How much money do u really take to disney?

[mommyof3princess27]

This is our first trip to disney! I am wondering really how much money ppl take or spend there? I know what i want to take lol but being realistic is a different story...plz help!

 

[Shreggor]

It depends on the size, age and interests of your group. What is important to you? If you are a big "fine dining person" you might spend $100+ on a sit down meal, just for you and DH. If you're someone who is cool with a burger and fries at quick serve you can probably count on $10 or less per person per meal.

Do you want souveniers? What kind? Pins can range from $5-$15. Ceramics start around $8. Sweatshirts around $30.

 

[worm761]

I think it all depends on you and your family. Me? I am pretty frugal in my everyday life. We eat out rarely and don't go to the movies often. Instead we rent movies for a dollar from Redbox. BUT I love love love to shop. I used to have a serious addiction to shopping. So when we go on vacation I like to have at least $1000 for shopping. That doesn't include dining. We usually have the dining plan for food.

 

[tinkmom2]

We went for 3 days in November before our cruise on the Wonder and took about $700 with us. We had free dining (one QS and one TS a day) and used the cash for tips and shopping.

 

[maryloubsw]

We spent $1200 out of pocket (some of this was gift cards we had purchased months before so we didn't bring all cash). This included a babysitter one night, taxi, hubby drank some alcoholic drinks, souvenirs, pedi at SSR spa, and food (we had basic disney dining plan, and spend extra on some meals). Oh and that also includes tips. We didn't buy ALOT of souvenirs, we spent about $400 on that and I have a 4 yr old and at that time 20 mth old. They each got one thing per day. HTH!

 

[levisfam]

We are a family of four (2 little ones) and we usually bring about $100 for each day that we are there if we are on the dining plan.. And $200 a day if we are not on the dining plan. The $150 covers tips, and trinkets. It sounds like a lot but it goes fast. We don't always spend all of it in one day, but what ever is left over we'll spend on the last days in the gift shops on ourselves

 

[5stljayhawks]

We are going and staying in a camper, so breakfast and dinner are usually there and will pack lunches most days or come back. I budget $40-50 per day for meals and $75 per day for other stuff.

14 day trip 5-7 days will be in the park, one of those days will be a specail event like MMNSH or MVSXmas costing around 250. Then there are trips to gator land 120, maybe silver springs 110, golf cart $300, Prirate dress up for the son $50 , a few character meals, which the wife and I decided we(5) all won't be attend, just girls for princess $85 . We give the kids $20-30 buck each to get the toys and that happens later in the trip. There are some days where we just hang and do alot of nothing except relax.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We don't take a lot of cash on vacation - maybe $50 for airport food. We use credit cards for meals and most purchases and get cash from ATMs if we find we need it. We did the dining plan on our last trip so food was covered. Otherwise, we probably spent about $500 for souveniers and extras for a family of 4.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

I always go on the DLXDDP, so most of my food is covered except for rainforest or TREX, so not including food and alcohol. I take a $100 a day for 3 people for extras and souviners

 

[Evi]

how much you will need to bring depends on how you vacation. Will you be on dinning plan or will you be paying for meals as you go? makes a huge difference on how much you will need to have on hand. Do you give your kids an allowance or let them buy whatever they want? see what I mean. Personally we always buy a package we dont' bring a set amount we have our cc and debit for our purchases to be honest I put whatever I plan to purchase on the room card easier to keep track of. I don't think we've ever gone over 700 but I could be wrong.

 

[disneyfans95]

We bring $100 a day for our family of four. This is WITH the dining plan so meals are mostly prepaid. We normally split a breakfast and pay cash with that.

$700 and that covers us fine. We like a few drinks on vacation so that is where some of it goes. Those disney bars are expensive

 

[dhdozier]

I agree with the previous poster that siad it depends on "how" you vacation? Do you eat out for every meal or limit yourself to one per day? Personally, I take a cc because hubby loves to splurge on huge suppers that cost around 75 -100 per night for our family of 4 and I like to "go with the flow" and not worry that I will run low on cash. Breakfasts we do in the condo/hotel and lunch is usually counter service for about 30ish. Souveniers are from off site, usually at St Augustine Disney outlet on the dirve down. If we get anything from Disney it is like Pick a Pearl at Epcot which is more for the fun experience but you get a pretty pearl too. The kids know this ahead of time and suprisingly agree we would rather spend our time in the park riding rides and shop later for the cheaper souvies from the outlet store. Have fun!

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I think it all depends on you and your family. Me? I am pretty frugal in my everyday life. We eat out rarely and don't go to the movies often. Instead we rent movies for a dollar from Redbox. BUT I love love love to shop. I used to have a serious addiction to shopping. So when we go on vacation I like to have at least $1000 for shopping. That doesn't include dining. We usually have the dining plan for food.

Oh my goodness this is so me. I can't bring myself to pay full price for laundry soap or head out to CVS without a purse load of coupons and extra bucks but when I am at WDW I think nothing of plopping down 20 bucks for a kitchen sink stopper (that I never use BTW I don't want it to get ruined)..oh and OP we went for 8 days with 5 people and we bought a ton of souvies..I mean a ton. About 5 coffee cups, 4 travel mugs t-shirts, windchimes from AK, ride pics from every ride. The temptation is too great for me we spent about 1000, as well. This did not include exra snacks and cocktails.

 

[carj]

We went in June 2008 for 7 nights and we spent about $1200 and we were not on the dining plan. 2 adults and 2 kids
Mostly the kids got one thing per day. Their item was usually between $10-20each.
That also included lunch at CRT, Garden Grill, Ohana Breakfast and a pirate cruise for 1 and breakfast for 1 adult, 1 child at 1900 Park Fare. All our other meals were CS.

We did not buy any alcohol which can really add to the cost and my husband and I each bought a couple of small items.

 

[KELLY]

Ahead a time a make up a envelope system seems odd I know. But if helps me just pull the envelope so my cash don't end up all ove the place. \

We are on the dining plan so I figure 20 for tip for are one TS meal a day. We are 2 adults one child (4) and one infant (2). Usually are TS meals run around 80.00. But for that type of bill I always leave 20.00. If it runs in the 100.00 range 25 to 30 depending on service. Last year we spent 200.00 in tips but this included magical express,bell service,ect.

My dd does BBB which is a little over 200.00 I make her pay 1/2 of it out of her piggy and gc. Hairwrap for my oldest her hair is super long so that is another 40.00. My girls like to get there face painted and those little tattoos they have. So I budget for that. We spend a lot but this is are one yearly vacation. So we really go all out. We also like to go to the bar and get a couple of drinks in the evening so that is another 25.00 or so. My girls have there own spending $$ from there piggy's and GC they get. So they usally bring 100-150. I think we brought 500.00 for all that stuff last year and is was more than enough. I have gc that I bring for my souviners that I got for Chrismtmas and birthday's. DH is happy with one t-shirt and a mug so he is cheap. I usally buy the girls each a sweatshirt also out of our money.

 

[monorailsilver]

When we went in August 2008, it was myself, dh & our 3 kids, then 7, almost 5 & 2 1/2.

We brought $1300 with us. And we came back with a few hundred. That money included a few hundred in Disney Visa cash & a few Dsiney Gift cards I had.

The money was used for food, drinks & souvies. I think I spent around $200-$250 on souvies & I also bought 5 resort mugs with it as well.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

It depends how many people you are buying for.

If you are buying for your 4 nieces and 3 nephews at home, plus your parents and your dogsitter, plus items for you, DH and 7 kids there, that is really different from a couple visiting solo and not buying any gifts, kwim?

I would say each souvenir will run around $10 or more and for a "vacation goer" just to get a sweatshirt, mug, stuffed animal and a pin would approach $100/pp.

ETA- how much people take to spend varies wildly. One parent will take a child to the BBB, face painting, mother-daughter pedicure and facial at the GF, toy at the gift shop at the end of each ride, costing thousands while another parent will go to the outlets and buy a highly discounted t shirt and not buy anything in the Disney gift shops.

 

[christinec68]

DH & I probably spend approx $150-200 per day on average. We don't purchase the dining plan so that is for all our meals, tips, drinks at the pool, some groceries for the room, gas, tolls and maybe a taxi or souvenirs.

 

[kchughes]

We spend no more than $750. We have a now 7 year old and I purchase Disney Dollars at the local Disney Store throughout the year that he has to earn throughout the year. He always has $100 of his own disney dollars plus what ever he can con out of his grandparents. The trip and food are our gift to him. the toys and stuff, he buys with his own money. The $750 covers tips, any meals that we eat that aren't covered by the dining plan and some type of souvenir fro DH and I. We usually end up buying DS one hat, because I always forget to pack him one!!! We may increase his amount to 150-200 this Dec. since it is his 8th Bday trip.

 

[pigletto]

I think on our last trip we spent close to 1000. It was 10 days and we were on the DDP so that covered tips, our garden grocer order, and souvies. Pin trading really added up
This trip the kids will have 100 each for their souvies and we'll bring tip money but not much else. This is more of a budget trip so one way to cut costs is not to buy too many extras. I'll bring 1000 for the week but I highly doubt we'll spend more than 4 or 5 hundred. Or I hope anyway.