Florida spending money,

[AlletrixLeStrange]

Hello, we're looking at going to Florida in November this year for 7-10 days (depending on what DP can get off of work) and hoping someone could give us an idea of how much spending money to plan for. It'll be myself, DP, DS aged 9 and DD 11 months. We'll pre buy all park tickets (disneyworld & universal studios) so really just food and souvenirs etc for the kids. I also don't understand the tipping system (I've never been anywhere further than Spain). We'll probably spend a few days just at the hotel as DS has ASD and likely won't cope being out all day every day. Sorry I know this is a bit of a how long is a piece of string question but a ballpark would be so helpful! Thank you

When you go out for food, the tax will be on the bill. Tax is 8-9%. An easy way to work out the tip is to double the tax and round up.

Are you in a hotel or self catering? For housekeeping we left $10 per day.

Before our visit to America, we looked up the restaurants we’d most likely visit to check menus and prices.

Restaurants we tip 20%, we don’t tend to tip housekeeping. Sales tax is normally added on at checkout.

When I went it was 12 days & was me & two older teens. We had park tickets already so was just food, tips, shopping money. I brought $3000 & spent most of it. Came home with about $200.

Good question OP. The tipping thing baffles me.

@MazDazzle good idea re looking up restaurants before we go! We'll be in a hotel unless we can find a good villa deal, have you done either of these and have recommendations as to which you found better?

@Alsonification that's about the figure I was estimating

@WelshMoth me too, I seem to have scared myself into believing we'll all be arrested if I forget to tip, I hope they just add it to the bill! And what if the food and service is terrible do I still tip them?!

I should have said I also used that money for taxis too as we didn’t hire a car. I used Uber all the time & it was fantastic. We stayed in a hotel (Rosen Inn closest to universal) so had to buy all our meals although we ate cheaply enough & one night ordered a Chinese take away to our room. Our hotel also did take away pizza & chips which wasn’t amazing but it was cheap & we had that some nights.
Tips wise, didn’t have to tip Uber drivers as cab was paid through bank so no money changed hands.
Restaurants, I usually added 10% unless it was exceptional service.
Hotel, I was told to budget $1 per person per day for the cleaners so I had 12 envelopes with $3 in each ready for the room. I left it out when we went out & just wrote thank you on it. A few times the cleaners wrote a little message back.
I didnt tip for any self service or counter service restaurants.

10-15% of bill for tips in restaurants where you've been served at your table. Nothing if you served yourself; although you can leave a few dollars on the table for the bus boys if you don't have to clear your own table. Those lads work for very little money so really appreciate it. A smile and a thank you goes a long way too as they're usually considered invisible by most.

Honestly just bring all the money you can afford, Florida is expensive because it's so touristy. There is so much to do in Florida. I have a dd who has autism and the humidity made her so irritable I don't think we will go back.

If you’re doing Disney and universal you’ll definitely need to go for 10 days.

Excluding your DD, I would budget $10 each for breakfast, $15 each for lunch and dinner around the same (if you’re eating outside the parks). Take water bottles and refill at the many water fountains to save $ on drinks. As others have said, you tip at table service restaurants and pay around 20% or double the tax.

Snacks in the parks are expensive, but really worth doing especially in Disney where it’s part of the culture. Expect to pay around $6 per item.

If you’re going to spend some days at your accommodation, it would definitely be worth looking at a villa or apartment (condos) they call them. Food is quite expensive to buy, but it does mean you can just have a bagel or something for dinner if you’re over faced with food, or have over done the snacks!

Check out the Disney food blog for recommendations - you can eat really well at Disney with a little planning.

Souvenirs are expensive- think $10_12 for a keyring

Sorry to disagree, but a tip of 10-15% would be considered that you felt you’d had very poor service. 18-20% for service you’re happy with.

Wait staff in the US are taxed on an assumption of tips, so if you under tip it’s costing them.

I agree Hermoine. We saw a manager approach a table and ask if there was a problem as they’d undertipped.

Although we’ve been to Florida, it was without children, so we didn’t visit any of the parks.