Mega Meet Trip - What we spent for food

[disneysteve]

I always like to do a post about our food spending. We do relatively budget-minded trips. Not quite as much as we used to but I still like to point out that Disney doesn't have to be as expensive as some people think.

There are 3 of us, all adults. DD is 20.
We stayed offsite in a rented townhouse in Crestwynd Bay.
We drove down from New Jersey.

These numbers include groceries purchased in Florida. They do not include groceries brought from home but also don't adjust for groceries brought back home from Florida so I think it all balances out.

We left home in the afternoon of 7/15 and got back home in the afternoon of 7/28 so we were away for 12 full days plus a half day on either end.
We ate a total of 38 meals. Actually, it was 39 because we didn't stop for lunch on the way home, just eating food we had with us in the car, but I didn't count that. The figures are based on 38 but really are a bit lower if you add in the 39th meal.

Our total food spending came to $1,008.82.
That breaks down to $8.85/person/meal or $26.85/person/day or $79.65/day for the 3 of us.

This figure has definitely grown over the years. It used to be down closer to $60/day but rising food prices combined with us being less frugal than we used to be have driven it up. DW and I agreed that we could have been more careful. The other factor is that this trip involved a lot more alcohol than usual. We made 2 visits to Trader Sam's and did the drink around the world with Corey and Julie on Sunday. If I subtract out those costs, the total would be a couple hundred dollars lower.

Most costly meal, which also happened to be the worst meal - Via Napoli. $74 for lousy pizza, a salad, one glass of wine, and a soda. Best meal? Honestly, I'd have to say the night I did Chinese stir fry at the house. That cost under $10 for the 3 of us. Best meal on property? Probably lunch at Sunshine Seasons. The food there is consistently good and reasonably priced.

Breakfast was always at the house except for the travel days when it was at the hotel. That's a big part of what keeps the total down.

So even though it isn't quite as low as it could be, I still think under $80/day for 3 adults is pretty reasonable. And we could easily lower it further if we needed to.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks for the write up Steve - that is pretty good considering you had alcohol as well (I know the variance in meal costs when we drink alcohol vs those where we don't can be pretty high)

We definitely spend more - but we are still doing character meals and the like (plus did the star wars dessert party, etc.) - but I agree that you can do things on a more cost effective basis if you want

Even small things - like at Skippers Canteen this time my wife and I split an entree and two appetizers and one dessert - which can help with things a.

We love getting drinks around the parks (Animal Kingdom really had grown in areas to spend money on alcohol) so that jacks up our cost - but we know that going in

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Haven't gotten to that point yet in my TR, but I completely agree with you on Via Napoli. We've always skipped it because the pizza I grew up with in NJ (and what we've had in Italy) beats out pretty much all pizza. Our pizza at VN was so horribly soggy that we had to roll up the slices like taquitos and one of the pizzas was flavorless. I honestly don't remember how much we spent on that meal as my dad was covering costs up front b/c they have TiW, but it definitely was not worth the price tag. We do a lot of TS and often order drinks, so our costs are always higher, but no matter what your budget...getting sub par food at an inflated price never goes down well.

 

[disneysteve]

we are still doing character meals

We used to eat at Crystal Palace every trip partly because we were Pooh fans and partly because we really liked the food. The last time we were there, which is probably 8 or so years ago now, DW happened to see the bill when it came and was appalled at how much it cost. We haven't been back since. I don't think we've done any Disney buffet since then. And the prices have gotten far worse since then. I think Crystal Palace is now about $50/person which is insane. No way are we ever spending $150 for the 3 of us to have a meal in the park.

 

[disneysteve]

I completely agree with you on Via Napoli.

I'm glad we're not alone. I've heard so many people rave about it that we decided to try it. It was just plain bad. There's no other way to put it. And ridiculously expensive. It was probably the single most expensive pizza we have ever had.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We used to eat at Crystal Palace every trip partly because we were Pooh fans and partly because we really liked the food. The last time we were there, which is probably 8 or so years ago now, DW happened to see the bill when it came and was appalled at how much it cost. We haven't been back since. I don't think we've done any Disney buffet since then. And the prices have gotten far worse since then. I think Crystal Palace is now about $50/person which is insane. No way are we ever spending $150 for the 3 of us to have a meal in the park.

One reason we did Chef Mickey this past trip was the rumor that prices were going to go up even more ... which if they do, no way we can do them any more

I think that might be one reason we do buffet breakfast - obviously more expensive than breakfast in your room but they are a lot cheaper than lunch or dinner. And if you factor in the experience and meeting a bunch of characters rather than taking the time to meet them I think it can be worth it ... but we are doing fewer and fewer each trip

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Haven't gotten to that point yet in my TR, but I completely agree with you on Via Napoli. We've always skipped it because the pizza I grew up with in NJ (and what we've had in Italy) beats out pretty much all pizza. Our pizza at VN was so horribly soggy that we had to roll up the slices like taquitos and one of the pizzas was flavorless. I honestly don't remember how much we spent on that meal as my dad was covering costs up front b/c they have TiW, but it definitely was not worth the price tag. We do a lot of TS and often order drinks, so our costs are always higher, but no matter what your budget...getting sub par food at an inflated price never goes down well.

Funny we kinda had the opposite experience. I've avoided Via Napoli as I figure the pizza near us (NY area) is really good so why get that while on vacation ... but finally tried it this past trip and I thought it was quite good. Also, I thought the personal pizza's were big enough to share so we actually did the meal for not too much (I mean, not cheap, but not outrageous) ... well, would have been better if I didn't order 2 of their $12 beers (but it was really good!)

 

[disneysteve]

I've avoided Via Napoli as I figure the pizza near us (NY area) is really good so why get that while on vacation ... but finally tried it this past trip and I thought it was quite good.

We love pizza and are always trying to find a good pizza place in the Disney area. I had heard so many good things about this place that I decided to suck up the price and give it a try.

We also tried NY Pizza on 192 and I thought that was considerably better and about 1/3 of the price. I would go back there. I would not go back to Via Napoli.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Funny we kinda had the opposite experience. I've avoided Via Napoli as I figure the pizza near us (NY area) is really good so why get that while on vacation ... but finally tried it this past trip and I thought it was quite good. Also, I thought the personal pizza's were big enough to share so we actually did the meal for not too much (I mean, not cheap, but not outrageous) ... well, would have been better if I didn't order 2 of their $12 beers (but it was really good!)

We had two mezzo metro sized pies. At first sight, we thought it would be too much food, but because they were paper thin...it wound up being just right in terms of quantity. I just think that ultra thinness was the source of the sogginess. We did at least end with zeppole, since those were a staple at the Italian festival in my hometown. Nostalgia food