Planning my vacation budget

[Jordan's MOM]

Don't forget to budget all the little things it takes to get ready to go to WDW. New clothes, shoes , sunscreen, poncho, toys for the trip, sunglasses etc,etc etc. It adds up.


Jordan's mom

 

[bobcat]

Wagons aren't allowed in the parks. I used an inexpensive umbrellat stroller that didn't have a basket so I bought a backpack and hung it on the handles so it was on the back of the stroller. It worked great!

 

[carone0318]

The one thing that I never think about but should is our kennel costs, for what we refer to as doggie camp. My doggie camp bill for my upcoming trip in May is $150, $15 a day - yikes!

I know that you said that you have a kitchen, but if you are planning to do any meals in the park, like a character meal, you can go look at the menus at Deb's site and see prices. We have the princess breakfast planned and know that I will be spending x-amt of dollars per person to do that and I can budget that $50 right now and not worry about trying to pull it together at the last minute.

I do agree that another item I forget to budget for is getting film developed. I usually take about 20 rolls of film, give or take and when I get home, that $100 to get my film developed is sure hard to find.

I also want to add about the Disney dollars, that they are great. We give them to dd for the holidays and stuff, but we also give them for a challenge we have going on right now. She is in 1st grade and after Christmas break, she started having spelling tests. Well I challenged her that if she got none of the words wrong on the spelling test, that she would earn 1 disney dollar. She has one test per week and 8 weeks later, I am now down 8 disney dollars and she is still going strong. If it motivates her, I'm all for it, besides I was going to spend that money on her in Disney anyway, at least she can feel that she earned it. What she doesn't know is if she keeps earning a dollar every week until we go, I am going to give her a bonus of 20 extra disney dollars.

 

[TiggerInNY]

Carone318,

Thanks for the advice. We don't have to worry about the kennel thing. We don't have any animals. I have two small kids and right now, that's enough!!!

The character meals is a good one. I am looking at doing the Chef Mickey Breakfast. We're not going until October and I think we can't call for reservation until June14, the earliest. I may be interested in the Backyard BBQ at WL. Have you heard anything about that? Thanks for the advice.

As far as the Disney Dollars, that sounds fantastic. It will really motivate my 1st grader, too. I will go and get some tomorrow. Like you said, I was going to spend that money on him anyway. It gives him some independence and teaches him the value of money at the same time.

Thanks for ALL your info. It's very helpful.

TTFN,
Maria

 

[soccerchick]

One more thought about the stoller...If you don't want to take yours and since you have until October for your trip, check out yard sales this summer for one to take and then leave/throw away once there. I paid maybe $2 for one last summer that we took to France for our 3 year old. Ours had long since been trashed and I didn't want to haul one boththere and back. Umbrella stroller are also great, esp. at MK since they fold up on the train ride, which we used a lot to get around and save on walking.

Just a thought. Have fun planning your trip!

 

[colleen costello]

DId you know it's "legal" to take a small cooller into the parks? It is. They will check it at the security post, but no one will seize Teddy Grahams or Cokes. I assume glass bottles are NOT allowed. I bought a small, soft cooler last year at Walmart. Got it for $5 on clearance -- and it is big enough for a 6-pack of drinks. It can hold a few juicepacks and some pb crackers, or graham crackers or fruity-snack packages, whatever. Bringing this for little goodies probably saved me $20 a day. I just put it in the stroller. I also used it at the resort pool, where Cokes are $2 or more.

 

[Raggedy]

strollers are good. We used our stroller for snacks and we would freeze our water and it was cold all day. This sort of stuff was too expensive in the parks. We did buy extra but this kept the price down for us. To bring in that sort of stuff. It is something to think about if you are budgeting.

 

[TiggerInNY]

Thanks for the "heads-up" on the cooler. I have one of those soft coolers and even for the pool, you're right. We're staying at a condo, so we'll have plenty of room to store juice, soda, snacks, etc.

The garage sale is a good idea, too. But I will need one for the way home cause we fly home at nighttime and my little guy will surely be tired. My stroller folds flat. It's about 7 years old. I don't know if anyone remembers these, but it was the first generation convertible stroller. It was a baby carrier, then it converted to an Umbrella stroller. But not your normal umbrella stroller. It has a basket underneath it. And the handles are normal height. Sometimes when you buy umbrella strollers, the handles are really short.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice. I love these boards. Keep 'em coming.

P.S. I have a friend who's at The World right now and I'm green with envy. She's staying at Port Orleans, Riverside.

TTFN,
Maria

 

[netnurse31]

Hi Maria!

For our last trip to the world in March of last year I had everything budgeted to a science so I know what you are going through!

First thing I did was make an itinerary. My family still jokes about being in boot camp for those 8 days but we all had a GREAT time and got to do some pretty spectacular things! One you make an itinerary it's easier to plan for the cost of meals such as character meals and offsite ones too.

I did the disney dollar routine as well with my DS who was 11 and DD who was 6. We kept a chart on the wall in the kitchen and when they did chores or something really special they got a point. For every 10 points they got 5 disney dollars and they really added up! It's much easier coming up with 5 dollars then coming up with 200 or so when you are vacationing.

I purchased 2 water bottle insulators before we left and filled them both with bottled water before we left for the parks each day so that was a real money saver too given the expense of drinks.

Another forgotten expense is transprtation to the airport from home. Last year we took a stretch limo to JFK airport because it was my daughters first trip to Disney. We had done it for my son's first trip so I guess we felt obligated. Now that was quite an expense! If you have family to drop you and pick you up it would be a mute point and I hope you do!

Someone else mentioned clothes for the trip. Since you will be going in October and it is still warm in Florida at that time I'd suggest buying things at the end of the summer when they go on sale. I know the Disney Store has some great end of season sales and the kids just love wearing disney stuff to the parks...it adds to the excitement!

I hope you have a great trip. By the way, I see you are in Westchester NY and so are we! I'll keep thinking and see if I come up with some other hidden costs.

 

[TiggerInNY]

NetNurse,

You came up with great ideas. I already budgeted for the expense to the airport. We're flying out of Newark (1st time) and leaving our car there. So, that figure is pretty definite.

The water bottles is a GREAT idea. So many people say that they do that. I will too.

And the clothes, I figure I'm going to be getting them some new stuff anyway in the spring and early summer. But the sales, I'll be out there. Absolutely. I just picked up 2 t-shirts for the boys (7 & 3) for $4.99 each. Pretty good price, I thought.

I just bought a flat plastic storage container and started to put stuff for vacation in there. I already started buying them pins, etc., so I could keep everything together without them knowing what I have. I put it under my bed. hheeehheee

We live in upper Westchester (Hudson River side). Both me and my husband are from lower Westchester, originally. How about you?

Thanks for all your help. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a copy of your itinerary? Just to get an idea or outline of what to do. This is the first time going with kids. I just don't want to miss something. Ya know?

TTFN,
Maria

 

[netnurse31]

Believe it or not I DO still have a copy of my itinerary! LOL
I am a planning fool

I don't see an email attached to your post so if you would like it just send me an e-mail and I'll send it out right away. I also have a copy of our budget and we stayed pretty close to the mark. Of course that was last year and things have gone up a little but it could give you an idea.

 

[Proudmilitarywife]

I sent you an e-mail as well . I really hope that was ok .