How Much Spending Money for the Park?

[Midnightred]

We will be at Disneyland for 2 1/2 days this July. It will be my husband, and 2 boys, ages 7 and 9. We are staying at HOJO. Do you think $100 per day is enough for 2 meals and a few souveniers, maybe hats and a few other small things? We might try the Tigger Tails, Mint Juleps, and might purchase a photo card too. How much to you spend usually, not including tips?

TIA
Cheyenne
DL 1975, DL 1980, DL 1985, DL 1988, DW 1999
and now DH's and Boys first trip to Disney July 2011!

 

[CrazyDuck]

For food alone I'd budget $50 per person per day... Then add $500 per person for souvenirs! Add those 2 numbers and you are all set!

 

[sonnyjane]

While you might not quite need $500 per person for souvenirs (perfect world, right?) I do think your budget needs to come up a bit for food. When I head up for a day trip, just myself, I spend about $30 on food and treats when it's all said and done! One meal at Plaza Inn, although yummy, is $15.00, and one bread bowl, again, delicious, is almost $10. That's not including drinks or anything.

 

[BELLEDOZER]

If you are planning on TS then $50 per person per day is pretty close. I would allocate $100 max per child for souvies, as they are very expensive there, and there's not alot of bang for your buck. For yourselves, there is a good chance that you'll end up spending alot more than what you intend, especially if you are not planning on going back for at least a year or more. We allocated $500 per adult, and ended up spending close to $800 each. It's surprising how quickly the cost of souvies add up, even with someone who's watching who's spending what.

 

[Peace.love.mickey]

Well...if you do some math...

2 meals for 2 kids=15 for both kids meals X 2=30ish
2 adults 2 meals= 15 per meal so 15X4=60

So 90 just for food for 2 meals for 2 kids and adults...

Then you have to add fun snacks, etc...

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Here, take a look at this site with menus and mostly recent prices:
http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm

That will help you with meal planning. Even if you only go with counter service, you are most likely looking at $35-$50 per meal for two adults and two kids, without buying drinks. Look especially thought at Plaza Inn and Pizza Port; they have good sized portions for sharing. Each snack or drink you purchase is going to cost at least $3-$8.

Souvenirs add up quickly too as you might imagine. A hat will run you anywhere from $12-$25, depending on type and how elaborate. Small items like magnets, pins, vinylmations, other small collectibles and mementos can be found in the $5-$15 price range.

 

[spacemermaid]

Here, take a look at this site with menus and mostly recent prices:
http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm

QUOTE]

You beat me to it...that's one of the most helpful (if not THE most helpful) links for spending $ budgeting.

I'll add to the chorus of those saying that food will cost more than $50 a day for 2 adults & 2 kids. On my trips (single adult, no kids, any companions pay for their own food...unless it's their birthday, or they're leaving for boot camp ) I end up spending at least $30 a day on meals, drinks, and snacks. And that's taking into account that I usually stay at a hotel with a free breakfast.

What you'd want to budget for souvenirs could vary hugely. If you wanted to get some of the collecters' items, it could be in the hundreds of $$$s. If you just wanted to get a few pins and/or tshirts, it'd be way less than that.

 

[clairabell29]

A really easy way to cut your budget, is to bring a meal with you. We always make PB&J sandwiches for lunch and bring snack foods, like breakfast bars, crackers, etc. We also split meals at some places, as the portions are rather large. We easily can do less then $50/day for the 4 of us bringing lunch and snacks, however my boys are 2 and 5. We also usually have a hotel with breakfast included, but you can bring things like cereal, oatmeal bars, etc for breakfast to cut costs, too.

 

[DahliaRW]

I agree with bringing in food. When we went we spent about $80 in groceries, and that fed us all breakfast for 6 mornings and lunch for 4 of those days. WAY cheaper than in the parks. And that was for 6 of us that actually eat, and one 1 1/2 yo that eats sometimes, but smaller portions. It also included a lot of snacks (apples, grapes, granola bars, crackers, cheese sticks, etc.).

As for souveniers, it's what you want to spend. You can spend nothing, you can spend thousands. When we went each child got $25 (leftover Christmas money) to pick whatever they wanted. For my oldest, we told him he could spend some of his own too if he wanted (he's the only old enough to really have his own money). He chose not to. On top of that we bought them mickey ears. That was it. Now I spent more on myself....but it was mostly scrapbooking stuff...

 

[MacLora]

So are you actually allowed to bring in your own fruit and snacks?

 

[clairabell29]

Yes you can bring in your own food and snacks. Just make sure the sandwiches are pre-made. If they aren't you will be required to put them in a locker. No coolers and no glass containers. Other then that, you can bring in anything you want.

We do it all the time and it really cuts costs. Von's Grocieries delivers to your hotel room, just pre-order your food and pick out a time and day to have them deliver if you don't want to pack it with you on the plane.

 

[DahliaRW]

You can bring in soft sided coolers. Did that in January. Brought baggies from home and filled them with ice from the hotel to keep the food cold.

 

[taaren]

We usually spend about $100 on groceries for a week, then in the park we use approximately $300 worth of DDR's in 5-6 park days, but that's just for me + DH + 1/2 DS4 (DS4 spends half the trip with us, half the trip in Corona with his grandparents). So for 2 1/2 days I'd say a two hundred should be enough to eat on for a family of four, can probably squeeze a few souvenirs out of that too.
But we eat cheap and our main splurge is a Monte Cristo to share. If you start to add things like character meals it adds up much faster. We prefer riding rides and eating light.

 

[Midnightred]

Thanks guys, so glad I asked! Your numbers are really helpful. I'm going to allocate $50 per day, per person just for the 2 meals. I'm worried because my cousin and her family are going too, and are not socking away money like I am. Might end up covering some of their meals as well but that's a different topic.

Thanks,

Cheyenne
DLR July 2011

 

[Funball]

umm photo card? u mean photo pass? those are free.. you won't need to purchase those, so you can add that to the free list, plus buttons are free and make great souveniors! so those are free!!

 

[tzeitel]

I always check the online Disney Store, they have some great deals on shirts and even have park stuff.

Yesterday I got DD (8) a shirt and some Vinylmations (on sale) to trade in the park - I even saw the new DCA merch there. DCA shirts were about $17 but I liked the Minnie and Mickey ones better ($8), DD won't care they are not straight from the parks. I did this a couple of years ago when we went to WDW - that time I found them for $6 on their Summer clearance so I bought one for DD, DH, 2 sets of grandparents and one for myself.

The acual Disney Store at the mall has some great prices on clearance items - of course there are none around here - but if you have one near you check them out. Last time I went they had those spinners that light up and cool little toys for super cheap.

 

[Cagirl767]

We are a family of four, but my kids are 6 and 4 and still eating kids meals. If you have light eaters or your cousin's kids are; get a child's meal, they run around $6-$7 for a hot dog and drink, as I'm sure you've read on the menus by now. We spend around $125 a day for the 4 of us, not including drinks unless it is included in the kids' meal. We usually drink water but like to snack and eat one sit down meal a day at least.

We usually stay in a hotel though that offers free breakfast and dinner and that saves us around $50 for dinner.

We split snacks in the park. Bring along some baggies for splitting things such as one popcorn among several people, or we like to go to the candy store and split some jelly beans or toffee. Lollipops from the candy store are rather inexpensive, like $2 each and they last forever. We never finish one.

I second that on having groceries delivered for the hotel room. We have done this or bought groceries at a local grocery store, to have in our room for the mornings or when we return to the hotel. If you'll have a car, there are many stores in the area. Sometimes we have skipped dinner at DLR and just snacked in the room instead or just had something like a Mickey pretzel for dinner. Too full from all day of park goodies!

 

[jory29]

For us, it's the experience of Disney shared together, and not the souvenirs... I head home with an $8 keychain, DH walks away with a $20 shirt, the kids each spend $20. We share 2 adult meals and a kids meal between the 4 of us, and every last scrap is eaten. We share 2 large sodas between the 4 of us (asking for extra cups.) We supplement the meal with some sugar cookies from McDonalds sometimes, lol. Or oatmeal raisin, etc, of which we have brought 3 or 4 to the park. We bring a couple of juice boxes, couple packs of small cheetos. Maybe a granola bar or two. One meal is eaten at Mc D's (breakfast) for around $24. Lunch is around $35, supper around $40 max. Churros are our downfall, but seriously, for $100 a day it can be done. It is stretching it a bit though, as I admit we have stopped at McD's on the way home to Hojo's for a burger snack, etc. But If you budget $125 a day I would say honestly, it can be done.

Yes, what Cagirl767 said, groceries to the room; bottled water, individual cracker and cheeto snacks, etc.

 

[tanyaewa]

We are a family of 4. I think can be done for sure!
We always find a hotel with complimentary breakfast.
I fill my togo cup with coffee to head out
We never buy soda or drinks with meals.
We didn't buy any souvenirs
My boys took home a *collection* of Disney cups as souvenirs (they come with kids meals) multiple buttons and character autographs along with pictures I took to put into books.

I did get them cool personalized Disney shirts on Etsy delivered to the hotel to open upon arrival - along with some dollar store glow sticks, disney stickers & colouring books.