How much do YOU think we should take?

[TR_Wolf]

I know this is probably covered somewhere on the other 21 pages, but I wanted a direct answer, so any help appreciated.

My boyfriend Phil and I (Adam), are going to WDW from Sept 30th - Oct 14th 2005, staying in Disney's All Star Music Resort.

How much do you think we should take for spending money? We want to get some souveniers, not tons, and we probably will eat at fast foody places in the day (in resorts), but might like to do a proper meal of an evening, also we're not sure on whether we're hiring a car for 2 days yet (to go Universal Studios and I-Drive etc, but we might just get public transport).

So knowing all this, how much would you recommend we take to be comfortable? We've been to DLP loads, but its Phil's first time at one of the American Disneys, so I want it to be perfect for him.

But yeah, how much (in pounds) do you think we should take? Much appreciated! :wink:

[american idol]

it's hard to say, are all your tickets, hotel, car hire going to be paid for?

if you want to see how much it is to eat in WDW then go to the dining section on the site and have a look at the menus to get an idea of prices- you need to add 15-20% for gratuity to get a fair picture. It is quite expensive to have a sit down meal on property in the evening.

[TR_Wolf]

it's hard to say, are all your tickets, hotel, car hire going to be paid for?

if you want to see how much it is to eat in WDW then go to the dining section on the site and have a look at the menus to get an idea of prices- you need to add 15-20% for gratuity to get a fair picture. It is quite expensive to have a sit down meal on property in the evening.

Yep, tickets and hotel are paid for already, dunno if car hire's going ahead or not so dont worry about that.

But thats what Im asking, how much we should take inculding food and tips etc etc. I need a general figure really.

[Mickeymac]

That is soooo tough, and I read somewhere that Disney says it's about $150US per day to feed a family of four, buy souveiniers, and such, but I know that when DH and I go for a nice sit down dinner, that could be one meal. :eek:

We budget $200 per day, for our family of four; four two adults, I would consider the $150 figure, and bring a credit card for any 'must sees/must haves' outside of the budget. I can, however, make do with much much less, and when I take the kids down and live out of our room, spend about $25-$30US per day, but this is with eating out of our room and packing lunches, which it does not sound like you will be doing.

Does that help?

[Pebbles32]

I agree with Mickeymac. We figure about 100-150 us a day for food with the four of us. We eat breakfast in our rooms with food we picked up at a grocery store and then bring snacks into the parks and have one big meal a day. We did well with that budget but that wasn't counting any must have/sees. With our two kids some of the meals in the parks were pretty big so sometimes they shared. I would also suggest looking at the places to eat and deciding what you want and then budget from there. The most expensive meal we had was at the Contemporary Resort at the Concourse Steakhouse and that was 100/us without tip.

[TR_Wolf]

150 dollars? So about 100 quid a day (if we ate in the parks?), thats 1400 quid in total... but if it was just for two of us, then call it about a grand.... you think £1000 would be enough? I suppose we can try and scrape that together.

[Cindernaenae]

Since you're staying on site have you thought about the new Magic Your Way Dining Plan? With food being such a major ?? expense, it's nice to have some meals paid for in advance. We'll be trying it on our next trip.

[Pebbles32]

Are you figuring that for everything? I think that figures about $1800.00 in US? Right? I think that should be enough unless big meals every meal. Hope I am helping some. We have never tried to magic you way with dining but it may be a good idea. I always budget big. I would rather have too much money than not enough. I think we spent about $1500.00 last trip with food and must haves.

[BARRYK]

Hi
you are staying at an all star resort so you can buy a refiilable mug so that saves you money .
If you say budget £7 each for braekfast ( you do nt have to spend all of it ) at the food court ,
You can buy some decent snacks at the parks again budget £9 - £11 each ,
and if you are hungry about the same at the Food court at night .
Alcohol is quite expensive at the resort hotels .
Barry

[BevW]

One day I'm going to have to sit down and figure out how much money I actually spend per day at WDW.

We don't eat outside the resort...but I know a lot of the UOG members do this to save money. It can get pricey in the parks, but you can also find some really good deals. Also remember that the sit down restaurants serve BIG portions.

I would do the conservative route with food and say about $40-50 a day per person. As for souviners....you can find stuff on sale...ask a Castmember...or get those inexpensive items...magnets..pins...bumper stickers...pens...there's lots you can purchase.

[Mickeymac]

TR, part of the problem is that everyone's spending habits are sooo varied. Your best bet is to peruse the menus on this site and consider what you might eat; tabulate up some possible meals, consider what you might buy in a day for snacks. Multiply that up by the number of days and voila! A total that you both might be able to work with, and go from there.

[OKWTink]

I just saw this thread. You'll be at WDW during the Food and Wine Festival. That has the potential to eat up a lot of cash fast. No pun intended. You can go through some serious money walking around the world showcase sampling the food, wine and beer.

You might want to consider that when budgeting.

[TR_Wolf]

I just saw this thread. You'll be at WDW during the Food and Wine Festival. That has the potential to eat up a lot of cash fast. No pun intended. You can go through some serious money walking around the world showcase sampling the food, wine and beer.

You might want to consider that when budgeting.

Thanks! Luckily neither of us drink, so no beer or wine ;)

I'd say we'd probably get the equivalent of an English or Continental breakfast daily, something similar to a burger and fries etc for lunch, and a sit-down dinner somewhere, maybe with a hot dog or chocky bar thrown in somewhere in the day.

I think about £1500 will do us both for everything for 2 weeks, but we'll save up as much as possible!

Thanks for all your continued help everyone, you're really giving me stuff to think about! :)

[OKWTink]

No food?! :eek: No alcohol I can understand, but are you sure about the no food thing? :wink:

[TR_Wolf]

No food?! :eek: No alcohol I can understand, but are you sure about the no food thing? :wink:

Edited, smarty pants :wink:

[OKWTink]

LOL! That's a relief. I had visions of both of you fainting away from hunger! :wink:

Have fun!

[Mickeymac]

Thanks for all your continued help everyone, you're really giving me stuff to think about!

Then remember to add a little sumfins for all us here at home, waiting for trip reports! :D

[TR_Wolf]

Then remember to add a little sumfins for all us here at home, waiting for trip reports! :D

Its the least I could do :) Consider it done :)

[arcamalpha2003]

LOL! That's a relief. I had visions of both of you fainting away from hunger! :wink:

Have fun!

Paramedics may be puzzled too when they cant smell any alcohol ! :rotfl:

Bill.

[Belle230]

I would take about $1,000. It goes fast!:thumbs:

[TR_Wolf]

I would take about $1,000. It goes fast!:thumbs:

Thanks hun, I was planning to take £1500, which currently is $2,838.35, think that'll be enough for the both of us for two weeks (food, drink, souveniers, car hire etc?)

[YNWA]

150 dollars? So about 100 quid a day (if we ate in the parks?), thats 1400 quid in total... but if it was just for two of us, then call it about a grand.... you think £1000 would be enough? I suppose we can try and scrape that together.
Hello

Me and my fiance are going about the same time as you. We take about $50 per day per person, this will easily cover food, drinks and snacks as well as eveing meal. Maybe opt for another $25 per day for buying items but you wouldnt be doing that every day so that woorks about £400 per person, when we go for two weeks I take around £600 per person to cover going to the malls etc.

We took £700 last year and came back with £150!! Take as much as you can, if you dont spend it you will always be able to exchange it back when your home!:lol:

[ALLTIGGEREDOUT]

When we go (me DW and DD14) we take £100 per day to spend on food drink souveneirs etc and that lasts us no problem.We do go to Walmart though on our first day and stock up on cereal,drinks etc but we also eat out in restaurants as well,so we don't go budget mad.

[Gwendolyn]

Hmmm we're trying to calculate how much to bring too. But we are using the MYW dining plan. So the rest is only for souvenirs etc. But how much souvenirs will one buy when knowing one'll not be back for 3 years.

[babybelle]

For our trip next year, (2A & 3 C 11,8,6) I am hoping to take a minimum of £3000 for 3 weeks. Our passes, car hire and insurance will already be paid up front. We usually spend quite a bit on juices, water and ice creams as we spend most days in the parks. I am really hoping this will be enough!

[Lizzy]

If you 'fill up' more on breakfast you can save quite a bit of money on lunch cos you can survive on snacks rather than a full meal, then a nice big dinner in the evening which you'll really enjoy =]

[TR_Wolf]

If you 'fill up' more on breakfast you can save quite a bit of money on lunch cos you can survive on snacks rather than a full meal, then a nice big dinner in the evening which you'll really enjoy =]

I can still have a huge breakfast, I'm not missing out on lunch! lol! I like my food too much! lol

We've worked out that we're going to take about £2000 which is roughly 3500 dollars, that should cover everything comfortably for the 2 weeks the boyfriend and I are there...now it's just a case of saving it all up! 4 months today! :)

[psdjmem]

The only suggestion is that instead of expensive dinners do your lunch as your big meal :eatdrink: of the day, many resturants have pretty much the same food items but smaller portions and less cost you can save :twocents: a little bit doing that -- then you can walk off all those yummy calories the rest of the afternoon and have a dinner at the food court or we like to munch our way around the parks :mickeybar: and have a light dinner. Maybe pick one or two places you really want to have a special :date: dinner at and splurge a little there. We eat all our breakfasts in our room saves on the cost and a time saver for us too. Hope that helps some :)

[TR_Wolf]

We've worked it out, and the total we can get together (if Phil doesnt get the backpay he's owed soon), is £1200, possibly a tiny bit less due to the new house eating all our money, so that would currently be $2098 for the two of us in total... that should be enough shouldnt it? :)

It'll be a tight squeeze!! (Although if he gets his backpay, we're laughing!)

[JuniorMickey]

What do you need to pay for while your there? Food and souvinears? THe amount you put would give you each just under $75/per day if that's the case. That should be just fine.

[miraclemoments]

We've worked it out, and the total we can get together (if Phil doesnt get the backpay he's owed soon), is £1200, possibly a tiny bit less due to the new house eating all our money, so that would currently be $2098 for the two of us in total... that should be enough shouldnt it? :)

Honestly? Yes, I think it will. Especially since you know what you're going with up front, you can budget and plan and I truly think you'll do fine.

When we went as a family of four, barring a few special dinners here and there, we averaged about $100/day for the four of us...so I think you two will be just fine!!

You'll have a GREAT time!!!

[lindsayuk]

I just typed out a huge reply and it just deleted itself!!!! I hate it when that happens! So to cut it short this time....

We took £2000 ($3500) for the 2 of us for 2 weeks, staying off site, all tickets paid for.

We didnt have any sit down meals in the parks, but found that a fast food meal cost roughly $25 for the 2 of us (burgers, chips, juice and the occasional cake). Every couple of days we'd stick some money in a kitty to save either of us spending more on the food and drink, my boyfriend is WAY too good at sticking his hand in his pocket and I'd have felt guilty if he was paying the majority of the time.

Am I right that it was you that said you were intending on buying most of your clothes there? The prices are a **** of a lot cheaper but if your on a tight budget i'd suggest you take enough clothes with you and don't depend to much on buying stuff. As a pair of guys you probably won't have any trouble buying clothes, nothing was really to my taste so I only got jeans, but then i'm a girl. My boyfriend got plenty! As trainers are bulky you should maybe refrain from takig a spare pair and getting them there, there less than half the UK price! We never made it to I-Drive but we went to both The Florida Mall and the Premium Outlets. Both ewre good, but it depends what you like.

From the £1000 each i came home with about £250 my boyfriend brought back $20 and a credit card bill for his PSP. We both bought a lot though! On a budget you'd probably spend less on souvenirs, we came home with our cases full (yet not ovreweight :) ) As he said, he'd saved for it and didn't care if he brought any money home. We could have spent a lot more, just avoid spending too long in the disney shops!!

Hope you have a great holiday, it was our first time and it certainly won't be our last! In the end don't worry too much about the money side of things, the magic of Disney will help you forget all about that! After a breakfast buffet we found we weren't hungry again till mid-afternoon, eating then tided us over till we got home at night.

PS. I'd strongly recommend Disney's chocolate coated pretzels!

[mommyoeo]

Definitely upgrade to the dining plan! It would cost only $70 for a couple each day, and as you can read, most couples spend much more than that! It will include a counter service meal, sit-down meal and a snack for each of you each for night you stay. Look into it, at least. I'll never go to Disney again without it because it saves so much money.

[ukwdwnut]

eating at the ressy' in the parks, we found was cheaper, and much better(loved the chinese at epcot)than the fast food joints :D

[victorlowe]

I am, of course, a cheapskate who like to stretch every penny. :D

I think $40 per adult per day for food (inside the parks) on average is about right (WDW Resort dining plans do save a few dollars, IMHO).

Eating breakfast on the I-Drive makes it much less, for off-site guests!

Of course, you can spend far more or get by on a bit less, but that's what I have spent recently. I don't actually plan it carefully, just charging what I need and looking at the bill when I get home!

[ukwdwnut]

as we stay offsite in a villa we tend to cook more there than eat out at restaurants then the $ go that much further do do other stuff with :D

[teeg44]

Just know that a burger, fries, coke in the disney parks is over $12 now. If you do dinner in the city, away from WDW, you can get by pretty cheap ($20 each for a nice dinner). Local favorites are Chili's, Macaroni Grill, Carrabas, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse. Uno's Pizza is good too. The food at WDW isn't the highest quality... just the highest priced.

[TR_Wolf]

Just know that a burger, fries, coke in the disney parks is over $12 now. If you do dinner in the city, away from WDW, you can get by pretty cheap ($20 each for a nice dinner). Local favorites are Chili's, Macaroni Grill, Carrabas, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse. Uno's Pizza is good too. The food at WDW isn't the highest quality... just the highest priced.


Well that's what's worrying me now, it turns out now we can only afford £1000/$1756 spending money for the 2 of us for 2 weeks, now not planning a major shopping trip aside to buy a pair of jeans each and a couple of shirts, nothing major, no souveneirs, we also cant hire a car because Phil's still waiting for his replacement "paper-bit" of his licence cos he lost his, and we'd love to go to say Ponderosa for a $3.99 buffet breakfast, but if its going to cost us like 15 bucks to get there by taxi and the same back, its just not worth it :(

I mean I hope we should be able to afford to eat in the parks etc as we like as long as we dont go crazy, as well as a bus to Universal Studios (and tickets for a day), and maybe a visit to Hoop De Doo or various little bits on I-Drive (I guess we will be able to afford to), but it really would be nice to go to some of the food places on I-Drive, but its just not cheap or practical to do so without a car is it? :unsure:

[Mickeymac]

Wolf, have you thought of taking the bus to DTD and walking across the DTD resort area to Crossroads? There's a food shop there (we buy stuff for our hotel room for breakfast and snacking) and also a plethora of restaurants. Just a thought...

[TR_Wolf]

Wolf, have you thought of taking the bus to DTD and walking across the DTD resort area to Crossroads? There's a food shop there (we buy stuff for our hotel room for breakfast and snacking) and also a plethora of restaurants. Just a thought...

I've not heard of this crossroads area, thank you for the suggestion, can you clarify where/what this is for me? Also any recommendations there for breakfast buffets or good priced dinner etc?

Also I might get stuff from the shop for breakfast, but whether butter will last in the hotel room I dunno ;)

Thanks again :wiggle:

[Johnie]

Crossroads is a shopping plaza across from the entrance to Downtown Disney. You can take a bus from your resort to Downtown Disney and then walk over to Crossroads. It shouldn't be a bad walk since they now have sidewalks.

Crossroads has a Goodings grocery store, McDonalds, Red Lobster, Jungle Jims, Pizzaria Uno, Taco Bell and lots more restaurants as well.

[Lizzy]

I've not heard of this crossroads area, thank you for the suggestion, can you clarify where/what this is for me? Also any recommendations there for breakfast buffets or good priced dinner etc?

Also I might get stuff from the shop for breakfast, but whether butter will last in the hotel room I dunno ;)

Thanks again :wiggle:

Maybe you can rent a fridge for your room if you plan on eating in there several times.. Not sure if/which Disney resorts offer that though.

[JuniorMickey]

there is a dorm-sized fridge in the moderate and deluxe resorts free of charge. It's a $10 per day charge at a value

[Lizzy]

there is a dorm-sized fridge in the moderate and deluxe resorts free of charge. It's a $10 per day charge at a value

Ahh same as our off-site one! It was well worth it for us as we could chill our water and store some food for light meals some nights/days if we didn't feel like going out to eat.

[Marks friend]

everytime we have been , we eat only in the parks, we think it is a waste of precious time to go out and eat somewhere else. Just wanted to say that our counter meals which usually consisted of 2 burgers and fries and one lrg coke and a kids meal averaged $20. It is not that bad, you just have to watch things, take some water into the parks w/ you and drink it to save some money. When we went in May a family of 4 we took $1000 and only spent about $850 of it that was with 3 character dinings and the buffet in Germany-Epcot so 4 sit down dinners. We didn't go crazy on souveniers, but we did let the kids buy several things. Disney is not that expensive since a normal take out meal for my family averages around $15. We also bought popcorn a lot as a snack, very economical, large snack and comes w/ a souveneir bucket! you can go w/a little money and have a good time. This weekend I am only planning on taking $200 and hopefully will come home w/some!

[TR_Wolf]

Ok here's the final:

We go on friday.

We cant hire a car because we dont have the new license yet (ah well)

We now have a total of $2402.00 for both of us for 2 weeks. Think that'll be enough? :)

[Johnie]

Are the tickets and room paid for? If so, I think you have plenty of money.

I went back and re-read. You'll have plenty of money. Have a great time! We'll be there on Sat.

[Lizzy]

Sounds enough to me, you'll have a great time on that amount =]

[lovinmom]

Yes- You will have plenty. That is twice what we spend on our family of four for meals and a few souvineers. Have a GREAT time!!!

[DisneyMad]

TR Wolf:
Well?
Was it enough?

[TR_Wolf]

TR Wolf:
Well?
Was it enough?

We came back with $30 :P

We could've come back with more if we wanted, or spent more if we wanted.

See my trip report in the trip report section! :)