Pre-Trip 12 days on $150 budget (no DDP)

I booked and paid for my solo trip in January when a good promotion came along for UK residents. The offer was 30% discount and a $150 giftcard. I will fly out on 3 November and fly back home on the 14th. Staying at a value resort, no DDP but with PH tickets.
This will be my 4th visit but first solo one. When I booked it my life was pretty simple but in March I got thrown a financial curveball which resulted in me not only spending my life savings but also going in to debt for the first time ever. I HATE being in debt but it was a life or death situation. So for the last six months I have been living of £40 a month after all the bills are paid and debt repayment.
I have sold everything I don't really need (including my tv) but come December I should be debt free and life can go back to normal. I have debated with myself wether I should cancel this trip but it was a package so I would lose money if I cancelled flights etc. I also REALLY want to go. So I just decided to keep my reservation and go on my holiday. When I booked it I had all these great plans of going to MVMCP and eating at the bar at CG but all that's out the window now.
I did feel sorry for myself for half a minute thinking about all the things I won't be able to do this trip
and then I realized I am still going to my favorite place on earth!
I have thought long and hard about it but I think I can do 12 days for $150.
Here is my plan:

No Mousekeeping, (I can tidy up my own room, grab clean towels from a cart and switch beds halfway during my stay) this will save tip money.

I will pack my kettle, bowl, mug, tea, coffee, porridge and an assortments of snacks to eat for breakfast and lunch or dinner. I feel quilty about it but I have been taking snacks, tea and instant coffee from work (they are offered in the cantine) I will have enough saved to last me my trip.

I will only buy 1 kids meal from CS and one snack a day.

I will only drink free (yukkie) water.

Absolutely no souvenirs.

Since I have no dining reservations I can be super flexible with my plans. I have made a few fastpass selections but that was more for fun.

 

[CheersBigEars]

4disneylovers, I do have 1 cc as you need it for so many things these days when you travel. I will have it with me in case I run out of money or have some emergency etc. but really hope I won't have to use it.

Thanks for going to all the trouble of posting all the free things Minthorne! I knew of a few all ready but certainly not all. I love the Ghiradelli chocolate and will stop by for my free sample. I will also try and do do a restaurant tour.

Good luck with your half marathon Dancingtodisney. It was a great offer for UK residents and I can't resist the magic.

 

[CheersBigEars]

Thanks Bama14, I will check out the link

 

[4disneylovers]

Glad to hear you have a back up plan. It sounds like this is very doable (is that a word). I feel better now knowing that you have an option in case of an emergency. Have a great time!

 

[RiceCrispyMickey]

You can totally do this! I'm also from the UK and always think the meal portions in disneyworld are so huge compared to what I'm used to that I could quite happily get by on the snacks they offer. You can get baked potatoes in MK or a side of fries or a pretzel or a crossiant etc for around $4-5 so you could probably get 3 of these types of things a day which I think is plenty, a specially if you have porridge or something in your room before you head to the parks.

Even the sweet treats at disney are massive, I had a cupcake that was about 3 times the size of the ones we find in the UK - plenty to keep you going for a good few hours!!!

Can't wait to see how you get on

 

[CheersBigEars]

Thanks 4disneylovers, I am looking forward to my trip!

Amy, you are right about the meal portions. I think I will struggle finishing a kids meal at WDW so will mostly have snacks. I am bringing a container for leftover goodies like a cupcake so it will be easy to save for later in the day.
Last time I went a friend and I split a CS meal every day and we still couldn't finish it most of the time. I have been having lots of fun looking at all the menus and thinking about what I will have.
I will let you know how I get on. Only 38 days to go!

 

[smk]

We tend to eat only kids QS meals, we find them to be filling and the price is the best. I think we have only spent slightly more than your budget for yourself for the two of us on a five day trip. We did have some fruit and snacks (peanut butter, peanuts, almonds, m&m's mix and apples mostly) with us but not much really. I looked up last years receipts and we spent 183 dollars and that included what we bought on the drive down and back! Five full days in the parks and pools and two on the road, we live 1000 miles away. We are both diabetic, so we eat small, low carb meals as often as we can and limit snacking. Driving is not too taxing on blood sugars so we would stop at Subway and split a foot long sub and snack on apples and peanut butter in the car. It is not easy in the parks with all the miles we walked but we could split a pretzel if we needed. We also took our own drinks, minus coffee and got water in the parks. I was ready for a good home cooked hot meal once home tho!

You can do it without the card, looking forward to hearing all about it! This could be the start of a WDW challenge for us all, see who can eat the best on the smallest budget!

 

[CheersBigEars]

Thanks so much SMK, I feel pretty confident I can stick to my budget and still have a great holiday. WDW isn't (just) about the food. I am going to relax and have fun so I can leave the real world behind for 12 days.

 

[ariesfire11]

We go to the parks weekly. Since eating regular would cause us to go broke, we have found some great food at low prices in the parks. If you eat breakfast in your room and bring bars you could easily get away with a kids meal and a snack. Here are some of my favorite filling cheap meals.

MK-Columbia House. Kids meals run about $6.00-good size choice of sandwiches/salads or mac-cheese with fries or carrots or cookie and juice or bottle of water..Diamond house is also a good choice. Kids meal is 6.99 plus tax.

AK-Pizzafari breaksticks. 4.99 or the kids pizza/pasta meals are 5.99

HS-Fairfax Fare- I love the kids Turkey Sandwich. It comes with applesauce and carrots for $5.99

Epcot-My favorite place to fill up. Sommerfest offers a huge slab of mac and cheese (Nudel Gratin) for $3.49. It is so filling and good. Sunshine Seasons and Electric Umbrella also offer quality kids meals with good portions for $5.99. We commonly go over to Epcot around lunch time and purchase the Nudel Gratin which will fill us up. When we get to Sunshine I pick up a croissant or a muffin for around $3.00 for lunch which gets me through to late evening. I'll buy the kids dinner around 8:00pm and I'm good till the next day.

We will commonly spend a few days with a budget of less than $10.00 a person and easily meet that by buying a muffin or similar around lunch then a kids meal for dinner. If you are not a large eater, you shouldn't have a problem sticking with your budget.

 

[CheersBigEars]

Thanks for the great food tips Ariesfire!

 

[HollyAD]

I eat kids meals all the time at WDW. They come with a drink so I usually get a bottled water so I can take it on the go. I also suggest hitting up some menus ahead of time to help plan your budget. There are some CS places such as the one next toe Yak and Yeti that had sides that could be a meal, like their fried rice.

 

[Ariel1986]

Good luck- I'm sure you'll be fine going by your plans! I'm intrigued to see how you get on, the challenge seems fun in a way, somehow!

You sound like you need a break and Disney is the best place to escape, unwind and refresh. Look forward to hearing about it!

 

[4disneylovers]

I found something new late in our last trip. They have a kids power pack on the menu in a lot of places now. Don't hold me to it but I think it was yogurt, Carrots, granola type bar, goldfish, and there were a couple more things. I thought it was a good value for around 5.50 if I'm not mistaken. Plus the way it was all individually wrapped it made it easy to eat what you had to now and take the rest for later

 

[CheersBigEars]

I have been looking at menus to cheer myself up as work is getting me very stressed at the moment. I have found plenty of sides and snacks that I can have as a meal to stay within my budget.
I a 32 days away from my great escape of the real world and can't wait to be in the Disney bubble.
Perhaps a bit early but I have pulled out my suitcase and started putting things in I don't want to forget, like my rain poncho.

 

[cedardad]

Do you have a Pay Pal account? I'd be willing to send you $10 and I'm sure others would too. I'd rather see you have some wiggle room in your budget and have a stress free time. Plus, I was born in Peterborough and would always help a Brit.

Paul

 

[CheersBigEars]

You are very sweet to offer Paul but I couldn't possibly take your money. I am not poor or in a desperate situation. I will be fine with the money that I have but if I really need to spend more I can put it on my creditcard.

 

[CheersBigEars]

Thirty days to go! I got my Disney Magic pack in the post today, so much fun to read even though I already new everything in it. My pack included 4 luggage tags one of which is Dumbo. I love Dumbo, the song Baby Mine always makes me cry, so I think I will use that tag for my hand luggage.

 

[BigTxEars]

Sorry to hear about your issues.

That would be a tough 12 days on $150.....really really tough...I would not try it myself but good luck if you do.

 

[CheersBigEars]

Thanks BigTxEars, I actually feel very fortunate I get to go to WDW and think I will have a great time even on my budget.
I do have a suitcase full of tasty snacks etc. ,never drink alcohol and hardly buy any souvenirs even when I have money to spend.
And my debt issue was to pay for my mother's private medical care and totally worth it and again I feel very blessed I was able to afford it when so many people have no choice but to use NHS even when it is not providing the care needed.

 

[disneypearl]

I think you'll be able to do it. You've planned well and are aware of the reality of your spending limit. You should be fine. I hope you have a fantastic time!

 

[CheersBigEars]

Three weeks to go! I travelled for work all last week and time just flew by. Now I am just 21 days away. For fun I have been reading lots of trip reports and also hotel reviews. I am staying at AS Sport this trip. I have stayed at other Value resort so know what to expect and look forward to. I like the Value resorts as they offer everthing I look for in a hotel. It is safe, clean and comfortable and most importantly in the Disney Bubble. In the past I have looked at staying at more expensive resorts but for me it just doesn't make sense. I am not a sports fan at all but Sports was the cheapest when I was booking and the rooms at all the Value resorts are the same.