Foooooooood

If you check out the menus and prices on www.allearsnet.com, you could figure out what you might want to eat generally (they have counter service places and table service restaurants) and then do a budget for yourselves. It would depend on a lot of things, such as (1) are you eating breakfast in your room using foods you purchased previously (i.e. sandwiches, pop tarts, etc.); (2) how many times do you plan on eating; (3) will you be having table service meals; (4) will you stop for snacks, etc.

I think your best bet is to check out the menus.

Your circumstances could vary completely from mine, but, for nine days at WDW, DH and I save approximately $600-700 for food, water, snacks, espressos (total for the both of us). We usually eat breakfast in the hotel (granola bars, etc. from home), one counter service, one table service, and an espresso-break each day. Usually, this amount is an overestimate and we don't spend this whole amount.
 
I plan approx $50 per person per day. This is mainly CS which we like due to the huge variety. This also covers snacks & drinks and has worked well for us on our last 2 trips.
 
I have heard the $50 per person per day estimate many times, so I tend to think it is pretty accurate. Where it would get more expensive is if you eat at higher priced TS places for dinner and if you drink alcoholic beverages. I had one drink at Boma that was $7, so your costs can escalate pretty fast.

Most of the time we pay about $10 per person for CS, sometimes a little less. TS meals are far more varibale in price.
 

We go with the 40-50 dollar per person per day figure. Most days we do not eat all 3 meals, since Disney meals are huge, even counter service. My wife and I split alot of meals do to their size too. This figure will work well and we usually never even come close, we do stock up at the grocery store for goodies, snacks, pop and alcohol, last one is a big money eater at the world and we like informal lunches at the pool every day, hence we pick up sandwich fixing at the store. We splurge on a table service a couple of times in our trip, usually 8-12 nights so we eat carefully and accordingly.
 
Just a question...but if you figure $50/day...why not pay 37.99/day instead and get the meal plan?? Just a thought...
 
chanty said:
Just a question...but if you figure $50/day...why not pay 37.99/day instead and get the meal plan?? Just a thought...
1. For my family, this figure includes 3 meals a day not just 2 like the DP. With the DP most people are either bringing breakfast items (too much hassle for me) or are paying out of pocket for breakfast and drinks throughout the day so they end up spending more than the $37.99 per day.

2. This figure allows freedom to eat whenever and where ever - we find the ADR system is way to restrictive for our vacation style and our family really likes counter service and food courts. The ample options keep everyone happy and we don't have to decide 6 months in advance what we are going to be eating on a particular day.

3. For my family, this includes a few snacks and drinks

Lots of people love the DDP, it is not for us......
 
Our DS just turned 10, so the dining plan for him would cost the adult price. He eats like a bird. We will come out better letting him order from the kids menu at TS places and using the DDE card for 20% off.

We have used the dining plan twice and we didn't save THAT much money. When you factor in paying the adult price for DS instead of the child's price we wouldn't save much at all. And we usually do end up having 2 small CS meals and a big TS meal every day so our costs aren't completely covered by the dining plan.
 





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