2021 Food and drink budget

[jas070680]

Hello all! I am budgeting for an upcoming trip and really need some insight on budgeting ONLY for food and drinks. We are a family of 5 are staying on property and plan on a sit down restaurant at least once per day. We will also snacking/drinking throughout the day at the food and wine festival. Is $750/day enough to budget considering a fair amount of food and drinks? I don't need to spend it all, but want to be sure we do not overspend.

Thanks.

 

[firefly_ris]

How many days are you going? Do you know which sit-down restaurants? All of that will vary wildly depending on your personal habits -- alcohol, appetizers, desserts? Anyone planning to split their meals, etc? Are any of them Signature Dining (more $$)? If you already have specific places booked or at least a short list of where you plan to reserve, you can go on Disney's website and have a look at menus for each and get a general concept of how much your meals will be.

We are also a family of 5 so I understand your budget needs! Our last trip was 6 days in the parks, at that time my kids were 9, 7 and 5. Some things we did:

- Breakfasts in the room. We stayed on site at a moderate so didn't have a kitchen, so I did Amazon Prime Now delivery and had things in the room like bananas, pop tarts, granola bars, and bagels. We also had a bit of alcohol for the room in the evening.

- I brought light snacks into the parks with me. The kids still got to buy special treats in the park but having other snacks on hand reduced the amount of "I want I want" as well as quickly staving off any kids that could get hangry. I brought pretzels, granola bars, stuff like that.

- I brought Starbucks gift cards that I had received as gifts to buy coffee/snacks in the park.

- We reduced our table service meals a bit -- I originally had 1 booked per day, but I think we ended up with 4 at the end, and everything else was counter/quick service. I also looked ahead at the menus to get a general idea of what my kids might end up ordering and so on.

 

[easyas123]

We budget $350 per day for the two of us. We also aim to do one sit down per day, usually lunch or dinner. We don't always get appetizers or dessert, but we do get drinks. We might have drinks or snacks in the room, but honestly at this point its more about convenience than budget control. Plus, we are no longer traveling there with kids, so we don't need to be as 'prepared' as we used to be.

 

[Marionnette]

Hello all! I am budgeting for an upcoming trip and really need some insight on budgeting ONLY for food and drinks. We are a family of 5 are staying on property and plan on a sit down restaurant at least once per day. We will also snacking/drinking throughout the day at the food and wine festival. Is $750/day enough to budget considering a fair amount of food and drinks? I don't need to spend it all, but want to be sure we do not overspend.

Thanks.

Check the menus for your TS restaurants on the Disneyworld.disney.go.com website. They include the prices now. That should give you a feel for cost. Don't forget that tax is 6.5% and gratuities.

F&W can be a budget-buster. Those small plates and sample beverages really add up! You can find prices for every item and every booth at Disney Food Blog.

Most of the QS restaurants now have mobile ordering. You can see current prices just by going thru the mobile ordering link in the MDE app from home. Once again, prices do not include 6.5% sales tax.

You don't say whether your family is adults + small children, teenagers or all grown ups. Big appetites? Breakfast eaters or coffee-to-go people? Appetizers to dessert with cocktails and wine at TS meals or just an entrée and beverage? Split QS meals or everyone wants their own?

IMO, $750 per day for 5 people should be plenty unless you're having several drinks in the lounge before dinner and the very best wine during the meal. But everyone dines differently, so look at the menus and see what kind of numbers you come up with.

 

[princesscinderella]

We are a family of five and we spend about $50 per person for a table service meal and about $20 per person for quick service. We aren’t big drinkers and will usually have one cocktail and share an appetizer at a table service meal. My kids all order off the adult menu now so it’s gotten more expensive.

 

[MICKIMINI]

You should be able to stay in your budget!

Allears.net has menus and prices and is worth studying, regardless of your budget. Many snacks can be a meal and many QS meals can be split family style and result in less waste. It is sickening to see the amount of food that goes in the trash - more so when the Dining Plan was active. It is smart to have a few QS choices, especially if you have a picky eater!

If you feel you are going over your budget, just cut out a sit down meal and that should get you back on track. I keep a note pad and jot down amount spent each day, even though we are not on a tight budget anymore. It does help to see where I am at each day. Disney Visa offers some discounts. I buy gift cards with cash back deals which helps prepay some of the larger sit down meals, but it's mostly to make me feel better!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[akayek31]

I have a budget of $400 for 9 days in both Disney and Universal I am doing a solo trip in November and that is give or take a table service.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I use the former DP as a guide, so budget $140 a day per person. I like a glass of wine and I have two young adults who like cocktails, but I try to keep around $140 a day mark. No TiW this trip, so it might be a struggle.

 

[niclodn]

I am budgeting $100 per person per day for our 2022 trip - 3 adults, 2 kids (10 and 6). We'll most likely do a quick breakfast in the room (we're in a villa so will have a full kitchen), then either a late breakfast or early lunch TS and QS for dinner and snacks inbetween. We aren't big drinkers, but I'm sure we'll have a couple here and there. I also have extra money budgeted for HDDR one night.

 

[Mrriddle]

I would assume 100-150 per person per day would be sufficient. Unless heavy drinking or splurging

 

[jen7233]

We estimate $100 each person. On more expensive table service menu days up to $150, or if at Flower and Garden.

 

[SharonZ]

I think $125-$150/day would be my budget.

 

[disney212]

We budget $100 per person a day. We do eat breakfast in our room as we have a kitchen, have water, beer, wine and snacks delivered. We normally eat at the lounges and we are light eaters but make up for it in cocktails. At TS we normally order an app and split an entree, we do let the server know we are light eaters and will tip as if we both had entree. We always have at least 1 cocktail each minimum. We also share QS too. We have never experienced bad service. We are normally under budget but we normally have TIW which they are not selling right now. Hopeful it will return. We will get either DVC or AP discount but they don't include cocktails so TIW was worth it to us.

 

[Darcy03231]

I generally plan $100/pp per day as well and usually come home with extra money. I think you'll be ok with $750/day, unless you are heavy drinkers. DH will usually have 1-2 drinks a day and I usually just have 1.

 

[lockets]

Here are my actuals... Two adults. Mid-August 2021. 3 day trip. One day spent at Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Some signature restaurants included. We tend to each order one alcohol drink per signature experience - not "big" drinkers. We do order appetizers and desserts (sometimes shared, sometimes not). The UK Fish & Chips Meal and the Backlot Express meals were shared. Beaches & Cream was sit down not to-go window. I am missing a couple of receipts. Missing a receipt for F&W Festival at France Pavillion - we ordered all the food they offered - I beleive it ws two to three items - and a glass of wine each. Other item missing is I know we ordered a second helping of the Flavored by Fire Skirt Steak. This was all paid with Disney Gift Cards purchased at a 5% discount with Target Red Card. The 5% discount is already factored into the prices below. If you see multiple line items for tips or for same restaurants it's because we split check amognst different gift cards.

Total is $751.86 or approximately $125 per person, per day.

Again - that's with some savings by using a 5% gift card discount and splitting a few meals, but on the flipside there are signauture splurge meals too and we tend to over-tip on purpose. Two F&W receipts aren't included as mentioned above.

Yacht Club - Yachtsman Steakhouse-$169.22
Yacht Club - Yachtsman Steakhouse Tip-$10.00
Yacht Club - Yachtsman Steakhouse Tip-$24.00
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - Canada - Beef Filet & Cheddar Soup-$13.78
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - Flavored by Fire - Powerade-$4.75
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - Flavored by Fire - Skirt Steak-$6.89
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - Hawaii - Tuna Poke-$6.65
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - Hops & Barley - Lobster Roll & Beer-$16.63
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - Japan - Sushi & Bun-$12.35
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - Refreshment Port - Poutine-$7.13
Epcot - Food & Wine Festival - The Noodle Exchange - Soup & Beer-$9.98
Epcot - Gateway Gift Shop - 2 Smart Waters-$11.13
Epcot - Joffrey's-$16.36
Epcot - Joffrey's-$4.54
Epcot - Joffrey's-$11.01
Epcot - UK - Fish & Chips-$11.63
Hollywood Studios - Backlot Express Mobile Order-$14.79
Hollywood Studios - Joffrey's-$11.01
Hollywood Studios - Joffrey's-$6.17
Hollywood Studios - Oga's Cantina-$33.78
Hollywood Studios - Oga's Cantina Tip-$20.00
Riviera Resort - Topolino's Terrace-$174.02
Riviera Resort - Topolino's Terrace Tip-$40.00
Riviera Resort - Bar Riva Meal-$36.64
Riviera Resort - Bar Riva Meal & Tip-$41.90
Beach Club Resort - Beaches & Cream-$19.29
Beach Club Resort - Beaches & Cream-$11.21
Beach Club Resort - Beaches & Cream Tip-$7.00

 

[tano]

Olga's..20 tip on a 33 purchase ...
What's the story

 

[lockets]

Olga's..20 tip on a 33 purchase ...
What's the story

Oh yes! Good catch. CM helped us purchase and wrap up a bunch of merchandise from their menu on top of being a great server plus he threw in some freebies so we gave him a huge tip.

My post mentions some big tipping. Those can be adjusted downward or replaced with other meals for their kids.