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

[pixiepower1971]

I can feed my family of 4 CS lunch and dinner and a snack on $50 a day. That is splitting 2 adult meals at each meal. More then enough food but if someone is REALLY hungry the $$ goes up.

I would only buy mister fan ahead of time UNLESS $$ is too tight to do otherwise. My kids loved picking out spinny toys, autograph book, etc at the parks. They have used them for numerous trips. They also get a $5 a day limit that they can use on ANYTHINg they want and can also bank it for a big item. That has been a hit! They take allowance $$ as well. They tend to buy less when it is their own $$. My girls love the shopping part but really don't buy very much....they just like to look.

 

[kdtwiss]

we just went with or kids - 2, 5, 6, 11 and we jst explained we would be picking out souveniers the day before we were leaving. I made sure they were able to look so they could pick out just the right one, and also made sure we made it to that store for the last day,but all in all it went quite well.I think people were surprised we got away with that. We only ended p buying a Buzz Lightyear toy ($25) two boxes of Potato Heads and also one set of Mouse Ears. I think the kids did amazingly well, but I think part of it is due to the fact that we are ALWAYS on a tight bdget and they understand well the need to wait to buy things.

 

[cour10ee]

Why don't you check out the disney dining plan? It's around $35/day for adults, $10/day for kids over 3. It might help keep you close to your budget if you want to eat at table service places -- you get 1 counter service meal, 1 table service meal and one snack per day at a great majority of places, including character meals.

 

[zdesiree]

Why don't you check out the disney dining plan? It's around $35/day for adults, $10/day for kids over 3. It might help keep you close to your budget if you want to eat at table service places -- you get 1 counter service meal, 1 table service meal and one snack per day at a great majority of places, including character meals.

The problem I have is that I booked through DVC renting points. I don't know if buying vouchers may work. Anyone has experience with these?

 

[tlbwriter]

Buying souvenirs ahead of time would not work for my daughter. If she saw something she loved, all the Disney geegaws in the world that I had pre-bought wouldn't have satisfied her. Since we went at Christmas, we just told her we'd buy her Christmas gifts down there, so we combined souvenirs and Christmas (though Santa brought a few items as well). I think it would work for young kids, or for those who just want *something* and don't care what it is, but it just seems less fun to me.

 

[mousy_in_canada]

The problem I have is that I booked through DVC renting points. I don't know if buying vouchers may work. Anyone has experience with these?

If you are staying in a place that has a kitchen then you should be ok with $100 a day. We stayed at FW cabins last time, made a HUGE breakfast before we left for the parks and then the carried snacks in their pouch, and drinks (crystal light w/ the fountain water) ate lunch in the parks at about 2 or so then ate dinner when we got back to the cabin at night. we had planned on $100 day and we always stayed under that (we are a family of 5 too) the kids picked one thing each day to buy in the park we were at.
worked for us (btw my kids were 8,7 & 5) I think picking something themselves is important for them to remember their trip I don't think they would like coming back to something in the cabin, might work for other kids but mine liked picking out their own treats.

 

[tinker-kyle]

last january ... we budgeted our then 7 DD with $10 a day for the week
the majority of the funds were her own birthday/xmas $$ and the rest disney dollars that santa brought

the rules were 10 per day ... no borrowing ahead

we had a blast watching her calculate her purchases ... the first day (nearly the first minute) she blew $5 on a epcot keychain ... after that she got very serious ... saving up two days for the big tinkerbell pillow rather than buying the small one right away. she was very happy with her purchases and basically there was no begging or whining b/c she knew her budget and she knew what was important to her ... we never had to say no. if she wanted a mickey bar or popcorn above our family snack purchases she'd have to use her $$ (she rarely did)

daddy did "treat" her to hair wrap.

i think it was a great learning experience too

 

[Jsme]

I am budgeting a little over $200 a day. My children have to purchase their own stuff this trip. Most days we will eat breakfast at the resort. I hope this is enough.

 

[bubba73]

I believe you can do it for $100 a day if you are careful. You may want to do like we do. We bring snacks into the park with us to save money on that. We also bring a couple of bottles of water to save on that. There are a lot of ways to save if you are thrifty.

10 day dance :thewave:

 

[zdesiree]

Let me give you guys the details so you can have a better idea how it's going to be. We will be staying from Nov 29 - Dec 08 at the OKW 2 bdr Villa Me, DH, DS6, DS4, DD3 + DG, DM, DMIL (but they don't count in the budget ). So I'm definitely will be doing the big breakfast in the hotel room, I'll bring snacks and water to the park, counter service at lunch and I'm still thinking about dinner and the souvenirs.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We like to do the table service thing at the latest lunch time available (usually close to 3 pm.) This makes a great lunch-dinner. We have breakfast "at home", carry our own water, and snack if we're still hungry any other time of the day. Works well for us. Disney portions are big - consider sharing! If you want to do a character breakfast you can always make it for the latest time possible - a filling brunch, and cheaper than other meals.

Also, have you thought about the DDE card? It might be worth the $50 - $75 to save 20% on table service restaurants, if that's what you want.

 

[shakespeare]

Good advice! I was wondering the same thing myself. I bought some glowsticks, Potato Heads, and other things ahead of time to try and save on some money. I won't tell the kids until we get there and they start asking. The Disney Store has t-shirts with Mickey Mouse on them for $5.00 each. They have them in little kids sizes all the way to adults. Bought some of those also!

 

[mello]

Where did you get your potato heads? Somebody here said BigLots had sets, but I went looking today and didn't find any.

Good advice! I was wondering the same thing myself. I bought some glowsticks, Potato Heads, and other things ahead of time to try and save on some money. I won't tell the kids until we get there and they start asking. The Disney Store has t-shirts with Mickey Mouse on them for $5.00 each. They have them in little kids sizes all the way to adults. Bought some of those also!

 

[pinkdiamonds1007]

I had been bouncing back and forth on ideas after reading Ethansmom's post..but have firmly * lol * decided now to not bring stuff we bought at the disney store with us..* with the exception of the princess dress we are buying for our daughter..and some disney dollars for her.* Oh..and I did like a posters idea on another forum that said to buy glow sticks at the dollar store before you leave..i think those nighttime glow things are a rip..but if you like them then ignore that part. lol
I also liked the idea to buy practical souviners, like kitchen items, and Photo Albums..that way, you don't blow a bunch of moola on something senseless.. But i like the idea that the kids pick out their own gifts at the parks.. we are budgeting $25 a day for our 3.5 year old. *however, her daddy is a sucker for her cute little smile, so if she asks for something more expensive, she will probobly get it! * these men...what will we do with them???!!!
lol
Have a great trip!
Nicole