$700 for food-2ppl Should I scale down? Are these buffet/after tax & tipprices right?

[fairytinkerbell]

I just totaled up all of the costs of the PS's I am planning:
9 DAYS / 8 NITES - TRIP
We are 2 adults (0 kids) and are eating breakfast @ hotel for free(we plan every day, maybe 2 times at a resort, maybe!) I just added up the 2 buffet prices,
PLUS added tax and TIP! That $21.99 buffet price gets EXPENSIVE:
LOOK!

P.S. WE NEVER ATE AT ANY OF THESE PLACES EVER! Was looking forward to!

DINNERS OUT: (8 total)

1. CRYSTAL PALACE: $56.00 (including tax and tip)
It's $44.00 total, PLUS tax (about $4.40, PLUS tip $8.00) = $56!!

2. OHANA: $63.00 total

3. BOMA : $63.00

4. CAPE MAY CLAMBAKE : $63.00

5. The Crab House $35 (?)

6. LIBERTY TREE TAVERN (MNSSHP) : $56.00

7. RAINFOREST CAFE: $40.00

8. CHEF MICKEY'S: $68.00

TOTAL COST OF DINNERS: $454.00

NOW BREAKFASTS: :
(9 breakfasts)
FREE @ Hotel - Was thinking about eating at only 2 out:

1. CRYSTAL PALACE (last day) $42.00
2. BOMA $39.00

TOTAL BREAKFASTS: $81.00

LUNCHES OUT:
8 lunches (unless we skip and just get a snack)

We are definitely eating at:
1. Sci Fi Dine In $30.00
2. Plaza Restaurant (?) $25.00
3. Beaches & Cream Soda Shop $25.00
4. Typhoon Tillys (TL) $15.00
TOTAL LUNCHES: $95.00

TOTAL SNACKS: $8.00 per day (??) x 8 days = $64.00


SO HERE IS THE GRAND TOTAL: $694.00 !!!!

ISN'T THIS A LOT OF MONEY FOR EATING OUT ??? EH!

 

[Bob NC]

That's a LOT of sit down dining. We used to do it that way though......Not anymore.

In addition to all the money all these sit down meals cost, you may be suprised how much of your day is taken up with getting to and from your PS's, nevermind the time it takes to eat.

 

[fairytinkerbell]

WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST ??? HELP!

Should we scale down the sit down dinners to only a few??

Where would we eat then? Counter service??

How much could we SAVE if we did this???

Thanks!

 

[Mattsmom]

Looks fine to me. We spend even more. It's really up to you how much you spend. After all it's your vacation and money.

 

[barbeml]

We are two adults with no kids also. We budget $150 per day at WDW for meals, alcoholic beverages, snacks and extras. Usually come in a bit below that, but some days are higher. We have discovered some wonderful counter service places (Tangierine Cafe, Harry Ramsden, Sunshine Season Food Fair), and a buffet can straddle two meals if you time it right.

 

[CamColt]

Im not sure what days you are doing what, but I would skip lunches on days when you do all you can eat meals for dinner or breakfast. You can really get your moneys worth on those, and you want to be hungry when you go to them. If you need something midday maybe just grab an icecream or something small to tide you over.
I feel your pain. There are so many places we want to eat, and just not enough room in our stomachs in 7 days.

 

[Bob NC]

We used to plan tons of PS's all the time. There have been trips where we've had 3 PS's on a lot of days.

One trip, however, it just worked out that we missed a lot of our PS's while having fun doing other things. It's not the money that concerns us about sit down meals, we just discovered on that trip that we saved lots and lots of time by not dealing with all the "reservations". After the trip we realized that we didn't miss a thing, food-wise, and just by accident we saved lots of loot.

Just as a note....It would be one thing if all the sit down food was truly awesome....But, we found that places like Crystal Palace, Rainforest, Cape May, Chef Mickeys, Liberty Tree, (Unless you are hooked on character meals), all serve mediocre food at high prices and take a lot of TIME. (I don't mean to pick on YOUR choices, but...lol....we've eaten at all of them).

I'd pick like maybe ONE nice dinner every 3 days, like Narcoossee's, Brown Derby, Citrico's, places like that. Then the other 2 nights eat decent, but not the high priced, "hour to deal with WDW transportation-2 hours to eat mediocre food-another hour of transportation issues" kinda places.

 

[fairytinkerbell]

Yeah i see what u guys mean.

If i spent 150 a day it would be 1200!! (8 full days) so in a way i'm not overspending...

We are renting a car ....

The schedule is like this - basically we're in the parks for the PS'...
MK = Crystal Palace (1st nite dinner)
MGM = Sci Fi Diner
MNNSHP = Liberty Tree Tavern
MK = Ohana (1st full day & nite @ MK)

I TRIED TO BE BUDGET CONSCIOUS: IE: Instead of eating at Le Cellier in
EPCOT (i never was there at night BTW) I decided it would be cheaper to
walk over to Cape May Clambake Buffet and eat there instead...

What do u think??

 

[hentob]

Check out the Budget Board and look into Vouchers. You could get some for the counter service places and for your breakfasts (tip is included).

Hope this helps--Enjoy!

Hentob

 

[jann1033]

wdw food is expensive, no doubt about it!

my husband and i went in Jan, 11 days and spent around 500 in food ( including about 50 more for snacks than i planned, which we could have done with out but owww they were good!)

we used 3kvl vouchers, 6 q/c and 2 breakfast v. we went to Ohana(d), rfc, (lunch on voucher), beirgarten (l) pepper market (d, q/c)popcent. ( d q.c), wolfgang puck express,(d) lecellier ( lv) brown derby (lv) wcc ( d and b) boma ( b v) trailend (b) sampled epcot 2d@ about 35 each night, and obviously a lot I am missing. after a few days, we were constantly stuffed so we cut back on ps and split every meal except ayce ( which we pretty much stopped going to but kept up the yummy snacks ) and toward the end could only stand to eat one meal a day and got a light sandwich( like a hot dog at casey's) or dessert if we were hungry. next time i am using more vouchers for one sit down lunch meal a day and maybe a very light dinner( like 1 q/c to split).in general the wdw meals are very big like a lot of rest. ( as a point of reference we are not "light eaters" but usually I take 1/2 my food home when ever we go out to eat any where ) and were easily split or else maybe just plan on appes and dessert or something for one meal.unless you eat a "lot" i just think more than 1 "meal" a day is too much food.

it is much cheaper to do your sit down at lunch with or with out vouchers ( plus you walk it off!) usually they have a steak or something on the lunch meal if they have it on the dinner and portions at lunch were big enough to split ( we'd got appe, entree and dessert)

so basicaly this 3 yrd long post means i'd cut back on some of the meals!

 

[Pumbaa_]

The trips where we ate a large lunch and then a full dinner-we found it was just way too much rich food. And being unused to eating like that and often at late hours was just too much for me.

Now we try to do the sit down meals at lunch, (like to take a break midday and if it is hot the airconditioning is a nice break too), eat a light breakfast and then more of a snack for dinner.

Depending on when you are going, you may find that the sitdowns take a large chunk out of your park time.

Think too about sharing meals (obviously not at the buffets ). We foten share a meal - an appetizer and entree, or a double burger at B&C (we request and extra bun). Not only does it save money, but you won't waste alot of food too.

So many hard decisions. So many great restaurants. You have some great selections listed. Have a great time!

 

[KristiKelly]

We are a family of 4, 2 ad. & 2 kids ages 4 & 7, we usually do one big meal a day. Last year we had breakfast @ Cinderella's Royal Table, but asked for one of the last seatings for breakfast (I believe it was 10:30-10:45) this took care of breakfast & lunch for us. Sometimes we would eat breakfast in the room, take snacks for the kids & then get PS for the latest lunch time possible @ Crystal Palace (allearsnet.com says 2:45, I think it used to be later) we would eat big for lunch & then a snack or light dinner later. Lunch @ Crystal Palace is about $4 per adult cheaper.

Another thing we like is Beaches N'Cream, the burgers & desserts are big enough to share. It has even been mentioned on either this board or the budget board, you can order a double cheese burger, order a bun on the side (it's on the menu) & split the meat & each have a burger. We didn't realize how much food they give you & we each ordered a burger & dessert & had to roll out of there, we were miserably full. Sharing meals is the way to go, but you can't do that @ buffets & the family style restaurants. Hope this helps. I love planning where we're going to eat!!

 

[BlueFairy]

Are you big eaters? I mean, do you eat a TON of food? We're not, and I've found the buffets to be a waste of $$ at WDW as a result. Instead, small portions or light meals at a different table service place (or splitting an entree and getting 2 apps . . .) seems to be cheaper for us.
On a day we do eat a buffet, say breakfast (which I don't recommend for time reasons, cuts into my touring) - we will eat a late breakfast buffet and then skip lunch.
Anytime we have sit-down meals we almost ALWAYs only make one PS per day. More is too much if you're park hopping. And to answer your question - yes counter service is WAY cheaper.
Suggestions for good park counter service that's not burgers - Columbia Harbor House and El Pirata y el perico at MK, Tusker House and Flametree BBQ at AK, EPCOT - the Land food court, fish n chips in UK, Tangier cafe in Morocco, Cantina in Mexico, MGM - pizza planet.
Also - your Cape may example. See I would think you could make a very late lunch seating at Le Cellier where you get 2 apps and share an entree and come in under the price of 2 meals at Cape May. Just speculation. Plus you have to consider the time you lose (at least 30-45 mins) traveling to and from the park to the restaurant.
If you haven't already, allears.net has menu prices for counter service and all food in WDW.

 

[Micca]

Food is one of the big cost factors at WDW. One sit down a day should hold you if you have a counter service and and a snack or two

 

[fizz13]

You have scared me silly now. On my plan for 13 days I have:

Chef Mickeys- dinner
Ice-Cream Social
Beaches and Cream- dinner
Donalds Breakfastasaurus
Hoop-de-doo Musical revue
CRT breakfast
Ohana- dinner
House Of Blues gospel brunch
Alfredo di Roma- dinner
Jiko- dinner
Crystal Palace- lunch

We are a family of 5; myself, DH, DD(5), DS(3) and DS(1)

Maybe my stomach got carried away in all the planning. I was hoping to save on the kids by them sharing from our plates but still that is a lot of $$. Something has got to go!! Boo hoo.
What do you suggest? (Crystal Palace has to stay for my son's 1st birthday)

Claire.

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by fizz13
You have scared me silly now. On my plan for 13 days I have:

Chef Mickeys- dinner
Ice-Cream Social
Beaches and Cream- dinner
Donalds Breakfastasaurus
Hoop-de-doo Musical revue
CRT breakfast
Ohana- dinner
House Of Blues gospel brunch
Alfredo di Roma- dinner
Jiko- dinner
Crystal Palace- lunch

We are a family of 5; myself, DH, DD(5), DS(3) and DS(1)

Maybe my stomach got carried away in all the planning. I was hoping to save on the kids by them sharing from our plates but still that is a lot of $$. Something has got to go!! Boo hoo.
What do you suggest? (Crystal Palace has to stay for my son's 1st birthday)

Claire.

Personally, I wouldn't take a 1 and 3 year old to Jiko. Just me. Expensive, relatively formal, and my kids have only now (at almost 5 and 6) gotten reliable enough that I'm not worried about having to leave halfway through due to a tantrum.

I'd skip the gospel brunch - we don't ever go out of our way to DTD. It depends though on what you are doing with the day.

You have five character meals. I do one. Lots of people like to do more. But each will take at least an hour. The food (as mentioned) is pretty medicore at all the character meals. But the character interaction can't be beat. I'd drop the ice cream social, or Donalds, or Chef Mickey's - pretty much the same characters at each. I think I'd cut it down to three, princesses for you DD, Pooh for your one year old, and let your other son choose the Mickey meal.

Added: And on review, you won't be able to share at most of these meals - the are all you can eat. You won't pay for your one year old, but you will for your three and five year old.

 

[fizz13]

Jiko was just a treat for me and DH (sorry should have made it clearer). Your advice seems good and I will drop ice-cream social and breakfastasaurus as we have done that before. Gosh, don't you get hungry just thinking about it all? Thanks a lot,

love Claire.

 

[frannn]

scheduled the following larger meals:

Breakfast:
PSB
CRT

Lunch:
CP

Dinner:
RFC
CM

The rest of the meals will probably include Baskervilles & Club Car (using restaraunt.com certs), a bunch of counter service meals (using Q&C's & cash), AS food court, Trails End, and a few other places by Crossroads. I budgeted for us eating out every single meal, but we sometimes skip one. I have us (DH, DD1, DD11, and me) at about 890 for the 11 days (10 park days). DH says I should budget more for DD11's enormous appetite...so I figure maybe 1000 total. This does not include the snacks or water we will bring/buy, but we have Brita bottles and are packing a bunch of snacks. Is that total good?

 

[eljojo]

The restaurants are part of the magic at WDW!! My kids talk about their meal at Prime Time Diner to their friends as much as they talk about some of the rides at WDW!! We each had our favorites we wanted to go back to and a few new places to try. Maybe you could have one priority seating per day and eat your other two meals at a food court or counter. You'll save some money that way, though, I know it's $50 at least for us to eat lunch at a counter service place (we're a family of 5). Plus going in August, it will be a relief to sit down in the air conditioning for a meal! And I've never been one of those people who can skip a meal, lol.

 

[JFrey4240]

For 9 days I think that's reasonable to spend $700 on food. We eat one sit down meal a day and then get whatever at a counter service when we're hungry. Since you're on vacation I wouldn't agonize over it--enjoy and consider it part of the disney experience.