How much do you budget for food for a family of 4?

[scrapquitler]

We are trying to help my SIL plan a very low-budget trip. They are thinking of the Wyndham by Downtown, and would get tickets through UT. But the one thing I have NO idea what to advise her on is food, as we've done one of the dining plans since that became an option, and back when we paid for our own meals, I was a kid!

So can anyone help me figure out approximately how much they might want to budget for reasonable meals for a family of 4? (the girls would be 7 and 11 at the time) It would only be for 4 full park days, as the first and last day are primarily spent flying (from Oregon), so maybe just one additional meal on those days.

We eat quick service only. In general, for quick service, budgeting $7 meal for kids meals and $15 for adult meals will cover you adequately. I eat kids meals at Quick Service about half the time (kids meal comes with an entree, two sides and a drink). Water is available for free with quick service meals. Most snacks cost $4-$7, but some are more (Turkey legs, for example are $10 and change).

Your SIL can feed her family breakfast in the room before going to the park, carry in snacks, eat a QS lunch and then either eat another QS meal for dinner or eat off-site somewhere on the way back to the room. For my family, $100 a day would be plenty in that scenario, and we'd still be able to have some snacks purchased in the park.

 

[HM]

Tell them not to buy sodas with their meals. Drink water. That will save over $10 a meal right there.
We only do QS meals these days, as the TS meal costs are too expensive when on a budget. So many QS restaurants have good choices these days, that we've never had a hamburger while at one.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

The best way of budgeting for food in my opinion is picking out where you want to eat and then going by what they have on the menu figure out what everyone would like. If its a toss up between 2 items pick the most expensive on the menu, that way you will be covered either way. You can't really determine a budget for food unless you know where you want to eat or you plan on eating fast food every day. Because theres a HUGE difference between lets say eating at Cinderella's Castle or eating at The Plaza Restaurant in Magic Kingdom.

 

[MillauFr]

I never worry about it when I am on vacation. We just go where we want. Sure the Artist Point was pricey but it was worth it. I save money by bringing my own wine and paying the corkage.

 

[LovesTimone]

We are trying to help my SIL plan a very low-budget trip. They are thinking of the Wyndham by Downtown, and would get tickets through UT. But the one thing I have NO idea what to advise her on is food, as we've done one of the dining plans since that became an option, and back when we paid for our own meals, I was a kid!

So can anyone help me figure out approximately how much they might want to budget for reasonable meals for a family of 4? (the girls would be 7 and 11 at the time) It would only be for 4 full park days, as the first and last day are primarily spent flying (from Oregon), so maybe just one additional meal on those days.

Which Wyndham, the one at Bonnet Creek? there are several located around this area, so where is very important.

So are they planning to hit the parks on arrival day? departure day? if not heading into the parks make sure to let her know to change the ticket days for 4 days, and possibly add park hoppers. As AK and DHS for us are half days, and more time could be spend at MK, for the first trip this is where they will probably spend most of their time. Switching around things sometime creates a better plan.

On arrival day they can head over to Disney Springs for the evening and Earl of Sandwich has the best and most affordable option for sandwiches and such. Lots of stuff going on at DS in the evening, lots of sights and sounds to check out. Also she might want to sign up for Landry's club card and see what the promotion is and try to eat and Rainforest or T-Rex or maybe she can slip in a Landrys GC into her budget ahead of time, and it can be a surprise for the kiddos, it would be a great way to start the vaca. Also she could if possible maybe get a Starbucks GC also this is good for the mornings you need coffee... real coffee. When we were living out of state I would pick up GC and it was nice to have the extra $$ for breakfast coffee and pastries from Starbucks, or lunch at rainforest just outside of AK. This might be a good option if they are not planning on any character meals.

Does Wyndham offer free transportation to and from the airport? I am not sure about this so make sure she adds in $$ for transportation to and from the airport if needed. - If staying on site they could use Magical express at no charge.

I would help her run the numbers, offsite ~ on site - a value resort, 4 day w/ PH with or without QSDP might work out better. Look a the total picture not just the room rate. Make sure she takes into account if there is a resort fee on top of the room rate, wifi cost if any. Depending on when they are going there could be a discount so make sure she keeps checking the WDW site. Cost of transportation to and from the airport, should all be included. We had some friends that decided to stay offsite, and they were completely caught off guard at all the extras that they did not include when pricing out their trip. It ended up costing them a few hundred + dollars more than they planned on.

Transportation to and from the parks? how are they going, and is there a cost?

She also can ship a box to the resort with snacks and breakfast items, and I believe staples will deliver water by the case, which might be easier than hauling food with them.

When our DD's where at home, we planned on 75 to 100 dollars a day per person, but we enjoyed sit down and character meals, once a day.

Also all that walking and being outside in the heat and humidity will make you burn more calories, and be a lot more thirsty than normal.

Have her look ahead to meals that could be split for savings.

 

[hsmamato2]

We are trying to help my SIL plan a very low-budget trip. They are thinking of the Wyndham by Downtown, and would get tickets through UT. But the one thing I have NO idea what to advise her on is food, as we've done one of the dining plans since that became an option, and back when we paid for our own meals, I was a kid!

So can anyone help me figure out approximately how much they might want to budget for reasonable meals for a family of 4? (the girls would be 7 and 11 at the time) It would only be for 4 full park days, as the first and last day are primarily spent flying (from Oregon), so maybe just one additional meal on those days.

It depends on how much they all eat. YOu say budget, so that means offsite, or eating qs in parks. An average disney kids meal is around 6.00- an average disney adult meal is around 10-12- when my kids were that small we would usually (as an example) say a burger place- get 2 of the big cheeseburger baskets with fries, and cut each (big) burger in half,and add our own toppings as desired- buy on large drink,and share it(it's bathtub sized IMHO) that cost around 25.00 total.....
all ears .net has menu prices for qs, and it depends on where you stop, the quality and choices you get for your $ it varies a LOT.
Personally I advise they pick a qs place in each park (based on advice from the dis,lots of threads) and eat there.
Share food,it's cheaper,and the kids are young. Don't buy lots of sodas,drink water.(it's so much better anyway) give each kiddo a waistpack with theor fave snacks for whenever....
my personal budget if my kids were that age right now would be no more than 80.00 per day IN PARK eating.(That's on the high end too)
That's cereal and milk in our room, and a qs meal for lunch and dinner, maybe a few shared snacks as we tour around(there are so many good things,all shareable)

 

[hsmamato2]

I also advise researching the 'best bang for your buck' qs in the parks(4 days isn't a lot of time, need to maximize that) There are so many places where you can stop and share ONE giant cupcake for around 5.00 as a snack....(example) or one qs meal that feeds 2 people easily-as an adult I sometimes choose a kids meal,the portions are manageable,and I usually get a choc. milk which someone else in my fam drinks lol-
ice water is free for the asking anywhere onsite also.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

My family of 4 eats at Yak and Yeti walk up in AK for less that $30 every trip. We eat at Casey's for around $30 once every trip. We can go to WPE at DTD and eat for $30. The key is that we don't buy drinks and we don't have any problem sharing. We also eat breakfast in the room.

 

[kashzan]

I never worry about it when I am on vacation. We just go where we want. Sure the Artist Point was pricey but it was worth it. I save money by bringing my own wine and paying the corkage.

The OP stated that she was trying to help her SIL plan a low budget vacation, so I am sure Artist point and cokrage fees are not what she was looking for. Some people do have to worry about what they spend on vacation.

 

[McKelly]

Are they able to travel in the summer? Like another poster said - it might come out cheaper to stay in a value with the new discount. I don't believe the tickets from UT are that much cheaper are they? Plus they would be getting one quick service meal free per person, so they would only have to pay for one, given they eat breakfast in their room. So, they could probably get away with $50.00 a day in food. Onsite means no parking fees, no transportation fees from the airport and other extra perks.

 

[pocomom]

We (family of 5)always eat breakfast and at least one other meal back at the hotel/campground or brought in our backpack.
Between being vegetarians and having some food allergies it is just easier for us. There are only so many days of eating mac and cheese one can handle.
Sandwiches don't take up much room or weight, and we will have granola bars or something else. We would have waters with us regardless. Fruit from the stands is cheap as a snack.
The kids have disney gift cards they usually earn through extra chores etc that help cover any special snacks they might want.
Alot of times we will go back to hotel/RV for the afternoon and when we do we have our "big " meal then.
Groceries are slightly more expensive for us there both because we will eat more treats and convenience stuff and I find the grocery stores in the area to be a bit more expensive than home. When we RV I will make dinners ahead of time and freeze them for the trip. I also use paper plates.
So for our family of 5, it would be the cost of normal groceries plus less than $50 for an average a day at Disney.

The website used to have the menus available so you could price out actual meals they are likely to have to see . I did this once for an unplanned frugal trip we snuck in.

 

[bluezy]

We always eat breakfast in the room. We bring granola bars, muffins, pop tarts, bagels, cereal, etc. and then buy cream cheese, yogurt, and milk at the resort (AoA). We drive, so it's easy to bring those things with us. If we weren't driving I'd either pack a box of food and ship it myself or order from Amazon Prime Pantry. As for the rest of the meals, we don't buy a dining plan but since we eat mostly at QS locations, I use the price of the QS dining plan as my budget amount. That provides us with a very generous food allowance. I often order a kids meal for myself or I'll just order a sandwich (no sides -- you don't *have* to order the combo meal. You can just order the sandwich.) and then share fries or other sides with the kids or my husband. There are definitely some combo meals that are easily shareable -- especially between 2 kids. We also tend to share snacks. Even though I budget the price of the QSDP for our food, we usually spend a few hundred dollars less than that (on a 7-day trip) without even trying (we eat what we want, where we want, when we want it and we buy all of our water and snacks in the parks. But I realize not everyone can/wants to do that). If we tried, we could easily save even more money on food by bringing our own water and snacks to the parks and by ordering some of the less expensive meals on the menus and/or by ordering 4 combo meals for the 6 of us to share.

 

[MommyBryn]

We are not sure what airline they will fly. To be completely honest, unless they can snag a card for each of them with the 2 free roundtrip flights from SW, I am not sure if they can go at all! From up here, you just can't find round-trip flights for any less than $450-500 each. So that's something that will definitely be a deciding factor for them.

will they have a kitchen?

I am not sure, I doubt it. The Wyndham Garden, I think, is the one they'd stay in.

When are they traveling? Disney is offering one free QS meal during some dates this summer with stay at value resort. Staying on site may be cheaper with the magical express if the Wyndham doesn't offer transport to from the airport. Definitely pack snacks and breakfast from home. Granola bars, poptarts, and even oatmeal packets are easy to transport. We pack apples in our carry on. This shouldn't be a problem if traveling SW.

We don't know yet. Like us, the time they travel is based on when they're able to save up for it. So we have to get a good idea of the amount they'll need before we can look into the finer details. I assume they'd want to go during value. It would cost them about an extra $100 for a taxi to and from their resort, so before discounts that still came out much cheaper than a value when I played with dates?

Which Wyndham, the one at Bonnet Creek? there are several located around this area, so where is very important.

So are they planning to hit the parks on arrival day? departure day? if not heading into the parks make sure to let her know to change the ticket days for 4 days, and possibly add park hoppers. As AK and DHS for us are half days, and more time could be spend at MK, for the first trip this is where they will probably spend most of their time. Switching around things sometime creates a better plan.

On arrival day they can head over to Disney Springs for the evening and Earl of Sandwich has the best and most affordable option for sandwiches and such. Lots of stuff going on at DS in the evening, lots of sights and sounds to check out. Also she might want to sign up for Landry's club card and see what the promotion is and try to eat and Rainforest or T-Rex or maybe she can slip in a Landrys GC into her budget ahead of time, and it can be a surprise for the kiddos, it would be a great way to start the vaca. Also she could if possible maybe get a Starbucks GC also this is good for the mornings you need coffee... real coffee. When we were living out of state I would pick up GC and it was nice to have the extra $$ for breakfast coffee and pastries from Starbucks, or lunch at rainforest just outside of AK. This might be a good option if they are not planning on any character meals.

Does Wyndham offer free transportation to and from the airport? I am not sure about this so make sure she adds in $$ for transportation to and from the airport if needed. - If staying on site they could use Magical express at no charge.

I would help her run the numbers, offsite ~ on site - a value resort, 4 day w/ PH with or without QSDP might work out better. Look a the total picture not just the room rate. Make sure she takes into account if there is a resort fee on top of the room rate, wifi cost if any. Depending on when they are going there could be a discount so make sure she keeps checking the WDW site. Cost of transportation to and from the airport, should all be included. We had some friends that decided to stay offsite, and they were completely caught off guard at all the extras that they did not include when pricing out their trip. It ended up costing them a few hundred + dollars more than they planned on.

Transportation to and from the parks? how are they going, and is there a cost?

She also can ship a box to the resort with snacks and breakfast items, and I believe staples will deliver water by the case, which might be easier than hauling food with them.

When our DD's where at home, we planned on 75 to 100 dollars a day per person, but we enjoyed sit down and character meals, once a day.

Also all that walking and being outside in the heat and humidity will make you burn more calories, and be a lot more thirsty than normal.

Have her look ahead to meals that could be split for savings.

Yes, I've run all the numbers for different options, and staying at the Wyndham Garden (?) was definitely the most affordable for them. No QSDP fit into their budget anywhere.
We chose not to add Park Hoppers to save the money since they will only be there 4 days. As I mentioned, coming from the other side of the US, the flights are pretty much the entire day. We generally don't get to MCO until around 5-6pm, and to resorts about 1.5-2 hours later. So not worth paying for an extra day of tickets. But being so close to Downtown Disney (I just can't call it anything else...) they'll have that to do that first night, and the morning before they leave if they want to. Plus, this is their first trip to ANY Disney park so we all figured they'll find plenty to do all day in one park at a time, and especially to make the most of the short time they have.

Are they able to travel in the summer? Like another poster said - it might come out cheaper to stay in a value with the new discount. I don't believe the tickets from UT are that much cheaper are they? Plus they would be getting one quick service meal free per person, so they would only have to pay for one, given they eat breakfast in their room. So, they could probably get away with $50.00 a day in food. Onsite means no parking fees, no transportation fees from the airport and other extra perks.

Again, I'm not sure yet. It wouldn't be this year for sure, and maybe not even next. We have to work with the budget as the starting point. Hopefully when they DO decide they're able to go, we can re-calculate options if there is a fantastic discount available. So far any on-site option we've considered puts them WAY over.

 

[SimplyBeautiful]

My plan is to ship a box of breakfast, snacks, water, sunscreen (we're only bringing carry ons so I don't want to waste liquid space) from amazon prime. It's 5.99 a box I believe, I've played around with it a bit and feel it's worth it for us. This will be my first trip as an adult, we're trying to save and budget without feeling cheap the whole time. Another tip is buy Disney gift cards at target with a target red card. I've already saved $300 just on my Resort package! I plan to keep buying them and use them for our meals as well. I'm buying a little bit less than my food budget. Just in case we don't eat as much as we think we will, I don't want any gift cards left over since we won't be back for a while.

 

[Vernie822]

Just to echo what someone else posted (and I know you are helping and running every option out there!), maybe a Value resort and staying on-site is best for them?

$100 taxi to and from the airport would be free with Magical Express.
If they rented a car, they'd be paying for the car and for parking at WDW parks (and possibly their hotel).
If they rely on a shuttle, chances are that's a huge PITA.

If they do stay at a value resort, discounts are pretty decent. For example we were looking at rates to go in April and the All Stars were $95-110 per night. I would *think* that paying that rate would equal out any savings at the Wyndham after they'd pay for a taxi or parking.

Even if the dining plan isn't for them, or if they don't get some type of dining offer (such as the recent QS offer, free dining, or the kids stay/play/dine package), they could do a Garden Grocer order or pack stuff for breakfasts. Lunches could be sandwiches, or fruit/granola bars/nuts/etc.

Just a suggestion!! Echoing the above person who said to look at every little thing. Any time we even think about staying off-site, once we factor in transportation or a rental car, it always makes more sense for us to stay onsite.

 

[AZMermaid]

Is Disneyland an option? Airfare would be way cheaper. Driving is an option (not one I'd love... But an option and then they can bring all sorts of food!) and four days would really cover both parks. You can stay across the street and walk to both parks for around $100 a night.

 

[MommyBryn]

Is Disneyland an option? Airfare would be way cheaper. Driving is an option (not one I'd love... But an option and then they can bring all sorts of food!) and four days would really cover both parks. You can stay across the street and walk to both parks for around $100 a night.

Actually this is why we always travel to FL. It's not much cheaper at all! For the same cost, getting to go to FL is MUCH more worth it. I am always shocked at how expensive DL is.

eta- we did price it out for them. They wouldn't likely be able to drive down since they can't take those extra days (and don't want to make the drive in it's entirety in one full day with the little girls). So that aside, the cost factor doesn't make DL the better option for them. But yes, we definitely looked into it!

 

[jahber]

We just returned from 3 nights in a villa with a kitchen. We spent about $100 on groceries (breakfast items and one taco night dinner), a $100 Disney gift card for lunch at Beaches n Cream and some quick service lunches, and about $30 in other meals/snacks. We are a family of 4 plus a toddler, BUT we aren't big eaters and a couple of times my husband wasn't with us since it was a staycation and he was working. So, I would add maybe $20 for food he would have eaten. We don't do soda and rarely do dessert (except at Beaches n Cream). In all, we spent about $250 in food plus some yogurt we brought from home. Add in maybe $20-$30 for food my husband didn't eat with us and still we came in less than $100 a night. And that included a full bacon/eggs/toast/juice/coffee/muffins for breakfast in the room every day. And I brought some groceries home. It's possible to do it on a budget of you want to! It just takes more work. And more cleaning up if you cook! A kitchen is a big big bonus, too.

 

[LovesTimone]

We are not sure what airline they will fly. To be completely honest, unless they can snag a card for each of them with the 2 free roundtrip flights from SW, I am not sure if they can go at all! From up here, you just can't find round-trip flights for any less than $450-500 each. So that's something that will definitely be a deciding factor for them.



I am not sure, I doubt it. The Wyndham Garden, I think, is the one they'd stay in.



We don't know yet. Like us, the time they travel is based on when they're able to save up for it. So we have to get a good idea of the amount they'll need before we can look into the finer details. I assume they'd want to go during value. It would cost them about an extra $100 for a taxi to and from their resort, so before discounts that still came out much cheaper than a value when I played with dates?



Yes, I've run all the numbers for different options, and staying at the Wyndham Garden (?) was definitely the most affordable for them. No QSDP fit into their budget anywhere.
We chose not to add Park Hoppers to save the money since they will only be there 4 days. As I mentioned, coming from the other side of the US, the flights are pretty much the entire day. We generally don't get to MCO until around 5-6pm, and to resorts about 1.5-2 hours later. So not worth paying for an extra day of tickets. But being so close to Downtown Disney (I just can't call it anything else...) they'll have that to do that first night, and the morning before they leave if they want to. Plus, this is their first trip to ANY Disney park so we all figured they'll find plenty to do all day in one park at a time, and especially to make the most of the short time they have.



Again, I'm not sure yet. It wouldn't be this year for sure, and maybe not even next. We have to work with the budget as the starting point. Hopefully when they DO decide they're able to go, we can re-calculate options if there is a fantastic discount available. So far any on-site option we've considered puts them WAY over.

Yes, I've run all the numbers for different options, and staying at the Wyndham Garden (?) was definitely the most affordable for them. No QSDP fit into their budget anywhere.
We chose not to add Park Hoppers to save the money since they will only be there 4 days. As I mentioned, coming from the other side of the US, the flights are pretty much the entire day. We generally don't get to MCO until around 5-6pm, and to resorts about 1.5-2 hours later. So not worth paying for an extra day of tickets. But being so close to Downtown Disney (I just can't call it anything else...) they'll have that to do that first night, and the morning before they leave if they want to. Plus, this is their first trip to ANY Disney park so we all figured they'll find plenty to do all day in one park at a time, and especially to make the most of the short time they have.

There are 3 Wyndham resorts right around Disney, 1 at Bonnet Creek and 2 located on Hotel blvd, they have the same address but one has a B at the end of the numbers for the address. There also is a Wyndham Garden and its located on I-drive so make sure to check the address's. None of these provides free transportation to and from airport, so they will have to taxi ( around 60 to 85 plus tip for a family of 4 from airport that's just one way so you have to times that by 2) or rent a car which is another cost, and at some resorts there is a fee for parking at resorts not on property anywhere from 20 to 35 a night. So that needs to be added into the mix, also some of these resort add in a resort fee per night ( which is around 20 to 35 depending on the resort) on top of the per night cost, so add in another cost, also wifi is another thing that most people want, is it free or another cost. Plus if they drive to the parks there is a parking fee at the parks anywhere between 20 to 30 dollars depending on time of year, if the resort offers transportation is it free or a fee, normal it will be per person per day.

As I said before my friends thought that they were getting a better deal staying offsite, here was the break down and how quickly things started to add up.

They booked the Hilton at DTD for 150.00 a night standard room 2 beds (from a hotel website site) x 7 nights - so - 1050.00
resort fee was around 30 per night X 7 nights . 210.00
Rental car - 150.00 ( not including gas or insurance)
Parking at resort per night was 27.00 X 7 - 189.00
They drove to the parks, it was 20 X 5 for parking 100.00
Total 1699.00

There was a charge for wifi but she could not remember what it was so I did not add it in.

This is what they spent and had not even gotten tickets, or anything to eat yet. Also her husband could not get over all the driving, sitting in traffic, parking, traming back and forth to the parking lots and parks

With this being their first trip, staying in the magic and being able to use extra magic hours, might be well worth it. It is much easier to ride a WDW bus back to the resort if you forget something, or someone doesn't feel well, then schlepping all the way back to the resort off site.

Time is money especially when its your first trip. Keep checking for free dinning, and the packages, something will turn up. There are lots of ways to add to the budget, garage sales, take the kids clothing and any toys they have outgrown to a kid to kids, or sell on ebay, lots of other ways ask family for Disney gift cards for birthdays, Christmas, eat at home more and take your lunch to work, lots of ideas to add to the budget.

 

[tzolkin]

Those of you that carry lot of snacks including water/juice to park, how do you manage them while on rides ? Do you typically rent a locker or something ?

I see that you're new, so I'm not sure how familiar you are with Disney.

I know at other amusement parks (like Six Flags) you cannot take bags on the rides, but at Disney you can. If you're bringing a ton of stuff for lunch and you don't want to carry it all day, then renting a locker would probably be a good idea. However, I think most people talk about bringing some drinks and snacks in a backpack that they keep with them all day. All the rides can accommodate a backpack.