The Disney parks are expensive. When planning a Disney trip, it is fairly easy to calculate the cost of the airfare, hotel, park tickets, and souvenirs. You can even get a general idea of how much your meals will cost. Yet, even with all that information, it seems like we usually spend more than we planned for. Why is that? Well, there are costs to vacationing at the Disney parks that are often forgotten about. Here are four costs to vacationing in the Disney parks that you may have forgotten about when planning the expenditures of your trip:
4) Strollers/Wheelchairs
Multi-day stroller rentals cost $13 dollars per day for a single stroller and $27 per day for a double. For a single day, the cost is $15 for a single stroller and $31 for a double. This cost can add up quickly. For example, for a 7 day trip you’ll end up spending $189 on a double stroller rental! That is outrageous! I highly suggest looking at third party stroller rental companies as they can save you big bucks. Another rental that you should budget for is if anyone in your family needs a wheelchair. For $10 dollars per day for a multi-day rental ($12 for a single day), the cost of the wheelchair rental can add up quickly as well.
3) Snacks
It is easy to calculate which restaurants you and your family want to eat at and approximately how much you’ll spend, but it is not as easy to know how many snacks you and your family will want to buy throughout the day. When preparing your budget, be flexible with how much you’ll spend on snacks. One day you’ll want to stop and buy every churro, dole whip, and Mickey Bar you see. The next day you could feel too stuffed from a big breakfast and not want any snacks at all. Nevertheless, the cost of these snacks add up. For example, churros are $4 dollars each, so for a family of four you’ll spend over $16 dollars with tax just on one snack. Multiply that by three or four snacks a day, and you can easily reach $50 or $60 dollars just on snacks alone.
2) Ponchos/Umbrella/Dry Clothes
If you forget to pack an umbrella or poncho, be prepared to buy them because it rains almost every day in Florida. Obviously, this suggestion applies more to Walt Disney World than Disneyland as it rarely rains in southern California. In Walt Disney World it can begin to downpour in a moment’s notice. If you get caught up in one of these storms without an umbrella or poncho, suddenly you’ll have a wet shirt, wet pants, wet socks, and even wet underwear. Trudging through the parks with wet clothes on is extremely uncomfortable. Trust me, if this happens, you’re going to want to buy a completely new outfit. That or you’ll have to head all the way back to your hotel to change.
1) Tips
Throughout a Disney vacation, there are a number of people that you should be prepared to tip. Obviously tips for waiters/waitresses and housekeeping are important as these cast members rely heavily on tips from guests for their incomes, but you probably already figure that into your budget. The tips that are often forgotten about when budgeting a Disney parks vacation are tips like the person who helps you with getting your luggage on and off the Magical Express in Orlando or the bell men at your resort hotel. Remember to give anyone who helps you with your luggage $1/2 dollars per bag.
