How much should I set aside for food?

[Nissi]

Not sure if this should be here or on a different forum. BUT, can anyone give me an idea of what we can expect to spend on food during our trip? Here are the facts:

We will be staying off property for 9 days. We will grocery shop when we get there and fill the condo with food and paper products. We will be in the parks for 4 days and during those four days, we are only having 2 "fancy" meals. One will be LeCellier for lunch for 3 people. And the other will be Crystal Palace lunch for 5 people. We will eat breakfast at the condo each day. So in the parks, figure 4 lunches and 2 dinners (all counter except the 2 I meantioned.)

The groceries I will buy should be about $200 for the 9 days, feeding various guests who will be meeting up with us throughout the stay, diapers, drinks and snacks for the parks, etc.

We will be going in November. I know I can't get an exact figure, but any ideas? Thanks!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Have you seen Deb's site? She has lots of dining information, pricing and all. Make sure to check the links in the left margin.

http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

 

[allyphoe]

We averaged $16 per person per day for all our food (on-property and off), for 4 adults and 2 kids (6yo and 7yo), for a long trip. I think at the beginning of the trip, it was more like $18 per person per day.

We ate at least half of our meals at the house, but we ate really well - filet and NY strip, fresh berries and mangos, Ben & Jerry's.

 

[taymaesmom]

For our family of 4 I budget $40 per counter service meal, it usually works out to be $10 a person per meal. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes less.

 

[EastonCat]

Crystal Palace for lunch is $22.99 per adult and $12.99 per child. Taxes and gratuity are not included.

You can peruse lunch prices at Le Cellier here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningdetail.cfm?Restaurant.ID=137

A counter service meal (food and drink with a snack) will range from $8-$15 for an adult and $6-$15 for a child depending on where you go and what you have. Expect to be closer to the middle of those ranges than the bottom for budgeting.

Sprinkle in bottles of water in the park for $2.50 each (even if you come prepared, you'll end up buying some), and $7 here and there for random snacks for each person.

Once you work all that out, you'll have a good budgetary figure.

 

[Nissi]

Wow..you guys are so reliable - thank you for these great pieces of advice!

 

[cassandrap83]

We are traveling in September, will be staying off site at a villa, also. 8 nights & 9 days.

We are budgeting for food:

$150 Groceries
$400 Sit-Down Meals outside the parks
$150 Snacks in the parks
$180 CRT (It's much easier to pay for it with 2 dining credits!!)

We plan on having breakfasts & most lunches in the hotel, and eating outside of the parks for dinners.

Not sure how it will all ACTUALLY pan out, though b/c we have never stayed off-site before.

 

[kymom99]

One way to save a little bit is to order kids' meals for yourself if you don't eat a lot at lunch. In the heat I don't like to eat a big mid day meal so sometimes I get a kids' meal and my son gets an adult meal. Then I can finish off what he doesn't eat and nothing gets wasted. He is at the age where he wants an adult meal but usually can't eat all of it. Some of the meals come with a lot of food and you might not need a whole meal for each person.

 

[larryz]

we budget $40 per person per day for food.

we may not have lobster, but nobody goes hungry.

 

[MomofKatie]

We usually average $100/day for food for our family of 3 (all Disney adults). That includes sit down meals with tips (in a weeklong trip, usually 4), counter service, snacks, drinks, and groceries. Some days we spend more, some days less, but it usually evens out to pretty much $100/day over the length of the trip

 

[no1swfan]

How much can you get on a second mortgage?

Just kidding!

There are a lot of places to eat at as well as price ranges. It might be best if you over estimate how much you need then you'll feel better about how much you DO spend.