Your most unexpected expenses

[katiebug03]

my dd got a horrible cold when we went on a trip once and we had to stop to buy cold medicine and a vaporizer so we will be packing those when we go to disney.

 

[mrzrich]

I believe FW is the abbreviation for Fort Wilderness. It is a campground (campsites for tent or RV camping, and cabins), so I'd think no ice machines. Every Disney hotel I've ever heard of does have ice machines.

Yes FW is the campground and yes Disney charges for ice at FW, but not at the hotels.

It makes sense though. When we go to FW we aren't filling a little ice bucket, we are filling 3 full sized coolers everyday. $2 a bag really isn't bad considering you actually get about a bag and a half when the ice drops.

 

[LauraAnn630]

Id dropped the digital camera getting off the monrail.

We spent a lot of money buying disposables. We bought them at Walgreens but it was still an expense we didnt expect!

I also bought another memory card and rechargable batteries and charger.
I still stash AAs in my camera bag.


Cabs! We took cabs to 'Ohanas and Chef Mickeys. We wanted more pool time.

 

[dbarker]

Just a FYI: You can get first aid items (band aids, tylenol, advil, ect) for free at the First Aid Stations in the parks. I would check there first before dishing out $$ from a souvenir shop. I know...yes, I left the Advil on the kitchen counter at home last month.

Also, I second the free ice water. (I refuse to pay $2-3 for a bottle of water) If you are there during the summer, you need to be chug-a-lugging water all day. If you don't like the taste, there is usually lemons or lemon packets somewhere.

 

[yngsj]

I'm always cold and forget to bring a sweatshirt or jacket for the A/C buildings or cool nights so I alway end up buy one at the parks and I definitly don't need another one.

 

[bexareaglecheryl]

I am an over-packer so thankfully I usually have enough meds, sunscreen, batteries, etc. Our trip last June 06 was our first trip to WDW in warmer weather. (past trips were in Jan, December & 2 around Thanksgiving).

HATS: I am the kind of woman who never wears any kind of cap/hat, but our first morning of the trip we had a Magic Kingdom "Keys to the Kingdom" tour planned. Just standing around outside waiting for the tour to start about 9:00am my head was burning & boiling. With minutes to spare I ran over to the Main Street Chapeau shop and found a hat. I really loved the hat but I think it was almost $30. A lot for me.

SNACKS:On past trips we have neglected to budget enough for snacks/drinks. I always have a food/meal budget that is fairly accurate. But with 2 adults & 2 teens it seems as if once we were in the parks we got really hungry (Mickey shaped ice cream bars, fresh fruit, pretzels, bakery and candy shop items..non soda drinks, water, etc) even if we had just eaten an hour or two ago. We were always snacking and getting drinks from the carts. I believe we spent way too much but at the time truly needed it (and yes, I did have snacks and drinks packed in the backpack!). I take meds that cause dry mouth + while at Disney I wear the scopolamine ear patch (for motion sickness) and that drys you out to cottonmouth state. I carry an individual Britta water filter on a carabiner on my belt loop and then get the CS spots to fill me up with ice. It melts and I have nice cold water. I go thru a lot of that and sometimes there isn't a spot nearby to get ice so I am forced to buy Dasani water (which I do not care for). And it's impossible to carry around enough water for me. My DH doesn't mind carrying the backpack, but he's not a pack mule.

 

[nemesis]

I am an over-packer so thankfully I usually have enough meds, sunscreen, batteries, etc. Our trip last June 06 was our first trip to WDW in warmer weather. (past trips were in Jan, December & 2 around Thanksgiving).

HATS: I am the kind of woman who never wears any kind of cap/hat, but our first morning of the trip we had a Magic Kingdom "Keys to the Kingdom" tour planned. Just standing around outside waiting for the tour to start about 9:00am my head was burning & boiling. With minutes to spare I ran over to the Main Street Chapeau shop and found a hat. I really loved the hat but I think it was almost $30. A lot for me.

SNACKS:On past trips we have neglected to budget enough for snacks/drinks. I always have a food/meal budget that is fairly accurate. But with 2 adults & 2 teens it seems as if once we were in the parks we got really hungry (Mickey shaped ice cream bars, fresh fruit, pretzels, bakery and candy shop items..non soda drinks, water, etc) even if we had just eaten an hour or two ago. We were always snacking and getting drinks from the carts. I believe we spent way too much but at the time truly needed it (and yes, I did have snacks and drinks packed in the backpack!). I take meds that cause dry mouth + while at Disney I wear the scopolamine ear patch (for motion sickness) and that drys you out to cottonmouth state. I carry an individual Britta water filter on a carabiner on my belt loop and then get the CS spots to fill me up with ice. It melts and I have nice cold water. I go thru a lot of that and sometimes there isn't a spot nearby to get ice so I am forced to buy Dasani water (which I do not care for). And it's impossible to carry around enough water for me. My DH doesn't mind carrying the backpack, but he's not a pack mule.

Not to go OT...but I LOVE your signature...it does bring home the happiness we feel at Disney. Sometimes it is easy to forget the things that make us happy...especially during "trying" times.

Thank You SOOOO much for making my day!

 

[Cindy & Mickey]

Any sort of unintentional clothing purchase.

Twice now I underestimated the number of socks to pack, and I have bought socks in the parks in order to have enough. At the parks, they run about $6/pair, ouch.

Also, DH had a bathing suit mishap one year (the string belt broke), and had to buy a new one, to the tune of about $36.

Unanticipated medications, sunscreen, and bug spray cost a fortune, as everyone has mentioned.

Bring along a nice pen for the kiddos to use for autographs, or they will want one at the parks that will cost you $2 - $3.

The only time it doesn't rain is when we remember to pack ponchos. I'd just as soon get soaked than spend a fortune (again) for everyone to buy park ponchos.

Pack juice boxes if you have little kids.

 

[jobie61]

Laundry money: wet shoes take a long time to dry. Solution is water sandals (I wear Merrells). Also bring your own laundry soal.

OTC medications: Way too pricey at Disney. bring your own. Might want to ensure you have plenty of Mylanta. We're healthy eaters, and when DS was younger he ate too much fried food and not enough fruit/veggies. Always had some sort of abdominal distress after two days. Now I insist on fruit and veggies at each meal and plenty of water to wash it all out.

Rain Ponchos: We bring the cheap camping ponchos.

Have fun!

Barb says bring prunes

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We always have a few unexpected expenses like OTC meds but our most memorable was early in our 2005 trip. We had planned to spend the day at MK and that evening would be attending our first MNSSHP. Shortly after lunch we tried to use our digital camera and found that it had just died. It hadn't gotten wet and the batteries were fresh. We had been using it that morning with no problem at all. That afternoon we ended up taking a trip to Wal-Mart to spend about $250 on a new digital camera so we were able to take pictures at the MNSSHP and for the remainder of our vacation.

That camera is still working today!

 

[Beep]

One year, I got a really good deal on sunscreen in the UK before we left for Orlando. The first day out, I forgot it and had to buy some from the parks which cost more than I had saved! Now I have a couple of travel-size bottles that stay in my bag, I just fill them up when needed and hopefully remember to put them back in my bag!

Another one was a baseball cap. We both forgot ours and had to buy them from the parks. I keep one in my bag now in case I forget to pick the other one up.

Food was the problem for us. I like breakfast and my OH doesn't so by 11am we're both hungry and food in the parks is expensive. What we do now is I eat breakfast and he takes something in to eat later in the morning. We then get a late lunch in the parks, a snack in the late afternoon and eat after we leave the parks.

WE also take a water bottle to top up in the parks as it is really expensive to buy, and the free ice chips are great!

 

[Taqwus]

I think I was my most unexpected expense
Got sick so far 3 out of 5 times including 1 hospital visit when I caught scarlet fever
Other than that always overplan for clothes wearing, pack at least 3 extra days of underclothes

 

[bluejaygirl]

I'm also gonna go with the feminine products.. I brought some for DD but not enough and had to buy a non-favored brand at ASMo for way too much money. Girls start early nowadays, so your 10 or 11 year old still may end up starting on vacation

Bring your own laundry detergent, my worst experience at Disney involved trying to find laundry detergent ( machine broken, store sold out) and being told by a CM that I could walk to ASMu at 10 PM and see if they werent sold out there..

 

[sandiegosusie]

The biggest expense for us last November was forgetting our tickets in the hotel. It was late in the day and we were park hopping but using an used day on an old ticket. We forked out 100+ to add the park hopper option onto our new ticket so we could spend time with our extended family...we didn't have time to go back to the hotel because the buses were averaging 1 hour in between parks...we laugh about it now, but at the time, this over-planner was in melt down mode!

We also had to buy DD5 a sweatshirt because I left hers at the hotel as well. An unexpected cold spell had her shivering right after dinner. The lesson I learned was to roll with the punches! Life is too short to worry about the extra $$ spent...

 

[jgates]

A suggestion for a laundry detergent replacement......

I have often just used the bottle of shampoo from the shower. Normally if you have one open in the shower they will still leave you a new one on the counter. I have used it both in a machine and often just to rinse out something in the sink. It always smells good, LOL!!!

But despite the fact that I am METICULOUSLY organized on the trip I have over the years forgotten the following items either at home or in the room which have $$$ my budgets.

Watch
Diabetic Necklace
Sunglasses
Extra child's outfit in the parks
Sweatshirt

 

[Nanu57v]

My unexpected expense came 9 months after my DD was born. My "special friend" decided to come for a visit for the first time since birth, and of course I didn't think to bring supplies to WDW. So I had to buy some overpriced pads.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I usually use the make-up remover wipes at night and they take off eye make-up. Last trip I didn't pack the wipes, just the face wash I use in the shower. NOT good for eyes! I had to go to the gift shop at Pop and buy a bottle of baby oil for $3! It was a tiny bottle, too, that would have been $.50 anywhere other than WDW.

 

[nannon16]

If you are renting a car, make sure you bring extra changes for tolls to get from the airport to WDW. The first time we went we didn't think about this, but luckily we had enough singles and spare change. Depending on what time of day it is, there is not always a live person at some of the toll booths to give change! Now I always put a few dollars in coins in a small ziploc bag and put in an outside pocket of one of our bags so it will be easy to get to when we load up the car when leaving the airport. Then any change we get from buying things while we are there is saved for tolls for the ride back to the airport when we leave.

 

[mickeycrazzes]

Amoxycilian is 10X as much at Disney. My son got an ear infection (everytime we fly) it was$28 for amoxcillain I pay $3 bucks for it at home. Plus the over priced fever reducer. Another thing to watch for that is just aweful that this happens. My son who was sick, we bought the $40 pirates hat and when he got off the ride he left it on the boat we ran right back and someone took it for themselves so it became the $80 pirates hat! (mean people stink) My other son had his pin collection stolen one year at pizza planet. Don't take your eyes off your stuff. Hold it all for your kids.
Buying extra drinks on those hot days really adds up quick too. through in a couple a mickey head icecreams and you've blown your budget by $50. We bring alot of bottled water with us.
Staying with in your budget is hard no matter what it is. You don't want to say no and the memories of everybody having a good time are priceless. Batteries & or film for your camera bring extra. Laundy soap, I buy the little pre pkg ones at our local laundy mat for our trip they are like .75 ea. at home compared to the $1.50 at the resorts. Buying the resort refil mugs will save you $$ only if you spend time at your resort. If your in the park all day & night its a $12. splurge. My son drinks enough to cover the cost of 2 mugs.
Every trip is more than we planned and we don't regret spending 1 penny of it.

 

[swilphil]

I always overbuy when I make a grocery stop.

I had to buy the kids socks when they were playing in the water at HISTK playground.

When we were traveling with extended family, DH and I splurged on drinks in World Showcase.