Dining

[luckycharms2010]

This will be our first time going since we were kids, we have three children 5,3,1 (will be almost two at visit). We have reserved a week at a non-Disney hotel. So this is my question... how much should we expect to spend on food? We'll have breakfast at the hotel, but lunch and dinner will be at the park. How do you plan dining/how much to spend for meals?

 

[Raindown]

This will be our first time going since we were kids, we have three children 5,3,1 (will be almost two at visit). We have reserved a week at a non-Disney hotel. So this is my question... how much should we expect to spend on food? We'll have breakfast at the hotel, but lunch and dinner will be at the park. How do you plan dining/how much to spend for meals?

I find it can really vary depending on where you eat. Sometimes I eat at some 'quick service' type places and it really isn't that much. Other times we'll eat at nicer places and then grab drinks over at Ariels and watch WoC. So it can either be like 40 bucks or over 100. It really just depends on what we feel like doing. I don't have kids so factor that into my advice. I also find I spend quite a bit on water.

 

[Ginger Renae]

I think the easiest way to estimate dining is to use the allears.net menu page and look at the prices there. It has all of the restaurants in DL, DCA, DTD, and all of the Disney hotels.

http://allears.net/dlr/din/dining.htm

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Here is a great link to the various restaurants with menus and prices:

http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm

There may be some differences, but this is kept reasonably up to date.

We don't like to spend a ton on food, so our family eats breakfast at the hotel by eating what the hotel provides or bringing our own. We also carry pack lots of snacks so the kids can munch throughout the day. Some of our favorites include apples, peanuts, cheesy cracker packs, granola bars, cereal bars, and water. You will have no problems carrying these things into the parks. If you are flying and can't pack all that stuff, you may want to consider a grocery store stop when you get there or grocery delivery.

Despite all the snacks, we do eat in the park too since that's part of the fun for us. Sometimes we'll eat two full meals but more often just one full meal, our own snacks, and some purchased snacks and treats. We also do a lot of sharing. When you're waiting in line to order food at counter service places, scope out the portion sizes. There are regular meals, kid size meals that include a drink, and toddler size meals. If you see what the portion sizes are, that will help you decide how much food to order. Your kids are young so will probably be satisfied by kid sized portions, but you know how much or how little they are likely to eat. You may be able to simply share your meals with them or have two of the kids share a kid meal or whatever works for you. Good places to share food include Pizza Port in Tomorrowland and Plaza Inn at the end of Main Street in Disneyland.

 

[princessnicchia]

If you share meals you can save a lot. My DH is not a sharer, so normally we get 3 meals for the 4 of us---1 for him, and 2 for me and our 2 girls to share. To some extent it's going to depend on both where you want to eat (high end, not high end?) and how big of eaters you are. For a family of 4, I usually budget $100 a day. That's for lunch and dinner (we eat breakfast in the room normally) and I usually pack SOME snacks. But that includes snack money because the fresh fruit at Disneyland is really good, and a late afternoon water/liquid break because even though we each have a bottle of water, I can only carry 4 bottles at a time, and we always run out by the end of the day. You can refill them in the fountains and save money if it's not too hot. And some days we end up less than that and that helps pay for the MORE expensive days---like if we do a character meal. There are some menus on a sticky on this board as well as on allears.net---I would check them out because you can get an idea of some of the prices as well as maybe where you would want to be eating, and if you are a super planner like me, you can just plan your time around where you will eat. They also do have toddler meals for those 3 and under---they are a little cheaper but pretty limited in terms of what you are getting. Hope that helps!

 

[DTDkettleCORNfan]

For a family of 4, I usually budget $100 a day. That's for lunch and dinner (we eat breakfast in the room normally) and I usually pack SOME snacks.

Exactly what I was going to post....

 

[rune_74]

We had a family of 5 with similar ages and spent roughly 75 to 100 a day and we splurged. One big meal a day(Mimi's cafe is excellant) and the rest was either a snack for breakfast and a sit down fast lunch.

 

[princessnicchia]

DTDKettlecornFan, I am so glad because I was just waiting for someone to say, "Are you CRAZY lady!" That's way too much to spend on food for 2 meals for 2 grownups and 2 crumbcatchers!

Which is what I would think if I had never been to Disneyland!

 

[luckycharms2010]

Thanks for the advice ladies. I also wanted to ask if they sell refillable drink cups at Disneyland. I tried to google it and found that Disney World has them but found nothing for DL. ??

 

[mjtjrhicks]

Last year when we went to DLR I told my husband that we needed to budget $100 a day for food and he told me I'd lost my mind and that that was WAY too much money for food. Well guess what? We ended up spending $741 on food for 5 days in the park plus 1 day driving home 6 hours (and that didn't include breakfast)! Yes, $100 a day is reasonable. The reason we ended up spending so much is we had 2 more expensive dinners - 1 at the Blue Bayou (which cost us - a family of 4 with a 13 yo and a 6yo - $160.00) and 1 at the ESPN Zone (which cost us $120 but I think there was probably some alcohol involved in that one). If we'd just stuck with quick service restaurants we would've stayed at around $100 a day for the 4 of us. We also do breakfasts in our room because none of my kids are big breakfast eaters and I hate wasting a ton of money on breakfasts in restaurants that barely get touched because the kids just want to hurry up and get to the rides.

 

[brookies_mommy]

This will be our first time going since we were kids, we have three children 5,3,1 (will be almost two at visit). We have reserved a week at a non-Disney hotel. So this is my question... how much should we expect to spend on food? We'll have breakfast at the hotel, but lunch and dinner will be at the park. How do you plan dining/how much to spend for meals?

Depends on what and where you eat. There is a menu site.... http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/dining/menus.cfm

It has most of the options with menu and prices.

 

[brookies_mommy]

Depends on what and where you eat. There is a menu site.... http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/dining/menus.cfm

It has most of the options with menu and prices.

oh.. and you can request fridge, and microwave. We knew we would be back at the hotel mid day for naps or early just because we were tired so we brought meals with us as well. hth