How much do you spend....

[dbug209]

a day in disney? Food, gifts, souvinears, ect....

 

[Ericandjenng]

This question varies greatly! It's affected by how you eat, where you eat, how much you like to shop, how many times you've been to WDW, when are you going back....and the list goes on.

For us, 2 adults, 1 child & 1 infant, we have been using the QSDP the last couple of trips and therefore 90-95% of our meals and snacks are pre-paid. We usually do one OOP Character meal which runs $80-120 including tip--the $120 included the neighbor's dd on one trip. Depending on the weather how fast we go through the snack credits with water and other stuff which plays in how much we spend OOP for snacks.

Souvenirs....we always spend more than I want to. This last time we did better. I've tried different approaches. Last year we gave our DS a set amount of money. Once it was spent, he was done....at least that was the theory. We did restrict it some but we also bought him (and the neighbor's DD) extra things beyond their set amount. This year we told our son 1 thing per day. We did fairly well with that. We made a couple of exceptions (balloon and a light-up toy were two of those exceptions) but averaged about $40 per day for both of our kids. We have gotten fairly good at not buying a lot for ourselves--we've already got too much stuff as it is.

Except for special circumstances (ie, the person caring for our pets) we have stopped bringing back gifts. It just got too expensive. We spend anywhere from $20 to $50 on a gift for our friends who stop buy and take care of our pets. It depends alot of times on how long our trip is. We do occasionally buy birthday/Christmas gifts but we spend what we would normally have spent on that person.

The other thing we spend $ on is when we go during school. We get something small for DS's classmates and a book for the teacher to share and keep. This time it was temporary tattoos. I spent $20 ish on 3 packs and along with a book ($10 ish) gave the remaining ones to the teacher for her treasure box.

 

[gillenkl]

We don't really have a set amount per day and it all depends on how you "do" disney. Before I go I map out how much the trip will cost and how much total we have to spend as we don't use credit cards on the trip. This year we're staying in our camper at Fort Wilderness and I make 2 meals per day and allot $40 for a CS meal per our family of four. The kids have a certain amount per trip - and can spend it how they like but when it's gone it's gone and they are old enough to make better decisions about what they purchase. DH and I don't really buy many souvenirs maybe $150 each per trip - but it's usually disney items for the home and not clothes or tshirts.

Last year we did Wilderness Lodge with free dining so that changes up how we spent daily too because we didn't pay OOP for any food on the trip - we split some meals so our meal credit go farther.

So my thinking is that you can spend as little or as much as you want because everyone spends differently at disney.

 

[imthatgirl]

A day? no idea. We always go on the dining plan. After that we usually spend around 1000-1200 for extras.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Depends on the mood and budget.

We have literally shown up and not spent a dime. Day visit with full annual passes, so no parking costs. We brought our meal and we don't do souvenirs if it isn't a "vacation" (which in our family means that a hotel is involved).

We went this past July for my dd10's birthday and spent a pretty penny as we did BBB and the castle for lunch. Tickets were free from the GAD program.

But it just really depends.

It costs us about $50 to do counter service for my crew of 5. A buffet dinner would run in the $120s (I think).

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We have a food budget of $125-$150 total per day for our family of 6: $50 for counter service lunch, $25 a day for snacks in the parks (we usually come in under), we have breakfast in our condo and dinner offsite. We don't do table service meals at WDW unless we're on the dining plan. We also don't purchase souvenirs unless we find something that we absolutely can't pass up, and then the sky's the limit.

 

[Dismom55]

We have done the DDP for our last 2 visits, other than tips we have really only spent money on souvies while in the park and actually we hit the local Wal Mart first as they have some good things at some great prices.

I do set myself a daily budget on what I can afford and take only that amount that day. I gave my kids a prepaid credit card with a total limit for the entire stay. Rule was it had to last. IT did. If I see something big ticket, I know I have to save the money from other days and come back. Of course this is based on my finances and what I feel I can afford to spend in total. I usually come home with money left over, that becomes my savings for the next Disney trip.

On average I think I usually allow about $40-$50 a day, rarely spend it. Like I said, tips for ADR's that is set aside from different funds.

 

[ToodlesRN]

The past few times, I budget $100 day for 2 adults and 1 child and it has worked well. Sometimes that $100 for the day doesn't include a dinner or show that we pay more for.

 

[At World's End]

We just went in January. We spent about $30 for each CS meal (2 adults and 2 kids) and anywhere from $50 - $104 for TS meals. The $50 meal was at SciFi and I ordered a kids meal, so we had 3 kids meals, 1 adult meal. The $104 meal was at Le Cellier and we ordered an appetizer and drinks. Buffets generally ran about $85 (Biergarten and Tusker House). We spent between $6 - $14 a day on snacks. We spent a total of $316 on souveneirs.

It really does depend on where you eat, if you eat TS for lunch vs. dinner, how many snacks you have, etc.

 

[DawnM]

Often we spend $0 and bring our own lunch. Sometimes we eat in the parks.....it all depends.

 

[Disney_1derland]

For souvenirs, we give each child a budget of $50 for the trip and let them spend it however they wish. But...we have a rule: You may not buy anything on Day 1. They must take the time to look around before they blow their budget because we have found if they spend it on Day 1 they find something later they would have rather had.

For snacks we budget $5 per day per person. This allows for one treat a day each. We always pack the kids fanny packs with some snacks because we have two grazers who need to eat constantly!

As for food, it depends on if you're planning counter service or table service. The menus available on the internet are a great way to figure out what you might spend in a typical day.

 

[SunnieRN]

I don't usually have a daily limit. We almost always get the QS dining plan, and during a 7 to 10 day trip, one or two TS meals OOP. I usually have $75 for each of my grandmunchkins, in their own envelopes that Mommy holds, and bring an amount for the three or four Christmas ornaments I buy as a gift for each of them. I ship them home, which is an extra cost also.

I then think about any events we have planned. Out of pocket meals, tips, for magic express and bus drivers, concierge desk tips, TS meals, Mousekeepers, etc. I then come up with what I want to spend.

So I have more of a total trip budget. I usually have money left, when all is said and done.

 

[annsteere]

For us:
$45 per person per day. (Breakfast in the room, casual meal- $10, restaurant meal-$25, snacks -$10). Figured at this rate at the end of the week we have money left over. But on any given day I can have both the candied pecans and the strawberry/banana fruit slushie and not be going over.

0 for souvies. Just not our thing.

 

[robinb]

a day in disney? Food, gifts, souvinears, ect....

We are a family of 3. A few years ago, before the Disney Dining Plan was place, I saved every receipt and added them up. My daughter was small at the time and probably still in diapers. We ate at a variety of restaurants and ate most breakfasts in our room. Both times I tracked everything we spent about $30 per person per day. Now that (1) prices have gone up and (2) my DD eats more it's closer to $45 per day. It will go up even more once we purchase adult priced meals for her. I could certainly spend a A LOT less, but Table Service meals add up quickly . FWIW, we don't spend a lot on souvenirs. I give my DD a budget of about $50 per trip to spend any way she likes.

 

[Darcy03231]

Last two trips (7 days):

10/2008 - Me and my 4 y.o. niece (almost 5) for her first trip. We stayed at All Star Movies and had the DDP. I spent about $800 while we were there. She did BBB (not sure which package, but it included the dress and photos) which was about $200 right there, I bought myself a really nice watch (which I'm still wearing), bought some pins for trading, extra drinks, snacks, photos, souvenirs, tips. etc.

12/2008 - Me, my mom, and another niece (11). We stayed at All Star Movies and had the DDP. I spent about $300. We really didn't buy any souvenirs (the 11 y.o. had her own money and got a couple of small things). Most of it went for extra food & drinks and tips.

For my upcoming trip (me and my mom) I already know I'm going to be spending a lot more because I plan to take her to La Nouba and to do some of the tours.

I travel a lot and it really depends on what type of a trip you're taking, and what you like to do.