How much did you spend at Disney?

[wendow]

I'm LOL at you all saying you always end up at $5000 OOP. We just took our first trip. When we first started planning and saving, we said we figured it'd cost about $5000 (pretty much pulled that number out of the air). Whelp, when all said and done...guess what? About $5000 on the nose And worth every stinking penny! We did a split stay with 7 nights at BLT/2 nights POR and it was just such a fabulous trip!

As to the OP's question, we gave each child $100 gift card for souvenirs and dh & I might have spent $100 combined. We were not on the DDP so only had tips a couple of TS places and I'm guessing the other tips combined to equal about $100 too. So, about $600 above lodging, food, airfare and tickets but that is included in the $5000 total

 

[honeydiane1953]

I'm LOL at you all saying you always end up at $5000 OOP. We just took our first trip. When we first started planning and saving, we said we figured it'd cost about $5000 (pretty much pulled that number out of the air). Whelp, when all said and done...guess what? About $5000 on the nose And worth every stinking penny! We did a split stay with 7 nights at BLT/2 nights POR and it was just such a fabulous trip!

As to the OP's question, we gave each child $100 gift card for souvenirs and dh & I might have spent $100 combined. We were not on the DDP so only had tips a couple of TS places and I'm guessing the other tips combined to equal about $100 too. So, about $600 above lodging, food, airfare and tickets but that is included in the $5000 total

lol too 5000.00

 

[StuckInKS]

We don't usually spend much. The first year my grandma gave the kids $100 and the three older kids (the 4th oldest was < 2 and the younger two weren't born yet) each got autograph books, pens and mickey ears with it. Second trip we bought the oldest four t-shirts. Last trip the oldest four each got one thing that was about $20 each. This year I plan to let them spend more. I'm not going to go crazy since we are already looking at $5300 for 2 value rooms, 6 tickets and dining for 2 weeks and that does not include MNSSHP tix, MVMCP tix, BBB & PL, tips, beach hotel for a week and gas/hotel during travel BUT...I think I will give the four oldest $50 to $100 to spend as they wish and buy the little ones a few things they want.

 

[Magic2000]

We're staying at Pop Century and have the free dining. My mom and I are taking my granddaughter (19 months old) to see Disney at Christmas! We are paying OOP to have lunch at Hollywood & Vine because my DGD LOVES Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

I'm hoping to spend no more than $150 on souvenirs (oh, and that includes the lunch). We will definitely be buying a Jake stuffed toy!

 

[tiawolfe]

Our trip last year was 6 nights, 7 days wight free dining. Our kids were 5 and 7. With all of our tips (6 table service) and about 4 or 5 souvenirs for each kid we spent $350.

 

[KSL]

When we had our first big family trip, my girls were 11, 9 & 7 and we let them 'cash in' marbles from their marble jars at home (we give marbles for good behavior). It was funny to see how many marbles each of my girls was willing to trade in and how many they wanted to reserve for the future (my eldest is a major saver!). When we got to Disney, we got them each a gift card with the amount of money they had decided on; each of them were between $50-$75. We did buy them each a lanyard and pin trading starter set, but everything else they wanted would have to be on their card and once the money was gone, it was g-o-n-e -- no loans from the Bank of Mom & Dad. Any unused money at the end of the trip would be returned to them in marbles (we would use their remaining card balances on a future trip). We told them they could get anything they wanted with the exception of food/candy. Even our normal ban on stuffed animals was lifted (if you could see our playroom....! ). It was great to watch them throughout the trip (12 days) to see what they chose. I think they made really smart decisions!! And this worked well from a budgeting perspective, because we had the girls' souvenir budget capped before we even left home.

If your trip is longer than just a couple of days, and no matter who is paying for the goodies, one fantastic tip I got was to take digital pictures of items the kids like, the pricetag, and the store it is in. Have them do this for the first few days when they are first seeing things and liking/wanting everything. The different parks have some different merchandise, so this way they don't blow their budget in Park 1 only to find something they love even more in Park 2, etc. After you've been there a few days, they can look back through the camera and delete pics of things they decide against, and go back to the stores (or send someone) for the things they decide they want. This worked great for us, and really helped them think through "if I buy this I won't have enough left for that, but if I buy that I can still get this" etc. So they could really plan out how to best spend their money. Two of my girls even chipped in together to get a toy they both wanted that neither was willing to pay the whole amount for. Worked out great!! So I highly recommend this kind of idea if you can do it.

Have a great trip!!

 

[goofyintoronto]

We are fairly frugal as well, and have DD's 2 & 3. We spendt less than $150 on extras for a 10 day trip. We tend to go at least once a year, so we would rather put money towards the next trip instead of spending it on souvenirs. My girls don't ask for a lot of things either, which makes it nice. We tend to bring some smaller Disney items (light up spinners and stuff) from home and hit the Disney Outlet one evening before we buy anything.

WOW thats truly amazing! how do you manage to spend so little? Teach me!

We usually go for about 8-10 days and have ALWAYS spent anywhere from $1100-$1300, just for my son and I. And we are always on the DP!!!! So you ask what do we spend our money on? I honestly dont even know. LOL! Tips, adult drinks for me, OOP extra meals....we didnt buy any souveniers last trip. But we've always spent the same amount for each trip, and we go every year. Keep in mind we go to Universal as well and spend $$ on transportation and food. Another expense is usually one or two nights we'd be at a different hotel and pay the remaining balance on that. So that eats up some of the $1300 or so.

 

[AndreaDM]

We just got back yesterday from a 4 night trip and did not spend a lot on extras. We were not on the dining plan, so most of our money went to food & wine! DD9 did not ask for a lot of things, she got a pearl in Japan and one of those polly pocket type Tiana sets, total of $32. Of course she had a few Mickey ice creams treats as well. I bought some perfume and then went ahead and bought the fleece throw that was a purchase with purchase special. DH bought a new travel mug and I got a mug from F&W, but that was about it. We usually buy a ride photo or two, but didn't get any on this trip. Of course, we also came back with almost 10 pounds of candy from MNSSHP, so maybe that's why we didn't feel the need to buy any more stuff!

 

[chimilady]

WOW thats truly amazing! how do you manage to spend so little? Teach me!

We just spent $100 on an 8 day trip (minus tips from the dining plan). I just read a ton on here about all of the things people bought but went to waste. Turns out that all they really begged for was ears, and the occasional snack (which was on the dining plan). It's not that hard really, we just say "no" a lot. Otherwise there would be no room to pack everything!

 

[Marionnette]

We are heading to WDW in a little over 5 weeks and are trying to get our ducks in a row. We've been saving for months to pay off our flights and trip (DONE and DONE!!) and are now trying to figure out how much we need to set aside for Disney spending. I understand it's different for everyone, but thought I'd ask to get a general idea.

Some background...we have three DD's (7, 5, and 2) who each have $300 in gift cards to spend already. We are on the TS dining plan and plan to have my 2 year old share instead of buying her a meal. I know we'll be paying gratuities and tips, so I've accounted for that.

I'm pretty frugal, so while I figure I'll buy a few souvenirs (picture frame/album, Christmas ornament), I'm not going to go crazy!

Like many have already pointed out, this can be so subjective. It sounds as if you already have the basics covered. Are you asking how much we typically spend for the whole trip - airfare, room, tickets, food, tips, souvenirs, etc.? Or do you just want to know what we typically spend on the extras?

If I were to put a dollar value on my most recent trip, it probably would come in the range of $4000 for two adults, 5 nights in a 2bdrm BWV, DxDP and days remaining on no-expiry tickets. This would include airfare from PHL, tips and souvenirs. My actual OOP costs were much, much lower because of how I paid for everything. The airfare was paid with FF miles. The room was paid for by my brother through his DVC membership. The DxDP was paid for with rewards and rebates money. The tickets money had been spent back in 2005 and had covered 3 separate visits. I went out the door with $300 and my credit card. I came home without charging anything and still had $200+ in my wallet.

 

[SaraJayne]

Like many have already pointed out, this can be so subjective. It sounds as if you already have the basics covered. Are you asking how much we typically spend for the whole trip - airfare, room, tickets, food, tips, souvenirs, etc.? Or do you just want to know what we typically spend on the extras?

If I were to put a dollar value on my most recent trip, it probably would come in the range of $4000 for two adults, 5 nights in a 2bdrm BWV, DxDP and days remaining on no-expiry tickets. This would include airfare from PHL, tips and souvenirs. My actual OOP costs were much, much lower because of how I paid for everything. The airfare was paid with FF miles. The room was paid for by my brother through his DVC membership. The DxDP was paid for with rewards and rebates money. The tickets money had been spent back in 2005 and had covered 3 separate visits. I went out the door with $300 and my credit card. I came home without charging anything and still had $200+ in my wallet.

Damn, that is awesome!

 

[tinkmom2]

Soviewise, I let the kids pick out one thing they really want. I would much rather buy things at a discount at the Disney store online. The item my daughter picked out this last time was such poor quality that by the end of the week literally all the color had rubbed out of the gingham shirt.

We didn't have free dining the week we went (Columbus day week) We brought about $100 for tips. We ordered Garden Grocer which was around $70.00. We paid extra for BBB for my daughter's b day $50.00 but got a free statue in her likeness. Our other splurge were MNSSHP tickets at $250 for the 4 of us.

We take our own pictures and rarely buy photopass pics.

We shared some meals too. We had the one TS and one QS per day. Other days we would have breakfast in the room. We had saved our credits for places we really wanted to eat like CRT.

You really don't have to spend an arm and a leg if you don't want to. Dollar store glowsticks work just as well as the Disney $6.00 ones

My advice is make a list out what's important to you and budget accordingly.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

For us it comes to $100 a person per day for everything. Ie if we are 4 of us for 10 days then approximate $4000 for the trip. That is airfare , lodging , food , car , tickets etc.

 

[hardrocker1]

Me, my dh, and 9 y.o. son went back in 2005 for a week and our travel package (through a travel agency) which included airfare, park hopper tickets, rental car, and a moderate resort (Carribbean) was around $3800. We took around $2k extra and came back with about $100. We tried to eat off the World, at places like Denny's etc for sit down meals and then ate QS meals in the parks. Granted, my dh bought $500 worth of stuffed animals which we will not do again.

We are going again June 2013 and in addition to us 3 we now also have a 5 y.o. and all our travel expenses including the stuff I listed above comes to $4625, we have decided to take about $3500 to $4k extra with us. Our MIL is coming too, but will be paying her own way and her own expenses. We have decided, since we will be there 8 days this time, to eat a good TS meal at the parks maybe every other day, QS meals in the parks, and a nice TS meal outside of the parks, to cut down on the meals expense. We decided to not do the dining plan because I eat very healthy (not big portions) and my 5 y.o. also eats like a bird and I was afraid we wouldn't eat the allowed amount and it would go to waste.

We have also decided to maybe only buy 1-2 small souvenirs per person this trip. Too much extra to pack and travel back with on the airplane. Back when my dh bought all those stuffed animals, we packed them all in our smaller suitcase and all my stuff in that suitcase had to go into our bigger one, dh had to sit on it to get it to shut and boy was it heavy! I'm so afraid I might get our camera wet that I think we may do the photo pass and get our photos later when we get home.

Anyway, there you have our experience!

Blessings, Michelle

 

[princesspiglet]

We go every other year, are DVC members, do not do the dining plan, family of 3 and we stay anywhere from 8-10 nights. I have never spent less than $5000 on any of our trips. That is not including airfare. Some trips I have spent a little more- like birthday trips, or this past trip we just returned from we treated my parents to dinner a few nights.

Each person gets $300 in souvenir money and the rest is spent on food, adult beverages, parties, etc. The little things tend to add up when you aren't even thinking about it. CS breakfast at 9am ($35), a churro at 11 ($6), CS lunch at 1 ($45), a dole whip at 3 ($12), TS dinner at 5 ($100), an ice cream at 7 ($10), an adult beverage at 9 ($20), a cookie at 11 ($6),...etc. We tend to eat A LOT more on vacation than we do at home!

 

[chcoley]

Thanks so much for chiming in on this!!!

I was really looking to see what you spend on extras, when room/tickets and flights are paid for. I have told my husband that I don't want to have to tell my kids "No, you can't have that!" the whole time we're there (like we typically do), but I don't want them to blow all of their money the first day either. My oldest is very careful with what she buys and thinks everything through before she spends her money. My middle kiddo is completely opposite. You all have given me some great ideas...I really appreciate it!

 

[parmtoo]

When all of my kids were little, I brought an extra 1500 for a family of 5. That was before ddp, and we always had lunch in the park. Things are so much more expensive now. I will be bringing about 1000 on our March trip just for my DS 17, and myself. This will cover tips for ddp, and anything else we need or want while we are there.

 

[Jenny3]

We brought around $1000 with us for spending money (alcohol, tips, souvenirs, snacks, etc) and came home with about $300. There are 5 of us and we were there a week and on the DDP

 

[eliza61]

Thanks so much for chiming in on this!!!

I was really looking to see what you spend on extras, when room/tickets and flights are paid for. I have told my husband that I don't want to have to tell my kids "No, you can't have that!" the whole time we're there (like we typically do), but I don't want them to blow all of their money the first day either. My oldest is very careful with what she buys and thinks everything through before she spends her money. My middle kiddo is completely opposite. You all have given me some great ideas...I really appreciate it!

We had a rule with our kids, we didn't buy souveniers (spelling sorry) until we had visited every park.
When my kids saw some thing they just had to have, that they would die without I jotted it down, a quick where and how much. This way when they inevitably saw item number 2 that they had to have or they would die I could remind them.

 

[AmyC2010]

Hi,
We are going for 2 weeks in Dec. I was wondering how much you did end up spending? We are staying at wilderness so hopefully we will cook.
THank You
Amy