How much $$ will be enough???

[gemjoy]

This will be our very first family trip to Disney!!!! And I would love some suggestions on how much money we should plan on taking with us..... (of course we will always have a credit card for emergency use.) I'm looking for a general idea. Hit me with some real figures... I'd rather be on the high end than the low -- Also if you don't mind listing specific areas where we will be spending $$ that perhaps I haven't considered.

Myself, DH, DD-9 and DS-11
We're spending 4 days at Carribean Beach Resort (three entire days will be spent in the parks) and then 7 nights on the Disney Magic...... our airfare, hotel and cruise plus all our park tickets are paid for, we have disney transportation from airport to resort and from resort to port canavaral ~ we also purchased the meal plan. All this will help. As far as the cruise portion ~ we aren't big drinkers at all ~ although I'm sure we will enjoy some wine and fancy drinks during our cruise And we're planning on maybe the trunk bay snorkel excursion and then just relaxing on the beaches and doing some sight seeing and a little souvie shopping..... Okay DISers... whatcha think????? And many thanks for all of your insight and advice

The trip is Feb 28th - March 11th 2006 and I can't wait!!! I feel stressed all of a sudden..... maybe because it's approaching??? Is it the first trip to disney jitters???

 

[canwegosoon]

As far as the WDW part of your BIG TRIP It looks like you are covered.
You have airline tickets, trans to hotel, hotel, and meal plan all paid for.

So the incidentials you might incur are (for 4 people)
Tips for bellservices:$32 (1-2 dollars per bag check in/check out)
Tips for ME: $10 ($5 each way to hotel/to boat)
Tips for Mousekeeping:$20 (5 per day is what I do)
Additional dining (1 sitdown/1counterservice/1snack is included)and drinks not covered by plan:$300 (money for breakfasts and a few drinks) check out http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm
Souvies:$200 (50 pp)
Photos: $100 (this sounds like a landmark trip)
Parking at airport:$200 (estimate...adjust for you airport)
Tl:$862

I really did not plan any Character dining because you are going to see them on the boat
I have never done the cruise but I would think you would have House keeping, bellservices, waiters, ME to airport, more souvies, more photos, and side trips or spa services.

I'm going to be there on March 8th...you will already be at sea by then...but let's hope for great weather!!! Make your ADR"S at the 100 day mark...you can always cancel or change them when you get there. But have something planned(espically Fantasmic dinner, and the Rose/Crown for Illuminations those go quick).

 

[Savin4Disney]

We are only doing the parks for 6 nights/7days. The last day we are there until about 6pm when we leave for the airport. Our flight does not leave till 7:30 that night.

Our hotel/parks/food is taken care of. We are also on the dining plan. I am taking 200.00 in Disney Dollars and 300 in cash (travel checks) I think that is way to much for us but will spend the Disney Dollars first.

My son is 14 and does not want any Disney t-shirts or other Disney stuff. Until he sees something to bring back for a girl at school. I see that happening.

I personally have to send a few postcards and get my friend some Golden Mickey ears. I would like a nice photo of us at Disney. And plan to buy myself a nice necklace or pair of earrings and a 2005 photo album. That is all. I am sure I will have a drink or two but nothing major.

So I think we should come under the 500.00 mark.

I think you need to think how much are you willing to spend on gifts. There is going to be a lot of stuff. So maybe give your kids a budget. I am going to give DS 50.00 to spend on any extra's that he wants. This way he will not always ask me for stuff.

I do plan on getting cheap souvienors. Like popcorn buckets one from each park. The refillable mugs. This way I have something from each park and from our resort - POP CENTURY! I do not have room for all those knick knacks and do not want to clean them either.

Sorry to keep on rambling here.

 

[graygables]

Don't forget your tip amounts for the ship...$305 minimum according to my calculations. Mousekeeping, bell services, airport skycaps all can eat up a little budget at $4-$5 per day/$1-$2 per bag. I'm taking $225 for tips for our 3 night Wonder/8 nights land.

Souvenirs always do us in, so I've gotten DDs (9&7) $100 WDW gift cards to use from money they've earned and some as a gift. That way, they know not to beg for stuff and it's a good lesson in math/budgeting.

I'd also take an extra $50 along for snacks at the parks. Sometimes that Mickey bar or popcorn look to good to pass up! I also like the popcorn buckets as souvenirs...pack them full of dirty socks so they don't take up much space in the suitcase!

 

[It's A Happy Day]

We just got back from an onsite trip 10/1-10/14 and we to had already paid for hotel, passes, and dining plan. If you subtract the money we paid for gas to get there and back (we drove) we spent about $700 on everything from souvenier, extra tips, mousekeeping, and any extra snacks. All of our food was pretty much covered - we did tip extra for really good service and purchased a couple snacks outside the dining plan - if we spent an extra $50-$75 on snacks I would be surprised. You will have plenty of food! The majority of our expense was souvies and that will depend on you - we purchased 1 expensive souvie for each child as this was their 1st trip to disney and we want them to have it forever to remind them so you could even cut that number back more. But I would say to be comfortable at least $500-$750 - we brought $1000 and spent $300 on gas so thats where I'm getting our total.

Tshirts were around $20-$25 depending on type, sweatshirts were approx $40 - stuffed characters started around $10.00 - magnets $4 and up - all confections were pretty much $4 and up as well like chocolate coins, cocoa tin with mickey was $11.00 - glasswear started around $15.00 and up depending on size - this was figurines and also things like mugs and such. All trading pins start at $6.95 but most were $8.95 and up, photo albums were around $35.00. Ride/Character/Photopass pictures start at $12.95 per 5x7 and prices go up according to quantity and sizes. Any photopass picture can be purchased from home after your trip for 30 days so you can save purchasing these till you get home (one thing less to ruin in your luggage- I like the fact that I can have it shipped home so we didn't wreck them)

Have a great trip!

 

[keishashadow]

Don't think $500 will cover your trip misc. expenses.

Bottled water in parks is expensive, you'll drink a lot of it.

On-board drinks are very expensive - 6 pack of coke is $7.50; mixed drinks/wine are in the $5 area.

Did you price out a rental car instead of the DCL transport? Sometimes, it's cheaper to rent @ MCO & return to Car Care @ WDW after the cruise & use ME to return home.

IMO, it's a lot easier to run a credit card through when you check in (on the cruise, you must do this or deposit cash - they don't accept cash on board).

@ WDW, they authorize a set amount ($600 - I think), you'll know when you run thru it, since you must authorize it each time your spend over the initial amount.

Good Luck.

 

[SandrA9810]

Just remember that credit card is for emergencies, not emergency gifts.
It's very difficult for us to keep a back up credit card. So what I do, is keep the number and expiration date on a piece of paper in my wallet and don't carry the card around. And yeah I know, what if I loose it. But if any one finds it, they first have to figure out what company it's from, is it a visa, mastercard, AmEx, Discover, and the name that is on it. And they can't just take it to some store and charge up on it.
In any case, with that piece of paper I can call in advance for an extra hotel room and charge it. And for gas we have a gas only credit card. Thats usually our only two concerns.

But for you guys, you shouldn't even need it since all the major expensis are paid for. And since you are flying, you don't have to worry about gas, or getting stuck in traffic and having to make an extra night in the trip. Most your food will be covered in the meal plan. You just gotta watch out for those mickey bars and popcorn. And take a taxi service or have a friend drive you to the airport, or come along with you so you don't leave your vehicle at the airport. They don't monitor them, and it's probably way too much money than it's worth to park your car there.
Most your expensis looks like it's going to be in the tipping. And if you want to save on that, cram it in. And don't forget about the bag limits and weight limits, one of the other topics said they were cracking down on it. Or have it shipped to you at the hotel. But just remember about all those souveniers you'll be getting, you'll need to make sure you have enough room for it all. Or you could have disney ship it to your house for you, but that's extra. Take a couple less t-shirts because you're bound to buy one or a few, so wear it on your last day of the trip.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

With the magic your way with dining - small size popcorn and mickey bars and large bottled water are considered snacks so you can use those credits for them - we had the dining plan and ate so much food that at the end of the trip we had 15 snacks remaining which we use to get water and snacks for the drive home. So you should not need much $$$ for extra snacking only for alcoholic drinks as they are not covered and you already stated you are not big drinkers - may only have a couple.

 

[gemjoy]

As far as the WDW part of your BIG TRIP It looks like you are covered.
You have airline tickets, trans to hotel, hotel, and meal plan all paid for.

So the incidentials you might incur are (for 4 people)
Tips for bellservices:$32 (1-2 dollars per bag check in/check out)
Tips for ME: $10 ($5 each way to hotel/to boat)
Tips for Mousekeeping:$20 (5 per day is what I do)
Additional dining (1 sitdown/1counterservice/1snack is included)and drinks not covered by plan:$300 (money for breakfasts and a few drinks) check out http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm
Souvies:$200 (50 pp)
Photos: $100 (this sounds like a landmark trip)
Parking at airport:$200 (estimate...adjust for you airport)
Tl:$862

I really did not plan any Character dining because you are going to see them on the boat
I have never done the cruise but I would think you would have House keeping, bellservices, waiters, ME to airport, more souvies, more photos, and side trips or spa services.

Thanks canwegosoon!!! These numbers look good.
Each of the kids will be taking a pretty nice "stash" of Disney Dollars from Grandma... and Santa will be tucking some in their stockings as well ~ so they should be set for spending money.

We are staying at the airport hotel the night before our trip so parking our car there is free

yes... this is a landmark trip so photo's are essential ~ can you tell me what they offer? (I'll be taking tons myself... but we'd like some special pics ) They also have a place on the ship to get nice pics taken!

 

[gemjoy]

Did you price out a rental car instead of the DCL transport? Sometimes, it's cheaper to rent @ MCO & return to Car Care @ WDW after the cruise & use ME to return home.

Thanks for the tip, but we actually booked our vacation through AAA. One of the things I told our TA was that we wanted everything taken care of including transportation. We booked our Disney vacation and our Disney cruise as separate trips... and then just combined them and the Magical Express was included.

 

[gemjoy]

With the magic your way with dining - small size popcorn and mickey bars and large bottled water are considered snacks so you can use those credits for them - we had the dining plan and ate so much food that at the end of the trip we had 15 snacks remaining which we use to get water and snacks for the drive home. So you should not need much $$$ for extra snacking only for alcoholic drinks as they are not covered and you already stated you are not big drinkers - may only have a couple.

Thanks!! I've heard from many that the meal plan is very beneficial! I figured when we purchased it that whatever it pays for is a bonus - One nice sit down meal would cost way more than what I spent on four of us to have the meal plan for a entire day.

 

[EthansMom]

I didn't see it mentioned, but don't forget to budget for tips!

Does the Disney Cruise include your tips? Probably not. I know on past cruises, we've tipped about $75 per adult per week. I would probably tip about half that per child. On RCCL, we were expected to tip our cabin steward, 2 waiters and Maitre 'd (if Maitre 'd did anything for you).

We just booked a cruise with NCL and things are set up a bit differently. NCL will automatically charge us $10 per adult per day and $5 per child over 3 per day for tips, so $250 for our 10-night cruise.

Also, we usually tip about $1 per person per day to our WDW Housekeeper, $2-3 for any deliveries (extra towels, room service) to our room, and tip the sky caps at the airport $2 per bag. So tips could run you quite a bit of extra money.

For WDW, we usually budget $50 per person for souveniers -- a t-shirt/sweatshirt for Mom and Dad and one toy for each of the kids. On the cruiseship, DH and I spent $400 tops (for 7 night cruise) including shore excursions, some light drinking, and small purchases on-board.

The Disney Cruise Line has lots of information (including prices) about shore excursions here: https://secure.disney.go.com/dcl/en...ing?name=HFMyCruisePlansLandingPage&tab=shore. You may also want to check out the information in their Frequently Asked Questions: http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/help/overview?name=FAQLandingPage

I hope this helps!

 

[canwegosoon]

Thanks canwegosoon!!! These numbers look good.
Each of the kids will be taking a pretty nice "stash" of Disney Dollars from Grandma... and Santa will be tucking some in their stockings as well ~ so they should be set for spending money.

We are staying at the airport hotel the night before our trip so parking our car there is free

yes... this is a landmark trip so photo's are essential ~ can you tell me what they offer? (I'll be taking tons myself... but we'd like some special pics ) They also have a place on the ship to get nice pics taken!

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/genPage?id=MagicYourWayPhotoPassPopUp
Apparently with MWY packages you get a free 5X7...you can orded pics from Photo Pass when you get home. They have some prime locations the take pics of the family (on bridge going to castle at MK, to the rt of the castle, Near the tree of life at AK , near TOT at MGM, and I'm sure there's a spot at Epcot too...you give them your photopass card, and decid what you want to buy online.

You should post on the cruise board for $$$ for a week cruise. Good Luck!

 

[SandrA9810]

You can check out the photo prices now, at www.disneyphotopass.com
You can get multiple cards and enter four card numbers on one account. So if you do split up,you can still have them take pictures. Just remeber to write down the card numbers incase you loose them. All you need is the number to view your pictures. And it sounds like a lot of people loose them, so they probably get tossed easily.

 

[SandrA9810]

sorry, it won't let you in till you have a card, but right now they're offering a free 5x7 with the purchase of four 5x7, or save 25% on any order over 120$.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

I went in & copied photopas prices - but remember that you don't have to budget it in to bring $$$ for your trip - you can do it when you get home after the trip - up to 30 days post trip but I would recommend checking out the photo's while you are in WDW to make sure they came out.

5" x 7" Print $ 12.95
8" x 10" Print $ 16.95
Wallets (4) $ 12.95
5"x7" & Wallets $ 19.95
20 greeting cards for $39.95

right now they are running two promos with codes:
free5x7 - buy 4 get 5th free
save25 - 25% off any order over $120.00

also remember to give the photopass person your own camera!!! They will take photos of your group with your own camera of the same shots - many of our shots came out better than the photopass ones - better expressoins, etc and you don't have to pay the prices of photopass unless a really good shot!

 

[gemjoy]

ThAnK yOu everyone for all the great pic tips!!!! If you think of anything else... I'd love to hear! I've gotten so many ideas from these boards ~ that will surely make our trip unforgettable!!!