Laying Out The Budget for Disney (Help?!)

[AliceandAriel]

I have been running and running my head over these numbers for weeks now, and half the time anymore I can't tell if I'm number-crunching right, or wrong, or missing a spare extra spot for extra savings. Here's what I've come up for our best plan to shave every extra dollar off our expenses in Disney to maximize our budget, and I'd really appreciate input or thoughts or corrections if my math is missing something.

Trip Budget for a 5 Night/6 Day Stay
LM room at AoA- $635.60
Tickets from UT- $636.88
Food- $500.00
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68

Total Cost- $1898.16

Here was my idea. If we pay for the AoA room, Food budget, and MNSSHP tickets with Disney GCs bought from Target using their Red Card and saving 5%, here's where I broke down the rest.

LM room at AoA- $617.50
(using GCs, we spend $617.50 for $650 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the room from what we pay for the GCs, we save $18.10, and have $14.40 to spare)
Tickets from UT- $636.88
(still the same)
Food- $500
(using GCs, we spend $475 for $500 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the food from what we pay for the GCs, we have $25 to spare)
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68
(using GCs, we spend $142.50 for $150 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the tickets from what we pay for the GCs, we have $16.82 to spare)

Total Cost- $1871.88
(with $56.22 to spare for anything extra like a souvenir, extra wiggle room for more food, etc.)


Do I have these numbers right? Am I missing something big?

 

[Marionnette]

I have been running and running my head over these numbers for weeks now, and half the time anymore I can't tell if I'm number-crunching right, or wrong, or missing a spare extra spot for extra savings. Here's what I've come up for our best plan to shave every extra dollar off our expenses in Disney to maximize our budget, and I'd really appreciate input or thoughts or corrections if my math is missing something.

Trip Budget for a 5 Night/6 Day Stay
LM room at AoA- $635.60
Tickets from UT- $636.88
Food- $500.00
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68

Total Cost- $1898.16

Here was my idea. If we pay for the AoA room, Food budget, and MNSSHP tickets with Disney GCs bought from Target using their Red Card and saving 5%, here's where I broke down the rest.

LM room at AoA- $617.50
(using GCs, we spend $617.50 for $650 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the room from what we pay for the GCs, we save $18.10, and have $14.40 to spare)
Tickets from UT- $636.88
(still the same)
Food- $500
(using GCs, we spend $475 for $500 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the food from what we pay for the GCs, we have $25 to spare)
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68
(using GCs, we spend $142.50 for $150 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the tickets from what we pay for the GCs, we have $16.82 to spare)

Total Cost- $1871.88
(with $56.22 to spare for anything extra like a souvenir, extra wiggle room for more food, etc.)


Do I have these numbers right? Am I missing something big?

Why are you buying GCs for each budget line? Why not combine all of the expenses that can be paid with Disney GCs and then purchase the appropriate number of GC for it?

IOW,

LM room at AoA- $635.60
Food- $500.00
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68
Total Cost = $1261.28​

Buy $1300 worth of GCs for $1235. Pay for the above items and you will have just under $39 left on a GC for other things. Or purchase $1250 worth of GCs for $1187.50 and then pay the balance ($11.28) OOP so that you have nothing on GCs.

 

[AliceandAriel]

Why are you buying GCs for each budget line? Why not combine all of the expenses that can be paid with Disney GCs and then purchase the appropriate number of GC for it?

IOW,

LM room at AoA- $635.60
Food- $500.00
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68
Total Cost = $1261.28​

Buy $1300 worth of GCs for $1235. Pay for the above items and you will have just under $39 left on a GC for other things. Or purchase $1250 worth of GCs for $1187.50 and then pay the balance ($11.28) OOP so that you have nothing on GCs.

I did combine them all together on my sheet over here and work it out with GCs, kind of like what you suggested. But now I've got the plan changed a little- LM Room at AoA is off the list as I booked through Travelocity.

So now the layout for the GCs kind of looks like this

Food- $500.00
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68
Total cost- $625.68

Probably buy $650 worth of GCs for $617.50, and have $24.32 to do as we wish.

Now, if only I knew how to budget on plane tickets.

 

[hsmamato2]

budgeting on plane tickets.... check kayak and input your dates,it will check for you,that's one way
It might be more cost effective to not buy party tickets,and add to your regular tix from UT (?) not sure if you're looking for input......

 

[BUSYMAOF4]

$56 spending money on extras is not enough....I plan on bring around $1000 for those extras but I have 4 kids ...but $56 is what I give my kid to go on a local field trip...lol

 

[Marionnette]

$56 spending money on extras is not enough....I plan on bring around $1000 for those extras but I have 4 kids ...but $56 is what I give my kid to go on a local field trip...lol

I never have any small bills. I just hand them 3 $20's instead.

 

[disney1990]

I have been running and running my head over these numbers for weeks now, and half the time anymore I can't tell if I'm number-crunching right, or wrong, or missing a spare extra spot for extra savings. Here's what I've come up for our best plan to shave every extra dollar off our expenses in Disney to maximize our budget, and I'd really appreciate input or thoughts or corrections if my math is missing something.

Trip Budget for a 5 Night/6 Day Stay
LM room at AoA- $635.60
Tickets from UT- $636.88
Food- $500.00
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68

Total Cost- $1898.16

Here was my idea. If we pay for the AoA room, Food budget, and MNSSHP tickets with Disney GCs bought from Target using their Red Card and saving 5%, here's where I broke down the rest.

LM room at AoA- $617.50
(using GCs, we spend $617.50 for $650 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the room from what we pay for the GCs, we save $18.10, and have $14.40 to spare)
Tickets from UT- $636.88
(still the same)
Food- $500
(using GCs, we spend $475 for $500 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the food from what we pay for the GCs, we have $25 to spare)
MNSSHP Tickets- $125.68
(using GCs, we spend $142.50 for $150 worth of Disney GCs. Taking out the initial cost of the tickets from what we pay for the GCs, we have $16.82 to spare)

Total Cost- $1871.88
(with $56.22 to spare for anything extra like a souvenir, extra wiggle room for more food, etc.)


Do I have these numbers right? Am I missing something big?

How many people are going a food budget of $500?

 

[BUSYMAOF4]

Not sure what that means, But I gave my son a few dyas ago $60 to go to six flags and some of his friends had more maybe up to $100 and disney is alot more expensive..lol...

 

[kajs22]

It does not sound like enough for food for a family.... how many people are you budgeting for? With 4 over 1 week it can cost around $1000.00 for us. Then there are always extras that pop up

 

[Sunnywho]

$56 spending money on extras is not enough....I plan on bring around $1000 for those extras but I have 4 kids ...but $56 is what I give my kid to go on a local field trip...lol

We had a budget trip where we had $10/kid for extras, total, for the 7 day trip. We bought $10 disney dollars each and let them each choose which day would be their day and they got to spend the $10 on a souvenir. They knew ahead of time that their day was coming. They were happy.

Extras are by definition extra.

 

[BUSYMAOF4]

$10 , u are lucky ...lol My kids are spoiled though....they are getting the $180 package each at biddiddi biddiddi for starters, and then we always come home with a ton of shirts, hats, minnie ears etc from the disney gift shops. I myself am a self described shopaholic though.....

 

[Marionnette]

How many people are going a food budget of $500?

Just based on the price for tickets, I'm guessing that this trip is for 2 people. You couldn't even buy 3 of the cheapest tickets at UT for the price the OP listed.

I think that it's possible for two people to dine for $500, especially if one of them is a child or if the trip is shorter than a week.

 

[disney1990]

If we bought something for our room to eat for breakfast - such as, bagels, cereal, muffins, DH and I could definitely eat for 6 days on $500 (counter service) and, if we planned it right, 1 or 2 inexpensive TS meals. Such as sharing pizza and salad from Via Napoli.

 

[AliceandAriel]

It does not sound like enough for food for a family.... how many people are you budgeting for? With 4 over 1 week it can cost around $1000.00 for us. Then there are always extras that pop up

We were budgeting for both the boyfriend and myself. I know, $500 on food is a lot between two people, but we're the borderline foodie type. We love eating a little bit from everywhere, and trying random things in-between (example, first time down we did those sake shots in Mitsukoshi, like two or three each, and at $7 a tiny sip, it was pricey! But to us? Oh so worth it) and based on our last two times down there, that's right around what we spend after all is said and done. Normally, I'd try and budget like I did on our trip in May, but things come up, or we change our minds last-minute, and it always ends up biting us if I stick to a 'this is where we're going to eat, this is how much we're going to spend' plan.

The GOOD news is, since this post, I grabbed an AoA room for $541 back when Travelocity was running a deal on the rooms, which saved us a good penny right there. Then we bought our tickets from Orbitz on a deal, and I used eBates too for some $$$ back, which saved us even more.

The BAD news? We bought our plane tickets a little on the late side... okay, a LOT on the late side... and ended up paying about $300 a person.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

How often/what meals do you plan on eating out?

If doing a signature/nicer place every night for dinner $500 would barely do it, without breakfast/lunches/food & wine. Just commenting as I am in the final budgeting process myself for 2.

If you can do some of your nicer dining for lunch, I think it would work.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

Do you already have park entrance tickets?

$500 seems like plenty for 2 people (especially since this is the budget board!).

 

[AliceandAriel]

How often/what meals do you plan on eating out?

If doing a signature/nicer place every night for dinner $500 would barely do it, without breakfast/lunches/food & wine. Just commenting as I am in the final budgeting process myself for 2.

If you can do some of your nicer dining for lunch, I think it would work.

All of our meals will probably be within WDW property, since there's no microwave in our room.

Yeah, we might extent the budget a bit, or decide on doing only one key breakfast and one key dinner. Then again, we're not sure when we're coming back to WDW, so I'm willing to bend or break a few budgets in the name of a time we'll never forget.

Do you already have park entrance tickets?

$500 seems like plenty for 2 people (especially since this is the budget board!).

Yep, we already have our tickets! Every day is covered, all I need to do is get our MNSSHP tickets, and we'll be set. And that's not a big deal.

The good news is that I've been taking on a few last-minute jobs to squander away some spare cash, so if we want some special items or bust a little budget here or there, we'll be okay.