Budget tighter than I thought....how much per day?

[CJK]

Help! Dh and I are planning a trip this September to Disney for 2 weeks. We've never gone for more than one week so we're really trying to swing it. We added up numbers yesterday and realized it's going to be tough. We already have a very low rate at the All Star Sports Resort. We got an average deal on our flight. We'd like to get AP's each if possible. We're not getting a car to save money and will just use the shuttle to and from the airport. So really, food $$ is all that is left. We plan on eating breakfast in our room everyday of the 2 weeks. We don't think we'll be able to have any meals in sit down restaurants so we'll just use counter service at the parks and hotel. What is the smallest amount of $$ per day we could get by on, for food? Any thoughts? Also, we're bringing snacks with us to take to the parks. Thanks for any input!

 

[Mom of 5]

For two people, two counter service meals a day, I think you could probably do with about $30 a day.

Have you checked the menus on wdwig.com? There is a list of menus for both sit -downs and counter service, including the prices. This should help you have a better idea of what to expect.

Good luck planning, and have a great vacation!

 

[Lewisc]

Don't want to sound rude, but if you're on that tight a budget you might want to consider (if it's possible) shortening your vacation by a few days so you can stay iwithin your budget and have 1 or 2 nice meals. If you don't have a car rental and have to buy food in the resort you may not save as much eating in your room.

 

[CJK]

Thanks for posting! We're actually bringing food from home (it's now a tradition) and don't buy snack or breakfast food while in Florida. We did consider shortening the trip but the flights didn't work. We'd have had to have gone for one week or 12 days and it didn't seem worth it to cut only 2 days out. Thanks for the tip for checking out menus! Wow, I never thought we could get by on only $30 a day. I was thinking $60 maybe? I'm stocking up on disney dollars too! All this talk is getting me sooo excited!

 

[CDoobee]

If you join Connections, you can order Quick & Casual vouchers for $11 each! They are good at several of the counter service restaurants for lunch or dinner. You get a combo meal (entree, side dish and non-alcoholic beverage) and one dessert
OR
an entree, side dish (if not included with the entree), dessert and beverage. Some places the entrees are large enough to split, then you'd just need to purchase one extra beverage. No matter what the cost adds up to, you've only paid the $11. Plus, I really liked the advantage of having some meals paid in advance. My 17 year old son and I used several of these on our June trip. You can join Connections for a 30-day trial membership for $1.

Hope this helps!

Debbie

 

[Goofyzgurl]

I don't know if you considered it, but what about bidding on a ticket on priceline to save a bit more money? I would read www.biddingfortravel.com before you bid though.

 

[kda]

I agree that you could probably do it for about $30/day, if you weren't buying a lot of beverages. If you're going to be buying sodas or water throughout the day, you need to allow $15- $20/day on this alone.

Do check out the menus on wdwig to get some ideas of prices. I think you can fir in some better meals. The servings in most places are very generous, and you could each get an appetizer or salad and then split an entree, if you'd like to try to fit in some sit-down meals. It seems that they're very used to people sharing meals at Disney and you don't get funny looks or have to pay for the extra plate. A lot of people do this just because they can't eat so much, not because they're trying to save.

A late buffet lunch would cost around $16-$17 each (plus beverage) . That might take care of most of your food for the day and you could eat a snack later in the eve. We'll pick up a kids meal sometimes when we aren't very hungry.

One of my favorite places for excellent sandwiches is the restaurant at the end of Main Street before you get to the castle, just around the corner to the right, just after the ice cream place. I'm SO sorry, but I'm drawing a complete blank! You can split a sandwich and then get ice cream. Or get one sandwich and the chicken salad and share, for under $20 (plus beverage). This place has the 'feel' of a sit down restaurant, with great quality food, for much less $$$$. There are no entrees served -- just sandwiches, soup, the salad, and ice cream.

I'm a big fan of Columbia Harbour House for very good quality sandwiches and a great chicken salad with feta cheese. You could easily split a sandwich or the salad, and supplement with snacks throughout the day.

How great that you can go for two weeks! We'd never be able to afford sit down meals for that period of time, either. Have a great trip!

 

[mark & sandra]

Hello CJK- If you do buy an AP it should lower you room cost at the AllStars- another thought, We've stayed off-site at Holiday Inn Family Suites and found it a great place for our group. They are offering a deal of 109.00 per, it includes 2 dinner buffets a day and everyone eats free at the huge breakfast buffet. They offer free shuttles to the parks and if it's only the 2 of you, you could choose a type of suite that fits your need. The residential has a full kitchen, the sweetheart has a heart shaped bathtub and there is a type that has a large screen media room. All have separate master bedrooms and small livingrooms. I'd first check to see what your savings on a room at the AllStars with an AP is, An AP is the cheapest way to see the parks for a two week stay.

 

[frost5000]

We went to Disney last fall, and we only ate counter service, we never missed the sit down meals - it would of taken away from park time! You should do fine on $30 a day. We bought water bottles with filters from wal-mart (about $7) - they saved us a bundle on bottled water. All stars sold pizzas for around $16 - they fed all 4 of us when we got back from the parks. The gift shop sold breakfast "snack" food - doughnuts and pastries for around $4 a box. We brought granola and fruit/ veggie sticks from home for snacking in the park

 

[tink2dw]

You do NEED a Water plan when on a budget! Park bottled water is $2.50 each for 8oz.!!

Britta Sport Bottles will filter out the sulfer taste of the Florida water.

We bought Aquafina[not bottled in florida!!] bottled Water at Wal-mart for 2/$5.00 for 2/6pks of 16oz bottled water.

Having a Rental Car may save you money 2 ways
1. you can go buy groceries,to cook on your George Forman Grill,Slow Cooker or Electric fry pan.
2. you can go offsite to eat at cheaper Restaurants

And save shuttle costs!!

 

[breana902]

We went last Nov for 2 weeks, and bought the annual passes. The best purchase we could have made. We are going again this Oct to get the most use out of them. If you eat a large enough breakfast, you might consider just having a snack for lunch - save the money for dinner. Carry some of the snack bars around to munch on throughout the day, or even baggies full of cereal. I personally don't like to eat 3 meals a day, but prefer 2 with a snack somewhere during the day. I liked someones suggestion about the George Foreman grill - you could have some in room dinners of hot dogs or burgers. A couple of days of some cereal for lunch and a few in room dinners and you could probably splurge on a sit down lunch or dinner somewhere. Probably best to do the sit down lunch since the prices are less, but still get a very good meal at alot of places. Enjoy your trip!

 

[rcomputer]

I can only amplify kda's advice but it very much depends on your normal eating habits.

If you can make do with breakfast and a late lunch you can have a VERY LARGE LUNCH quite reasonably at several Disney buffets. My longest visit to WDW was a month when I lived in England - food costs were the largest component of the trip.

Akershus and Trails End both do reasonably priced buffets that will leave you still feeling full at bedtime!

 

[CJK]

Thanks everyone! What great tips! I had started to doubt whether we could swing it or not. I never even thought of having a buffet meal to tie us over. Now.......if only September could come sooner! Thanks all!

 

[Carrieberry]

I have to agree with the other posters. Disney portions are HUGE! I've even eaten the kids meals (I know I'm naughty!) at counter service places and felt completely satisfied. I budgeted $40 a day for the days we are going to eat counter service. That gives us $10 a piece and that way we have enough if we want to split a dessert or something. We also are not big 3 meal a day eaters. We will be in a studio at BCV and plan on eating light breakfasts of yogurt or pastries, small lunches at counter service places and then early dinners in the evenings, either buffets or sit down. All together for one week with five sit down places (one buffet, two sit down lunches, two family style restaurants) an hour of water mice recreation, admissons to DQ and counter service it came out to $500. Not too bad considering we will be eating at five nice places! I think you could easily get away with $500 for two weeks if all you did was eat breakfast in the room, and counter service the rest of the time.

There are also cheaper meals to be found outside of the regular eatieries on the parks. We've found that the little stands on the Boardwalk and the little snack carts can provide you with some very filling snacks. We've even been known to just grab 2 hot dogs and a large drink to share and be totally full until our next meal.

Use the menus on the suggested link and try to plan out where you want to go. It really does give you an exact price for your food (add tax and beverages!). Don't forget that there is always pizza, and it doesn't have to be from the All Star, there are places that will deliver! If you are really squeezing by, you don't have to even buy sodas with lunch, just bring one of those bottles for water, or even share a drink, or be naughtly like me and order the kid's meal. I didn't say that did I??

 

[mickeymikey]

when my wife and i go we only eat 2 meals a day..remember in sept the parks close early so we ussally get snack for night donuts and such...we always eat 1 sitdown a day and still only spend around 50dollars a day....just remeber you would be eating at home anyway so the cost of food isnt that big of a deal have fun...we are going in sept also the 2 -9

 

[Minnesota]

Take it from a college student, You are almost out of options for saving money. Getting APs could save you on your room, but a somewhat cheaper alternative is the Disney Club. This can save you money on Souvinears, rooms, food, and even Disney Stuff after your trip if you live near a Disney Store.I think the membership is 45$ for a year but I have already saved $75 on my park package for August 15% on my all stars room, and can get 25% on souivinears and 10% on food at participatin WDW resturants. Taking food from home is a GREAT idea, I have done it for the past 4 years, just don't pack a picnic, disney doesn't really lke outside food. Outher options would be instead of getting a length of stay pass, just get a park hopper and have a few days just to hang out at the pool or relax, sleep in late. This will also save some money.
Hope this helps,
Minnesota

 

[K P & J's Grandma]

You said that you were not renting a car - using the shuttle instead. You could use 'yourride.net' for your transportation to & from the airport - they make a 'free' grocery stop!! We used them in February - Rabbitt was great!!!

 

[eeyore0062]

It will be hot still in September, which I know generally decreases some peoples appetites, so you do have that going for you!

I like the idea of eating in the room for breakfast, and then making the lastest PS for a buffet meal you can find. They will usually run you about $15 apiece, and if you get that Brita Sport bottle, you can get by with water, if the beverage isn't included in your meal. You can REALLY fill up on those buffets, and there are many to choose from, so you should have no problems with getting sick of the same food. Try the buffet at Trails End in Fort Wilderness.. I believe it is around $11 apiece... a steal!

If you are getting your AP's, you might want to call CRO and ask if there are any discounts using them during your stay... you could also save big in that respect, making your food budget a little more flexible. As long as you can present one of the APs on check in, they will honor your discount. Also, AAA has released their discounts, as well, so you might want to check those.

Take some snacks with you to put in a backpack, in case you get the urge to nibble during the day.

Whatever you don't spend that you have budgeted from the previous day, put away, and maybe by the end you will be able to treat yourselves.

Good luck and have a great time.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I second the towncar idea. It will cost slightly more than the shuttle, but it more than makes up for it in convenience, and the grocery store stop. You can pick up water and other essentials that will save considerably over the park prices. Fresh fruit will stay good for a few days and save over Disney prices. If you wanted to pick up a bottle of wine or beer, that is also considerably less than at Disney.

The first 2 trips we took we only had counter service. There is some pretty good counter service options and food court options.

Good luck and have a blast!

 

[CJK]

Wow, thanks to all of you for such wonderful advice! I can hardly wait for the trip now. I admit that I was worried if our budget issues would be a damper on the trip but you've come up with some great ideas!!! I'll post a trip report when we're back (end of September). I'll be wearing my green ribbon! Thanks again!