DLR food on a budget?

[alicia1506]

hey all,
so i'm an obsessive planner and all of our accomodation/tickets/tours/transport/flights/insurance etc have all been prepaid and organised.

in our original budgeting i had thought that we would budget $50.00 per person per day for food purposes, and my SO, DSis and I are taking approx $100.00 shopping/souvenir money per person, per day also...

as this will be our first trip to the US, we were planning on mostly dining in quick service locations/counter service cafes etc rather than sit down meals, but we have heard varying reports of food prices etc...

what do you think? $50.00 per person per day? too much, too little or just right?
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[skiingfast]

Unless big eaters $50 should work.

Check the menu prices in the link below.
http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm

 

[rentayenta]

$50 a day pp should be plenty.

 

[alicia1506]

yeah, we're not huge eaters... soup/salad for lunch, maybe a burger or some kind of main meal for dinner, with maybe a snack mid afternoon if we're feeling a little comatose

plus, our hotel is throwing in free breakfast, so i assume that will save us money.. .

as we're travelling to NY, WWOHP at universal and vegas afterwards, can anyone help on whether the $50.00/day budget would work there too??

 

[alicia1506]

Unless big eaters $50 should work.

Check the menu prices in the link below.
http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm

thanks... this is what i originally based my budget on...

just wasn't sure about portion sizes etc and the titles of dishes is confusing.
here is australia, we have entrees, mains and dessert only
i've noticed on USA menu listings entrees, appetisers, soup/salads, mains, desserts, savoury treats etc. obviously soup/salad is explanatory, as is mains, but what is the diff between entree/appetiser and can these be eaten as a single meal, or are they 'snack' sized?

 

[rentayenta]

yeah, we're not huge eaters... soup/salad for lunch, maybe a burger or some kind of main meal for dinner, with maybe a snack mid afternoon if we're feeling a little comatose

plus, our hotel is throwing in free breakfast, so i assume that will save us money.. .

as we're travelling to NY, WWOHP at universal and vegas afterwards, can anyone help on whether the $50.00/day budget would work there too??

NY varies from dirty water dogs and food carts to pizza slices and five star dining. $50 might be pushing it a little. I found I could eat $50 a meal in NY just by having it all delivered- it's pure heaven!

Vegas is similar but you could do McDonald's for breakfast fairly cheap, a light lunch, and then a nice pasta but with wine and a salad, you're $50 will easily get spent.

 

[Eeee-va]

what is the diff between entree/appetiser and can these be eaten as a single meal, or are they 'snack' sized?

I'm not sure I've ever actually ordered an appetizer at Disneyland. But in general, people might (or might not) order an appetizer before a meal--usually one or maybe two to share among the table. Not speaking for Disney but just in general--some appetizers in America can be tiny or even personal-sized (like a cup of soup) while others can be bigger than meals...in regular restaurants you can sometimes guess at the size by the price and quality. If the price is comparable to the price of an entree and it's not a very expensive food, it might be big enough for a meal. People do order appetizers for meals all the time; I've done it myself, but not at Disneyland. (A popular use of appetizers would be to order the pomme frites (garlic fries) and soup at the Cafe Orelans.)

Realistically, if you have a small to medium appetite, I don't think you will go hungry if you skip the appetizer at a sit-down meal at Disneyland if the meal has a sandwich/entree and a side (i.e. burger and fries; steak and vegetables; etc.). MOST meals come with your entree and a side, but a few are just the item (like the Monte Cristo at the Cafe Orleans; if you want fries you have to order them).

Though I have a sweet tooth so I would rather save room for dessert...and I generally don't have room for that either after eating a meal! You can make up for it in snacks once your food has settled.

If there are any particular appetizers that interest you, you can Google for pictures or ask the DISboards if they are big enough for a meal.

 

[skiingfast]

thanks... this is what i originally based my budget on...

just wasn't sure about portion sizes etc and the titles of dishes is confusing.
here is australia, we have entrees, mains and dessert only
i've noticed on USA menu listings entrees, appetisers, soup/salads, mains, desserts, savoury treats etc. obviously soup/salad is explanatory, as is mains, but what is the diff between entree/appetiser and can these be eaten as a single meal, or are they 'snack' sized?

entree= main course
Appetizer is a snack before the main course and vary in size. In DL they are too light to have as a meal, at some other places you can occasionally find an appetizer that is pretty big.

I agree with $50 for the other places. NY and LV can be cheap or really expensive depending on where you go. If you are going to try chain sit down places in NY you might be low. But in Vegas buffets can be 15-20 for breakfast and lunch then 25-35 for dinner so it should be ok.

 

[greenkai3000]

thanks... this is what i originally based my budget on...

just wasn't sure about portion sizes etc and the titles of dishes is confusing.
here is australia, we have entrees, mains and dessert only
i've noticed on USA menu listings entrees, appetisers, soup/salads, mains, desserts, savoury treats etc. obviously soup/salad is explanatory, as is mains, but what is the diff between entree/appetiser and can these be eaten as a single meal, or are they 'snack' sized?

An appetizer is something you order to snack on while you wait for the main course (entree). Here in the US, an appetizer can mean anything from chips and salsa, to a small portion of nachos, chicken wings, etc... but that's all they are... snack sized bites to eat. Not sure if y'all are big eaters or not, but you can always share a couple of appetizers and make it a meal without ordering an entree. IF you want to be sure you get enough food , while staying within your budget, I'd skip the appetizers and just order entrees.

 

[AnnieDroid]

I highly advise taking snacks with you into Disneyland in whatever bag you'll have with you. I always take some sort of fruit and nut snacks and/or cereal/protein bars so I'll have a quick cheap pick me up snack. Sometimes your troop will be hungry and the lines will be long and everyone will be cranky and won't want to wait. It's great to have something on hand for times like that. Also when you're in a long line and someone's very hungry it's great to just be able to grab something out of your bag. Also everyone should have a water bottle. These can be refilled various places throughout the park at water fountains. More savings!

Also, depending on crowds you might want to leave the park for lunch or dinner and head to downtown disney. I did this with my cousin once for lunch. It was super crowded so we took the monorail outside the park and got hot dogs. They were much cheaper than lunch in the park would have been. There are some nice restaurants for dinner in DD, as well.

Have a great holiday!

 

[alicia1506]

yeah, we aren't big eaters nor do we regularly eat dessert... for us that is a treat, so a soup/salad would be considered our main...

in NY we plan on eating chinese/thai/sandwiches and such but we plan on trying a hot dog at nathans, and pretzels from a vendor as part of our 'to do' list...

to be honest...we drink a lot (in terms of fluids, not alcohol consumption) so i figure we'll probably end up with refillable bottles of water & the refillable sipper cups in the park.. the idea of going outside the park for lunch/dinner sounds awesome...

we might have a blowout meal (lunch at celebration bbq in disney) or a buffet in vegas, but to be honest, we're usually coffee & toast/muffin breakfast, soup/salad lunch & sandwich/soup/pad thai/gumbo dinner eaters with maybe dessert once or twice...

the idea of takings snacks is a fabulous idea.. is there anywhere on south harbor blvd or in disney these can be purchased? we're getting off an international flight, so i'm thinking maybe something can be purchased at the airport also...

 

[AnnieDroid]

It's probably cheapest to buy snacks at a grocery store/market. Snacks should be available at the airport and in and outside of disneyland, but they will be more expensive. Perhaps more so at the airport. The airport is often very expensive.

Apparently Food4Less is the closest big market to the park, which is one of Southern California's chain grocery stores/markets. There's also a Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons nearby which are all leading chain grocery stores, as well. There's a Whole Foods which is a nice chain organic grocery store but it costs more money.

According to a quick internet search, this is the closest grocery store to the Disneyland resort:

Food4Less
1616 W Katella Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92802
(714) 539-7497
Located near Katella Avenue and Euclid Street
Store Hours Mon-Sun: 24 Hours

 

[Malcon10t]

There is a 7/11 convenience store at Katella and Harbor. What hotel are you staying at?

 

[ScooterL]

Speaking of appetizers...one of the very best ones, IMHO, is the Pommes Frites at Cafe Orleans - French fries with parmesan cheese, garlic, and parsley. It's a large order you can easily split among three people. Sharing those and then getting either the French onion soup or the House Salad is plenty of food for me - I don't need to buy a more expensive entree.

There's fruit carts in places all over Disneyland if you want to buy some fresh fruit - there's whole apples, oranges, or bananas for $1.79, or you can get packaged cut fruit (the mango is usually quite good), but it's more expensive.

 

[ducky_love]

WWOHP at Universal is priced about the same or a little lower than WDW. (Don't do their all inclusive meal plan. It only includes very basic food and you have to eat a ton to make it a bargain). The prices at their sit down restaurants are more reasonable. Three Broomsticks is more expensive but the portions are large enough to share.

DL has wonderful and plentiful fresh fruit. You don't see that at WDW. There is normally only one fruit cart per park and you have to hunt it. Once you get there it will have apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, and celery... and not much else.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

If you're not big eaters, sometimes you can split meals too. For example, the burgers are sometimes just HUGE. I can only make it through half. (Unfortunately, my husband likes a whole one )

I'd eat breakfast at your hotel, lunch and dinner at the park.. If you eat a light lunch and take snacks with you, you could get a NICE dinner

Never been to NY But I can tell you you'll do great in Las Vegas. We go there often. Where are you staying? If you want a CRAZY awesome and yummy deal that is signature for old Las vegas you can go to the Golden Gate on Fremont Street. They have an amazing shrimp cocktail for 1.99. Mmmmmmmmm. They're the hotel that introduced the shrimp cocktail to Las Vegas (In 1950's)

Anyway, they have regular restaurants. You don't have to eat in hotels (which does get pricey depending on where you eat..buffets are major money now but worth a trip if you're into it) You can get to almost any fast food joint in about 15 min in any direction

 

[BUDDHALUV]

50 dollars should be more than enough, unless you drink lots of pop/soda/coke or bottled water, those run almost 4.00. If you drink coffee, buy it at Market House on main street, keep the reciept and go back for free refills, some of the restaruants offer free refills, enough to keep you hydrated. We grab a muffin and coffee from blue ribbon, around 25 for the 3 (8.00 a person) and for lunch is usually late lunch around 10-15 a person, for dinner sometimes we just grab a sandwhich on the way back the hotel, and this gives us plenty of money for late afternoon snacks.

 

[mydisneymoney]

Some of the meals are pretty large and can be shared between two people especially if you want to leave room for some type of treat. If you want to buy a soda to share, order a large one and ask them to hold the ice. Then ask them to give you a couple of cups with just ice. You can pour the soda into the cups of ice and you get a lot more soda for the price. Also, many of the menus at the counter service come as a combo. You can always ask to just purchase the sandwich or whatever it is by its self and not as a combo and it will save you money.

Will they allow you to bring dry foods into the country on an international flight? If so, pack snack items in your suitcase and then you can use that during your visit. Then when you are ready to fly home, the snacks are gone and you will have room for your souveniers.

 

[Bashara]

Having just returned to Oz from our Disneyland trip, an entree here is an appetizer there. The US call the main course the entree. Sizing in all meals we had were larger then you'd expect here. Every sit down meal comes with free water without asking, and most venues give you free refills on soft drinks (soda in the US) it seemed, on both kid and adult sizes. Another good thing was if they brought out a drink and my kids didn't like it because it was different from what they were expecting, which happened alot, they always replaced it for free. Ask about lemonade before you order it because often its raspberry lemonade or something other then Sprite which is what you'd expect ordering a lemonade here. Minute maid lemonade is like old fashioned more lemony lemonade. Orange soft drink was surprisingly hard to come by at times and often they'd just add colour to plain soda. Iced tea was pretty much cold tea, unless a flavour was mentioned.

There are grocery stores that will deliver to hotels for free or very cheaply, and brochures were available at the guest services desk at our hotel. I'd say it would be similar at other hotels. You will be pleasantly surprised how cheap most things are food wise over there, but there seems to be sugar in alot of breads and cereals so finding healthy options for breakfast was hard at times. Bananas were 24 cents each and my kids gorged themselves

This was just our general findings over 2 weeks in California, only some of which was spent at Disneyland. YMMMV. Yell if you need anymore translations

 

[alicia1506]

Having just returned to Oz from our Disneyland trip, an entree here is an appetizer there. The US call the main course the entree. Sizing in all meals we had were larger then you'd expect here. Every sit down meal comes with free water without asking, and most venues give you free refills on soft drinks (soda in the US) it seemed, on both kid and adult sizes. Another good thing was if they brought out a drink and my kids didn't like it because it was different from what they were expecting, which happened alot, they always replaced it for free. Ask about lemonade before you order it because often its raspberry lemonade or something other then Sprite which is what you'd expect ordering a lemonade here. Minute maid lemonade is like old fashioned more lemony lemonade. Orange soft drink was surprisingly hard to come by at times and often they'd just add colour to plain soda. Iced tea was pretty much cold tea, unless a flavour was mentioned.

There are grocery stores that will deliver to hotels for free or very cheaply, and brochures were available at the guest services desk at our hotel. I'd say it would be similar at other hotels. You will be pleasantly surprised how cheap most things are food wise over there, but there seems to be sugar in alot of breads and cereals so finding healthy options for breakfast was hard at times. Bananas were 24 cents each and my kids gorged themselves

This was just our general findings over 2 weeks in California, only some of which was spent at Disneyland. YMMMV. Yell if you need anymore translations

thanks for this - i was wondering about the terminology... also, about the sugar content as we are more savoury food eaters and a lot of items seem to have huge sugar contents.

the info on the fruit stands mentioned earlier will be helpful, as there's nothing we like better than snacking on fresh fruit...

bananas at 0.24 each? omg! i think we'll gorge ourselves too it's been 10 months since i had a banana and they're still $12/kg here...

since we're getting free brekkie from our hotel (in DLR anyway) we might just stick with soup/salad/pomme frites for lunch and then have a nice sit down dinner or counter service if we are tired.

in NY, we're staying at the POD hotel on 51st st, at WWOHP we're staying onsite at royal pacific resort (plan on doing 3 broomsticks at least once for brunch and once for linner (what my SO calls lunch/dinner combined)) and in vegas we're staying at Tropicana. We've done some research and we're probably going to mostly have starbucks for b/fast, lunch from the NYNY and excalibur food courts or tropicana food court and then dinner out each night. we have reservations for dinner & a show (cirque du soleil at Treasure Island) at their upscale italian restaurant, but other than that, i think we'll probably play it by ear, and i'll report back when we return