This will save a few bucks and still have the characters. I think it is featured each day at 3:00 p.m.

Good Luck,

 

[Ambassador]

Last year, bottled water in the parks was $2.75 a pop. Small coolers are allowed, which may be stored in lockers near the main gates of the parks. We buy cases at a supermarket our first evening. We guzzle the stuff (especially Mrs. Ambassador, who never finishes one bottle before opening another) and save $60 per case. A family of four can go through 2-4 cases a week. Every little bit helps. Also, a map with restroom locations is essential.

 

[Straitlover]

Turescorp, I'm pretty cheap, so I'm not good at estimating other people's budgets - LOL! My trip next week is only my second one (first waqs back in 82), so I don't have much first-hand experience w/ WDW, either. My half of the food budget for 10/4-10/11 is only $200 total, and I'm hoping to not even spend all that. It's just my sis and I going. We will eat most if not all breakfasts in the condo. I've got a couple B1G1Free coupons we may use for dinner. Otherwise dinner will be in the condo (sandwiches, baked potato/salad, spaghetti - easy, cheap stuff!). Our first night we will be going to the Trail's End buffet for dinner; that will be our most expensive meal (14.99 per person). Lunches will be in the parks, and we will most likely split meals (we are both on Weight Watchers, and I hear the portions at WDW are big!). I'm trying to remember that it's just food, not something IMO not worth blowing your budget or going into debt over .

I would really try to use the crockpot. You can have lots of good stuff each night w/ very little time invested - soup, lasagna, a roast, chili, etc. I know it's vacation, but sometimes people (namely me!) have to work a little harder to be able to afford the vacation, KWIM?

Best moneysaver idea at the parks to me is to bring a water bottle. All that soda and stuff is not good for you anyway (leasches calcium out of your bones!). I got a Brita bottle that has a built-in replaceable filter since I heard the water down there is not exactly tasty. Worth the $7 investment at WalMart to me! If y'all don't mind drinking out of the same one, you would only need one. However, I will not be sharing one w/ my sister - ha!

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[truescorp]

The replies continue to encourage me that we can do this on a budget. Questions-At the ice cream social, is it just ice cream served? Also-do you need PS for this? As for the Brita water bottles, I am hoping to find some before our trip-how hard is it to keep them cool and how hard is it to find water fountains to fill them up with? Is this a better route than carrying bottles of water in a cooler?

 

[mom2smjn]

We are a family of 6 and my kids are big eaters ...and we are on a strict budget.
So when we venture into the world we are always on the look out for a way to save.

What works for us is:


We eat breakfast in the room (except we did do Cindys once and it was AWESOME..I have pics in my sig)

We go in Dec so parks close early...we often eat on the way back to the hotel if we are not in Epcot too late (though Epcot counter service is really good). There are tons of great Buffets and such in Kissimmee.

We pack substantial snacks...and have a mini picnic in a quiet spot in the park if the kids are hungry...(pop tarts, peanut butter and crackers, slim jims, nuts, snak pudding you know what I mean)

We do usually eat lunch in the parks but only counter service(we LOVE the food there) and the portions are HUGE so splitting is not a problem...or we do the Family meal at Cosmic Rays at MK( really yummy serving 3-4 people Whole Rotisserie Chicken with Mashed Potatoes its like $15)

Be sure to have protien to fuel yourself throughout the day!

We do a Character meal 1x per trip and that is our splurge!

We are going again this year and instead of a character meal we are going to a NICE sitdown(my parents are joining us and this will be their first trip ever!)

Check Debs allears page for the menus and prices! A MUST so you don't hit a place that is over budget.


I hope this all helps.

 

[Straitlover]

Re the bottles: what you could do is partially fill it up at night and put it in your freezer. In the morning, fill it up the rest of the way. That should last you a good while. They will also give you cups of ice water for free in the parks that you can put in it. Personally, unless I am extremely hot, I prefer my water out of the tap rather than on ice, anyway. I also have an insulated bottle holder I got for free at some event I went to. I definitely would not carry bottles of water in a cooler; too much trouble and too much expense for me!

Re the ice cream social: you only get the ice cream (maybe a beverage??? not sure about that), but it is a big ole sundae! There was another post around here somewhere on the DIS that had pictures of the sundaes. The adult one is a chocolate chip cookie base. A waffle cone bowl is "glued" to the cookie. Then there is a lot of vanilla ice cream in the bowl w/ some kind of topping. The kid sundae looks like a clown. Ice cream w/ an upside down sugar cone for a hat, and I believe it has a candy face and some sprinkly things on it. This is something we might do depending on how well our eating goes and if we can get a PS at the last minute (the day before we want to go).

 

[MEM]

truescorp

With regard to the "no new costume" rule, I suggest you check out the home-made costumes on familyfun.com (a Disney company). They have tons of clever costumes that you assemble from things around the house or picked up at yardsales and thrift shops. You don't have to sew -- most are glue, staple, velcro, pin, etc. Personally, I prefer a homemade costume to one ready-made and purchased at a store and others who have seen my kids would agree.

 

[crisi]

I know a lot of people will do some of their souvienier shopping at home before the trip - and then surprise the kids with t-shirts, stickers, and small Disney toys pulled from the suitcase or backpack to keep down the "I wants."

I'm not a "junk" person, so I avoid buying it in the first place - and keep my kids as far away from it as I can while we are down there. (Now if I can only keep my husband away from the junk).

Keep the snacking down to a minimum. And haul in the snacks you do eat.

Also, its late, but see what you can do to increase the amount of pocket money you do have (just in case). Can Grandma come through with spending money for the kids - maybe an early Christmas present? (My sister just gave my two $15 in Disney Dollars for their birthdays - and their Great Grandma came through with another $15. $30 to Disney isn't bad for a 4 and 5 year old).


(If I were on a tight budget, I wouldn't bother with two character meals. The characters are everywhere - and the food - while ample and decent - at a character meal isn't great and their are cheaper options - especially if you are willing to eat off site. The other thing about character meals is they are relatively time consuming. I love character meals - but they don't run cheap - even the ice cream social).