Food Budget

[dny1112000]

I sure am coming up with a lot of questions today. So, here's our plan. We are going to make a grocery stop on our way to the hotel. We will get stuff for breakfasts and stuff to munch on while at the hotel.

For lunch, supper and other snacks we will be eating at the parks. We are doing a character meal, but otherwise plan on counter service-type food.

With this plan in mind, how much do you think a family of 4 (kids 2 and 4) will expect to spend daily on food?

Also, our first day will be spent with a "whatever strikes our fancy" plan. If we were to decide to so something other than counter service, what would you recommend? I don't want to drop $100 on one meal.

Thanks for the help

 

[nalabell]

This is a very hard question. Since your not going to be doing a lot of ADR's then you can cut your budget down. I have kids about the age of your kids and we found that getting each kid their own meal was a waste. Me and my wife found as well with the the heat that we where not as hungry and shared several meals between the two of us. For your family at a counter service it should cost about $20-$30 at the most. I found I spent more $ on the Ice Cream, Dole whips, water, and other snacks. hope it helps

 

[SnwflkCts]

I really think you should look into the Disney Dining Plan (DDP). Adults are about $38 a day. I think kids are about $11 a day -- there is a BIG THREAD about this under restaurants. (I may have the kid's price wrong!)

Anyway, that aside ... doing breakfast in the room is a great idea. That's what DH and I did. We had some bagels, peanut butter, breakfast bars. He drank a milk and I had a coffee. Also we had fruit -- great way to eat, get ready and go to the parks quickly!

Dining at Disney is a little pricey much like any resort. A meal might be $100 at a sit down (Table Service) restaurant. Maybe some other posters will have a better budget plan. I did the DDP and it was wonderful. Basically (though you can move the meals around alot) you get 1 counter service, 1 table service (sit down) and 1 snack per day paid fully and with gratuity included. Sit down is appetizer, meal and dessert -- wow -- lots of food. By the time our vacation was over -- it really was like getting lunch for free.

But there are so many experienced DISers here, you will hopefully get a lot more info!

 

[ougrad86]

When we went, I budgeted and saved for out meals, and we had TS almost every night, and sometimes for lunch . It ran about $900 for all out meals for the three of us , two meals a day. Counter service would probably be 1/2 of that. I actually went through the menus at allears and got a ballpark figure of what we would order at the various places we were thinking of eating. It actually turned out a lot lower than my guess, which is not a bad thing! It helped pay for the souveniers !

 

[Zoemakes5]

Well, it depends upon a lot of stuff. First, I'm pretty sure that under three is free for DDP and for any all you can eat restaurants. Since those are usually the character interactions, I'd plan a couple of those.
In our family, I have had trouble having them share for the most part because they have distinctly different tastes. While one would like a corn dog or hot dog, the other HATES corn dogs and hot dogs. One likes pancakes, the other hates it. Well, you get the idea!
I would definitely checkout allearsnet.com and get the low down on menus and prices and stuff. Depending upon where you eat and what you eat, some counter services can be as expensive as the sit downs, particularly if you don't have to pay for the 2yo when you're doing the sit down but would have to buy them something otherwise.
We spent $40+ at counter service last time we were in MK. DH and I shared a sandwhich and fries and each bought a drink, all three kids had kids meals. Similar amounts of food at McD's for example, if we were sharing, would only cost about $15, just to give you a perspective. We more typically spend around $21 at McD, as we don't typically share a sandwich.
If it was me, and you're staying onsite and can get the DDP, I'd recommend getting the DDP and make some ADR's to fun places. It's fun to "be served" every once in a while, and if it's more of an issue of sitting down for any length of time, then maybe the all you can eat meals would be a better option. For other TS meals, your two children would be able to share kids meals, or one of your children could share with one of you (or maybe eat an appetizer as an entree) or you could pay OOP for just the one child meal.
If you're looking for the "how can I do this the cheapest way possible" description, bring snacks, bring water and refill at the fountains, and counter service share meals. I'd guess you could probably do the counter service for around $20-30 and the buffets for around $40-50?

 

[drogerstn]

dny1112000,
Will you be staying onsite?
How long is your visit?
Will you take any breaks during the day or eat any evening meals at your hotel? (You mention all meals being in the park except for breakfast.)

If you really want to save money, I recommend not purchasing the DDP unless you plan to eat a TS meal every night.

If you will be staying in the parks all day and plan on doing a couple of TS meals, consider a late breakfast or a lunch for your TS meal. This will provide a bigger break during the middle of the day when the park will probably the more crowded and hotter than in the evening AND the meals are usually cheaper.

Here's links to the menus:
Deb's WDW Menus
DIS WDW Menus

 

[SnwflkCts]

Although I noticed someone else posted menu sites -- here is the All Ears site. This link brings you up to MK menus but look to the left for other areas:

http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm#mk

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

On your grocery stop make sure that your get bottled water - I used 2 cases of water for 4 (2 adults and 2 kids) over 6 days. We each brought a bottle of water to the parks every morning and we finished them by 11:00. Then we had to buy them for $2.00 or $2.50 each. ouch!

In order to save money and still enjoy table service restaurants go during the afternoon. You could eat lunch about 2:00 (you'll need the break by then) and then for dinner you could eat lite.

Also, you could make PB&J sandwiches for the kids (and you too if you enjoy them). Disney does let you bring in a small soft sided cooler or back pack which you could pack with juice boxes and bottled water, fruit etc.

Expect to pay at least $20 + on counter service for 4, the drinks alone are $8.