Money

[marias]

Hi all,
Visiting Orlando in July this year and am trying to plan how much $$$ is needed. Can anyone give me some ideas about how much to take. We already have purchased tickets for the attractions so it is really meals, refreshments and spending in general. It is 11 years since i visited before and i guess things will have changed dramatically.

Thanks for your help. What a great site - only happened by chance but so glad I did. Maria

 

[KayleeUK]

Hi Maria Welcome to the DIS

Going to move this over to trip planning for you

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

It's hard to say what to take, as I don't know what you are going to buy..etc...food/drinks/memorabilla/souveniers/clothes/shoes...

We take around £2k, maybe £2 1/2k thats for me, and dp and dd, we also have CC's just incase, example an emergency or something you really want etc...

HTH

 

[MHopkins2]

Maria - may I ask a few questions?

* How long will you be there?
* How many adults & kids in your group?
* Will you eat at full service or counter service restaurants?

 

[marias]

Thanks for replies so far,

We (DH & DD) are going for 2 weeks, staying in a villa. I guess it is likely we will eat at buffet type restaurants in order to please all tastes.

Hope this helps.
Maria

 

[Hilary]

Hi Maria and welcome to the DIS.

We used to try to take all the $$$ we'd need in the form of cash and travellers' cheques, only using the credit card for 'emergencies'.

Now, however, we tend to take maybe £500-£750 in cash/TCs and use the cc much more (for meals, etc). We get a decent rate on the currency exchange on the cc. If we find we've got a surplus of cash / TCs at the end of the trip (yes, laughable idea, isn't it? ), we use it to pay towards our final hotel bill - or I persuade DH to keep it for 'next time'

 

[MHopkins2]

(With apologies for not knowing the exchange rate...) For three people eating basically buffet-style, I would plan on about $100/day --> $1400 total. Tack on an extra $50-100/day for shopping, unless your DH is the type to put his foot down.

 

[marias]

Hi there,

Thanks again for replies.

DH is just like a child - he is so excited - I guess he'll be the worst offender for buying souvenirs.

I had planned on taking $2300 in Trav Chq and $200 in cash with a reserve of £600 on a credit card or two.

My main concern was leaving Florida wondering how on earth i would clear the credit cards when i got home. I think this would just ruin the holiday. We have been planning this trip (and saving) for almost 4 years and being the control freak that I am (i'm nicknamed Monica at home (you know Friends..)) I just want things to be perfect.

Maria

 

[allie5]

That sounds fine to me.

Its easy to eat well and eat cheaply in Florida! As you have a Villa you can do a brekkie of toast or cereal before you go out and even heat up a pizza for tea if need be! We also use local takeways when we have a villa. You can get allsorts delivered (Pizza, Chinese, Thai) and all at very reasonable prices with mega portions!!

I think its much easier to budget for the whole holiday if you take the majority in TCs. One year we took just $500 in cash and used credit cards for everything else as seemed "easier". Its just all too easy to lose track of what you spend on them and we had a blue fit when the bills arrived!! You have chosen a very sensible option!

 

[MHopkins2]

Originally posted by marias
Hi there,

Thanks again for replies.

DH is just like a child - he is so excited - I guess he'll be the worst offender for buying souvenirs.

I had planned on taking $2300 in Trav Chq and $200 in cash with a reserve of £600 on a credit card or two.

My main concern was leaving Florida wondering how on earth i would clear the credit cards when i got home. I think this would just ruin the holiday. We have been planning this trip (and saving) for almost 4 years and being the control freak that I am (i'm nicknamed Monica at home (you know Friends..)) I just want things to be perfect.

Maria

I think you should be fine with that amount of money. Be prepared for at least one thing to go totally, horribly wrong, though - that way, you'll be amused when something only goes a wee bit wrong.

 

[kazd]

Have already posted this on another thread but if you are planning on taking CC's or Debit Cards (to withdraw cash, never use your cc to withdraw cash) then your best bet is to get a Nationwide Card. All the other companies will charge you commission of 2.75% which can stack up considerably. Nationwide do not chage commission on their CC or the DC.

To that end I have just changed my Nationwide account into a joint account so that my DH could have a DC and got him as a second cardholder on my Nationwide CC. (I primarily use this account for my business and have found it to be a very good bank, I only found out about the commission by accident when reading a post on another board)

Hope this helps those of you who have time to apply.