Estimated Costs

[bicker]

I just did a quick estimation of our costs for dining for our upcoming trip, and wanted to pass it by folks to make sure it sounded in line. It's me, DW52, DB35, DS-i-L35, DN6 and DN1.5. I'm not worried about breakfast -- we'll do bagels and cream cheese in the villa. This is our plan for other meals:

Lunches: CS in MK, CS in AK, CS in D-MGM, CS in MK, CS in Epcot and CS in MK.

Dinners: Whispering Canyon, Boma, Brown Derby, Artist Point, Chefs de France, Liberty Tree Tavern.

I actually went to the menus and plugged in specific menu items, trying to guess what everyone would order (I can't wait to see how close I was to the mark!) and also plugged in tax and tip. It came to $1317 (again, plus breakfast, plus other groceries, plus extra drinks). That was a bit of a shock. Does that sound round-about the right amount? or does it seem like I'm estimating high? or (gulp) missing stuff?

I quickly checked to see if would make sense to switch to AP with DDE, and nope, it would cost an extra $300 that way.

 

[theflowerladee]

I have a family of 5 and usually stay in a villa to save on breakfast, but
when doing a counter lunch and nice dinner we can easily spend $150+
a day just on those 2 meals, not including snacks or drinks during the day.
good luck and have a great time.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

you are so organized! Well that sound right based on the amount of people you have going. Will the 6 year old be orderng from the kids menu? What will the other little one eat? We just got back and used the dining plan we ate a great table service meal every night total was over $700. So we saved a couple hundrend dollards.

When r u going?

 

[snowy76]

I think your budget is realistic, even if sticker shocking! Our family of four did 5 out 6 days with breakfast in the room and our dining budget still came to around $600. To save money this time we only did 4 ADRs. We did the rest CS, often just nibbling our way around most days. I might recommend switching dinner ADRs to lunch where it suits you. Often the menus are similar, portions may be smaller, but prices usually are too.

 

[Ginamarie]

I second that option! If you switch some of the table service dinners to lunches, then you'll save money (particularly Brown Derby and Chefs de France, because you can eat there while you're still in the park).

 

[bicker]

I believe both children will be ordering from the child menu. My wife seems to think the the little one will eat off our plates, but she didn't get to be 40" tall at age 1.5 by eating small quantities!

I'll try switching a couple of ADRs to lunch, but it's probably going to be a little difficult as we are a party-of-6.

Two more weeks!

 

[bicker]

Okay, I switched the two in-park ADR dinners to lunches. With the lower prices (and the likelihood that we'll order fewer appetizers), and given that DVC members get a 10% discount for lunch at Chefs de France, that lowers my estimate by about $90, from $1317 to $1228. Still seems high. I really wish the DVC Dining Plan was being introduced sooner!

I've broken the numbers up into "full service" and "counter service", since I'm only covering the full service restaurants -- I assume that my brother and I will split the grocery bill and the counter service bill. Breaking them up makes the numbers a little easier to swallow.

 

[snowy76]

I assume that my brother and I will split the grocery bill and the counter service bill.

Now, now, bicker, you know better then to assume anything... We'd better not read this in a few weeks! "TOPIC: I went to WDW with my brother and got stuck with the bill!" How many threads have we read about the trip from you-know-where when someone traveled with friends or relatives and some sort of wackiness ensued?

 

[bicker]

Hehe... please understand that my concern about the cost is more a matter of my brother being uncomfortable with the menu prices than about the cost itself. Changing from dinner to lunch only saves $100 or so, which isn't going to make-or-break my wife and I, but it might make my brother feel a bit better about my wife and I covering as much as we're going to. Knowing my brother, he'll more than likely insist on covering at least half of the counter-service charges. (Of course, he's also the type of guy who will be more than elated that these changes make us eligible for that 10% discount at Chefs de France for lunch! He's actually been featured in his local newspaper as a sort-of coupon-clipper extraordinaire. )

If there will be any friction regarding dining during this trip, it'll be between my penchant for the exotic and my sister-in-law's preference for the ordinary.

 

[married@wdw]

Hi Bicker! Did you check AP with DDE, getting only one AP -- you only need one AP to get the DDE so I'm surprised it would cost $300 more, especially with the DVC discount for the AP? And if you have a pass already, you can trade that one in to lower the price of the AP even more (we had 5-day PH passes and upgraded to APs, with the DVC discount, for about $75 each).

Just checking because we were amazed what a difference the AP/DDE made for us in February '05 (we were a party of 11 -- 7 adults, 4 kids -- going for 6 nights, but we saved over $500 after figuring in the $200 additional cost of 2 APs and the DDE card). We did sitdown dinners daily, one sitdown breakfast and several CS places that took the DDE (AK, Pop food court, Beaches & Cream).

The APs & DDE also made it possible to enjoy two shorter trips, instead of just one (the money we saved on passes and food, made the second trip possible) and they'll still be active for our long trip this year!

Otherwise, I'm stumped. Have a fantastic time though!!!

 

[bicker]

Hi Bicker! Did you check AP with DDE, getting only one AP -- you only need one AP to get the DDE so I'm surprised it would cost $300 more, especially with the DVC discount for the AP?

Yup. Here's how the math goes.

Two trips, January 2006 and February 2007 (dates are not negotiable)

10 day non-expiring park hopper is $340.
Extra cost of meals is $260.

versus

Annual Pass plus 5 day expiring park hopper is $228 + $320 = $548.
DDE $50.

So it actually would save money, but only $2, so it's not worth all the manual work necessary to make it happen now that we already have our park hoppers (including having to go and get the special letter about our new DDE membership, given that we are only two weeks away and won't get our real DDE card in time).

It would probably work out for us next year, with trips planned for Feburary 2007 and January 2008, but by then we'll have the dining plan...

 

[goodeats]

Uh-oh, penchant for the ordinary and Boma? Have you shown them the menus at Allearsnet.com?

Hopefully there's no friction! I'm sure you all will have a great time!

 

[Lewisc]

I hope the waiter doesn't ruin your predictions by presenting some daily specials.

Brown Derby is a good choice for the Fantasmic package. You can even check a day or two before and see if anything opens up.

You might decide if you and your wife want one dinner without the rest of the group. If so make that the most expensive meal.

I'm sure you know this but for others reading this thread the DDE discount also applies to alcoholic beverages. Some guests don't realize this and don't account for the savings with wine when they make the comparisons.

I actually went to the menus and plugged in specific menu items, trying to guess what everyone would order (I can't wait to see how close I was to the mark!)

 

[kaytieeldr]

Bicker - does it help any if you break down the costs?

Assuming $16.50 per day for the six-year-old,,, that leaves $1,128 for four people for six days/twelve meals.
That works out to less than $50 per day per person. $47 to be exact - not much more than Rachael Ray spends on her $40 a Day show.
Feel any better?

 

[Lewisc]

Bicker--if you're looking for a way to pick up "more than your share" of the meal costs you might ask for seperate checks at the TS restaurants. Order appetizers and desserts for the table and have them added to your check. Same if you're ordering a bottle of wine.

 

[pedro2112]

Bicker,

too bad they aren't offering the Dining Plan to DVC members until April. It seems as if you'd save a ton of cash that way.

 

[bicker]

Uh-oh, penchant for the ordinary and Boma?

I am a bit worried about that, but y'know she can just deal with it for one meal.

Have you shown them the menus at Allearsnet.com?

I did try.

I'm sure you all will have a great time!

Without a doubt.

you might ask for seperate checks at the TS restaurants

I think I made it clear that I'll cover the TS meals. I'm just trying to arrange things to minimize their discomfort with the prices, even when I am paying.

That works out to less than $50 per day per person.

It is interesting that if this was January 2007, instead of January 2006, the same exact food would cost us $38 per day per person.

 

[PolyAddict]

I think you may be underestimating. I did a budget for a 7 night trip for 5. Me, DH, DD14, DD12 and DD5. The plan includes breakfast in room, like you, snacks for lunch around $20 (we bring water) and a sit down dinner each day, oh and 1 sit down breakfast at Kona. My total was about $1300. Hope that helps.

 

[bicker]

Okay, well a few more swaps and I think I'm done. This is what we ended up with:


Saturday dinner - Whispering Canyon Café
Sunday dinner - Garden Grill
Monday lunch - Brown Derby
Tuesday dinner - Artist Point
Wednesday lunch - Chefs de France
Thursday dinner - Liberty Tree Tavern

Not our typical mix of haute cuisine and exotic choices, but we have one person in our party who really is a non-adventurous diner. She considered Brown Derby to be a little "out there". Two character meals, which is more than I originally planned, but the food is pretty plain, and the price is actually pretty low compared to where we would have eaten otherwise. As much as folks assert that the character meals are expensive, they're really not, when compared to Artist Point, Chefs de France and Brown Derby. (The food's not as good, of course, but again, that's a "good" think in the eyes of some.)

 

[Ginamarie]

Glad to see that you were able to get the changes you wanted. I think you'll be happy with the choices. Some of the meals might seem "safe", but they're all good restaurants. I could really go for one of those Whispering Canyon skillets right about now!

As for Brown Derby, we took my grandmother there for lunch, who's a notoriously picky eater, and she wound up just ordering off of the kids menu (grilled chicken or something like that). She was happy, and we got to have our cobb salads