Food Budget?

[Landslide305]

How much do you think a family of four would spend a day on food? We are two adults and two over 10 girls (11 and 15).

I'm going to buy the Tables in Wonderland card and the mugs when I get there and upgrade to an AP so that will help. Is $150 a day reasonable? We would do light breakfast (bagel or muffin) with hotel coffee (free) and then maybe a quick serve dinner and a sit down lunch every day (not any of the more expensive restaurants). I would like to do Akershus for my daughter because it's their first time to Disney and I think we should splurge on a character meal. I'm also going to bring nuts, snacks and get a couple of cases of water delivered.

We are planning to go for 14 days.

 

[danielw888]

You could do it for $150 a day, but I would try to budget a little higher. We are taking $200/day for 2 Adults, 14yo, 10yo, and 4yo. But we will also be eating breakfast in our rooms before we head to the park, so that a decent savings.

 

[2buzzboys]

I agree with pp. budget a little higher and if you don't use it all then but a nice gift at the end. Those lunches and dinners can run a little higher then expected.

 

[Marionnette]

How much do you think a family of four would spend a day on food? We are two adults and two over 10 girls (11 and 15).

I'm going to buy the Tables in Wonderland card and the mugs when I get there and upgrade to an AP so that will help. Is $150 a day reasonable? We would do light breakfast (bagel or muffin) with hotel coffee (free) and then maybe a quick serve dinner and a sit down lunch every day (not any of the more expensive restaurants). I would like to do Akershus for my daughter because it's their first time to Disney and I think we should splurge on a character meal. I'm also going to bring nuts, snacks and get a couple of cases of water delivered.

We are planning to go for 14 days.

TiW is great if you eat at a lot of table service, have a large group, visit often, spend time in the lounges or have alcohol with your meals. It does not work at CS locations, with the exception of the Value Resorts (because they don't have TS available). If you're getting the AP so that you can buy the TiW, you might want to reconsider both purchases. It takes quite a few purchases to break even on the TiW card.

But if you've done the math and you know that you're going to be able to save money purchasing and using the TiW, then my guess would be that $150 would be the minimum amount that I would budget for your family. Akershus alone will cost about $160 for your family. That's with the TiW discount, mandatory 18% gratuity and tax. Your girls count as adults for buffets. CS dinners could easily add another $40-$50 each day for a family of 4 Disney adults.

Of course, there are ways to cut costs. You could share some of those CS meals or even order children's meals for yourself or the kids. You could skip the beverage and ask for a cup of ice water. You can pack some healthy sides (fresh fruit, cheese sticks, baby carrots and hummus, etc) and then just order a CS entree instead of the platter.

I use the dining plan price and multiply it by the number of people in my family. This gives me a good idea of what I can expect to spend per day...and I also have a TiW card, tend to eat 1 CS and 1 TS per day. It usually comes pretty close.

 

[TwoMisfits]

How much do you think a family of four would spend a day on food? We are two adults and two over 10 girls (11 and 15).

I'm going to buy the Tables in Wonderland card and the mugs when I get there and upgrade to an AP so that will help. Is $150 a day reasonable? We would do light breakfast (bagel or muffin) with hotel coffee (free) and then maybe a quick serve dinner and a sit down lunch every day (not any of the more expensive restaurants). I would like to do Akershus for my daughter because it's their first time to Disney and I think we should splurge on a character meal. I'm also going to bring nuts, snacks and get a couple of cases of water delivered.

We are planning to go for 14 days.

TS (with most getting rid of lunch) for 4 Disney adults is probably $25-$30/entree, so $100-$120 for lunch with TiW (since tax and tip = or is slightly more than the savings)...then 4 CSs at $12/entree would be another $50. So, I'd budget $200/day if you want to have a TS a day and be safe (figure any extra part of the budget can go to desserts, beverages, and snacks)...

 

[SunnieRN]

There are ways to do it on $150 a day, but it will take careful planning! If you haven't already look at the menus at allears.net or the Disney site.

It is very easy to share counter service meals at some locations. Flame Tree BBQ chicken and rib combo, Tangierine Cafe, etc, but that depends upon your families appetites also. With the changes to the dining plan this year you can also make meals count in your favor. Every counter service location will give you large cups of ice water. Now that you can trade desserts and drinks for anything on the menu that is a snack credit, it would it will be easier to split two counter service meals between the four of you.

Using FTBBQ as an example, you could order the rib chicken combo that comes with cornbread and beans, trade your drink for fries and your dessert for onion rings. That's an enormous amount of food. If you do this with two meals, get 4 ice waters, you would have tons of food.

You can also buy one breakfast in the morning (a bounty platter) and trade your drink for a muffin or pastry and all split this for breakfast, using your mugs. Along with the snacks you bring, it should work well.

Table service will be a bit harder. Via Napoli, you could get a large pizza and split it, eat at Plaza Cafe, try some of the new quick service locations at Disney Springs, that may seem a bit more like TS, as they're not in a theme park (D-Luxe Burgers)

I also feel that vacation is the time to live a little and order steak if you want, have a dole whip or Kaki Gori, visit Karamel Kuche, Goofys Candy Kitche for a make your own treat etc. I don't like 'treats' every day and especially not every meal, but on a 14 day trips I would have a few!

They idea of planning for the cost of a dining plan, yet coming home with money or getting that special souvenir, would help me rest easier and enjoy my trip a lot more!!

Whatever you decide, have a magical vacation!!!

Oh, and after saying all this, we planned to visit without a dining plan in December, but we got the dining plan for free. If we had to pay for it,we would have lost money.

 

[momtwoboys]

200.00 per night is what I also say!

 

[Bree]

I'm budgeting $150 per night for my DD & me. I'm not sure we will spend that everyday, but I'd rather have too much money than not enough! We drive to WDW so I'm bringing water, snacks for the park and late night munchies back in our room & breakfast stuff.

I have an AP and use TIW and find value in it because it does save us money. We frequent WDW a lot and enjoy TS meals because we are not park commandos. We usually do 1 TS & 1 QS per day. There are some QS location that take TIW:

All 3 All-Star Resort Food Courts
Art of Animation Food Court
Pop Century Food Court
POFQ Food Court
Flame Tree BBQ @ Animal Kingdom
Restaurauntosaurus @ Animal Kingdom
Pizzafari @ Animal Kingdom

 

[betrent75]

There are ways to do it on $150 a day, but it will take careful planning! If you haven't already look at the menus at allears.net or the Disney site.

It is very easy to share counter service meals at some locations. Flame Tree BBQ chicken and rib combo, Tangierine Cafe, etc, but that depends upon your families appetites also. With the changes to the dining plan this year you can also make meals count in your favor. Every counter service location will give you large cups of ice water. Now that you can trade desserts and drinks for anything on the menu that is a snack credit, it would it will be easier to split two counter service meals between the four of you.

Using FTBBQ as an example, you could order the rib chicken combo that comes with cornbread and beans, trade your drink for fries and your dessert for onion rings. That's an enormous amount of food. If you do this with two meals, get 4 ice waters, you would have tons of food.

You can also buy one breakfast in the morning (a bounty platter) and trade your drink for a muffin or pastry and all split this for breakfast, using your mugs. Along with the snacks you bring, it should work well.

Table service will be a bit harder. Via Napoli, you could get a large pizza and split it, eat at Plaza Cafe, try some of the new quick service locations at Disney Springs, that may seem a bit more like TS, as they're not in a theme park (D-Luxe Burgers)

I also feel that vacation is the time to live a little and order steak if you want, have a dole whip or Kaki Gori, visit Karamel Kuche, Goofys Candy Kitche for a make your own treat etc. I don't like 'treats' every day and especially not every meal, but on a 14 day trips I would have a few!

They idea of planning for the cost of a dining plan, yet coming home with money or getting that special souvenir, would help me rest easier and enjoy my trip a lot more!!

Whatever you decide, have a magical vacation!!!

Oh, and after saying all this, we planned to visit without a dining plan in December, but we got the dining plan for free. If we had to pay for it,we would have lost money.

all of this is exactly what we do! everything you just said! i\our 12 yr old daughter and myself find that in WDW we don't tend to get very hungry (which can be really disappointing) so we do a TS lunch, and a QS dinner and share it. the bounty platter is my favorite breakfast to share! so much food! but we do light breakfasts, coffee, nice big lunch, then much later we split something. we used to use the DP all the time and stopped a few years ago b/c we save more. TiW offers discounts on what we actually eat too. so yeah...everything you said

 

[Bree]

And don't forget TIW works on alcoholic beverages! I enjoy a drink with my evening TS meals!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

$200 a day is my vote.

 

[John Byers]

I have found that $17/meal/person for QS has always been more than enough when budgeting for my family. When I budget for a TS meal we have an ADR for I always have the family look at the menu and decide what they want and I budget then accordingly.

 

[sparky68]

How much do you think a family of four would spend a day on food? We are two adults and two over 10 girls (11 and 15).

I'm going to buy the Tables in Wonderland card and the mugs when I get there and upgrade to an AP so that will help. Is $150 a day reasonable? We would do light breakfast (bagel or muffin) with hotel coffee (free) and then maybe a quick serve dinner and a sit down lunch every day (not any of the more expensive restaurants). I would like to do Akershus for my daughter because it's their first time to Disney and I think we should splurge on a character meal. I'm also going to bring nuts, snacks and get a couple of cases of water delivered.

We are planning to go for 14 days.

We found that we eat very little on vacation. The heat just kills appetite. Our big meal was either a character breakfast, or a sit down lunch. Dinner was always just snacks.
Do you have the ability to eat off site? That will save you a ton of money, and give everyone a much needed break from the theme park sensory overload

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Try www.distripplanner.com

It was pretty accurate for our trip

 

[mom2my3kids]

Food and drinks are very expensive at Disney...I would say you could do it on 150 but I would say more toward 200 and if you don't spend it just put it back into budget..

 

[hsmamato2]

You can absolutely do two meals for $125 per day.... if you plan it (somewhat) carefully by eating at specific places (where you know you get bang for your buck) - there are lots of cs places where you can get plenty of food(think sharing some items) for 4 - the average cs 'meal' is about 10-12 bucks pp- less than that if you get sharable items, switch up sides,drink ice water vs. sodas (or share a big soda) possible to get some decent 'kid meals' at some cs places that are smaller,but quite good too- for TS, try lunch hours vs dinner, frequently cheaper then- and buffets will cost more than regular ts (carefully chosen) b/c everyone pays one (high) price. my average day at Magic Kingdom might look like BOG lunch, tuna nicoise salad, about 15 bucks, plus ice water- dinner at Columbia Harbor house a lighthouse sandwich(9.99) plus a cup of chowder(6.29) plus a side of fries,(3.29) split this meal with hubby for about 10 bucks each so for my total for the day it's 25.00 bucks (approx) for two meals.... times 4=100.00 per day..... you get the idea. All ears .net has menus and prices. if we want something 'big' we try for breakfast or lunch hours to save $$$ some cupcakes and snacks are also huge and shareable, it pays to know which ones. I've never had TIW. and eating in your room before you go to parks is a huge saver.

 

[hsmamato2]

oh OP you said $150 per day! no problem! just have a general plan of where to eat,and what you all like....

 

[kydisneyfans]

$150 if counter service, $200 if doing table service for 4. Also varies if you get water vs pop. You will drop $100+ for each TS meal for 4.

 

[Minnesota!]

We ordered about $125 worth of food... hardboiled eggs, bagels, deli meat, bread , peanut butter, cream cheese, block cheese, pretzels, water, Gatorade, etc. Pretty much all breakfast, a lunch or two, and snack stuff. That will eliminate 10 days worth of those meal times. So, our dining budget is mainly for dinner. The majority of which will be counter service. So, we are budgeting under $100/day. We like to get a pizza, a few aide salads, and a dessert. Costs about $40 for our whole family

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I agree with pp. budget a little higher and if you don't use it all then but a nice gift at the end. Those lunches and dinners can run a little higher then expected.

This is our strategy and then we usually have some left over that we reallocate to our modest souvenir budget. It helps us to relax. Especially since even when you bring snacks, the treats are so, so appealing. I budget $75 pp/pd and that covers a table service (often buffet, a big counter service meal a snack and breakfast) So maybe in your case at least $50-60 per person per day. Then whatever is left you can reallocate.

I think it's always better to budget high because then you don't feel limited while on vacation and it gives you time to save up.