Spending Money

[youngatheart21]

What would you say is the average spending money for a week at Walt Disney World? I am going with my husband and my 6 year old. Just wondering so I could start saving.

 

[DarkImage4]

What's your annual income? just kidding....

I'd estimate that my wife and I went through at least $1000 in 7 days there....

I could be a little off.

Of course, we bought everything that we wanted, and our meal were part of the plan, so that should even out....

I'd err on the high side of things. It'll be easier to decide to spend less than what you have available than to start breaking out the plastic.

(I didn't include park passes or hotel in my estimate...)

Hope this helps...and I hope I'm not too far off....

 

[bailey5697]

Originally posted by youngatheart21
What would you say is the average spending money for a week at Walt Disney World? I am going with my husband and my 6 year old. Just wondering so I could start saving.

We are staying at OKW, so we are saving on at least breakfasts (Which ran us about $50 a day last year). So with that said, I will be there 6 days before the cruise and I am bringing at least $1000 (I am trying to swing more, but thats already saved.) The cruise is going on my charge, so that could run another $300 for drinks and souvenirs. But I'll pay for that a month later when I get my charge card bill.
Oh BTW, We are also Mom, Dad, and a 6 year old. :animwink:

 

[tigsmom]

There are 4 of us an we usually do 4 days in WDW. We allow about $1,000, but always have a little extra (just in case). We usually have a big breakfast and graze the rest of the day (sometimes our big meal is dinner so we reverse it.) Usually do a good deal of shopping, too. Sometimes we even come home with money left over (but not too often!!)

 

[Dwarful]

Hey Youngatheart, spending money is hard to guestamate. There are so many factors...will you be buying alot of souvineers? Smashed pennies/quarters, pins? photos? etc.

our family tend to eat a big breakfast before entering the parks, then we eat a late lunch (cheaper than dinner, similar food) and have snacks etc.

there are ways to save if you really need/want to. For example you could bring along a backpack into the park w/ snacks if your child likes raisins, cheese & crackers etc. If your staying onsite buy the drink mug it pays for itself.

I would read some guide books they often have tips on how to properly budget for your family. Its defianately better to have extra than not enough though.

 

[BRER STITCH]

:wave:

I always ask my friends:

"Do you want to save money....or do you want to have fun?!?!?!?!?" :lol:

Seriously, the only rule when it comes to spending money at Disney is that they will gladly take any amount you bring!

:lol:

$50 a day/person should be adequate if you don't plan to go nuts on souvenirs! (To answer your question, $1050 should get you guys through a GREAT week!)

 

[leeocean]

Originally posted by BRER STITCH
:wave:

Seriously, the only rule when it comes to spending money at Disney is that they will gladly take any amount you bring!

:lol:

No kidding! hehe! My bf and I usually budget $150 a day for both of us and do at least one big meal a day (Cali Grill, Ohana, Royal Table) and we still have money when we go home even though we buy souvenirs.

 

[youngatheart21]

Thanks for the advice!!

I am taking about $2,000. I think that shoud be enough based on what you guys told me.


THANKS!!!

 

[Mitzer]

I would have to agree with everyone here. It isn't cheap to go to WDW, that is for sure. I think you are doing well with $2K, but if you have time, keep saving. It never hurts to have too much money with you, because you can always bring whats left home. But what you have planned will provide your family a great vacation. Have a splendid time at Disney and say hello to Mickey from me.

 

[dixiegirl]

money.....

ok , i guess my husband and i are a little crazy but we usally bring about 2,500- 3,000$ . not that we spend all of that but if there is something that we want we'll buy it....it's really our only time that we splurge like that ......and we have a 3 year old........just imagine when she can tell us what she wants.........going back in sept.......wooooooohoooooo

 

[celticdog]

Here are some examples for what two adults spent. This does not included lodging or transportation.

7 nights at WDW: $1150 (including food)

4 night Disney cruise: $1100 (includes shore excursions)

As you can see we spent a lot on the cruise, that's because my girlfriend had to make ship-to-shore phone calls every day ($200),a mojority of the cruise expense was what she spent in the gift shop ($500). Also, our WDW expenses included us buying Christmas presents for family members.

My rule of thumb for WDW: food at 75 per day, spending money at $100 per day.

 

[kosherkid411]

I'm planning a trip to WDW for Fall Break 2003. I'm college student, so I don't have much money. We managed to get free park hopper passes because my friend's uncle works there. But for hotel, meals, and suvieneoirs, our goal is not to go over $125 a day. I will be work all summer to pay for the trip, but it will be worth it! I figure that to stay at an All-Star in October will run me about $60 a night. That leave me with $65 a day to spend on food and souveniors. We'll probably get one nice meal or buffet on our trip and try to have one sit down meal a day. That's the plan at least. Hope this helps.

 

[Scooter]

My wife and I bring $500 in cash...$500 dollars in travelers checks and a major credit card for a weeklong stay at WDW.

We spend the cash first, saving some for cash tipping on the way home. Then we spend the Travelers checks and try to make them last so we have one left when we get home..That last Travelers check is the "Seed money" for our next WDW trip.:animwink:

We always bring a major credit card in case we run across that high-priced "Must Have" Disney Item that we hadn't counted on buying. :hammer:

We've never had to skimp and we've never ran out of money while on vacation so it seems to work for us.

It's better to bring too much money than not enough. Any leftover can go in the bank for your next Magical Vacation.

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

We stayed concierge in February at the Poly. I charged everything to my room just to see how much money we would spend. We stayed 4 nights but 5 whole days.....the total for me, my husband and 17 year old son....$600.00. We did not scrimp or do without. This included souvenirs.....4 sit down meals and everything but occasional sodas in the parks. I think that the concierge level with a discount code off season definitely pays off with sodas, water, fruit and etc. That is just my 2 cents though. I noticed alot of the people staying concierge were taking water and fruit with them to the park and that seems to be fine with the staff.

 

[Main Street USA]

Originally posted by KathyG/poohbear
We stayed concierge in February at the Poly. I charged everything to my room just to see how much money we would spend. We stayed 4 nights but 5 whole days.....the total for me, my husband and 17 year old son....$600.00. We did not scrimp or do without. This included souvenirs.....4 sit down meals and everything but occasional sodas in the parks. I think that the concierge level with a discount code off season definitely pays off with sodas, water, fruit and etc. That is just my 2 cents though. I noticed alot of the people staying concierge were taking water and fruit with them to the park and that seems to be fine with the staff.

Don't you have to pay extra for all of the stuff in the little fridge?

When my wife and I got our free night in the Grand Floridian on the concierge level (wedding night), they had that fridge stocked with goodies, but I was afraid to touch any of it for fear of blowing a hole in my wallet. I did however, grab a little grape fruit drink, but they didn't charge us.

So I was just curious whether or not that was normal.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

There is clearly no definitive answer - it all depends on you and your lifestyle. There is no typical average family and what I consider expensive you may consider trivial (or vice-versa).
My tip would be - work out what you can afford to spend each day / week and take it from there. Take a credit card for emergencies and be careful with "impulse purchases" - remember that it still has to be paid for when you return home.
Whatever you take and however much you spend remember one last thing :-
Have a good time and enjoy yourself !!

 

[Dwarful]

Hey Kosherkidd411, I am sure you can do it on the amount you have planned. Even if you have to scrimp on some things to splurge on others..for example, I always asked for ice water when we would stop for drinks etc. the water didnt taste bad, better than out of the fountains and they didnt charge me. i didn't feel deprived because I knew I would have soda when we got backt o the resort (buy the drink mug at the resort!) But it saved me a few bucks each time...(every 2-3 drinks would pay for another pin for one of the kids) so its all how you look at it. But starving college kids can definately do it! good luck w/ the savings!

 

[Maria]

Originally posted by Main Street USA
Don't you have to pay extra for all of the stuff in the little fridge?

When my wife and I got our free night in the Grand Floridian on the concierge level (wedding night), they had that fridge stocked with goodies, but I was afraid to touch any of it for fear of blowing a hole in my wallet. I did however, grab a little grape fruit drink, but they didn't charge us.

So I was just curious whether or not that was normal.

MSU,
The stuff they put in the "minibar" is never free in any hotel. It´s a great source of $$ for the Rooms Division department. If they didn´t charge you for the juice, it was probably because they were nice to you honeymooning, or most likely, because they didn´t notice it.
In the Concierge levels, there is usually a lounge with a light breakfast, snacks and hoeur d´evres (sp?) that are free because you already paid for them by staying in the Concierge level. I guess you didn´t notice that area during your honeymoon, huh? :animwink:

 

[KathyG/poohbear]

Yes, you are right. My room on the concierge level did not have a mini-bar. It had a refrigerator but it was empty. The food I was referring to is served in the concierge lounge. The Poly has a barrel with ice, that has sodas and water almost 24 hours a day. That saves alot of money there. They put food out at different times and some nights it is sufficient for dinner if you had a good lunch. Other nights, it is not enough. It definitely cuts our expenses though.

 

[RogueHabit]

Most years we spend about £2000.00 for 2 weeks, which included all our meals a couple of shopping trips to the Malls, etc and all that kind of stuff.

However in 2000 when we went we managed to spend an averagte of £468.00 per day, or to put it another way....

£6552.00

in two weeks.

This included 2 new suitcases to carry home all the extra Disney stuff; 2 new pairs of trainers for me, my wife and our son, half a suitcase of assorted WDW baby cloths for the baby we were planning, a leather jacket, 10 pairs of Levi's, 5 beach towels, a pearl necklace and pearl ring form the pearl stall in DAK, 2 heavy denim jackets, about 60 t-shirts, so many WDW pens that to this day we still have unopended packets.

Basically we went MAD. But we had a damned good time and our credit card company LOVED us!!!! :hammer:

Now when we book we both look at each other and swear we'll nevber do that again!!!