Food Budget

[princesspaige]

I am working on setting up my budget to take my daughter and her BF to Disneyland in June 2023 as their HS graduation gift. I have my budget set for hotel and flights (those were the easy ones) but am struggling with the food portion of it. It has been over 20 years since I was last at DL and 5 years since WDW so am little out of the loop on costs. We are staying at a good neighbor hotel that has free breakfast so it will mainly be snacks, lunch, and dinner, most likely QS. What would a good budget for 3 adults per day look like...$60..$100?

 

[katyringo]

$15 per person per meal for QS for adults.

If you do plan to do reservations, Disney prices are posted so I just figure those out separately and call it my "reservation food budget." I peak at menus and guess what we might order and spend and add 20% tip.

I also just add 10% to my budget as a buffer.

 

[AustinTink]

You can look at all the menus online to get a better feel for current prices. I'd say with QS you are looking at $20/pp per meal if you add in a drink.

 

[Cal-Pie]

It's best to have a look at the menus and see what actually works for you, but I work off of $15/meal, and $20/pp snacks. We mainly do water with meals.

 

[pennym]

We do $50pp per day excluding breakfast as we have that at our hotel. Then an extra lump sum to help with any special meals like Blue Bayou and Minnie's Breakfast.

 

[jcatron243]

I generally plan on 15 per meal per day plus 20 for snacks per day (this is per person) However after my trip over spring break I upped my budget to 20 per person/meal. There will be some change left over, but I like to budget on the high end.

 

[Pluto468]

I'd say $15-20 per meal per person. Having breakfast at your hotel will help alot. At our hotel in June they had granola bars so we would take those for snacks, but of course people still want Dole Whips and Popcorn. The cost of your meal can vary, too, like a corn dog won't be as much as a meal at Plaza Inn.You could get a whole pizza for a meal or share a gigantic pretzel at Pym's for a snack. I agree with others about looking at menus. You can get a sense of where you might want to go and what the cost would be. What a great graduation gift!

 

[Lisa24jks]

Lots of good tips in here, so I won't repeat any of that. But I would also recommend everyone bringing insulated water bottles (especially since it's a warmer time of year). It will cut down on how much you spend on beverages every day if you refill through them throughout the day. Everyone still may want sodas/frozen drinks/milkshakes throughout the day, but you won't feel the sting of spending money on bottled water just to stay hydrated.

(I also agree that looking at the menus online will give you a good idea of how much things cost. I would also recommend doing that in the couple weeks leading up to the trip, because there are seasonal changes and always new meals/snacks to try. I do that before I go and then keep a list on my phone of my MUST haves, which keeps me from spending money on random food that just happen to be there and sends me in the direction of the things I really want to try and savor.)

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

$50/person/day (without beverages).

 

[roflclaw]

I go with $80-90 per person/day including tax + tip but that also includes one table service a day. In pricing out our "likely" meals at the places we've already chosen to eat on our upcoming trip I'm finding it being quite a bit over what our "actual" spending will likely be but I'm happy to see it be way overbudgeted than under.

 

[princesspaige]

Thanks for all the input. As we get closer I’ll have the girls look at menus to get an idea of what they may want. I think I’ll start with an initial budget of $30/day for each person so if I need to adjust it won’t be much.

I’ll have to look into the insulated water bottles. That would definitely cut down on costs.

 

[disneychrista]

I tend to over budget as it is better to have money left over than to be short. So I plan on $75-$100/day per person. $20/lunch, $30/dinner, $10/day snacks & drinks (I am not much of a snacker). Add another $15-$30 if you plan to have an adult beverage or two.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

For snacks, we give teens and older kids a Disney gift card with a set amount daily (was $20/day per kid last time). They understand that the gift card is all they will get for snacks (unless they want to use their own money) and that it will be reloaded each day. The gift card helps them think a bit more carefully about impulse items, but usually gives them enough for their favorite snacks each day. Next trip, we will probably raise the daily amount since prices just keep going up.

 

[Chemist]

I think I’ll start with an initial budget of $30/day for each person so if I need to adjust it won’t be much.


Honestly, that's really too low. I don't think that will buy lunch and dinner (even without drinks), and it definitely won't allow for a single snack.

Example: a burrito at Rancho Zocolo is $13.50. That's without tax. That comes to almost $15 with tax.

$30 a day will just barely cover two entrees. It won't allow for any drinks (either with meals or as a treat), and it certainly won't allow for any desserts and snacks.

 

[twodogs]

Thanks for all the input. As we get closer I’ll have the girls look at menus to get an idea of what they may want. I think I’ll start with an initial budget of $30/day for each person so if I need to adjust it won’t be much.

I’ll have to look into the insulated water bottles. That would definitely cut down on costs.

I agree with the poster above. I think that is going to be too low if they want any snacks or wiggle room or a beverage.

 

[l4dyj8]

Budget higher for the unexpected.
Snacks (churros!) and any specialty items. With the heat, you may find yourself wanting something refreshing. You can get ice from many locations. Water stations are warm. And some locations, the water tastes a little off.
We start the day with our own water (in a HydroFlask/Yeti) but often just buy water there too because we just need it cold. (Dasani was about $4-5 and Smart water bottles went up to $9!!!). We also had frozen water bottles of our own. But also keep in mind that hotel fridges aren’t very cold.

 

[Malcon10t]

Thanks for all the input. As we get closer I’ll have the girls look at menus to get an idea of what they may want. I think I’ll start with an initial budget of $30/day for each person so if I need to adjust it won’t be much.

I’ll have to look into the insulated water bottles. That would definitely cut down on costs.

$30 per person per day will be tight. It can be done, but if you are on a tight budget, maybe plan to bring food with you so you can just do one meal and a snack?

 

[Gaub]

Just returned home yesterday. My 22-yr old son and I went for 3 days with a park hopper. We ate quick service for lunch and dinner. Figure $50/ person minimum. Dasani water bottles are $4.75 each! (Last year they were $4). Refillable water bottles are a good idea, but the water does taste different and isn’t always cold.

 

[StarlitNight05]

$30 per person per day will be tight. It can be done, but if you are on a tight budget, maybe plan to bring food with you so you can just do one meal and a snack?

Agree with this. A packed sandwich, snacks, and water bottles (or better yet, get a water bottle with a filter) would be good to supplement for $30/pp day. DLR is expensive!

That being said, my first 20ish years of going to Disneyland were exactly that (we pretty much just got snacks and/or ice cream as kids) and I always had a fabulous time.

 

[confetti]

I way underestimated the cost of food on our last trip in June. I thought we could do about $125/day total for 3 people. That's about $40ish per person for lunch, dinner and snacks. We did breakfast in the hotel. The reality was that I should have budgeted $60 per person each day. Food is expensive! We didn't do sit down dining, only quick service, but a lot of things were closer to $20 for an entrée and then drinks are expensive too. Plus snacks add up. We didn't really go in with a tight budget though, I wanted to just relax and get things we wanted and not try to cut costs everywhere. So I was ok with buying drinks because it was convenient and they were cold. But I was a bit shocked when I tallied our spending. Granted, I now have a teen boy and the last time we went to DL he was only 7 and ate kids meals.

One thing I did do often was that I would order a kids meal for me since I don't want a huge entrée. I like to save room for snacks and I don't want to feel stuffed full and then go on rides. So smaller amounts more often works better for me. So that saved a little but it didn't make some huge dent.

I would recommend looking at the menus online of where you want to go and using that to budget.