Food Budget for Teen

[NomadFamily]

My son's best friend is joining us on Friday for 12 days at WDW. He goes on avaction with us each year (usually Caribbean, not WDW). His mom and dad pay for his air and give him food money. His mom called me yesterday to ask me how much money to give him for food. I was a little uncomfortable asking for her to give him a lot of money...but WDW food is so expensive! She has been there so she knows how clostly it is. AND, we are going for 12 days! I asked her what she thought she shuld give him and she said she was planning on somewhere between $300-$400. This sounded a bit "tight' to me, but I said ok. It works out to $33 dollars a day. How can he eat 3 a day meals at $10 a meal? Then I told her that I would try to eat a couple of meals outside of the park to cut down on the expense and she said "yeah, eat a McDonalds". Okay, so now I am feeling a little annoyed because I am not eating at McDonals on my vacataion and really wanted to enjoy the dining experience.....not fancy all the time...but not constantly worried either..... She also said that if I wanted I could keep a tally on my credit card of what he eats and she will reimburse me.....but I would feel funny about asking her for $$ when I got back to reimburse me for his food. Is it just me? Should I be more aggressive with her? OR. should I just take it as a loss since I was the one who invoted him to go?

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Whew, that's tough. When we've taken DD's friends with us, we take care of transportation and lodging (DVC), but have asked them to take care of park passes. Meals have been the "iffy" part for us, too. I've just said, "We'll take care of meals, but we sure wouldn't mind if you'd chip in toward that expense." Responses have been generous, especially when I shared the average cost of meals.

When we budget, we think in terms of $8-12 for fast food meals, and about $40-45 for sit-downs. We do breakfast in the room. When we travel with teens, we make the sit-downs more of an "event," a special perk, and try to find civilized fast-food. Keeps us from having to take out a second mortgage.

 

[MHopkins2]

I would try to "nudge" her up to the higher end of her range ($400) and then - assuming you can afford it - take the rest as a loss. IMO it won't be worth the heartburn to you to try to keep track of how much he spends and then have to deal with her when you get home.

ETA that you didn't mention exactly how old your DS and the friend are. If they're old enough, it could be a non-issue --> they may want to let the rest of you go do a 2 hour sitdown meal while they scarf a cheeseburger combo meal and get back in line for the 53rd trip on Space Mountain.

 

[angey77]

Why don't you mention to her the restaurants you were hoping to eat at? If she's been to Disney, she should get the jest of how much to send then. I can't believe she would want you to sacrifice because of her cheap-o self! And you don't want to punish the kid for it. hmff!
Also, have you looked into the Connections vouchers? They have lunch ones for $11.25 and dinner ones at nice sit-down restaurants for $29.50, and that includes tax and tip. Most portions are big enough to split too.

 

[macs4us]

I would tell her the restaurants you are planning on, and then send her an email with the link to restaurant menus (http://wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm). This will give her the opportunity to let her son decide what he thinks he may want to eat, and they can budget from there. If you are comfortable with the voucher concept, you can let her know about that as well. You may want to ask her if there are any restaurants that her son is interested in going to as well.

We are doing this with my niece (11), and taking this opportunity to teach her how to budget. I know how you feel about feeling uncomfortable about asking for money - it's my sister, and she is always generous (a very spoiled, but sweet, only child), but I always feel weird if we go over. I am always prepared to eat the difference and take the loss.

Hope everything works out. Have a great trip!!!

 

[NomadFamily]

Thanks for all of the good advice. The boys are 16, so they will want to eat a lot on their own...but I know that even cheeseburgers, fries and a coke can run above $10 in WDW. I think I will be taking a loss on this one. After all, @$400 total, he gets $33 a day and that has to cover whatever he driniks all day in the parks, snacks, meals and forget any souveniers, etc. And I hate to tell him to not go over $30 a day and have him stand there and order food based on sticking to his poor-man's budget. But, I am NOT going to take the whole family to McDonalds for meals just because he is with us. I should state that this is not a money issues for his family.....I don't personally KNOW what anyone's bank account looks like, but when the house is SO huge and the pool in the yard is so HUGE and the kids are all in the best private schools and the family is in Europe every summer you kind of feel like they should step up and feed the kid, especially when I am the divorced/single mom taking these kids to WDW on my own.

But, I am not going to stress about this! We leave in less than 48 hrs and I am EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pennyplanner]

Considering your circumstances, I would ask for more.
Be direct and honest.

I like the check the website idea or a simple statement that WDW food is quite expensive and more is needed.

Don't suck it up at your expense. That is simply NOT FAIR. It sounds like $ is not an issue for these people so I strongly suggest you be honest about the costs.

Good luck!
penny

 

[Jordan's MOM]

It looks like the boys will eat on their own a great deal so this would be my suggestion. Any meals they eat away from you, snacks fastfood etc., he covers with his money. Meals you all eat together, you bite the bullet and pay for. It will be worth it not to embarass the kid and having a buddy along for your son will make the trip better for all of you.


Jordan's mom

 

[HookdonWDW]

I'm on the other side of this one... we usually budget about $100/day for four people - two adults, 17 yo dd and 8 yo ds. We almost always have money left over... and we DO eat at sit down restaurants, and character meals. It's rare that we choose to eat at McDonald's or off-site, and we've never ordered pizza in or such.

We're not big breakfast eaters, and we don't tend to snack our way through the parks - although we've been known to have one here or there. We also don't generally eat 3 meals a day when we're at WDW... all of the walking, heat and activity (not to mention the occasional Mickey Bar ) usually cuts us down to 2 meals. I'll bet you might be surprised at how is budget may turn out. Along with his $50.00 days, he'll probably have quite a few $20 - $25 days...

Personally, I think that this mom may be looking at what she spent when they were at the parks. I'm not sure where you're buying your cheeseburger fries and a coke at a FF counter @ Disney to get above $10.00. We usually spend much less than this. It's one of the reasons we don't generally bother with Q&C Vouchers.

His mother has asked you to let her know if you go over, and by how much. I would take her at her word, and mention the final total to her. You may find that she's happy to pay the difference. Have you ever had trouble getting the money when this teen has vacationed with you in the past? Good luck and hope you have a great trip.

 

[simonmunro]

I read most but not all of each post, so forgive me if I'm repeating someone else's ideas. I would print out 12 breakfast menus, 12 lunch menus and 12 dinner menus where I "most likely WILL be eating". Give her the menus (dated for each day), a little calculator, a highlighter, and an envelope for each dining experience! This sounds silly but this is seriously what we did when 4 of us cousins went a couple weeks ago. It worked perfect. We loaded the envelopes with money before we left the house. When we got to the hotel we put them in the safe and each morning just put those meal envelopes in one of our bags. You could tell her you read it here and learned how simple it was. She can pour over the menus with her son and they can decide how much to put in that envelope. No surprises when you get to the restaurant, just open his envelope or he'll have it if it's one he's not with you. This way you avoid giving her the "balance" when you get home and you give her the option of saying she can't afford it or loading the envelope but you don't have to say any more until then?

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

I would just accept what ever she sends. If you find, at the end of the trip, that he went WAY over budget, then I would ask her for more. If he only goes over by an acceptable amount, and only you know what that amount is, just consider that money well spent to keep your son happy and occupied while on vacation.

Good Luck and have a GREAT trip!

Hoping everyone has a "magical" day!

GF Sago Cay Lagoon View 11/2000
POR 10/2003

 

[susy]

I don't know if this will work, but.....

Have you thought about bringing breakfast and snacks???

You can send it ahead or try to make a grocery stop. Bring things like cereal, bagels, fruit, cheese, water, juice, sodas (at BJ's they come out to .25 a can for COKE or PEPSI), milk (parmalat), snacks like chips, candy, twinkies, granola bars. If you buy them each a refillable mug at the resort, you may be okay with sodas.
In this case, he would be okay to spend $10 for lunch (totally doable!) and $25 for dinner.
I would not count on doing the California Grill or anything and I would let the kids stick to the counter service, if that's what they want. Actually, you could let them look over the counter service menus so that they can see the wide variety of foods offered.

 

[LAinSEA]

and here's my logic:

both times we've gone we've done "discovery magic" (now the silver plan) where you get 2 wishes per night...

each "wish" works out to about $33 (includes tax and tip).

2-wishes are required to eat at restaurants likes Cal Grill, Fultons, Narcoosees, Jiko, Artist Point etc. 1-wish for Chef de France, Le Cellier, Brown Derby, buffets, character meals etc. We wouldn't use the wishes for counter service or breakfast - but you could use the AK/MK voucher meal cost to estimate cost for those meals.

Is she giving her son the cash or is she giving you the cash for expenses? Either way - 12 days on $300 to $400 for a teenage boy at WDW is wishful thinking IMHO - and what about those $3.00 waters, ice cream bars and other snacks?

Have a wonderful trip - and what a great family you are for including your son's friend in your plans!

-LA

 

[NomadFamily]

Thanks again for all of the helpful replies. As one poster said, any money that I spend over the $400 will be the cost of keeping a teenage son occupied and happy while mommy and DD5 go seek Princesses!! We will have a car, so the grocery stop and some out of park meals could help the situation....but I REFUSE to go to McDonalds

My tip of the hour: don't do laundry the night before your trip. You always have more than you thought and it always seems to take FOREVER to dry. (Yawn!)

 

[susy]

You could also do sit-down lunches and counter service dinners. It will come out cheaper that way! Have fun!

 

[DisneyMim]

My 2 cents. I also refuse to go to McDonald's on vacation, or for that matter any place I can go at home. It sounds to me that this family can afford to give their son more money. I would very politely explain what places you are planning on eating in and let them know what the prices are. Remember teenagers can eat a lot and he will probably want to eat between meals also, you know ice cream bars, drinks, popcporn, etc. Also, he will want to buy some t-shirts, etc. for himself. You shouldn't have to worry about paying for things. You are being very nice bringing him with you, I would think that his family would go our of their way to thank you. I would give my child a lot more money and tell him to take YOU out for a couple of nice meals.

Just my little ole' 2 cents. Please don't let your vacation be ruined because his parents are being cheap.

Have a Wonderful, Magical, Stree-Free (LOL!!) Vacation!!!!!

 

[fantasia73]

Also remember that people have different dining out values. My friend's family has A LOT of money. They have a couple of homes, really nice cars, and a boat the size of my house. Yet, they don't like to spend money on food. I laughed because they went on an extravagant trip to the Caribbean, stayed at this incredible hotel that probably ran them $800 a night, and yet the food they talk about eating was some fish sandwich that they got for $9.99. LOL. We took them out for dinner one night to a really nice place near our house, and I could tell that they were astonished that people would actually pay that much for food. They loved their meals, but I could tell that they didn't think they were worth the price. The family that your son's friend comes from could be the same way. They probably did eat a lot of burgers and fries at McDonald's on their trip, but they were probably happy! For me, the food makes the vacation. I could stay at the Ecno-Lodge and it wouldn't bother me, as long as I was able to eat well!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

I was thinking just what fantasia73 said. My parents are in much better finanical shape that we are, but they would never spend the kind of money that we spend on meals at WDW. It's a rule in our family that we never tell grandpa how much our meals at WDW cost because he would croak. They could afford to do or eat anywhere they want but most of the time it is fast food at a fast food chain, with a senior discount, or they take food from home. I very much agree not to change your style of vacation to fit someone else taste, but you might have to pick up some of the cost of the teen's meals. If we take my parents out somewhere that cost more that they care to pay for, we pick up the tab no questions asked. We are the ones that want to eat at more expensive places.



Jordan's mom