A family of 4 CAN eat for $75 a day! This is how we did it....(LONG)

[bigsis1970]

EXCELLENT JOB!! We (me DD 11 and DS8) are hearty breakfast people so I make sure to do a buffet breakfast (a character one) then snacks at lunch time and a counter serve at dinner and we share meals too. I can most of the time stick at $75 or under a day . Thanks for posting this.. Michelle

 

[nutsforgolf]

Have you considered the dining plan...it seems that for a family of four would only be $90 a day and you wouldn't have to share any meals?

 

[ashresiren]

Holy crud -- you barely ate any veggies. And my arteries wouldn't stand for so much of that fried stuff, cheap beef and greasy cheese. I know it's vacation but the reason we budget about $100 per day for two adults is because I NEED to eat healthy, otherwise I feel run down after the first or second day and just want to lay by the pool. That stuff would just sit in me and weigh me down!!!

Thanks for that very touching, very captivating personal story. I know when I vacation I try my utmost to maintain requisite levels of bean sprouts and peas.

 

[bdpa]

Great Job! Love to hear what other people think about the food. Will save all of us money in the long run. We go in about 3 weeks - gonna have to try Flame Tree (We are from Oklahoma.. we have pretty good barbcue here also!) Thanks again for your report. Did you post a report about Pop Century? Have a Disney Day!

 

[tigerlilly]

Wonderful Report....thank you for paying so much attention to detail. This proves that if you really want to do it you can. For our trip this December I cannot decide if we will do the Dining plan or not and this helps me out so much. The thing I liked that you did was the sharing of meals. I am not a huge eater and we often get 2 adult meals to split between myself, DH, DD 8 and DS 3. Thanks again.

 

[MinnieM3]

I'm inspired! The POP food court seemed to be a good deal. We hate leaving the parks for meals, though.

 

[NvrBnToWDW]

I know I can cut probably $50 off just by limiting our drinking to more water (our own bottles) and less soda. In the summer, the water is better for you anyway.

Thanks for your insightful reports!

I'm the OP and here's another tip: I bought Gatorade pouches at Walmart and we would mix them in our water bottles. We'd ask for ice water from the restaurants and kept filling them up and adding Gatorade powder. This helped keep everyone hydrated and the kids were satisfied with the taste.
Since we bought souvenir mugs at the hotel, we limited most of our sodas and slurpees to when we were at the hotel or the pool.

 

[married@wdw]

Thanks for that very touching, very captivating personal story. I know when I vacation I try my utmost to maintain requisite levels of bean sprouts and peas.

Wasn't meant to be touching or captivating. Burgers, chicken fingers, fries and pizza aren't my idea of eating. I enjoy treats all the time at Disney -- Dole whips and rice cream are must haves -- but veggies, dairy and healthy protein are always a must as well! I wouldn't sacrifice my health to save a few dollars. Sorry if I offended.

 

[eeyore45]

I appreciated the reports! I keep adding and taking off Flame Tree BBQ! mainly because its outdoors, and its hot outside! I'm just wondering if you ate at the Pop Food Court so much because you returned for pool time, or because of budget considerations?

Thanks again!!

 

[NvrBnToWDW]

I appreciated the reports! I keep adding and taking off Flame Tree BBQ! mainly because its outdoors, and its hot outside! I'm just wondering if you ate at the Pop Food Court so much because you returned for pool time, or because of budget considerations?

Thanks again!!

We didn't do it for budget reasons. We would return for a pool break in the afternoon or evening. Also, because we were there for 7 days, we didn't feel that we had to stay at the parks til close. We would go from open til late afternoon or evening, then eat dinner at Pop, then swim or head out to Downtown Disney.

 

[NvrBnToWDW]

Wasn't meant to be touching or captivating. Burgers, chicken fingers, fries and pizza aren't my idea of eating. I enjoy treats all the time at Disney -- Dole whips and rice cream are must haves -- but veggies, dairy and healthy protein are always a must as well! I wouldn't sacrifice my health to save a few dollars. Sorry if I offended.

I'm the OP, and I wouldn't sacrifice my children's health for any amount of money. If there was an issue with their health I would have had restrictions. But since we're all physically fit with no health problems and eat balanced meals dailly, I knew that 7 days out of the whole year wasn't going to harm anyone. I'm a homemaker and with only one income, I cook 6 days a week. Sunday is our only eat-out day. So, this was quite a treat for us, and frankly we missed my home cooking. I also took fresh fruit for our breakfast and we took it in our backpack with us to the parks. We are back home and back on track with our nutrition and I think the kids appreciate my cooking even more!

 

[VickiVM]

Have you considered the dining plan...it seems that for a family of four would only be $90 a day and you wouldn't have to share any meals?

I believe one of the children is 11 so they would have gotten charged as an adult. That puts the MYW dining at $115/day for this family.

There are two key reasons that they were able to minimize their food budget so remarkably - 1) They shared many meals. Portions are so large (even in some of the kids meals) that we often overlook how much is left behind that could have been shared. And 2) They didn't purchase a lot of sodas to go with their meals - stuck to water often.

After many wasted meals that my children order when they could have shared, I finally come to the realization that I should have been taking charge more often at order time. This trip my girls will be sharing meals. Between all 5 of us, surely we can walk away adequately fed without leaving a lot behind wasted. I've already told the girls that they will share and if they're still hungry, I'll order another kids meal. Chances are they won't want it.

And since this is our first 'summer' trip with the kids, I'm going to take advantage of the season and hydrate them with water as often as I can, rather than with soda or lemonade (they'll probably feel more refreshed anyway). We're getting resort mugs so we'll have plenty of opportunity to have sodas, lemonade that they won't feel deprived.

 

[blueeyez]

After all, we're on vacation!!! The kids know to take this opportunity of "junk food" while they have the chance. It just makes WDW that much more special.

I'm the OP, and I wouldn't sacrifice my children's health for any amount of money. If there was an issue with their health I would have had restrictions. But since we're all physically fit with no health problems and eat balanced meals dailly, I knew that 7 days out of the whole year wasn't going to harm anyone. I'm a homemaker and with only one income, I cook 6 days a week. Sunday is our only eat-out day. So, this was quite a treat for us, and frankly we missed my home cooking. I also took fresh fruit for our breakfast and we took it in our backpack with us to the parks. We are back home and back on track with our nutrition and I think the kids appreciate my cooking even more!

 

[Dodie]

Just to reiterate, regardless of the actual choices that you make, we have had great success with the following strategy as well...

1. Eat breakfast at the foodcourt at the hotel before you start out so you aren't STARVING when you get to the park and tempted to spend way too much/buy too much food for breakfast.

2. If you *have* to have a table service meal, eat it at lunch instead of dinner.

3. Every counter service meal we've ever had has been large enough for DH and I to share. (This just means you can have a little snack later.)

 

[Mad4Dizne]

....So nice to see that you can eat (without plans/vouchers/etc) and not break the bank! Love the detailed menus you gave of the items you chose, it has been extemely helpful! (we are not even going to try the sloppy joes!Wish I had one of those frozen bannanas now! )
I am working on my envelopes! And we are definately trying Flame Tree next trip!!!

Thanks again
Flo

 

[kpm76]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and detailed reviews!!! Sounds like you enjoyed some fun food and had a great trip! Thannks for sharing By the way, DH and I split meals all the time and it's such a great cost saver....plus it leaves room of yummy things like Mickey Bars

 

[cutienibbler]

Wow, you did really well with the budget! I like the envelope idea. Meal sharing would never work with my family, we all have very different food tastes, especially Dh. Maybe once my 2 year old gets older she and I can share, my 4.5 year old is just way too picky. Thanks for the tips tho

 

[SaratogaShan]

For those who are worried about their fruit and veggies while at WDW, you don't have to break the bank to get them. The fruit stands in each park offer healthy (and cheap!) snacks. Some even have bags of baby carrots. Personally I would rather eat grease and sugar while on vacation! To the OP, thanks so much for the review!

Shan

 

[MandM-Mom]

Wow great you could budget so well. We used the dining plan for $80.00 a day and never spent any xtra on food. We ate fantastic food the whole time and relied on sharing with DD4. We always ate CS breakfast and had a nice dinner. We would not be able to budget that well without the dining plan because I am not really crazy about fast food, I enjoy a nice meal while on vacation I like to try things I may not have alot of at home.

 

[disneysteve]

Haven't read the whole thread, but did read the OP. Just wanted to say that on our last 2 trips to Disney, we averaged under $17/person/day for 3 adults and 1 child the first trip and about $20/person/day for 2 adults and 1 child the second trip. So the OP's budget is certainly achievable. I would say my 3 best money-saving tips are:
1. Eat breakfast in your room.
2. Drink tap water - its free.
3. Share meals - serving sizes are huge and easily shared.