How much cash to bring to parks?

[JerseyBallerina]

This is the first vacation I'm taking without my parents. My three friends and I are going to Disney in July for a graduation trip. So I'm not used to carrying around money becuase my dad was always in charge of it. Besides meals, which we have already figured out, how much should we bring for snacks, drinks, souveniors, etc?

 

[RickinNYC]

My partner and I brought along about $2000-$2,300 in cash and traveler's checks on our last trip. We were in WDW for 9 days.

Rest assured, however, that some consider this excessive.

 

[crazelion]

It depends how think spend in WDW. I know I could spend 50 dollars or less on snacks, and things in the park.

Bring a empty water bottle with you to the parks any concession will give free ice water. You will need it July. I would invest in the refillable at your resort if staying onsite. They have powerade on the drink place to.

Water is fine to drink in the summer put need something to that's powerade. I know that for a fact because I work outside the summer in 100 degree heat.

 

[geffric]

We do not like to carry a lot of cash with us, since you can never know what can happen.. it could get lost.. so i would say not a lot of CASH but credit cards or use the KTTW card .

anyway, you can charge just about anything except the items from the vendor carts . These only take cash. So water, mickey bars.. etc. are cash items.

Water is $2.50 per bottle * 5 per day = $12.50. So $20 per day for just the few things could be ok, providing that you will purchase the souveners, etc in the stores with a credit card.

 

[jimmytammy]

If you are staying on site, I would use your room key tied to your CC #. This will eliminate excessive cash in the parks. Take enough to buy a soda or snack. We did this last trip and it was so much nicer than fooling with getting all the change back. Works especially well if your CC is tied in to a points card.

 

[VAN]

I guess I'm in the minority here. I like to use the credit card for larger items and cash for incidentials.

If you aren't in the market for souvenirs, I would say $20 should be plenty per day/per person. I certainly agree about the water bottle (we use a holder w/ strap) and refilling it at the water fountains. Even if you can afford $2.50 at the stands, who wants to spend time waiting in another line!!!

If you are not sure about souvenirs, you might want to carry a credit card and/or travelers checks with you. That way if you do see something you just have to have, you can use one of these other means to pay for it.

I still use traveler's checks on trips, because I can get cash back and don't have to pay ATM fees at the machines.

 

[lynn71092]

AHA, so this is where you're hiding Rick!!!
Get back to Trip Reports, it's been WAY TOO LONG A WAIT!!!!!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I carry only minimal cash in the parks. I actually went the no-cash route once, but I found that some things (ie water bottles from carts) can't be charged to your room. I agree with $20 as a good amount.

 

[chamonix]

we charge most meals, souvenirs, etc. to our room key, or credit card. We don't buy much stuff though, just a stuffed animal for dd once a day. We do buy bottled water though--about a bottle an hour. (We don't care to do the refilling thing and carrying the bottle around thing. We drink bottled water at home too, so that's normal for us)
We carry at least $100-200 a day in cash, though we rarely use it all since we charge most stuff. So, we don't spend that much necessarily, but we do carry it.
edited to add, dh and I both carry this amount, so we actually have twice that much. We split up on occasion and would hate to be without cash and thirsty, LOL!

 

[jmminarik]

I'm guessing you don't have a credit card, so charging to the room may not be as good of an option for you. I've read other threads about using cash at checkin to allow charging to the room, but the problem with that (if you can...don't recall the outcome of the thread) is you need to keep an eye on your expenses since you can easily 'run out' of 'credit'.

Since you've already done your due dilligence on meals, it all comes down to how much you drink/snack/need souviniers. My suggestion is to make a guess, come up with a budget for the vacation, then get most of the cash changed to travelers checks before you go. As mentioned, you can always use TC's just about anywhere and the cash change you'd get can help.

If you have one, an ATM card (or MAC card, as we say in Philly) might be a nice security blanket. There are ATM's in the World, but don't plan to use them as a 'regular' source of cash. The rates, while typical, are almost legalized banditry.

Hope this helps,
Joe

 

[ilovebelle]

I have to say I agree with VAN. I always bring some cash and traveler's checks to the park with me. However, I buy a lot of souvenirs, but I still think (souvenirs or not) you should still bring at least $50 a day to the park. That is just my humble opinon. I hope that helps.

Kristin

 

[Gomez Gang]

I agree with $20-$30 per person, per day. Don't bring too much cash because it is (obviously) non-replacable. We put everything on our room key or a credit card. You can eat for about $5 each meal. Drink water (free) and bring your own snacks. Also, when carrying cash, do NOT keep it in a back pocket.(I have seen cash falling out of people's back pockets numerous times!) Have a zippered fanny pack and keep it on your body, zipped, and safe!