Florida spending money estimates

[SecondUsername4me]

Calling all experts!

Flights, 13 days at International Drive, passes for Universal included. We will add on a day pass for Animal Kingdom (the only Disney Park we are interested in).

Other than this, how much would you say is needed for daily spend, to include:-

• A hefty breakfast (buffet places?)
• A snack and drink each at the park each day (as lunch)
• A hearty meal (eg 2 courses) nothing fancy, each evening (Park or International Drive area)
• couple of souvenirs each for the kids
• any extra must do days out (eg museums, water parks, other activities days outside of the theme parks)
• daily transport to/from the parks and other activities

We aren't "shoppers" so no budget needed for Malls etc. We don't need fine dining or themed character dining, we don't want to buy cheaper stuff like jeans/make up/perfume etc so don't need a budget for that.

Is there anything else I'm not including? I know I need to tip 20% for all meals, so add that in too, does that include buffet style too?

Sorry @greengreengrass25 I checked and it was more like $1.67 I must have rounded the costs up in my head.

I'd like to go back to the US to visit some relatives, but the costs sound horrendous. A work colleague goes to Las Vegas and said that buffet meals were costing £85 per person.

Still so much better than now. Last time I went in 2018 it was 1.34 I think but stuff wasn't so expensive in the first place

Think DH said it was more like 2 in the 80s

Dah also went to Las Vegas in the quiet season and it was so much cheaper in restaurants.

I remember being horrified when we went in the summer around 2011/12 (everything becomes a bit blurred)

We’ve visited Florida and then Arizona/Utah/Nevada this year. We always self cater wherever we can and this saves money on breakfasts/packed lunches (we’re hikers)/ evening meals, and means that when we eat out we think we can afford not to have the cheapest thing on the menu!

Our evening meals in the apartments are usually a bit boring and repetitive - rotisserie chicken, salad, corn, baked potatoes, pasta bake from a jar with the leftover chicken etc. - but these don’t break the bank, especially if you buy the cheaper fresh produce. I think I ate my body weight in asparagus and corn cobs. I’d rather do this than not get my USA fix, but I guess everyone’s holiday priorities are different.

When we were in Fort Lauderdale in January I did have a conversation with a local in the salad section about how incredibly expensive everything was, so they are definitely feeling the pinch. I guess it’s similar everywhere.

It was approximately $2 to £1 in or around June 2008. I wasn’t in the states but was in Japan and remember having a conversation with some American tourists while we were there. We couldn’t believe how cheap everything was and they couldn’t believe how expensive it was and I remember the exchange rate at the time was 2:1.

Minimum £5k.

I don't ever remember it being 2 dollars to the £1 in the last 20 years.

It was when I lived in the US in 2008. My American pay check was pretty depressing at that time when mentally translating to £!!

It does sound like things are eye-wateringly expensive in Florida at the minute.

I’ve never been, but we are heading to universal studios in Osaka and to Disney in Tokyo next year (as part of a wider trip to Japan) and the prices are vastly cheaper. Flights are more expensive (and longer) but eating out in Japan is really cheap for good quality food, public transport is abundant and affordable and our experience the last time we went is that Japan doesn’t have a culture of price gouging at tourist attractions. Souvenirs, food and drinks in the parks are significantly cheaper than they would be in the states (or Paris).

Even the entry tickets are vastly cheaper. A day ticket for Tokyo Disney is between £42 and £60 depending on the day of the week and the season. Day passes in the states are often $150-$200. Even the 7 day passes at WDW work out to £75-80 per day if you go every day.

We’re going to be in Japan for 2 weeks and expect to be able to eat well and cover all our transport, attraction tickets, food and drink for £1000 per adult. Might be worth considering for anyone who wants to take kids to Disney and universal but for whom Florida is looking too expensive.

@Takoneko how much were flights out of interest?

We bought those Brita water bottles with the built in filter and it made the water fountain water bearable to drink, saved us a fortune on buying drinks all day.

Our flights were £1900pp into Osaka and out of Tokyo. There were significantly cheaper options if you were willing to fly via China (but I wasn’t). Direct flights can be as cheap as about £700pp at some times of year and I think £1200 or so is more typical outside of the very peak times. Easter holidays and the Japanese Grand Prix being in the middle of our trip (when it’s usually in the Autumn) really pushed prices up for us. The closure of Russian airspace to most airlines has made Europe to Asia flights more expensive in general as they now have to take a much longer route.

I have just done 3 weeks in Japan /China and Hong Kong and spent around £2000 on food and attraction tickets for 2 adults (flights and hotels around £6k total)

The lack of extra tax and tips on top saves a bomb. Entry tickets for Disney much cheaper but the fast pass costs are say £100 -universal or Disney for top 5 rides. And they are the busiest parks i have ever been to. (The Japan ones- Hong Kong was lovely and quiet with 10 min waits for everything)

@Takoneko thank you, that's really interesting. I know my kids would love to go to Japan, we've only done the US long haul. I can't go near China due to my work so yes would be avoiding too! I think I'm going to have to put Japan on our family holiday bucket list!!

By the way - the food concessions will give you free ice cold drinking water if you find the water at the fountains unbearable.
It felt very hot to us in October - we needed to drink a lot so bear that in mind!! It was slightly chilly for the water park though so it you go in winter, take some warm long sleeved swimwear. And UV swimwear in the summer - we saw a lot of sunburned people, not easy to keep reapplying suncream.

Yes I think it makes sense to go there instead

Depends on which part of International Drive - I'm guessing the old end if you have Universal passes?

Breakfasts at Dennys or IHOP are about $10 plus a drink.

Food has gone up in prices in recent years though plus exchange rate is so bad.

Go to a nearby Walmart store to stock up on drinks, snacks etc.

Do they have the same Harry Potter park too?

https://www.usj.co.jp/web/en/us/areas/the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter

There’s a wizarding world in Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. They also have a Harry Potter Studio Tour in Tokyo (like the one in London). We’re not going to bother with the studio tour, but it is there if it’s your sort of thing.

We were in a villa so breakfast at home, took snacks and ate lightly at parks, dinner out. Parking 25-30 per day at parks plus petrol. In total about 1600.

We used to mainly do self catering but still ate out back in the day

yes osaka USJ has a SMALL harry potter land - 2 rides (one a kids rollercoasted) and loads of shops. IT WAS PACKED
very much smaller than universal in Orlando with lands in 2 different parks (plus train) and 5 big rides between then.

I enjoyed universal Japan for the halloween houses (included during day in Japan) but as soon as it became dark the zombines came out and the whole place was HORRIBLE and hard to get around.

we paid £100 each for fast passes (a cheaper day) and only managed those 7 things (and a show). Everything else was just huge queues and even 30-40 min queues for snack carts.

So, my take away from this thread is thay for the same money I'd end up spending just on food (skipping lunch and buying my own Target snacks too), I could pay for an all inclusive family holiday in the summer break, where I'd never have to spend a single extra penny when I arrive and my kids could havr unlimited snacks drinks ice creams etc.

I know it's comparing apples and oranges and I'd always envisaged taking the dc to florida some day. But 6k on just taxis/breakfasts/dinners/parking is untenable so it's off the table.

@SecondUsername4me don't discount it on the figure of £6k, it really doesn't need to be that much. Menus are online, wal mart prices are online and you can check Uber app for prices to work out how much everything is, every family is different, only you know what your family is likely to spend.

There's no way I've ever spent that much. We didn't scrimp on anything and spent 3G over the 2 weeks.

We spent over 5k in 10 days. We could have done it cheaper but I can’t be doing with penny pinching on holiday. It’s ridiculously expensive.