What's a good amount to budget for our Disney trip?

[mewantDisney]

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!

 

[gwhb75]

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!

We went in September, and the total cost (including flights) was around $3,500 (including souveniers, etc). We had the free meal plan though. If you budget $150-$200 for souveniers you should be good (go to Downtown Disney. There are some good deals to be found if you are willing to look around a bit (e.g. we got an I-Mickey (you hook your IPOD up to it) for $20)).

Food can get pricy at the Magic Kingdom. Quick service meals can run you around $30-$40 per meal (for the family). A sit down meal is quite a bit more (especially if you are doing character dining) - say $100 to $120 per meal (for the family).

That's the big things. Sounds like you've considered everything else (I can relate...I'm an accountant and budget everything).

 

[MattyFresh]

100 million dollars!!! :drevil:


sorry I just couldn't resist

 

[goodtimes5286]

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!

You seam to be doing a really good job with budgeting, completly the oppisate of how i like to run things, but its different strokes for diff folks (depending on the monitary situation). You seam to have a lot of stuff covered pretty well (and were the tickets you got cheaper than the gates? b/c ive looked around and i cant find any tickets better than the price disney offers during there deals).

Food and souv's are the only real estimations you need, my dad and i usually average $50 per day per person (so 100 total) for food, but then again we usually eat 3 quick service meals, or 2 and a snack or 2. If your frugal (not cheep lol), than you might follow suit and look to spend like $15 per person per meal (esp if ur DD macks offa you) Sitdown your probably looking at more like $20=25 per meal, and snacks will net you between $5-10 depending on the snack per person. You seam pretty good at estimating (and you know how many sitdowns/quick services you want), so i would say just use the numbers to estimate based on your preference. Buffet areas will cost a concideribly larger amount, and you might not get the same value (b/c your daughter will be charged as a kid and she sounds like she doesnt really take her fair share). BUT if you like the ambiance then you'll have to add that cost in. I would go for breakfast to those places though b/c its much cheaper then dinner.

Souv's is your other expense, now if you guys go nuts gettin pics and clothes and other misc stuff, then $150-200 will probably be about right for that. If you have a tight wallet, you might not even spend a penny. Us 2 usually spend about $50 or $100 during christams time. 1 ride poster, a couple pins, a hat during christmas, etc.

Oh and another expense your going to incur is $12 for parking per day. That really adds up and when im not on site its the one expense that always burns me (b/c i forget about it and its SO MUCH).

I hope this helps and good luck

 

[mewantDisney]

100 million dollars!!! :drevil:

Hey, we can dream, lol.

 

[BrerMouse]

When we went in March, there were 3 adults and we got a large pizza at our resort a couple of nights and it feed all of three of us with some left to snack on and it was only 15 bucks, one of the better deals at the World. For 8 days and 7 nights, we ended up only spending about 400 on food excluding alcohol and we ate breakfast in the room most mornings. So you should probably come in anywhere in that range. I spent probably 250 on souviners, mostly shirts, hoodies, picture frames, art work, and thats about it. My big purchase was a David E. Doss painting. :ROFLOL:But it sounds like you have everything already lined up. And instead of eating at the MK you can ride the monorail to the Contemp, Poly, or GF for meals. All three have quick service with different options. Have fun.

 

[Beccone]

Food has always been a major sore spot for my husband when we go so thankfully we are doing the free dining this year but in the past we have been frugal. We always eat breakfeast in our room, we bring small boxes of cereal for the kids, pop tarts, granola bars, fruit. Then for lunches we would usually share a sandwich and get 2 sides, brought out own snacks, small bags of chips, popcorn, fruit snacks for the kids. Then for dinner we would splurge and do a nice sit down meal, the kids love the character meals and to me it's worth the money. When we went last August we probably spent about $1000 for 2 adults, a 13 yr old, 6 yr old, 5 yr old and 2 yr old.

As far as buying things for the kids, I tried to be practical in what we bought them. Of course we get the autograph books and pens ( $10 for the books, $3 for the pens) for each child. I have each child pose with the character when they get their autograph and then I make a mini photo album for them when we get home. We had saved quarters and pennies for about a year prior to our trip for the penny press machines and we got each of the little guys a book to hold the pennies in (books were about $10 each). In Epcot we did the Kidcot stations, that's a great little souvenior right there and it's free! We also got my 5 and 6 yr olds the Passport books in Epcot for the World Showcase (again maybe $10). My mother in law got the kids a few things but for us that was about it. Best part about these things are we are going back this August and they already have everything, just going to bring it back with us.

 

[sueuk]

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!

You don't sound cheap to me, you sound like a young couple trying to have a great holiday - been there done that!! Have a fab time.:wave:

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

What ever you budget youll still be out by 20%.:animwink:

 

[DizneyPryncess]

I drive from PA too :wave:

A few driving tips we just discovered:
-Gas in the south is cheaper than in the north for the most part. We would fill up more frequently in the south to take us farther, and then wait until empty to fill in the north.
-Stop at Welcome Centers of the states you are going to be sleeping in and pick up coupon books. We were able to find coupons for decent hotels for $40, when normally we would've paid more.

Are you planning on doing any activities? Mini-golf, water sports, tours? Probably not since you have a 5 month old, but those are other activities besides the park are always something to think about when you're budgeting.

Also, are you planning on buying the photopass CD or any photopass photos? The individual photos can add up. Sometimes they are so worth getting though, especially if you do a lot of character photos with the kids.

And of course, as others have said, even quick service in Disney is expensive. Plus, snacks & drinks throughout the day will add up to.

Sounds like you've planned & budgeted very well. Whatever number you come up with, plan on spending a bit more, just in case!

 

[Since1976]

I've recommended to my first-timer friends to budget a *minimum* $2600 for a family of four -- meals, lodging at a value resort, park tickets, and souvenirs. I also assumed they were driving, since many choose to in this rough economy.

This has pretty much worked out all right for my friends, though I have to admit my family hasn't budgeted this way ever since we purchased a timeshare.

 

[hbrady77]

Family of 6, flying from Maine (JetBlue), rent a van, staying at a friend's time share, 5 day PHP, packing lunch, 5 sit down meals. Total budget, $6,500 :hammer:

 

[timeman]

With gas prices changing all the time your fuel costs may go up or stay around the same. Last year I found a site that updates prices every day using actual sales and even if you don't know the zip code of an area you can zoom in on the map to any area and find out the gas prices. This comes in handy when traveling I95. Usually the cheapest gas is in South Carolina you can check it out the day before you go to plan on where you may stop to fill up on gas. Here is the site.
http://autos.msn.com/everyday/GasStationsBeta.aspx

 

[Jebiford29]

That's a REALLY handy tool.

 

[Princess8813]

Maybe add some money for tolls. As far as a food budget. It depends on if you're eating breakfast in your room. We always took snacks and energy bars etc... to munch on at the parks. We also would just drink water. These seem to hold the cost down a great deal. Good luck and have fun.

 

[heliumalias]

If you really want to save money on food then I recommend having at least one meal off-property and out of your hotel. Meals on-site tend to cost around double of their off-site equivalent.
If you share drinks then a quick service meal for 2 will cost about $20. Disney are quite good with the Kids QS meals and there's now loads of variety.
If you do have a sit-down meal onsite then have breakfast or lunch (the lunch menu is often significantly cheaper than the dinner one, and for buffets the menu is the same).
Don't pay for photos. Take your own camera and ask the cast members to take one for you. I have yet to be refused this "service".
Parking is expensive but don't forget that the ticket is valid for the entire day and covers you for all the parks. (Parking at the water parks and Downtown disney is free).
Oddly one of the cheapest places for gas is the onsite Hess Gas station. Offsite can cost a lot more.

 

[Susan Savia]

We tend to eat a counter service meal for lunchtime but offsite for dinner to save $. If you want to have a table service meal, try a late lunch as its somewhat less costly then having a dinner. Having bread, peanut butter, juice etc in the morning before leaving your room would save and bring some snacks into the parks. I carry a bottled water with me and when empty refill from a water fountain. We don't tend to buy many souviners either. Your budget of $150 to $200 sounds good. You can buy autograph (and markers) books before leaving home for much less. There are Kidcot places throughout World Showcase for the children for free. On our last trip to the World I got a big scrapbook kit and some tees and hats for the men in my family (to put up for NEXT Christmas!!) Since were going back in February 2010...have a wonderful time!!

 

[mewantDisney]

Thanks for the great advice!

 

[wdwmomof3]

With everything paid for in advance including the dining plan, we still take at least 1K with us. We bring a lot of it home though.

 

[unkadug]

1 Million dollars :drevil:

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Sorry...I couldn't resist.