Money Questions

[AmyPyjamas]

Its my first time going to Disney and my first time going to America so i was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of money advice.

I'm only going to be going to Disney,Universal and Florida Mall so all my money will be spent in these places. I'm not really sure how much i'm going to need? I'm not a huge spender but when you add in food, and all the souvenirs it soon adds up.

Is it best to just get my money changed before i go so i have cash on me, or should i use something like travelers cheques? do they even work there?
I'm completely clueless when it comes to things like this.

 

[pascalstongue]

I tend to take a small amount of cash to use for tolls and other such things for when I first arrive.
I take a pre-paid travel card too but mostly rely on my credit card (i get a better exchange rate, plus all the usual benefits when using a credit card).
You could still use travellers cheques if you prefer. I believe they are still accepted in most places.

 

[queendisney]

Its a difficult one to answer as loads of us on here do different things. I would go with which ever one you feel comfortable with, be it your credit card, a travel card or travellers cheques (which are still widely accepted..we had no trouble at all in September). But you will still need to take some money to start out with for tips, house keeping maid, tolls if you're driving. If you are going to stay on the wdw resort you can charge things to your key to the world card (door key) if you leave your credit card details with reception on check in, then you can leave that to be charged to your card at the end of your holiday or pay it off with travellers cheques etc...
The reason why we take some USD t/chqs is that they are treated like money and if you pay for something you will get the change in us$ notes/coins and therefore always have money for tips, house keeping etc and its just more secure then taking loads of money...

You could take a mixture of all the options. The biggest downside to T/chqs is that you will need to take your passport with you all the time.

Enjoy your planning...

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Is it money just for you or for a few as that will make a difference?

 

[WiganTony]

With regard to the question of how much to take, there will be a number of factors that can influence your spend on food, such as are you staying somewhere that provides a breakfast (or you can make your own), are you planning to eat both lunch and dinner at a theme park/resort or eat one away from the parks?

As a very rough guide, I would suggest to allow the following per person:

Lunch in park (e.g. Disney Counter Service Meal) - $12 for meal and drink
Dinner in park (e.g. Disney Table Service/buffet) - $35-40 plus tip for meal and drink
Dinner outside of park (e.g. Olive Garden) - $20-$25 plus tip for two courses plus drink

It is always possible to find cheaper off-site locations, and to use coupons to get a discount.

Also to note when in Disney at least, that for counter service meals it is possible to split one main course between two adults as they are quite substantial size meals.

HTH.

 

[Magic Megadegs]

Hiya, we generally also budget around $100 per day for food / drinks for our family of 4 (2 young children). That is catering breakfast in the villa ourselves, a counter service type lunch and dinner somewhere like the Olive Garden.

Souvenirs, well, I'm a bit of a Disney sucker and end up buying on site when really I should head to Walmart / Target or one of the discount stores. I would probably budget around $500 - $1000 for non food shopping including clothes etc xxx

Have fun planning xxx

 

[LeaversOnTour]

Like some of the others on here, we budget about $100 a day for food. 2 adults, a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a 4 month old (who obv doesnt eat).

We find that some days we spend way less than this, and other way more. One meal in a Thai restaurant for me and hubbie cost over $100 alone. But it was AAAMMMAAZZING. (red bamboo) Slightly off subject but was good


on the DDP we hardly spend anything in disney itself even for souveniers, we spent maybe $200 max in the parks over 2 weeks (excluding tips) We normally stay on I-drive before going to disney so pick up stuff in the outlet stores, exactly the same stuff but cheaper

We always take a mixture of cash and travellers cheques and use our CCrd for emergency, Easier to stick to a budget. We use a CCrd for any excursions we decide to do. we normally go to watch Orlando Magic at the Amway which is cheaper if you wait until you get there, you can pick up some really good deals.

We are going for 4 weeks this time but plan to take $1400 for food, and $1400 for spending money. We also get a $200 gift card with our booking.

The girls take birthday/xmas money etc which they spend out there on what they want (within reason)

 

[Kath2003]

We budget £25 per adult per day for food and drinks. We usually come out within 10% of this for our overall stay (some days we spend £10, for example, whereas another day could be £40). We go to the supermarket and buy bottled water, soda, crisps, fruit etc. which also comes out of this budget. Tips (usually 20%) are in here too. We eat outside of the theme parks mostly, which is significantly cheaper.

The other stuff is small - tips for housekeeping ($1 per person per day - not all travellers do this but we always do), a bit of shopping, cab fares etc.

On a 10 day trip, we typically take $100 in cash per adult including plenty of singles (useful!). We keep change from previous trips so if you can get hold of a few quarters, that's useful too.

Everything else goes on a credit card which charges no fees for transactions abroad.

If we need extra cash, we would get it using a debit card but have never needed to do so. Have done travellers cheques but they're just a faff.

One thing to remember is to keep some £ on you - useful at the airport at either end.

Remember also to check your insurance to see how much cash they will insure you for.

 

[martinrmn]

I agree with many of the comments, take cash and credit card. I tend to take about $500 plus sterling, just in case. As to credit cards use the post office card as they do not charge you every time you use it and tend to give a better rate. What you find with Barclaycard, Tesco etc is that each time you use the card they charge 2%. It may not sound a lot but if you use your card, like most of us probably do, 5 or 6 times a day that extra 2% adds up. Cash is always handy for tips, tolls and car parking. Enjoy the planning but more importantly, enjoy the holiday.
We travel in 4 weeks and 4 days. Wilderness Lodge for our final week.

 

[AmyPyjamas]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. i+Its just two of us going and we both will be carrying are own money so i just need to take enough for my own food and shopping.

Is the post office card just like a credit card? You can use it in shops?
Also whats a pre paid travel card? how does that work

 

[Littlenemo]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. i+Its just two of us going and we both will be carrying are own money so i just need to take enough for my own food and shopping.

Is the post office card just like a credit card? You can use it in shops?
Also whats a pre paid travel card? how does that work

We've used Travelex cards the last two years. Very easy to use. Just used it like a debit card.

 

[xxpeplyxx]

Its my first time going to Disney and my first time going to America so i was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of money advice.

I'm only going to be going to Disney,Universal and Florida Mall so all my money will be spent in these places. I'm not really sure how much i'm going to need? I'm not a huge spender but when you add in food, and all the souvenirs it soon adds up.

Is it best to just get my money changed before i go so i have cash on me, or should i use something like travelers cheques? do they even work there?
I'm completely clueless when it comes to things like this.

We always have to savings pots! Spending money goes in one and food money in the other we average at $100 spending money each day per person and then the other money is set aside for any meals and drinks, we normally have about $1000 for food and we go out to some quite expensive places and have never run out of money (this is for 3 adults)

 

[~Piglet~]

Is the post office card just like a credit card? You can use it in shops?
Also whats a pre paid travel card? how does that work

Yes, the Post Office credit card doesn't charge you for purchases abroad - and gives you a slightly better exchange rate. for example, I bought some dollars at 1.56 to take with me in October (I always like to carry money too) and on my CC statement for purchases in the US the rate goes between 1.60 and 1.62.

You can also buy a pre-paid card from the PO which works exactly like a credit card except the money is already on the card (I think its a mastercard). My sister used this with no problems and topped it up with more money when needed via her laptop

 

[martinrmn]

Yes, the Post Office credit card doesn't charge you for purchases abroad - and gives you a slightly better exchange rate. for example, I bought some dollars at 1.56 to take with me in October (I always like to carry money too) and on my CC statement for purchases in the US the rate goes between 1.60 and 1.62.

You can also buy a pre-paid card from the PO which works exactly like a credit card except the money is already on the card (I think its a mastercard). My sister used this with no problems and topped it up with more money when needed via her laptop

We use the PO credit card and concur with above. I also take a spare credit card as well, just in case. Cash is very handy for tips, parking etc. Enjoy.

 

[LeaversOnTour]

Can i ask, with the PO preloaded card. How up to date is the balance? We had one previously that took about 3 days for the amounts to be deducted. Ended up having to spend ages everyday tallying everything up. Quite annoying!

 

[orangetiggs]

We usefairfx prepaid card and balance is just like debit card here,we have the iphone app whichwas great with the free wifi indisney. Now you cancheck balance and top up all on the app

 

[married2mm]

we're in the cash and cards camp also.

ot-have id on you when driving.