What might be an unexpected expense?

[PRINCESS VIJA]

We have a food budget, working on a souvenier budget, and now am wondering how much I should budget for "extra's" that might surprise us. For example have learned about photo's you can buy from different attractions, are there other things that might pop up?

 

[tink2dw]

2 $95. visits to two hospitals to treat 1 acute swimmers ear ache so intense they gave DD vicodin
to kick the pain

2 percriptions,$30. ear drops ,pain med $12.


oh and we figured $100. per person for souvenier's

 

[idontknow]

Tink, I've got you beat.... $10,000 for emergency gallbladder surgery! At "Disney's" Hospital in Celebration. Which by the way is waaayyy out of network for our insurance. LOL So far they have paid all but $666.02 of it, luckily.

For real....tips for the transportation to and from the airport or gas for the rental car.

Anyone else?

 

[PTKeil]

Do not underestimate how much you will spend on food. It sounds silly, but once you get down there (and you're at the parks themselves having a great time) you will be surprised at all the little snacks and things (especially beverages)that add up. The "hey, I'm on vacation attitude" is what got us. For us, a family of 4 (31, 28, 5, 4) we ended up spending almost $100 a day (sit down meal) just for lunch.

Also consider locker rental, towel rental at the water parks if you're going to do this, stroller rental (which is definately not cheap), fridge rental, pictures with the characters and/or your family you might want to buy, two tons of quarters for your laundry, room service tips, and of course, any unmentionables you may forget.

We always budget at least $500 miscellaneous expenses just for this purpose.

 

[Disney-Kim]

film...we have not brought enough and had to pay $12-16 per roll ouch...
so bring extra film....lots

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[tink2dw]

BRING EXTRA BATTERIES for cameras,camcorders,CD players[dd haaaaaaaaaaad to take it]


And get directions for the super wal-mart near WDW so you can pick up anything you still need.

 

[PoohNPiglet]

I have to agree with Disney-Kim! When I was down there last I was on my honeymoon and for some reason we thought 4 rolls of film would be enough for the week! We ended up taking over 12 rolls of film for the week, most of which we purchased in Epcot at a ridicuous price! This time we are planning ahead. I would rather come home with unused rolls than have to pay Disney prices for more rolls.

We also did not come prepared for sunburn. We brought sunscreen, but when it wore off in the water park and we got burnt we were not prepared. But the resort was plenty prepared to charge us over $5 for the sunburn moisturizer.

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[bev r.]

If you do any travelling outside of Disney World, there are a number of toll roads, so you may need to keep some change around.

 

[Tina]

Depending on when you're going, be sure to pack for possible weather changes. Our November trip in '99 cost us a bit more $ for warmer clothes. We arrived to 75 degrees, which after a few days slipped down below 50! Yikes! We spent quite a bit on sweatshirts and turtle-necks!

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[jgates]

$425 for a new alternator. Evidently this is AAA's number one problem at the auto center at Disney. The 3 cars next to me were the same deal. The high heat, stopping & starting in traffic etc. take their toll.

PS, if you buy plenty of film at WM or Target & then don't use or open the packs you sb able to return them. Also in this case a trip to the SuperWM would more than pay for itself.

In Kmart, watch battery specials at the front of the store. 3 going on last week when I was there on 3 different types. We picked the buy 3 packs of ?RayoVac @4.99 each and receive a $10 gas card. They also had buy 3 of one type and get a $5 Kmart cash card and buy 3 of the last type and get $5 off a Fuji multipack of film instantly. Since you always need batteries, all of these are good. We did the gas one 2x and I sent in one form in my mom's name.


Also: Extra Shoes!!! Snack food for them room. Super WM had good prices on disney t's, etc too. So did the Prem-ear outlet in Little Lake Bryan.

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[deena]

If you don't plan on taking a cell phone at all or just happen to end up using the hotel phone to make outside calls (when your cell phone happens to be in battery-charging mode), it is good to remember that you will have to pay for those calls at the end of your stay separate from cost of lodging.

So, if you know definitely you may be using the phone in your room at some point, it is a good idea to find out ahead of time how much each call costs so you can put something aside (it can get surprisingly expensive after a few calls).

That way, you will know how much money you are spending when using the room phone and what you're expected to pay at check-out.

 

[CapeCod53]

I'm bringing 5 rolls of quarters! 1 for laundry, 1 for pressed pennies, 1 for Frontierland Shootin Arcade in MK, 2 for regular arcade(have 15 yr old son). Actually he & I play a mean game of air hockey whenever we can.
Tip on phone calls-don't use room phone at all. Buy a cheap phone card from Kmart or someplace. I have my son keep one with him in his wallet & his backpack to call for rides home. My daughter uses them for all long distance calls from college. I just keep my eye out for good sales & calculate the per min cost before buying.

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[idontknow]

I agree with the phone cards! I forgot all about them since we just got a cell phone.

If you check mycoupons.com and do a search for phone cards there are tons of them for free. You can also check out the Look What I Found board if searching doesn't bring any threads up. You can also check this site:

http://www.free-calling-cards.net/

I've never tried it, just booked marked it for future needs.

 

[yoopermom]

My DH thought I was nuts on our last visit to WDW, but I brought *almost* every type of over the counter drug (adult and child) known to mankind (plus our regular scrips)! Between sore muscles, upset stomachs, headaches, etc, we used many of them. And, if you really need them, are you going to feel like running out to the nearest Wal-Mart or paying WDW prices?
Terri the Yoopermom

 

[MaryT]

Just a little note - if you need band aids or such - the Walgreens on 192 is closer than the WalMart and not too high priced.

 

[Coloradomom]

DH flip flops (because we forgot his), toothpaste(ditto),two rolls of quarters and a snack size baggie full of pennies for pressing, food at the airport if your flight is delayed, all those taxes that add up on the rental car, one more yummy from the bakery at PO-Riverside.

We too had the unexpected hospital expense (DD with asthma that was triggered by smoking in the parks..this was before the smoking zones were instituted..now we also bring her nebulizer with us)

And like everyone says..bring more for souvenirs because eventually you'll see something you cannot live without..and then when you get home you try to figure out what you will do with it!

 

[eeyorefanatic]

I take atleast 3 rolls of film per day and for my first (and probably only) trip to DL I took close to 10 rolls in 2 days. Well I forgot to gudget the cost to develop all my pics. Cost me over $200.

As this was my main souvineer I kind of shrugged it off but it was an important lesson to save more pennies

Thanks for noticin me.

katherine
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[MELISA]

Don't forget -SUNGLASSES!!

 

[shamrock30]

Don't forget parking at WDW if you are staying offsite. Also, if you are planning to go to any other attractions outside of Disney, you will have those entry fees to contend with.