How much spending money?

[LINCLAIRE]

I have been reading other posts and what you take to spend.
I think that we spend loads of money and never scrimp on what we buy, and believe me, once I hit the shoe shops, I'm like Imelda Marcos!!.
Anyway, we always take £1500 and between us and 2 kids, find this is plenty.
We always buy our tickets before we go.
I do tend to find that my boys never keep on for food or drink, in fact they are so pre-occupied with everything that's going on , that we have to make them take time out for refreshments.
We are intending to do more p.s's this time and perhaps stuff we don't usually have time for, like travelling around.Do you think £1500 is still enough?
We last went September 2002.
Lin xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[IAN5150]

Lin,This is one I can NOT work out?? When I put this question The answerI got was all around 2K but a couple said 2k and a CC Im not using one of them horrid things So Im looking at3K mabe 3.5,I just dont know!
I dont want to waste cash but I dont want to watch it either! But I reckon that would do,IAN

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

When we travelled in June this year - 2 adults, 2 kids under 5 we took £2200 - all in TC's and $$ - we didn't use a CC at all. We found this amount to be more than enough, and felt we could splash out a bit - but everyone is different.....and has different opinions on how much to spend on food, souvenirs etc.
We were in a villa and had breakfast in the villa almost every day - we ate lunch and dinner out nearly every day, sometimes in the parks, character meals and sometimes off site.

Previously in 2002 and 2000 we took around £1500 and found this to be adequate too......I think the more you take the more you will find to spend it on!!!

Cath

 

[Mike Jones]

It's the old 'how long is a piece of string?' one, is'nt it!!
Personally, I'd be horrified if we spent £3k - £3.5k in a 2 week orlando holiday... we are 2 adults and 2 kids, 9 & 10 yrs, and we have spent around£1600 - £2000 whilst in the States on each of our last 3 trips, having bought tickets in advance. We eat well, although we don't do too many PS at Disney parks etc, and we do a moderate amount of shopping! I can sympathise with Ian's reluctance to use credit, but I'd rather use a card as back-up and take less cash/cheques, as I would feel MORE tempted by these!! Mike

 

[Muppet]

We usually match what we spend on the holiday with spending money. We take that amount in TCs. Then we get about $500 in cash. The only time we use a CC is when we buy something that would maybe benefit from a little extra insurance.

There are only 2 of us and we usually take about $3500 to $4000 in total. We spend most of it but not all but as you say too much is better than too little. We don't even eat in many expensive places its just clothes etc that we buy.

I know Goofyish will come along and remind me about the £145 allowance, but as I said I can easily spend that on shoes. And how many people only buy goods to the value of £145.

 

[Clarey]

I really think it depends on where and how much you eat and where and how much you shop.
There is only me and my 9 yr old DS and I have £800 in T/C /$$ and I expect I will put another £300-£500 on the C/C.
We have most of our tickets Just need to buy two days at Disney, KSC and Boggy Creek

 

[AlisonB]

I think a lot of it depends on where you eat - if you eat a large off site buffet breakfast then you won't need much til evening. Lots of people just get fast food type meals off site for the other meals - so none of this would add up to much. We do a mixture of that, plus PSs etc at 'nicer' on site restaurants. We spent about £1000 this year (in 12 days) and didn't feel we scrimped on anything.

 

[mike230652]

Lin

Like you we have two kids.

Last time ( November 2001 ) we took about £600 in $$'s and used an American Express card ( which I obtained specifically for Florida ). We spent about £750 on it, and didn't miss out on anything. Breakfasts were about 50/50 between restaurants and the villa....same went for evening meals. We did Sci-Fi, Mama Melrose and Mythos among the pricier ( for us ! ) park meals and the likes of Jungle Jim's outside the parks.

DW and kids bought the usual souvenirs including Build a Bear Workshop, WDW shops etc.

I did post reports on the last holiday which included the costs for most meals and snacks......but lost them when my computer died! If anyone has them.........I'd be eternally grateful!

The Amex card was great news!! We got a much better exchange rate, didn't have to pay currency commissions and got discounts at some WDW outlets. Mind you, I did insist that we paid the Amex Card bill in full when it landed!!

We're off again in late November and I'll be dusting off the Amex card ( just validated again last week ! ) and we'll follow this routine again.

Hope this is of some help

mike230652

 

[stevefry]

The most that the two of us have ever spent on food during a 3-week holiday is just over £1000. This meant eating out several times a day, plus drinking lots (and lots) of Cola in the Parks. (Fizzy drinks, as you probably know, can add up to a fortune over several weeks).
The cheapest time was when we decided to buy all our groceries at Publix, - then have a large self-cooked breakfast in the villa before starting out in the morning, followed by a Dinner that we'd then prepare quickly for ourselves in the evening on our return. We also took bottles with us to the Parks and continuously filled them from the fountains for free. - Total cost of eating/drinking? -Around £150 for the whole holiday.
This time, we plan to spend more than ever on food and eat out (using PSs etc) every day. On the whole, I have to say we prefer this much more than when we cooked everything ourselves, but it just goes to show how wide-ranging the food-budget can be, depending on what and where you choose to eat and drink.
Steve

 

[mike230652]

Just a question...How can anyone possibly drink the water in the parks .????

IMHO, it has to be the most vile taste known to man!

mike230652

 

[stevefry]

My wife hates the taste of their water too. - However, after walking around the Parks all day in 90 degree heat, it begins to taste like the nectar of the Gods to me! - In fact, I love the taste of most things American, ...except their Hershey bars, which curiously smell of vomit and don't taste all that much better.
Steve.

 

[mike230652]

Steve

We did try a dessert at Jungle Jim's which essentially comprised of melted Hershey bars topped with melted marshmallows.

Can't say I'd go for that one again !! And I didn't believe our server when he told me it had less than 100 calories, either!

mike

 

[LINCLAIRE]

Thanks everyone, I think I'll be sticking to the £1500 and feel confident that it will be enough.
we do take our flexible friend but have only ever used it once for hospital reasons.
Steve- have to agree will you on Hershey bars but the worse taste ever has got to be those foul tasting pretzels.Salted popcorn coming a close second.

 

[JohnnySharp]

On the subject of money we find that we are taking less and less each year, despite staying in villas on our recent trips and spending a fortune on groceries.

We buy our theme park tickets in the UK and hire a car with a fully inclusive package, on average we take about $1500 although on previous trips we have taken much more.

We do take a credit card and use it, particularly when I visit the Oakley stores! Hence we always seem to return with $ to spare, about $300 left over this year.
It is a very difficult question to answer though as everybody is different.

As for snacks, I was quite ill on our trip last year after eating one of those toffee apples from a candy store at Universal, the ones with peanuts on, dear me it wasn't half sweet!