How Much Do You Spend On Food?

[aimee11621]

:chat: :chat: :chat: :chat:

WHO MUCH IS BEING SPENT ON FOOD?

BREAKFAST???

LUNCH ???

DINNER?????

[ilovediznee]

We are DVC members, so we eat b'fast in the room. I make grits, eggs, bacon and DH goes to the bakery at the Boardwalk and gets some pastries.

Lunch we do inside a park, sit down. We spend money on lunches and dinners at the nice restaurants at the parks because we love the food. Lunch runs about $80.00, but cheaper if we use a lunch voucher.

Dinner is the same. Usually at Epcot (France, England), etc.

Dianedisney

[enchantedpixiedust]

For the two of us it's about $1,100 budgeted for the week. This includes the Luau and a $250 bar tab allowance/$150 snack allowance and mugs at both POR & AKL, though. The majority of meals we're using vouchers except for dinner at Boma, Afternoon Tea, Bfast at Spoodles. It seems excessive I guess, but I just like to be overprepared. :)

[mmeb144]

I have budgeted about $30 breakfast, $40 lunch, $80 supper. That's for my family of 4, 2 adults, 1 DS 12, 1 DD 10. We usually eat breakfast at the food court at the resort, this time it will be POFQ. Lunch and supper at the parks.

Marie

[720L]

On our last trip I didn't really budget, but tried to not spend a lot. We spent over $400.00 on a family of 4! (kids are 3 and 5 so not big eaters) I almost died when I added this up! This is everything, our snacks, drinks in the park (we drank a lot since it was so hot) and meals. We were there 7 days. That's almost a months worth of groceries for us! We did 1 character breakfast and ate at Rainforest Cafe once and Rose and Crown once for a sit down dinner.

[Harambe]

Family of four (kids 11 & 9) - we budget $150.00 a day. Food court or counter service breakfast and lunch, nice dinner (or if we do a character breakfast, we'll do the counter service for dinner).

Usually 5 PS's for a week long trip.

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by 720L
On our last trip I didn't really budget, but tried to not spend a lot. We spent over $400.00 on a family of 4! (kids are 3 and 5 so not big eaters) I almost died when I added this up! This is everything, our snacks, drinks in the park (we drank a lot since it was so hot) and meals. We were there 7 days. That's almost a months worth of groceries for us! We did 1 character breakfast and ate at Rainforest Cafe once and Rose and Crown once for a sit down dinner.

I think that's pretty reasonable for a family of four. That's about $58 a day, which isn't too bad for vacation.

[720L]

thanks that makes me feel a little better!

[bytheblood]

Originally posted by 720L
On our last trip I didn't really budget, but tried to not spend a lot. We spent over $400.00 on a family of 4! (kids are 3 and 5 so not big eaters) I almost died when I added this up! This is everything, our snacks, drinks in the park (we drank a lot since it was so hot) and meals. We were there 7 days. That's almost a months worth of groceries for us! We did 1 character breakfast and ate at Rainforest Cafe once and Rose and Crown once for a sit down dinner.

I think that is very reasonable. Your daily average is much better than we plan for. We have 2 adults and 1 child. We plan $90 a day for the three of us. This of course does not include any PS meals we have. We truly spend about $22 for breakfast, $24 for lunch and less than $30 for dinner, but we allow for $30 a meal. We are eat and go kind of people. This could change a person's budget. We grab a chicken sandwich, burger, hot dog...basically junk food. When we are at home, we eat healthy home cooked meals, but we eat like crap when we are vacationing. :cake:

[Dreamin' Disney]

Last time we were in Disneyworld, I think I was overprepared. I even brought a toaster in my luggage to help lessen the prices of breakfast meals. While we did opt for making some PS's for a character lunch or breakfast here and there, I recall it was quite inconvenient to go down to the lobby and find that bakery or cafe on the main floor of our hotel and buy some bagels, etc. And then what did I save?

This time we decided to splurge a little bit and booked a room on the concierge level, mainly because of the food offerings throughout the day. I know it will be extremely convenient to grab that continental breakfast in the morning, then each take a free bottle of water for the parks, come back from the parks to get a snack and then end off the day with some cookies and milk for the kids and perhaps a cocktail for the adults.

I still like to save, so I am happy to report that we got a AAA rate at 15% off the concierge rate, which brings us to the same rate as a waterview room at a deluxe hotel.

I didn't figure this out last time, but this time around, I feel that we will end up spending about the same, but it will be more convenient staying on the concierge level, without any running around looking for deals.

[stemikger]

I can't for the life of me remember how much spending money I brought on my last two trips. I don't remember feeling like I spent a lot of money though.

However, this trip is a special one because it's for my 40th birthday I want to really have enough money.

I am bring $2,500 for two adults and one child. This total also includes souviners (which we don't go crazy on).

The way I am going to do it is I am going to bring cereal bars because we are not big breakfast people, buy the mugs at the resort and have coffee and the bars for breakfast (except for one character breakfast).

For lunch we are going to either eat at the fancier places because they are cheaper at lunch time and for dinner eat counter service.

I think this should help keep the cost down. Also I bought the Brita fill and go bottles which will help with my water costs. I won't be at the mercy of those expensive bottles of water at the parks.

I love my beer so I will probably spend a little more on my bar tab. I am hoping to find a store in one of the resorts where I can purchase a couple of six packs for my room. I am not renting a car so I will not be leaving the resort.

The way I figure per day is $0 for breakfast - $60 for lunch and $30 for dinner - and $50 for snacks and cocktails and $30 for souviners.

[Hugpug]

This past May I budget 50.00 a day for myself. I travel solo. I had a couple of PS'S and it worked out fine. Never spent that much everyday. This also included the tips as well. Some meals in parks others at DD or Hotels. If I had a car I would have went outside WDW. I use Mug for coffee and Stopped at a grocery store on way to hotel and picked up water and pop. Since all Disney offers is Coke items which I am not crasy about. I picked up a 12 pack at store and snack items for in the room. This really helped cut the cost.
:wave2: :wave:

[Swan]

Since food is a big part of the trip we budget $1500.00 for 2-A & 2
Kids. That is for 10 days and eating at sit down places. I could do better if I tried.

[deanna2426]

Food at Disney is also a big part of our trip. We budget around $1,500 for 8 nights for a family of four (Me, DH, DS(5) and DS(22months).

We will eat a quick breakfast in concierge (except for one or two character breakfasts, counter service or quick sit-down lunch, sit-down dinner).

[Kimberle]

We've always spend around $100 per day. 2 adults, 1 small child.

This trip it will be less, probably only eat out for dinner, since we are staying concierge. ;)

[Crazy Kanga]

I try to stay at $100 a day for my family of 4. This is done by eating cereal or pop tarts in the room for breakfast, and one sit down meal a day and one counter service meal. We also bring snacks to keep in the room, and may choose to snack for lunch when we take a pool break, then eat a big dinner. Whenever we can we share meals as well. Usually my DH and I will order a large burger or whatever at counter service and share(we are not big eaters) and do the same for the boys if we can get them to agree on what to order. At sit down meals I order a soup or salad and let everyone else order a meal(with my help) and everyone shares. Even doing this we usually have food left on the table at the end of the meal. I love good food as much as anyone else and every now and then love to splurge, but I really hate to drop a load of money on meals repeatedly on a trip. It gets depressing.

[bigbabyblues]

I'm budgeting $140 a day for our family, 2 adults, 2 kids ages 3 years and 15 months. The 15-mo old will be free at the buffets we have planned though.

[Lcm2108]

I really don't budget BUT, we spend about $75-100/day for 2 adults and 2 children (17 and 9).

We eat breakfast in the room with stuff I bring (like pop tart, little cereal boxes, cookies, etc.). Our main meal is lunch---cheaper than dinner and we usually do this just before going back to our room for swim/rest. For dinner, we do counter service or food court. We bring our own water bottle to park or just drink out the fountains. We do get snack sometime---like Dole Whips, Turkey legs, Mickey Bars, Snowballs.

Without purchasing the tickets, I can do WDW for us 4 staying 7 nights at a Value Resort for under $1000. When we have AP's, it's easier to convince DH to go as it doesn't cost a small fortune!

Lisa

[PoohBear]

We spend about $200 per day for a family of 4.
That's for 2 adults and 2 kids (7 & 10).

We have breakfast & dinner at a restaurant and counter service if we eat lunch but most of the time we just get popcorn or fries to stretch until dinner.

I do bring snacks for the room and the parks. We always get refillable mugs, too.

We are not big eaters either. I feel sorry for larger families. I know there are less expensive ways than a restaurant but DH and I need the time out to regroup or we'll be worthless
:crazy:

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by 720L
On our last trip I didn't really budget, but tried to not spend a lot. We spent over $400.00 on a family of 4! (kids are 3 and 5 so not big eaters) I almost died when I added this up! This is everything, our snacks, drinks in the park (we drank a lot since it was so hot) and meals. We were there 7 days. That's almost a months worth of groceries for us! We did 1 character breakfast and ate at Rainforest Cafe once and Rose and Crown once for a sit down dinner.
Are you saying it only cost $400 for the entire 7 days? I realize that may be an entire month of groceries but that is CHEAP for eating out! We are two adults and one picky 5 y/o. We spend at least $125 a day on food. We always do one nice meal a day, a sit down breakfast, and then a counter type lunch. We spent $1500 on food on our last 10 day trip.

[kelscross]

I budget 75.00 per day (1 adult, 2 children under 3). That includes any ps's etc. For myself if I have a big dinner planned I don't usually eat much lunch or if I have a big breakfast then I'm usually not that hungry the rest of the day.

I have an advantage though, my children are free at the buffets and family style all you can eat meals, so I do plan those for all of our PS. They usually share a kids meal at the resort (they are small eaters) or I might have to get a kids meal and an extra order of fries or something.

We actually came back with money last year so we didn't do too bad.

One thing my mom and I discovered last year was when we weren't that hungry we would get a kids meal, it was much cheaper and had plenty of food.

[wdwfan]

We are a family of 4 (DS 9, DD 7) and I'm planning on about $150 a day. We're staying concierge, so breakfast is taken care of. (Not big breakfast eaters either) Lunch will be either sit down or counter service and dinner will be sit down service. We usually get snacks in the park too. I know somedays we may go over the $150, but other days we'll stay under it.

I can't wait to get there!:hyper: :sunny:

[CMKN]

We are a family of four (Me, DH, DD 9 DD 13) - to us breakfast is our biggest meal while on vacation. It is good for us because we fill up and almost always can get away with just a small snack for lunch and then counter service or sit down dinner. Everything included (breakfast, snacks, dinner) we average $125 - $160 per day and are always satisfied! I splurge on vacation because first off, we don't go every year (yet) I don't have to cook or clean, and I like to live it up.

[queenmichelle]

The food budget for my upcoming trip is $950.00 for 10 days for me and my DD(11). I used the menus on allears and think that if we eat as much as I think it should be pretty on target. We have alot of food court breakfasts planned. 2 character breakfasts. The main meal of the day is lunch. We have ps's made for almost every day. Dinners will be a pretty even split between counter service and some moderate sit downs at the resorts. i don't think $950.00 is unreasonable for 3 meals out a day for 10 days.


Look at that counter!!:bounce: :hyper: :bounce: :hyper:

[JessetheCowgirl]

Originally posted by stemikger
I can't for the life of me remember how much spending money I brought on my last two trips. I don't remember feeling like I spent a lot of money though.

However, this trip is a special one because it's for my 40th birthday I want to really have enough money.

I am bring $2,500 for two adults and one child. This total also includes souviners (which we don't go crazy on).





I have no idea if you were planning on bringing cash or not, but I just wanted to suggest traveler's checks to you if you are bringing that much $$$$

You can never be too safe!

As for budget, we (family of 4 on last trip) spent approximately $150-$200 per day on food, drinks, and souvies.

We did one sit down meal per day (mostly character meals), and counter service for the other two. We bought most drinks/snacks in the parks. And, no high price souvenirs--just light up parade gizmos, a few pins, etc for the kids.

Enjoy your trip!!!:wave: :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :wave:

[mareed]

For our family of 4 - me, DH, DS 7, & DS 4, we averaged $100/day. This was with eating most breakfasts at our condo, and usually one sit-down table-service meal a day. We had our table service meal at either a character breakfast or at lunch. Dinner was almost always counter service. My DH & I will sometimes share a meal if we know the portions are large (i.e. fried chicken at Prime Time Diner), but then we often order dessert to make up for it.

[Blueberry]

Ok..here goes...we allot $150 but rarely ever hit that amount. This for two adult empty nesters and for everything, food, souvenirs, etc..

We are not in the room eating type folks so we generally go to Dennys each morning and spend less than $10 for two meals.

Used to have parking fees of $8, but buying our first APs so that is eliminated.

Have counter service lunches in the parks, generally sandwiches or burger type things.

Dinner we do a sit down, sometimes but often when the parks close very early we have a late dinner offsite, sometimes a sit down like Outback (the chain restaurnt) , Pizza Hut or McDonalds at DD.

We do not go over board on souvenirs either and always bring home plenty of money. I prefer to have too much than too little, if you ever get caught in a park with too little money it is no fun..:rolleyes:

[averysmom]

We average $75 - $80 a day, 2 adults, one child under 3. We usually eat breakfast in the room, with one or two character breakfasts, one sit down meal a day (either lunch or dinner), and then usually just counter service and snacks. We always visit O'Hanas, Boma and Biergarten at least once. Keep in mind though that we very, very rarely will order alcohol.

[maureen4200040]

When we stay at the Rosen Centre last November, we decided to only have a sit down meal in the evenings. Which worked out really good as I got a bogof offer from the internet, so we only paid $23.65 for two buffet meals per night instead of the regular price of $41.51.

We went to Walwarts on the 2nd day there and stocked up on bread, ham, salad and cooked chicken,water and cold drinks that we used for our lunchtime meals. Breakfast was cereal and banana's. Every other day we brought apples, watermelons and grapes etc.

Total spent on food and snacks for 2 wks was $420.00. Our food budget before we left England was $500.00 so we had money left at the end of our trip to use for souveniors.

[disneymom2one]

2 adults and a just-turned nine. We budget $100 a day. That includes about 4 "big" (character) meals for the trip as well as a Publix run. We generally eat breakfast in the room, a nice lunch and then snacks or counter service for dinner. I keep track on a piece of paper and we generally come out fine. We don't buy souvenirs or drinks/snacks in the park.

[disneysteve]

Just to let anyone worried about food costs know that eating at Disney doesn't have to be expensive ...

Last trip in November, we were 3 adults and DD8. We averaged under $17/person/day for all our meals and snacks. We ate breakfast in our condo. Lunch usually counter service in the parks. Dinner was a combination of casual sit-down, counter service and offsite restaurants. We did 1 character meal at Crystal Palace.

[aimee11621]

Originally posted by disneymom2one
2 adults and a just-turned nine. We budget $100 a day. That includes about 4 "big" (character) meals for the trip as well as a Publix run. We generally eat breakfast in the room, a nice lunch and then snacks or counter service for dinner. I keep track on a piece of paper and we generally come out fine. We don't buy souvenirs or drinks/snacks in the park.

Hey disneymom2one:


what do you get for breakfasts?:wave:

[LisaZoe]

After seeing what others feel is a reasonable food budget, I feel like mine if quite good. This is a first WDW trip for my DD, almost 3, and me. As such, I've allowed for about $50 a day (including tax and tip) for 8 days. I checked the menus on allearnet.com to get an idea of costs and think I've figured on the expensive side but we probably won't spend it all.

This includes 5 character meals (we may not do them all but I haven't been able to cut any out yet :)) and the Aloha Spirit or HDDR dinner show. Luckily, all these special meals are buffet or family style so DD eats free. These will be our big meals of the day and we'll just eat a light breakfast/dinner on those days and some snacks at whichever park we're in for lunch.

[chrisn]

We are going for 10 days this coming February and what I do is budget $1000 for food and $1000 for Shopping. This is for a family of four, DD-16 & DS-6. This is what we always do and what works for us. We have 5 Dinners, 4 Lunches and 1 Breakfast scheduled. We do one sitdown per day more then likely eating breakfast on the run, then either sitdown lunch and counter dinner or sitdown dinner and counter lunch and snacks through the parks usually spending between 100-150 per day usually closer to 100. We don't do near as much shopping as we use to so we always have extra at the end which makes DH happy.

[diznee25]

We spend $100 per day on food. It's just me and my husband, and this budget allows us to eat within WDW everyday, (we do stay on WDW property). Usually 1 to 2 sit down restaurants per day. The other meal is counter service.

Diznee25

[3ofakind]

Well- we are doing some grocery shopping and eating BF in our condo.

Lunch at Magic Kingdom will be counter service (at either of two places) and dinner at Cosmic Ray's- 2 chicken melas worth mashed potatoes and we have our own drinks- Crystal Light...

MGM- BF at condo and we are leaving between 12-4 and will eat lunch and dinner at condo- same for the next day at Universal.

Kids have 20 each for a souvenier and any snacks they want...(most will be packed in their tummypack- cheese crackers, cashews, honey roasted peanuts, sunflower seeds and hard pretzels).

I think for the 6 of us we will spend up to $120 at grocery store...and $40 in the parks...and 20 for pizza (with Ent. coupon) for the first night (we will have 8 people)= $180 for 3 adults and 3 kiddos for 4 nights and three days there.

[jenny_E]

One tip to keep in mind at the parks is that when I was there last the sit down restaurants let you order a child's portion if you ask. We went to Rose and Crown and I got the child's potion fish and chips that was 1/2 the cost of the adult's and then I didn't waste and had room for dessert later if I wanted (which I always do - let's be honest...) Dinner for the 2 of us was like $25.

For my husband and myself I budget about $10 for both for breakfast most days cause we're cheap...then $15-$20 for both for lunch if its counter service (agian I will send my husband up to get me the kid's meal if that's what I want) and $25-30 for dinner for the "medium" priced restaurants. then always a snack at night.

When we stay off site I try to get the "deluxe" continental breakfast included hotel, like Country inns and suites calypso cay so we eat up and save even more for snacks later...

For me, its more about the experience than the fancy food so I have no shame in ordering an appetizer or a child's portion that fits my appetite size better and leaves room and $$ for the important things (like pastries at France in Epcot!)