BLT/WDW Food Budget?

[deploylinux]

My family has our first ever visit to WDW planned for this august. We will be staying at BLT. We have no idea how much to budget for food/etc....normally during travel we'd just stop by a hotel buffet in the morning and evening and grab something quick in the afternoon wherever we are at the time.

There seems to be a lot of info out there about disney dining, but it seems rather confusing-
- I see some prices for family meals being $80+?
- Disney dining plan good deal or not?
- Different levels of disney dining plans?
- Some disney hotel restaurants requiring reservations far in advance?
- I see dozens of acronyms I don't know in the various posts I've read while trying to come up to speed on the above...

So, I thought I'd simply post the following question:
- Is there a reasonable cost restaurant/buffet at BLT? How much does it normally run per meal for a family of 2 adults/2 kids?
- Will we need to make reservations for it?
- Would we save money with the dining plan? If so, which one?
- Are there also some reasonably priced restaurants at the main parks or should we just plan on always coming back to the hotel to eat?

 

[spiceycat]

here are most of the menus
http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm#res

both the restaurants in the parks and hotels are expensive.

would go with a grocery delivered - Publix has many meals that you just heat up.

sometimes will eat at quick service - but the regular meals at the restaurants are just too expensive for my budget - plus they require for me alot of time have food allergies - so my food takes longer to cook.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My family has our first ever visit to WDW planned for this august. We will be staying at BLT. We have no idea how much to budget for food/etc....normally during travel we'd just stop by a hotel buffet in the morning and evening and grab something quick in the afternoon wherever we are at the time.

There seems to be a lot of info out there about disney dining, but it seems rather confusing-
- I see some prices for family meals being $80+?
- Disney dining plan good deal or not?
- Different levels of disney dining plans?
- Some disney hotel restaurants requiring reservations far in advance?
- I see dozens of acronyms I don't know in the various posts I've read while trying to come up to speed on the above...

So, I thought I'd simply post the following question:
- Is there a reasonable cost restaurant/buffet at BLT? How much does it normally run per meal for a family of 2 adults/2 kids?
- Will we need to make reservations for it?
- Would we save money with the dining plan? If so, which one?
- Are there also some reasonably priced restaurants at the main parks or should we just plan on always coming back to the hotel to eat?

You won't just be stopping by a hotel buffet in the morning without an ADR (Advanced Dining Reservation). If you don't have any yet, you might be out of luck for August since most are character meals. But you could use the counter service at the various resorts and theme parks and get what you need.

 

[Desnik]

We will be at BLT in Aug too!

Whether the dining plan is a good value for your family is something you'll have to decide by looking at the restaurants and menus at the link Spiceycat provided. Remember kids aged 10 & up are not kids in Disney's eyes, so they pay adult prices for the DDP (Disney Dining Plan)

Our family is DH, myself, DD (15), DS (10). The DDP is not a good value for our family for a few reasons. We aren't big eaters. My kids don't eat adult portions, ever. We are all pretty picky & we rarely do character meals anymore. We don't need a sit down meal every day and we hardly ever eat dessert.

You do need to make ADR's (Advance Dining Reservations) for most table service meals. And yes, those are done 180 days in advance by us compulsive planners

Popular restaurants book up fast. You can go on the Disney website and book your meals there.

There is no place to eat at BLT. The restaurants are all at the CR resort. The only buffet there is Chef Mickey's and that is a very popular restaurant. In Aug, don't plan on getting in unless you have an ADR, and it might already be booked. It is pricey, about $130 for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids 9 & under.

Reasonably priced at the parks? It depends on what you call reasonable. Most sit down restaurants are pricey, especially character meals.

To help cut down on costs, you might be better off doing only a couple of sit down meals and eating at counter service places the rest of the time.

Here's what we do, it might help with your planning.
We are driving so I will bring water, and other drinks down with us. Also, I bring snacks and breakfast items.
We eat breakfast in the room everyday.
We do counter service lunch. Eat at a table service for dinner probably 4 nights out of a 7 night trip. The rest is counter service. When we eat lunch at CS, we bring our drinks from our room. We bring our own drinks when we are by the pool and eating at the pool too.
*If we fly, we ship the drinks & snacks down.

Hope this info helps!

 

[stargazertechie]

Congrats on your first WDW trip. It's definitely an experience unlike any other.


As many people have mentioned, you may be out of luck getting sit-down dining reservations this late in the game. I would highly recommend looking at the menus and simultaneously looking at available dining reservations at the parks you'll be visiting.


The only "breakfast buffet" at Bay Lake Tower/The Contemporary would be Chef Mickey's- and it will run you roughly $75 for two adults. I'm not familiar with kids' pricing as we don't have any

As general rule of thumb, a "counter service" meal at the parks/resorts will run you between $10 and $20 per person depending on the meal you get, if you split portions, and if you want a drink and dessert. These restaurants do not need reservations. Think burgers, rotisserie chicken, pulled bbq sandwiches, chinese take out type foods.

Sit down (table service) dinners are about as varied as they come. Dinner entrees cost anywhere from $15 per adult for a plated vegetarian option up to $45-$70 for a buffet/all you can eat or signature meal. These are the restaurants you'll need to make reservations for. Most people make these reservations for the popular locations 180 days in advance. You're at a huge disadvantage here.

 

[rlovew]

There is both a breakfast buffet and al la cartr at The Wave for breakfast that would be less expense and easier to get than Chef Mickey's. You can also get breakfast at the Contempo Cafe (counter service). The counter service breakfasts are around $10/person. I haven't been to the Wave for breakfast so you would have to look at the menu for pricing. As I said Chef Mickey's need reserv ations and you are probably too late to get the for August easily at this point. I have found the Wave not hard to get into without reservations especially when staying at the resort but we have only done breakfast/lunch there.

DDP- we only did it once and I have no idea what kind of food and how much your family eats as well as your children's ages so I could not make this decision. The quickservice plan offers a small savings if you normally order dessert with all of your meals and will use the credits for lunch and dinner and drink sodas with your meals. If you don't do all of these things you will possibly break even or loose money unless you children and little and eat a lot (under 9). The regular plan offers some savings for families with young children that use table service credits for charcater buffets or the highest priced items on the menu, don't want appetizers, and like having dessert with every meal. Again if you use credits for breakfast then you are losing out on what savings you get. I don't have enough understanding of the pricing on the deluxe plan to be able to give a quick characterization on how you would save money on it but overall if you don't all eat a tom it is not worth it to me.

Reasonably priced for Disney is different than anywhere else. The restaurants at the hotel will not be any cheaper than the same category of restaurants in the park. If you are trying to save on food getting items you can have/cook for breakfast in the room will help, you can also keep snacks in your room and even bring them to the park if you want to carry them around.

In general I budgetremembering than ( plus is an adult or if you have a child that eats off the adult menu you should budget for them like an adult)
For counter service- $10/adult (at least one of use will drink a cup of water instead of a soda) and $6/child - some meals can be a little less and others will be more but this is about what a basic meal without dessert will cost us.
For regular table service- $25/adult and $10/child for lunch; $30/adult and $15/child for dinner. We like to start with an appetizer or end with a dessert sometimes each our own and sometimes to share.
For signature table service- $50-60/adult and I have never looked at a child's menu at signature dining so I would not be able to guess on children's meals.

We generally eat breakfast in our studio (so I don't bedget anything in - we drive and bring food from our regular grocery trips). Unless we are doing a signature dining we do a table service lunch and then counter service or appetizers in a bar for dinner.

As people have said look at the menus and figure out what your family is most likely to eat to get the best thoughts on how much to budget.

 

[Harlemgirl720]

Have a great stay at BLT. If you aren't able to get a reservation at Chef Mickeys in the Contemporary may I suggest the Wave, also in the contemporary. You should be able to eat there. I love their buffet way better than Chef Mickeys even though there isn't characters involved. It not as large but it suffices.

I am about done with buffets on the most part but you can get reasonable breakfasts at Contempo Cafe which is counter service. I like the Grand Floridian Cafe, Kona Cafe at Polynesian. Its about $15 average for a good meal.

 

[spiceycat]

forgot over at FW campground - a boat ride from CR/BLT - there is a nice buffet probably the only one reasonable priced at WDW.

Trail's End -- look it up on the link I send you. It is at Fort Wilderness campground - not WL

 

[DizBub]

Congrats on your upcoming trip!

1st time visitors can become so overwhelmed with all the choices and just how BIG WDW is that I would advise you not to get the Dining Plan for your first time.

The problem I see with the regular DDP is that you will NEED to have ADRs every day and time is really short. Oh, you could try but you run the risk of being shut out thusly losing any value you may have received with the plan. If you do get the dining plan you will be scheduling your days around your sit-down meals. This can become problematic if you are at MK standing in a line or waiting for a Fast Pass time and have a reservation at Epcot in 45 minutes.......you probably can't make it there in time. My advice would be to get the QS Dining Plan if you want a pre-paid meal plan. It's cheaper and you can eat anywhere there is a QS place. Take your time and look around and see where you may want to try on your next trip and definately plan earlier.

I can't offer insight about feeding a family but on our trip last month we stayed 8 nights and our food cost was about $350 for 2 adults. We ate mostly sit-down, ate a few breakfasts in our villa and had a few QS. In full disclosure, we have a Tables in Wonderland card which pays for the tip.

Don't forget that if you do get DDP, you will still be expected to tip which can jack up your bottom line. We have spent $100 in tips for a week stay while on DDP, even when we had "free" dining.

 

[deploylinux]

Sounds like the wave + contempo cafe is the way to go for most meals then....

Which meal plan would cover both? Sounds like I might be able to get by w/o making reservations for either, or should I try for at least dinner at the wave?

We're flying in from the east coast...so limited ability to bring groceries with us, but we'll explore whats available for delivery..

 

[DizBub]

Regular Dining Plan will cover both. 1 table service, 1 counter service and 1 snack per day per person. You also get a souvenier mug, 1 per person. There is a drink station at the Contempo Cafe for soda/coffee refills. Unlimited refills throughout your stay.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Sounds like the wave + contempo cafe is the way to go for most meals then....

Which meal plan would cover both? Sounds like I might be able to get by w/o making reservations for either, or should I try for at least dinner at the wave?

We're flying in from the east coast...so limited ability to bring groceries with us, but we'll explore whats available for delivery..

You really need to make ADRs for table service restaurants if you want to make sure you have a place to eat. Especially if you are considering the dining plan. Most guests make their ADRs 180 days out from their reservation so if you are arriving in August, you are already more than 120 days behind the rest of the guests arriving in August.

Allears.net has a good site with menus for all the dining locations along with prices. The DIS also has some menus, but I like allears a bit more.

If you purchase one of the dining plans, it will be for each guest on the reservation for every night of your reservation.

Good luck.

 

[VLee]

As mentioned previously, there is an excellent breakfast buffet at The Wave. We have gotten in there several times without reservations and actually enjoy it more than Chef Mickey's. And I think it is very reasonably priced and so convenient since you are staying there.

 

[luv2sleep]

We just left after a week at BLT. LOVED this resort! I'm not about stressing about food and planning so I was glad there was a counter service restaurant there. We did not do the dining plan. We had breakfast at the Contempo Cafe there every morning. We loved it but I'm not picky. We had lunch in the parks. We ate dinner wherever we were usually. We ate at the WL once, Boma once (walked in at 5), and at the Contemp Cafe a few times. We also ate at the Wave once and walked in there for dinner. I made only one ADR and that was at La Hacienda to watch Illuminations. The CM at Chef Mickey's said there's usually room for walk ins at 7 am and 5 pm. Being at BLT made it easy to get to places to eat via the monorail or by taking a boat to the WL. I think being there for our first visit was a smart choice. It was easy to find food whenever, wherever. You'll love it!

 

[Minniesgal]

The dining situation at WDW is very very different from chain hotels. There is no normal hotel buffet breakfast served and in fact there are no restaurants in BLT you have to go to the Contemporary. Sit down restaurants need reservations which need to be planned in advance. In addition all hotels have counter service restaurants which are cheaper but not the best quality and variety.

I think you need to do a lot of research. you need to have a look at what the restaurant options are and select where you want to eat. Restaurant prices are higher than other local chains and might take a bit of getting used to. My first trip it took me weeks to decide where we wanted to eat.

We now go to Publix and buy snacks and breakfast for the room. We probably do a sit down meal most days not every day and in between eat in the room. This trip i have budgeted $2500 for 15 nights for 5 people so just under $35 per person per day. This is a lot less than the price of the dining plans. If on the other hand you want to eat all your meals out and snack in the parks the dining plan may well make much more sense for you. to make that call you really need an idea of where you want to eat and how often.

 

[dizfan]

We really enjoy the breakfast buffet at The Wave restaurant (next to the Contemporary Resort front desk). It is much more laid back and the food is decent.
The couple times we have gone, we did not have any reservation. We walked up and there was plenty of space.