help, 1st time, eat$$$$

[disneywannabe]

We are finally going to WDW and have all the money except for food. I am requesting a refrig. in the room and plan to eat breakfast and most lunches there to save. I have reservations for one character breakfast and a lunch at the rainforest restaurant but what can I expect to have to spend for 2 adults and 2 kids on a shoestring budget to get through 5 days in the park? The rooma nd tickets are now paid for!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!

I have wanted to take my family there since my 9 yr. old was a toddler and now my youngest is 5 yrs. old and we decided to just go for it and do the best we can with the money we can accumulate before we go. We are there the last week of August and the kids have NO CLUE we are even leaving the house. We are driving from PA and stopping to sleep in SC and then playing on the beach in Daytona (let them think that was our destination), then we'll spend a day at Kennedy Space Center since my oldest is very interested in space and the history and future of space travel (let them think THAT was our destination), then that night we'll go on to our room in Disney....ha, ha!!!

I could cry thinking about their faces...it will be the ultimate dream come true for them. My entire enjoyment will be seeing their excitement and I think I'm going to cry just thinking about it.

Please help me out with budgeting the food expense. We are about at the end of the money tree on this one. Charge card use is NOT a pleasant option.

 

[disneysteve]

On our last trip to WDW in November, we averaged $18/person/day for food. That was for me, my wife and my 7-year-old daughter. We ate breakfast in the room. Lunch and dinner were either in the park, Disney hotels or offsite. We brought in snacks like granola bars, pop-tarts, candy, etc. We carried in our water bottle that we froze overnite (tap water) and drank mostly tap water in the parks (an occasional Coke). We shared meals when possible.

You don't mention where you are staying but it sounds like money is pretty tight so I hope you picked a nice budget offsite place. You can search the boards and find plenty of inexpensive recommendations. Staying onsite has certain advantages but can be quite a bit more expensive.

Steve

 

[ceecee]

Bring snacks and forget sodas!!! Counter serve meals can save a lot and 2 can sometimes share (we are not big eaters!).

 

[disneyjunkie]

Where are you staying?

Have you checked out the menus on Deb's site?

http://wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[Lory]

When we went in April 2002 I budgeted $100.00 for food for the 4 of us (two kids 8 and 4). Had $1600.00 for food and came home with $700!! We always ate breakfat either at McDoanlds or at the vacation home we rented (bacon, eggs, etc.) then we had lunch in the park, nothing fancy just counter fast food. The portions are huge and filling. By evening we would either stop for something fast on drive back or wait till we got back to house. Our kids and I were so busy riding and having fun, we really didn't get hungry, but we did get very thirsty so i made sure we all had water bottles and only got soda once in awhile. Did do Chef Mickey's breakfast once also. I dont think you will spend as much as you think unless you like the fancy expensive restaurants. We wouldn't dream of wasting time in one when you are at Disney, we go go go to see as much as we can. Who has time to eat!!

Have fun

 

[crazelion]

You will not spend as much money as thnk in WDW. Espically is going at the end August. The heat will spoil the appetie. I give both in onsite suggust .


Go to MC Donalds in Downtown Disney and get breakfeast.

Bring nonpersiable food for breakfeast. Examples : otmal and grits in there own cup and use the hot water in the food court and mircowave.

Bread toast in the food court.

Fruit

Lunch
Chicken and Tuna saland packets in a can. They have different varitys.

Pringles

Mac and Cheese in the packets brings plastic bowls from home and spoons

Raju pasta that can be mircowave.

Kraft Spattii that's nonpersiavle that can be mircowave to make dinner.

Vasasages and krackers.

Cookies
Can chilie in the mircowave bowl.

pototo chips

candy

Kool-aid

Drinks from home

Offsite sugust go MC Donald and Burger King for breakfeast

Lunch Subway, Ci Ci Pizza,

Dinner: Golden Corral, Shoneys, Ci Ci Pizza, chili's

I hope that helps

 

[MouseLover]

If you stick to your plan -- breakfast in hotel room, lunch in hotel room, etc.

Where are you staying? How many days will you be at WDW?

For our last trip, we stayed at Buena Vista Suites, which had a free full breakfast buffet daily.

We brought packages of peanut butter & crackers & nutri-grain bars into the parks for most snacks, and drank tap water, which is free at counter service places.

We ate all our lunches at counter service -- combos for about $6.50-$7, or entree for $4-$5 & tap water. DD was 4yo, and we'd get her a kids meal for about $3, and often I would get the kids meal as well. For supper, we would eat counter service again about 1/2 of the time, and the other 1/2 we ate off-site. BVS was very close to the parks, and also close to crossroads area. We ate at Wendy's, McDonald's by All-Stars, Joe's Crab Shack, Olive Garden, & Pizza Hut ( a real bargain -- 4 adults + 4yo for about $17 ). If we ate lunch around noon and didn't eat until 8 or later, we would eat our snacks we packed, or share a box of popcorn. One day we went to the Ice Cream Social at Epcot, and had delicious ice cream & SUPER character interaction for $7 each. (Farmer Mickey, Chip, Dale, & Pluto). I highly recommend this as a great treat and an inexpensive way to dine with characters.

Also, if you have a freezer at your hotel, you could freeze juice boxes or water bottles to take along.

 

[Cinders]

I am requesting a refrig. in the room

Wow cant believe someone hasnt mentioned this. Forget the frig and take a cooler!!! I dont remember what the cost of having a frig in the room is but it wont be free. Even if you buy a cheap styrofoam cooler when you get there its going to save you quite a bit of money. Take a box of larger ziplocks and fill and refill them with free ice at your resort. Its sounds like you're staying onsite so ice machines are readily available.

 

[goofyrn13]

Also remember you would be buying groceries at home,so you can budget that amount too.We always spend about 200/week for our family of 4.Also split meals.We did this this year and we averaged about 100/day for our family of 2 dd's 10 and 6 not counting our 1 character meal and the Poly Luau.We also took water bottles with us and little snack packs of cookies,ritz bits andother crackers.We never got hungry.

 

[epcotfan]

A Disney fridge costs $10.60 a day to rent.

 

[DizneeManiac]

DHand I took DN 11 and DN 8 last year, We ate breakfast in the room,brought snacks and water to the park. We mostly went back to the hotel in the afternoon for lunch with our refilable mugs we avaraged about $20.00 for lunch for the four of us. Dinners varied In the Mk one day at pecos bills we spent $42.00 for burgers,fries,and sodas. Good suggestion you will be sick of fries by the time you leave instead of everyone getting fries maybe get the Carrots.

 

[disneywannabe]

I truly appreciate and am wonderfully surprised by the willingness to take a moment and share your past experience and suggestions. I'm beyond excited.

I hadn't considered the ice cream social because of the price per person for the ice cream, however, when I weigh that against what I am prepared to pay for the breakfast character dining....it does seem like a bargain.

We are staying in a value resort on site since it is the first time there and knowing my family, if the heat gets to anyone or the 5 yr. old gets tired of walking, it will be quite convenient to go back to the room to swim or just unwind....if we were offsite, my husband would be super reluctant to go back later that day for more.

I'm nervous about the expenses beyond the room and tickets but you all have helped take the mystery out of it a bit.

Again, thanks so much!

 

[Gillian]

Since you are driving, it's worth a trip to the Super walmart. The 192 one is the easiest to find. It's huge & cheap! We don't have them up here in NJ. Wish we did.

The store brand water is good (sam's?).

Do you coupon at all? If you want to start stocking up on snack food to take with you, you can find some great deals! I have been using a lot of internet printable coupons and learning how to shop sales and find places that double coupons. Last week I got 4 bags of chex mix for free, and lots of cheap soda. I like the fatwallet forums for help - http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/categories.cfm?catid=57

 

[crisi]

Keep in mind that time is money at Disney - a trip back to the resort to eat lunch will take time - probably two hours or more to the All Stars and back from the moment you start heading there until you are back in line. This plan works great if the parks are open late, but if they close at 6:00, you may look at the kids and say "you can swim at home!" and be figuring out where to eat lunch.

So pick up bread and peanut butter (or whatever) and pack a light lunch into the parks with you. Disney's official policy is no outside food, but they don't enforce it (unless you are bringing in a full picnic lunch with a huge cooler) and plenty of people will discreetly eat their sandwiches (a few will do it non-discreetly).

If you haven't bought your tickets yet, one of the brokers was offering a free character breakfast with their tickets. The tickets were very reasonable as well. Don't know if they still are, but someone here will.

 

[StitchGirl88]

the price for a frige is $10 per night and there is 3 of us in a family and it coast about anywhere from $30- $100 depending where we ate at but sometimes it gets to hot to even eat so drink alot of liquids and if we eat lunch it is usally snacky food caus elike i said some days it got to hot to eat and we drank a lot of water and gateraidand drinks like that! Hope this helps!

 

[marymrg]

There's a huge McDonald's at the end of the All-Stars road. (you can't miss it) Also, there are places that deliver pizza, etc. We try to eat a late lunch or an early dinner and then have a snack later on. Take some snacks with you just in case you don't make it back to your room right at lunch time. Also, budget out a certain amount of money for ice cream in the park. (say - one treat per day/person) This can also tide you over until that late lunch or early dinner PS. One of our favorite and relatively cheap places to pick up lunch is the Taco Bell at the Crossroads Plaza. Even when we eat some great meals out..........there's something about fast food that really hits the spot! I've also read that Fort Wilderness has a great buffet and is very reasonable. I haven't tried it myself, but it's on our "to do" list.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by marymrg
There's a huge McDonald's at the end of the All-Stars road. (you can't miss it

How I wish you could miss it - also the one in Downtown Disney and the fries cart in MK. Wish they would get rid of all of them. We don't go near McDonald's at home and we certainly don't want to eat there on vacation.

Steve

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

Does it matter *which* characters you see?

You could go to the movie at Fort Wilderness, see Chip and Dale and make some smores (buy fixin's there <around $5 for a kit> or bring fixin's with you). You can even make an evening of it and have dinner first at Trails End (the most affordable buffet in the D-World and great food to boot!)

All in all, a VERY reasonable option....and it's something not everyone does/knows about.