Am I kidding myself?

[Hisgirl]

A couple of ideas. Have a few cases of bottled watered shipped to your room. Water in the parks is $3 each and that will add up fast. Also, save 5% off your disney food spend by paying for all food using disney gift cards you bought from discounted cards from sam's club.

 

[ellie05]

I think while it is doable it will be hard. DH and I are going next month we are budgeting $1000 for food for a week and we have tables in wonderland and some pre paid meals.

 

[Darcy03231]

OP, we're a family of 6 and while the $1700 budget might be tight, I think your revised budget of $2000 is better. We're a family of light eaters and will share meals too, but I've found there are some CS places where the meals just weren't big enough to share. We also bring snacks in with us. I'll get snacks which they typically don't get much of at home so it feels like a treat instead of home-brought snacks.

Have a great trip!

 

[Eureka]

That is $200 a day. You have 2 TS meals, 2 of which are over your daily amount so I think you will be very close to your budget. I do think it could be done, if some of you share CS meals.

My boys are 16 and almost 14 and there's no way they could share a CS meal without snacking immediately after.

 

[Hikergirl]

My boys are 16 and almost 14 and there's no way they could share a CS meal without snacking immediately after.

I have a 13 and 16 year old and they couldn't either. The OP has a 6 and a 3 year old that probably could though.

 

[Knaedudley]

My 3 and 6 year old will definitely share but I think you are all right that having snacks on demand for them will help. I envision myself and my 16 year old daughter sharing as well. After reading these comments I may bump my budget on up to 2500 (man that sounds like such a big number) because the last thing I want is to be worrying about what everyone is ordering. This is my son's graduation trip as well as celebrating my daughters 16th. For those with larger family's what do you budget if you don't mind saying

 

[hsmamato2]

I usually budget an average of $100 per day for meals..... that's 4 people. SOme days we eat a TS, some days just qs- we eat breakfast in room,and don't usually buy drinks. It usually works out to about that, but I stay aware of what we buy.I think it *can* be done for about $150 per day (Op has 6 people) esp. having little kids share something larger, avoiding costly sodas,etc- I really like allears .net for the prices and menus, so I can see ahead of time the average cost for each meal for the fam. (avg. qs lunch per person in my fam is about 10 bucks, avg. qs dinner is maybe 15 each) this is an average,so on a TS day, we'd eat breakfast in room, and a great buffet somewhere between lunch and dinner (maybe 2:30 or so) and eat light that evening,which is how we maximize the $$$ TS or Buffet meals. they almost replace 2 meals in that day,due to timing. Or reverse that,super light snakc before heading out, eat a 'brunch' at a buffet like around 10:30-11 am, that takes place of a big breakfast and lunch,and no ones super hungry till much later in the day....

 

[MummyButterfly]

My 3 and 6 year old will definitely share but I think you are all right that having snacks on demand for them will help. I envision myself and my 16 year old daughter sharing as well. After reading these comments I may bump my budget on up to 2500 (man that sounds like such a big number) because the last thing I want is to be worrying about what everyone is ordering. This is my son's graduation trip as well as celebrating my daughters 16th. For those with larger family's what do you budget if you don't mind saying

We have eight kids (never taken more than four at a time...yet), and we do the dining plan. BUT - my kids are foodies. My oldest son (17) loves things like lamb and lobster, and his younger brother (15) is a big meat eater. For us, the dining plan allows me to not stress, while they get what they want.

Our youngest is going to be 2 on our next visit (this is our fourth time traveling with one too young to get the DDP). One of the things we love is that the Deluxe plan comes with an appetizer per person - which gave us PLENTY of food to share with the little one! And I never feel bad about asking for an extra plate, because even though she isn't three (so can't be on the Dining Plan), she counts in that we have the automatic gratuity added.

Which is something minor to remember: as a party of six, your check at a TS will automatically have an 18% gratuity added.