Is my budget missing anything?

[corgi_monster]

I'm leaving for WDW in a week - yay! I'm looking over my final budget one last time and have the nagging feeling that I'm missing something. So far, I've budgeted for the following:

- hotels/tickets (all prepaid)
- meals/snacks
- parking/gas/rental car
- tips and gratuities
- airline baggage fees
- souvenirs/shopping

Can you think of anything I'm missing?

 

[afan]

Road tolls?

 

[kymom99]

Until my last vacation I never worried about medical expenses. You might want to have some emergency money for an urgent care visit or at the very least some OTC medications in case someone gets sick.

 

[mgrayar]

Are you staying long enough to have laundry costs?

 

[Klayfish]

Don't overthink it. Budget for what you expect, and then have a little extra for things you may not have thought of or are unexpected. Personally, I bring almost no cash on vacation, we just put the money aside in a debit account or credit card (but we have money put aside and earmarked to pay the card).

 

[LovesTimone]

Food and drinks in the airport?

Airport parking? or uber to get home?

Is a rental car something that you must have? I say this our friends rented a car... drove from the airport to Publix to pick up a few things for the room then to the POFQ parked the car... and never got in it again until they had to leave... She said that was money wasted, when they could have used DME or Uber and went with insta-cart from Publix ... Plus they had to pay to park the car at POFQ...
So did you budget for parking at the resort? even if you not staying on site did you include parking?

If staying offsite... any additional resort or hotel fees?

Make sure to have a slush fund for any extras...

 

[kydisneyfans]

Pet sitting fees?

I completely agree with the medical part. A kidney stone and subsequent heart slow down sent me via ambulance to Dr Phillips hospital during our trip back in April. While the ambulance was no charge the ER visit was over $1200 OOP and prescriptions were close to $30. Disney security assisted my wife in getting to the hospital and they were able to get a rental delivered by Enterprise late at night so we could get prescriptions filled and return. One cost savings is Disney delivered pizzas and drinks for our family the next day at no charge to our room while I was recovering.

 

[MomToOne]

I think you have most of it. The one I typically have on my list (well tested over time) that you don't have is pet sitting/boarding but that might not apply to you.

The only other categories I have on my standard list are groceries - which is generally not applicable at Disney - and one for activities (museum admission, movie tickets, etc.) but depending on your plans, that one might not apply.

I never bother with a slush fund - I've found I usually overestimate the individual categories and so I have more than enough without it. And unexpected medical expenses are something you should have a plan for year round, not just on vacation, so I don't think you need to cover that in a trip budget.

 

[adamak]

$$ for drinks. I budget for snacks throughout the day, but ended up spending more on soda, water and beer...etc.

 

[StacyStrong]

I always have a miscellaneous category to cover any overages or extras I decide to buy spur of moment.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Did you not already pay airline baggae fees when you bought your tickets? Don't take this line out, just consider your "in case i forgot" fund.

 

[MomToOne]

Did you not already pay airline baggae fees when you bought your tickets? Don't take this line out, just consider your "in case i forgot" fund.

Generally you don't pay the baggage fees until you check in for your flight. I know there are a few airlines where you can get a discount for doing it during purchase, but they are the exception still, not the rule.

 

[ibob52]

These may be included in the Tips and Gratuity Category

They are things I choose to pay for because they make check-in easier (or check-out)

Tip for Sky Cap Curbside Check-in (if the regular check-in is crowded)

Luggage Cart Fee . for use from Baggage Claim to Car Rental (and vice-versa)

or for Baggage Claim to Hotel Shuttle .

Because of a Back problem . the easier the luggage can roll is a big help .

 

[kymom99]

I think you have most of it. The one I typically have on my list (well tested over time) that you don't have is pet sitting/boarding but that might not apply to you.

The only other categories I have on my standard list are groceries - which is generally not applicable at Disney - and one for activities (museum admission, movie tickets, etc.) but depending on your plans, that one might not apply.

I never bother with a slush fund - I've found I usually overestimate the individual categories and so I have more than enough without it. And unexpected medical expenses are something you should have a plan for year round, not just on vacation, so I don't think you need to cover that in a trip budget.

A friend of mine made a visit to a hospital out of town and they required $400 up front. It’s not the same as an emergency close to home. You have to be able to get that money immediately in some cases.

 

[MomToOne]

A friend of mine made a visit to a hospital out of town and they required $400 up front. It’s not the same as an emergency close to home. You have to be able to get that money immediately in some cases.

Emergencies come up in life, on vacation AND at home. You shouldn't have to include them in your trip budget because you should be prepared to handle them whenever and wherever they happen. I'm assuming anyone taking a Disney vacation should have access to money/credit to cover a $400 bill, or even thousands. If you don't have room on a credit card to cover such an expense, can't write a check and/or can't walk into a bank and get access to those types of funds, then you can't cover emergencies at home either and you probably shouldn't be making the trip.

Flame suit on.

 

[kymom99]

Emergencies come up in life, on vacation AND at home. You shouldn't have to include them in your trip budget because you should be prepared to handle them whenever and wherever they happen. I'm assuming anyone taking a Disney vacation should have access to money/credit to cover a $400 bill, or even thousands. If you don't have room on a credit card to cover such an expense, can't write a check and/or can't walk into a bank and get access to those types of funds, then you can't cover emergencies at home either and you probably shouldn't be making the trip.

Flame suit on.

Oh I totally agree with that. I would use a credit card myself and sort it out when I got home. It’s just something to keep in mind. Something that could put a damper on your mood if you aren’t thinking that it could happen. I think I’m speaking more as a mental preparation.

 

[Shughart]

Are you flying? I had only flown once and when planning our trip/budget, eating at the airport did not factor in for me. So you can imagine when we showed up at the airport at 6am all excited for Disney and everyone started getting hungry you can understand my panic when my husband pulled out his credit card. Airport food is not cheap. We probably spent $50 for the 4 of us.

 

[DLgal]

Are you factoring home airport parking into "parking." I always forget about that expense and when we get home and have to pay to get the car out of the parking lot at the airport and it's like $200, I'm like "DOH."

 

[corgi_monster]

Thank you for all your replies. Looks like my budget is pretty good and we're ready to go! I'm really fortunate to have a FIL who will be dropping us off at the airport AND taking care of my two dogs. Kennels around here charge $40/dog for large dogs so he's saving us well over $1,000!

I'm not too worried about having any kind of medical emergency. Whether at home or on a trip, there is always the potential for this kind of expense and that's what savings/emergency accounts are for.

 

[gr8leg8]

The one I always forget is cash in my park bag for balloons