dining on a limited budget

[ehsween]

My husband and I are trying to afford a trip to WDW next January with our three children who will be 11, 9, and 7 and my parents and nephew. There will be eight of us all together. We mainly like regular american type food. We are looking to stay at one of the All Star hotels on Disney property. I am wondering how much we can expect to spend on three meals for each person. What could we do to save money? And I will tell you....we don't eat like birds, but we also aren't hogs either. What I mean is, probably splitting an entree won't be an option because when we're hungry, we want to fill our tummies without being left to feel hungry earlier than usual.

What have any of you learned to do to keep from spending too much a day? How much will we spend a day? Do the value resort food courts cost less for a meal than the food in the parks? I have already thought of packing water and snacks in a backpack, so when we're needing a little pick-me-up, we don't feel like we need to buy something every time.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[tjmouse]

I can't help you right now with how much you will spend per day, there is an average out there somewhere, but I am too tired to find it! I think it's about $40 a day.

A couple of tips:
Do buffets - more choices and it's a set price, so you know what to expect going in
Do a big lunch instead of dinner - sit downs are cheaper at lunch
Snack for breakfast - Try to stay away from breakfast buffets unless you go late and make it a brunch. Do bagels for breakfast to save money.
Bring snacks - you know that one already
Water - you could bring those little things of Crystal Light or tea mix or even kool aid mix in a little container to turn regular *free* cups of water into a better tasting drink.
Buy a kids meal as a decent sized snack - The kids meal at Pinnochio Village for example has a turkey wrap cut up, grapes, jello and a drink. That is one filling snack and a great light meal for about $4.00

Hope that helps!

 

[thelionqueen]

Need to know about your budget. I know you're trying to figure that out, but a ball park would help.
If you're good eaters, I would suggest the dining plan. There is a ton of food and it includes snacks and counter services as well as table service.

It may be out of your price range, but the value for the $$ cannot be beat!

 

[KJHawley]

Check out the menus- with prices- on allears.net. I think you'll find that once you're on Disney property, equal items cost pretty much the same everywhere, so you're probably not saving any money eating at the POP food court instead of in the parks.

DW and I were trying to figure out our budget for food, and looking at the Dining Plan. Although Disney charges a lot, their portions tend to be really big- depending on the places you normally eat, it might be more food than you're used to. I remember easily splitting a plate of spaghetti at Tony's. You really might be able to split entrees at some places.

As for snacks- technically, Disney does not allow you to bring food into the park, but many people have done so. Some people even pack a bag full of snacks and some ice packs, and chuck the bag in a locker at the parks. Others give each child their own "fanny pack" full of snacks. You can also bring water bottles, and refill them at drinking fountains instead of always buying drinks.

Breakfast can be just as expensive as your other meals. Consider renting a fridge - I think it's about $10 or $15 per day (or bring a cooler, if you're driving). You can keep snacks and breakfast stuff in there instead of buying them.

You might also consider renting a Villa at one of the Vacation Club resorts, so you can fix some meals in the kitchen. If you rent points from a DVC member, you can get a studio room at Old Key West during January for only $80 per night or so (Sunday through Thursday), which is probably about the same (or cheaper) than a value resort.

Although I'd always recommend staying on site, I've heard of many families lately finding good deals at the new Nickelodeon Suites hotel (www.nickhotel.com). Many of their rooms also have kitchens. The prices seem pretty high (close to $300 per night for the big suites), but many people on this board have been finding great deals there lately (like $99 per night- I haven't found that, but you can get a two bedroom suite there for $185 per night on Travelocity).

 

[Maggi May]

Check out this thread: A family really can eat for $75 a day

 

[Tazicket]

DH and I got breakfast from Publix and kept it in our frisge in the room. That way, we got up early and ate breakfast in the room then went to the park. DH is a fairly light eater and I am also not light eater or a hog, but we split a lot of meals ok. One thing that helped us a lot was getting a double hamburger and an extra bun, then we both had our own burger for cheaper. I think the day we did MK, we spent less than $15 or $20 for food all day. We also didn't do many TS meals (just one at the Biergarten in Germany in Epcot).

 

[bicker]

That's a great thread, Maggi. The key is to keep the TS meals to a bare minimum -- I believe there were just two in that whole week -- and those were both among the more modestly-priced TS restaurants.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

We haven't used the dining plan yet, (our trip is in 93 days!) but I would really advise you to compare the prices on the menus at allearsnet.com with the cost of the plan for your family. My family of four is getting a week's worth of dining for 587.76 on the plan. And we can eat table service every night, counter service every lunch, snack every day... and best of all (coming from someone who also has to really work to afford vacation) we don't have to worry about how much any food costs all week long. If we want appetizers, desserts, we can just get them.

We'll be saving CONSIDERABLY - the price of the table services we have planned pay for the plan. So lunch and snacks are basically on Disney. But the peace of mind knowing it's all paid for in advance is even more important to us.

Good luck with your budget!!

 

[lillygator]

I would suggest having breakfast items in your room as well as snack items too...chips/dip, cheese/crackers, bagels, or whatever you like. I would definitely recommend all counter service if you are trying to save money.

 

[agnes!]

What no one has mentioned yet is the *time* savings you will get by having some items in your room, like easy breakfast stuff & snacks. If you have a large group travelling together, getting everybody going in the morning can be a *REALLY* frustrating chore. Save time, *not* eating breakfast at your resort's food court or in a restaurant but instead having: bagels with cream cheese, apples or bananas with a dollop of peanut butter...you get the idea.
If you get one of the new All-Stars family suites, you'll have(I think) a mini-kitchen in the two-bedroom suite. Otherwise, if you stay at any of the value resorts you'll have to pay extra for a refrigerator in your room. (If you stay at a moderate or deluxe, the fridges are complimentary.)

In addition to researching the AllEarsNet menus, also take a look at MouseSavers.Com. Mary Waring has some good hints about saving money on food at WDW (can't quite remember which section it's in, but I know the info is there).

agnes!

 

[hookedup]

There are some really good suggestions above. It is so easy to have the "little things" add up during a stay at WDW. Here are some of the tips I have seen over the past few years:
Have breakfast in your room and keep it light - cereal, yogurt, snack bars, juice, fruit.
Take snacks and water with you into the park
Keep snacks in room too - soda, fruit, water, cheese, crackers.
Make sandwiches to take with you too and avoid CS park food more than once a day if possible
If you want to do TS meals eat a late lunch (book an ADR at the latest possible time for lunch) and have a big meal then. Lunch is usually cheaper than dinner at the TS restaurants
Don't buy stuff at the parks (film, sunscreen) even souveniers really add up - if you can buy your kids some surprise treats ahead of time and bring them or visit the Disney Character Warehouse outlet store during your trip and let them pick out stuff there.
Good luck & Have Fun!

 

[POB14]

We ate mostly offsite. (Except for Cindy's Breakfast; had to do that one for the little princesses ) There are freebie magazines everywhere with tons of coupons for restaurants like Perkins, Ponderosa, and Golden Corral.

We did fruit and bagels in the room for breakfast. As agnes! pointed out, this saves time as well as money.

Excellent tip also from those who said to have your big meal at lunch.

A typical day for the four of us:

Breakfast in room: a couple of apples, some bagels and cream cheese, maybe a coffee from downstairs for my wife. Say about $15 total, if we get a croissant too.

Lunch someplace like Ponderosa: let's call it $25.

Wendy's burgers for dinner; we'll go with $20.

That runs to $50 for the day. That's about what we budget, adding in any special character meals or whatever.

MouseEarsJenny, that dining plan runs you almost $90 a day. I guess that could save money if you were going to eat all your meals in the parks anyway, but that's not something we would do.

 

[dsnymomof4]

Definitely do the breakfast/snacks in room. Eat before you venture out in the morning. When we went last July we had very little spending money, so did mostly counter service meals and one character breakfast. The kids shared whenever possible. We did do the double cheeseburger with the extra bun - worked fine. Since I don't have a large appetitie, I would often order a kids meal for myself - perfect size for me! On another trip we did the late seating breakfast and that filled us up for the afternoon, so didn't spend money on a lunch that day. So, basically, by either eating breakfast in room or having late breakfast, we spend money on only 2 meals a day.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

MouseEarsJenny, that dining plan runs you almost $90 a day. I guess that could save money if you were going to eat all your meals in the parks anyway, but that's not something we would do.

Likewise, leaving Disney to eat during our vacation isn't something we'd do. To each their own. We love the character dinners and restaurant theming that we can't find at home - if we wanted Wendy's, we wouldn't drive 1,000 miles! So if the original poster is interested in experiencing some of the Disney restaurants, I wanted to point out that the dining plan seems pretty fair.

 

[mickeymousemom]

Great thread! Also remember that many guests fly in and opt to NOT rent a car. So...making a budget for the cheapest meals in WDW is the only thing for them.

Also, even though you are getting a great deal with the dining plan, if you wouldn't normally eat at TS meals or you are able to spend less a day than the DP/day would cost then it's wasting money to use the dining plan. For example...last year the DP was FREE for us. We took great advantage of it, as we were able to eat TS meals we wouldn't normally be able to afford. Yes, we were spoiled by it last year. We want so much to be able to afford it, but it will cost us over $160/day for my family of five. Could I possibly make a budget where we could eat on our own for $100-$120/day?? I'm sure I could, and that extra $40-$65/day adds up over a week's time. BUT....is that amount we're saving worth putting back into the DP and enjoying more food than we can eat(and the snack credits are great for the F&W Fest.)??? It depends on the person, but we're thinking we're going to book a whole pkg WITH the DP and hope for discounts later in the summer to bring our costs down. Whatever it may be....the DP isn't for everyone.
If you do use the DP, take advantage of it to the fullest and use your TS credits for DINNER.
If you DO NOT use the DP, and want TS meals, make ressies for a late lunch.

I think it would be pretty easy to budget a fairly small amount to eat every day. Sharing is very possible with the amount of food you get(I love all the CS burgers and we've done the extra bun thing before...works great...I hope no flames here, but I actually used lettuce and tomato from the bar at Ray's to make a salad then topped it with the honey mustard sauce. I also had ordered my own meal.)

Anyway.... that $75/day thread is one of the best threads I've seen for budgeting meals at WDW!

 

[mom2isaac&ella]

We are staying off site for several reasons - to save money on food being one of them. We are staying at the Doubletree Suites in Downtown Disney. Using mousesavers.com we got the rate of $85/night & this includes breakfast & the rooms have a small dining table, fridge & microwave. We have a DS4 & a DD2, so we will have to take a break during the day most days (another reason we like DS - separate bedroom & living room) so we will eat lunch in our room during the break. This will allow us to have some nice TS meals. When you are on a budget you have to choose the things that are most important to you & decide what areas you are okay with scrimping on. Maybe one day I'll be able to stay at the Poly & eat anywhere I want - but not anytime soon. The forum on other orlando attractions has tons of info on staying off property. Do the research & see what fits your family & budget. I also recommend the book Unoffical Guide to Disney. It give info on each CS & TS restaurant with ratings & reviews. I've found it to be helpful. Have a great trip!

 

[ehsween]

I am definitely going to check out the dining plan. I really didn't even know it existed. I'll see if it fits into what we think we can afford. When we went to Disney 5 years ago, we stayed off property and ate some meals off property as well, but at that time, we drove all the way to Florida from Michigan so we had our car. This time, we're flying in and staying on property with the plan that we will not be renting a vehicle.

Furthermore, even if we did try renting a vehicle and eating off property to save money, we're not saving money because we'd be renting a vehicle. Not to mention the time factor....we will be coming in on a Thursday and leaving on a Monday, so we are looking at very little time to spend at the parks as it is. I don't want to waste time leaving the parks to eat. If we had more time, it might be worth considering.

At this point, I'm definitely thinking that we will all rise early in the morning and eat in our room. We will most likely need a refrigerator though.

Thanks for all of the responses. I greatly appreciate it. I used these discussion forums 5 years ago when we went to Disney and people were most helpful in helping us plan our trip. Once again, it's a highly useful tool in Disney trip planning. Thanks to all!!!

 

[ehsween]

One more thing people, where do I find info about this dining plan you speak of? Thanks!!

 

[Dodie]

One more thing people, where do I find info about this dining plan you speak of? Thanks!!

At the top of this board (Disney Restaurants), you'll find a link to an entire sub-board called "Disney Dining Plan" that discusses nothing but this topic!

I just wanted to add that most Disney meals are definitely large enough to split between two people. DH and I do that all of the time at CS and TS places. It's never been a problem.

 

[kcashner]

The dining plan is $38 for an adult, $11 for a child. The child price is an amazing bargain. I'd look at whether your party wants a sit down dinner each day--if yes, I'd do the plan in a heartbeat. If you are happy with pizza, counter service food, you can do better.

That said, we like the character dinners with kids...so I'm delighted that DVC can now do the dining plan.

Some thoughts--you have a large group. We bring snacks for the parks--rice krispie bars,Kudo bars, etc. and drink water. Any outlet that sells fountain drinks will give you a glass of ice. You then take it to a drinking fountain and fill it with water. For breakfasts, you can bring boxes of cereal with you and purchase milk by the quart or 1/2 gallon at your resort. You can also buy one cup cartons, but much cheaper by the 1/2 gallon if you will use that much. Instant oatmeal can be made with hot water ( water is available free at food court)

The last time I checked, a fridge at the All Star was $10 per day. Is it worth that? This is a mini fridge with no freezer ability. A group your size could use 1/2 gal of milk at breakfast and throw away any excess cheaper than keeping in the fridge. Ditto for apple/orange juice.

I was the queen of cheap eating at WDW...but will eat better and do the dining plan this time. I still tell kiddos to pick one or two cereals they want for the week, and use dining plan for lunch and dinner. If your kids like soda, either put a 12 pack of their favorite in your luggage or buy the mug plan your first day (depending on length of trip, amount of time at resort, etc.) That way, you have it in the room at night. Anything you bring from home will be MUCH cheaper than anything you buy at WDW, and you will have a better selection. Bringing just a couple of things can save big $. Another trick is to bring an empty plastic milk container and either crystal lite or kool aid. Just throw the container away when you leave. If you get the artificial sweetener stuff, it doesn't spoil. Instant coffee? (I'm not a coffee person, so can't speak to this....) Instant soup?

Really, with the dining plan, you need only breakfast and some "snacky" stuff for in the room at night.

If you are NOT doing the dining plan.....one entree at counter service can feed my teen and myself (get the "double burger"...I eat the second meat patty). I can also get in line and order an adult meal for kiddo and a child's meal for myself. I really don't eat much (tell that to my waistline), but teen does! An adult can't order a child's meal at a table service restaurant, but can at a counter service!