Food/Spending money budget help!!

[hope1920]

Hi,

My DH and I, along with my DD (19 months) will be going to wdw this Oct for a week. We are staying for at on offside hotel with free breakfast included, and also have a rental car. I've set a budget for food and souvenirs for $500. Is this reasonable? Any suggestions on lunch/dinner around during the wdw resorts? We are planning on doing a 3 day wdw tickets, 1 day universal, and 1 day holy Land experience. The other days is we plan on going to downtown Disney.

I know the restaurants are pricey, but there are moderately priced places to eat/quick service places that can fit in the budget. Any tips, suggestions? DH AND DD first time at Disney and my second after 20 years.

 

[danceintherain]

Hi,

My DH and I, along with my DD (19 months) will be going to wdw this Oct for a week. We are staying for at on offside hotel with free breakfast included, and also have a rental car. I've set a budget for food and souvenirs for $500. Is this reasonable? Any suggestions on lunch/dinner around during the wdw resorts? We are planning on doing a 3 day wdw tickets, 1 day universal, and 1 day holy Land experience. The other days is we plan on going to downtown Disney.

I know the restaurants are pricey, but there are moderately priced places to eat/quick service places that can fit in the budget. Any tips, suggestions? DH AND DD first time at Disney and my second after 20 years.

Two years ago, we spent $497.25 for 2 adults and a 3 month old for 5 nights on food. That was staying on property, and eating nothing but Disney food all week with 4 table service meals, a bunch of snacks and counter service meals. (usually 3 meals a day) We probably spent another $100 on souvenirs, but part of that was money my Mom gave me for my birthday specifically to buy a souvenir at Disney. I wouldn't have spent as much otherwise, but we don't really spend money on souvenirs.

Off-property with breakfast included, you probably could do better than that.
The Plaza restaurant in the Magic Kingdom is reasonably priced for a table service meal in the parks. The food isn't anything extraordinary, but it's good. Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom is reasonably priced for a character buffet in the parks, if you're interested in a character meal.
There are plenty of counter service places in the parks. They're usually around $13 for an entree, drink, and dessert. For variety (not burgers and fries) you can try Columbia Harbor House in the Magic Kingdom, Yak & Yeti in the Animal Kingdom, Starring Rolls in Hollywood Studios, and pretty much anywhere in the World Showcase in Epcot.
Everything (except kids meals) on the counter service menus can be ordered ala carte, so if you just want an entree you can order it that way, and not spend the extra money on a drink you don't want etc.

I recommend you go up to the "Dining" tab on this page and click on "Menus" You can find menu information for ALL the restaurants on the Disney property. It should give you an idea of what is available and how much it should cost.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

Have you gone to Allears.net? (I think it is .net.) They have actual menus with prices for all the Disney restaurants.

 

[hollypoast]

also see cheap eats section on mousesavers.com

 

[canwegosoon]

You can do it-that is $100 a day for 2 adults, and an infant who eats how much? Souvies can be limited(mine is the pick a pearl and I have saved all my pearls).
Consider checking out all the menus, make notes. I can not eat a full cs meal. You could split pizzas and other CS items, as well as bring in some items like PB/J, bagels, trail mix, granola bars etc and store them in a soft sided cooler in a stroller. You can also bring in sandwiches if you can keep them cool.
I would save the bulk of your money for Holy Land and Universal(may be $250) because I am not sure how much items cost there

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

A table-service meal for my husband and me, including tax and gratuity, ran about $50 at middle-of-the-road restaurants at WDW. I would assume you'll share with your daughter. A counter-service meal is about $25 for two adults. If you stick to mostly counter-service and maybe do some out-of-park nights (McDs, Applebees, etc), you'll probably be OK with $500, but you won't eat extravagently. Good counter-service restaurants that have different fare besides burgers/nuggets/pizza include Columbia Harbor House in the MK, Sunshine Seasons at Epcot, Flame Tree BBQ at Animal Kingdom and .. well. there aren't many good choices at Studios. You might try a table-service meal at 50's Prime Time Cafe there - it's not exhorbitant and good food and plenty of it. On your DTD day, go to Earl of Sandwich - it's one of our favorites.

I think that the $500 will cover your food, but I'd try to budget another $100 for souvenirs. You're going to want something cute for your daughter!

 

[disneychrista]

We eat counter only and plan $15/meal per adult. Than add $5/day for snacks (which we usually skip). Most meals run around $10 -$12, another $3 for a drink.