Spending money

[nnyl_irret]

We are going to WDW for 7 days and on a 7 night cruise - I have saved for the vacation and just recently paid it off in full Now I need to focuse on spending money - I have no idea what we will need. There are three of us - DH, DD5 and myself. We are on the dining plan. Any suggestions? How much do you usually spend at WDW for a week?

Thank you.

 

[Violet Parr]

We are going to WDW for 7 days and on a 7 night cruise - I have saved for the vacation and just recently paid it off in full Now I need to focuse on spending money - I have no idea what we will need. There are three of us - DH, DD5 and myself. We are on the dining plan. Any suggestions? How much do you usually spend at WDW for a week?

Thank you.

We spend surprisingly little when on the dining plan. I budgeted $50 a day last trip and that was more than enough (but we were there 10 days.) Kids brought their own souvenir money ($100 each) so everything else was adult beverages for me and dh or souvenirs like ornaments.

VP

 

[Justsyd2]

We budget $1,000 for a seven day cruise, and $500.00 at WDW for a week for 2 people on the DDP.

 

[luvthatdisney]

We just returned from WDW and spent about $900 during that 8 days. Now that did include $230 for a fishing excursion, $200 for Blizzard Beach tickets (decided to go after we arrived) and $60 for the GF afternoon tea. The rest were mainly tips for the restaurants on the DDP. I would say we spent about $350 on tips alone. We did not do any signature restaurants only 1 ts credit places, but some are still expensive. We also had 4 adults (2 adults and 2 teens) so our dinner bills would have been higher than what you will encounter.

I found it good to view the menus at allears.net and price a sample dinner to see what an average tip might be. I did give 20% most of the time.

I have to say using the KTTW was so convenient. I kept my cc's locked in the room safe and only carried that one card and about $20 in cash to the parks each day. Worked great, only encountered a few carts that would not take the card, but really most of them do.

 

[nnyl_irret]

We budget $1,000 for a seven day cruise, and $500.00 at WDW for a week for 2 people on the DDP.

Did the $1000 include excursions?

I was thinking about $1500 for the two weeks - I want to save it ahead of time, don't want to come back with loads on my CC.

 

[Cindyrellablue]

DH and I (no children) ended up spending abut $1600.00 including excursions, Palo, drinks, tipping and shopping while on the Cruise last year.

We've budgeted the same of our upcoming 1 week trip to WDW for tips and other incidentals (we're on DxDP and doing 1 signature a day so expecting higher tip amounts).

Figure it's always better to expect to spend more and then come home with the extra.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Rec. gratuities are $12/pp/day to get a rough idea for cruise. They can be added to your shipboard account at end of cruise. Also allow some cash for room service tips.
It really depends on how much you like to shop and what excursions you plan to do. Do you buy photos or take your own?
Do you plan to rebook onboard? I never get off the ship without at least booking a dummy date with just myself in the cabin. At 50% deposit on a short cruise, that's another $100. Later you can change it to a longer cruise then add family members once we know what cruise we want.

 

[tigger51276]

I always planned on $100 a day for me and my two DD's for spending and extras. DD6 also brings her own spending money with her (usually between $200 and 300...she saves her allowance and birthday money for months). For the cruise you will probably want more as the excursions can be pricey.

 

[Taja]

Most of your spending money will depend on what you enjoy.

TS Gratuities -- No longer included in the DDP.

Extra snacks/beverages -- If you're on standard DDP, you probably will need/want to purchase additional beverages and/or snacks each day. And you will need to pay for alcoholic or specialty drinks, plus tax & gratuities. Will you purchase groceries and/or water for your room?

Do you shop and/or purchase souveniers? That can be as small or large an amount as you choose. T-shirts start at around $30, sweatshirts at $50. That's the beginning price at WDW. You might be lucky and find something on sale, or shop off site. Will you be purchasing gifts for people at home? Probably anywhere from $10 and up, depending on what you choose. Mostly up, unfortunately.

Will you be doing any tours, going to any special shows or events (La Nouba comes to mind) that will need to be paid for during your WDW visit?

Are you renting a vehicle? Fuel?

Offsite dining/beverages, if you plan to spend time outside the WDW resort--or even a few places in the resort that don't accept DDP.

Things you forgot to bring that are essential. I usually manage to forget one thing each time I travel--even with a list!

There are a lot of variables and you know your family best!

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm surprised by some of these amounts. We just went to Disney for 5 nights, with the QSDP. We charged less than $75 to the room for souvies and the kids (4 & 5) each had $25 gift card. When they spent it, they couldn't get anything else. It worked very well, despite having my doubts. $25 goes pretty far at the $10 or Less store and T-Rex with the DVC discount.

For the cruise, we didn't do any excusions. We also didn't eat at Palo, go to the spa, or buy many souvies. Bought 1 BOGO alcoholic drink on Castaway Cay. We did give the recommended tips (which quickly add up) and DH and I each went to a beer/martini tasting. Plus, we won $100 credit at the DVC meeting. So, there are ways to trim your spending if you don't mind doing so.

 

[wishing4PA]

I'm surprised by some of these amounts. We just went to Disney for 5 nights, with the QSDP. We charged less than $75 to the room for souvies and the kids (4 & 5) each had $25 gift card. When they spent it, they couldn't get anything else. It worked very well, despite having my doubts. $25 goes pretty far at the $10 or Less store and T-Rex with the DVC discount.

I agree. I can't remember for sure now, but I think that we spent about $50 on souvenirs for DD4 and incidentals such as cold meds during our week at WDW last year (DH, me, and DD.)
However, you would need to add your dining tips (we were not on the DP so our tips came out of our "food budget" along with the meals themselves) and mousekeeping tips (they were already in envelopes before we got there so I guess I didn't consider them part of the budget?)
Also, I'm not including my own big souvie, which was the photopass CD and a book I had made up after the trip. If you were to purchase photos there, they could really add up.
A lot depends on whether you want to shop at all or just spend your time at rides and shows. I'm open to spending as much as $100 when we go for 4 nights this month (DD & me.) She loved the Mickey shoes that we got last year off the resort clearance rack, so we've promised her new shoes as one souvenir, and chances are we won't find them on clearance again, so I'll have to pony up the dough for those, along with anything else irresistable.

 

[Justsyd2]

Did the $1000 include excursions?

I was thinking about $1500 for the two weeks - I want to save it ahead of time, don't want to come back with loads on my CC.

Yes, for two people, but you can go online to book them and find out exactly how much they'll cost, then figure in your other expenses. We pre-pay gratuities so they aren't included in that figure, and we don't drink, so you may add more if you do.

 

[tigger51276]

I'm surprised by some of these amounts. We just went to Disney for 5 nights, with the QSDP. We charged less than $75 to the room for souvies and the kids (4 & 5) each had $25 gift card. When they spent it, they couldn't get anything else. It worked very well, despite having my doubts. $25 goes pretty far at the $10 or Less store and T-Rex with the DVC discount.

For the cruise, we didn't do any excusions. We also didn't eat at Palo, go to the spa, or buy many souvies. Bought 1 BOGO alcoholic drink on Castaway Cay. We did give the recommended tips (which quickly add up) and DH and I each went to a beer/martini tasting. Plus, we won $100 credit at the DVC meeting. So, there are ways to trim your spending if you don't mind doing so.

But the kicker here is that you are DVC and probably go to Disney often or plan to do Disney often. It sounds to me like the OP may not have been before or may not get to go often at all so they would most likely spend more money to make the most of the trip. I am a DVCer, have been for a decade, but still like to indulge a little when I go on vacation. My $100 a day goes towards spending money, tips and any extras. Some days I spend it all and some days I don't. When I did the cruise a couple years ago I didn't do any excursions or spend any money except for tips but that was more because I did WDW first and was too tired for extra stuff (I was also pregnant).

 

[nnyl_irret]

Thank you for all the great answers, it's really neat to see where people spend their money. I know tips will be the biggest portion of the spending money both on the cruise and at WDW. Since we are doing a week at WDW after the cruise, our plan is to do only one excursion to swim with the dolphin which my brother is paying for as his gift to DD for her birthday. We don't drink at all so I am sure that cuts back on the spending a bit. My mom has saved $250 for DD to get a gift card to use for anything she might want the week at the parks - this will include BBB, so at least all her spending is taken care of. I certainly don't want to go and waste an obscene amount of money, but I would like our first family vacation to the World to be nice and memorable. Like I said at the beginning of the thread too - I want to have all the money ahead of time, I just can't possible imagine coming back from a vacation in debt Thanks again for all the tips and stories.

 

[Violet Parr]

I am SO glad for this thread, because I had completely forgotten that the DDP has changed since we were last there. Last time, it still had appetizers and gratuity included. I had completely forgotten to budget for gratuity, and we're having a number of signature dining experiences!

Time to re-do the budget!

VP

 

[mel&me]

We spend between 1700-2000 just the 2 of us, that includes food. never do the dining plan because we go off-site also. Last trip we went to Universal for a day, sea world for a day and did Hoop de doo. Couple times a trip we also eat at a nice restaurant for dinner. Usually one on and one off property.

Edit: When I think about it , we would be a little higher if it were not some of the discounts we get being in DVC. They have cut back on a lot of perks, but the few discounts still add up.