trip budget help..family of 6

[happy2bjustmommy]

I am trying to set up our fmaily budget for our trip in 2 weeks. This is a budget that will not include tickets and lodging. Those are set.

Soooo how much does a family need to have each day in the park. On average. I know every family is different.

So we have 3 girls, ages 5, 7 and 8. We have an infant son. He wont need much. LOL
we will be bringing in bottled water and snacks. Plan on eating one cheap meal a day. ( cheap meaning about 30-40 for the family)

how much would i be looking at, if we did one snack a day as well. Like Ice cream, or pretzel, or Funnel cake, or soemthign along those lines?

Once we get into the park, is everything teh kids would want to do free? like the shows, rides and all of that? we know we cannot afford a fancy dinner like blue bayou, or ariels grotto.

we are going to give each child 20 dollars to spend how they want. Is that sufficent? i made them each an autograph book, so they wont need to buy one.

We are cash only, and have limited funds. Like 500 cash for park spending, for 4 days. Is that realistic??

Any budget tips? Are their coupons for meals in the park that i might be able to get ahold of?

TIA

 

[Brady's Mom]

We eat breakfast in our hotel room.

I checked out Allears.net for menus and prices. There is a link to menus and prices on this board, too. I just planned where to eat for dinner with my family based on our menus that I printed out.

We are eating at Plaza Inn, French Market, Corn Dogs, Taste Pilot's Grill and then out of the park we will eat at Mimi's and maybe order pizza in our hotel room one night.

I am budgeting ~ $50 total for dinner every night - this is based on an entree for me, DH and DS 13 at around $12.00 and for our littler DS's about $6.00 each. This would also be the case for eating anywhere else outside of DLR.

We bring lunches into the parks and they include some cut up apples or maybe grapes, baby carrots and celery along with sandwiches and maybe chips and maybe some juice or just water bottles. This way my littles aren't eating chicken strips/nuggets for every meal and are eating some vegetables and stuff. I know they don't eat as well at DLR as they do at home, since we eat a LOT of veggies at home that we can't get there.

For a 6 day trip, I am only planning $400 for food and that allows for a snack or two. We don't do a big snacky thing every day - but we do go to DTD and get kettlecorn for $7 a big bag and my kids love to have that (we might get 2 since we are going to be there for a while).

DH and I share a lot of meals at DLR since they can be very big and we hate to have leftovers that won't get eaten later. When we share we add a house salad to our meal - which usually makes it just the right amount and if we are still hungry we just have a little snack.

No coupons for park meals that I've ever seen. Your budget seems pretty good. You may find you spend less than that on food, but that leaves extra money for other things!

Except for the games at the boardwalk by TSMM and the shooting gallery, all the shows and stuff are free. Unless they are doing the cookie decorating somewhere and those will set you back about $6-8 a piece (I can't remember the exact price).

You only need your tickets to get Fast Passes and to get in the park, you don't need to show them at each ride - I didn't know this the first time I went and handed out everybody's tickets for our first ride and didn't need to.

 

[happy2bjustmommy]

Thank you for the reminder about veggies and fruits.

We are going to go shopping when we get to cali, and buy things for lunches, and grapes and apples and celery will have to be on the list for sure. I was only thinking crackers with PB and cheese and stuff like that.

I certainly need to write out our menus for the days we will be there, so we have no financial surprises food wise. I want to have a great time, and if we go over budget, hubby is not going to be in a good mood. LOL

 

[LavenderPeach]

You should definitely check out allears like PP said. Here's a link directly to the DLR menus since it can be hard to find: http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm#dl
DLR could of course raise the prices but this will give you a general idea.

DH and I will also share meals often to help keep costs down. If we are hungry later we just buy a snack and buying one meal and 2 snacks is often cheaper than buying 2 meals plus we get to try more stuff. You can also order kids meals at the counter service restaurants for yourself. I did this at Riverbelle Terrace and got the kids sandwich that came with a drink and some fruit and it was yummy. Oh and we also just order tap water so we don't pay extra for drinks.

I would think that $20 per kid for souveniers would be fine. There is a lot of stuff that costs more than that but they should each be able to find something they want for that amount I think. Not sure how much t-shirts are these days but the clothes are usually kind of pricey. But there are books, toys, pins, treats, etc that are less than $20.

 

[happy2bjustmommy]

So I have

14 dollars per day for parking. (54 dollars)
50 for food per day (200) based off of menus 8 dollars for adults,6 for kids, and drinking water.
20 per kid ( 60)
Gas 40 miles each way each day ( 90) most likely wont spend this much.

So that is 404.... and that leaves us 100 dollars for anything I might miss..

Am I missing anything, anyone can think of?

I appreciate your help. The tickets are being purchased for us, and we are staying with family, and will be eating breakfast at "home" before we go each day, and packing snacks and bottled water.

We will be only dealing with cash for this trip, and i need to make sure i bring enough, and also not too much, because money burns a hole in my pocket LOL

 

[My3DisneyBoys]

We also eat breakfast in the hotel before we go, then pack lunches to eat in the park and eat only 1 meal/day (dinner) in the park. I sometimes will not buy drinks but will nring the little packets of Crystal Lite Tea or lemonade to add to the ice water. They will give you free cups of ice water at any of the restaurants for free.

We always let the kids buy 1 thing too! Sometimes they are totally happy with a $5.00 baggie of small Star Wars Figurines! I think your budget is great! Make sure to have enough for a few snacks (like Dole Whips, Churros and Mickey Bars- love them!) And buy a souvineer for yourself!

 

[rszdtrvl]

We always take $1,000.00 on our vacations in cash. And our entire vacation is already paid for.

We always end up with money leftover.

We use cash for everything except our hotel the night before at the airport and gas for the car (so food & souvenirs).

We will be gone 5 nights (4 nights in Anaheim).

We are a family of 3.

 

[MichaelColey]

The others have done a good job covering food and incidental expenses, but I have to ask about this...

Gas 40 miles each way each day ( 90) most likely wont spend this much.

You're staying 40 MILES away? You're going to be spending a LOT of time in the car. Depending on traffic, that could easily be an hour or two each way. Are you locked in to your hotel, or can it be changed?

There are tons of great, affordable hotels close to the parks. About a dozen non-Disney hotels are even within walking distance. (I would say that it would save you having to pay for parking at Disney but most of those really close hotels charge for parking, so it's a wash.) Many (most?) hotels within about 5 miles offer shuttles (some free).

 

[QueenDoOver]

The others have done a good job covering food and incidental expenses, but I have to ask about this...You're staying 40 MILES away? You're going to be spending a LOT of time in the car. Depending on traffic, that could easily be an hour or two each way. Are you locked in to your hotel, or can it be changed?

There are tons of great, affordable hotels close to the parks. About a dozen non-Disney hotels are even within walking distance. (I would say that it would save you having to pay for parking at Disney but most of those really close hotels charge for parking, so it's a wash.) Many (most?) hotels within about 5 miles offer shuttles (some free).

I agree! You have a $140 budget for gas and parking and that is the same as an inexpensive hotel. You may want to consider doing the drive one morning, but driving to your hotel, checking in, so you can leave the car there for free, stay two nights and then leaving your car at the hotel after you check out. You will have far less stress and much more park time to enjoy for about the same money.

 

[firefly87]

Have your park hopper tickets already been purchased? If not, I have a suggestion that will save you money on parking. We just bought our 5 day park hoppers through AAA. They are the same price as buying them through Disney but they come with FREE parking. You also get a Magic Morning early entry too.

We always eat breakfast in our rooms (cereal, bagels, etc). We always pack lunches in too. We take PB&J's, chips, apples, grapes or bananas, and some other snackie stuff like string cheese, granola bars, bottles of water, capri suns, etc. Sometimes the adults eat PB&J's, sometimes we get something in the park.....just depends.

My kids are 4, 7 and 10. On our past few trips, I have bought Disney Dollars in $5 increments. (I got them at our local Disney store but you can also buy them at the park) Each day we are there, they get $5 in Disney Dollars. They can spend it on whatever.......a food item or a toy......whatever. But if they want something that is more than the $5, they have to save it and wait til the next day to get the next $5. Teaches them a little about budgeting and it certainly cuts down on the impulse "I wants.....". One of my sons still has $5 left over from our trip in March so he's already going to have more than his brothers do on our next trip in a month!

Are you flying to DL or driving?

 

[happy2bjustmommy]

I agree! You have a $140 budget for gas and parking and that is the same as an inexpensive hotel. You may want to consider doing the drive one morning, but driving to your hotel, checking in, so you can leave the car there for free, stay two nights and then leaving your car at the hotel after you check out. You will have far less stress and much more park time to enjoy for about the same money.

We have thought about this, and we are thinking of staying one night in Anaheim. The cheapest i found was 45 for a night, and that would be a lot more than i can afford to spend. Not to mention, you need a credit card to get a room, and we dont have one.

We will be driving to LA, and staying with my Uncle, and he and his wife will be going to Disney with us a couple days, and my brother will be coming with us on other days. I know my uncle will probably be helping with Gas and parking when he comes with us. We have a big vehicle, so i can fit him and his wife in the same vehicle as my family of 6, with 4 car seats. LOL

We are hoping to find a road less traveled to get to disney. My uncle drives all over california for work, and hates driving in traffic and he has all these "secret" ways to get around.

However, I will talk to my husband. Maybe my Brother will put a room on his card, and i can just give him cash. we really want to make the most of our trip, since this is it for at least 2 years i think, plus it is my DH's first trip to Disney. I am so excited for him to experience it all.

 

[MichaelColey]

Ah! Okay. If you're staying with a relative for free, I understand now. I wouldn't change that. It'll be inconvenient to drive that much every day, but with your fairly limited budget, a hotel probably isn't worthwhile.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I saw that you planned a kids meal for the kids....you may want to purchase a reg meal and split it. Depending on where you are eating, it could be worth it. With drinks for the kids (when they didn't have Capri Suns we brought it) we bought a large soda and brought in disposable cups and split the drink into the smaller cups.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We have thought about this, and we are thinking of staying one night in Anaheim. The cheapest i found was 45 for a night, and that would be a lot more than i can afford to spend. Not to mention, you need a credit card to get a room, and we dont have one.

What about a debit card? If you have a chekcing account at a credit union or bank you can have a debit card and if you can use a credit card for a purchase you can use a debit card. Perhaps you can figure out a way to spend 1 or 2 nights at a close hotel that won't be too expensive for your family. Have fun!

 

[JustAKid]

We're also a party of 6 going, but we have 3 adults, a 15yr old, a 5yr old, and a 3yr old and will be there for 5 days. These budgets are scaring me. My budget is SO much higher!!

I went to allears website and I budgeted for an appetizer to share, then the first most expensive item on the menu that didn't involve any seafood because no one in our party eats it, the most expensive drink option (usually with some kind of take-home cup) and dessert. Then I multiplied this by our six people, added in what I thought it'd be for snacks, and that is my budget. I didn't factor in any kids meal prices or anything like that because I thought my food budget might be too little and wanted to ensure we had enough money to eat what we wanted.

We're eating breakfast at our hotel, and one sit-down meal a day (2 character dining experiences, Blue Bayou, Rainforest Cafe, and White Water Snacks). The rest of the time it'll be grab-and-go stuff. Wow...I think it's time to re-evaluate the menu and prices....

 

[LavenderPeach]

We're also a party of 6 going, but we have 3 adults, a 15yr old, a 5yr old, and a 3yr old and will be there for 5 days. These budgets are scaring me. My budget is SO much higher!!

I went to allears website and I budgeted for an appetizer to share, then the first most expensive item on the menu that didn't involve any seafood because no one in our party eats it, the most expensive drink option (usually with some kind of take-home cup) and dessert. Then I multiplied this by our six people, added in what I thought it'd be for snacks, and that is my budget. I didn't factor in any kids meal prices or anything like that because I thought my food budget might be too little and wanted to ensure we had enough money to eat what we wanted.

We're eating breakfast at our hotel, and one sit-down meal a day (2 character dining experiences, Blue Bayou, Rainforest Cafe, and White Water Snacks). The rest of the time it'll be grab-and-go stuff. Wow...I think it's time to re-evaluate the menu and prices....

One easy way to cut down on your food expenses is to plan on just ordering water (tap water - not bottled water). Paying for 6 drinks at every meal sounds expensive. Of course, I'm cheap and don't like to buy drinks even for just 2 people. Also, I get too full and can't finish my food if I order something other than water to drink and I don't want to waste all that good food. But I know that some people really like having something other than water but personally I would rather spend more money on food and nothing on my drink.

Maybe you could do one special drink per day or even just one for the whole trip if your kids wanted a special drink.

Good idea to overestimate though so you know you're not going to run out of money. Good luck re-evaluating your budget!

 

[Mugglemama]

we're also a homeschooling family of 6! hi!

we, like others who have already answered you, also eat breakfast outside the park (although we typically eat while we stand in line because we get there half an hour before opening). bananas, granola bars, cereal bars, etc.

we ALWAYS bring in plenty of bottled water, and the only drinks we buy inside the parks are with the 1 meal we typically eat there (we either bring in sandwiches for our 2nd meal, or we leave the park and go pick up a meal off property).

i'm sure your $20 allowance for each of your 3 oldest kids is fine. we rarely even spend that much per kid anymore while there. usually, they get something that costs between $8 and $14.

i think your budget of $50 per meal eaten in the parks is probably sufficient. at the counter service places, adults can eat for about $10, and each kid's meal is around $6. so truly, you might come out under $40.

we personally don't often buy snacks in the parks. BUT, i DO bring a ton in. most are healthy (apples, bananas, raisins, etc.), but sometimes i also bring things like homemade chocolate chip cookies (because sometimes the baked goods in the parks smell SOOO good, and i can make a batch of cookies for under $4, whereas it would cost me almost that much for one cookie inside disneyland). 2 visits ago, i actually brought in little ziploc baggies of popcorn (because the kids always wanted popcorn at night when the whole park seems to smell like it!), and i also bought these $1 buckets of cotton candy at wal-mart ahead of time, and brought those in, too. i didn't want to spend the $ on cotton candy in the parks, because my kids always want it, but once they start getting sticky, they hate it and don't really end up eating much of it, lol. for our next visit, i'm actually going to also bring in mini homemade tigger tails. we've made tigger tails at home before (i think it ran us about $10 to make a dozen of the large ones - whereas they are almost $4 EACH inside the park), but the regular sized ones are way too big for us. i'm thinking i'll be able to make at least 2 dozen little ones for that same $10). if we want ice cream, we buy it at 31 flavors on the way back to the hotel in the middle of the day, or at night. we spend half as much at 31 flavors as we would inside the parks, and personally we like the ice cream better at 31. besides, it's a headache (IMHO) to try to deal with multiple kids and ice cream inside disneyland - much easier to deal with if they can sit down at the hotel room table while they eat it.

i hope your trip goes great! (we always feel better after a disneyland trip if we got through it without feeling like we "wasted" a bunch of money.)

 

[sillyjodes]

I'm not sure how much you eat, but I usually order a kid's meal for me from the counter service places. I had a really yummy chicken taco meal from DCA that was more than enough for me. I've never ordered a kid's meal at a sit down, because I wasn't sure about the rules.

 

[lorieintucson]

how covert do you have to be to bring in so much extra food? I know that with the dullie stroller i had lots of room to stash a snack bag (a 6-pack size soft side lunch bag) and then our refillable water bottles (IMO, a better option then disposable water bottles, both on price, space, and trash). We got searched up one side and down the other with the bags--i had a feeling that if i had a day's worth of sandwiches i'd get turned into some dining police


Our first trip with kids in June, we brought in fruit leathers, granola bars, yogurt cups, string cheese, granola, bananas, apples, goldfish crackers, and cheese sandwiches. I know we way over spent on food that trip because we really got caught up in the 'magic'--i think an envelope of cash for the day is the way to go. This next trip we will be much more cautious and organized (one less in diapers, so that will free up some room in the bags).

 

[laura&fam]

how covert do you have to be to bring in so much extra food? I know that with the dullie stroller i had lots of room to stash a snack bag (a 6-pack size soft side lunch bag) and then our refillable water bottles (IMO, a better option then disposable water bottles, both on price, space, and trash). We got searched up one side and down the other with the bags--i had a feeling that if i had a day's worth of sandwiches i'd get turned into some dining police


Our first trip with kids in June, we brought in fruit leathers, granola bars, yogurt cups, string cheese, granola, bananas, apples, goldfish crackers, and cheese sandwiches. I know we way over spent on food that trip because we really got caught up in the 'magic'--i think an envelope of cash for the day is the way to go. This next trip we will be much more cautious and organized (one less in diapers, so that will free up some room in the bags).

I thought this too. I thought if you had sandwiches you had to leave them in a locker. The fruit is a great idea and I'd love some healthy snacks but I too was worried about the food police.