How much money do we need?

[Steven41782]

Hey Guys,

I've never been to Disney without my parents so I don't know how much money I'll need. We(My girlfriend and I) are going to stay at Fairfield Inn - Universal Studios from July 14 - July 18 and the Yacht club from July 18 - July 24. We have already paid for both hotels and all park tickets and have made tipping envelopes already. I know there is a level of variance based on how "nice" of things we do.. but I just want to know how much not to leave home without. My parents reccommended $1,000.00 per person. (2*1000=2000.00) Do you think I will need more??????

Thanks,
Steven

 

[cokegal19]

I was just going to leave ask the same quesion! My husband and I are going in May, and I was wondering how much to bring. Your thread has really changed my mind!!!! Considering you already have your hotels and tickets paid for, how much more $$ could you need??? I don't think you need $1,000 a person! What the heck could you do totaling $1,000!!!! I think the food is going to be the most money. I guess like you said, it depends on what you want to do. And I see that you are going to be in Disney for 11 days. I'll only be there for 5. I guess that makes a diference to!!

I was thinking about bringing about $300 extra spending money for my husband and I and our 2 year old son. Maybe I should bring more???????

 

[Disney Debbie]

My best guess is somewhere in between you two!! But I think the $1000 per person is probably a pretty safe amount - I would think you'd have plenty left over - but better safe then sorry. For 11 days and assuming you're going to go out to eat at the nicer places, go to PI, buy drinks and souvies - that's probably a good safe estimate.

I'd say $300 for food, snacks and extras for 3 people for 5 days is a little low unless you're planning on bringing some of your own or cooking in your room/condo. We probably spend about $125.00 a day on food for the 3 of us which includes eating a sit down lunch, any snacks we want in the parks and an allegedly "cheap" dinner! We're going to try and do it a cheaper this time in that I don't eat as much as I used to so DD and I are planning on sharing some meals!

 

[KELLY]

Hi
I leave tommorow and I'm going with my mom We are staying at POFQ and I'm bringing a 1,000.00. I think that's about what you want to bring I'm only going for 7 days but last year I went for 10 days with husband split the stay between Disney and Universal like you are doing and we spent easily a little over 1500.00 but that is including drink PS Lots of Soviners. But I rather have to much and have a good time then worry about money. KELLY

 

[Augustheather97]

we are always safe figuring $150 per day for food and souvniers etc.....not counting passes or hotle in that...and that is for 2 adults and a 7 yr old

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by cokegal19
I was just going to leave ask the same quesion! My husband and I are going in May, and I was wondering how much to bring. Your thread has really changed my mind!!!! Considering you already have your hotels and tickets paid for, how much more $$ could you need??? I don't think you need $1,000 a person! What the heck could you do totaling $1,000!!!! I think the food is going to be the most money. I guess like you said, it depends on what you want to do. And I see that you are going to be in Disney for 11 days. I'll only be there for 5. I guess that makes a diference to!!

I was thinking about bringing about $300 extra spending money for my husband and I and our 2 year old son. Maybe I should bring more???????

Will this amount include food? What about ride photos,autograph books, pens, snacks...

Almost every rides dumps you into a gift shop. Will you be able to walk by without spending anything?

 

[Augustheather97]

$150 per day does incluse all those things fine....we don;t eat a huge sit down dinner every day so on the days we eat lighter there is some left over for the heavier eating days.....it even includes drinks by the pool....

 

[cokegal19]

$150 a day seems outrageous to me. I would think for food the MOST I think we will spend is $50/day. And we won't be buying many souveniours. When you go on a budget, that's what you have to do!! I wish I could go down to Disney will $1000 to spend, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. We will do our best with $300. We will be driving, also, so for dinners we plan on eating outside the park.

 

[KristiKelly]

I don't know what your ages are, but if you're over 21 you may also want to budget in a night @ Pleasure Island. I would imagine drinks might be rather costly down there. We are a family of four and we budget $100 a day for food. For menu prices go to www.allearsnet.com and go to dining (I think), all the menus & prices, this helps us alot.

 

[LuvTigger]

I agree with checking out the menu prices to get a general idea of the food costs and how your personal preferences fit in. IMHO, the amount you spend on food is probably the biggest budget factor next to the hotel and tickets (which you've already taken care of).

A nice dinner at someplace like California Grill might run $125-$150, not including alcohol. On the other hand, you could have a great buffet at Norway for about $60-$70 for both of you for dinner (even less for lunch). For me personally, I am going to plan on $125 per day for BF and I for food, knowing that we will probably have a couple of really nice (i.e. expensive) dinners, mixed in with counter service and some "average" priced meals, so some days we'll spend more than others.

Personally, I think $2000 for the two of you for 10 days is a pretty comfortable amount for food and some souvenirs (as long as you're not eating every meal at CA Grill!). What you could do is just carry $200 per day in your wallet, and buy a "hidden" slim waist pack to carry on the inside of your pants (if that sounds weird, I can describe further!), to carry the rest, and each day add another $200 to your wallet (so if you saved some $$ one day, it'll just carry over so you'll have more to spend on the later part of your vacation).

 

[Steven41782]

The 200.00 a day think sounds like a good idea! We're trying to decide whether or not to get a prepaid visa card with a set limit or just use cash. I think I could track cash better than just sliding my card... So we may do that... We don't drink, so if we did go to pleasure island it wouldn't cost us that much.... we have decided to order room service for breakfast one morning .. Thanks for the tip about the allearsnet menus w/ prices! That's awesome! Thanks for everyone's comments.. I feel like we will be fine with 2000.00 now!

 

[fran99999]

Am I doing this wrong? I only carry $30 cash for the cart vendors. Someone said even these can accept the key card now, is that true? I use my room key to charge all the rest. I then stop off every morning to pay the previous days bill. It takes at most 5 min. and I know exactly how much I spent each day. The previous days trans have all cleared by then.

OK I have a DD 16 who goes off on her own with her friend. That did cost me 2 kimonos & 2 umbrellas last year. That was a shock to see in the am. LOL But I trust her with the key more than the $$ I get to see the bill and that keeps her in check.

Now if I can curb my dh spending practice. Those Mickey ice creams just have to be stopped. LOL I swear he cant pass the stupid cart they must call to him.

 

[LuvTigger]

fran99999,

I think you'll be fine with $30 cash and using your key card for most purchases.

I think some of us (speaking mostly for myself here!) tend to use credit/key cards more than we should since we are not physically using or seeing the cash bein spent, and hence spend more than we would if we actually were using "real" cash.

 

[mickeycw]

We carry less then $20 cash!! Everything (even push cart vendor purchases) goes on the room charge. You can check it at any time to see how much you've spent. We find we actually spend less money this way and don't have to worry about carrying cash!!

 

[cokegal19]

I totally forgot about that! Now I'm mad because I have just decided to stay off disney property to save money! If I would have known about this, I could have waited till check out (when we would have had more money because we would have gotten our payroll checks), and paid the remaining balance! Oh well.... I've got a coupon anyway for 3 days and 2 nights at a Ramada hotel, so now we'll only have to pay for 3 nights. Either way, I save money.


Getting closer to the date now!!! Almost in the Teens!!!!