Budget for meals at disney

[shortkathleen]

We are a family of four. My kids will be 10 and 7 at the time of our dec. trip. I am trying to decide if we should get the QSDP or not. My DS(10) is a very picky eater and does not eat much. If I didn't have to pay for him as an adult for the dining plan I would totally do it.

So now I am thinking of just paying out of pocket for meals. We would eat breakfast in our room and only do counter service meals. So how much do those of you who don't use the dining plan budget for meals per day. We will be there 7 days. Thanks a bunch for your help!

 

[Liberty Belle]

There's menus online somewhere, so you could add up almost exactly what you need, but I'd say a minimum of $60 a day for lunch and dinner (that's if you just eat counter service). Of course, you could spend a lot more even if you're just eating counter service, but I'd think that's the least you could spend.

 

[hsembrick]

We are a family of four. My kids will be 10 and 7 at the time of our dec. trip. I am trying to decide if we should get the QSDP or not. My DS(10) is a very picky eater and does not eat much. If I didn't have to pay for him as an adult for the dining plan I would totally do it.

So now I am thinking of just paying
g out of pocket for meals. We
would eat breakfast in our room
and only do counter service meals.
So how much do those of you
who don't use the dining plan
budget for meals per day. We will
be there 7 days. Thanks a bunch
for your help!

We have always done the dining plan so I'm not much help with the budget but to help figure out if the plan is worth it you may just want to order his meals off the Childs menu and maybe your DD off the adults. You can order both from Childs menu aswell since Disney doesn't care if you use a CS credit for child or adult meal. You can not use a Childs credit for an adult but you may use an adults credit for a child's. Does that make sense?
If your son doesn't eat much and would probably just eat off of your or your DH's plate then I won't get the plan.
We like having our meals paid for when we get there so we always do the dinning plan.

As far as budget goes I think somewhere along the lines of $10 person per meal is a good estimate of what you will spend but I could be wrong. Hope more people chime in on the budget for you. Happy planning!!

 

[hsembrick]

Another quick thought, are you going this dec?? If so the QSDP is FREE if you are booked at a value and DDP is FREE at moderate or deluxe if you are going in the given dates.

 

[shortkathleen]

Thanks for your help! We are actually using DVC so we can't get free dining. Such a bummer! I guess I really shouldn't complain about no free dining since my inlaws give us points to use each year as a gift. That is one reason in favor for just paying for the dining plan because our only costs on this trip are tickets and food. We drive and eat sandwiches in the car. Ok, so we have gas costs too, but all in all it is a pretty inexpensive Disney trip!

 

[sanapp]

We went last December and stayed at Pop and had the regular DDP. We really enjoyed having the plan. Granted we didn't have to pay for it, but I don't think I would want to stay on site again without it. This year there is 4 of us going so we decided to stay at Windsor Hills in a 3 bedroom townhouse. We loved not having to looked at the prices and just ordering what we really wanted. I prefer the regular DDP over the quick service, but the QSDP might work for you. If you go to allears.net and you can look at the menus with prices for all of the dining options and compare the price. We ate breakfast in our room each morning as well and then did a QS for lunch and a TS for dinner and of course my DD6 loved getting snacks (popcorn and pretzels)! Price it out both ways. If it is close I would go with the dining plan.

 

[Justsyd2]

We are a family of four. My kids will be 10 and 7 at the time of our dec. trip. I am trying to decide if we should get the QSDP or not. My DS(10) is a very picky eater and does not eat much. If I didn't have to pay for him as an adult for the dining plan I would totally do it.

So now I am thinking of just paying out of pocket for meals. We would eat breakfast in our room and only do counter service meals. So how much do those of you who don't use the dining plan budget for meals per day. We will be there 7 days. Thanks a bunch for your help!

Have you looked at the menus at www.allears.net? I'll bet you can find plenty of CS places that he'll eat at. I suggest sharing a CS meal if he can't eat it all, which will give you more credits to use for breakfasts, lunches and/or dinners. Paying OOP adds up even for one person per day when you factor in the 2 snacks and the refillable resort mug that he'll get with the QSDP.

 

[RyanFernandez]

Thanks for the link. We are planning for Disney in September and would opt for the QSDP; thanks all for the valuable info.