Our Budget; Any Comments????

[Julia M]

We will be in Orlando in August, and I have been planning our budget. Am I missing anything?

Our family is 2 adults, and 3 kids (one kid who has just turned 12, so has adult pricing at buffets, but will probably eat off the kids meal at non-buffets, but who knows??)

Budget Items Already Accounted For:
Airfare (already purchased via Southwest) $1158
5 + $ Hopper Passes ($257 for 3 adults, $210 for 2 kids)
Lots of Film, camera batteries, etc

Items We Need to Pay For:

Sunday
Dinner off site $60

Monday
Sci Fi Diner for Lunch: $70
MGM Counter (probably Pizza Planet) $50

Tuesday
EPCOT counter lunch $50
Rose and Crown Dinner: $100
Ice Cream Social: $50

Wednesday
Lunch off Site (fast food, etc) $40
Whispering canyon Dinner $90

Thursday
AKL Lunch Vouchers $45
Dinner at Le Cellier $110

Friday
MK Counter lunch $50
Ohana Dinner $110

Dinner for my parents at V & A Chefs Table $225 (my share, brother and sister are helping to pay for it)

Car Rental $224

Souvenirs $100

Snacks/Drinks $100

Food/Drinks for Hotel $100

TOTAL: $1554 (I think)

We may not eat at le Cellier.....if the kids are wiped, we'll head back to Vistana and buy fast food on the way home, but I want to try it, so I'm hoping


The off site dinner Sunday could turn into Chef Mickeys or some non park restaurant....we can't decide. So that would add $50 to the budget.

Our souvenir budget is probably high, as my kids have their own spending money (ds dog sits, dd is a mothers helper, I help out youngest ds, as he's only 7!) and I don't usually buy souvenirs (please don't flame me........I'm just not "into" that) But, I wanted to have something in there, just in case.

We eat b'fast at the resort, then buy a limited number of snacks, and buy water, sodas and beer/wine coolers.

At the park, we'll all carry a frozen water bottle and fill it up as the day progresses and the ice melts. When the ice is all gone, we dump the bottles. We don't buy too many snacks, and when we do, we share them. We carry just a few small snacks in our fanny pack, that are easily carried, like a .99 box of licorice, or lemon drops. We aren't big snackers. I tried to budget primarily for extra drinks (since we'll be there in summer) We have the Ice Cream Social one day for a snack, and the ice cream from AK vouchers, so that's really only two days worth needed.

AM I missing anything?

I currently have $1950 saved, so I'm hoping I'm okay. I may (just may) need to help out with a hotel for my sister the week before, so need to have about $400 in reserve, so I'm afraid I'm cutting it close. But, maybe some of my estimates are pretty high.

Julia

 

[canwegosoon]

What about Hotel reservations and money?

 

[tar heel]

One word of caution about MGM meals. Last summer Pizza Planet closed very early, 6 p.m. I think. The back lot place was also closed. DH and I were going to Mama Melrose and kids were going to Pizza Planet. They ended up having to go to three places before they found a counter service open.

 

[Julia M]

Ooops, about the hotel.

We have exchanged our timeshare and are staying at Vistana. So the hotel should be taken care of. We won't owe anything at the end of the week, except what we would charge (if anything)

I'm glad to know that about MGM counter service.

We debated about doing the Fantasmic dinner package. We're there the second week in August, and are not sure how early we'll have to get in line to wait for Fantasmic.

Thanks for the comments.

Julia

 

[Deb & Bill]

Will you need to pay parking at the resorts or are you riding a bus from Vistana? Isn't parking about $7/day?

 

[lat]

I don't know your kids' ages or how you tip, but it seems a bit low for some restaurants. For example, Ohana, with tax and tips, each adult would be around $30, you will have 3 right there with 2 kids. $110 seems a bit low. Same with Sci-fi, I guess that depends on what you order. We have 2 adults, 2 kids (5 and 2), and our total came to $65 or so for lunch (that was mostly because of those glowing ice cubes and souveniour cups we accidentally ordered without knowing how much they charge for them).



Good luck and have a great time.

 

[Julia M]

Thanks for reminding me about parking. See, even when you think you are experience, you forget things!!

For Ohana, I should probably have made the total $115. I figured $92 is the rate for dinner, plus 25% for tax and tip. Isn't tax 6%? That would be 19% for tip?

If I'm wrong, let me know, since that's how I'm figuring things.

For Sci Fi, I used Debs site. See below. We would maybe have an appetizer (we usually don't) and I figured dh might eat ribs and I would maybe have a sandwich, or what I frequently like to do is have 2 appetizers for my main meal. So I figured $15 for the kids, 2 drinks for dh and I, and I'm at $68. But you' re right; we make one change in our ordering, and my budget is off

Crispy Onion Rings - a generous portion of battered onion rings. $6.99

Marinated Tomatoes - slices of vine-ripe, red and yellow tomatoes marinated in a basil vinaigrette with fresh mozzarella and balsamic syrup $4.99

Spinach and Artichoke Dip - a blend of mozzarella, Swiss and Asiago with spinach, artichokes and corn tortilla chips. $5.99

Slow-roasted BBQ Ribs - Saint Louis style Ribs, slow cooked in Coca-Cola and basted in midnight BBQ, served with French Fries and Cole Slaw $13.99

BBQ Chicken Breast - Basted with Midnight B-B-Q Sauce, topped with Smoked Gouda Cheese, Crispy Onion Straws on a Kaiser Roll, with Crinkle Cut Fries $13.49

Kids menu
All Features $4.99 and include a beverage

Thanks for all the help. I thought I had been so careful, and I still was missing things!!

Julia