How much money do you spend per day?.

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disneynut4u

disneynut4u

Active Member
We've gone on about $50 each per day. It was actually probably a little less. (That didn't count food) That was our first time going and we didn't have any idea what to expect, in 2000. We've been 4 more times and we usually take around $75 each per day now. My ideal is $100 each per day, but that's just because I have big spending plans!!!

Here's what we've done before... I make up envelopes for each person for each park. EX. Dad has his own envelope for Animal Kingdom. We do this park first, because we tend to spend less here. The money left over goes into the next day's envelope. and so on.... That way, we end with Magic Kingdom, where we know we'll spend the most money, and we've carried over money from all the previous days to give us even more money for Magic Kingdom. This works really well.

Hope this helps you!
 
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Cubs Brian

Cubs Brian

Active Member
We spend no more than$50.00 per day.Our trick is that we get each of our 2 sons(ages 9 and 5) a $100.00 Disney gift card.They think of them as their "credit cards", and that's all they can spend.They usually don't buy anything the first few days but they make lists of things they see and would like. By doing this, we really limit how much they spend and also teaches them lessons on budgeting.In fact both kids have around $10.00 left from our last 7 day trip to rollover on their surprise Christmas present trip in Jan.:xmas:
 
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PhilharMagician

PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
For three of us we estimate $150 per day. This includes food, souveniers, minigolf or anything else during the trip. Somedays it is less and somedays it is more, but it typically balances out in the end.
 
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Disneykidder

Disneykidder

Well-Known Member
Snacks...we usually pack my sons Cars suitcase, that fits as a carry-on, full of snacks so we never have ti buy snacks. Plus you have the dining plan that includes snacks. We usually have a bunch even left over for the last day.

Souvenirs...really depends. We will usually just carry around a little bit of cash per day and use our KTTW card fro the rest of whatever we see. We always spend the most when at DTD. But there are certain shops that we like in each park and always go there for some toys and knick knacks.

For your size family i'd say that the $50-$75pp everyone has said sounds correct. But again, some days may be $10 or $20. But it is always better to be safe.
 
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krankenstein

krankenstein

Well-Known Member
I've spent as little as $15 a day to as much as $100 a day. It just depends on how you eat and whether you are shopping or not. That said, plan on around $50 per person, per day. You should be covered with that.
 
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Mori Anne

Mori Anne

Active Member
In the Parks
No
lbrad said:
If you have the dining plan you shouldn't need to spend anything on food/snacks
Click to expand...

Very true, but you are going to need money for the tip for your sit down meal. I'd budget at least 12 + for your sit down tips.

I set an overall...... "here's your mad money" budget of about 300.00 for my overall trip. This is to go for souvinears (sp?), extra snacks, misc. items.
 
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G

gettingsmaller

New Member
So much depends on how much you WANT to spend. Are you trying to save money? Are you looking to get a load of Disney merchandise? Are you planning to get a bunch of extra snacks?

We are 5 (me, wife, DD9, DD7, DS5), and we will likely spend $100-150 total for merchandise (for 9 day trip). Our biggest expense will be tips at TS meals, which I expect to be roughly $20/day. We pinch pennies, and are not planning to buy extra snacks, etc.. As you've seen on here, some people spend more than $100 per person on mechandise, etc.. So, a lot of that is going to depend on how inclined you are to buy things...

When it comes to food, you really shouldn't have to buy anything unless you just want to try a bunch of different things.

Also, we will likely pack some granola bars... maybe some snack-sized packages of chips/cookies for a quick morning or late evening bite...
 
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ProfSlim

ProfSlim

Well-Known Member
As others pointed out there's no real easy way to determine this as there are many factors contibuting. As a family of five (dad, mom, 7yo, 5yo, 5yo) we've spent as little as $30/day while on the dining plan. Other trips, staying at the Poly, and for example, renting a Sea Raycer, a few cocktails each day at the pool, a few extra TShirts, etc. and all of a sudden you're at $100/day. If you have the dining plan you will be in control of your own spending...there are no real hidden costs....just a few hidden Mickey's.:lol:
 
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Tinkerbella16

Tinkerbella16

Well-Known Member
how ever much money I bring for spending on my wdw trips, I always put it all in the small safe in the room as soon as we get there and take out a little each day. Last week when I was at wdw I took $60/ per day out of the safe. And I'm glad I do the whole safe thing because I come home with money, whereas before I never used to! lol
 
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disneynut4u

disneynut4u

Active Member
one other thing that may help those without dining, we always take individually wrapped crackers or snacks into the parks. That cuts out having to get a snack to tide kids over until mealtime. They're small and fit easily into any small bag. They do come in handy!!
 
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G

gettingsmaller

New Member
disneynut4u said:
one other thing that may help those without dining, we always take individually wrapped crackers or snacks into the parks. That cuts out having to get a snack to tide kids over until mealtime. They're small and fit easily into any small bag. They do come in handy!!
Click to expand...

Well, it's a little off-topic because the OP is (apparently) on the dining plan, BUT, yeah... we did the "Disney on the cheap" plan one year: stayed offsite in a very nice condo; had breakfast and late-night dinner in the condo; carried frozen gatorade, granola bars, and sandwiches in a backpack. We spent very little on food.
We did have one character meal at Crystal Palace. That spoiled me. That was several days in, and I could tell the difference in the amount of energy I felt like I had after getting to have that time of sitting down, relaxing, and eating a decent meal. The next time we went, we had free dining, and that's been the only way we've gone ever since...

The downside of "Disney on the cheap" is that you have to spend time and energy going shopping, making meals, washing dishes, etc.. It CAN save money, but I'll take free dining any day (and AM taking it in about 24 days!)
 
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heliumalias

heliumalias

Member
The amount I spend depends on the weather. I've never been on the DP but judging by the number of drinks I'll sometimes have in one day I would imagine that it is the additional food expense most likely to come up.
 
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Skipper Dan

Skipper Dan

Active Member
I always allow myself 100.00$ a day, because it’s more than more than enough. That way, I know that I’ll always come home with money, and not be flat broke. :king:
 
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figmentmom

figmentmom

Well-Known Member
I'm not one to spend indiscriminately, but I also don't like feeling short on money while at Disney. (One thing I am VERY careful not to do is use credit cards to pay for anything - you can spend a PILE of money in a hurry, and not realize it!) I plan in advance the maximum amount I an comfortably spend while we're there, divide it by the number of days of our trip, and take exactly that amount with me in cash when we head to the parks each day. I always have money left over, and by the end of the week, I'm always pleasantly surprised by what I DIDN'T spend! (And the leftover $$ goes in a fund for NEXT year's trip.)
 
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