Spending and Food

[daystar]

Hi,
How much money does your family take to WDW???For spending and food....I have a family of four two boys ages 12, 5 , DH and I....I'd rather have to much than not enough....
Thanks

 

[disneyjunkie]

Here are the menus from Deb's site. They are great for budget planning. Enjoy.

http://wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[MJwritestuff]

I'm the same way - I hate to be caught unprepared, especially since we are not credit card people - other than a debit card for emergencies, we use traveler's checks and cash. Last year I kept a log and tally of all expenses, and I was within $10.00!! I swear!

So for next month's trip, I think I'm being pretty liberal, because last time I didn't shop at all, and this time, I'm taking $300 total for shopping money. That does not include the kids (three kids, 7, and 9 year old twins, who each take Disney Dollars they've earned - about $40-$50 each). We're driving, and I have $350.00 for gas, tolls, and meals on the way down and back.

So, our grand total, including the above driving costs, my shopping fund, one big PS meal a day, breakfast in the rooms for 6 mornings, one Kona breakfast the last morning, and snacks in the park = $1,400.00 for the week. Note that this include tips for the housekeeper each day, but does not include our Luau, which is prepaid, and obviously not the ticket package and rooms, already paid.

This is the cash we take. If it seems like alot (or soom may think too little) it seems great to me since we had planned on flying, and saved $1,200 by driving. That $1,400 is only two hundred more than the cost of us just getting there if we had flown.

I hope this helps. Everyone is different, and I realize some are big shoppers, others don't like to spend on food. We try to get the most out of our trip, and we really enjoy eating at nice places for one week a year.

Have a wonderful time planning!!

Melissa

 

[daystar]

Thanks,
Thank you for all your info....I was just worried cause i have a friend who hasn't been to WDW but says i should plan on saving five thousand dollars, i was just like WOW....I have managed to save 2500.00 dollars now i know it's more than enough.....I would like to go not to be a big shopper but just to bring back a few things with me.....I would like to eat atleast one sit down a meal aday....I feel so relieved.....Thank you....We have our traveling package all paid for through a travel agency, now that i found these boards i would have been able to make my own plans cheaper.....I guess i know better next time.....
Thanks again

 

[pigget74]

We are alos a family of four---ds 9 and dd6. When we go it is usually from Sunday through Friday and we take 1200 for food and souvies, but my children have a good bit of spending money saved before the trip.

 

[MELSMICE]

We are a family of 5 - mom, dad & 3 DD's. We take at least $200 a day for spending - does not include souvenir spending. USUALLY - we come home with extra, but as the DD's are getting older it is getting harder. They are eating more & are not satisfied with the kids meals as much any more.

Looks like this next trip maybe we won't come home with much extra!!!

 

[jann1033]

for 2, 9 days at WDW, not including any rooms, tickets or on the road expenses..$750 which includes breakfast in room except 3 times, and most days one counter service , one Ps or a few days 2 ps (one for break. and one for dinner, but then no lunch those days)

 

[tonysgal34]

It's interesting to see threads like this since I have wondered and wondered what it is going to cost us altogether. Now, I am very thrifty and didn't want to go unless everything was "a deal", but I have accepted that our rate at ASMo is not going to get any cheaper(just value season, so $86/night after taxes/fees). I was able to nail $100/pp/roundtrip tickets so we ARE flying, but did it because it's cheaper than driving with the current cost of gas. We are a family of four-myself, DH and DD12 and DS9. We have saved $1500 in cash as we are trying to avoid charging anything unnecessarily. We realize that our room and our rental car(decided that if a car service to WDW was going to be $100, we'd just as soon pay $175 to have a car for the week and not be stranded)are going to be on the CC. All of our food and souvies are coming out of the $1500. We will be there Mon-Fri(arrive Sun night and leave Sat lunchtime)so that gives us $300 per day to play with. I guess that my question is, shouldn't that be plenty? On the other hand, I wonder if it's enough-I've had people tell me of the $4.00 water bottles and $5.00 ice cream bars and although I have looked at the menus and have some ideas, let's face it, kids want other stuff too. And any decent meal seems to come at a very high price($20 pp for buffet, etc.)so I can only hope that it's enough and ask how do all of you do it so cheap??????????????

 

[jann1033]

we are planning on using a 4 days of the kingdom lunch vouchers( spliting as it would be way to much food for us otherwise), always eat our big meal at lunch which is cheaper, often for the same thing( except the nights we are going to Boma and Ohana) and are not going out everyday for breakfast ( even with using breakfast vouchers eating in 6 days saved about $120 just for that) you need to plan for the voucher use (see first thread on this board) but they really seem worth it to me if you use them at the "right "restaurants. also we are eating a few meals at Trails End, my husband likes it and it is roughly( for 2) 20 for breakfast and lunch for a full buffet and 30 for dinner, cheap for disney standards! and has always been good when we have gone there before.

from past trips I think WDW can be what you make it ..you can burn money at a very rapid rate or you can be more frugal and still have a very good time. Personally I would never do some of the stuff Disney offers ( like the $350 an hr boat trip) just cause I don't think it is necessary to do to have a good time..in fact I probably would just regret it and not enjoy it! but that is how we are anyway. not big money wasters! our kids were never big "buy me this " type kids, they had their "own " money to spend that we gave them and so were more cautious than they would be about spending "Mom and Dad's"..we always paid cash, went economically and came home happy! Others feel way differently about it. so I guess to each his own!

 

[Lori-n-NY]

Tonysgal...
Where are you flying from that you only paid $100 pp?
And most ice cream carts are $2.50 Mickey Bars are the best.
Bottle water is Dasani brand and is $2.50 a bottle so is soda Coke products. You can buy a box of popcorn cheaper then the plastic bucket and get the same amount of popcorn. There are alot of ways to eat cheaply and still be full. With the ages of your kids..kids meals are probably not going to be enough but you could get 3 adult meals and split between the 4 of you. Large soda and an extra cup helps to save a couple of dollars too.
I am using for the first time this trip a Brita water filtration bottle. I dislike the tap water at WDW but using this bottle it filters out the yuck stuff and everyone so far that has used it has been happy. Any counter service will give you a cup of ice and then I will fill bottle from water fountain and it cost me nothing...
I have stayed at all three of the All-Stars and really liked the food court. We ate there more then we did in the park. Don't forget about the refillable mugs they sell. You have unlimited drinks from the beverage bar for the length of your stay. (soda, tea,lemonade,coffee, hot chocolate) and if your buying milk or oj buy it from the gift shop it is cheaper.
I will track what we spend on food this trip and let you know how we did.
Lori

 

[Joyfulsnuff]

We go pretty cheaply! We eat at Chef Mickeys our first night there (last year we did a princess breakfast also) then we eat breakfast in our room, most of the time lunch in our room and supper in the food court. There are 5 of us (kids are 14, 12 and 8) and we can eat in the food court (at Riverside) for less than $30 and we always buy refillable mugs so we dont have to buy drinks. We might eat a lunch once in the parks but that is about it, we dont usually buy a lot of souvineers (sp) a couple of t-shirts and a cd or Christmas ornament, our kids take their own money. We take our own water bottles and we have a lot of snacks in our room for end of the day hunger. I feel that the way we save the most money is we avoid eating in the parks except for a few snacks. We are lucky that we drive and are able to haul a cooler and a tub filled with treats I realize that some arent able to do this since they fly.

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by tonysgal34
so that gives us $300 per day to play with. I guess that my question is, shouldn't that be plenty?

I would think that $300/day should be more than enough. We have 3 DD's - ages 14, 11 & 11 & they aren't into the kids meals as much any more & we figure minimally $200/day.

I am the first to say that although I don't want to skimp on vacation I don't want to spend money that I don't feel is necessary.

This being said, there are some ways to save a little money, but not feel like it is more hassle than it's worth.

--First, either rent a fridge or get a styrofoam or soft sided cooler & keep in your room. Make a grocery stop on the way to your resort. Have a list made up before you get to the store though.

--Eat breakfast in your room. Cereal, pop tarts, untoasted bagels, etc.

--If you will be at the pool during lunch time, make sandwiches in the room & bring them to the pool. PBJ or lunchmeat sandwiches are fine. There are condiments at the food courts if you want mayo, mustard, etc. Take snacks with you to the pool also.

--If you are going to get the refillable mugs then don't buy extra soda when you stop at the store, if you are not, then make sure you buy yourself some drinks.

--Also, even though they are a little more expensive, buy OJ, milk, etc. in the small containers or quarts for convenience & easier storage.

--My favorite tip of all time is to have everyone carry their own fanny pack. Make up small "snack bags" for each person to carry in their fanny packs. This way while you are at the parks anyone can snack when they want to. This not only saves money, but also time because you don't have to wait in a snack line.

--Buy individual water bottles during your grocery stop. If you rent a fridge, then freeze them at night. Much less expensive than paying $2.50 in the parks.

--There is a Goodings in the Crossroads area of WDW - DON'T GO THERE!!! Right down the street is a Winn Dixie, with much better prices. It's sad that Goodings charges so much.

Anyway, there are ways to save money but have a great time. I really think your $300 a day will be plenty. With any cash you have left over you can pay part of your hotel bill before you leave or pay for your car when you return it. We always feel great when we're able to do that.

 

[MDAL12]

Does anyone know what type of iced tea they offer at CBR in the refillable mugs? Sweetened or not and what brand? I need tea to keep me going and was going to shop for it. I thought they only offered soda in the refillable mugs.

 

[MaMudduck]

CBR has fresh brewed ice tea, unsweetened. You can get coffee, tea, & hot chocolate & soda in the refillable mugs.

 

[mom2alix]

We usually do one big meal per day and I try to get deals for those. Those hotwire/connections breakfast vouchers help. They're $17.95 for the adult vouchers and that included the tax and 15% gratuity. I know the child vouchers are $11 (DD is only 19 months so we don't need one for her yet. They work for the character breakfasts and my best tip is that we get to the parks early after having a cereal bar in the room and then go to the character breakfast at the latest seating around 10:30. This is an all-you-can eat buffet so it's a great deal with the characters! We then just do something light for dinner that night (usually pizza, but you could easily do sandwiches in your room if you really would like to save).

The Quick & Casual lunch vouchers are also a good deal. The aren't character meals vouchers, but they're $11.25 for adults and you get enough food to easily share with small children. This is also a nice way to have meals paid-for before you go.

We also take our own small snacks (diaper-bag goodies for the little one). Sure we'll splurge on a mickey bar, but most of the time I'd rather she ate more nutricious stuff that I bring.) Happy Disneying!

 

[crisi]

We ate out every night rather nicely. Two children (4 and 5) and four adults. Meals every nights (at Marrakesh, Le Cellier, Boma, Spoodles, Teppanyaki) totaled around $160-180 for all six of us. All the adults drank liquor. The children each got a kids meal (and sometimes a faux daquari). We often ordered appitizers and desserts (although we occationally split some of those). We went completely oblivious to cost. The only meal where we went over was we spent $250 at Narcoosees.

At lunch the four of us (DH and the kids and I) would eat fast food - usually spending around $25 or $30. And we had breakfast in the room.

Meals are cheaper at lunchtime - we ate a late (3:20ish) lunch one afternoon at Biergarten (the day we got in) and were set for the evening (we had a little snack in the room). So if you still want to eat well but save a little money, lunch may be the better option. Also, if you want to wing it - you'll have more luck looking for food around 2:30 or 3:00 than at 6pm.

We did a grocery stop - warning - do NOT overbuy. We didn't open our pop tarts, ate a fraction of the cereal, bought a twelve pack of pop and left ten. We took nearly a whole box of fruit snacks and granola bars (that we'd thought we'd eat in the parks) back on the plane. We stayed in a DVC resort with a kitchen and fridge, so we did go through all the decaf and most of the regular coffee, went through four dozen eggs, bought more half and half and eggs at the Screen Door on the Boardwalk, and went through two dozen bottles of water.