more budget questions

[mommyof2boys1girl]

Wondering if you all get sick of answering the same questions over and over....

I am trying to work out an approximate budget (dh is a bit of a cheapo, and wants to make sure I won't spend too much this trip)

We are:
2 adults, 3 kids (ages 5,3 and 1)
Flying on points (yay!)
Staying at the Camelot (AAA pkg - 7 nts, parkhoppers, transfers, etc)

Wondering now what to budget for food and souveneirs and stuff. Kids are currently saving their money in their "disney jars", and that will be their major funding for toys and such they pick (also limiting them to 1 toy/purchase each day, so we don't go overboard).
bfast will be at the hotel, and we'll probably do counter service for lunches and dinners (kids may not like to sit). Hoping to figure out a way to do grocery delivery for waters and snacks, and our character meal is included with our package from AAA.
So for one or two "sit down" meals, plus counter service for 7 days....what is reasonable??

Thanks so much,
carm

 

[MicknMinnJen]

not much help here, but with the water issue...

we bought reusable water bottles at Target that had the little thing that goes inside that you can freeze, so your water stays cold. then we walked a few doors down and picked up a couple 2 gallon jugs of water to keep in our room and filled up our bottles every morning and just made sure to freeze the little freezer things (not much else fits in the little freezer compartment of a hotel fridge! ). worked out really well. and saved $$$

we also packed an extra suitcase full of food (breakfast bars, small boxes of cereal, mini bagels, cup-o-noodles, etc) we even used a foldable lunch bag to keep our cream cheese cool on the plane trip. then we used that suitcase to bring home our goodies!

 

[jenksdj]

According to people on this board (a thread from September or October, 2007), Canadians cannot order grocery delivery. Apparently it has something to do with their credit cards not being from the US?! We didn't even try, after reading that!

There are water fountains all over the parks (outside every washroom), so if you don't care whether you drink bottled or not, you can easily refill your sippy cups, or just have a drink, from the fountains.

Sit down dinners might cost you $50 - $60, given the ages of your children. Sometimes they just want something off your plate, or they can share a plate off the children's menu. Counter service can be pricey, depending on what you buy. There are good buys to be had. Check out the sticky at the top of the page regarding Disneyland Dining reviews - with pictures. If you've had a large breakfast, and will be having an early supper (which is usually the case with our kids), sometimes a Mickey Mouse pretzel ($5 or so) will suffice for lunch - or a Dole Whip!! Often counter service portions are large, so consider sharing.

As for souveneirs, we told each kid that they could buy 3 things (for the 7 days we were there). I think they each spent less than $70! I'm assuming your 1 year old will be pretty easy (and cheap) to please! Because the kids knew they had a limited number of items to buy, they were pretty good about not asking for every little thing. Mickey ears were bought early on, but all of the other souveneirs were bought on the last day of the trip (by the kids' own choice). We often told them to look around some more to make sure that they don't find something else that they want better. We always reassured them that we could come back to the same store later to make purchases. It worked for us.

You can also purchase licensed Disney paraphanalia (sp?) at Dollarama in Calgary (if you haven't been there before, you HAVE to check it out - everything is $1!!!). We bought Disney key chains, pens/crayons/pencils, pencil cases, stickers, glow necklaces, etc. before we left, then gave them to the kids while we were there. We gave them one thing at the end of each day, and they thought we bought them in the park! You can also buy Disney notebooks/diaries at Dollarama that can be used as autograph books. Way cheaper than buying official ones at the parks! The only thing is that the pages are thinner, so make sure the characters don't sign on the back side of another character's signature. Don't forget to take a pen/Sharpie marker for the autographs, or you'll be buying one for $8 at a souveneir shop!

DH and I hardly bought anything for ourselves while we were in DL. We did buy a nice Disney photo album to put our pictures in though. I guess our pictures are our souveneirs!

Just a reminder when you're filling your suitcase full of food, you cannot take nuts or fruit into the US.

Hope you have a great trip! When are you going?

Your fellow Calgarian!

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

According to people on this board (a thread from September or October, 2007), Canadians cannot order grocery delivery. Apparently it has something to do with their credit cards not being from the US?! We didn't even try, after reading that!


Just a reminder when you're filling your suitcase full of food, you cannot take nuts or fruit into the US.

Hope you have a great trip! When are you going?

Your fellow Calgarian!

We are going to try and "get around" the grocery delivery part by using an American friend's cc and address, and pay them back later, since having things like milk and cheese and other perishable, non transportable stuff will be necessary to have at the hotel (no way am I paying $5 for my kids 'before bed drink' of milk!)

Thanks for the reminder on nuts and fruit - another reason for the groceries - my 3 year old eats almost nothing BUT fruit!!

We're going the last week in April/first week in May (april 27th to May 4) Had to be back in Calgary for Thomas the Tank Engine at Heritage park on Mother's Day weekend!! And I'm scared if we go much later, it will be too hot for us (I know, we're whuses)

Where's the nearest Dollarama, I wonder? I live way in the NW - we have a Dollar World out here, but never seen a Dollarama....

Thanks for all the tips!
Carm

 

[jenksdj]

Where's the nearest Dollarama, I wonder? I live way in the NW - we have a Dollar World out here, but never seen a Dollarama....
Carm

The nearest Dollarama to you would be right beside the Beddington Co-op (82 Ave and Centre Street North). It might be a bit of a drive, but it is well worth it!! There's a bigger one (a little bit bigger) beside the Safeway on 36 Street and 32 Ave NE. I haven't been to any of the three in the south.

We went to DLR the third week of April last year. The weather was awesome and the crowds were light! Have a great trip!

 

[jenksdj]

Where's the nearest Dollarama, I wonder? I live way in the NW - we have a Dollar World out here, but never seen a Dollarama....
Carm

The nearest Dollarama to you would be right beside the Beddington Co-op (82 Ave and Centre Street North). It might be a bit of a drive, but it is well worth it!! There's a bigger one (a little bit bigger) beside the Safeway on 36 Street and 32 Ave NE. I haven't been to any of the three in the south.

We went to DLR the third week of April last year. The weather was awesome and the crowds were light! Have a great trip!

 

[jenksdj]

Oops! I double posted!