average daily food cost for adults

[LaidBackDad]

It might help to break each meal down individually. As a general ball park figure you’re going to pay $15 - $20 for a QS, $25 - $30 for a TS and $30 - however much you want to spend for a signature. Probably $5 - $10 for a snack during the day. Buffets and character meals are their own animal but your looking at around $30 for a breakfast to $60 for a lunch or dinner.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

How is that possible? Our family spends over $200 on a single character meal and that is 2 adults, 2 kids, and one free baby. 5 adults would be more for one character meal than the entire budget for the day you propose. I would estimate $350-500 for a party of 5.

It's only one character meal they are doing. The rest are "cheaper" meals like B&C and LTT. She will average $200 a day.

We went as a family of 4 for 10 nights and spent about $2500. We did 13 QS, about 10 TS meals (we had a mix of cheaper places, character meals, signature and AYCTE), lots of snacks, a few nights of eating and drinking around the world, a night at Trader Sams and refillable mugs. We came out way ahead of the DDP. I'm sure had we removed lounges and drinking we would've been at $2000 for 11 days of eating.

 

[markb681]

$100 per adult per day for ONLY quick service...more IF u have adult drinks....IF u add table service I would add an additional $100 per person per day

 

[Dsny4fun]

$250 per day/for 2 people. We usually only eat 2 meals per day/both TS

 

[CT Yankee]

Why leave planning the food budget to chance? Take a look at the menus and the prices, think about what your family would order, and then add it up. I know that I like a dining plan, but it is because I know it works for my family, and my budget is easier to set, however I look at restaurants and menus no matter where we travel. For us, planning a trip and trying to remain within an artificially set meals and snack budget is impossible. WE are in the middle of costing out a realistic meals budget vs an all inclusive rate for an Aruba vacation. My DD mentioned how we could have bacon and eggs in the condo. "Are you cooking? Because I am not." Ummmm, no, not likely. Well, add breakfast into that budget and remember that Pa will not live on bagels alone! LOL!

This. Anytime we go out to a restaurant, even at home, I find the menu online to get an idea of what to order and how much it costs. I'm with you, Nancyg56 - I don't cook on vacation. I do that pretty much every darn day the rest of the year and not having to grocery shop, plan a meal, cook it, clean up, pack away leftovers and wash dishes is a BIG part of the vacation for me.

 

[Tksolomom]

We have a mix of TS and QS, and don’t really drink. After looking at the menus, I budgeted 15 for snacks, 20 for CS and 50 for TS, 100 for signature. It averaged out to about 100 per day for us. It included a couple of character meals and a couple of lower priced TS (Luke Sci-Fi). We don’t normally have dessert, but might have a soda and sometimes an appetizer. We are only having one signature meal, our first day.

 

[sam_rogers]

Dh and I normally allow $100 pp per day but this also includes money for souvenirs. We usually have a small breakfast eg pastry, qs lunch and occasionally ts dinner. Our last trip was 2012 though so we may have to increase budget a bit.

 

[Nancyg56]

Dh and I normally allow $100 pp per day but this also includes money for souvenirs. We usually have a small breakfast eg pastry, qs lunch and occasionally ts dinner. Our last trip was 2012 though so we may have to increase budget a bit.

CHeck the menus online. The costs have increased.

 

[MadTownKatz]

When it comes to planning our dining costs, this is an area where my wife rolls her eyes. I actually enjoy "projecting" possible dining paths that our family will take....I know what our eating habits are, and how much we are just moving and going while we are in the parks. We typically use QS with a TS scattered within the mix, and over the years, we have a sorta routine. But I look at possible restaurants that we might visit and I go online to check out their menus and price according to what is the most expensive item that would probably be ordered. I average out the costs for each day to come up with the "average price per day," and we budget accordingly. Over the years, I would not say that this has not drastically changed...which is why my wife rolls her eyes every time I do this. One might think that it would be easier to just budget "x amount of dollars each day," but if I did that, then I wouldn't have the excuse to spend hours on end checking out the various Disney restaurants.....

 

[MomOTwins]

This thread got me thinking about our food/drink budget. I am planning on $250-$300 a day for the two of us.

If that is your budget for two you might be better off with the deluxe dining plan.

 

[rentayenta]

If that is your budget for two you might be better off with the deluxe dining plan.

I initially considered it but it doesn’t mesh with how we dine; we share a lot and don’t each eat dessert. Plus we drink more than the plan offers. We also have DH’s CM discount. Before discounts the price is pretty close but not after.

 

[Farro]

If that is your budget for two you might be better off with the deluxe dining plan.

That's also our budget for two. It may be on the high end, but that's better than the low end!

We like appetizers not desserts, alcoholic beverages throughout the day, snacking more than counter service and one sit down a day, usually dinner with a couple glasses of wine each.
It's the alcohol that really adds up - just two Kir Royales from Epcot runs $20 or more, if I'm remembering correctly?

I don't think dining plans work with that kind of eating plan.

 

[gillep]

That's also our budget for two. It may be on the high end, but that's better than the low end!

We like appetizers not desserts, alcoholic beverages throughout the day, snacking more than counter service and one sit down a day, usually dinner with a couple glasses of wine each.
It's the alcohol that really adds up - just two Kir Royales from Epcot runs $20 or more, if I'm remembering correctly?

I don't think dining plans work with that kind of eating plan.

Yes, this is us too. Sometimes we even grab a bottle of wine, certainly when we are at Jiko, and for dessert I get a Zebratini. Plus we love to eat at the lounges and places like Tutto Gusto and La Cava that don't take the dining plan.

 

[Viking7641]

It 1000% depends on the invidivual.

Me?

Breakfast - $1 or so (toast and PB)

Coffee - $4

Tap water most of the day, no alcohol, and QS lunch and dinner. So like $40 at most.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

We are a family of 5 (me, DH, 14 yo, 11 yo, 2 yo). Sometimes the 14 and 11yo order from the adult menu and sometimes from the kid's menu (unless it's AYCTE or Prix Fixe). We have one snack per day (sometimes none, but I budget for 1 per person per day). We drink water, no soft drinks, in most cases. Sometimes the 2 yo gets his own meal. Because the 11 yo and 14 yo are adult prices at buffets/ prixe fixe we try to limit that to 1-2 per trip, if any. We also limit TS meals because of the time and expense. That's a lot of variables there, and that's just us (so unless you eat like we do, this might not help).

For an 8 day trip, my estimate is $1500 for the 5 of us
Breakfast is in the room (grab-and-go items) except for one morning (instacart order is not included in my total)
Table service is Sci Fi Dine in, Beaches and Cream lunch, California Grill for myself and DH while the kiddos and my parents go to Beaches and Cream for dinner
AYCTE meals are Ohana breakfast and a Garden Grove dinner
All other meals are QS
I budget snacks as $5 each, 1 per person per day (including the toddler because no way am I trying to referee that circus).

Budget does not include soft drinks (we typically do not order them) but that would add roughly another $100.