How much should we budget for our Disney trip?

[meloneyb21]

Here are just the quick basics.

- It'll be me, DH, DD4, and DS who will be going on 5 months at the time.
- We'll be driving down from PA, leaving home May 22. Check-in isn't until May 24 and check-out will be May 31. We are Wyndham members so our hotel is already paid for with our points.
- We will stay overnight somewhere on the way down.
- DS obviously won't be eating regular food, so he's taken care of and DD is extremely picky so will most likely share food with us as usual (I swear I don't remember the last time I purchased her her own meal at a restaurant and whatnot).
- As far as gas, I already used one of those fuel cost calculators for our minivan and it will be approx. $240 round-trip.
- We're buying our tickets in advance from Undercover Tourist, so that'll be taken care of.

Anything I'm missing? I know for a fact we won't do many souvenirs. MAYBE $150 - $200 AT MOST. Anything else that I'm budgeting for would just be food...and we don't do sit down restaurants like that at all. Maybe once or twice we will. We're very.....well.....CHEAP (lol) but I also want to be realistic.

TIA!:blush:

[merlinmagic4]

It looks like you have estimated your expenses pretty well.
* I would add a misc amount for ice cream or other snacks/drinks - that can get expensive. *Also, there will be many opportunities for photos to purchase - do you want any?
*Parking will be 12.00 per day.
*You can estimate your meals using the menus on Intercot since that is the biggest expense.


I'm sure others will have more ideas!

[dizneefan67]

Tia,
Just a suggestion with your gas...try gasbuddie.com, go to bottom of site page and look for trip calculator on bottom left. That will give your gas allowance, Its really better than what you prolly used, b/c it gives you exact places to fill up for gas! I am also traveling from PA in November 09, and my total gas will be $200 round trip according to Gasbuddie.com...also when you use gasbuddie, use your :mickey:zip for your area to sill up and then do another search for Orlando zip is 32819 and that will give you prices in Otown before you leave. Also it gives you driving directions too if you need or want them. usually it will tell you to go to DC and pick up I95 South and go from there! Hope it helps and have a wonderful time!

Will

[PetefromRI]

I'd completely scratch the souvenier money.Don't even get the kids to start expecting souveniers.I know of people who got their kids into the souveniers and now it's expected every time they go.Honest to god,it's like Christmas when they go to Disney.If the need be,go to Walmart and get them a special Disney tee to wear and that's it.We also found that Disney gives very large portions at the QS restaurants and my wife and I split 1 meal for lunch and did fine.It sounds like you have everything in order.Have fun.
P.S remember to check the cost for tolls there and back.

[TikiGoddess]

When I'm figuring meals, I usually plan on about $10 for an adult counter-service. Plan on bringing cereal, etc for breakfast and that will cut costs.

One thing you should do as you're driving from home: buy bottled water (or whatever you like to drink) with you. Save you TONS of money.

Kathy

[meloneyb21]

Great tips, thanks!

[spoiledraf]

My pet peeve is the tip at signature dining. We have always gone with packages and the tips "were" included. No more. But with only the two of you likely to get a full meal, if you even eat at a signature restaurant, shouldn't be too bad. We'll have 7 adults and in my group this year with five signature ADRs and I'm buyin'. It'll be ugly! :(

[mudpuppysmom]

I second taking your own bottled water....with it being $2/$2.50 at the parks you can buy an entire case with two bottles bought at the parks!

One other thing we did on our first trip and we have not done since is I had gotten PB and jelly and bread at the grocery store and I took a sandwich container and we took our own PBJ's into the park with us and we bought fruit -- that was our lunch a couple days, but DH and I both discussed that we were on vacation and we should not have to do this, but if you do, you can.

We usually do breakfast in our room most of the time with an ADR sprinkled in there (or you can also stop somewhere on your way to the parks). Or you can eat a late breakfast in the park and that could cover you til dinner (we've done this too).

For dinner we usually do sit down (DH has become accustomed to this, but I could care less--it is nice though). One evening we usually get pizza and another we catch something at DTD (we go there one evening each trip).

You can cut corners and I'm sure that more people have more ideas that what I've mentioned. DH has me to a point now where he does not want to go to the grocery store for what I call supplies....he says we're on vacation, we've saved for this and if we should have saved more than we need to next time.....I continue to rent a car and get supplies though....I just can't do a bottle of water for $2.50! We drink too much!! (in a week we usually go thru a little more than 2 cases of water for three of us).

Above all.....HAVE FUN!

[Meteora]

We usually do breakfast in our room most of the time with an ADR sprinkled in there (or you can also stop somewhere on your way to the parks). Or you can eat a late breakfast in the park and that could cover you til dinner (we've done this too).

Does your room at Wyndham have a kitchen? If so, leftovers from the previous night's dinner make good lunches for the next day, or you can order a pizza and have it for a few lunches. You can have a quick breakfast before heading to the parks, come back in the late afternoon for lunch and/or dinner (it's most crowded/hottest then anyway), and return to the parks later. You could also get dinner at a less expensive Orlando area restaurant, since you have a car, or head to DTD for a quick sandwich of entree at Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Puck Express. That way you'll mostly just be getting little snacks.

[Belster]

I agree with a pp that $10-11 is what I budget per adult with a counter service meal. I would most definately plan on your DD and yourself to get some sweettreats. My kids would perfer those over t-shirts and such. You can get your DD a Disney wallet from the dollar spot at Target and put her spending money in there and place it on her pillow while she sleeps the first night there as a surprise from her fav, characters. This way you don't have to spend any more than what is in the wallet and she will love the surprise.

I have taken quite a few trips and been very budgeted, you will be able to do it.

Have fun!

[PrettyMinnie]

I know you said not a lot of souvenirs, which is what my mother always said. She ended up getting us tons of stuff every time because "it was Disney World."

[princessesmom]

My advice on the sourvenirs is to budget a set amount per child. Let them know ahead of time how much it is and stick with it! In my opinion $25 - $30 is plenty. We generally spend a day at DTD and do the shopping that day. I hate spending lots of park time in shops. I let my children know they can look, but we're not buying until our shopping day.

Eating breakfast in the room saves lots of time and money. And as others have already said, buy bottled water and carry it into the parks, that will save loads of money.

[TikiGoddess]

My advice on the sourvenirs is to budget a set amount per child. Let them know ahead of time how much it is and stick with it! In my opinion $25 - $30 is plenty. We generally spend a day at DTD and do the shopping that day. I hate spending lots of park time in shops. I let my children know they can look, but we're not buying until our shopping day.



We always tell our kids that they can pick ONE thing during the trip, and it makes them think twice about impulse purchases. They choose wisely, even though they're still young. Now mind you, our trips are usually only 2-3 days long. This next one is 10 days... but I think we'll still stick to the rule (with some surprises from Mom and Dad along the way!).

Kathy

[meloneyb21]

Does your room at Wyndham have a kitchen? If so, leftovers from the previous night's dinner make good lunches for the next day, or you can order a pizza and have it for a few lunches. You can have a quick breakfast before heading to the parks, come back in the late afternoon for lunch and/or dinner (it's most crowded/hottest then anyway), and return to the parks later. You could also get dinner at a less expensive Orlando area restaurant, since you have a car, or head to DTD for a quick sandwich of entree at Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Puck Express. That way you'll mostly just be getting little snacks.

Yes, we will have a kitchen so this is a great idea!

[Chernabog1326]

I agree with a pp that $10-11 is what I budget per adult with a counter service meal. I would most definately plan on your DD and yourself to get some sweettreats. My kids would perfer those over t-shirts and such. You can get your DD a Disney wallet from the dollar spot at Target and put her spending money in there and place it on her pillow while she sleeps the first night there as a surprise from her fav, characters. This way you don't have to spend any more than what is in the wallet and she will love the surprise.

The wallet idea is probably one of the best "extras" I have ever heard. I just wish my boys were still young enough to fall for this!

I have taken quite a few trips and been very budgeted, you will be able to do it.

Have fun!



The wallet idea is probably one of the best "extras" I have ever heard. I just wish my boys were still young enough to fall for this!

[cmsizzlin]

We also figure 10 to 11 dollars per day for counter service meals as well (Rarely do we even eat lunch in the parks) and we always have a hearty breakfast in our rental home before we go to the parks and most of the days we can hold out until dinner. We each bring a frozen water bottle w/us to the parks and fill it through out the day. We have driven down the past 2 yrs from Chicago and are driving down again in August. No matter how much I budget for gas and food I always come home w/more money than I expected. Our trip is completely paid before we even get there. We stop at the local grocery and buy what we need for our stay. We have 2 ADR character meals planned and that will probably be our most expensive meals while we are there. Each child is given a certain amount of Disney Dollars the morning of our first trip to the park and when they have spent the disney dollars thats all they get - although sometimes I give in a little.

[SteveL]

Our rule, when the kids were little, was they could buy anything at all they wanted as a souvenir, but they had to wait til the end of the trip.
That way they saw just about everything that interested them before they bought, and there was no "buyers remorse" to put up with.

[realtreebar]

At lunch time we would leave the park at about 1pm and go out to town to eat and saved a ton of money! once you pay to park you can come and go to all the parking lots as often that day as you like. just keep the parking permit and show them at the entrabce when you come back. hope this helps you save some it sure saved us!!!:mickey:

[merlinmagic4]

LOL!! I thought you were asking about things you might have *forgotten* to budget for, not moneysaving ideas :)

So, my biggest tip for the parks is we bring single serve powdered drink mixes (i.e. gatorade, lemonade) and a bottle of water into the park everyday. We refill the original bottle all day and add the mix to give it some flavor :thumbsup:

As far as souvenirs,two of our kids are old enough now that they get a set amount of money and can use it for whatever they like! It works like a charm as they think a lot harder about what they are buying when it's their own money!

[irish1967]

Have you thought about buying and bringing your own panchos with you? If not, you will need to budget for those (I think they are up to $8 or more each in the parks)

I think that something to keep in mind is that the vast majority of attractions exit through a gift shop of some sort. You definitely want to think about how to get through those on your budget.

The best approach for us was to tell our children (when they were younger) that they could pick out ONE toy and ONE t-shirt to be purchased on the last day.

[wildernesslady]

You could also buy glow sticks or necklaces from home. This will avoid the vendor carts during nighttime. They can be really expensive. Try a dollar store or Walmart. They should have them. Also juice boxes are great for the little ones. We always try to avoid having to purchase drinks in the parks. Have a great time.