As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
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It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Our trip is PIF. Yay! We are staying at POP from Nov. 28--Dec. 4 and got the free dining plan. It's my hubby, myself and our two young kiddos.
Excluding our travel expenses getting TO/FROM Disney (we're driving), what should I plan to spend daily? Our kids are 4 and 2 years old.
I have a bad feeling I am underestimating the spending money we will need. That's "bad" because we are on a VERY tight budget. I'm putting bits of cash away whenever I can cuz I don't want to use the credit card if at all possible.
I plan to get snacks and bottled water, etc at the grocery store before the trip, and I figure the dining plan will be plenty of food. And my kids are so young that I don't THINK we'll need to spend much on souvenirs (I've been picking up litle Disney trinkets, stickers, bubbles, toys here and there to bring with us and give to them throughout the week).
What am I not thinking of? It's our first family Disney trip.
Since you are on the DP it is good that you shouldn't have to budget "much" for food. I hope you did buffets, because at least those you know how much it will be in advance. If you could list your ADR's on here it would help. The one thing I would budget for is TIPS. You will still have to tip 18-20% of what your meal would have cost. They will give you a receipt showing what 18% is and 20%. I would check out the menus on www.allears.net under the dining section to see anticipated food costs. At least your 2 year old will be free. Also, if you dine at other restaurants that are not buffet, you will either have to let him eat off of your plate or pay for a kids meal. I would budget for PhotoPass pictures or Photo packages that is offered at some of the ADR's (Chef Mickeys, Ohana, 1900 Park Fare- breakfast and dinner, Donald's Safari Breakfast) They typically range around $30. I would say a good range for spending money would be $50-$100 per day would cover practically everything. You will need to tip the luggage people at the resort. You should be able to get by with your snack credits from the dining plan. you will get 3 snacks per night of your stay that can be used for drinks, candy, popcorn, and anything at the snack carts. Since your kids are so young you shouldn't have to budget a ton on souvenirs. Maybe a stuffed animal or two. Good luck and have a good trip. We will overlap we are arriving on December 2- staying at the Poly. I'm so excited for MVMCP.
If you are on a budget it is a good idea to use cash like you said. We had our bank card attached to our room key and ended up charging over $1,200 on I still don't know what. I thought we were way lower than that and had a big surprise when we checked out! We were on the dining plan too and back then the tip was included. Are you budgeting for the tip?
Dining Plan is great! As mentioned, you'd just have to budget for tips for dinners. The CS (counter service) doesn't need tips.
You can buy breakfast stuff for your room. Value resorts don't have fridges, but maybe bagels if your kids will eat them? and peanut butter? Muffins? The food court has toasters you can use.
We have used our snack credits for breakfast. You can get Milk & Cereal, a bagel, muffin, danish in your resort food court. Then paid out of pocket for a snack when we wanted it at the parks, with DDP, we found we weren't using our snack credit for snacks (which is why we started using them for breakfast) With dessert coming with lunch and dinner, we were never hungry! The DDP is a lot of food!
Other tips:
Mousekeeping- most people leave around $1 per person, per day. Some leave a bit more. Daily because your mousekeeper can change during your stay. I leave the tip on the sink next to their name card in an envelope.
Bell service- if you'll need help with your luggage. Tip is around $1 per bag. But because you're driving, doesn't sound like you'll need it.
Then any suvies you want! We always buy a Christmas tree ornament from the Christmas shop in MK, it's become a tradition. A tee shirt? stuffie? Talk to your kids before you get there about suvies, and tell them their limit. It's hard because many rides exit thru the gift shop , so be prepared!!
I love this community! What a help so far! Thanks!
I've now set aside an envelope for meal tips and one for mousekeeping.
(And I tried to overestimate on the food tip budget so there will likely be leftover moola there. )
Usually when we go out to eat as a family, my two year old and I share a plate and we are fine with that. So I don't plan on spending out of pocket for any meals (excluding our travel time meals of course).
We are always on a tight budget...so we bring only what we need...but do have the credit card as a back up...there could be things you just would never ever plan on. Last trip my son ended up in the hospital..that meant I needed money for food while there and we had to shell out $150 for a rental car.
But anyway, assuming nothing like that happens to you, I always estimate about $15 for each sit down meal tip. Our bills are usually between $70-$100, depending on the restaurant. For some trips we need money for a few meals...like this upcoming trip, we arrive really early (9 am) and we depart really late (7:30 pm) so the dining plan just does not cover all our meals. I think we will need to buy two meals ourselves. But for the most part, the basic dining plan is MORE than enough for us.
As far as souvenirs go, I usually figure about $30 for each kid, so they can pick out a couple small things. We just do not go crazy with souvenirs...before I buy anything, I seriously ask myself if we will ever use it. I am very practical like that!! LOL! But I do always buy a photo album or two and those run about $20 each, I think. I figure a little extra for myself...and like $20 for DH...though he rarely gets anything. This year, DD really wanted to do Bibbiddi Bobbiddi Boutique and decided she was going to save the money all on her own...she did...has almost $60 saved and can't wait to go!
We don't really figure anything extra for snacks or drinks...in all honesty, if we're walking in the park and we're thirsty..we find a water fountain. Or we might use a snack credit for something fun like a float or smoothie. I always bring snacks from home for the kids, especially since DS is not 3 yet and does not get the dining plan, just as your 2y/o won;t get it. Usually I bring things like granola bars, trail mix, fruit cups, pb crackers...and always some drink boxes.
I make up Mousekeeping envelopes before we go...$4 or $5 in each.
Hope this helps!!
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We took $480 in cash and still had money left over on our last day. We maybe put $150 on our credit card in 6 days at CBR on FD.
I accounted for tips, cab fare, refillable mugs, baggage fees, and souvenirs. We didn't buy much down there - less than $120 in souvies for the 4 of us.
The dining plan is great - you only need to budget the gratuities. The snacks credits can be reddeemed to complete the meal. We usually carry our own bottle of water and refieled them in the fountains rather than spend a credit for it. So the credits were spent in ice creams, pop corns and bags of fruits. Plus we discovered great places that can spend a QL credit as lunch or breakfast.
In the budget I`d include the tips for bell services, mousekeeping and some extra money to "bring back" - I usually put 300$ in a separate part of my wallet - this is my secure money not to be spend.
I don't like to charge in the room keys - kind of loose the track of it - so I got 3 disney gift cards, one for my DD buy some souvenier -it was hers and she knew she should wait and look for something she really wants -once it was over it was over. Another two (one for me and other for DH for paying foir gratuities and extras) so at the end of the trip there was no debt in the room to be charged besides internet access
I think with the trip PIF, and the DDP, what you actually need at WDW is very personal. Like others have said, if you are paying only for tips, you will need very little. We always passed on the pictures they sell (at restaurants, after rides, etc.). We bring a camera and try to snao our own. We have always had CM willing to take a picture with the "prop" after the photopass person snaps the pic. I am fond of the photopass--you can pre-order the CD for $99 and as long as you make good use of the photopass opportunities, it is a good value. We liked not having to worry about taking our own pictures during the character meet and greets--we would tell the photopgrapher that we did not have a camera along and they would snap MULTIPLE pics during the greet. This also freed us up to be a part of the experience and not just sitting back documenting it all.
Another expense you may want to consider is the occassional taxi--depending on where your ADR's are, it is sometimesz a struggle to do the bus transfer with 2 small children and all the stuff they require--a cab can get you direct from resort to resort for less than $20. For us, this makes for a better tasting meal! LOL!
I am a sucker for WDW souvenirs. I find it so hard to resist. First (kids were 7, 5 and 2) we thought it would be a "once in a lifetime" trip, so we planned for each kid to pick one small souvenir a day. (Of course this did not include the requisite "ears," signature books, and other things me or DH decided thet kids just had to have). I think we spent about $850 on tips/souvenirs during that 5 day stay. (EEK!)
Last trip, (10 months after the first...we now know we will be back....) each kid (now 8, 6 and 3) had $75 of their own saved/earned money (loaded on a WDW gift card) to spend during the course of our 10 day trip. We also got a $100 WDW gift card for attending a DVC presentation. We brought cash, and frequently paid our bill at the conceierge desk to make sure we were not over-spending this time. DH and I had a total of $500 cash for the trip, and we came home with some of it left.
Looks like most everything has already been covered. The only additional thing I can think of having extra cash for is the toll roads (since you are driving). I can't remember how much they cost, and that all depends on how much you planning on driving outside of the world too. It seems like toll roads are EVERYWHERE in Orlando.
If you plan on doing laundry while there, you will need cash for that too.
We were there last week. We had our Disney Visa dollars and used those for everything. We had $480 and at the end of our week we had almost $100 left. The kids each got one shopping day for whatever they wanted ($200) and the rest covered tips, alcohol and incidentals.
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I'm putting bits of cash away whenever I can cuz I don't want to use the credit card if at all possible. 
It's our first family Disney trip. 
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