Daily Budget for Meals Suggestions

[mqulemom]

We are planning a 7 night trip to Walt Disney World in September. We are staying at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge. We're hoping to economize and have breakfast in the room almost every day with one Character Breakfast during the trip. We are also planning at least one night out for Mom and Dad at California Grill. We are considering going with the silver plan upgrade for the Fairytale package. The upcharge is $1,000 and we'd be using the upgrade for meals only.

Is $100/day a reasonable budget for meals at the parks for a family of 3 (our daughter is 2)? ($20 breakfast, $30/lunch and $50/dinner). If this is realistic (not including the night out for California Grill) we may skip the silver plan upgrade, as that works out to be about $125/day.

Also, anyone out there aware of the going rate for in room babysitting services at the Wilderness Lodge?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I think it takes a lot of eating to get the value of your meal plans. With a 2 year old you don't even need to count her because at buffets at least she is free (even character meals - I believe - someone correct me if I'm wrong). My husband and I eat breakfast usually at the food court - under $10 at the All-stars - if you are eating in your villa though I doubt you even get close to $20 a day. We usually get children's meals for lunch or dinner - under $20....then have a sit down lunch or dinner. We rarely go over $50 for a nice meal (we don't have alcohol - and who has room for dessert most the time.....although we will splurge occasionally) My suggestion is skip the silver plan....I believe you will come out WAY AHEAD by doing so

 

[Pooh99]

I was going to post a similar question!

WDWorbust: So what DO you spend a day or meals for you and your DH?
Thanks

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by mqulemom
Is $100/day a reasonable budget for meals at the parks for a family of 3 (our daughter is 2)? ($20 breakfast, $30/lunch and $50/dinner). If this is realistic (not including the night out for California Grill) we may skip the silver plan upgrade, as that works out to be about $125/day.

$100/day is not reasonable at all in my opinion, especially if its really only for 2 people, since you say your daughter is only 2 years old. And you intend to have breakfast in the room which certainly won't cost anywhere near $20/day.

On our most recent trip in November 2002, we had breafast in the room everyday. Lunch and dinner were either in the parks or in offsite restaurants. It was myself, my wife and my 7-year-old daughter. For the week, we averaged $18/person/day or $54/day total. We did carry some snack food with us so we mostly avoided paying for snacks. If you want to see where we ate, I posted it after we got back: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=289581

Again, just my opinion, but I couldn't imagine spending anywhere near $100/day for food.

Steve

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by WDWorBUST
I think it takes a lot of eating to get the value of your meal plans. With a 2 year old you don't even need to count her because at buffets at least she is free (even character meals - I believe - someone correct me if I'm wrong). My husband and I eat breakfast usually at the food court - under $10 at the All-stars - if you are eating in your villa though I doubt you even get close to $20 a day. We usually get children's meals for lunch or dinner - under $20....then have a sit down lunch or dinner. We rarely go over $50 for a nice meal (we don't have alcohol - and who has room for dessert most the time.....although we will splurge occasionally) My suggestion is skip the silver plan....I believe you will come out WAY AHEAD by doing so

We are staying at the All Stars and I plan on getting kids meals for both my son (4) and I (hey I look like a kid LOL). The regular meals are usually a lot of food, so that can even be split between two people. The kids meals are less than 5.00.

I hope to keep our food budget low, but I also want to do a few character meals, but I'm thinking lunch for those as they are cheaper and just have a light dinner.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Pooh99 -
In all honesty I would say that hubby and I spend about $65-$75 on a day we have a sit down meal at a "nice" restaurant. Granted we don't go places like Victoria and Albert's or the California Grill....when I say nice I mean Crystal Palace, Sci-Fi Diner - the what many people would call lower end of the sit-down restaurants. And we don't do a sit-down every day....although the restaurants are so wonderful and themed and truly a part of Disney we aren't there to eat....we eat because we have to and we do have our favorites we enjoy doing- the Sci Fi Drive-In comes to mind here. I love this place and although I have read some bad reviews I have never gotten a bad cheeseburger there. If we don't have a sit-down meal we spend $40 ish? And we do get kids meals at the counter service restaurants quite a bit. And if we want a snack or drink we get it....we just usually share since I can't drink one before it gets hot anyway. And a lot of times we might buy a bottle of water and then just fill it up out of the water fountains the rest of the day. And I didn't mention - I would probably classify us both as pretty big eaters. Restaurant entrees are usually finished by us both - not me so much anymore - but before I was preggo it was not that unusual. I think part of that is the "we spent the money on this" mentality but never the less we did. We could get by on probably $35 a day if we were careful....and probably not even feel deprived

 

[jcemom]

Maybe it would help to check out the menus of places you're interested in.

http://wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[jilljill]

You have to remember the vouchers don't cover alcohol, so in case you do order a drink or 2 you will have to pay for those. We (me, DH & DD8) can get buy on under $35. a day, on average, for food without being left hungry. We will do a sit-down meal or 2 during the week but mostly it is the casual/walk-up or we just eat a late lunch and skip dinner. We usually eat breakfast in the room with items brought from home and then we only have to buy milk to drink. I do bring drinks, crackers, fruit snacks and other goodies to tide us over while in the parks. Usually it is to keep DD occupied while waiting in line.
We tend to eat less in the hotter times of the year. Something about having a big, hot meal when it is 90 degrees and 110% humidity that is unappetizing.
I recommend looking over the menus at wdwig.com to get a feel for a budget before you decide.

 

[kayeandjim00]

For DH and I, we budget $100.00 per day. Sometimes we spend a little more, sometimes a little less. I factor in snacks and drinks for this total as well. It basically comes out to $15 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, $50.00 for dinner and then $15 for snacks. We do have character breakfasts during our trips so those days our totals are more. Dining at WDW is one of our favorite parts of our WDW trips so I try to budget on the high end as opposed to the low end so I don't have to worry about it. Checking out the menus is also a good idea as it will give you an idea of what your meals will actually cost so you have a general idea and that will help in planning.

 

[mickeysaver]

We don't have any children and we don't drink. We rarely get appetizers or deserts. However, between fluids to maintain hydration, snacks, and a couple of meals a day we did spend close to $100 a day in September, 2002. We had some good budget days where we spent $40 for the day, but I prefer to over budget and whatever is left at the end of the week is used for some sort of bonus souvenier. Mickey

 

[Sue & Co.]

Last time we went I had budgeted $100 a day for five of us 2 adults and three children and we didn't spend it all. We had a mix of eating in parks and offsite and the only thing I 'cooked' was toast a couple of mornings. Although I should mention we didn't drink any alcohol just soft drinks.