How Much Do We HAVE to Spend at Disney

[Anal Annie]

We always "window shop" all week then wait for our last day to buy any souvenirs once we see how much money we have left (if any) and also to make sure the thing we're picking out is THE THING we want. If you buy something on day #1 or #2 then see something else on day #6 you end up spending way too much and buying too many things. I never buy the first thing I see that I like - and I often find that after a few more days it was only just OK and I no longer want it. I saw a shirt I liked a lot on our Nov. trip but I didn't buy it. Then I looked at it again on our January trip and while I still liked it I found I didn't feel so compelled to have to have it. I haven't spent more than $18 on anything for myself over the course of our last 3 trips and that was to replace an insulated coffee cup that I'd dropped & broken (wish I could say the same for DH & DS - they don't budget very well).

I think the OP is going to have a tough time with only $100 spending money. If there was just some way to come up with a couple hundred more..... She should definitely plan on bringing food for breakfasts "in" along with park snacks and maybe yes, pack some PB&J sandwiches & some fruit for the parks on her last couple of days. We have never done the DDP and I've always considered it an extravagent waste of money. If she can get out of it then she should and just plan on some counter service meals. And just get a cup of water with meals.

 

[DC to Disney]

Like many others suggested, I would remove the dining plan if you can. You can save a lot of money by eating breakfast in your room, and then quick/counter service meals for lunch and dinner. Drink water instead of soda. When I visited WDW as a child, my family only ate at QS places, never TS, and I don't think it detracted from my experience at all.

 

[Pkltm]

Because in most instances is not saving you money- at all. She could probably put an extra $500 in her pocket if she ditches the plan. For us- eating 1 TS meal a day and 1 Qs meal a day the dining plan would cost $315 a day. We generally spend about $120-150 on TS and $70 on QS. Some days more... some days less. That right there saves me around $100 per day of my trip. ( We don't drink soda and we don't like the desserts with meals. We would rather have 2 snacks a day) Clearly you have to do the math for your own situation. The DDP used to be a great value , but it just no longer is for us and many others. It is always worth reevaluating your spending/eating habits.

We also find great value in the dining plan, due to the way we travel. If one more person tells a room discount is better for me at POR than POR with free dining I may scream. We have 4 adults that go, and we like to enjoy what we eat on vacation.

Or what if the flux capaciter goes dead in the car?

This made my day!!! Thanks!!

But she doesn't have a RO reservation, since she has the Dining Plan. Completely canceling a package only 3 weeks out means she'd lose her deposit. At AoA that would be a hefty penalty. I think she might be stuck at AoA. Switching to a suite at ASMu might be difficult at this late date.

But canceling the DDP portion of the package would only cost a $50 change fee, and would free up hundreds of dollars. Canceling all or most of the TS ADRs would allow her freedom from worry and even give the kids a bit of money for souvenirs. There's absolutely nothing wrong with eating breakfast in the room and packing a lunch to the parks. Having a car means a grocery stop is easy as pie.

Great points on the fees, but I don't think anyone is "stuck" at AOA lol

OP I hope you have a great trip, relax and enjoy, avoiding the stress of worrying what people order etc to me is worth keeping the plan that you have paid for. You have some great tips here and the pressed pennies will be great!!! I would not cancel if I was you! Go and make some magical memories!

 

[pa. dad]

You don't mention how many are in your party, but regardless I think $100 is going to be really tight. You have to cover 2 days worth of food, plus any food your DDP won't cover in the first 5 days (although in this case, if you think you can get away w/2 meals a day, you can probably find ways to really stretch that to work for you and not have any additional OOP costs). So that leaves 2 days worth of food for your family, assuming you don't buy anything else at all. If you can either shop for our bring some breakfast type snack foods for your room, that will help a little bit. Sharing meals is another way to stretch the food budget.

Personally, I think I would rather postpone a bit and save a bit more money so I wasn't feeling so constrained while on vacation, to me that sounds stressful worrying about being able to stretch the funds enough to just be able to eat.

Others have suggested offsite, that is an excellent option (assuming you have transportation/car) - that may very well save you enough to not have to worry so much about the spending money.

I agree with this.
$100 is awful tight to feed a family for a couple of days.
I would look into:
1. Staying offsite or at the least maybe staying at a cheaper Disney resort.
2. Killing the meal plan. Maybe get some food from grocery store, make some sandwiches some days and eat out other days?

When you get home, you may have an empty fridge and you'll need money then also so you may be cutting it too close. You may have an unplanned car or home repair down the road. Maybe a little more cushion would be best. And if you don;t have any unplanned repairs or medical things, then you'll have a little extra if you want a Dole Whip or an ice cream treat.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Haven't read past the first two pages, so not sure if this has been mentioned. So many people on these boards buy their memory maker in advance b/c they are super planners. You won't necessarily get the videos on certain rides, but if you haven't bought it yet: still get your pictures taken. You often get coupon codes close to your 30 days and that will save you some money. You can get it for around $160 instead of $170ish and then pay it off after the trip.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Because if she gets the money back and pays OOP, she ends up hundreds of dollars ahead in most cases... And I don't know how she's feeding all those people for 2 days on $100!

I never realized until now how much Dis'ers hate the dining plan.

It is already paid for. Tips are being covered by someone else.

Why would someone "ditch the dining plan" under those circumstances?

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Because if she gets the money back and pays OOP, she ends up hundreds of dollars ahead in most cases... And I don't know how she's feeding all those people for 2 days on $100!

Maybe.

It depends on the fees to cancel and if the plan is part of a package. If she has to cancel the package and rebook, you can be guaranteed that the price will go up.

She has already said that she plans on keeping the plan. She doesn't need anyone else telling her to ditch it.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

OK reading through. We're military too. Did you do the room only package with a dining plan add on? If so, you can cancel up until the middle of the month for the dining plan and up until 5 days prior with NO penalty for the room. I would call disney and explain your situation and look at switching to cheaper rooms. If you PM me, I can try to help you find something cheaper.

I know you WANT to do the dining plan and keep the vacation as you imagined it, but I really think trying to stretch $100 is going to cause more stress and disappointment on the last day than paying OOP for meals and/or switching to a cheaper resort.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Maybe.

It depends on the fees to cancel and if the plan is part of a package. If she has to cancel the package and rebook, you can be guaranteed that the price will go up.

She has already said that she plans on keeping the plan. She doesn't need anyone else telling her to ditch it.

It doesn't depend on the fees to cancel, b/c military reservations can be cancelled with no penalty until 5 days prior and she can drop the dining plan without it changing the entire package; I've done it.

And she doesn't need people telling her that tinker bell will magically make her able to feed 5 people AT DISNEY for $100 anymore than she needs people "telling" her to ditch it. People were advising her.

Just curious: how would you feed 5 people at Disney for a day and a half on $100?

 

[KTSMOM]

Since you are driving, I suggest bringing food/drink with you to the hotel. You can always go back to your room to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also we pack snacks and throw granola bars and peanut butter crackers along with bottle water into our backpack before heading to the park. That will save you some money as well. I saw you had the dining plan for some of your trip, so if you have any extra snacks left over use those to get food to supplement those last 2 days. While $100 is tight it can be done. Just go and have a fantastic time with your family. It's all about the experience and not what you can/can not spend your money on.

 

[Nancyg56]

It doesn't depend on the fees to cancel, b/c military reservations can be cancelled with no penalty until 5 days prior and she can drop the dining plan without it changing the entire package; I've done it.

And she doesn't need people telling her that tinker bell will magically make her able to feed 5 people AT DISNEY for $100 anymore than she needs people "telling" her to ditch it. People were advising her.

Just curious: how would you feed 5 people at Disney for a day and a half on $100?

The credits won't expire until midnight on the checkout day. They can be stretched so there is enough for that full day. She only will have one day, and 100 will cover them if they choose wusely

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

How do people stretch the credits that much to buy an extra day without being hungry between meals? I know everyone is saying you can, but I don't see how it's possible. Also my husband is also active duty military and the only meal he can share is Ohana and that's because it's a FAMILY platter...

 

[Nancyg56]

How do people stretch the credits that much to buy an extra day without being hungry between meals? I know everyone is saying you can, but I don't see how it's possible. Also my husband is also active duty military and the only meal he can share is Ohana and that's because it's a FAMILY platter...

We do it all the time. My DH is like pail Bunyan and we manage to fund meals that are karge

 

[robinb]

It doesn't depend on the fees to cancel, b/c military reservations can be cancelled with no penalty until 5 days prior and she can drop the dining plan without it changing the entire package; I've done it.

And she doesn't need people telling her that tinker bell will magically make her able to feed 5 people AT DISNEY for $100 anymore than she needs people "telling" her to ditch it. People were advising her.

Just curious: how would you feed 5 people at Disney for a day and a half on $100?

I totally agree with you. Someone up thread said there were 4 Disney "adults" and 1 Disney "child" so the DDP is costing the OP $1395 for 5 days. I know that 5 people can eat for significantly less than $279 per day because our family averages about $100 per day for 3 disney "adults".

BUT ... (I hate to say it) ... I've thought about this and if she doesn't have ready cash in hand to pay for meals by the time she travels in 18 days, she should probably stick with the DDP. I say this ONLY because it will take too long to receive a refund from cancelling the plan. If she cancels, she won't have the refunded money in time for food and she won't have the DDP to feed her family. So, I've changed my mind to "keep the DDP".

I think that she can probably stretch the DDP credits to cover her 6th day when checks out of POR so she's probably only looking for her 7th day and the next day of travel back home.

I will still advocate cancelling AoA. I'll point out that the rack rate for an AoA suite over Memorial Day weekend (which is day 6 & 7 or her stay) is $461 for Cars or Lion King Suites and $471 for Nemo Suites. The Armed Forces Salute Military Discount for a value is 30%, so she's still spending $322-$329 per night on a suite (plus tax). Canceling AoA and moving off site would save them a bundle. Caribe Royal has a 1-bedroom quite with 2 queen beds and fold out couch for $135 per night plus resort fees through MouseSavers. Two nights, all in, is $348. Or ... vrbo has 2-bedroom condos for less than $100 per night (Bryan’s Spanish Cove is $228 for 2 nights, all in) and they OP can cook her last dinner in her condo. Of course, she runs into the same issues with refunds but perhaps her mom can front her the money for the last two days until The Mouse refunds her money for AoA.

 

[HookedOnDCL1]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned or if you have the time now but how about having a garage sale to raise some funds? Or post a few things online that you no longer use? - DVDs, books, electronics, or video games that are no longer played - you'd be surprised.

 

[robinb]

How do people stretch the credits that much to buy an extra day without being hungry between meals? I know everyone is saying you can, but I don't see how it's possible. Also my husband is also active duty military and the only meal he can share is Ohana and that's because it's a FAMILY platter...

• People usually don't eat both meals on their first day, so they can save one meal from day 1 to use on day 6.
• Another very easy way to stretch the DDP is to pay $5-$8 OOP for the Disney "child"'s CS meal every day and that will give them 5 CS credits to use on day 6. They can do that now that all CS credits are now officially pooled together. That will cost them $35-$40 but that's a bargain for 5 people.
• They can also go places that have huge platters of food (like Cosmic Ray's) and share, saving a credit.
• The adults can order off the kid's meal themselves and pay OOP if they are not particularly hungry at almost every Disney restaurant.
• They can use their snacks wisely to be breakfasts.

 

[busymommy2pink]

Where did you get the book? We stopped at almost every penny machine and my son has since lost half of them. A book would be perfect for our next trip!


OP--

I haven't seen anyone mention tipping Mousekeeping. Or tipping the driver on ME (if you're using it) So that's one or two other expense.

I agree with the pp's who said try to find a cheaper room or cut down to the qs dining plan, or if hoppers switch to regular tickets- you could potentially gain at least a couple hundred dollars with any of those options.

So sorry the flood happened!!!! Have a wonderful trip!

The pressed penny books were at almost every cash in gifts shops we entered

Also mouse keeping isn't a tipped position in Disney, so OP doesn't need to feel too badly about it if she can't make that happen. I am not sure if DME driver is or not. Regardless, we do tip them both, but housekeeping for sure is not a tipped position at Disney.

 

[Kimberly9701]

The pressed penny books were at almost every cash in gifts shops we entered

Also mouse keeping isn't a tipped position in Disney, so OP doesn't need to feel too badly about it if she can't make that happen. I am not sure if DME driver is or not. Regardless, we do tip them both, but housekeeping for sure is not a tipped position at Disney.

Really? I never noticed them! I'll have to check closer this time! Any shop on Main Street?

I thought tipping housekeeping was pretty standard at any hotel. I would never think it was optional. Isn't there an envelope? I could be wrong about the envelope at WDW, we left a note and cash on the table-mousekeeping was always leaving us little adorable surprises.

 

[Amanda Hall]

Really? I never noticed them! I'll have to check closer this time! Any shop on Main Street?

We purchased ours at Big Top Souvenirs in Fantasy Land. I saw them at our resort gift shop too (POR). Our kids filled up the book and love to look at them .

 

[Kimberly9701]

We purchased ours at Big Top Souvenirs in Fantasy Land. I saw them at our resort gift shop too (POR). Our kids filled up the book and love to look at them .

Thanks! I'll check the resort shop as well! Staying at CR this time...Poly last time and didn't notice, but I probably just wasn't paying attention.