Dining Budget for Big Family

[MomOf3LovesMickey]

I also meant to add that we are driving down so are able to pack food. I always freeze water bottles and bring juices, granola bars, cheese crackers, fruit cups, etc everywhere we go because my kiddos get hungry at the most inopportune times/places and they turn into monsters when they are hungry. So the only snacks we will buy are probably ice creams and at least one funnel cake.

 

[robinb]

Any suggestions on restaurants near Windsor Hills?

There are a ton of restaurants on 192 between World Drive and the Super Target. We ate at Giordano's (with a Restaurant.com coupon) and Sweet Tomatoes (with a "Club Veg" coupon) and Cici's Pizza (coupons are available, but their pizza is dirt cheap anyway).

Only you know how your boyfriend and the other kids would feel if you peeled off with your foodie DD and ate at the expensive signature restaurants and left the rest to fend for themselves. It seems like something that might not go over well in a blended family.

 

[MomOf3LovesMickey]

Only you know how your boyfriend and the other kids would feel if you peeled off with your foodie DD and ate at the expensive signature restaurants and left the rest to fend for themselves. It seems like something that might not go over well in a blended family.

I think that came out wrong lol. I was actually talking about leaving my boys at home (3 and 4 yrs old) and taking my daughter and step daughters...sort of like a girls night. Then he could take the boys to eat somewhere less expensive and more to their liking. They are all basic meat and rice kinds of guys. The DBF wouldn't enjoy signature food and the boys don't behave well enough for me to enjoy it lol.

Sorry for the confusion there!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Family of 6 here with a foodie DS16.

For sit downs I would aim for buffet just because you have so many people and so many palettes to please.

There are several places you can split meals. DS11 and DS12 (3 and 4 on trips 2-5) would split the 1/2 rotisserie chicken at cosmic Rays and they would split a med coke. We'd also get an extra bun for the double cheeseburgers. Some places give it for free, others charged like 79 cents. (disclaimer, we haven't done that in a while so I'm not 100% sure if they still offer that option)

The 2 breakfast meals we splurge for are Akershus and Crystal Palace. The rest of the time we eat in the room, muffins, fruit, oatmeal, bagels. Etc.

You could also carry uncrustables into the park if the little kids like those. I know mine love them and would rather have that at lunch instead of a burger. And while you could buy them at places in the park, it's cheaper to pack a lunch for them and get quick service meals for the others.

DS16's favorite table service is Boma. Not signature but a great meal with lots of things to try.

Have you looked into the dining plan? If you did it, you could use 2 table service credits to do Cinderella's and then eat out in town the one day you don't have a table service credit.

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

There are a ton of restaurants on 192 between World Drive and the Super Target. We ate at Giordano's (with a Restaurant.com coupon) and Sweet Tomatoes (with a "Club Veg" coupon) and Cici's Pizza (coupons are available, but their pizza is dirt cheap anyway).

That is really great advice.
Our last trip we ate all our breakfasts in our suite and packed a small cooler bag with water and lunch- sometimes a sandwich, sometimes nuts, fruit, cheese sticks, crackers, veggies and dip.
We found we preferred to eat a few large snacks throughout the day instead of one large lunch meal.

That allowed us to take advantage of early bird offers for dinner as we weren't still stuffed from lunch.

We ate out every night for dinner- Sweet Tomatoes one night (Can't beat Club Veg, all you can eat salad, soup, potato bar, bread desserts and best of all, all you can drink milk )
One night at Wolfgang Puck Express
One night at Boma (The most expensive meal of our trip)
One night at the Bonefish Grill (every bit as good as the Flying Fish on the Boardwalk at 1/3 the cost! )

And we signed up for the coupons from Texas De Brazil and had a buy one dinner the birthday boy eats free coupon.
(It's beneficial to travel near your birthday... )
It's $50 a person to eat there normally. (Those "birthday" cupcakes at WDW are nice but they never gave us a $50 dinner for free...)
We wanted to try it because we are foodies too...
We would never eat anywhere for $50 per person but with our coupon it was really only $25 though we tipped based on $100.

We're going back in May and doing the same thing,
only this trip we are skipping Boma (and all other over-priced Disney restaurants but we'll probably go back to WPE) and Texas de Brazil (once was fun but enough)
and sticking to Bonefish and Sweet Tomatoes and the rest of the really great but less expensive offerings on 192 and even up in Winter Garden.

My New Year's resolution is to not buy any lunches this year.
I pack my lunch every morning, and that will help save $ for us to enjoy our dinners out on vacation- guilt free.

You may want to do some research on TripAdvisor.com on the various restaurants in the Orlando area. There are tons.
You pay a huge premium to eat on site at WDW- and yes, it is an "experience" to eat at California Grill and Narcoosees, Flying Fish, Wolfgang Puck Dining Room, Jiko, Kona Cafe, etc...
But for 1/3 the value of that experience, I'd rather stay and eat offsite,
enjoy great food, and be able to afford to vacation there twice as often.

Also, here is a link to the Kids eat free Orlando site:
http://mykidseatfree.com/family_vacations/Orlando_Results.asp

I hope you have a wonderful visit!

 

[java]

Meat and rice?

My family really enjoyed
Pei Wei
http://www.peiwei.com/menu/menu.aspx

It's a chain but not one we have around here so it was a bit of a treat. We started with dumplings, a rice and 2 meals for our group then added if we were still hungry.

 

[MomOf3LovesMickey]

You could also carry uncrustables into the park if the little kids like those. I know mine love them and would rather have that at lunch instead of a burger. And while you could buy them at places in the park, it's cheaper to pack a lunch for them and get quick service meals for the others.

This is probably going to be the biggest money saver of the trip. All the kids LOVE "peanut butter" (what the boys call uncrustables lol). So I am thinking breakfast at home...mostly snacks during the day and then buffet dinners with a few nicer ones both on and offsite will probably get me the most bang for my buck.

Akershus breakfast is a must for my girls and I think maybe the Disney Jr breakfast for the boys one day. Then Boma definitely (DD and I LOVED Jiko). Any other buffet or family style that you guys could suggest that would have something for everyone?

You guys have been really awesome! Thanks again!

 

[swilshire]

Off-site, hit Sweet Tomatoes. Sign up for their club and they'll send you coupons fairly often. Also the Golden Corral on 535 is pretty decent. Might not impress the foodie of the group, but the boys at least would find plenty to eat there. And there is a Cracker Barrel on 192.

My SIL is a chef, so I know how hard it can be to keep the foodie happy. Unfortunately, he works so much that he never gets to travel with us.

Sheila

 

[Suz D]

When you figure your budget, keep in mind that 5 of you are "Disney Adults" meaning that you will have to pay adult prices at the character meals. That can run as much as $38.00 per adult at a place like Chef Mickey's before tax and tip. The Signature meals will cost significantly more than that.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Akershus breakfast is a must for my girls and I think maybe the Disney Jr breakfast for the boys one day. Then Boma definitely (DD and I LOVED Jiko). Any other buffet or family style that you guys could suggest that would have something for everyone?

You guys have been really awesome! Thanks again!

Liberty Tree Tavern is good, Chef Mickey's is ok. I'm not a huge fan of Ohana but everyone else seems to love it.
I like 50's Prime Time. The food is pretty good, the entertainment is fun if you get a good waiter.

 

[Southernmiss]

Op I know you don't want to cook on vacay, but one of the best things we did for our family of 6 on our last Disney vacation was to bring the crockpot and plan for some easy crock pot meals that we ate mid day.

Saved us a ton of money and we loved coming back to our cabin with a hot cooked meal mid day. I used the crockpot liners and cleanup was a cinch.

We rested and went back to the parks for the evening only needing a snack or quick counter service.

Just a thought to help you afford some nicer meals out, too.

 

[susanv]

If you are going to AK at all, Tuskerhouse has a very nice character breakfast buffet that is on the less expensive side. We hit that one every time we go. Even when we bring company everyone has been able to find something they enjoy eating.

 

[Suz D]

There are several places you can split meals. DS11 and DS12 (3 and 4 on trips 2-5) would split the 1/2 rotisserie chicken at cosmic Rays and they would split a med coke. We'd also get an extra bun for the double cheeseburgers. Some places give it for free, others charged like 79 cents. (disclaimer, we haven't done that in a while so I'm not 100% sure if they still offer that option)

I always felt a little strange asking for the extra bun. I'm not being critical or tyiing to start a debate, it's just something that I personally felt awkward doing. However, that doesn't change the fact that the double cheeseburger is a great thing to split. We just ordered one for the two of us (DH & me) and cut it in 1/2. We each end up with a whole burger patty and 1/2 a bun. At Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills they have the wonderful toppings bars and if you add lots of fun toppings to your 1/2 burger, split an order of fries and each have a drink, it's very filling.

As an aside, my dear parents, who have both passed away in the last few years, were the ones who treated us to Disney trips in the poverty stricken early years of our marriage and family. My mom would order something at Cosmic Rays and then my dad would take her plate and go to the toppings bar and make a "salad" for himself. I was mortified each time this would happen. If I could have them back for one more trip, I'd go make that salad FOR him. (not advocating that anyone does this, it's highly unethical, but just missing my parents sharing a Disney memory with all of you).

 

[mrsklamc]

I believe I recall reading that they have significantly raised the price of the 'extra bun,' so that it's not really a savings anymore.

 

[robinb]

Also the Golden Corral on 535 is pretty decent. Might not impress the foodie of the group, but the boys at least would find plenty to eat there.

I love Golden Corral, BUT not the ones near WDW. I am not a germophobe by any stretch of the imagination but I won't eat at any of the WDW locations because they are filthy. They are all woefully understaffed and cannot keep up with the crowds when it comes to cleaning and tidying the buffets. When I went the first time and it was dirty I just thought it was an anomaly. I thought that maybe they had a staffing issue that day and didn't have enough people to keep the place clean. But it happened the 2nd time I went to the 535 location and also at the one on 192. In addition, the lines are crazy long for the freshly made items like steak and shrimp. The only happy side effect to so many people in the restaurant is that the food was always fresh and hot.

FTR, I will happily go to any Golden Corral in Wisconsin. I wish we had one in Madison.

 

[robinb]

However, that doesn't change the fact that the double cheeseburger is a great thing to split. We just ordered one for the two of us (DH & me) and cut it in 1/2. We each end up with a whole burger patty and 1/2 a bun. At Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills they have the wonderful toppings bars and if you add lots of fun toppings to your 1/2 burger, split an order of fries and each have a drink, it's very filling.

I don't recall seeing double hamburgers there on our last trip. I just checked over on All Ears and the double hamburgers have now all been replaced with 1/3 lb Angus Burgers.

 

[KELLY]

I know ,ost C S places run our family of 4 just under 50.00.

 

[MomOf3LovesMickey]

Op I know you don't want to cook on vacay, but one of the best things we did for our family of 6 on our last Disney vacation was to bring the crockpot and plan for some easy crock pot meals that we ate mid day.

Saved us a ton of money and we loved coming back to our cabin with a hot cooked meal mid day. I used the crockpot liners and cleanup was a cinch.

Thanks for this suggestion! I hadn't even thought about my crock pot. I use it a lot at home and I think it will be great for those nights when we leave "the boys" at home.

 

[MomOf3LovesMickey]

I love Golden Corral, BUT not the ones near WDW. I am not a germophobe by any stretch of the imagination but I won't eat at any of the WDW locations because they are filthy. QUOTE]

Thanks so much for this piece of info! We love Golden Corral here but I am a stickler for clean places...that's why I don't usually do CiCi's Pizza. The ones around here are all gross. Any comments on the one near Windsor Hills?

 

[robinb]

Thanks so much for this piece of info! We love Golden Corral here but I am a stickler for clean places...that's why I don't usually do CiCi's Pizza. The ones around here are all gross. Any comments on the one near Windsor Hills?

The Cici's near Windsor Hills? It's OK. It seems like it was "fitted" into the space instead of the space being designed for the restaurant. I like the layout of the Cici's over near the Crossroads better. However, the staff was excellent at the 192 location. My DD wanted take-out pizza and pasta on Christmas Eve for lunch and the manager was fantastic helping her load up her take out container. They were also very responsive when requesting a special pizza be made. The place was clean, but not eat-off-the-floor spotless.