It's $100 a day enough for family of 5? Buying souvenirs before trip, really works?

[zdesiree]

I budget out $100 a day for food and souvenirs for a family of five. Do you really think is enough? We are staying 10 days.

 

[Atotty]

We're also a family of 5 and I've got spreadsheets of dining costs for all kinds of places. Are you doing any table service meals, character meals, or the Fantasmic dinner package? If so, that'll take more than your daily budget for just that one meal. Eating lunch at AKL and getting the vouchers (which really save money...these are great) will be $51 for our family.

Check out allearsnet.com and check out some of the menus for the places you're planning on eating and see if your budget works.

 

[justhat]

My husband and I have spent $100 on food in a day (sometimes less, sometimes more). That doesn't include souvenirs, just food for 2 adults (we generally don't order a meal for our daughter yet, though we did a few times). I would budget more. But we do eat at least one sit down per day so that ups the cost. If you can get by on all counter service you'll be okay.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

We are a family of 5 and are planning on $100 a day. But we are counter service people. We are only doing 1 sit-down (Cinderella castle breakfast!). We are not HUGE eaters. In fact I am a very small eater along with my youngest DS and DD. I definitely think it is doable! As long as you all do not want to do all table service meals. Good luck!

 

[Merriwind]

It's probably doable, but I would try to build in some slush money, as you may want a break from counter service at some point. I don't see anyway that you can eat any table service meals on that budget. On the other hand, my DSis's kids eat nothing but chicken fingers and fries, so for them, that budget would probably be fine.

Here's a link to check out menus and prices at WDW. It may help you with your budgeting.

http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

Enjoy!

 

[zdesiree]

I was thinking probably to do the same thing, counter service and 1 sit-down meal (character meal). Thanks a lot for the allears link. I'm printing out the info, so I can plan the meals. Probably I should take some extra cash, just in case. What you guys think of buying the souvenirs before? Does that really work with the kids?

 

[pinkdiamonds1007]

I was thinking probably to do the same thing, counter service and 1 sit-down meal (character meal). Thanks a lot for the allears link. I'm printing out the info, so I can plan the meals. Probably I should take some extra cash, just in case. What you guys think of buying the souvenirs before? Does that really work with the kids?

We (my husband and I ) are taking an early trip to the Disney store to buy souviners before the trip, our daughter is 3.5( at the time of our trip.) So, i don't know as if she will really know the difference. We are going to wrap them up in Disney Wrapping paper and have them waiting for her when she gets back into the room at night. Also, we will get her like maybe $20 a day in Disney Dollors to get a souvineer of her own, or to buy extra snacks, whatever she wants to do with it. We will budget out a little more money, to do some DTD shopping...but personally my pictures are the best souviners I could bring back. Enjoy your trip!
Nicole

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

What you guys think of buying the souvenirs before? Does that really work with the kids?

I collect a lot of Disney themed things my kids will enjoy before I go. Then, I leave little treats or surprises for them in the room each day for them to find when we return from the parks.

In addition, they save their allowance in disney dollars to spend on our trip. Each day they have a little bit of money to spend on souvies then we buy them a big thing from World of Disney on our last day. DD usually wants a new princess dress or doll and DS chooses an assortment of stuff.

 

[EthansMom]

I was thinking probably to do the same thing, counter service and 1 sit-down meal (character meal). Thanks a lot for the allears link. I'm printing out the info, so I can plan the meals. Probably I should take some extra cash, just in case. What you guys think of buying the souvenirs before? Does that really work with the kids?

Lots of people here like buying souvies before the trip.

I don't really consider something I bought before the trip and carted with us to be a souvenir. I prefer to let each child pick out one medium ($20-$30) toy to purchase at WDW.

On our last trip, DS3.5 spent 4 days comparing the relative merits of different spaceship toys until he found just the right one (X-wing Fighter, $18). DD1 was content to pick out a stuffed character at World of Disney -- we handed her stuffed characters until we found one she wouldn't let us take away from her (stuffed Eyeore, $25). Total souvenir cost: less than $50.

 

[Laurajean1014]

For water, yes!

 

[pinkdiamonds1007]

Lots of people here like buying souvies before the trip.

I don't really consider something I bought before the trip and carted with us to be a souvenir. I prefer to let each child pick out one medium ($20-$30) toy to purchase at WDW.

On our last trip, DS3.5 spent 4 days comparing the relative merits of different spaceship toys until he found just the right one (X-wing Fighter, $18). DD1 was content to pick out a stuffed character at World of Disney -- we handed her stuffed characters until we found one she wouldn't let us take away from her (stuffed Eyeore, $25). Total souvenir cost: less than $50.

Hmm..never thought of it like that before...lol, i was just one track mind..thinking of the fun factor of opening the gifts everyday..and then having the cheapness that is not wdw park giftshops. lol But, you have a good point here..maybe just letting them pick out their own gifts would be more memorable!
thanks for the input.

 

[zdesiree]

That's why I'm asking. If I buy souvenirs before the trip, I feel like I'm taking out part of the magic. It's not the same feeling to see the sparks in their eyes for something they see and actually can get, than just give them something you chose. I don't know, maybe a happy medium or like EthansMom is the best option.

 

[StephMK]

Stuff like spinner toys, shirts & fans I bought ahead of time & gave them out as needed. It would have annoyed me to pay full park price when I know what they cost on sale at our home store. We let them pick out one big thing or set at the parks. The two little ones only wanted one main thing each- an Ariel doll & Buzz spaceship & figures. My 10yo wanted to do lots of shopping & was considerably more expensive. I'd recommend DD or a set budget if they're old enough to ask about every gift shop you see!

 

[mello]

I just sat here last night with a spread sheet and the menus on allears.net, and figured that one sit-down, one counter-service and a snack would cost us about $160 a day. So I'd think if you didn't do the sit-down meal daily you could probably do it on around $100 per day.

I was thinking maybe we'd bring a couple fun little surprises that I've picked up super cheap, to pretend that Mickey or the princesses left a gift in our room, either on the first night, or the last. That's a new idea that I got here and thought it would be fun to try.

Other than that, we've always let the kids pick out one special thing on a trip (when they were younger) or given them a budget to shop with (now that theyr'e old enough to understand the concept). We have not been to WDW, but last year and 3 years ago when we did Disneyland, the boys each had a $50 budget for the whole trip. It was fun to see how they price-compared and really thought things over when they shopped.

: ) melinda

 

[MamaLema]

We are a family of 5 and we spent $100 a day on food but...our breakfast was included with the hotel, we only ate counter service and it didn't include souveneirs

Just my .02

 

[lovesdumbo]

What you guys think of buying the souvenirs before? Does that really work with the kids?

I think it probably depends on the ages of your kids. I've always brought "stuff" with me. I bring the kids new Disney PJ's, new Disney beanie, glow sticks, and some sort of new Disney toy like the plastic figures. I thought it helped to keep them from asking for everything we saw but it may just be that they were too young to ask for much.

 

[justhat]

Does bringing stuff from home really keep kids from begging for that light spinner, or whatever item it is that they see in the parks and want? My daughter is only 15 months, so we don't really have to get her anything yet cause she can't ask. We did let her pick out a stuffed animal like another poster said (she picked Brer Rabbit, would not let him go in the store, but at home she sleeps with 4 Stitchs in her bed). I'm just thinking that when Madison's older that if she wants one of those spray bottle fans that I could leave all the Disney toys I want to on her bed, but she'll still ask for that spray fan everytime we see one.

 

[powellrj]

we have never really been a family that bought souvenirs, so the kids never really asked for things. We would buy a few tee shirts from the disney store before we went so they could wear them down there, and then we would go to Beltz and let them get something if they saw a hat or a toy they really wanted. We would look at the shops for a few minutes, but they never really found anything they HAD to have. They both always have spending money and usually come home with most of it.

DH and I never really buy souvenirs so that may have something to do with it. I bought a tee shirt last year from Ron Jon and it amazed everyone because I had never done that before!

 

[meandtheguys2]

We don't pick up a bunch of stuff either before we go, or at the park. It is just too much to keep track of. The boys wear hats, and can pick one each year, and earn spending money for other special items. But that is usually just a star wars or Indian Jones toy. We discovered early that we didn't need spinners, light sticks, wash cloths, and pvc toys to have a good time, and that we all just got frustrated when we got home and they were forgotten.

 

[disneykid1961]

Without knowing if you're staying on-site or not, or have access to a car, it's a tough call. We saved a bundle with using our rental car for a pre-hotel stop at Walmart. We let the kids go wild in the Disney souvenir area...where t-shirts are $6.99, squeeze breee (a must for each kid!) around $4.99, toys, autograph books, etc. at great prices. We also stocked up on a case of bottled water, granola bars, dry cereal, fruit, etc. Even wraps and lunch meat becuase we requested a refrigerator to be delivered to our hotel room. We carried in water and munchies, and the excitement combined with the heat, made my kids not so ravenous. They had to be reminded to have a snack and a drink. We took a break every afternoon around 3:00 and swam and ate early dinner off-site, going back around 6:00 for more fun. Kids were so happy just riding rides and never asked for anything in the gift shops. That may sound unusual and I was pleasantly surprised...but they had chosen a lot of things in advance. I'm the one now regretting not buying a t-shirt or 2 that was specific to a ride...my son loves talking about splash mt. and rock n roller coaster with his pals. We did have a character breakfast at Donalds on the 1st morning to kick off the fun. DH laughingly calls that the $100 breakfast, which is not much more than we spent on food for the 5 days we were there. You can save a bunch by bringing in your own water alone! Enjoy!