Is this budget enough??

Laurajane6

Earning My Ears
Joined
Nov 7, 2017
Hi,

First time poster here!

I've never been to WDW before and I've planned a holiday for 2 weeks in October 2018 (nothing booked yet) and just wanted to know if this budget is enough.

The plan is to stay at POP as I want to have the full Disney experience staying on site.

In my head, I've budget £3000 for everything as I've regularly priced up accommodation, tickets and flights which was roughly £2000.

Do you think £1000 is enough spending money or would you recommend more?

Another concern is that I've been pricing up POP during the free dining deal but when I've priced it up today after the offer expired, price has gone up by about £300. Can anyone advise on this?

Any other advice/tips/recommendation are very welcome!!

Thank you
 
Hello fellow October 2018 traveller!

Budgets are very subjective so it'll be hard for people to advise but I'd ask - how many of you are there? Do you plan on drinking in the evenings? A couple of fancy Disney cocktails will soon bump up the budget. How about additional tours, party tickets? Are you only going Disney or do you want to go Universal too?

Last time I went (2014) pre-Brexit, we spent £1,400 each and did not have dining plan - that includes taxis, booze and a considerable amount of souvenirs. That's for two adults, no children.

This time I'm taking £1,600 - we have QS dining plan + accommodation, but haven't booked Universal tickets, we want to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour and MNSSHP (which are both around 99usd).

Some people will say that budget is extravagant, some people will think I'm not taking enough but I hope you get an idea.
 
Hello fellow October 2018 traveller!

Budgets are very subjective so it'll be hard for people to advise but I'd ask - how many of you are there? Do you plan on drinking in the evenings? A couple of fancy Disney cocktails will soon bump up the budget. How about additional tours, party tickets? Are you only going Disney or do you want to go Universal too?

Last time I went (2014) pre-Brexit, we spent £1,400 each and did not have dining plan - that includes taxis, booze and a considerable amount of souvenirs. That's for two adults, no children.

This time I'm taking £1,600 - we have QS dining plan + accommodation, but haven't booked Universal tickets, we want to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour and MNSSHP (which are both around 99usd).

Some people will say that budget is extravagant, some people will think I'm not taking enough but I hope you get an idea.

Thank you for replying, I should of been a bit more specific with plans!

It's just my boyfriend and myself going, neither of us are huuuge drinkers so we may have one or two a few nights.

I'd liked to do MNSSHP and also a few days at Universal as we are both huge Harry Potter fans, as well as Halloween Horror Nights.

I should also mention that £1000 would be per person. So £2000 for both of us spending money which would be going towards our food, shopping and souvenirs.

I'm just thinking I should maybe aim higher so that I have more to play with and don't need to worry about strictly budgeting, but your answer has really helped! I guess spending is subjective but I'm not naive about how much this trip is going to cost
 
Hey LauraJane,

The last time I went to WDW in 2014, I took £2000 spending money for 2 people for 3 weeks and was definitely enough. We even had a few fancy meals and bought things we definitely didnt need!
 


Hey LauraJane,

The last time I went to WDW in 2014, I took £2000 spending money for 2 people for 3 weeks and was definitely enough. We even had a few fancy meals and bought things we definitely didnt need!

Okay that definitely makes me feel more confident about £2000 for 2 weeks! We don't have a bunch of expensive meals in mind, we'd like to do Ohana for breakfast and dinner and BOG for lunch maybe. Will probably add more ideas to that but for now I think it's more likely we will eat from more QS places
 
I'm also going Oct 2018 and have budgeted for about £150 a day. That's to include a couple of paid meals (as we've the quick service plan included in the deal we have). DD will be 8 yrs old and will have the $200 gift card plus a further £300 for spending on things she would like. DH has his own spending money but will be about the same as myself.

Food at any Disney location is expensive so if you can get the quick service dining then I'd try that as means one quick service meal plus 2 snacks and a refillable cup. Can then splash out on a few fancy sit down meals if you want when you're over there.

Not sure about prices for POP as staying at Riverside.

Have fun!
 
We don't have a bunch of expensive meals in mind

hmm well it depends on how many that's going to cover as £1000 roughly based on the current exchange rate oF £1 - £1.31 (Obviously this changes on daily basis)so roughly around $1300 which is less than $100 a day for a two week trip.

So for one person that's fine if you're keeping it cheap lots of QS meals and not too many treats.

Any more people and it's starting to look a bit tight

For what it's worth my opinion would be take a bit more if you can budget it.

Doesn't mean you have to spend it, and you can still stick to your original budget. But then you always know there's a bit of wiggle room if you think - Stuff it I'm off to the California Grill for Cocktails and Firework

As there's nothing worse when you're on holiday trying to relax and forget about it all, ending up worrying cash in your last few days.
 


Just throwing it out there I'm another going October 2018 :goodvibes

I would suggest going early October but avoid Columbus Day as that is meant to be CRAZY. UK school holidays are later in the month, also October seems to be a VERY busy month in WDW.

So, is the total cost of the holiday £4000 ish? Not inc spending, just flights, tickets and accomadation.

I would try and take more than £1000 spending if that's inc food. The last time wewas on the DP so I didn't have a budget for food however remember you have to pay gratuity on all meal ( apart from bad service ) which is 18%
 
I'm also going Oct 2018 and have budgeted for about £150 a day. That's to include a couple of paid meals (as we've the quick service plan included in the deal we have). DD will be 8 yrs old and will have the $200 gift card plus a further £300 for spending on things she would like. DH has his own spending money but will be about the same as myself.

Food at any Disney location is expensive so if you can get the quick service dining then I'd try that as means one quick service meal plus 2 snacks and a refillable cup. Can then splash out on a few fancy sit down meals if you want when you're over there.

Not sure about prices for POP as staying at Riverside.

Have fun!

Thank you for this! I had been considering the quick service dining plan but after reading lots of reviews I thought it might not be worth it if we are going to be spending at least 3 days away from Disney but I might relook into it!
 
For what it's worth my opinion would be take a bit more if you can budget it.

Doesn't mean you have to spend it, and you can still stick to your original budget. But then you always know there's a bit of wiggle room if you think - Stuff it I'm off to the California Grill for Cocktails and Firework

As there's nothing worse when you're on holiday trying to relax and forget about it all, ending up worrying cash in your last few days.

Thank you, I think I will try aim to do that just so I'm not stressing out too much over what I can afford to eat haha!

Just throwing it out there I'm another going October 2018 :goodvibes

I would suggest going early October but avoid Columbus Day as that is meant to be CRAZY. UK school holidays are later in the month, also October seems to be a VERY busy month in WDW.

So, is the total cost of the holiday £4000 ish? Not inc spending, just flights, tickets and accomadation.

I would try and take more than £1000 spending if that's inc food. The last time wewas on the DP so I didn't have a budget for food however remember you have to pay gratuity on all meal ( apart from bad service ) which is 18%

How exciting!
The plan was to go early October but unfortunately a friends wedding would clash so planning on going the last 2 weeks, maybe into the beginning of November if we have to.

Yes so £4000 to cover flights, accommodation, tickets etc and then £2000 for 2 of us on food and souvenirs etc.

I will aim to take more than £1000pp but I'm just worried if I don't manage to save that then it would make it difficult but sounds like if I'm smart I could do it for £1000 spending money
 
No matter what you'll have a great time! All the planning is just as exciting :)

It's a shame you've missed out on the Uk free dining package.

I'm not sure what the prices are like at the moment but if it's financially viable then book asap!
 
The basic dining plan is pretty good - we used it for the first time last year - and it has recently been slightly upgraded as described on the Disney site:

Per guest, for each night of your stay:

  • 2 self-service meals
  • 1 non-alcoholic/alcoholic drink per meal‡
  • 2 selected snacks
  • Refillable mug†
Also remember that you can use as many credits per day as you wish so you don't have to loose out by going to Universal for a couple of days (we also did that last year!).
The other thing to be aware of is the temptation to buy loads of T-Shirts and gifts to bring back home!
We will be there just before you next year - we return on October 3rd.
Whatever you do just relax and enjoy the magic.
:mickeyjum
 
No matter what you'll have a great time! All the planning is just as exciting :)

It's a shame you've missed out on the Uk free dining package.

I'm not sure what the prices are like at the moment but if it's financially viable then book asap!

I know, I wish we had booked when the free dining offer was available but I was unsure if I'd be able to save enough and I'm still unsure which is why we've not booked yet.

Worst case scenario I have to put the trip off till October 2019 ☹️
 
You can easily stick to your budget and will have loads of food & a really good time. We go every year as DVC members and have a full kitchen so make breakfast and some lunches. You could price renting DVC points as you get facilities for making food which will save you money. We also order supplies from Dizzy Dolphin - water, breakfast, lunch items and snacks which again saves you money. The dining plan only works out of value if you eat the most expensive item on the menu & eat loads. People always seem to have lots of credits left that they spend on sweets which they've paid a lot for.
You can use Lyft to go to Walmart where you can buy lots of Disney gifts cheaper than in Disney to save money as well. If you look on line you can view menu's for the different restaurants which will help you cost up how much you'll need. Table service you need to include the cost of the tip as well.
 
Dh and I normally allow $100 pp per day give or take. We don't do dining plan (although we've lucked in with free breakfast at the all stars for our September trip) and normally have a couple of sit down dinners and a breakfast at kona cafe and find this budget to be plenty for us, we usually end up coming back with some dollars left. Our last trip was 2012 and I know prices have gone up so we might allow a bit more next year.
 
In 2013 we stayed offsite, took £1000 between 2 of us. It turned out we just ate Denny's style food, all the time. Since then the exchange rate has plummeted too, so your pounds go alot less further.


Sounds harsh, but if you are worried you can't save enough, are you taking to account emergency things that you might need to pay out for in the meantime at home, or even while you're out there?

If I was worried about not having the money by the time it's due, I'd be pushing the dates out by 6 months and going April/May 2019
 
We have eaten as a family of four (2 adults 2 teenage boys) in some nice restaurants where we have eaten quite healthy food and the bills range from $70-$130 for the four of us, places like Sanaa, Tiffins, Boma, Be Our Guest.
I always get an order from Garden Grocer delivered to the hotel. Large case of bottled water, coke (don't allow this now for health reasons) you could get beer or wine, fruit, huge boxes of crisps, cookies, cereal, milk, bread, butter etc. All rooms have a fridge so you can easily eat cereal in your room for breakfast. Im not sure but I believe there are toasters in the quick service restaurants at the resorts so you can make toast. In the room you can have coffee tea etc. The refillable cups can be a good idea if you want to drink lots of fizzy drinks, coffee, hot chocolate.
Buy your snacks from Garden Grocer and you will save a lot.
I budget for one nice meal a day, often late lunch or early dinner as this can be slightly cheaper, easier to get a reservation and it means we only need something light to keep us going if we have breakfast in the room. A late Buffet breakfast is a good way of keeping you going most of the day because you can eat as much as you like and Breakfast is the cheapest Buffet meal.
I have always kept a log of what we spend and have always achieved it at a lot less than the dinning plan would have cost. My Husband and I don't eat desserts very often, we prefer a starter. I only drink Water, my Husband doesn't usually drink Alcohol (its cheaper to buy it from Garden Grocer if you want it) the boys however are always hungry, hence we carry around snacks.
We are DVC members so we get a discount on food, but if you book with Disney UK I think you get discount at some restaurants anyway so you could utilise that when making your dinning reservations.
Of course you will not need to buy the Banshee and all the other stuff that Kids insist on having so the cost shouldn't be too bad!!!
Whilst at the planning stage it might be worth getting a prepaid card that you can get Dollars on when the exchange rate is good (not often these days) then you have it all saved and ready to go. Just remember Do NOT give the hotel this card when you check in as the hotel will block any spending on it, give them another card. Keep a record on your phone of what you spend and every few days go to reception and clear down your bill with your prepaid card. I have a fairfx which isn't bad but have now got a Revolut card which you can upload in £ and then either convert to $ or just use it when you get to the US and you will get near perfect exchange rates on the day the transaction takes place. It seems to have the best exchange rates at the moment that I can find.
 

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