Have to redo budget

[angeleigh]

We are back to the drawing board for our budget for our trip this coming July. We originally planned to do a Disney package with dining. We called our friend in Florida to let them know that we will be coming and they offered us their cm discount. We booked two rooms at Pop Century and we are saving over $700. I am so happy that we were able to get the discount. But now I have to figure out how much money we need for meals each day. I really wanted the dining plan so everything would be taken care of before we went but the savings is too good to pass up.
Angel

 

[speedyf]

Congrats on getting such a great deal through your CM friend....

I would check out the menus of all the restaurants at www.allearsnet.com

We mostly eat counter service meals on the go, but do at least 1 character breakfast and 2 sit down meals. You can get an idea of how much you would spend by looking at the menus on Deb's site.

We are planning on Donald's Breakfastasuarus, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Ohana's, and Rainforest Cafe. The rest will be counter service which I figured would be about $20 per meal for 2 adults and 1 child (5 years old).

Good Luck...
Speed

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

How much you'll need for meals really depends upon how many of you there are, the ages and appetites of each and whether you dine counterservice, sitdown or a combination of both.

We just got back on Monday and for our family of of 4 (2 adults & 2 juniors), I budgeted $125/day. We actually would have spent closer to $130/day if it were not for the vouchers I had.

That amount covers a sitdown lunch and counterservice dinner plus the groceries for the room that provide an "on-the-go" breakfast. DD14 and I are not big eaters and can easily share an entrée. DH is a careful eater, really watching the cholesterol and salt. DS13 is our human eating machine and must be fed every couple of hours.

A typical day looked like this:
Breakfast: (in room) Cost:$40 in groceries for 5 days or $8/day

bagels with cream cheese and jelly or cold cereal with milk​

yogurt​

fresh fruit​

juice, milk, coffee or tea​

Lunch: (sitdown restaurant) Cost:$85 with tax & tip

Two shared appetizers $13​

3 entrées (DD14 & I shared) $45​

4 beverages $8​

tip $14​

tax $5​

Dinner (counterservice) Cost $30

3 "platters" (DD14 & I share) $18​

1 extra side dishes $4​

3 beverages (DH & I would share) $6​

tax $2​

Snacks (one each daily, but DS usually ate mine and DH's) Cost $10

If you already have an idea of where you'll be eating, check out the menus at AllEarsNet.com - Menus From Around the World for typical prices. Tax is 6.5%. Customary gratuity is 15% - 20% for sitdown restaurants. I'm sure that the $700 that you saved on your room will more than cover the increase in the cost of food over the MYW dining plan.

 

[Ozymoe]

We are back to the drawing board for our budget for our trip this coming July. We originally planned to do a Disney package with dining. We called our friend in Florida to let them know that we will be coming and they offered us their cm discount. We booked two rooms at Pop Century and we are saving over $700. I am so happy that we were able to get the discount. But now I have to figure out how much money we need for meals each day. I really wanted the dining plan so everything would be taken care of before we went but the savings is too good to pass up.
Angel

I'm confused. If you originally were going to get a Disney package with the dining plan...why, when a CM friend got you discounted rooms, are you no longer going to do the dining plan? Are CMs not allowed dining plans when they book rooms?

 

[angeleigh]

I'm confused. If you originally were going to get a Disney package with the dining plan...why, when a CM friend got you discounted rooms, are you no longer going to do the dining plan? Are CMs not allowed dining plans when they book rooms?

Evidently. When we changed over to the CM discount on room we were told that we cannot use the magic your way packeage - have to buy tickets seperately and no dining plan available without purchasing full package together. But since room rate went from $111/night to $67/ night for preferred location room it still seems to be worth it. We also lose the Disney Express service from Airport to resort it seems. We never really determined if the dining plan would be cheaper any way - just it seemed so convenient that we chose it. If we could have gotten the CM discount with the package we probably would have opted to upgrade resorts to a moderate since we had already budgeted the rest any way. There are 7 of us going so we need 2 rooms for 7 nights each.