Disney Dining Cost

[disneypolybride2008]

Hi, just wondering how it is for the rest of you... here is how it is for us. When it was DH and I before the kids we loved eating TS. We would get the dining plan, sometimes deluxe even. Now that we have kids, QS has been an easier option so we are not having to be somewhere at a specific time. However, the prices of TS and character meals it making me choose to avoid it all together. I leave feeling ripped of at $100 with tip for a character breakfast for 2 adults and DD3 who eats $2 worth. We even did a QS plan for DD's first trip a few years ago.. and i used to think who would even get the QS plan with all the great TS places! We did a couple character meals. Last trip we did OOP to save money and brought our own water/juice/pbj/snacks. This trip i had started with TS adrs, almost one a day.. and now that we are getting close to our trip, i see us choosing on one.. a Liberty Tree lunch. I wanted to do our Ohana, but not for $120 with tip, Ohana breakfast, but not for $100 with tip, and Diamond Horseshoe looks good but again not for $100. I think having to pay for DD5 to eat, and then next year our other daughter will be charged. Forget it. It's just taking the magic of disney experiences from us, which we used to enjoy. My mom used to say why are you going to disney again... and it was for rides/characters/and the FOOD! I think Disney should let the kids eat free or cheaper, yes some kids eat a ton, but i bet most don't. Even at $33 for dinner for adults, or $43.. the kids should eat free! That would make me happy and i would keep my adrs, and enjoy myself. -doubt will ever happen

 

[Pumbaa_]

At $43 you would still be spending $100

Food got expensive for often Mediocre food. Or really really pricey for signature

It's not easy

 

[loves to dive]

I think the food at Disney is pretty much the same price as you are going to pay for food at any other theme park or vacation resort. My honey and I went to a local Red Lobster and paid over $100 for the meal. We are talking Red Lobster here, I'm not talking steak we didn't even get lobster. We both had an entre, an alcoholic drink and I had a dessert.

 

[sharonabe]

Our boys have never been into characters, so we've never been tempted to do character meals. By the way, that is what you're paying for at those $43 buffets. It's not the food, it's the opportunity to visit with the characters.

We choose the TS we want to do and don't worry about it. Most of them are the cheaper ones, so we're not paying much more than we would at QS. Ohana is DH's favorite, so he has no problem spending the money for that one. No, we don't eat $43 worth of food, but we do enjoy it. We have a local Brazilian steakhouse that's like Ohana. We've done the Sunday brunch there for special occasions, and that is $24/pp. Their dinner is $32. It does not include dessert or entertainment. Vacation is like a special occasion to us.

Prices have gone up a lot since we first started going to Disneyworld, but in all fairness, so has our income. We budget for what we want to do, and enjoy.

Oh, and we're also water drinkers. That alone saves us $10-15 per meal.

 

[Nancyg56]

Dining anywhere is expensive. I plan what we need and save for it, I do not cook, pack lunch or do laundry on vacation.

I think that it is possible to maintain a budget at Disney if you do not feel the need to go to all signature restaurants and do not go to the buffets. I do the math, and if we are planning a lot of character dining and AYCTE meals, such as 'Ohana, I purchase the DDP. Many of the TS meals are fairly reasonable, but you have to look outside the most popular.

 

[smallworldnh]

I have not yet paid for the dining plan as I usually go when they offer the free dining, but I don't think I would do it if I had to pay for it. It is very expensive.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We don't eat out at home very often, we have a large family with teenagers, so eating out isn't part of our regular schedule. When I budget our Disney trips and other vacations, part of the budget is food. I'm not really one to complain about the cost of food at Disney because it's really not much different from any place else I go. Heck, the food at Disney is cheaper than the food at the soccer matches we go to or the prices at another theme part here that we frequent. Food is just expensive.

When we go to Disney I plan out the restaurants we will most likely eat at. We eat breakfast in our RV and budget for the other meals. We plan 2-3 table service meals per trip and the rest is quick service. I won't skimp on food though. Eating out is part of the vacation, I love not cooking for one week out of the year. So if I can't afford to eat out on a vacation, then honestly, I can't afford the vacation.

 

[Nancyg56]

[QUOTE="5kidsmommy, post: 56436458, member: 485682"

When we go to Disney I plan out the restaurants we will most likely eat at. We eat breakfast in our RV and budget for the other meals. We plan 2-3 table service meals per trip and the rest is quick service. I won't skimp on food though. Eating out is part of the vacation, I love not cooking for one week out of the year. So if I can't afford to eat out on a vacation, then honestly, I can't afford the vacation.[/QUOTE]


I feel the same way. When my kids were at home I planned what we could afford, but that still allowed me to have a vacation too. They are all married now so out of the house. I still plan vacations that include no cooking and enough of a food allowance so we have a nice variety. If I cannot justify the amount we stay home and plan a vacation another time.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I feel the same way. When my kids were at home I planned what we could afford, but that still allowed me to have a vacation too. They are all married now so out of the house. I still plan vacations that include no cooking and enough of a food allowance so we have a nice variety. If I cannot justify the amount we stay home and plan a vacation another time.

We've tried packing lunches and stuff on vacations but it's a lot of work. And honestly on some trips we still do. When we go camping, which is what we do a lot, my husband does most of the cooking. It's just after 20 years of being a mom I am tired of cooking all day everyday. Disney for me is about the whole experience. I don't need character meals but I want to experience the food. I want to stroll through the World Showcase and sample tasty treats. I don't want to worry about the cost of an adult beverage. And this is why we only go to Disney once every 3 years or so.

My daughter and I did a mom/daughter trip last November. We did free dining and booked a weeks worth of TS meals. Without her brothers around we took the opportunity to do character meals. It was so much food, we felt like we were always eating. Never again!! Honestly it felt wasteful. I like paying out of pocket, I like deciding which meals to eat. I like the freedom of not scheduling too many table service meals. But that's just me.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I am planning our first trip to WDW for this Dec, and know we can stay onsite only because of Free Dining. Eating offsite does not seem feasible at WDW compared to DLR, where we ate most of our meals outside the parks because we can walk to other options. I suspect this will be our only WDW trip because of costs in general, but especially the food.
It's hard seeing a menu for last year's Holiday Brunch at 1900 Park Fare that includes 2015 prices and realizing that the 2016 prices are almost 60% higher ($14 more) for adults and more than 70% higher ($13) for kids, to give one example.
This year is only possible because our four kids are in an age sweet spot, where we only have one Disney adult, who happens to be the kid who will eat adult portions. Next year, the toddler won't be free and DS2 will become an "adult" who eats only half his kiddie meals.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am planning our first trip to WDW for this Dec, and know we can stay onsite only because of Free Dining. Eating offsite does not seem feasible at WDW compared to DLR, where we ate most of our meals outside the parks because we can walk to other options. I suspect this will be our only WDW trip because of costs in general, but especially the food.
It's hard seeing a menu for last year's Holiday Brunch at 1900 Park Fare that includes 2015 prices and realizing that the 2016 prices are almost 60% higher ($14 more) for adults and more than 70% higher ($13) for kids, to give one example.
This year is only possible because our four kids are in an age sweet spot, where we only have one Disney adult, who happens to be the kid who will eat adult portions. Next year, the toddler won't be free and DS2 will become an "adult" who eats only half his kiddie meals.

At that point buffet and character meals are a huge decision. We still booked the ddp because we had some we wanted so it was cost effective for us, but if she did not want those meals and did not enjoy food from the adult menu, we would have chosen s different avenue. FD usually is a good discount for my family, but not always. Thank goodness that excel adds better than I can!

 

[DrunkJam]

We got the DDP free on our first trip to WDW in 2010. It really worked for us. We eat the way it works, and we like to do buffets and character meals (and we can do a couple signatures, cos, it is a lot of food, and have a couple days with just QS)
Our next trip we paid for the DDP because, it IS a saving for us (we crunched the numbers, how much would it cost us to do the meals we planned, with and without the plan.
This trip we are THINKING about doing the DXDP, because we want to try more signature things.
But, this means that we think about the cost of dining BEFORE we go. When we are there, the plan means we don't think about it at all, which is very relaxing. And means that, especially my husband, who WOULD choose the cheapest thing and restrict TS experiences without the DDP is ALSO happy to just choose what he actually wants.

 

[Nancyg56]

We got the DDP free on our first trip to WDW in 2010. It really worked for us. We eat the way it works, and we like to do buffets and character meals (and we can do a couple signatures, cos, it is a lot of food, and have a couple days with just QS)
Our next trip we paid for the DDP because, it IS a saving for us (we crunched the numbers, how much would it cost us to do the meals we planned, with and without the plan.
This trip we are THINKING about doing the DXDP, because we want to try more signature things.
But, this means that we think about the cost of dining BEFORE we go. When we are there, the plan means we don't think about it at all, which is very relaxing. And means that, especially my husband, who WOULD choose the cheapest thing and restrict TS experiences without the DDP is ALSO happy to just choose what he actually wants.

In my family I'm the one who cringes at the prices so the ddp is a good way for me to go. The last time DH was with us I did not order the dxddp and was sorry. Before we left dd and I did all the dining planning, and like you, we are done thinking about it when we are there. We did not account for the meals we added, or the appetizers we ordered. Next time I book dxddp if DH is along. We like signatures and we like appetizers. He likes breakfast.

 

[jsrj21]

My family and [after the course of several trips] realized that we're more QS people sprinkled with some TS meals. So what I do is purchase the QSDP and use reward points from my Disney Visa for our TS dinners. We never do TS breakfast or lunch and we always eat at a new TS restaurant every trip. We've never gone hungry or run out of credits [snack or meal]. Now, my family is only 3 people which is not as expensive. We traveled to WDW this year with another party of 5 [Mom/Dad/triplets] and they wanted to eat at a TS restaurant and I ended up selling them on Trail's End....and we thought it was really good [and inexpensive]. So it takes planning, picking/choosing, and sometimes creativity.

I feel that my family makes out well with the QSDP and my use of Disney rewards. As other posters have mentioned, Disney food is expensive but I go around the corner from my house and spend as much for a meal for 3 as I do at Disney. I've always told my wife that when I have a place close to Disney, we can go out for dinner at a park just as we would any other off-site restaurant. Man I can't wait for the day.....

 

[kiford]

We're just about to head out to our usual Saturday morning restaurant for brunch. It typically costs about $50 plus tip for the two of us. That's for a single dish like eggs benedict or an omelette and coffee. Disney's prices are a little higher than what we pay for a restaurant around here and I expect to pay more in a captive environment or resort. Heck, last year we paid about $90/person for a breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant in London. We don't do character meals or QS, only TS at a selected group of restaurants and it's just part of the vacation cost. We don't budget in the sense that we limit what we intend to spend for meals - we eat whatever we want and don't worry about the cost and we simply incorporate that expected cost into what our vacation cost will be. I typically know where we are going to eat, how and what we eat so when I put a preliminary spreadsheet together, I simply insert those numbers and we decide if we're willing to spend what the entire vacation will cost from insurance to airport transportation to pet kennelling to food, hotel, special events, etc. If we had to limit our food choices it wouldn't be a vacation to us.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think Disney should let the kids eat free or cheaper, yes some kids eat a ton, but i bet most don't.

I don't agree. If they let kids eat free they'd just jack up the prices so ALL adults paid for those kids. It would benefit you...for awhile...until your kids are Disney adults and you realize that your meals are higher so that other people can have the illusion that their kids are free.

I know a bunch of kids who eat a ton. They are highly active kids and if they aren't moving they are eating. Even when they were little they were like that. I was a "good eater" as a kid, too. The idea that some kids barely eat is a mystery to me!

 

[mrzrich]

I don't agree. If they let kids eat free they'd just jack up the prices so ALL adults paid for those kids. It would benefit you...for awhile...until your kids are Disney adults and you realize that your meals are higher so that other people can have the illusion that their kids are free.

I know a bunch of kids who eat a ton. They are highly active kids and if they aren't moving they are eating. Even when they were little they were like that. I was a "good eater" as a kid, too. The idea that some kids barely eat is a mystery to me!

I agree with you except for meals and events where alcohol are offered. Hoop Dee Doo includes Beer , Wine and Sangria. Club Villiam and some of the Dessert Parties serve alcohol.

I do think there should be a "Junior" price for those events.

 

[Hikergirl]

We don't really have a budget for food, we know going in that is a big expense when a family of 5 is on vacation. I do like to spend as little as I can, but not at the expense of our enjoyment. I wouldn't enjoy eating only CS, or cooking on vacation, or packing our own foods for the parks.

 

[powellrj]

We go often and I have noticed a big jump in food prices along with the quality of the food. We use to get the dining plan when it was first offered and included the tip and appetizers. It was a great bargain then, now not so much. When I first planned this trip, we had free dining, but after I found a room discount, free dining was more expensive and I went with the discount.

When it first came time to book our ADRs, I had one booked everyday. Now I am down to 4 and that may go down to 2 before the weekend is over. We will be there during food and wine and its also Orlando magical dining month and since we are renting a car, I think we will be eating at these places this trip.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I don't agree. If they let kids eat free they'd just jack up the prices so ALL adults paid for those kids. It would benefit you...for awhile...until your kids are Disney adults and you realize that your meals are higher so that other people can have the illusion that their kids are free.

I know a bunch of kids who eat a ton. They are highly active kids and if they aren't moving they are eating. Even when they were little they were like that. I was a "good eater" as a kid, too. The idea that some kids barely eat is a mystery to me!

I agree. My kids barely eat even though they're super active. But I have friends whose kids eat more than a lot of adults. My best friend and her husband go out for Asian food with their 2 daughters (8 and 10) and get 5 or 6 entrees to share family style, a couple apps, and dessert, and nothing is leftover (you'd never know they eat that much just by looking at them).