How much cash do you have on hand during your trip to WDW?

[elgerber]

It's interesting to see how different people handle cash. I haven't had any cash in weeks. I can't imagine a situation where I wouldn't be within striking distance of an ATM, or couldn't use a credit/debit card. My MIL is a lot like you, and is uncomfortable with less than $100 on her, even though she rarely touches it.

I am like you, I rarely have cash on me at all.

 

[smiths02]

We might have $80 total, 40 per adult. Just in case. I doubt we will use it, though. We will have our budget amount sitting in our savings account ready to pay the credit card bill, so everything we don't have gift cards for will go straight to the credit card.

Yes, I knew how much we had in savings before/gift cards before, so we just charged everything to the room. I kind of kept up with how we were doing (according to my projections)

 

[disneychrista]

I think that's great if you are comfortable with so little cash in your wallet. As I stated previously, I don't leave my house with so little money on me, let alone go on a vacation where I might find myself in a situation where only cash will be accepted. It's all about comfort levels and mine is a lot higher than yours.

Very few places are cash only. I can't imagine needing hundreds of dollars in cash for anything.

When I do have cash it is usually "mad money" that gets spent on lunch out or Starbucks.

 

[Marionnette]

Very few places are cash only. I can't imagine needing hundreds of dollars in cash for anything.

When I do have cash it is usually "mad money" that gets spent on lunch out or Starbucks.

Again, fine for you. Not for me. Everyone has their own comfort level. I refuse to pay ATM fees to get access to my own money. I don't whip out CCs for $5 and $10 purchases. I often deal with small businesses that prefer cash as opposed to having to pay a CC processing fee for my purchase. They reciprocate when they patronize my business. I always pay cash in restaurants, including the tip. And while I don't routinely carry around "hundreds of dollars in cash", $52 is less than I will have when I walk out the door today. I may not spend any of it or I may blow through all of it. For me, cash is just another way to pay for goods and services.

 

[SDSorority]

Generally...

If staying onsite, we have a few $$ in envelopes for mousekeeping
If staying offsite, we have $17 per day portioned out in envelopes for the parking CM
If we're renting a car, we have at least $6 worth of quarters for the turnpike

Other than that... maybe $25-$30 per person? We're credit card/gift card people and rarely use cash at WDW.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We will take roughly $1300 for our October trip (just us two adults). We will use cash to cover all dining, tips and gratuties, parking fees at MNSSHP, and whatever shopping and souvenirs we purchase. Most will stay in the villa safe, and we'll just take out what we need for each day.

Our park and fly, plane fare, villa accommodations, park tickets, rental car, and other major expenses are all covered before we leave.

Cash is easiest for us as non-US citizens. It's also a good way for us to stay on track and keep us mindful of not overspending. We live on a cash budget here at home, so it makes sense for us to carry that over on vacation.

 

[Accident]

I got stuck in an atm meltdown a long time ago so I'm a little more paranoid but I keep that just in case cash locked up and don't carry it around. I do have a variety of small cash on hand mainly for gratuity, housekeeping, etc. The rest I bill to the room/credit card.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I don't carry or use cash anywhere.

 

[figmentedfollies]

On my last trip I had $400 in cash for me, but I ended up charging most things to my credit card or to the room. I didn't like the idea of carrying that much cash with me during the day and typically apportioned out $40/day, but rarely touched it. I should note that I was staying on site with the meal plan. Someone else paid the tips in cash.

From reading through the thread it really depends on what type of person are you. I like to charge things to my credit cards for the points/reward miles so I don't mind charging to my room and settling at the end of my trip. If you prefer paying cash for things then bring along a bit more. With the new Disney Shopping App you can help estimate what you would spend on souvenirs.

 

[kathy884]

We get the same amount of cash that we do for a week at home and typically have in or wallets. And that cash then is sort of a budget cushion, as we don't include the fact that we aren't spending money at home that we typically do during a vacation.

 

[Flamingeaux]

We bring about $300 on each trip to WDW. We usually pay with gift cards or our Rewards card. I usually bring about $40 to the parks each day.

 

[penguin087]

We carry about $100-$200 in cash between the 2 of us. Enough to enjoy our day, pay for meals, etc. if the magic band were to quit working. Which I have never had happen but I assume it must happen sometimes.

 

[peg110]

I generally keep $100.00 of "Emergency" cash in my wallet. It's folded up in a hidden compartment. I Generally leave it alone, so that money notwithstanding, last time we were at WDW, I brought a lot of cash. I don't keep it all on me, nor do I carry it all in the parks with me. Daily, I might carry a couple of hundred into the park with me. I really don't want to use the credit cards. I don't generally have cards with "Rewards" as I opt for the no rewards, lower interest cards because sometimes I carry a balance. (it's just life) So the less I use my cards, the better.

I don't like paying ATM fees. They seem to have gotten outrageous. I remember when I balked about $1.50 fee, now it seems they are mostly up around the $3.00 mark. While my bank will refund me ATM fees, it's only up to $15.00 and only at the end of the month. I don't want to have to be bothered with the fees.

Also note, that we "DRIVE" to WDW from NE Pennsylvania with our camper in tow (27' Travel Trailer). Our money is dispersed among our group and vehicles (Camper and truck) so that unless it's a total catastrophe, we still have cash to take care of whatever arises.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Tips (especially housekeeping) and tolls are our only cash. We carry probably $25.

 

[pigletto]

We will take roughly $1300 for our October trip (just us two adults). We will use cash to cover all dining, tips and gratuties, parking fees at MNSSHP, and whatever shopping and souvenirs we purchase. Most will stay in the villa safe, and we'll just take out what we need for each day.

Our park and fly, plane fare, villa accommodations, park tickets, rental car, and other major expenses are all covered before we leave.

Cash is easiest for us as non-US citizens. It's also a good way for us to stay on track and keep us mindful of not overspending. We live on a cash budget here at home, so it makes sense for us to carry that over on vacation.

Like Gina we brought cash on our last trip for just about everything. We set a budget per day for spending and food, divided it into daily envelopes, and kept them in the safe. It keeps us on track with our spending. Even more importantly I don't get sideswiped by our horrible exchange rate and conversion fees on an impulse purchase. It's all budgeted for ahead of time.

 

[eliza61]

I'm leaving Tuesday for my trip (insert happy screaming) I'll probably have 500 bucks in cash. We're driving down so I use it for stops at fast food on the way down, soda machines etc etc.

Also, lol I hate paying ATM fees if I need cash nor do I want to make a phony purchase, you know where you buy a pack of gum to get 100 dollars out.

Interestingly enough I live in the Fairmont section of Philadelphia, I would say 85% of the local restaurants/pizza places/pubs only take cash. all of them have atm's in their stores to help you out.

 

[tnd]

I usually have about $100, and I try to get it in small bills for tipping. My husband also usually carries $100. We tend to carry very little cash in "real life" as opposed to "Disney life" so that is a lot for us.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'll be bringing around $100 in cash for our next trip, 4 nts in Universal. It's mostly for tipping the airport shuttle driver at PHL, driver to/from MCO, curbside baggage check in, etc. When I go to the bank for cash, instead of tapping the ATM I go inside and ask for a pack of 50 $1 bills, then the rest in 5s and 10s. We find this allows us to tip exactly what we want to instead of being stuck tipping more because we only have larger bills. Since OP specifically mentioned a trip to WDW, I know from experience what expenses we'll typically have. If I were going somewhere for the first time, I'd be carrying much more. Also when cruising I make sure we have cash to use in ports for cabs, meals, tips, etc.
We really don't go hog wild spending while on vacation. We're not into souvenirs and the kids have outgrown asking for all those little toys when exiting a ride. We either have the dining plan and most meals are paid for, or we do a mix of cheaper meals with some TS meals. Either way we are never shocked when we see the bill at the end. I just pay the cc when I get home from our vacation account. If there's some leftover, it goes toward the next trip.
We rarely use cash in regular life. I typically have $5 in my wallet and it could sit there for weeks. We do pay cash for larger home improvements where prices are more negotiable such as when we replaced our roof & driveway and needed termite treatment. All 3 companies were dh's friends he's known for years so he gets a great price and would rather not pass on the added cost of a cc to a friend.