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Original poster

Those that have been to Florida

50 replies

smileindenial · 03/10/2008 09:44

How much spending money did/do you take?

We have park tickets paid for but at totally self catering so alot of money will go on food. We've been advised around $200 a day, does this sound right?

OP posts:
meadow6 · 03/10/2008 11:50

We have been last 3 years and spend about £2000 over 2 weeks which is all food,petrol,gifts,. We stay in a villa so have lunch out and usually eat in at night.
My brother did it last year for £1500. We have 2 adults, 3 kids and a baby so I didn't think it was too bad. Handy to have a credit card with you just incase you spot a bargain.

wannaBe · 03/10/2008 11:55

£2000?

We went this year and spent about $2500, and we got our dollars at very good rate almost 2-1 at the time so worked out about £1250. And we stayed on disney property which is supposed to be more expensive.

I guess though it depends on how many of you there are.

wannaBe · 03/10/2008 11:56

ah I only have one child so obviously if I had 4 it would be more expensive.

bellavita · 03/10/2008 12:24

I would say around the £1250 mark.

We stay in an apartment with a full kitchen. When we get there, we do a full supermarket shop - beer, sun cream, lots of fruit, breakfast stuff, snacks, drinks etc, etc. Costs around $170/200. We stock up as we go along and pay for this on the credit card.

We usually take dollars with us - the rate has been so good so I bought some every month for a good while.

The actual cash we take pays for meals out, icecreams etc. When we are in the resort we charge to the room, but I put the cash to one side as I go along (we are timeshare owners, so get points for charging to the room) and then pay this bill with the said saved cash at the end.

Towards the end of the second week, we usually find we have to go to the atm machine.

Any presents, I usually pay for on the credit card/debit card.

We did spend quite a bit extra this year as the boys stocked up with clothes - VANS, Volcom, Element etc (as they cost $ for £ over there)

MrsSnape · 03/10/2008 16:13

I'm planning on budgeting for $150 a day for one adult and 2 kids. If I can save more, I will do but I reckon that would be around the minimum...

meadow6 · 03/10/2008 20:01

Hmmm- this has made me really think about our spending as we are going back next year and would like to do it on less as my holiday saving is not doing too well. I think we probably spend about £400 on clothes,heelies,etc. My husband is the biggest culprit when it comes to clothes buying. We also have lunch in a decent restaurant which is not necessary. I have liked doing this as we don't stay out at night as the youngest (3 and 10months) have needed to get to bed at normal time. I could definitely cut back on lunchtime bill. Even though we have 4 kids, food wise its only really like having 2 as the youngest don't cost much to feed. realistically I think I will need £1500 for 2 weeks and will not have to cut too many corners.Bellavita, does your total include what you spend on credit card?
I would love you to say yes!!

Sycamoretree · 03/10/2008 20:10

yikes, we probably spend 2K in two weeks, with one set of park tickets pre paid, and another that were bought when we were there. But, I have to say, we did TEAR UP the shopping at International Plaza (near Tampa Airport)on more than one trip. We also had DS's birthday there, so bought all his presents.

bellavita · 04/10/2008 00:20

all our park tickets (dolphin swim at Discovery Cove) etc were pre paid also

alipiggie · 04/10/2008 03:49

Publix supermarkets - good cheap and in plentiful supply. Another top tip. Take water into the parks with you. You get 24 bottles for the price of one in the parks at the supermarket.

seeker · 04/10/2008 07:59

Try here for shopping!

mckenzie · 04/10/2008 08:22

can i hijack briefly please and ask for tips on what I should pre-book for our trip, our first to Florida? We're going on Dec 23rd for 2 weeks with DS (7) and DD (3, nearly 4). We're staying in a villa in Kissimee.

TIA

bellavita · 04/10/2008 08:35

I heart Publix!

Pre book your car and park tickets - quite a lot of the time there are offers on the tickets.

If you want to do any of the character breakfast/dinners, then I suggest pre-booking also.

AbbaFan · 04/10/2008 08:41

We always spend about £2000 too. However aside from food, we always get loads of new clothes and shoes!

I would say around $150 a day on food, and then more for any extras.

bellavita · 04/10/2008 08:43

We stocked up loads on the clothes this year.

Oh - I would also take an extra holdall in your suitcase for bringing stuff back in.

MrsSnape · 04/10/2008 09:17

It's our first time next year too, I'm still toying with the idea of hiring a car but I'm not a confident driver...any advice?

twinsetandpearls · 04/10/2008 09:21

Tickets, car hire and some nights out all paid for in advance, we went as a party of five but only had to pay for dd, dp and I. Over two weeks we easily spent £2K if not more.

tiredemma · 04/10/2008 09:28

we took about 2.5k but didnt spend it all, you would have to be spending wildly everyday to spend that.

Kbear · 04/10/2008 09:30

Our budget was £100 a day (which at the time was pretty much $200). We stayed in a Disney hotel and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner out. Four of us. Disney restaurants were more expensive but there are hundreds of other places in the area to eat much more cheaply.

I wanted a holiday (for once) where I didn't have to think about food shopping or plan ahead or do any cooking as our holidays are usually self-catering. It was a real treat for me to just order what I wanted and we didn't spend any where near what we expected. I think you will be surprised at how cheaply you can eat out.

We took £3000 and came back with £1700! and we were there for 3 weeks.

Also, I didn't want to lug packed lunches around Disney World and we ate in the parks every day. Lunch for two adults and two kids at the fast food places usually came to about $40 for example (£20 roughly). If we had a sit-down lunch in a restaurant (lovely italian place at MGM Studios for example) the bill was more like $65-70 including a beer for DH but no other alcohol.

If you convert the bill back to pounds you always come out smiling!

Look on www.theDibb.co.uk and on there people post their budgets and what they spend and how much restaurants were in the parks etc.

Kbear · 04/10/2008 09:32

Mrs Snape if you're not a confident driver give it a miss and use the buses and taxis. We didn't hire a car and had no problems, although we were on disney property so used their buses to the parks. We got taxis to the mall and SeaWorld and Universal and they were always very nice drivers and we had no problems.

Kbear · 04/10/2008 09:33

I just recalculated and I think we actually came back with £1200, but still...!

tiredemma · 04/10/2008 09:37

We felt the same Kbear- we wanted to eat out and not have to worry about packed lunches etc.

Go to Fultons Crab house at Downtown disney- the best lobster and crab ever and dirt cheap compared to the UK!!

Kbear · 04/10/2008 09:49

(sob)

Kbear · 04/10/2008 09:50

back in the tent next year ha ha - it was my dream trip though and worth every penny and every hour of overtime!

bellavita · 04/10/2008 09:52

Aww Kbear - I wondered if you would show up on this thread

If it makes you feel any better, we are giving Florida a miss next year.

tiredemma · 04/10/2008 09:52

we still talk about florida nearly everyday. I would sell soul to go back!

(sob sob sob)