Family of 4...what do you spend a day?

[paula70]

My family went to WDW in 2006 and used the DDP. Because my DD's were 5 and 8 we thought it was extremely worth the money! Now we are planning a 2009 trip and I am trying to plan a budget. My oldest DD will be 12 when we go, so considered an adult on the plan. SO it will cost approx $125 (depending on price increases) a day. I think if tips were included, I'd jump at it again but that really adds alot of money onto the plan if you are doing a nice TS meal every day.

Ive looked at the CS menus and it looks as though we will spend about $40 per meal for the 4 of us, does that sound right to you? So if we did mostly CS could we plan on $100/day including snacks?

Last time we went, we ate breakfast in the hotel, carried in light snacks and brought the crystal light packets to add to the water. That being said, that is about as far as I want to go to be "frugal".

So, what do you all (especially if you have a family of 4), spend on average each day if you're eating 2 CS meals a day?

Also, if not on the DDP, can my 12 year old still order off kid's menu?

Food is the only aspect I am struggling to come up with a budget for, which makes we want to just do the DDP for ease. But I certainly don't want to spend money just to make it conveniant!

TIA!!!

 

[borgthe]

I would say the adults would be about $10 per and the kid about $4.50 per, for a total of $35 per meal. This is just for an entree and drink, no dessert. Two meals would be about $70. Then add in 4 snacks at $3 and you come to $82. The dining plan would be $96 for your party of four. The dining plan would be $124 a day plus tip of let's estimate $30 per day. So for $70 extra a day, you would get to do a nice sit down meal a day, and get dessert at the counter service. You'd have to determine if that would be worth it for you. It certainly is for me. I'd get sick of all that counter service.

 

[agentpleakley]

My family makeup is similar to yours, Me, DH, DS(11) and DD(5). I just figured out our CS meals yesterday using menus from AllEars. I didn't add desserts, but did figure on snacks. Not being frugal with meal choices - I averaged between 80-90 a day -- 2 CS (with drinks) + 1 snack per person per day.

As you can guess, I am debating DDP or not. We have done DDP 2 years in a row and loved it. However, last trip, we felt run by our ADRs and we were totally stuffed all day and never got to indulge in the junk food (we kept drooling over the funnel cakes but were too stuffed to ever get one).

I'm trying to justify at least 2 or 3 TS - but the cost b/w this and DDP is minimal - $170. I'm still debating -- would love to hear other responses.

 

[paula70]

I'm trying to justify at least 2 or 3 TS - but the cost b/w this and DDP is minimal - $170. I'm still debating -- would love to hear other responses.[/QUOTE]

This is my problem...I really loved the TS meals we had, so I would definitely like to do a couple of these meals. But yes, $80-90 OOP per TS would be hard to swallow. We really did love taking the break in the day for an early dinner and I wonder if I will get sick of CS meals?

Anyone else have an idea on what they spend a day?

 

[borgthe]

I would just do the DDP and be done with it, lol. That's what we're doing.

 

[Cinderella3]

We went to WDW in Dec, 1st time doing the dining plan, I feel that is def worth spending the money, We like having the sit down meal.... your feet our def tired and it is nice to have someone wait on you. We fiqured that it saved us about $300.
The only down side of the DP is that your children, if they are at adult age per DP, cant get stuff off the KIDS MENU.... SO NO MAC-N-CHEESE. so that was an issue 1 night with our 10 year old....

 

[septbaby]

Your are correct it will cost your $124 daily for a the basic plan (3A, 1C).

Let's say you choose Chef Mickey's for dinner: $110 for your family including taxes, so on that day for $14 more you get 4 Snacks and 3A CS meals and a Child CS meal.

On another day your choose a less pricey TS meal, Boma breakfast: $65 including tax, so on that day your CS meals and snacks should be worth $59 to break even: $12 for Snacks, $6 for Kids Meal, $30-40 for adult meals, about break even.

Generally speaking the non buffet meals are pricier than the buffets for Adults. Entree often $20-30 and you still add a $6-8 dessert and $2-3 beverage bringing the meal total to $30-40pp before taxes. A TS kids meal it probably closer to $8 where a buffet is probably closer to $12-15.

You have to decide how you want to eat and how you want to manage your budget (pay as you go or pre pay). The one thing you know is you the DP is easy for your family, you have to decide what that is worth. One nice thing about having a 3rd Adult. It will give the kids broader choices as they can mix and match the adult and kids meals to be just what they want.

 

[wvdislover]

We went to WDW in Dec, 1st time doing the dining plan, I feel that is def worth spending the money, We like having the sit down meal.... your feet our def tired and it is nice to have someone wait on you. We fiqured that it saved us about $300.
The only down side of the DP is that your children, if they are at adult age per DP, cant get stuff off the KIDS MENU.... SO NO MAC-N-CHEESE. so that was an issue 1 night with our 10 year old....

When we went back in September, DD10 was able to eat off of the kid's menu at every table service restaurant we went to I asked if she could, and they said she could order whatever she wanted, as long as she ordered all "kid's menu stuff" or all "adult menu stuff." Has this changed since they changed the DDP this year? I didn't even think about it when DH and I went last month on our adult-only trip. I do know that back in September, if we hadn't had free dining, that when DD10 DID order off the kid's menu, she would have still been charged as an adult, which is a real bummer when you're paying for it. I would NOT want to pay $39 for her to eat each day--she eats about $5 worth of food a day. She ordered kid's menu stuff and didn't always finish it, and when we went to buffets, she ate about half a plate of (kid's) food (if she ate that much) and was done. I don't know how she lived for the 10 days we were there

 

[septbaby]

When we went back in September, DD10 was able to eat off of the kid's menu at every table service restaurant we went to I asked if she could, and they said she could order whatever she wanted, as long as she ordered all "kid's menu stuff" or all "adult menu stuff."

That seems odd because I ordered a kid's dessert a couple of times to go with my adult meal. She only gets an entree now so she either picks from the kid or adult menu. On the kid side they usually get an appetizer built into the meal.

 

[mommascrapbooker]

We are doing the DDP when we go. There are 4 of us. 2 adults and 2 kids. We usually bring pop tarts, cereal bars so forth for Breakfast (use a snack credit here and there to get cereal and milk). We eat CS for lunch then TS for dinner.

Last year I kept record of all meals we ate and thier cost. I compared it to what we paid for the whole stay on dining plan. We saved 297.00.

This year appetizers are not included. We are a family who enjoys getting dessert. We did a quick look. A CS will cost us at least $35.00. Snacks 12.00 and then TS. Ts of course will vary according to which restraunt it is. Going off last years number's average for 4 will be about 100.00 a TS. Which puts us at 147.00 OOP compared to 98.00 for DDP. So for us we are saving close to 50.00 a day.

We love TS. We love sitting down having steak, shrimp, salmon so forth versus a hamburger or sandwich. We don't eat fried foods much at home so CS for days on end every meal would get OLD fast.

Each family is different, but DDP works GREAT for us.

 

[MsPlutoNJ]

Okay. I'm not a family of four, but I am a "frugal" woman. I'm sure most people would agree that not having to pay for it OOP when they are there is definately easier. But IMHO, I would much rather sit down, have a very good dinner (LeCellier here I come) and dessert and know that I can order whatever I want, be it lobster or filet mignon, and know that it is already paid for. If I had to pay for it OOP, I would probably order the cheapest stuff I possibly could. I just wish the tips were still included. I don't want to carry cash on me at all.

With all that being said, when will you be going? If you go when the weather is hotter, you may have to buy extra drinks (water, juice) to keep everyone hydrated.

Good luck.

 

[mommascrapbooker]

But IMHO, I would much rather sit down, have a very good dinner (LeCellier here I come) and dessert and know that I can order whatever I want, be it lobster or filet mignon, and know that it is already paid for. If I had to pay for it OOP, I would probably order the cheapest stuff I possibly could. I just wish the tips were still included. I don't want to carry cash on me at all.

I agree whole heartedly!

 

[paula70]

This is why I love the DIS It's like sitting around with freinds and shootin' the ****! I've been having this conversation in my head for the last couple of weeks!

Anyway, We are going in Dec. so the weather will be cooler and hopefully not so crowded. After hearing what you all have to say, it makes me think the DDP will be worth it. If we are going to spend approx. $90-100 a day doing CS why not spend $25 more and have a really nice meal once a day! Compared to what we are budgeting for this trip I think the $200 or so extra will be well worth it!

We are one of those families who don't go out to eat much regularly, so it's a nice splurge to be able to do it on vacation!

Thanks everyone for the great advice!

 

[septbaby]

With all that being said, when will you be going? If you go when the weather is hotter, you may have to buy extra drinks (water, juice) to keep everyone hydrated.

One thing I usually did: ordered a water with whatever meal we were having. I was very concerned about staying hydrated (as well as balancing out all the WDW sugar I would be consuming). This really worked well when we shared a CS meal with only one drink. We used snack credits for Aquafina at Fantasmic and I know my mother got a couple of other drinks using the credits. We also usually got a second drink with our CS breakfast: bottled water that we took to the park.

Great pont MsPlutoNJ!

 

[wvdislover]

That seems odd because I ordered a kid's dessert a couple of times to go with my adult meal. She only gets an entree now so she either picks from the kid or adult menu. On the kid side they usually get an appetizer built into the meal.

I'm sorry, I should have made myself a bit clearer. Back in Sept., apps. were still included in the DDP. DD10 could order a kid's app, entree, and dessert or adult app, entree, and dessert. They would not let her order an adult app and kid's entree and adult dessert. She also couldn't order a kid's app and entree, then an adult dessert. I guess she could have ordered an adult app, entree, and kid's dessert, though (downsizing was ok ?). Does that make more sense? Now that the DDP has changed, it might be a bit different. Anyways, we're hoping for free dining, so I don't have to pay $38 for her food, b/c I know she won't eat that much.

 

[wvdislover]

I just wish the tips were still included. I don't want to carry cash on me at all.

Do you mind charging it back to your room? You can do that instead of carrying cash with you to pay for tips. You know you'll always have your KTTW card with you.

 

[MsPlutoNJ]

Do you mind charging it back to your room? You can do that instead of carrying cash with you to pay for tips. You know you'll always have your KTTW card with you.

I charge everything to my room key. Actually, I overtipped last year (gave extra money), so I had cash on me. A few extra dollars here and there. But, no, I would love to charge the tip to my card. That's so cool. Thank you very much wvdislover.

 

[wvdislover]

You're welcome! Glad I could help. I actually got that idea here on the Boards before my last trip