Our Budget

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Ok, here's what I wanna do and maybe you guys can help me. We haven't gone to Disney in 2 yrs and for some reason I can't remember the info I need. I'm developing our budget now. I want to seperate our money by days for when we are there. We're staying 8 days(really 7 b/c we're leaving on the 8th day).4 days Disney, 2 Universal, 1 Sea World. There are 3 adults and 3 children. We won't be doing any sit down meals probably(we're too busy for that). Just counter service. I'm trying to figure out aprox. how much we need for food each day. I cannot remember how much $ we spend on food when we're there so maybe someone else knows. I know I also need to add in parking, and ......What else do I need to add in? Man I'm clueless. Anybody that can take the time to clue me in please help.

 

[happygirl]

Survinors sp??? drinks through out the day, snacks

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Survinors sp??? drinks through out the day, snacks

Ohhhhhh yeah, i think I left that one out on purpose LOl. But I can't figure out/remember how much I should be bringing for all of this. How much food do we eat there? How much is it to park? I guess I'll have to go do some more research

 

[happygirl]

It's 8 dollars to park I think

 

[WDWorBUST]

Spending money is such a personal thing that it's hard to say. If I were you - the first thing I would do is go to www.wdwig.com and check out the menus and prices for a typical "McDonalds" type meal for your family. Then you can try and think about your eating habits. Do you eat a big breakfast and snack all day and have a big dinner. Or do you hardly eat at breakfast but are ravenous by lunch. Or do you eat 3 square meals a day and not snack at all. I think by sticking with counterservice your average meal price will probably stay pretty consistent throughout the parks. Don't forget that Animal Kingdom has their meal ticket (I can't think of the exact wording of what they call it right now) that you buy and get a counter service meal and drink - then you get a snack and 20 oz drink later in the parks. Doublecheck that they are still doing this but we come out ahead when we do it. Also....on souvies. I spend the most money on a.) park photos b.) balloons (this is fairly recent) and c.) film developing or digital photo printing when I get home. If you have a way the outlets have some awesome souvenirs that are much more affordable then park merchandise a lot of times. But keep an eye out when you're in the parks too because some merchandise is the same price both places. Good luck getting your budget together.

 

[cepmom]

try this site for menu listings and prices ~ it may give you some idea how much your family would spend on food.

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm

Can't help you with the parking since we usually stay on site, but I think I heard it's around $8 per day (?) and if you hop to another park, just keep your receipt and you will not have to pay to park again. Hopefully someone else will know for sure.

 

[HayGan]

Universal is offering 3 days for the price of 2 right now so you may want to consider changing your number of park days.

In terms of food $$$ it is tough. Each family is really different on what they prefer.

Don't forget $$$ for souvineers and a little extra for unexpected items.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Thanks all. Yeah we usually stay on site too so the whole parking/rental car thing is new for me. We are traveling with a group of 8 now so it's easier to get a house so we're all together. We plan to eat breakfast at the house. Have a lunch like burger/fries/drink and don't know about dinner. Our house has a grill so we would love to bbq but not every night. Thanks for the help, keep it coming.

 

[canwegosoon]

Have you done a price analysis on the benefits of an AP? You would save the parking every day. Just throwing that out there. The tolls/airport fee if you are driving yourself, in fact the parking at your home airport too. Minigolf costs. You can always pack a light lunch...but we like Earl of Sandwich for inexpensive eats. Also if your kids are young or if you plan to be at the parks late (esp for ext. hrs) get the glow in the dark necklaces at the dollar store.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Have you done a price analysis on the benefits of an AP? You would save the parking every day. Just throwing that out there. The tolls/airport fee if you are driving yourself, in fact the parking at your home airport too. Minigolf costs. You can always pack a light lunch...but we like Earl of Sandwich for inexpensive eats. Also if your kids are young or if you plan to be at the parks late (esp for ext. hrs) get the glow in the dark necklaces at the dollar store.

Oh I forgot transfers to the airport. Thanks. We aren't driving there, but I have to figure in our "Rapid Rover" costs. Ya know, I haven't done the AP price comparison. Maybe I should huh. We are planning to buy into DVC next year and if we go back next year it would make sense to do that huh? HMMMMM, i'll have to check it out. I like the glow necklace idea too. Thanks again

 

[Julia M]

Hi,

We're a family of two adults and three kids.

I'm allowing $45 per counter service meal. This is a bit high......I'm guessing that my oldest (now 13) will order a regualr meal, not a kids. Also, dd sometimes orders a salad or soup, rather than a kids meal.

For example, at Pecos Bills in the Magic Kingdom, we'd probably order two kids meals ($3.99 each), a cheeseburger ($5.79), a chicken salad ($6.39) and a chicken wrap ($7.49) and 3 drinks. ($7). With tax, that's almost $37.

At AK, I'm allowing $42 per day, which pays for 2 adult meal and 3 kids meal vouchers. We've done it before, and the vouchers work well for us.

We're not a big "snacky" family. If you are, I would allow $3 per person, per snack.

I budget per day (taking into account whether I'm using counter service or sit down). Then I budget that much per day. If I have left overs, it can "roll over" into another day.

HTH

Julia

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Hi,

We're a family of two adults and three kids.

I'm allowing $45 per counter service meal. This is a bit high......I'm guessing that my oldest (now 13) will order a regualr meal, not a kids. Also, dd sometimes orders a salad or soup, rather than a kids meal.

For example, at Pecos Bills in the Magic Kingdom, we'd probably order two kids meals ($3.99 each), a cheeseburger ($5.79), a chicken salad ($6.39) and a chicken wrap ($7.49) and 3 drinks. ($7). With tax, that's almost $37.

At AK, I'm allowing $42 per day, which pays for 2 adult meal and 3 kids meal vouchers. We've done it before, and the vouchers work well for us.

We're not a big "snacky" family. If you are, I would allow $3 per person, per snack.

I budget per day (taking into account whether I'm using counter service or sit down). Then I budget that much per day. If I have left overs, it can "roll over" into another day.

HTH

Julia

I was considering the vouchers too. Where can we get them from?

 

[dgaston]

At AK only, there's a "Meal Deal" or something like that for $11.99 that gets you an entree, drink, and dessert and coupons for a later snack and a drink. You can purchase these right at the restaurants.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

At AK only, there's a "Meal Deal" or something like that for $11.99 that gets you an entree, drink, and dessert and coupons for a later snack and a drink. You can purchase these right at the restaurants.

What about the ebay ones? They don't expire until 12/05 which would work out for us. Are they no good? Does anyone here know if Universal and Sea World also have vouchers for food?

 

[EthansMom]

$9 per day to park. A mickey ice cream bar is $2.50. Check out the menus at http://www.allearsnet.com to get an idea of how much you'll spend on meals. You may want to make a PS for a character meal for one lunch -- if so, don't forget to budget for that.

I found that the portions at Counter Service were large enough, that my DD1 and I often shared a children's meal.

Also, if you go to Earl of Sandwich at DTD, the children's sandwiches are the same size as the adult sandwiches, but cost less -- also, be warned, that all of their sandwiches are toasted.

 

[dgaston]

Vouchers on ebay are generally very OVERPRICED! I would not pay more than $15 per voucher because that is what most counter service meals cost. You can get substantially more at both Beaches and Cream and the Pepper Market, but most sellers just report those meals. If you can get them cheaply, and they expire 12/05, great!

 

[WDWorBUST]

I agree that ebay is WAY overpriced on their vouchers. However they CAN be a good deal if you were going to eat a ribeye at Pepper Market anyway. Or if you are like me and my husband and won't eat a ribeye for $18.00 but will happily for $15 when it comes with dessert and a drink. I have a friend that is going to buy vouchers to prepay some meals. I'm going to make sure she realizes that at most places even only paying $15 apiece for them she will still lose a dollar or two on each one so she can make that decision for herself. So consider what your intentions are before forking over the cash for them. The Meal Deal at Animal Kingdom has worked great for my family though - just fyi - but it is completely different. Good luck working out your budget??

 

[OhioGrumpyGirl]

Oh I forgot transfers to the airport. Thanks. We aren't driving there, but I have to figure in our "Rapid Rover" costs. Ya know, I haven't done the AP price comparison. Maybe I should huh. We are planning to buy into DVC next year and if we go back next year it would make sense to do that huh? HMMMMM, i'll have to check it out. I like the glow necklace idea too. Thanks again

On our last trip (Feb'05), we inquired about the DVC at DTD. We were taken on a tour of the rooms while our children played in the Kids Club, then the whole family was taken to the ice cream parlor to make our own sundaes. They took a family pic (printed in a folder frame), then gave us "SuperFastPasses" to ue at AK. The whole tour took approx. 2 hours, but with the special treatment, it was worth the time. (Also, they don't pressure you to buy which is nice.) It's a nice way to spend a day when you don't have the whole day to do parks or if the weather is not good for the parks. We've heard other people that have gotten meal vouchers for different restaurants in WDW. I guess it just depends on what the rest of you vacation plans are!!
The meal vouchers at AK are definately worth it!! The snack voucher says that it cannot be used for the souvineer bucket, but whenI asked the CM if I could just pay the $1 difference, she told me no and just gave me the bucket of popcorn! ºoº

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

So where do we buy the AK vouchers?

 

[WDWorBUST]

The Animal Kingdom vouchers have to be purchased at the park at any of the participating counter service locations. Me and my DH LOVE the Flame Tree BBQ though - it's our favorite. But you just buy the voucher when you buy your meal.