How much should we budget?

[ndgqmiller]

We are leaving for our first trip to Disney. My husband and I and three children. We will be there for 8 days, we purchased the dining plan and I will bring some things from home. My question is spending. I don't know how much to bring. T-shirts, mouse ears, charm bracelets..... What is the normal amount to spend without breaking our wallets?
Thanks,
Danielle

 

[kg66]

Good luck figuring this one out! We do as a rule $100-$200 / day, but that's without the dining plan. Both times we've been to Disney the Dining Plan wasn't available. As for Clothing, I suggest you shop around if you have a vehicle. There's a WalMart in downtown Orlando and they sell authentic Disney wearables at a lot less cost to you. We also go over to the Flea Markets and get Disney Merchandise there. All other souvenirs(ears, light ups, pins, etc, )we get at the parks. Make sure you bring or ship , snacks and water to your resort, for your days at the park. The costs of sodas and waters can really add up. You can put them in a locker instead of lugging them around all day. Good luck, and have a great trip.

 

[lovehoney]

We had Dining and budgeted $100 per day. We were able to keep under this amount. We used it for extra waters and snacks when we ran out of credits. We also used it for extra tips, alcoholic beverages and mousekeeping tips. I bought two shirts, a package of mickey ear Christmas ornaments and 2 toys each for the boys. Not a lot of souvies but some. We did not purchase any of the photo packages from character dining but they run about $38.

We had a free photo at Epcot for having a Disney Visa and I had a free picture for EE. We also had a free photopass picture from our MYW package.

 

[ndgqmiller]

Thanks for the advice. I just like to be prepared and know what I'm spending, but want the kids to enjoy themselves also. We are driving so we plan on bringing extra drinks and snacks. Also I went and bought some autograph books today at Target. I'm going to pick up some glow sticks to, just to give the kids when were at the parks at night!

 

[lovehoney]

Thanks for the advice. I just like to be prepared and know what I'm spending, but want the kids to enjoy themselves also. We are driving so we plan on bringing extra drinks and snacks. Also I went and bought some autograph books today at Target. I'm going to pick up some glow sticks to, just to give the kids when were at the parks at night!

You might want to get extra glow necklaces and bracelets. It's fun to hand these out to kids who don't have any. Spread the Magic!

 

[NemoMOm]

Mickey ears are about 12$, shirts 10-20$.

 

[dismom9761]

Where did you find autograph books at Target?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You might want to get extra glow necklaces and bracelets. It's fun to hand these out to kids who don't have any. Spread the Magic!

That's really thoughtful! so sweet

 

[ndgqmiller]

Where did you find autograph books at Target?

I guess their not "REAL" autograph books. They are disney journals. One is purple and has the princesses on it and the other had pooh on it. I also picked up fat disney pens that have the ink that you can change colors and a pink string so it can hang on your neck. It was in the dollar basket. They are at the front of our super Target. Tons of disney stickers, games. pens. pencils, notebooks and journals. My kids don't know the difference and it saved me a little.

 

[TJ's Mom]

We do a pretty good job of keeping the kid's spending down. We tell them they can not buy their souveniors until the last day. That way they see everything first. We do not have the fights over "but I want that too." Instead, they look for a few things they really want. They know the amount they can spend. If they buy one thing or 3 things, it doesn't matter as long as they stay in their budget. We usually buy them t-shirts too. The kids were 5 and 8 when we went last and it worked really well. They are already saving for the next trip.