$$$$ question

[happy.family.of.6]

Hi,
We leave 3 weeks from Saturday for our trip. How much spending money do you think we need, of course and estimate, for a family of 6. We will be in a TS with a full kitchen, off site. we only will be in WDW for 4 days. We will eat 1 meal a day there, and snack 1-2 times a day there. On our off days (3) we already have 1 luau paid for, and plan at eating at the TS the rest of that day, so that really only leaves 2 days we will eat out for 1 meal. Of course, there is gas, souvineres (not a lot), and anything else that might come up. What would you guestimate. Also, do you usually just use your debit card, bring cash, or travelers check or something else?

Thanks,
Amanda

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

For our family of 5 with a 9, 6, and 2 yo....we budget....

$35-$40 for a generous counter service meal (3 kids meals and 2 complete adult meals if we would like it.) Add $10 for extra "adult meal" or $6 if it is a "kids meal".


Snacks: Well that depends...$6-$12 for 1 or 2 popcorns, or $20 if everyone is getting ice cream from the cart ($3-$4 or $5 per item)---per snack trip. So another $30-$40 on snacks.

Water: It is expesnive. We freeze bottles and put them in the bottem of the stroller. We have run out of our bottles (we packed a good amount!) the past couple of times, so end the day with several $3 bottles of water.

For a day visit, we plan on $100 to cover 1 meal, snacks and any surprises per day. This includes spare water. If including your water--I would add another $20-$30 just for water purchases if you plan on buying it. Water is essential, so have a plan if you wish to save money here.

Kids have their own spending money--we pre-allocate our contribution to souvenirs if it is a vacation. Usually $20-$30 per child if a "real" vacation. And at minimum, they get nothing if it is just a day visit.

Parking--I want to say that was something like $15 when I read the sign last time we went. You pay once per day you visit.


We usually carry a debit card and some minimal cash for minimal things. We carry cash for the kids so that they know once the money is gone, it is gone. Makes it easier to not cave for the extra $1 or $10 for a coveted item.

I pre-plan our mom and dad spending keeping in mind what we would like to purchase ahead of time. Which lately, hasn't been much.



So I would say--$150 per day at the parks is "safe" not including souvenir money.

For a vacation, I wouldn't do less than $20 per child which safely gives them a good selection of a toy, silly hat, a shirt, an animal or craft kit. We do not let them buy souvenirs first thing and will always hit the big store on the way out. If however several stores they hit upon a unique item in a specialty shop, we will let them get it. But we have a no return policy. (Disney will let you return as we have discovered, but now the child has to make sure they want something and understand that we will NOT return it.)

Other options are to pre-buy Disney souvenirs at walmart so that you can get more, but my children (as do I) love a souvenir from the actual place. But we try to shop prudently to avoid having a piece of crap trinket when we get home. They have learned to be very particular about items.

ETA: And this is me not being frugal. We have gone to Disney for the day for less buy packing a soft cooler with sandwiches and snacks. I have gone to the parks without paying a dime before!

Other extras include carnival games at AK in dino land and video arcade games in Tomorrowland and the shooting arcade in frontier land. I do not recall the costs on these, but you can always have the kids use souvenir money for this purpose.

 

[reservations4five]

We are doing a budget trip this Dec. I have a family of 5 , me, dh, dd12, dd7 and dd7. We are staying offsite in a condo with a full kitchen.

I am doing the envelope system. I have put back parking (example 12 x 7= 84) then I seal it and put it away.gas, kennel, ect.

I am going to do 100.00 a day for our trip. This is not including souvieneer money for the kids or us - they are getting 50.00 a piece and we are taking 100.

I have planned out my meals as to what I am going to make in the condo for dinner or lunch. We may pack some sandwiches and drinks and put them in a locker for some days or even have a trunk picnic like I did with my parents. excpet of MK days.

We used our debit card for our last trip...

 

[lucigo]

If you will have a stroller, we daily pack a 6-pack cooler with soda/water and a box of granola bars, this saves a bundle over the course of a vacation.

The best thing that ever happened for my big family was "free" dining. Two rooms at Pop with dining prepaid is 1000x better vacation for mom than having to cook at a condo for a week.

 

[Darcy03231]

We did this in August 2007. It was me, DD (16 at the time) and DS (14 at the time). Both of my kids are healthy eaters. Counter service with a drink ran us about $10/pp. Snacks/drinks ran about another $10/pp per day. We really didn't eat many meals in the parks. We had a big breakfast, snacked in the parks and then went back to our house in the afternoon for a swim/rest. We had a late lunch/early dinner there and then went back the parks in the early evening and snacked again.

For table service meals you can check out the prices at www.allears.net.

Parking was $12 per day. Each child had their own spending money and when it was gone that was it.

 

[jenseib]

I've done budget trips in the 90's, staying offsite. We found doing CS at the parks is the most cost effective and some meals are big enough to share. We wouldeat Breakfast at the hotel (they had free continental) and lucnh at the parks and then would stop off at a plce like Perkins or something for dinner on the way back. We did pretty well that way. Now we stay onsite and do the dining plan, and I would never go back to offsite, if I don't have too. The only way would be to do a really cheap trip and stay at a really budget hotel.
Food at the parks is quite expensive, so be prepared. Bring along juiceboxes for the kids. We still do that staying onsite.

 

[jenseib]

Also I'm pretty sure I read that parking is now $15.

 

[happy.family.of.6]

Lisa-so much information! Thank you so much! It really helps. Thank you all!!!

One question-they allow you to take a cooler into the park with food? I was told that you are not allowed to bring any outside food or drinks in the park? Is this incorrect information? Cause that will be so helpful.

The only reason we are staying offisite is because my boss gave us her time share to stay in for free. It is 8 min from the park and it has a huge water park at the resort itself. Can't beat that!

Again, thank you all for the information!

 

[jenseib]

I think the rules say no outside food. I always bring treats in my bag, and never have a problem. I have heard of some who bring in coolers no problem, but I don't think I would.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

My parents always allotted for $100/day BUT you have to be really careful about the spending. You can figure CS meals are going to run $30-40. You can consider ordering kid's meals as an adult to save a little money. Gas prices aren't terrible right now and declining for the moment, but there is a "little" mark-up on the resort grounds.

Snacks are going to run anywhere from $4-8, but again, if you plan smart (you can always take snacks in your daypack) you can save a ton here.

If you don't mind drinking tap water, you should be able to get a cup of ice water at any CS place (though I can't remember if I read somewhere that Disney stopped this, you'd have to double check) so you can fill up water bottles all day for free.

Remember if you decide on taking a cooler, make sure it's a soft one. If you have a Trader Joe's near home I would recommend checking out some of their insulated cooler bags. I picked up one super cheap and I use it all the time. They are built bigger than a little cooler, but small enough to be managable.

I would take about $150/day, just to be safe. I've been to the World several times, but we never really bought anything in the parks. When I got to take my family for the first time this year the only things we bought were ears. DS had about $25 in spending money and he chose a stuffed Nemo (I think it ran about $20). He spent the rest on ice cream.

My parents just got back from taking DS and Dneph. Each boy came home with a silhouette from Main Street (~$13 for 2) and a small stuffed toy plus DS picked out a big Minnie (18") for his baby sister and that was all the souvie money they spent. Though they did go commando one night and bought tickets to MNNSHP.

We used card most of our trip (I think we took $250 in cash) but my parents only ever use cash. Mom has a money belt that tucks under her clothes and she actually sleeps with it on in case anyone tries to break in their room (which has happend to them once before BUT NOT at Disney ).

 

[happy.family.of.6]

thanks kwit!

Is there anyone that had problems taking a small cooler in with them with sandwiches and stuff? Dont they check your bags? I have a small cooler and I'm thinking it would be good just to bring water in, but I dont want to get in trouble. What are your experiences with coolers.

Thanks Again!!