$500.00 budget

[tanyakoewers]

MY DD (6) and I are heading down March 4-11th. We will be staying onsite at POFQ. We have everything paid for (room, tickets, rental car, airfare). My question is.... can we make it on $500.00 for food and souvies. We will be eating breakfast in our rooms most of the time and we will probably share a lot of meals (we aren't huge eaters). We will need 6 full days and one evening to eat.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[christinadei]

I think you will be fine. Especially only having to buy two meals a day and sharing at that. You'll probably have plenty left over. Just wait until the last day to buy any souvineers with what you h ave left. I know I could do it for sure.

 

[spiceycat]

Disney is pretty bad - you can't buy a child's meal without an adult's meal.

so for the first time you eat in a restuarant - order an adult's meal only - tell the CM to bring you another plate for your child. they will do it no problem and only charge you for one meal.

see how that works for you both - before you start getting 2 meals.

 

[CheapMom]

Disney is pretty bad - you can't buy a child's meal without an adult's meal.
Is that really a disney rule? I have purchased kids meals and nothing else lots of times at counter service. In a sit down restaurant I could understand that rule but at counter service? I always get the kids meal strawberry waffles for breakfast.

There have been a lot of great threads on the boards about eating cheaply. See if you can search them out.

$500 for 8 days seems possible in my estimate but you will have to eat light and go easy on the souvies.

Good luck.

 

[newholidayx2]

Im planning on about $1000 for 2 wks for myself & DS13 for food
$5 brkfst
$10 counter
$5 snax
$15 PS
there will be times that the PS costs more - character meals, buffets
there will be times that we skip the counter - if we have late PS
there will be times we dont need that snak $ - bringing some w/us
there will be times we dont need that brkfst $ - bringing some w/us
that gives me a ballpark figure to get to though

not sure whats up with souvie $ - DS will be getting some for Easter, his b'day, etc so he'll have $100 of his own
Often times souvie $ also comes from our Christmas budget

 

[sanibelover]

I would thing you will be fine unless you are planning on a lot of sitdown type restaurants. My husband and I went for a week in Nov. and even with a very nice dinner and drinks at California Grill we didn't spend $500. We didn't snack a whole lot, but we certainly didn't starve.

 

[summerrluvv]

DS and I went for a week in November and we spent a little over $500 and that included quite a few souveniors. We too ate breakfast in the room which I think saved a lot of money (and time). We typically split adult meals at counter service places. The kids meals are a good deal too though. They are usually 3.99 and include the drink whereas the adult meals don't include a drink. Have fun!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Disney is pretty bad - you can't buy a child's meal without an adult's meal.
Is that really a disney rule? I have purchased kids meals and nothing else lots of times at counter service. In a sit down restaurant I could understand that rule but at counter service? I always get the kids meal strawberry waffles for breakfast.

There have been a lot of great threads on the boards about eating cheaply. See if you can search them out.

$500 for 8 days seems possible in my estimate but you will have to eat light and go easy on the souvies.

Good luck.

I've ordered kids meals without an adult meal. Sometimes the kids are hungry and I am not. We've done this plenty of times.

In a sit down--you could order an appetizer and the child could order a kids meal. In a buffet--anybody who goes in must pay....so one time I had a PS--but it was for so late, my child would be sleeping by then....was told we would still have to pay for her. Cancelled the PS. That is the only time that I have seen Disney even remotely inflexible regarding guests in a restuarant.

 

[Disney Doll]

You probably can as long as you don't want to eat in many of the higher end restaurants.

 

[Desnik]

I think you will be fine with that budget. I just wanted to add that if you go to a character meal and one of you don't want to eat they will not charge you. We have done this many times. DH and I are not breakfast eaters and DD always wants to eat with the princesses. I usually end up eating, but not DH. We tell the server and are just charged an "entertainment" fee for him. It has usually been $5. This was at the princess breakfast in Epcot and at the castle. We also did this when DD was sleeping when we went to Chef Mickey's. Also, I have ordered a kids meal without an adults meal at counter service all over WDW, no problem. I don't think I have done it at any sit down restaurant, only because DH and I are always eating when our kids are!!LOL I don't see why you would have to order an adult meal if your child was the only one eating. Now I wouldn't go to a sit down restaurant and share a kids meal with my child with just the 2 of us. However I have ordered 2 kids meals(1 for each kid)and 1 adult meal for DH and I pick at everyones dishes. My kids eat like birds!
I think with eating breakfast in your room you will save alot of money.
Hope you have a great trip!

 

[disneysteve]

Last trip, we averaged $20/person/day for all meals, snacks and beverages. That fits in your budget just fine. Sharing meals is important as is drinking water (tap, not bottled). Also, as Lisa loves Pooh suggested, sometimes just an appetizer is plenty at a sit-down place. For example, at Kona Cafe at Poly, I had the crabcake appetizer - 3 small crabcakes served with a green salad. That was more than enough for lunch and was several dollars cheaper than the cheapest entree.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

In a buffet--anybody who goes in must pay....so one time I had a PS--but it was for so late, my child would be sleeping by then....was told we would still have to pay for her. Cancelled the PS. That is the only time that I have seen Disney even remotely inflexible regarding guests in a restuarant.

Funny...I got into Chef Mickey's (the buffet in the contemporary in case I got the name wrong) for free because I wasn't going to eat (and I didn't even tho' the waiter offered to bring me something to drink). It was a friend's birthday and they were already inside finishing up their meal. I guess it was just a slow time although the restaurant wasn't slow.

 

[MrsPete]

Disney is pretty bad - you can't buy a child's meal without an adult's meal.

I've been to Disney lots of times, and this isn't true. We almost always order four kids meals (for our family of 2 adults, 2 kids) at the counter-service restaruants. At sit-down places, you can certainly order one adult-sized entree and split it with your child.

Back to the original topic, you will be fine with $500 as long as you don't buy too many souveniers. I agree with the advice another poster gave: wait until the last day to buy souveniers. Or skip them altogether.