How much spending money do you bring?

[TheLittles]

I was wondering about how much you usually allot for like, souvenirs, tips (if you have a dining plan) drinks, etc. we will have a family of 3(two adults and one toddler) to pay for. We have DDDP but I'm sure we will be spending money on things I'm not even thinking about right now. Trying to make a budget so I know how much I should be bringing with me. I know souvenirs and such are pricey.

 

[kmb584]

I was wondering about how much you usually allot for like, souvenirs, tips (if you have a dining plan) drinks, etc. we will have a family of 3(two adults and one toddler) to pay for. We have DDDP but I'm sure we will be spending money on things I'm not even thinking about right now. Trying to make a budget so I know how much I should be bringing with me. I know souvenirs and such are pricey.

I set aside about $500 for souvenirs but since we visit often that amount is never spent in full unless I find a Dooney & Bourke bag that I like (the selections have been pitiful on our last two trips). DD is good with being told "no" and knows that she will get a little something each day, and a bigger souvenir on the last if she behaved well. Things are pricey though. It's about $60 for a hoodie and $30 for a t-shirt, $20 for a small plush, etc.

We don't use the DDP but figure a standard 20% tip per TS meal. The dinner buffet at Crystal Palace runs about $40 per adult and $20 per child, so that'd be a $20 tip. For tips/alcohol I'd budget around $150 and increase if needed based on your dining plans.

 

[rewilliams]

We leave for our trip on Sunday and there are 3 of us, my DD is 9. I have $400 in gift cards for souvenirs. I have $5 a day for Mousekeeping tip. I have $40 a day for sit down dinner tip and a snack to add to our DP snack (get a ice cream buy a drink or something) Total of $200. And I think that is it. Plus my DD has saved $260 for BBB

 

[Svhadden]

For quite a while, my husband would budget $25/day for each of our kids for souvenirs :roll eyes:. I was like, whoa…too much plastic Disney lol.

I finally convinced him that our house was stuffed full enough of WDW souvvies, so now we give the kids about $75 each for the WHOLE TRIP. We encourage them to save it till the last day or so (works well with the 13 yr old, not so much with the 7 yr old, ha!), and to budget carefully.

Pretty sure he just budgets for a $25 tip for each of our TS meals, which is usually more than 20%.

Maybe $20 for mousekeeping (we only get our room cleaned once in the middle of our trip and there are 4 of us, so about $10 for that cleaning, and then we leave $10 when we check out). We keep our room clean and neat as much as possible, just ask for extra towels etc if we need them. No reason, IMO to have our room cleaned daily.

My husband has a pin budget that's insane , but it's for all 4 of us since we all pin trade (well…HE pin trades and we wear his extra lanyards, haha!), and we always budget a couple hundred $$$ for things we know we like to buy--we get the kids t-shirts with the year on it every year, we always pick up a new Disney bag, a Christmas ornament, a TS photo we want to buy, maybe a new hat for one of the kids, things like that.

We're also on the DDP but we budget a little for things that aren't on the DDP, like, say a Nutella Waffle Sandwich . Also, this year we're paying for Beaches & Cream OOP because it just doesn't make sense to blow TS credits on what's basically a QS meal.

So, travel, souvenirs, all that extra whatnot, for 6 days/7 nights, it's $1300, after room/ticket package is paid for.

 

[Stephaniesue]

The only things we purchase in the parks are mouse ears. Each of the kids got to pick what they wanted.

We took $20 in cash to the parks, and most days it came home.

I don't think we tipped more than 20 dollars for dinner. We were a party of 4 ppl (2 small kids, 2 adults). I left mousekeeping 3-5 dollars per day (I honestly don't remember).

We used DDP and loved it, so we are using it again this time.

 

[LJSquishy]

For the two of us, we figure about $150 in tips covers us for 7-9 nights (assuming 1 table service meal per day). I'd round it up to $200 to include tipping Mousekeeping, bell services for holding our bags, and tips for bartenders.

We don't buy any souvenirs so we don't budget for that. Our last trip we did bring home a gift for each of our nieces, nephew, and my mother-in-law who loves Disney. We spent about $20 each on them (so $60), but that was a one-time gesture. We won't be buying those things on our next trip. We aren't into knickknacks or clothing that says Disney World, etc so to us, we aren't missing out on anything.

 

[LJSquishy]

A toddler really doesn't need souvenirs (really no one does!), so just plan to buy one neat item that they really like. Don't feel like you need a whole separate budget for stuff.

 

[bandksmommy]

We have about $200 saved for us to spend on souvenirs (maybe t shirts, definitely an ornament, mouse ears for the kids). Hopefully we'll come home with money left over. And the kids have been saving birthday and Christmas money so they each have their own spending money (the 7 year old just had a birthday and still has last year's birthday AND Christmas money) so they're set. I'm not on any type of food plan so we'll tip the norm at sit down meals, most of which probably won't be at the park. And we're staying at a time share so no mouse keeping.

 

[jenniy122]

I went on a solo three day trip, with dining plan, a couple weeks ago, and between airport snacks/food, tips, and souvenirs spent around $200.

 

[neto0312]

This thread has been so helpful! We are going in 26 days and I am planning the budget down to the last cent! We are using the DP and I was not sure how much to bring for tips and extras...DH likes a beer now and then with dinner!

 

[fluffykalie]

I usally spend about $1000 in disney for 10 days. but that includes all food and treats and souvenirs. my kids are 3 and 5. I let them pick out two to three things on the trip (I have mommy veto power). We also stock up our resort room with snacks and water. My kids like the stuff I bring just as much as the stuff in the park. We are usally so busy running around that we dont eat much in the parks one meal in the park one meal at disney resort with snacking in between. We also have never done a sit down yet. So only pay for quick service. We dont drink on the trip since we have our kids and dont care to drink much anyway.
How much spending money you will need depends on you vacationing style. But Id assume that you wouldnt need more then 100 a day either because of the fact all you will be buying is snacks, drinks, souvenirs, and tips. But if you dont go often and this is your once in a long time trip you might want to bring more for souvenirs and special treats. Its better to bring extra then be stressed for money.

 

[Iralyn]

Related question - besides meals (if not on DDP), tips and souvenirs, is there other stuff that you spend money on at the parks? Besides the ones that you pretty much have to plan in advance (fireworks cruise, behind the scenes tour, etc.), are there any other "extras" that cost money within the parks? I'm thinking of our local amusement park where there is the pay one price entry but then they have games and some special experiences (e.g., bungee trampoline) that cost money if you choose to do them. It has been almost 10 years since I was last at Disney and it was pre-child and a bit of a whirlwind trip so I can't remember.

 

[Grmnshplvr]

We always do the dining plan. I take $1000 for any extras, tips, extra drinks, snacks or souvies we want. I'm comfortable with $1000 for 8 days.

 

[DaughteroftheKing]

IMO, you won't need a ton of money for extra food items if you are on the dining plan.

When I get ready to budget/plan I first write out what my ADRs are and what the tip amount will need to be. Then that money all goes in a separate envelope so it doesn't accidentally get mixed up with souvenir money.

Personally, I just want a Christmas ornament, maybe some post cards, maybe a tshirt. I'll bring $50 to more than cover that.

$50 for each kid to spend (total, not per day)

Some money, again in a separate envelope, for mousekeeping/magical express/tips

 

[DaughteroftheKing]

Related question - besides meals (if not on DDP), tips and souvenirs, is there other stuff that you spend money on at the parks? Besides the ones that you pretty much have to plan in advance (fireworks cruise, behind the scenes tour, etc.), are there any other "extras" that cost money within the parks? I'm thinking of our local amusement park where there is the pay one price entry but then they have games and some special experiences (e.g., bungee trampoline) that cost money if you choose to do them. It has been almost 10 years since I was last at Disney and it was pre-child and a bit of a whirlwind trip so I can't remember.

Not that I can think of. We've done MK, HS, and Epcot and I didn't see anything that you had to pay extra to do. Now this was before they redid that part in MK and put in the Snow White ride and stuff, so there COULD be something back there that I don't know about. But pretty much, no.

 

[monaleigh70]

DH and I will be there for 7 days in November on the DDP. We pretty well know in advance what we will be eating when we make our ADR's so know what to leave for tips for each meal. We always have wine with our meals so that is factored into our budget. Having menus to peruse is very helpful for budgeting. I always allot $3 dollars a day for mousekeeping, whether we really need them or not, since the workers rely on those tips. For us, incidentals would be a margarita or glass of wine or beer in EP!

I really can't think of anything that is imperative for me to buy when at WDW, well, except for a Christmas ornament. A few years ago, my daughter and grandkids got caught up in the pin collecting craze and I shelled out a lot of money on those but it was short lived, thank heavens.

My DGD went to the BBB boutique twice but we saved tons of money by picking up the princess outfits at our local Disney store just after Halloween when the prices were slashed.

I had to buy a sweatshirt once at AK when it got really cold, really quick but I always have at least one credit card on me so it wasn't an issue.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I revived this thread because I can see all of you have returned. I found this thread helpful as I'm trying to budget. Even though this is my 4th trip I feel like a budgeting newbie since we are not on the dining plan. Anyone want to share about their planned budget vs actual?

 

[courtneyloper]

We are taking $400 in gift cards we were given as gifts. I am hoping that will be enough for our family of four with a 3 and 8 year old.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

We are taking $400 in gift cards we were given as gifts. I am hoping that will be enough for our family of four with a 3 and 8 year old.

Well I hope we are bringing enough. I'm bringing about 2k for food and spending. Dh has his own drinking and spending money as do my kiddos. We are not on the dining plan but we are staying club level so hopefully that helps.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We usually say $150/day that's for tips/souvenirs/extra. For tips if it's a TS that actually brings your food to u we do 20% tip. For the buffets where they only bring drinks to u we usually do 15%, unless the service is absolutely exceptional and they go out of their way to make us feel special. My older son is on the spectrum and he's a picky eater and sometimes restaurants can be challenging. When we were there in April there were a couple buffets that went out of their way but there were also a couple of buffets that barely said 2 words to us and we had to track them down to get refills and I'm sorry I am not going to tip 20% to them for that type of service just bc we are in disney world lol.

Anyways our extras that I referred to are usually when tipping hotel staff or if we need gas in our car. We never usually go through our allotment but I'd rather have more money than not enough lol