How much spending money do I need?

[Emileesmommy]

The family whos kids I keep is taking me and my child to Disney for a Christmas gift We are leaving on the 16th and coming back on the 23rd of Dec. They have already bought 4 day passes to disney, a day at sea world and 3 character dinners. We are also eating breakfast before we go to the parks everyday, and taking snacks with us inside disney everyday. My little girl is 6. So all I need to buy is food and souvenirs.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

The family whos kids I keep is taking me and my child to Disney for a Christmas gift We are leaving on the 16th and coming back on the 23rd of Dec. They have already bought 4 day passes to disney, a day at sea world and 3 character dinners. We are also eating breakfast before we go to the parks everyday, and taking snacks with us inside disney everyday. My little girl is 6. So all I need to buy is food and souvenirs.

When I go, I usually bring at least $250 dollars a day for extras. I usually don't spend that much, a few times more than that, but I always set a daily cushion for spending.

Plus when the vacation is done anything left over goes right back into the next trip fund.


Jimmy Thick-Dinner is easily over $100 alone...

 

[wm49rs]

The family whos kids I keep is taking me and my child to Disney for a Christmas gift We are leaving on the 16th and coming back on the 23rd of Dec. They have already bought 4 day passes to disney, a day at sea world and 3 character dinners. We are also eating breakfast before we go to the parks everyday, and taking snacks with us inside disney everyday. My little girl is 6. So all I need to buy is food and souvenirs.

If it's just the two of you, then I would imagine $100-$150 for a meal and souvenirs should do the trick, especially if you're already going to some character meals, and you're bringing in your own snacks. The will be all of the little souvenirs she will want, but I'm sure you can make a deal with her, like one item a day or the like. That's what we used to do with our kids.

 

[bluefaery]

Since your daughter is 6 she should be able to understand that she can't have everything she wants. The way I do it with my niece (she's 6 1/2) is we go through the stores right when we get to each park and I let her find 2 or 3 things she likes, I take pics of them on my digital camera and throughout the day (mostly when we have lunch) we will talk about which item she really wants and we buy it at the end of the day.

 

[Allygator]

I give my daughter a set amount of money that is her's to buy her souveneirs. Let me tell you, she thinks twice when it's her money buying items. When she does purchase something I make sure she knows how much money she now has left. I have noticed with my children if I am buying then they want everything they see.

 

[plaz10]

I give my daughter a set amount of money that is her's to buy her souveneirs. Let me tell you, she thinks twice when it's her money buying items. When she does purchase something I make sure she knows how much money she now has left. I have noticed with my children if I am buying then they want everything they see.

My parents did this to my sister and I when we were younger. Say to your daughter "You have X amount of money to spend the whole week" and then the first day when we saw 10,000 things we wanted...my mom or dad would remind me "remember if you buy that you'll only have X left" so that led to us thinking long and hard before making a final purchase. Good idea.

 

[lbrad]

What an awesome gift!!!!

For 2:
Lunch $20/day
Dinner $20 to $40/day
I never buy souvenirs daily ... so roughly $50/person for trip
A "thank you" gift $50ish


Hope this helps

Have a magical trip

 

[Emileesmommy]

Thanks so much guys....and another question should I just buy her two kids something as a "thank you" or should I buy the parents something? or both?

 

[sksowell]

What a great gift. I would get the kids and parents a thank you gift or some sort of family thank you gift. We also give our son a gift card with a set amount on it so each time he buys something he knows what he has left as they print it on the receipt. For meals I would budget about $20 per person/meal. Have a wonderful time!

 

[Xethos]

You can look up the menus and prices for most of the places at Disney so you can get a pretty good idea about how much you will be spending on food.

 

[AEfx]

Thanks so much guys....and another question should I just buy her two kids something as a "thank you" or should I buy the parents something? or both?

First, what a great surprise!

Second, perhaps something the whole family can enjoy? Depending on your schedule, maybe a round at one of Disney's awesome miniGolf courses?

Or, one gift I've found people like are frames - there are a nice variety of photo frames available around WDW, from say $18-40, depending, that you could give them as a gift from the trip. Then take a nice picture of the family you can print when you get home to put in it.

Either way, you sound like you are rather prepared, which is more than most people can say, LOL - you have done your homework well!

 

[crispy]

I also give my DDs a budget for souvenirs, and it works well. They are 3 and 5 and get $25 each.

Since it's just the two of you, I would budget a $100 for food, snacks, etc. If your daughter is a light eater, you may be able to share counter service meals because they are often huge.

As for a gift for the family, maybe you could do a package from the Disney florist. They have welcome gifts that are in the $40 to $60 range that are nice, and it would be a nice way for them to start the trip.

 

[tex_chef]

The family whos kids I keep is taking me and my child to Disney for a Christmas gift We are leaving on the 16th and coming back on the 23rd of Dec. They have already bought 4 day passes to disney, a day at sea world and 3 character dinners. We are also eating breakfast before we go to the parks everyday, and taking snacks with us inside disney everyday. My little girl is 6. So all I need to buy is food and souvenirs.

we just recently returned from a Disney World Trip. I did my best to budget us conservatively, however be prepared to spend money, whether your park tickets are covered or not.

Our party was 2 adults and 2 kids. (kids were 8 and 17) we saved money by:
*buying a bag of bagels and some cream cheese, a box of cereal and some milk at a supermarket and having those for breakfast in the mornings
*buying a case of bottled water and taking a bottle each into the park each day
*getting some granola bars, etc. for snacks

However, eating at the fast-food-type (counter service) restaurants can easily come out to $15.00 per person. We ate at Casey's along the main street in Magic Kingdom twice. The hot dogs were 7-8 bucks (they came with fries), if you want a drink its another 3 or 4 bucks. Don't forget tax.

Dinner at table service restaurants is significantly more costly. I'd guesstimate you can easily pay $30.00 to $40.00 per person (depending on the restaurant) eating dinner... don't forget a tip too. if it's just you and one kiddo you might be able to bring that guesstimate down somewhat, but I'd still guess you'd need 50 bucks for dinner at a table service restaurant.

The character lunches... I believe those are quite costly too...perhaps up to 60 bucks per person?

As far as souvenirs, shirts start at around $22.00, other little stuff, ornamental things, etc. at around $12.00 to $15.00. If you tell your little one she can have 3 or 4 souvenirs I'd expect you'd need to take minimally $100 to $200 just for her.

I'm sure alot of people are able to be much more frugal than my estimates, but I'm just going by my recent experience compared to my initial expectations.