Dining Budget

[disney1990]

For counter service: I budget $15.00 per adult for lunch & $15.00 per adult for dinner. I budget $7.50 per child for lunch & $7.50 per child for dinner.

My husband and I usually share a large soda or he gets a soda and I get a cup of ice water (no cost).

Using this budget, there is always money left over for snacks or to go towards the occasional table service meal. Over the course of our week at Disney, we usually budget only 2 table service meals.

One more thing, we usually eat breakfast in our room -- cereal bars, fruit cups, etc.

 

[jjohnson]

For counter service: I budget $15.00 per adult for lunch & $15.00 per adult for dinner. I budget $7.50 per child for lunch & $7.50 per child for dinner.

My husband and I usually share a large soda or he gets a soda and I get a cup of ice water (no cost).

Using this budget, there is always money left over for snacks or to go towards the occasional table service meal. Over the course of our week at Disney, we usually budget only 2 table service meals.

One more thing, we usually eat breakfast in our room -- cereal bars, fruit cups, etc.

So the dining plan would actually cost you less than you budget now & you could have a table service everyday & wouldn't have to share sodas or drink ice water.

 

[jjohnson]

He saw the menus and said there was plenty of stuff under $7 at all the CS stations.

Plus I was told by AAA that I had to have the dining plan added about 2 weeks ago. I leave monday.

Right now I have:
MGM CS meals (2) - $40
Donald's Breakfast - $46 (including tax, tip)
CS dinner (AK or hotel) - $20
CS Meals at IoA - $40
Teppanyaki - $60 (2 entrees, including tax, tip)
Earl of Sandwich - $11 ($4.95 each sandwich plus tax)
Lunch at Water park - $20
Dinner CS (probably at hotel) - $20
CRT lunch (entrees about $13-$18) - $42 (including tax, tip)
MK dinner CS - $20
Lunch on depature day (CS) - $20
Brita Water Bottle - $8

The total is about $350 (not including the brita bottle)
The dining plan will be $100 more with the tax.

I don't know if I forgot to copy something down or not (I saved this in Excel)

IMHO...I've read many of your posts & you're making yourself crazy trying to save so little. If I remember right your going for 6 nights. The plan would be $420 total (there is no tax) I really think you should try & add it in & not have to worry about every penny your spending on vacation. It's only $70 more.

 

[Leota]

I have to agree - you'd be much better off with the MYW dining plan. $35 a day is nothing when it comes to dining in WDW. Your budget now doesn't allow for any room for error what so ever. It doesn't allow for drinks other than tap water, nor snacks, dessert, appetizers......very spartan. We could not vacation this way. I would worry that only planning $350 for food for your trip, you are going to run out of money. With the dining plan, you would not have to worry about running out of food money. If we weren't AP holders, I would get us the MYW plan.

DS (16) & I are doing a budget trip to WDW in Aug. Originally, we had planned on eating only CS & that would have cost us at least $70 per day. Realizing that we aren't really happy with all CS, even in the heat of summer, I bumped up my budget to $100 per day, allowing us to have a modest TS meal each day if we choose to, or a splurge TS every other day. I know WDW & how expensive eating there is. I also know that we are going to NEED beverages. Even tho I stop & buy a case of water & a case of coke for my DS, we still supplement this with beverages in the Parks when the one we carried in runs out. I would not recommend drinking FL water to my worst enemy.

 

[Merriwind]

IMHO...I've read many of your posts & you're making yourself crazy trying to save so little. If I remember right your going for 6 nights. The plan would be $420 total (there is no tax) I really think you should try & add it in & not have to worry about every penny your spending on vacation. It's only $70 more.

I've got to agree too. You're on vacation, are you and your husband really going to want to eat nothing but the cheapest CS options for 6 straight days?! My stomach hurts just thinking about it!

What is someone gets hungry between lunch and dinner? What if the sulfur-chlorine smell of Central FL tap water makes it completely unpotable to you (or DH)? What if you just want to get off of your feet and have your meal served to you for once? This is a vacation after all.

Spending the extra $70 will get you 6 sit-down restaurant meals, that's real value! You would be unlikely to add one sit down meal for that same $70. I've heard that you can add the meal plan 3 days out. Plus, WDW doesn't like to turn away anyone's money. If you want the plan, they'll find a way to add it.

 

[marriedmarylander]

The one problem though is one day we'll be at Islands of Adventure. What would we do? Eat one CS meal in the morning for breakfast then when we get back eat a sit down meal somewhere? It's hard to judge how long we'll be at IoA... if we're there from 9-5 that's 8 hours without eating at the park or we'd just spend money on lunch there anyhow.

Plus I did look at the menus. Most CS stuff averaged around $7-$9 for an entree. So even including a $2 soda that's $9-$11. Who budgetted $15? Maybe if you got the most expensive CS like a big barbeque rib or something.

Plus what if I added the dining plan now and scrambled to make more PS's only to find places were booked?

The other thing about my budget is at Teppanyaki we may not eat there. DH chose to eat at the little sushi/tempura place - forgot the name at this moment but they don't do PS's so I made one for Teppanyaki as a backup.

 

[jjohnson]

Well...it was just a suggestion. I'm feeling kinda bad for you after reading all your posts about your DH, costs, sharing meals, etc. It's your vacation too!

I hope your budget works out & you have a great time. Let us know how it went when you get back.