Budget- how much do you think?

[dotty]

Hi, my last 2 trips I have had limited funds due to last minute expenses however they were still brilliant holidays. In October we took £1000 for 3 of us for 10 days and we ate out everyday, no parking as we stayed in the bubble but did catch an Uber to universal, here we walked to Applebee’s and golf. We mixed restaurants such as t-Rex with Wolfgang puck, ate snacks such as elephant ears for breakfast and had brunch at satu canteen. I stressed a little before going but we actually ate well and started to enjoy the challenge of budgeting £100 per day and any left over funds rolled over.
This year I plan to have more as there are 5 of us going however I still hope secretly to be save some pennies along the way.

[Pluchesteven1]

This is what i have in mind for our trip in july... note that we split the parking fee in 2 because we have 2 family’s in 1 car every day.
Example spending money Orlando Florida: budget per day= 230$ for 3 persons!
Breakfast allready paid in hotel.
230$
-13$ parking cash
———
217
-75$ lunch mob ord. MasterCard
———-
142$
-12$ drinks outside of lunch or dinner cash (1 per day per person the rest is free water)
———-
130$
-45$ diner mob ord. MasterCard
————
85$
-25 Coffee ive Cream or other small treaths cash
————
60$
-10$ cash (small unexpected things)
————
50$ cash Left for souveniers or picture’s, gas for the car, things we did not think about yet...

Planning to pay like 110$ a day with cash money and 120$ with MasterCard for food order with mobile order. (No table service restaurants) I have a very good feeling with this amount per day and i am sure we Will have enough to spend without having to deny ourself anything.

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by Pluchesteven1

This is what i have in mind for our trip in july... note that we split the parking fee in 2 because we have 2 family’s in 1 car every day.
Example spending money Orlando Florida: budget per day= 230$ for 3 persons!
Breakfast allready paid in hotel.
230$
-13$ parking cash
———
217
-75$ lunch mob ord. MasterCard
———-
142$
-12$ drinks outside of lunch or dinner cash (1 per day per person the rest is free water)
———-
130$
-45$ diner mob ord. MasterCard
————
85$
-25 Coffee ive Cream or other small treaths cash
————
60$
-10$ cash (small unexpected things)
————
50$ cash Left for souveniers or picture’s, gas for the car, things we did not think about yet...

Planning to pay like 110$ a day with cash money and 120$ with MasterCard for food order with mobile order. (No table service restaurants) I have a very good feeling with this amount per day and i am sure we Will have enough to spend without having to deny ourself anything.

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I’ve tried to work out mine depending on what we are doing that day. No doubt everything will change and we could go either under or over budget.
If hubby would just get on board with planning etc would be a lot easier

[Ronniesmom]

We returned a couple of weeks ago. Budgeted $120
A day for two adults and 1 child aged 6. We had breakfast included but had 3 breakfasts out also. Ate a mix of park food and chain restaurants. $120 was plenty.

[archibald]

We put all spend on the Post Office credit cards - we take a bit of cash but usually use it up in the last couple of days. I don't like having large limits on the cards in case of loss/fraud etc, so set up a payment from the bank halfway through the holiday to make sure we have plenty of credit to see us through. It would be easier if you could 'load' the card with credit before you go, but it's not really allowed anymore is it?

We generally spend about $120-$140 each day for two adults and two young teens, stay off site and only really eat twice each day depending on our plans (and how many times we pass Steak n Shake in happy hour :-)). This includes food, parking, fuel, shopping and activities away from the parks.

Would an interim payment from your bank account help you?

[RachelE]

In the parks, I would think your kids could probably share a kids quick service meal (or if they are big eaters, share an adult quick service meal, which is likely to still be cheaper than two kids meals).

[EssexSue]

We took lunches into the parks then ate in the evening. We bought wraps etc from Walmart and made them up, using frozen water bottles to keep them cool. Add crisps and biscuits and you will save a fortune.

[scoobydooby]

For three weeks I’d triple your 1k. Even then I’d your eating out and not cooking you’re going to have to be careful. Have a look at Dixonsontour food trippie $100 a day. This will help you think about food costs.

[NewtoOrlando]

We have been for 17 days and 19 days previously. Last year we took $1200 in cash, had $1600 on the revolut card, had £800 back up money in the bank, and had a Halifax clarity card for extras if needed. We were onsite for the dining plan for 5 nights, and had 2 days club level at HRH. We're a family of 4 with kids who were 12 & 10 last year. They had their own money too, of about $300 each. We came home with about £400 and the kids came home with $100 each. We don't scrimp on anything, and if some goes on a credit card, it goes on the card, we spent a fair bit on it, but it's now clear for this years trip. We like to shop, but this year we're only there for 12 days so will take half of that and wont shop as much (she says!) Eating out is our biggest expense, the kids still ate kids meals last year, so with little kids I think sharing a QS meal in the park will save money, if you get an adult nugget and chips you get 8 nuggets and theyre huge, so when we first went my 2 would share (10 & 8 at the time) I also take snacks with me, like little packs of mini biscuits, crisps, cereal bars, pain au chocolat etc and take them into the parks with us to cut down on the huge snacks out there. I think budgets are very much an individual thing, we don't really look at what we're spending usually, this year will be different as wont be taking as much so have t make it last!

[Disney_time]

This is just me, but I try to limit my spending on credit cards abroad because of the non-sterling transaction fees that add 3%. I'm just too mean to pay that on top. OP Have you got time before you go to apply for the Halifax Clarity or one that doesn't charge these fees.

The other big expense I would try to minimise would be parking at the theme parks. Does your off site hotel have free transfers? Using them requires a bit of planning, and you can't be so spontaneous with coming and going, but there's always uber if you can't work round the timetable of the bus every time.

Have the kids got their own spending money for the parks?

Lastly, meal sharing is the way to go in the parks. When we are in the US, we very rarely have more than 2 meals a day, especially if one is a hotel breakfast, and we are pretty good at catering in a hotel room for snack lunches for pool days etc.

Just some ways to stretch your budget.

Have a great trip!