Could You Eat at WDW for $200 per Person on a 6-day visit?

[kandb]

Probably depends on the size/appetite of the person also. Could a teenage boy or grown man do it, probably not but probably a younger person or a woman with a smaller appetite.

 

[MLongo]

I could probably do this for myself, as I am an older senior and don't eat as much. I could get by on a child's meal only. Could not do this with husband and grandsons! But, really would never want a vacation that I have to worry about food costs! I go away 3 times a year, I'll save the budget for "home time".

 

[HopperFan]

YUP, I absolutely could. I play a game most trips anymore with just DS and I to eat for $25 total per meal. We do eat kids meals and are quite full. If eating at self serve drinks we keep our kid's meals bottle of water to take with us and share a soda drink. Some places we split a QS meal and ask for the free ice water.

We do have muffins and fruit in room for breakfast but even if we ate in park we could still stay under the limit .... and I could eat for the $35 a day per person.

We've been going to Disney so long and have eaten at so many of the TS restaurants at this point, if I eat TS I leave feeling ripped off. Food is just not a big focus other than we eat three meals a day. We are not big snackers so we rarely buy one. We are for sure not Disney's demographic for dining at this point.

And I will say we don't feel short changed on decent eats or portion sizes. Most kids meals come with two sides so we get plenty of food, and if you study the menus you can find some nice meals.

 

[Minnesota!]

Actually, the food she ordered wasn't chicken fingers and hot dogs. She had grilled chicken and salmon, lots of rice and bean bowls beans with different seasonings and salads. Better than you would expect for kids meals. But I wouldn't want to limit my choices to just the kids menu. And I think it's disingenuous to start off saying that you're going to eat for 6 days on $200 but then buy fruit, yogurts and oatmeal to bring into the parks or eat in the room but not count that against your $200 budget. Heck, I could eat 2-3 meals each day in the room and stay under $200 if that were the case! Overall, she had 8 meals and 7 snacks that I counted. Not exactly what a normal adult might be eating unless they supplemented with food they bought elsewhere.

Having said that, I would love to do a challenge of 6 days, 3 meals a day plus 1 snack. It would be interesting to see what the total would be for a realistic diet for 1 adult eating only kids meals.

Not sure if it is the same person, but someone I follow on TikTok does 50/day/person for breakfast, lunch, dinner and treat. She makes it work and never seems to skimp or go without.

 

[Willow Ufgood]

Okay. I decided to take up my own challenge and post my results. The challenge is only kids meals, 3 meals per day, plus 1 snack each day for a 6 day trip.

This is for a trip I actually have booked for the spring. Arrival day is after breakfast and departure day would be before lunch. All meals are kid's meals. Snacks are from the snack menus.

I am generally not a breakfast eater but I included it because that's the challenge. I will also say that we don't eat a lot of red meat at home so my choices reflect a lot of sea food and chicken. We are staying in a Poly studio the first night and will switch to a 1BR in BC for the rest of the trip. The food is for 1 adult only.

Day #1 arrival day, no parks Total = $24.04

Lunch - Cap'n Cooks​

Chicken and Pineapple Skewer with tossed salad and small bottled water $9.04​

 Dinner - walk over to GF and Gasparilla's Grill​

Chicken Wrap with fries, grapes and small bottled water​

$8.30​

Snack  - Mickey Bar $6.70​

​

Day #2 Poly morning MK Day $31.08​

Breakfast - Cap'n Cook's​

Egg White Scramble with bacon and breakfast potatoes and small bottled water $7.28​

Lunch - Columbia Harbor House​

Grilled Salmon with rice and green beans and unsweetened iced tea $9.15​

Dinner - Cosmic Ray's​

Grilled Chicken Sandwich with fries, Cutie mandarin and zero sugar lemonade $8.30​

Snack - Dole Whip $6.35​

​

Move to BC in the evening​

​

Day #3 BC/RIV/HS using Skyliner $33.13​

Breakfast - RIV Primo Piatto​

Egg White Fritatta with plant-based sausage and small bottled water $7.66​

Lunch - HS Backlot Express​

Southwest Chicken Salad with fries, chocolate chip cookie and Coke Zero $8.30​

Dinner - ABC Commissary​

Chicken Arugula-Farro Salad with carrots, a Cutie mandarin and unsweetened iced tea $8.70​

Snack - Anaheim Produce​

Mickey Pretzel $8.47​

​

Day #4 BC morning/AK $30.94​

Breakfast - BC Marketplace​

Mickey Waffle with bacon, sausage and small bottled water $8.08​

Lunch - Harambe Market​

Shrimp Rice Bowl with Cutie mandarin and zero sugar lemonade $9.57​

Dinner - Flame Tree BBQ​

Pulled Pork Platter with applesauce, a Cutie and unsweetened iced tea $7.98​

Snack - Flame Tree BBQ​

(to be eaten with pulled pork)Rice and Beans $5.31​

​

Day#5 BC morning/EPCOT $31.80​

Breakfast - BC Marketplace​

Egg Sandwich with double bacon side and a small bottled water $6.91​

Lunch - La Cantina de San Angelo​

Chicken Tacos with corn chips, nachos cheese, fruit and Coke Zero $10.07​

Dinner - Sunshine Seasons​

Salmon with Jamine Rice, applesauce and a small bottled water $9.00​

Snack -Sunshine Seasons​

Turtle Brownie $5.82​

​

Day #6 BC/MK (again)/Contemporary $40.20​

Breakfast - Ale and Compass To Go​

Blueberry Pancakes with sausage, breakfast potatoes and small bottled water $8.79​

Lunch - Pecos Bill​

Citrus Chipotle Chicken with Cilantro Lime Rice, charros beans and small bottled water $9.04​

Dinner - Steakhouse 71 to Go​

Grilled Steak with mashed potatoes, green beans and Coke Zero $16.51​

Snack - MK popcorn $5.86​

​

Day #7 - BC checkout day, breakfast only $11.18​

Breakfast Ale & Compass To Go​

Scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, fresh fruit, low fat milk $11.18​

​

Grand Total = $202.37​

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I could tweek the numbers to fall under $200 by choosing less expensive meals rather than the to go meals at the end of the stay but I didn't want to do repeats of meals or list a kids meal that I just would not eat, such as chicken tenders or PB&J Uncrustables. When I get a kids meal, I tend to save the fruit or chips for a snack later in the day. I refill my water bottle with ice water when I stop to eat. Most of the meals are available for mobile order and they were almost all Disney's kid check meals. I doubt that I would actually stick to this plan mostly because I don't travel alone and wouldn't want to pigeonhole my traveling companions into eating where I dictate.​

 

[Nick6300]

Our grocery order for last weeks 9 night/ 10 days for 3 of us was $45 for milk, bread, lunch meat, cheese, string cheese, fruit. We did have 4 ADRs 2 of which were pricey at Roundup and Crystal (but our 2 yr old is free), the other 2 were Yak and Rainforest where I managed a free dinner with our credit at Rainforest and Yak was only $25 for the 3 of us. Because we ate breakfast bars and such at the room or at bus stop, and packed sandwiches for lunch, we only additionally bought 2 QS meals that we split during that 10 day stay.

We have gone much cheaper by splitting only about 1 kids meal QS/day between the 2 adults for a week by packing a ton of heavy snacks such as snack sticks, jerky, etc. We typically split kids meals and order free cups of water. I'd say $200/adult is much more than what we normally spend. But again, we don't exclusively buy food at the parks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

And I think it's disingenuous to start off saying that you're going to eat for 6 days on $200 but then buy fruit, yogurts and oatmeal to bring into the parks or eat in the room but not count that against your $200 budget.

I dunno I wouldn't considered it disingenuous nor cheating either. I do think a disclaimer, if one is making a video for the internet for tips and tricks, is advisable.

To me it's no different than people who go to eat a $75 buffet for breakfast or lunch and then skip lunch or dinner because they ate enough at the buffet. Or someone who had a larger meal and then gets a snack rather than a full meal later on. The actual costs may be less just due to eating habits.

We don't get breakfast at the parks, it's a waste of time for us. We eat at the hotel (which thus far has been at places where it's included) or in the case of 2017 with Irma we had already packed food like fruit cups, granola bars, etc (non-perishable) when we went down there. Earlier this month when we were down there for a quick pre-adventure to our larger trip that was international we were at a Hyatt with breakfast included, then we didn't eat lunch one day until about 2pm and then for dinner it was at Beak and Barrel, next day it was another later lunch with Sunshine Seasons meal and the rest of the day was food and wine offerings (only a few).

More or less there's the thought of 3 big enough meals per day when in reality at a theme park that doesn't necessarily fit in with one's plans and truly putting in kids meals is more erroneous IMO as if you have to order kids meals in order to be more budget friendly as in that's the only way.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Probably depends on the size/appetite of the person also. Could a teenage boy or grown man do it, probably not but probably a younger person or a woman with a smaller appetite.

My husband and I basically eat the same portions, heaven's to betsy if someone looked at me being a woman and assumed I had a smaller appetite

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Wow, $200 for 6 days? That’s crazy. Doable though I guess with no snacks, only kids meals and breakfasts in room. Some kids meals are good and most are decently sized. I can’t vacation like that though. We do in room breakfast, one quick service and one table service per day plus as many snacks as we want, usually 2-3 per day. We budget $100 per person per day.

 

[DCLMP]

Wow, $200 for 6 days? That’s crazy. Doable though I guess with no snacks, only kids meals and breakfasts in room. Some kids meals are good and most are decently sized. I can’t vacation like that though. We do in room breakfast, one quick service and one table service per day plus as many snacks as we want, usually 2-3 per day. We budget $100 per person per day.

I don't want to go on vacation and eat protein bars. I do that everyday at work. You also walk 10 plus miles a day at WDW in the heat. That tends to increase the appetite. It's sounds like torture.

 

[LoveDaisy]

This does not seem like a vacation to me. Can it be done? Sure, but if I’m spending the money to go Disney I’m enjoying myself. I’d rather eat in at home so I can splurge there.

 

[TikiRob]

I drink like $200 in Coke Zero in 6 days..

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

We did this in 2023. Spent $800 on food and souvenirs for 6 days for a family of 4, so $200 per person (some of those days were travel days and not necessarily a park day).

We don't do table service meals, we don't eat 3 times a day, we share QS meals, and we eat snacks as meals. We are so busy at Disney, that we don't really have time to eat or sometimes even an appetite. Plus, I'd rather be at Disney and not eat, than not be at Disney because our food costs are too high. I'm surprised how many people on a budget board are saying they've never done this!

 

[Willow Ufgood]

I'm surprised how many people on a budget board are saying they've never done this!

It doesn't surprise me. A lot of people on here prefer to make their vacations better than what they experience in their everyday lives. But there are also threads by people who want to stretch their dollars at Disney as well. I thought it might be helpful to them to show that it can be done without eating granola bars and instant oatmeal for breakfast every day, or packing sandwiches and fruit for lunch in the park.

My husband isn't all that fond of WDW but will go "for the kids". Even so, he wants one TS meal every night and he expects to have 3 meals a day. So I understand where a lot of posters are coming from. We don't have to survive on a severely limited budget when we're there but sometimes it pains me to pay Disney prices and only eat half of the meal because I'm not that hungry. Kids meals are enough for me.

 

[loves to dive]

I could do it no problem. Would I want to? Probably not just because I'm usually there during a festival at Epcot and I love to eat at booths and those things can cost a lot. I also enjoy a refreshing adult beverage every now and again. I will say if I eat a QS meal it's always a kids meal, the adult meals are just too much food for me. I don't snack between meals and sometimes what is considered a snack is actually a meal for me. I don't drink soft drinks, just water, coffee and refreshing adult drinks. I usually make my coffee in the room with the coffee that is provided so don't buy it in the parks. I carry a water bottle with me at all times. I have only had chicken fingers once at WDW and I've been going since 1983. I also have never had a QS hamburger, I have had TS hamburgers but even those I've had maybe 3 in all these years. So, yes, kids meals can be done and not be CS or hamburgers. But, I'm a small older woman and as you age you find (or I did) that you really can't, or want to, eat large meals. I will say, in my defense, I've always been a little bit that way. I've never eaten large meals or snacked between meals. That isn't because I'm watching my weight or saying money or even being healthy, I just don't need snacks.

 

[kylenne]

There’s a lot of things I’ll cut back on at WDW (merch primarily, I rarely if ever buy stuff anymore) but food isn’t one of them. I also don’t find Disney food prices all that outrageous compared to where I live though, and sometimes it’s outright cheaper to eat at Disney! (Specifically thinking of the Satu’li bowls vs what they want for similar quality but lesser portion bowl places around my job)

I do kids meals on occasion when I’m solo and not super hungry (mainly the cheeseburger pod at Satu’li) but there’s no way I’m doing that for an entire week as a grown 5’10” adult with my metabolism while averaging 25k steps a day. Also, tbqh, kids menus are still garbage 90% of the time. They might be better than they used to be but that’s still damning with faint praise—there’s a lot of bland, boring stuff on those menus when they’re not burgers and tendies, outside of a couple of outliers. When I’m with my partner we tend to just split a regular one if it’s too much.