Do u spend less $'s on food since joining?

[perdidobay]

Things haven't changed much for DH and I since we bought DVC.
Our trips before DVC at WL and CBR and PO we packed snacks and drinks and breakfast items PLUS a small coffeepot and toaster So we ate bfast in our room and had lunch and dinner at the parks then had cokes and snacks in the evening at our room. This is pretty much what we do now, we don't eat out often at home ( only on Friday night, our "date" night) so eating out at WDW is part of the "vacation" experience for us. The only thing that's changed is I no longer have to pack a toaster or coffeepot

 

[rbuzzotta]

We usually stock up on breakfast items and snacks. OH! Especially bottled water!! We usually eat alot of dinners out, as I feel it is vacation and we always end up with leftovers (when not eating a buffets). The leftovers are usually heated up for lunch the next day.....

This coming trip I made PS for dinner every other night! When we don't have PS's we will just wing it........

In the long run we do save as we don't spend 50 Plus on breakfast for 5!!!

 

[chris1gill]

We spend SIGNIFICANTLY less. It is one of the savings from DVC for us... Over a 12 night stay, we spend between 250 & 350.00 on eating out... We eat all but one breakfast in, we eat all but one or two dinners in & we eat all lunches out. It's a combination of factors, we have eaten at most of the restaurants at one time or another, we also have 2 small children & eating out with them three times a day does NOT appeal to me at all & we have less stamina than we used to & we don't spend all day in the parks anymore...

 

[FrozenPiglet]

Spending so much less on food is one of the ways I talked my DH into DVC. When we went in March for a week (before being members) and had rented points to stay in a 1 bedroom at OKW my DH was really impressed with the kitchen. We ate all of our meals there except one (for DD and I) and saved a lot of money. Also we like eating on the private balcony overlooking the golf course without the crowded restaurants. Being able to lounge in your pj's and eat breakfast is also pretty nice! I don't know the dollar amount we save on food, but it has to be pretty substantial. Also, we eat much healthier this way!

 

[msdis]

We don't eat out at home either so we don't miss it either. And we too were eating a few very simple meals in our room prior to DVC. But just on counter service alone I figure we save 100-200 per trip for 2 adults because we are down to 1 meal out per day. We do like roaring forks real well though. I wish they would put something like that at BWV.

When I look at the overall "food" picture and how we conserve on this issue, I figure we pay for another trip each year in what we don't spend.

 

[DeeP]

I think the dining in your DVC resort vs eating meals at restaurants once again points out to us just how versatile our DVC is and how it accomendates all DVC families at each phase. I have owned DVC since my kids were mid to late teens to young adults and for us eating in the various restaurants at WDW and experiencing the atmospheres, dinner shows, etc., is definitely an important part of each trip. Until I read some of the posts here I had forgotten the times when my kids were young and eating out many meals a day, let alone a trip, was more of a hassle than it was worth, and we regularly stayed at the (then called trailers now called cabins) at FW because it was easier to feed the kids and relax after a long day with tired toddlers/young children; and this was pre DVC! It has been many years since we were at that stage and I had forgotten about it and the value this has for families that are in that stage. Viva DVC, they really do an excellent job of running a wonderful timeshare vacation program when you think about it. We all have our little/big grips but our membership does really give us access to various atmospheres, types of units, accomendations and amenities for a wide range of families/singles etc!!!!!

 

[VickiVM]

Thanks for all the great comments. I'm only renting points, but this is my "priority" forum (over the other DIS forums) because of all the useful info I get here. Who knows...I may be one of you all one day.

Anyway, I'm glad to read that others are able to keep their food budget under $300 for a week's stay because that's all I'm budgeting for our 6 night stay, plus $150 in groceries. I was afraid that wouldn't cover it, but my 8 yr old does not have a huge appetite (yet) and my 4 & 6 year old DD's often share a child's plate when we dine out. I'm actually looking forward to preparing our quick meals in our villa because very often the "meltdowns" occur while the children are hot, tired and hungry. I'm really counting that the villa kitchen will help to eliminate that.

Again, thank you all for the great tips, advice and info I always find here!

Vicki

 

[Alysa]

On our first trip we had to eat out for every meal and while we love the Disney restaurants and the food, we found that to be quite tiring. Once we joined we loved being able to pick our favourite places to eat at. Plus the serving sizes are HUGE at Disney and being part Scottish - I hated to see half plates being left at almost every meal. Now we can eat much lighter and healthier, we get to have breakfast in our pyjamas on the balcony watching the boats on the lake (my nephews favourite part of the trip), we always come back to the room for lunch and to cool off in the pool and then we have a lovely dinner out (unless we are too tired and then we can have something light and go to bed). This way you can look forward to new and favourite restaurants instead of feeling you must eat at them. Plus it is much easier of ones figure! We found a great grocery store called Goodings that delivers - it is absolutely perfect for us! We usually order a case of water, some milk, cereal, juice, lots of fruit, yoghurt, sandwich and salad stuff and - the best - I am a vegetarian and I found veggie Pogos! we get them every trip now to go with salad for those tired nights when you really don't want dinner our. I think we have saved at least a thousand dollars already - maybe two!

 

[jeanneg]

Since we don't have to pay for the room itself (always use points) and we almost always eat breakfast in the unit, we're able to splurge and eat at the really nice expensve restaurants in the parks and hotels for dinner. Being a family of 6 - and all teenage or older - it really adds up!

 

[EROS]

No difference . Part of the whole vacation experience, DVC or non-DVC, for us is to eat all of our meals out anyway .....

 

[PamOKW]

Oh, you mean at WDW...

when I saw the topic I thought you meant cutting out food at home due to DVC payments.

p.s. Mostly breakfast & snacks in the room but I think the savings on just those is pretty substantial.

 

[Cinderella]

LOL Pam! We are eating beans on toast every night to save up for more points!

 

[BenStone]

LOL Pam! We are eating beans on toast every night to save up for more points!

Must be buying BWV, huh.

BenStone

 

[yesdisneyfool]

I would say we spend less. We eat breakfast in the room (except 1 Character Breakfast), bring water, sodas, snacks from home and always take 1 day of relaxing in the middle of the week and we eat in.

In May we stayed in studio and we brought a blender and made smoothies (banana & strawberry, a litte ice and cold water - a great morning starter.) each morning and sometimes for an evening snack.

 

[jeanneg]

I could be mistaken, but I thought the units --- at least those at OKW --- came already equipped with blenders. Anybody know for sure?

 

[DeeP]

The 1 BR and larger come with blenders the studios do not but you can call housekeeping and they will gladly bring you one.

 

[DeeP]

LOL Pam! We are eating beans on toast every night to save up for more points!

Must be buying BWV, huh.

Yep, those BWV resales do seem to sell for the higest amounts out of all the DVC resales. Gee I wonder why??? LOL
What an investment!

 

[ScottOKW2K]

LOL Pam! We are eating beans on toast every night to save up for more points!

Well, I guess that accounts for the funny odor when we stayed there 3 weeks ago ! Maybe that's what they mean by experiencing Boardwalk with ALL your senses <grin> .....