How Much Did You Budget?

[TOBS2010]

I would definitely plan on spending roughly $100 a day on food. If you share meals you might be able to come in a little under that. I too would skip on MM. Use your own camera--it is much cheaper. If you don't decide to BBB then perhaps consider doing your own makeover in your rental--you could buy a dress cheaper ahead of time and then do her hair and make-up yourself. She is 4 and likely wouldn't know the difference, other than just feeling special looking like a princess.

Something else to consider---do you need a rental car for your entire trip? You could take Uber if you are flying and then rely on bus transportation if where you are staying offers it (you didn't mention where exactly you were staying). Then consider getting a rental for the days that you want to go to the beach.

 

[pittsburghmom]

Sorry for this being so long. My family (my hubby, my daughter, and myself) are planning a trip to Disney World in October with my brother, sister-in-law and neice. When we started planning for this trip we had everything mapped out on what we need to save and it was do-able. We bought our plane tickets and since then we got off budget with car repairs and having to buy a new car and now I'm looking to see where I can make cuts. My original budget was for the tickets 600 (were going 2 days no park-hopper), 230 for Mickeys not so scary Halloween party, 170 for memory maker, we're renting a house and our share is 430. Now I know these are the things we can't change. My question is who's the best to go through for a car rental we don't need anything fancy or expensive. How much did you plan on for food money and extra spending money. We plan on bringing lunches and snacks so we won't be eating at a lot of restaurants. I was originally planning on 700 for the 7 days but my sister-in-law said I was crazy. Then I got to extra spending money which would include the bibbity bobbity boutique I originally planned on 1000 and was once again was told I was insane lol. I just don't want to get on this trip and regret not being able to do something because of money. We haven't taken a family trip so this is a rare occurrence for us and I'm completely lost. Please Help!

Tip for getting a good/great car rental deal: Check out the Transportation board on here. There should be an "October 2015 Car Rental" thread going on there. Follow it. People will post codes and deals they are getting. I found it super helpful when I was helping my sister plan her first Disney trip. She also went in October. I was able to snag her a full size car for a week through Alamo for $130 (including all taxes & fees). I thought that was really good!

 

[StitchBuddy]

We are a family of three also. The absolute most we have ever is spent on souviners is $100 You didn't give the age of your DD, but I am assuming she is little. I would just dress her up in a disney costume if you have one and buy an inexpensive tiara from a place like Sam Moon. Then, take her to meet a princess. I don't think kids get as wowed by the BBB as we do doing for them. That is a huge expense I would cut out. Be sure to mention it is her birthday and get her a button saying its her birthday and she will get lots of attention. Just being at disney will be fun!! It can be done without spending to much at the parks one you get in. Eat breakfast at you rental house, bring in snacks, share a Mickey treat. Adult meals can be large enough to share. Good luck and hope you have a magical time!!

 

[DisneyHardin]

She said I was planning to much she said 100 for the week on food I'm like umm did we want to starve? so I thought maybe I was thinking we were planning to much for food. We're not dropping the BBB because that is the girls birthday present. And we are doing just the hair and bringing there own dresses from home. This is planned for right between there birthdays. And the memory maker is something I really wanted since this is a very rare trip for us we want all the pictures we can. We're planning on sitting down this week to talk over things so hopefully we will come to some conclusion. Thank you everyone for your advice.

$100 for the week is CRAZY. You would spend $100 for your family to eat 3 meals/day at home where things are reasonably priced.

 

[tzeitel]

We just went (in May) and did the BBB and had the MM. Totally worth it to have the MM if you are doing BBB. They take pics when the girls are getting done and afterwards you can take them to have a mini photo session at Castle Couture. On top of that there are the ride photos (and video on the 7D ride).

For food I always budget $50 per person per day ($35 for little kids). That included one CS, one TS and a snack (we are not breakfast ppl so I bring some PopTarts or granola bars for the morning) - like others have said, check out allears for menus and see what you might eat to get an idea of how much you would spend. You will spend much less since you are already planning on bringing food into the parks and have several days not on Disney property which will be cheaper.

For cars - it depends on how big you need. SUVs and mini vans are pretty expensive, but you can find some good deals for smaller cars. Have you checked out Priceline? The name your price thing is pretty good for cars (I would not do it for a hotel but have done it several times for cars). But first check around, go to all the travel websites and the company sites - I found a 25% off coupon for Dollar which I was able to use to book our car for Oct (we are doing DLR and for 6 days it came out to $81). You can make a reservation and not pay in advance, so if you find a better deal you can cancel. I have also heard that you get better deals closer to your dates but I like to have everything done in advance JIC

 

[edk35]

I would cut Memory Maker out too. Not worth it for 2 park days....in my opinion.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Since your two families are splitting Memory Maker I would keep it. You will get a lot of pictures at the character meet and greets and BBB as well.

I actually think your budget is doable but your SIL is WAY off. Our last trip was on a pretty tight budget, we also ate breakfast in the room and brought in a soft cooler with drinks, sandwiches and some snacks. We ate dinner in the park and usually got an ice cream or some other treat as well. Just a few drinks will add up so bringing a couple per person will help out. I froze the bottled water to keep everything cold.

I buy souvenirs ahead of time to bring on the trip. I like to bring a couple Mickey t-shirts, a stuffed animal (I buy them at the Disney store once a year on sale), glow sticks for the parades, etc.. He almost always gets a Disney gift card or two for his birthday from friends or family and I use those if something in a gift store really catches his eye.

 

[peteywarren0829]

I'll be the outlier, I say keep Memory Maker, just make sure you use it. Cast Members are not trainer to take the best pictures with your camera, so the results are certainly not the same as with Memory Maker. Also meet and greets can offer spontaneous opportunities for great photos; telling the photographer to use your camera instead of theirs can limit some of those.