new to disney florida HELP

[gertjovi]

HI .
im laura , new to this so bear with me . my husband and i are to to go to disney oct 2nd 2011 for 2 weeks . we have all the tickets ,disney ,sea world, busch garden ,universal ect. we staying on international drive. we are taking £2000 spending money with us , would that be enough for food and merchandise?, as we dont want to waste it all on food, would disney dinning plan be good or is it only for those staying at disney ?. we are considering bookin the meal deal online at universal, would that be worth the money?. i have purchased 2 lynx tickets to get us to disney but thats only for 7 days. id rather book everything b4 we go so im not wastin our spending money. HELP . and we havent got a clue about what we wanna do first so much to think about .

[chief]

welcome
do a bit of research and try to get the days organised before you go. this will save time when you are there. organisation is the key to getting the most out of your visit.
i started by booking any meals out first, then i looked at the quitest days to go to the theme parks and got it all down in a plan, which i stuck to quite good.
it saves on all that 'what shall we do today?'
we took just over $2000 last year. that is with me and DH and 2 DS age 11 and 8. we stayed in a villa near disney. most of our money went on food, eating out and gifts etc. i do believe the dining plan is only if you stay in a disney resort, i think
make sure you book any adr, before you go if you want any character meals etc. we booked tusker house AK garden grill at epcot and sci fi diner at HS.

[Sam]

Hi Laura

Welcome.

Planning is key. We were in Disney October last year and we used touringplans.com , it was very helpful getting the best out of the parks and getting organised. To be honest the parks weren't that busy some days so we managed to get a lot in without rushing around, especially when MK is open so late on different days. (Check the halloween decorations they are lovely).

When it comes to eating you will find plenty of restuarants along I Drive at different prices to fit your budget. It's worth checking the threads on restuarants here, but we also read a lot of various guide books and info on the web. You will be able to pick up lots of money off vouchers whilst you are there on tourist maps, etc, they will help save you a bit of money.

The best thing is don't panic just enjoy, read as much as you can before you go and ask any of these guys. They really are great and no question is too daft. It helped us being a member here when we went on our first trip.

[robertcraig]

Its difficult to know how much you will spend meals and gifts will soon mount up. it is worth having a credit card for back up just in case

[ukwdwnut]

hi laura

[Wendy]

Hi Laura and welcome to Secrets

I would think that will be more than enough money, unless you are eating in expensive restaurants every night. Sadly you can't get the dining plan at Disney unless you are staying at a Disney resort.

As others have said, planning is the key to a relaxed and great holiday - don't make it regimented, just enough so that you know more or less what you want to do each day.

[gertjovi]

thank u all xx