Orlando... Disney? Universal?

mtn said:

dculberson said:

So hypothetically what would you say a couple should budget in park expenses for a Disney trip? I mean, say you didn't want to worry about saving money, you wanted to spend what was needed to eat what you wanted, drink what you wanted, ride what you wanted...

Our breakfast, in the park, consisted of 1 very large donut, a mocha latte, and a frozen coffee drink with baileys in it. It was $22. If we'd both had regular coffee and the donut, it would have been about $10. 

Turkey leg was $12 or $13. Skewerd candied bacon was $7. Dole whip thing... Not sure, but the other desserts were actually relatively reasonable. $4 for a peach cobbler thing, for instance. Shwarma that we had was $14 (a single thing), fish and chips maybe $9, the drinks were all between $7.50 and $20, beer mostly trending to the bottom of that. 

I'll add up our credit card charges later and report back, but we did basically what you're describing. I'd budget at least $50 per day per adult if both have adult beverages and both have more than one meal. The meal plans are actually a very good idea, but we didn't do them for... some reason. 

 

We're booking now for September and getting the meal plan included "free" with our package. Last time I was there (Disney) was 2006 and I remember skipping snacks because I couldn't justify the expense. Now we have more, older, hungrier kids. We're planning on on-property, multi-day passes, and maybe a day at Universal before or after. I would not mind swapping hotels when we swap parks. 

If you have wheels any GRMer in Orlando should visit Skycraft Surplus. You will find something you didn't know you needed there. 

oldopelguy said:

If you have wheels any GRMer in Orlando should visit Skycraft Surplus. You will find something you didn't know you needed there. 

That's my kinda freak show. 

Other things to keep in mind Disney absolutely does not care what you bring in for snacks. No booze, but a backpack full of whatever is fine. Plenty of non tourist grocery stores in the area, and most of them offer delivery now. 

Mndsm said:

Other things to keep in mind Disney absolutely does not care what you bring in for snacks. No booze, but a backpack full of whatever is fine. Plenty of non tourist grocery stores in the area, and most of them offer delivery now. 

Yup.  We bring 95% of our food in.  I'm talking full lunch, dinner, dessert, you name it.  We'll buy the occasional snack or dessert for the kids in the park, but everything else is packed.  That's one advantage to staying off property and having a full kitchen.  I know people spend $50-$75+/person per day eating at WDW restaurants, I've even heard some spend near $100.  To the best I can figure, we spend $5-$7/person per day.  That saves us literally at least $2000-$3000 over the course of a vacation, if not more.

Klayfish said:

Mndsm said:

Other things to keep in mind Disney absolutely does not care what you bring in for snacks. No booze, but a backpack full of whatever is fine. Plenty of non tourist grocery stores in the area, and most of them offer delivery now. 

Yup.  We bring 95% of our food in.  I'm talking full lunch, dinner, dessert, you name it.  We'll buy the occasional snack or dessert for the kids in the park, but everything else is packed.  That's one advantage to staying off property and having a full kitchen.  I know people spend $50-$75+/person per day eating at WDW restaurants, I've even heard some spend near $100.  To the best I can figure, we spend $5-$7/person per day.  That saves us literally at least $2000-$3000 over the course of a vacation, if not more.

It's true. I laughed one time because I was doing a Google review whatever about magic kingdom- and one of the questions was "did you visit this place for less than 10$". Actually Google, I did!

Yeah, the food killed us. And while I would budget for at least one day of eating everything you want without reservation, it'd get old quick. The real challenge would be Epcot, just because BEER and really good food. 

I was surprised though that my credit card statements only increased about $200 across two days (Universal and Disney). That included Uber/lyft rides, dinner out one night, BEER, an airport meal, a CVS run, waffle house, and some trinkets that my wife got. Including the gift cards we used, that would bring the total to about $300. And we spent without discretion. 

One other comment: Our Uber drivers were among the worst I've ever had--and I have used uber a LOT. If you're staying on Disney property, or close enough that you could walk to a Disney property, take a Minnie Van. it uses the Lyft app, but keep swiping all the way to the right on options (i.e. XL or whatever) and it will have a Minnie Van all the way to the right. The drivers are Disney employees, and were excellent sources of information. 

Oh another thing... Ask a cast member for a "First Visit" button. The buttons are free. It may amount to nothing, or you may get something out of it. I was wearing a first visit button and my wife was wearing a Birthday button (my birthday is the 16th, hers the 27th, I told her to wear it as this was sort of a birthday gift for her). We ended up getting a free peach cobbler and a free baklava--which, incidentally, was the best baklava I've ever had. 

mtn said:

Oh another thing... Ask a cast member for a "First Visit" button. The buttons are free. It may amount to nothing, or you may get something out of it. I was wearing a first visit button and my wife was wearing a Birthday button (my birthday is the 16th, hers the 27th, I told her to wear it as this was sort of a birthday gift for her). We ended up getting a free peach cobbler and a free baklava--which, incidentally, was the best baklava I've ever had. 

They will give you those for ANYTHING. I have one for the 7th anniversary of my beard.