How Much Should I bring?

[TJW66]

My girlfriend and I are leaving on the 5th and leaving the 12th. Its a first time for both of usd I was there once but I was a kid. Anyways, I wanted to know how much spending money will be sufficient for the both of us. We are staying at the CBR, and we have already purchased our hopper passes. I think the only thing we havent covered is food, souvieniers(sp) and nightlife. I was just curious as to what is a reasonable estimate as to how much I should bring.
Thanks in advance

 

[prncess674]

It all depends on the types of meals you have planned. will you have a car to eat off site if you choose? Have you made PS's for sit down meals? are you mostly doing counter service? Are you the type that buys lots of souvenirs on vacation or will you each buy just a t-shirt and maybe a baseball hat? Are you bringing any snacks with you (granola bars, pop tarts, nuts, water, soda) or do you plan on buying all your snacks in the park? Nightlife can vary wildly. Do you plan on visiting Pleasure Island? Have you already purchased admission? Do you plan on drinking alcohol at PI or in the park? (Alcohol is very pricey in WDW) "Girlie" drinks are very expensive.

 

[CajunDixie]

For meal prices in WDW check out the DIS Dining DataBase

As for the other you'd have to give us more info before we could tell you how much money to take with you.

 

[TJW66]

We are not going to have a car. I dont know what a PS is but I'm assuming its a resevation in which case we havent. I figured we would make food reservations when we got there. I dont think we are going to buy an excessive amout of souveniers, but we will buy some. We will be bringing snacks ie water, protein bars etc, and I had hoped to go to pleasure island. We are both in our early 20's and drink alcohol on a somehwhat regular basis. We are not looking to get loaded at the bars, we just want to relax and have a good time. I appreciate your help

 

[prncess674]

You need to sit down and review the website mentioned above and decide how many sit down meals you plan to have and where. Do you plan on any character breakfasts? A rough estimate you can follow is $20 per person for a character breakfast (includes tax and tip). A counter service lunch/dinner $10 - $15 PP. Sit down lunch $20-$25 PP. Sit down dinner $30-$35PP (not including alcohol). Meals can be split in some places and you can skip sides and drinks alot of places as well. Only you know how much you are going to eat.

Beers in the world are $4 - $6. Specialty drinks $6-$10.

It's all simple math one you decide how many of each you plan on doing.

Souvenirs are so subjective. Decide how many people you need to buy things for and how much you would like to spend on yourself.

 

[RickinNYC]

Like you, our biggest expenses are already covered, i.e. airfare, resort and park hoppers. We only need cash for food, drinks, nightlife and souvenirs.
For two adults, no children, we plan on spending about $200-250 per day on average. We tend to enjoy nicer sit down meals for breakfast and dinner. Lunch is every man for himself. I also like to have a couple of cocktails at Pleasure Island. AND we plan on buying things here and there. Our budget should cover that and then some.

 

[rjordan]

Going with husband and 8 year old daughter for 7 days, 8 nights and we're bringing $1,000 to cover all food, souveneirs, etc. This is separate, of course, from park tickets, plane fare and hotel. Have a good time!

 

[cali2gagirl]

I like to hear different ideas...cuz I'm always soo worried I wont have enough...
We are going for 6 days and 5 nights (which to us is the longest family vacation ever!!) and depending on how things go, we'll have between 800 and 1200, after hotel, tickets n such. - I worry it won't be enough because I hate it always being about how much something costs...whenever I say no to something, my poor kids always say "is it cuz it costs too much?" - Thnkin I must say that too much
I told my oldest daughter (she's 7) that we will buy her 1 pr of ears (she wants the Tigger ones she saw on our planning video) and the rest she has to buy with her Disney Dollars...if she wants more. And....I'm thinking she'll only have about $20 of her own money... is that too harsh?? My 2 yr old should be ok...I'll buy her a pair of ears...and I do have souvies that I'm bringing on the trip to surprise them with
We didn't schedule a character meal or any dinners, basically because we are using THAT weeks paycheck to go on..lol..so we probably won't get to make any of those...but if we do..we'll do it the last night we're there, if they are available. I was under the assumption you had to reserve far in advance. We'll do offsite and resort food mostly I'm sure... There are soo many great tips on these boards for making whatever amount of money you have work...
TRACY

 

[prncess674]

cali2gagirl

We didn't schedule a character meal or any dinners, basically because we are using THAT weeks paycheck to go on..lol..so we probably won't get to make any of those...but if we do..we'll do it the last night we're there, if they are available. I was under the assumption you had to reserve far in advance. We'll do offsite and resort food mostly I'm sure... There are soo many great tips on these boards for making whatever amount of money you have work...

dining with the characters can be expensive. Have you thought about just doing the Ice Cream Social instead of a full meal. The cost is $6.75 per person and gets you character interaction plus a big ice cream sundae that could be a special treat.

Ice Cream Social

 

[cali2gagirl]

We aren't sure if we're gonna make it to Epcot..although that was an idea for us...
I'm thinking they'll be soo excited just seeing the characters around...that we'll be ok
She has an autograph book and we'll take pics n stuff...
We'll see..if we find an open reservation time...we may splurge anyways

 

[ducklite]

Alcohol is not cheap at WDW. I would plan on $100 a day if you were going to eat mostly counter service, $150-200 per day if you plan on full srvice for most or all meals.

I also wouldn't wait until you got there for all your resrevations. Take a look at some of the menu sites and see what appeals to you, and make at least a few before you leave.

Anne

 

[jjsmom]

We managed with $900-1000 for a 7 night stay 2 years ago. That was spent mostly on meals and snacks and a couple of souveniers (DD had her own spending money). We did not buy out 3 meals per day. Breakfast was in the room (cereal, juice, milk, bagels, etc.), and we kept our own stock of sodas/water. Keep in mind that the average bottle of soda is $2 -2.50. This will eat through your money in a heartbeat. Lunch was at one of the counter service restaurants (always around $15-$20 for a family of 3) and dinner was at one of the nicer sit down places either on or off property. I agree with other posters, a night at P.I., although fun, is very expensive. We enjoy walking around Downtown Disney, and the West Side (no admission to either) and have the same fun (except no clubs which we can't do anyway with an 11 yr old).

Have a great time.

 

[Lewisc]

some things that we take for granted:

You don't really need CASH With very few exceptions you can charge back to your room and have your food and souvenir purchases added to your hotel bill.

You can have your purchases shipped back to your room (or at least resort).

If you're taking a towncar from the airport you might make your "grocery" stop a cocktail stop. Get beer, wine, mixers (whatever you drink) and some chips. You might also get a case of bottled water.

 

[YesDear]

ALL OF IT!

 

[disneysteve]

You really need very little cash - maybe $200-300 for the trip. Since you are staying onsite, as Lewisc pointed out, you can charge almost everything to your room. Exceptions are places like an ice cream or popcorn cart. Also, need you may need some cash for tips (though in the restaurants you can charge those too). Anything else can either go on your room charge or your credit card.

Steve

 

[bobcat]

I budget $50/day for one adult and two kids and even with doing at least one character meal we can stay within that budget.

 

[momof2inPA]

You should budget about $800 - $1000 for the week for food, drinks, and souvenirs. Beer around the world at Epcot is always fun, but as a Mom of 2, my husband and I take turns on different evenings.