Spending money

[Kraken]

With no disrespect to anyone, all the spending money threads wind me up.

If you do a little research, you will quickly see that Orlando can be done on a budget if you make wise dining / dining-in choices if you can self-cater. Tip: Avoid food shopping at Publix - it's expensive. Go to a Wal-Mart where stuff is cheaper. If you avoid the Outlet Malls / normal Shopping Malls / Disney Springs shops, then you can get by on a fairly minimal daily spend.

Of course, as soon as you decide you want to dine out at high-end restaurants / go shopping / stock up on souvenirs at World of Disney, then you are going to blast some cash.

Food in all the parks is generally expensive. As we like to park-hop, we'll eat breakfast in (we stay in self-catering accommodation). Do park 1 then pick something cheap up for lunch at the likes of a 7-11 whilst en-route to the next park, or even return to accommodation if it's suitably en-route.

We eat out every night in Orlando. Sometimes we'll burn over $100 on an evening meal for 2 with drinks & tip. Other nights it can be under $50 depending on where we eat.

To give you a rough idea... on a 17 day holiday 2 years ago we spent $800 each on food & drink for the apartment / evening meals out / gas for the car / shared locker rentals at water parks / parking fees / taxi's / Ubers etc. We paid for our own lunches wherever we ate them if in a park or at a 7-11 etc. If we had a proper sit-down lunch in a restaurant, then it's included in the $800 each.

What is excluded is all shopping at the various Malls / park shops. All the major expenditure like accommodation, hire car & park tickets had been paid for up-front in the UK. Hope this helps.

[rjhsteel]

Spending money threads are very subjective, but can still be very helpful.

[Guest]

With that kind of cash available for spending, i'd be bumping myself up into UC and still have more that enough to spend whilst in the Orlando

[Mikeandrach]

Originally Posted by Kraken

With no disrespect to anyone, all the spending money threads wind me up.

If you do a little research, you will quickly see that Orlando can be done on a budget if you make wise dining / dining-in choices if you can self-cater. Tip: Avoid food shopping at Publix - it's expensive. Go to a Wal-Mart where stuff is cheaper. If you avoid the Outlet Malls / normal Shopping Malls / Disney Springs shops, then you can get by on a fairly minimal daily spend.

Of course, as soon as you decide you want to dine out at high-end restaurants / go shopping / stock up on souvenirs at World of Disney, then you are going to blast some cash.

Food in all the parks is generally expensive. As we like to park-hop, we'll eat breakfast in (we stay in self-catering accommodation). Do park 1 then pick something cheap up for lunch at the likes of a 7-11 whilst en-route to the next park, or even return to accommodation if it's suitably en-route.

We eat out every night in Orlando. Sometimes we'll burn over $100 on an evening meal for 2 with drinks & tip. Other nights it can be under $50 depending on where we eat.

To give you a rough idea... on a 17 day holiday 2 years ago we spent $800 each on food & drink for the apartment / evening meals out / gas for the car / shared locker rentals at water parks / parking fees / taxi's / Ubers etc. We paid for our own lunches wherever we ate them if in a park or at a 7-11 etc. If we had a proper sit-down lunch in a restaurant, then it's included in the $800 each.

What is excluded is all shopping at the various Malls / park shops. All the major expenditure like accommodation, hire car & park tickets had been paid for up-front in the UK. Hope this helps.

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I came into this genuinely not knowing what to expect to bring/spend, so I’m grateful for the replies

[Mikeandrach]

Originally Posted by aldojani

With that kind of cash available for spending, i'd be bumping myself up into UC and still have more that enough to spend whilst in the Orlando

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Haha the thought crossed my mind, we’re going premium with virgin so not too bad

[captain-codeye]

Originally Posted by Mikeandrach

I came into this genuinely not knowing what to expect to bring/spend, so I’m grateful for the replies

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No such thing as a stupid question, only stupid answers (mainly from me&#128514

[khonsu]

This has been touched on by a couple of posts - remember that the USA very much has a tipping culture and, in particular, waiting staff in restaurants are reliant on tips.

The minimum wage in Florida is $8.56 - but employers can actually apply for tip credit which means the minimum wage and be as low as $5.54. They then use tips to top up the difference and only if it is below $8.56 do they need to pay that back to the employee.

Make sense? Apparently it does in America.

So. This is in many guides "If you can't afford to tip - you can't afford to go to America."

You should reckon on 15-20% tipping by my own experience. Up to you of course! Remember - you're tipping the quality of service, not food. Your waiting staff can't help that!

[daytonababe]

We usually go for 3 weeks and travel around a lot , 4 adults and a baby / toddler.

I’ve never spent more than £5k and that includes food , petrol , any resort fees etc and I do a lot of shopping , typically a full case of baby clothes plus other bits for the rest us .


We eat 2 meals out everyday , usually a breakfast like Denny’s and then evening meal which can vary from somewhere like a burger place to the Cheesecake Factory .

[toots82]

I love these threads. I love the thought that we can and will get back. They make me excited and although the replies do vary a lot, its nice to chat about something to do with planning again.

[DonnaD]

Originally Posted by babbymint

A gallon of icecream in walmart is around $2-3 dollars, so they could have 10 a day and it would still only cost you a few quid! If it was me, I'd spend the £3k and save £7k which would pay for next years holiday...

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But a pint of Hagen Daz is more like $5 and a single bar in the theme parks is about $5.50. If the kids are having multiple ice creams or drinks in the parks a day it will certainly add up.