help... please!!

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

Hi everyone, hope you've all had a Merry Christmas!!

I'm in need of some budget advice. We go to DLP on 9th March, but found out on Friday that my husband is being made redundant as of next week. Disney is all paid for, as is the Eurostar but I still need to budget for spending money and food.

Obviously we're hoping my husband will be back in employment asap but I need a contingency plan. How much will I need per day? There is only me, husband and our 4yr old Son going.

I had considered cancelling, I'd still get 90% of my balance back but I only have until next week to decide on this - it would be an absolute last option, it would break my heart if we had to cancel!

Thanks in advance XxX

 

[otwidalepda]

When we went in August we saved up loads and went for less days to have enough spending money - but came back with most of it. Just be careful on where you eat and don't go mad on shopping - there are many cheap places and just avoid fine dining and it is quite affordable!

 

[hildasmuriel]

Firstly - sorry to hear about your husband's redundancy and I hope he gets something else soon.

It is perfectly possible to have a wonderful time on a small budget. Packets of Cup a Soup are very light to take and are filling for a snack lunch. Sachets of hot chocolate are much cheaper to take from here rather than buying it at Disney. There is a shop (Relay) in the station (in fact there are 2 - go to the bigger one which is nearer the Park) and they have a wide range of snacks at near-normal prices. Ham sandwiches, cheese baguettes, chicken salad sandwiches, Pringles, biscuits, crisps, bottles of water. All MUCH MUCH cheaper than in the Disney shops or the Village. If you have a good breakfast and a snack lunch that only leaves you your main meal to worry about.

You can also do this very cheaply, (if not healthily!) by having MacDonalds, but there are reasonable table service restaurants as well. In the Village Annettes, Rainforest Cafe and Planet Hollywood would be your cheapest options. I haven't tried the buffets at Santa Fe and Cheyenne hotels but lots of people are impressed with them and of course you can eat as much as you want there!

Souvenirs are very pricey - I would always advise against buying presents for people back home because you can't get anything that looks decent for less than a King's ransom.

If you want to treat your son, you could do what many people do - buy him a souvenir at home at a reasonable price and hide it until he gets to Disney and that could be his toy/cuddly/t-shirt for the trip. Either that or set a price limit on what he can choose there and stick to it.

What can really add on to the cost of the holiday is a beer or glass of wine at the end of the day. €6 or €7 for a glass of beer is not unusual.

I would say you could get by on €10 for lunch (if you have bought a few things from home like soup etc) and for €50 will get you a meal at Annettes - even less if you choose to eat a set meal at a counter service restaurant. Add in what you can afford on souvenirs and you should get a picture of how much is needed.

 

[tiggspring]

This may sound silly but may family of five saved enough on bottled drinks to pay for a wishes cruise! Water is nearly $3 a bottle a faimliy of five can spend $30 in a day a family of 3 $18 or a family of 3 $130 a week for water!. If you are on the dinning plan this alows you to really splurg with your snack credts and not waste them on a drink. Bring cheap bottle loop holders a walmart in the camping section for about $1 and either buy your own bottled water at home as we did or fill up reusable bottles with your drinkcup after leaving the resteraunt. Be sure to check out the snack thread it alone will make you feel spoiled knowing where to get fantastic snacks. Really if you have already paid for the dinning plan and everything else you dont need much. you can get many souvorneres for kids for under $10 and simple ears are not much more. Do a plan on ridmax or another plan and focus on the experience. watching wishes from the beach at the Poly, meeting charaters..stay out of the stores and you will be fine.

IMHO go on the trip its paid for and life is too short!

Sorry about the spelling its 5 am

 

[tiggspring]

Ok ..silly me I just got DLP..duh

maybe bring your own wine?

Good luck with your trip

 

[bpeacock]

I am so sorry to hear about your husbands redundancy.

I was to pay the deposit this month for our trip to Halloween next year but my husband also has been told that his job is to go, so unfortunately it will be a annual pass for alton towers for next year and saving up hopefully for Halloween 2012.

If you can stomach Macdonalds and sandwiches from the station during your stay just fill up at breakfast and i agree soups or pot noodles can fill a gap on an evening. Can you take snacks from home for your little one to eat during the day. Another idea may be if your son is not a big eater like my two are could he share your meals.

And lastly enjoy your trip.

 

[mommy2ash]

sorry to hear about your husband losing his job

dlp can be done quite cheaply. i would make sure i fill up at breakfast. then buy some sandwiches for lunch or go to one of the counter service places for lunch. at dinner time you could go to mcdonalds or to one of the hotel buffets.

do not buy drinks in the park. bring a water bottle to fill up. bring some squash with you if your son drinks that as you cant get it in dlp.

i would tell your son he can pick one souvenier at the end of the week. i very rarely buy anything before our last day. that way you avoid most of the totally adorable but useless stuff you dont really need.

 

[first trip]

Hi, sorry to hear about DH's job.
I am taking DD (5) in Jan and we are also on a tight budget. I haven't been before, but having researched through this and other web sites, I am budgeting £50 per day for both of us for food and souvenirs. I have based this on having a big breakfast, taking the advice of some other dissers and taking an extra roll and some ham from breakfast to have for lunch , then eating cheaply at night (McDonalds, take-away pizza etc) with maybe one or two buffets at Santa Fe or Cheyenne. (we are staying 4 nights). I will also be taking snacks etc and squash from home. Hope this helps!!

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

Thanks everyone for restoring my faith!! My husband has applied for a lot of jobs, hopefully something will come of it. Just quiet at the moment being Christmas and I think last night I began to panic a bit!

This will be our Son's first trip and I am desperate to make it happen. We're only there 2 nights so food shouldn't cost too much. We were planning on Cafe Mickey for our first night (it will be my Birthday) but I'll be more than happy being in DLP!!!

I got 120 euro from my parents as a Christmas present for spending money so that's a good start!! I just need to sit down and work out the exacts - for example our dog needs to go to the doggy hotel and fuel for getting to Ashford etc etc.

Just out of curiosity - how flexible are DLP if I want to change getting on the Eurostar from Ashford to St Pancras? We booked the whole package with DLP. I may be able to get some "cheap" train tickets rather than driving to Ashford.

Thanks once again! xxx

 

[kizzabel]

Hi

your going in march which is kind of inbetween seasons at DLP - this means the previous years stock will be reduced in price - we got tshirts last march for €5 instead of €7 so its worth keeping an eye out for the bargains and the your DS can have a little souvenir. theres also offers in the shops - we got Louis from Princess and the Frog for €10 when we spent €20 last march in the Disney store in the Village.

As regards meals i would definately not skip breakfast and would bring ziploc bags to fill with rolls, meat and cheese, maybe even yoghurt at breakfast time which would cut out the cost of lunch.
For dinner i cant recommend the buffet in the chuckwagon at the cheyenne enough for value and variety. set menu in cafe mickeys was €30 per adult (3 courses no drink) and either €11.50 or €16.50 for the kids menu. It really is a great experience and if i was going to break out and splurge this is where id do it.


as regards bringing presents home - its very expensive. theres a 6 pack of magnets at a reasonable enough price which you could split up and give out but otherwise at the most id send a couple of postcards maybe. we brought biscuits back to my mam which were in a lovely tin and they were around €10 afaik.

hope this helps

 

[Brummig]

So sorry to hear that news. I hope he finds a job soon so this is a celebratory trip. However if you are needed to watch the pennies - use a portion of your luggage for snacks and drinks. We take cup a soup, instant noodles and pot mashed potato, hot choc, set of picnic mugs and couple of plastic plates, one set of cutlery. We take things like crackers and crisps. We also take some sweets like tubes of fruit pastells which are great for filling time when in queues, and a litre of juice to dilute.
Have plenty to and eat adrink at breakfast, and take a refillable bottle each to fill at breakfast (not sure if the water fountains will be turned on in March - in Nov they were off).

As well as the shops in the station there is an Esso garage by the Santa Fe which does much cheaper food and drink.

We always take our laptop of the portable dvd player, as at off peak times the park closes early (6pm some days), so we take things for ds to watch, and us after he has gone to sleep. Don't buy alcohol in the park as VERY expensive, get from the station or garage.

Don't forget to take an autograph book from home and a pen (we often forget that!)

I hope you can have a great time.