What COST took you by suprise?

[JLVermillion]

MEDS!!!! I got a nasty sinus infection 1 trip and of course they had nothing strong enough to help so I had to place an order with a phamracy that delivered. Taught me to always pack a mini pharmacy every time we go. (Especially childrens meds.) I can treat everything from fever, to cough, to burns, to headaches, sinus headaches, to cuts and scrapes, to chapped lips, to nausea and diarrhea! My family used to pick on me until one disastrous trip my husband needed the Pepto. He bows down to my obsessive over packing now!!!

Haha my DHfor my personal product and medical packing we have one medium sized suitcase dedicated to it

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I'm an under packer by nature, but always pack a full supply of meds for both DH and I, and the kids. It's bailed us out a couple of times on trips over the years. There's nothing worse than getting sick on vacation, with nothing on hand to ease the symptoms. That's why I never leave home without the full supply of meds.

 

[Raenstoirm]

What do you wish you'd brought from home, that you had to buy on your trip?

Batteries! If your kids like those type of toys you may want to pack a few.

A few years back dh bought me a Pal Mickey (no longer available). By day three he was dead. I thought it was broken, but it turns out I must have bought one that had been played with a lot on the shelf and the batteries were dead. I spent 10 bucks for 4 AA batteries. I was not amused.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

What cost took you by suprise? Tipping 18% on a buffet. That's not typical for us.

What the????????????

 

[Mysteria]

What the????????????

Automatic 18% for parties of 6 or more on all TS meals.

I'm with the sunscreen/meds people. Way back in 2001 was my first trip in 15 years or so. I was so excited to get going the first morning I forgot to put on sunscreen. So knowing I had it and forgot hurt even more.

Meds was the most recent trip in 2010. We usually have a car so no big deal. Not this trip and this is the one I forgot to pack the non-prescription meds. Also the one that the most people needed them.

 

[bcrook]

I was shocked when I realized breakfast at Cape May Cafe for 2 adults would exceed $60. There's nothing that will allow me to justify that type of money for breakfast at Disney.

This is it for me too. Shocking and unnecessary.

 

[Amunet]

We usually plan/budget on any vacation we go on The only time we've ever went over-budget was when we went to Universal (oh why must I be addicted to Harry Potter?!) because a friend didn't budget at all and we had to cover for her.

SO, most of Disney doesn't surprise me. It sometimes disgusts me or gets me to roll my eyes, but not really surprise.

EXCEPT ... for pins. The trading pins. I'm not a trader but I really wanted an Ariel Pin and I wanted a lanyard to hang it on. Well, I was NOT expecting the price at all. I knew it was Disney, but it was just a normal pin (no extra interactive doo-dads).

Now I know ... and I'm feeling that I need an Eeyore ...

 

[twokids0204]

I forgot my allergy meds (Claritin).

Went to the First Aid building, and was sticker shocked.

I expected them to rake me over the coals for $5 a pill.

They were FREE!

 

[aripantaloon]

Definitely meds. I usually pack a ton of things, but on our last trip to Disney, I scrimped on the liquid meds (pretty much almost exclusively kids' meds) since we were already pretty close to the weight limits with our 2 large suitcases (and probably 1 rollaboard). Wouldn't you know it, my older DD got a cold of some sort with a sore throat and slight fever a day or so into our trip. I had to buy some kids' cold medicine, throat drops, and pocket tissues in the hotel gift shop. Expensive!!! Now I'll know to pack for any situation.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

So I do most of the planning but on the flight on the way down last March for spring break trip DW mentions how neat it would be to have those Mickey light up balloon inside a balloon things in our room as part of the "party on we're at Disney World!" feeling. She says she knows they are expensive but supposedly they last a long time and we can have my parents, who had driven to FL for another reason and were meeting us later inthe week, take them home as souveniers. We arrive at BLT around 2pm and head to MK. Heading back to room shortly after dinner to unpack then come back for EMH and as we pass the CM selling those balloons I tell DW I'll meet her at the monorail and I tell the CM I want 4 (4 kids so I'm used to buying 4 of everythig). They were $60 bucks! I'm standing there torn between wanting to make the trip magical for DW and kids and my stingy Norwegian background. Disney magic wins out and like a fool I fork over the cash. No, the thought of buying 2 never crossed my mind as I knew these were the only souveniers I'd buy all week since all the kids had their own money to use from their own savings - and that did work very well, highly recommend it. Also, I wasn't going to spend the first night listening to fighting over who "gets" the dang balloons (little did I know what I would end up spending my night doing). So I get the balloons and with the craziness of catching up with the wife and the ensuing excitement over the balloons I never told her what they cost.

Back to the room and we are settling in. We decide I'll take the2 older kids back to MK for a few hours and she'll put the little ones to bed and finish unpacking with her mother. We head back and as we are in line for our first attraction I look at my phone - 7 missed calls from her and we're next on the flying carpets. Not good. I call her back and she tells me the 2yo jumped off the back of the kitchen seating area booth and she things he broke his leg. Long story short - ambulance, she was right, at ER until 5am. Get back to the room and 2 balloons have lost half their helium and a third is popped (courtesy of the 2yo before he broke his leg).

At this point I couldn't have cared less but when I finally got around to telling DW how much the balloons cost she said I was nuts to have paid it and that it was the worst money we've ever spent at Disney.

You're such a good Dad!! Okay, so I have to ask...did your 2 year old have the balloons when he jumped, thinking they'd keep him afloat? That's the first thing I thought, because it's something my sons would have done! I'm a balloon-hater, and probably the worlds worst mom, because I refused to by my boys balloons when they were growing up, because, like you said, it always ends up in a fight (or I'm driving down the road and one pops and gives me a heart attack), or they'd rub them and make that horrible noise that makes it sound like they're going to pop, but they don't, so you're just waiting for them to pop....

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

I covet the Dooney and Bourke Disney purses....but i just can't let myself pay $200 for a little purse. I know it's a brand name, and I'm not normally a person that is afraid to spend a little extra money for something special, but I just can't let go of my wallet for that one one!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Automatic 18% for parties of 6 or more on all TS meals.

I knew that was the case for service meals, but a buffet? Guess I should be glad there's only 4 in our party

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

Have to post a good note here....when DH and I got married at Disney (Shades of Green, military resort), I had bought a pre-paid Photopass CD, which for an extra $25 you could have a "sitting" at GF, Poly, or a few of the other resorts. After are ceremony we went to the GF for a little breakfast reception and had booked a photo session afterwards. The Photopass photographer went waaaaay above and beyond and took some fabulous pictures of me, DH, and my boys (layed on the ground to get good shots, etc) and we ended up with about 80 professional-grade "Wedding Pictures" for only $25!!!!

 

[wahoostampingirl]

My kids (twins) became "adults" on our last trip by virtue of turning 10 over the summer. My ds wanted to eat at Chef Mickey's for his birthday dinner. We've eaten there before, but the last time was for breakfast and we were still paying for 2 adults and 2 children. I knew going in how much it costs for 4 adults to have dinner there, but the reality of getting a bill for over $160 for dinner and then adding in a tip that brought it to almost $200 really kind of shocked me. The new rule is no character dinners (maybe breakfast). It's just not worth it.

 

[flicx]

Almost all of the items of a disney vacation give me sticker shock anymore. I think the better question would be what are the real values you can find at disney today?

 

[Tarffri]

I guess living in New England has prepared me well for the inevitable price gouging that Disneyworld will inflict on me. After all, I go to Fenway Park at least a few times a year and football games at Gillette Stadium are just as expensive. The cost of living here is RI is so high. We have fun here but everything related to entertainment is outrageously priced in my part of the country. That's why my upcoming trip to WDW is my first trip - I'm always broke! I will not flinch at a $70 sweatshirt (I saw a Red Sox pullover at Fenway last summer that was $150). But I can't afford to go to WDW every few years like some lucky people on these forums. We will be very selective in choosing our souvenirs. We'd rather ride the rides than shop anyway.

I was shocked at how expensive it is to book an Illuminations cruise.

I will heed all the advice and pack some meds, and I've already packed the sunscreen. I may even throw in my little first aid kit. I'm glad I read all this advice because I never would have thought to pack any of that.

This is a great thread! You all rock!

 

[southernprincess1]

I had a good surprise and a bad surprise on last trip.

Good- One of my sons got sick on our trip. Nothing major, just a runny nose and a cough. The resort provided free cough syrup for him. It was a full size bottle, probably wouldv'e cost us around $7 at the drugstore.

Bad- I was very surprised that my husband paid for a refillable resort mug. I knew the actual price, but I was shocked that my husband paid for one. We had the dining plan where the mugs were included, but husband didn't know that. The bad part was that I found out about it long after we got home. I found the receipt in a travel bag. So no chance of getting my $15 back.

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

Nothing much surprises me when it comes to WDW..I had to buy a can of Solarcain for a bad burn a couple trips ago...the worse part was not that it set me back $11 bucks, but that I forgot to pack it in my suitcase and threw it in my carryon and had to throw it away when we went through security at the airport because it was liquid

 

[hugApug]

We expect WDW prices to be high, but we were definitely surprised by the high cost of sunscreen. The prices of drinks are also very high , but it could be a preventative measure against people getting too tipsy while in the parks and restaurants. Just a thought.

 

[2001momscrapper]

The cost of drinks.