Anyone help me with a food budget?

[Bridge203618]

I would like to see if anyone has feedback on a food budget. We are a family of four. My husband, 14 year old daughter, 3 year old daughter and myself.

We will be at disney & waterparks for 6 days. We will probably do a lot of counter service, maybe one or two sit down meals and possibly a character meal if I can squeeze it in (maybe playhouse disney for lunch)

My youngest is allergic to milk and doesn't do hamburgers so she eats a lot of chicken (nuggets) with a hot dog mixed in. She does about any other meat but I am guessing not a lot of that at counter service.

I know disney is pricey but I would like to try to save money when I can and try to figure out a budget before hand.

Would love to hear from you! BTW will probably have a simple breakfast in our hotel room.

 

[design_mom]

If you Google "allears menus" you'll find a site that has a ton of menus from WDW with prices. Probably the best thing to do is consider where you might like to eat and actually calculate what you might spend.

As a general guide, we found most adult meals to be $9-13 (entree, side and drink -- there are a few that are higher but they're a *lot* of food) and kids meals are generally $5 each. And a lot of meals might be big enough for you to split with your 3yo. For example, an adult meal might contain 1/2 a rotisserie chicken. I can't eat half a chicken, so I split it with my DD.

 

[CindyIsMyFave]

I second the allears.net menu and restaurant guides. They have a ton of prices and fairly current menus. That can really help you plan specific budgets.

 

[lizandjason]

Try to have one of the table service meals for a late breakfast or lunch, and choose a buffet or family service. That way everyone can get what he or she wants, and you'll be pretty full for the rest of the day, AND it costs less at breakfast or lunch than at dinner.

We LOVE Trail's End's buffet and it's one of the best values in WDW. Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[Nadjalu]

I agree to check out the menus and approximate what each person would have and add it up.
This will only give you a rough estimate.

For myself and DH we get the DDP but have always kept our receipts to tell us our savings.
For the 2 of us eating 1 CS lunch, 1 TS dinner and either a brkfst at the resort or 2 snacks we average about $150 per day for the 2 of us.

We eat normally while we are there so we do save with the DDP, but if you aren't planning to do that this may give you an estimate for us. Of course you have an extra person in your group.

 

[engle]

I think the DDP is the way to go if you need to stay on a budget...this way, it is paid for before you go, it includes all of your meals and snacks (or most of them!!) and that way you can eat without worrying....

 

[Bridge203618]

can i do a dining plan if I don't do a package?

 

[catne]

can i do a dining plan if I don't do a package?

In general, you do have to book a room/ticket package to add the dining plan. But there is a few limited ways to get the dining plan without a room/ticket package. If you have AP you can book AP discount room with dining plan (limited availability, of course.) DVC owners can book dining plan without a room/ticket package. Believe there is sometimes a military deal that allows people to book the dining plan with their military tickets.

 

[Bridge203618]

I don't think any of those options will work for us. I already have tickets for 3 of the 4 of us, so I don't need any tickets to make it a package.

 

[LeahA]

$10.00 x 3=$30.00 COUNTER SERVICE FOR 3 ADULTS
$5.00 x 1=$5.00 COUNTER SERVICE FOR 1 CHILD
$35.00 X2=$70.00 2 COUNTER SERVICE MEALS PER DAY

$30.00 PER DAY FOR SNACKS OR EXTRAS

I would budget $100.00 per day not counting your charachter meals. This is not precise but, I think with your family and eating counter service meals 2 times a day that $100.00 should be good for meals, snacks, etc....