When I worked at a small public relations firm in Washington, D.C., I had to run a budget that I did not create, myself, over to the accountant for approval. I knew it was padded by 10%, and the accountant realized this. Waiting for her to yell, “She is so busted,” I heard, “Smart.” Nobody was talking about me, (a theme at that job) but the accountant explained that between travel, egos and typos, you have to leave some room for error. My urge was to force people to create a plan and lump on shame if they were wrong. Luckily, this was before I had kids.

I used to think that keeping $20 in the fifth pocket of my jeans could get me out of most jams. At Disney, I have an unscientific number that I use instead. It is $36 a day. This amount can cover the following things that will make your bad day magical:

1. A cab from Coronado Springs Resort to California Grill, and back is about $16, in case you miss the bus lottery and get four Animal Kingdoms in a row instead of the one Magic Kingdom you need.
2. A stuffed animal or a toy that is good enough to make a kid feel like it is his or her birthday usually runs about $19.99-$23.00
3. Pizza and 4 sodas, if you miss the last boat to your advance dining reservation will run about $18.
4. A new tee shirt, baseball cap, or pair of sunglasses, because you forgot the put those in your carry on and the Magical Express has not yet delivered your wardrobe will run about $15-$25 each.
5. Sunscreen in January will cost about $13-14 in the parks. It is the same price in July, but you are less likely to have to look for it.
6. You can make your own light saber for under $25. Who you threaten with it is up to you.
7. A glass of wine and an order of nachos at the River Roost at Port Orleans Riverside is about $19, plus tip. This can make a lot things go better. I’ve proven this theory again and again.
8. An extra bag on the airplane (if you are using the carrier I used last time, which was about average) might cost $25. Keep those souvenirs, but leave the towels behind. Your soaps are fair game.
9. Good coffee is hard to come by, and is a “comfort food” to a lot of adults. According to AllEars.net, you can find coffee at select places around Walt Disney World. It may not be next to the place where the refillable mugs are sold. You can also find a few of those Starbucks Coffee Houses, which I hear good things about, near the Epcot resorts, if “hear good things” means, “had to give up for Lent.”
10. Downloadable dollars. A delay of a flight or a plethora of questions about park hours and transportation may motivate you upgrade your iPhone or Droid for the weekend. Sure, you have maps and charts and cast members, but nothing beats having your phone save you minutes (instead of charging you for them) as you get from Grand Floridian to Pop Century in either 47 minutes, or 13. Your choice. My 2 must have apps are TWIZ which is a Our Laughing Place Transportation Wizard app ($1.99), and Lines (free), by Touring Plans, which tells you how long you will have to wait for your mountain of choice, or whether or not Magic Kingdom will be closing for a party. There is no app to help you score an invitation.
11. A cab to the pharmacy far away. There is a great pharmacy near WDW, Turner Drug, but a prescription we needed that was very specific, time-released, and pricy was not in their inventory, so they were kind enough to track it down for us at a chain to save us, literally, hundreds of dollars over what they would have had to charge. THANK YOU!!!  However, we had to take a cab to get it. Price of cab? $30, plus tip.
12. If you are near the All Star resorts, or Animal Kingdom Lodge, you are not far from McDonald’s.  If you care that is it is there, you don’t need me to tell you what a few Happy Meals cost. There many, many, many great places to eat at Disney, but when you gotta, you gotta.  I’m not here to judge.