It's all about the money...

[6loversofdisney]

I need some help. I am traveling for two weeks in December. 2 adults 4 kids all ten and up.

I do not own a credit card so I need to calculate enough cash to take with us. Here is a list of what I think I will need money for. Let me know if I am missing anything.

Two oop meals
Tips for all meals (we have free ddp)
Souvenirs
We won't have a car and are staying on property and flying using magical express.

 

[Iowajes]

Do you have an ATM card? You can easily withdraw cash as you need it.

People are so different that it is tough to estimate what you need.

 

[Crystal824]

This is really difficult. We don't know where you are eating to estimate tips or the oop meals. We also don't know what the budget for souvenirs is. I would take a look at the menus with pricing to calculate tips and oop costs for additional meals. I would also set a budget for each person for souvenirs and bring about 20% more than that amount. It is always better to have more than not enough. Also maybe check into buying gift cards at the local grocery store or Target. We always bring money in the form of Disney GCs. Our local grocery store has a rewards program where we get money off gas. It saves us a bit. If you have a Target Redcard you get 5% off Disney giftcards.

 

[Tomh]

We bought several Disney gift cards from Sam's Club. They have a $500 card for about $476 (must order online) and used those to pay for parking, food and tips, souvenirs, Valet parking, pretty well everything we did on site. Not only was it more convenient than carrying cash, it also saved us some money.

 

[Jennasis]

It's not a great idea to carry a big wad of cash...or even to carry some and leave the rest in the hotel safe. Do you have a debit card that goes with your checking/savings account? That's what I use. NO credit card here either, but I use my debit card to pay for stuff (and I attach that to my room for charging).

If you must carry cash, we spend about $70-100 per day on food per person and that covers a QS breakfast and lunch and a TS dinner. We really don't do much in the way of souvenirs. Usually just a new T-shirt each and a pin or two.

 

[sharonabe]

I need some help. I am traveling for two weeks in December. 2 adults 4 kids all ten and up.

I do not own a credit card so I need to calculate enough cash to take with us. Here is a list of what I think I will need money for. Let me know if I am missing anything.

Two oop meals
Tips for all meals (we have free ddp)
Souvenirs
We won't have a car and are staying on property and flying using magical express.

Since you're staying onsite, you will have charging privileges. I would charge anything you buy at the parks back to your room and then either pay at the front desk daily or wait until you're ready to leave. By paying daily, you'd have an idea of how much you have left to spend. Just put your cash in the room safe in order to keep it safe.

The only other thing I could think of you might need money for is tips for the ME driver and others at the resort that handle your luggage.

In order to calculate how much you need, check out some menus to see what you might order and go from there. That will give you your OOP costs and your tip costs for meals. I would set an amount for souvenirs and then stick to it.

 

[rwdavis2]

I can't imagine carrying that much cash. How about traveler's checks?

 

[bbjunkie]

I'm hoping you have some sort of bank-account linked debit card in case of an emergency. I'm thinking if you need to make a trip to Urgent Care or something like that. I completely understand the desire to not have a credit card, but I'm not sure you can link you magic band to dining, etc, without a card linked. Someone else would have to answer that question. You are able to pay at the front desk daily, so it is entirely possible to have a card link that is never charged if you pay off your balance each day.

 

[rwdavis2]

I'm hoping you have some sort of bank-account linked debit card in case of an emergency. I'm thinking if you need to make a trip to Urgent Care or something like that. I completely understand the desire to not have a credit card, but I'm not sure you can link you magic band to dining, etc, without a card linked. Someone else would have to answer that question. You are able to pay at the front desk daily, so it is entirely possible to have a card link that is never charged if you pay off your balance each day.

Correct, you can't charge to the room unless you have a card linked.

 

[VillainFavs]

Since you're staying onsite, you will have charging privileges. I would charge anything you buy at the parks back to your room and then either pay at the front desk daily or wait until you're ready to leave. By paying daily, you'd have an idea of how much you have left to spend. Just put your cash in the room safe in order to keep it safe.

Don't you need to have a credit card on file in order to have charging privileges?

OP--you should really consider having some sort of backup. Can you get a debit card at least? What happens if something unexpected comes up--as it often does--and you have no more cash? I just would not want to be traveling that way.

 

[bastraker]

Don't you need to have a credit card on file in order to have charging privileges?

Yes you do.

 

[IrishNYC]

I need some help. I am traveling for two weeks in December. 2 adults 4 kids all ten and up.

I do not own a credit card so I need to calculate enough cash to take with us. Here is a list of what I think I will need money for. Let me know if I am missing anything.

Two oop meals
Tips for all meals (we have free ddp)
Souvenirs
We won't have a car and are staying on property and flying using magical express.

This is something no one can really answer for you.

Are the oop meals TS or QS?
I would look at the menu for each TS place you have an ADR for, and then figure the tip amount for the 6 most expensive entrees and drinks, and plan to tip that each day.
No one knows what souvenirs your family likes. DD had $100 to spend last time we went and still has $70 left for next time. I didn't buy anything for myself. DH spent about $100 on pins.
Even without a car you still need cash for tipping bell services and the DME driver, and skycaps at the airport.

 

[morgy827]

What about drinks or snacks during the day? You can get pretty thirsty walking around the parks. I always pay my trip in cash. I deposit the money on my account on the first day and deduct from that through my trip. I'm much less likely to overspend that way. They will print out a bill every day if u want to know what u have remaining.you just have to go to the front desk

 

[AngiTN]

I need some help. I am traveling for two weeks in December. 2 adults 4 kids all ten and up.

I do not own a credit card so I need to calculate enough cash to take with us. Here is a list of what I think I will need money for. Let me know if I am missing anything.

Two oop meals
Tips for all meals (we have free ddp)
Souvenirs
We won't have a car and are staying on property and flying using magical express.

Not even a debit card?
My Mama taught me to not carry more cash than I can afford to loose. I can't wrap my head around carrying enough cash with me to go to Disney for 2 weeks. Heck, I can't fathom carrying enough cash for 2 days much less 2 weeks.
No way, no how. And I'm about the most trusting person you'll ever come across.
If nothing else take all that cash to a store and by Disney gift cards. Most all grocery stores have them in $500 increments. Since you don't have a credit card I'm guess you don't have a Target Red (debit) card but if you do, you can save 5% right there. And over 2 weeks, that's a huge savings.

 

[Darcy03231]

I would plan $25/pp per day, providing that you're not buying expensive souvenirs (like Dooney & Bourke handbags, Pandora/Chamilia bracelets/beads, original artwork, etc.). You'd be surprised how fast money flies out of your wallet at WDW.

 

[AngiTN]

What about drinks or snacks during the day? You can get pretty thirsty walking around the parks. I always pay my trip in cash. I deposit the money on my account on the first day and deduct from that through my trip. I'm much less likely to overspend that way. They will print out a bill every day if u want to know what u have remaining.you just have to go to the front desk

You can get water for free from any QS counter. Just ask. And it's filtered from the soda machine, not out of the tap.

As for putting cash on the room account, you have gotten lucky. Most CM will not do this. It shouldn't be counted on.

 

[morgy827]

I

You can get water for free from any QS counter. Just ask. And it's filtered from the soda machine, not out of the tap.

As for putting cash on the room account, you have gotten lucky. Most CM will not do this. It shouldn't be counted on.

interesting that they are not supposed to do this. I've done it twice and called to make sure it was ok again this time and was told it was. Oh well. I'll just hope I get lucky again

 

[AngiTN]

I

interesting that they are not supposed to do this. I've done it twice and called to make sure it was ok again this time and was told it was. Oh well. I'll just hope I get lucky again

Thing is, the folks you call, they aren't at Disney. They often have never been to a resort. They haven't a real clue what they'll do and just their telling you that it will happen won't carry any weight if you get there and are told no.
That said, if you've done it twice and will return to the same resort next time then chances are that resort will do it again. I'm sure some manager are more flexible than others. But you'll find plenty of reports of people who where told no when they tried to do it

 

[crazylady]

I would plan $25/pp per day, providing that you're not buying expensive souvenirs (like Dooney & Bourke handbags, Pandora/Chamilia bracelets/beads, original artwork, etc.). You'd be surprised how fast money flies out of your wallet at WDW.

This seems reasonable to me assuming a $50 table service meal per person per day with the fee DDP and CS meals for the two meals your paying for OOP. You might need to pad it if you will want an alcoholic beverage occasionally.

I would put the money on one of those MasterCard or Visa gift cards so you can use any leftovers once you get home.

 

[sharonabe]

Don't you need to have a credit card on file in order to have charging privileges?

Yeah, I forgot about that. I wonder if they can put their cash down as a guarantee? Sort of like the onboard credit on the cruise ship? It wouldn't hurt to askl.