Your most unexpected expenses

[wer2fun]

I am leaving in three week for a trip I have waited a lifetime for. It is me, DH, DD13, DD10, DS8, DD3. We have two rooms at CBR.
I was wondering what were some unexpected expenses. I feel like I have learned so much on these boards. There can't possibly be anything I am not planned for. Any surprises I would love to hear.

 

[LindyN]

Laundry money: wet shoes take a long time to dry. Solution is water sandals (I wear Merrells). Also bring your own laundry soal.

OTC medications: Way too pricey at Disney. bring your own. Might want to ensure you have plenty of Mylanta. We're healthy eaters, and when DS was younger he ate too much fried food and not enough fruit/veggies. Always had some sort of abdominal distress after two days. Now I insist on fruit and veggies at each meal and plenty of water to wash it all out.

Rain Ponchos: We bring the cheap camping ponchos.

Have fun!

 

[disneymomof1]

We always bring extra batteries for the camera and an extra memory card. Forgot batteries last year and it was about $9.00 for a four pack. We also took some extra money for cabs. At times when the lines for bus back to hotel were super long, we jumped in a cab, we stayed at AKL and it was between 9-12 dollars back to hotel, with no hassle on bus. We are going again in October and plan on doing the cab thing more often. Make sure you pack everything you need, I always do the packing for the family and in Feb. I packed everyone completely, got down to AKL and guess what, Mommy forgot her underwear and prescription sunglasses!! I don't know if you are doing dining plan but be prepared for high food prices. First year we went, not on dining plan, we were very careful with our cash, we don't use credit cards, and on our very last day, we had about $20.00 left, very scary to be far away from home, with not alot of cash, and no credit or ATM cards. Anyway have a great trip and have fun !!

 

[bell.of.the.ball]

Sunglasses for you or the kids. Somebody will lose or need a pair. The sun is blinding when you come out of the dark rides

 

[Secondgradememories]

Extra undies for DD - she now owns three packages of Tink undies as we kept forgetting to add an extra (or two) to our day pack. Those long ride lines are tough to leave when you are little! "I can hold it" must have been her silent mantra. Sadly, that was often not the case.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

Invest in a battery charger and 2 sets of rechargable batteries. I bought mine for under $20.00 at Target. They were fantastic. I simply plugged a set in before we left the room each morning. We would always end up baack at the hotel during the day to change, swim, take a break, etc. and I would swap out the batteries. I saved a small fortune by doing this.

 

[SLDL]

Unless you are really disciplined, I would think you will probably want to spend $$$ on souveniers. I guess maybe each of your kids have a set amount they can spend on souveniers so make sure you have discussed that before leaving. I tend to spend much more than I have budgeted on unexpected souveniers!!

 

[nemesis]

Laundry money: wet shoes take a long time to dry. Solution is water sandals (I wear Merrells). Also bring your own laundry soal.

OTC medications: Way too pricey at Disney. bring your own. Might want to ensure you have plenty of Mylanta. We're healthy eaters, and when DS was younger he ate too much fried food and not enough fruit/veggies. Always had some sort of abdominal distress after two days. Now I insist on fruit and veggies at each meal and plenty of water to wash it all out.

Rain Ponchos: We bring the cheap camping ponchos.

Have fun!

Not to go OT...but how are the laundry facilities at say Wilderness Lodge? Do the washers and dryers clean and dry pretty efficiently?

Thanks!

 

[MomofKatie]

For us, the unexpected $$ suckers were:

1- cold medicine. DD and DH both came down with nasty colds while we were in the middle of our weeklong vacation in 2005. I hadn't packed any type of cold meds, so we had to purchase it at the Pop gift shop. I winced as I forked over more than $10 for a 3 day supply of Children's Tylenol Cold, and winced again as I paid even more for the Adult strength stuff. Now, we always carry cold meds with us-enough for the entire trip, if need be.

2- pins!! DD really got bitten by the pin trading bug on our last trip- I didn't think she would want to get into it. We spent lots of $$- and lots of time- at the pin kiosks and stores throughout WDW that week. For our next trip, I went on ebay and got a bunch of pins for much less money than in the parks. DD will keep the ones she likes, and trade the rest.

 

[disney6family]

We had problems on our earlier trips with laundry quarters, pressed penny quarters and shiny pennies, the rifles and jungle boats at MK, autograph books, pens, passport books, milk, ice, and a variety of other little things that can quickly add up to $100 fast.

We never seem to have a problem with souveniers because each family member gets an allotment and we have a set limit for other souvs to take back. Anything else has to come out of somewhere else in our budget at home, such as our Christmas gift fund or clothes fund if we decide to get shirts, etc.

The biggest unexpected expense for us (and granted this only happened twice over 10 trips to WDW and never any other trip anywhere), but on two different trips, one of my sons (a different one each time) had to go to the hospital, then we had that cost, the prescription, the wheelchair/ double stroller rentals for two days while they regained their strength, - luckily we had room on our credit cards to put the charges while the insurance sorted itself out, so all we were out after a couple months were our normal copays as if this had happened at home. The only extra we had to pay cash for was the rentals in the parks. These experiences taught me to always be prepared (we had always taken a very fully stocked first aid kit that included all the little medicines you might need) and make sure I had a little extra cash (goes down as misc. in our trip budget) and to make sure no matter where we went both my husband and I carried at least one credit card and our own insurance cards. The one time we left straight from the park with Disney transporting us to the urgent care center from their first aid station and my husband and the rest of the family met us there.

 

[Gdad]

I seem to remember paying quite a bit for sunscreen when we forgot to take it once. Also has been said- dry clothes if you plan on water rides- not just in your suitcase but bring them into the park with you.

 

[JennM]

My unexpected expense came after our return, when I logged onto Photopass and saw all of the wonderful moments that the photographers captured! I had initially thought we would just get one or two pictures, but now we're ordering the CD ($124.99 - unless I can find a discount somewhere!).

 

[KelleyGirl]

Sunscreen! We left ours in the hotel room one day and needed to re-apply. My husband swore it must have been laced with gold for the amount of money he had to pay for the little 4 oz bottle!

And ponchos! Our own fault, but we would forget (or choose not to carry) the one's from the day before in hopes that the hot Florida July afternoon skies wouldn't open up on us again , and they always did. I would have walked in the rain, but I couldn't do that to the little ones! At one point, we just broke down and bought towels when it stopped! When we pulled out our suitcases for this years trip, they were so heavy... yes, it was the ponchos we saved from the year before.. all 12 of them...

 

[kimis]

I am leaving in three week for a trip I have waited a lifetime for. It is me, DH, DD13, DD10, DS8, DD3. We have two rooms at CBR.
I was wondering what were some unexpected expenses. I feel like I have learned so much on these boards. There can't possibly be anything I am not planned for. Any surprises I would love to hear.

One year I needed Maalox really badly and paid way too much for it. I bring it with me now.

 

[Wish2BinWDW]

I agree with the post about sunglasses. We always end up buying a pair because of losing one. An umbrella is nice to have too, especially when the poncho is too hot in warmer weather. Also bring pain relievers, diarreah meds if someone in your family is susceptible to this ailment, medication from doctor, and if you do laundry bring your own detergent/bleach/dryer sheets because they are expensive at WDW. Bring your own water if you are able, the bottled water they have at the parks is expensive. Another unexpected expense was the light-up toys they sell at nighttime parades and shows. If you can get some of those type toys before you go, you'll save money.

Sherry

 

[eliza61]

I am leaving in three week for a trip I have waited a lifetime for. It is me, DH, DD13, DD10, DS8, DD3. We have two rooms at CBR.
I was wondering what were some unexpected expenses. I feel like I have learned so much on these boards. There can't possibly be anything I am not planned for. Any surprises I would love to hear.

Water!! We were surprised how intense the Florida heat was in the summer, the first time we went. Then we were shocked at what they wanted to charge for a bottle of water I swear the 1st year we spent $100 bucks on bottled water.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Sport tape! I have surgical induced tendonitis in my left ankle and you would think know better and pack an ankle brace. 2 trips in a row I of course didn't even think about it. The basic ace bandage in a resort gift shop runs $10!

I don't bring a poncho, but the in the last 2 trips there has been no rain. So I guess I'm just knocking on wood. Though almost every fall I find myself buying a sweatshirt, maybe that's what I should not be leaving behind in the hotel room.

 

[fAnnF]

extra party tickets and souviners. When BF and I went down in March, I had budgeted for one night P&P party and $200 for suvies. Well after the first party we didn't get to see everything so we shelled out another $75 to go to the last party. Then on the last day made a stop at DTD to use our 10% AP discount and we spend much more then our budget allowed. Now I know how much I spend and i budget an extra 50-100 depending on the lengh and time of year.

My dad always adds 250 to the budget for the unexpected, and now won't let me forget it, as on our first trip, AAA messed up our reservaton and we needed the extra 250 to cover the room cost Disney was charging us until we could get it worked out with AAA. Then the March trip when we added a party and other.

 

[VMK_Princess_Chloe]

My unexpected expense came after our return, when I logged onto Photopass and saw all of the wonderful moments that the photographers captured! I had initially thought we would just get one or two pictures, but now we're ordering the CD ($124.99 - unless I can find a discount somewhere!).

my brother told me, that if you wait a little while on that.. you will keep getting discounts.. I know you have a date you have to order it by.. but he said it came down some every so often when he waited to buy it. I can't tell you how much.. and can't make any promises. But this is what he said.

 

[Magic2000]

A water camera!!! Last year, we went to Blizzard Beach and I realized I didn't have a water camera and bought one there! It was $20!!
But I bought it and used it at Blizzard Beach, and when we went to Typhoon Lagoon later in the week. This year, I bought one from Walmart for $7.

I always make a list of OTC medicine and pack it with us. Of course, any time I forget one of the medicines, THAT'S the one we need and you can buy it at the gift shops, but you pay a lot more!

Have a great trip!!!