Crazy dining question!

[jenjenmouse]

Hi everyone,
I have always used the DP since the first year it came out. I loved to blindly order what ever was in the bounds of the plan and then see the what the bill would have been had we been paying oop. Well now I am trying to do a budget trip but it is coming out to be the most expensive trip we have ever taken. I am trying to salvage it ( at least in my mind) and started wondering if we could eat w/out the DP just as good but cheaper. I mean, I wonder if I could order just what I wanted ( not any extras like dessert) and not the most expensive thing on the menu simply because we can under the dining plan. SO....has anyone ever figured out how much it would cost to eat regularly, oop in WDW? I don't mean working hard to keep the cost down but just doing a cs and a ts a day and a snack ( that is usually not a big deal with us...we usually have our own snacks in our room and have even had to go use up the snack credits before midnight by buying lots of crispie treats to bring home for gifts for my dd friends....once we had 12 credits left over and bought some stuff for a stranger) Anyway....how much would it cost for like an 2 adults, 2 13 year old girls ( not big eaters) and one 5 year old boy ( also not a big eater) per day or even per meal and then I could do the math. I sort of asked this on the budget board but not so detailed....
Thanks in advance
Jen

 

[TinkerKell-ey]

Just go over to the menus on the dining section (over at wdwinfo.com) and add up what you think you would order...then compare. When I did it, the DP made sense for us---and I totally forgot to add in any drinks!! Bonus!

 

[jenjenmouse]

Thanks! That is good to know....the menu part and that is makes sense to someone else. I hope it does for us too because I really like not thinking all the time ( especially about money)
Jen

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

I would run the numbers based on the menus, but if you're planning to do one CS and one TS every day of your trip, you'd probably at least break even. I crunched the numbers for the counter service for our trip recently and an average CS meal (an entree/combo and a drink) was around $11. I haven't looked at TS.

 

[Hootch]

every trip using the same methodology as described above. I don't know exactly what people will eat but I have an idea enough to come up with an estimated expense. It really doesn't take me that long.