how can we eat cheaper

cecilia

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Joined
Aug 10, 2010
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97
we spent $75.00 a day 2 kids and 2 adults we are going back this summer . how do you save on food we always share a drink at the park and when at the resort we use our refill cup . this is how we eat breakfast at resort i get a packaged danish im not a breakfast person . husband and kids get the mickey waffles every day of out trip. lunch we eat abig snack chili cheese fries or turkey leg we share plus buy drink. dinner we eat at park we each get a meal. then when we go back to the room after the park closes we eat again at our resort we stay at value movie . would i be better off with the magic your way meal plan i never buy it cause we do not need all the stuff it comes with we just need food. im not sure why but we eat none stop when on vacation . is it cause we are on the go all day 7 days in a row. well if you can tell me how to save i would like to hear it thanks
 
we spent $75.00 a day 2 kids and 2 adults we are going back this summer . how do you save on food we always share a drink at the park and when at the resort we use our refill cup . this is how we eat breakfast at resort i get a packaged danish im not a breakfast person . husband and kids get the mickey waffles every day of out trip. lunch we eat abig snack chili cheese fries or turkey leg we share plus buy drink. dinner we eat at park we each get a meal. then when we go back to the room after the park closes we eat again at our resort we stay at value movie . would i be better off with the magic your way meal plan i never buy it cause we do not need all the stuff it comes with we just need food. im not sure why but we eat none stop when on vacation . is it cause we are on the go all day 7 days in a row. well if you can tell me how to save i would like to hear it thanks

Well we usually eat cereal for breakfast, we never buy breakfast at Disney. We drive to Disney so we have a car and leave Disney property and get fast food or even eat out off property (cheaper by far even for sit down vs. park and resort prices). This time we are doing free dining (which we had a room disco. but the free dining saved us about $200.00 vs. the room disco.) so we are going to eat park/resort food but usually we do not that often. We are often more hungry at Disney as well probably because we are on the move so much. Rather than buying snacks you can bring them. Usually for a week at Disney we buy a snack one day (like one funnel cake to share) and that is it. Other than that we bring our own water/powerade/juice boxes and snacks like crackers with peanut butter and grapes.
However if you do not want to do that you could do the QSDP. It comes with two CS meals and two snacks per day per person plus a refillable mug. From what I have read about that plan it is plenty of food and a good value.
 
Here is my plan since we are not using the dining plan:
Ordered water, juice, milk, oj, and some snacks from Garden Grocer. Bringing down cereal and snacks... We plan on eating breakfast in the room before heading out. I plan on bringing drinks into the park. We aren't planning on eating many TS meals since we have 2 younger ones and sitting down for dinner doesn't always work well:) We are planning on eating QS meals sharing at some places and bringing snacks. We will probably get a special snack to share at the parks as well... It all depends what and where you eat...if you eat at TS restaurants they seem a bit more...
 
Have you considered the quick service dining plan? With that plan you get two quick service meals and two snacks each per day and the resort refillable mug. It's $31.99 for adults and $9.99 for kids 3-9. You'll spend more money on the plan but you'll get more food. I think $75 a day for a family of four is pretty cheap. The only way I can think of going cheaper is making sandwiches and bringing your own snacks into the park.
 

Last time we stayed at POP and did a fridge swap. I brought items like PB, granola bars, small boxes of cereal.... in my suitcase. We ordered items from Garden Grocer like bread, Juice, Milk, Water, GatorAde and snacks for night time. This is much cheaper than buying items. We usually do the DDP though, so we have a CS for lunch and a TS for dinner. I find though that really DD and I can share many of the QS meals as they are really big. There are really many ways to cut back if needed. Check out the menus on all ears as well so that you can have a plan before you go.
 
I have not staid onsight but how we saved money was by taking a small soft sided cooler. We filled it with premade sandwhiches, frozen water/juice (this saved us a ton), took small pacakges of crackers/pretzels etc. We would eat a big breakfast before we left, took lunch with us, and then shared meals at dinner time. I usually got one kids meal shared for kids and huby and I split something. We only did one character meal. That is how we saved.
 
we spent $75.00 a day 2 kids and 2 adults we are going back this summer . how do you save on food we always share a drink at the park and when at the resort we use our refill cup . this is how we eat breakfast at resort i get a packaged danish im not a breakfast person . husband and kids get the mickey waffles every day of out trip. lunch we eat abig snack chili cheese fries or turkey leg we share plus buy drink. dinner we eat at park we each get a meal. then when we go back to the room after the park closes we eat again at our resort we stay at value movie . would i be better off with the magic your way meal plan i never buy it cause we do not need all the stuff it comes with we just need food. im not sure why but we eat none stop when on vacation . is it cause we are on the go all day 7 days in a row. well if you can tell me how to save i would like to hear it thanks


You said "dinner we eat at park we each get a meal. then when we go back to the room after the park closes we eat again at our resort" Why would you eat dinner at the park then eat a meal again back at your resort?

Sounds to me like you would prob do well with the quick service dining plan. That would give you 2 QS meals, 2 snacks and a free refillable mug...which last time I checked it was 35.99 per day for adults and children aged 10 and over. 11.99 for children ages 3-9.

If your main objective is to save money...if 75 a day is too much to spend on food try having the husband and kids SKIP getting the Mickey waffles every day. Each breakfast in your room.
 
Breakfast in the room. You could bring cereal, granola bars, bananas, bagels, peanut butter. They sell milk in the gift shop. Not only saves $$ but saves time too!

I have to say though that $75 a day for 4 people isn't bad.
 
We ate breakfast in the room and we shared meals. DH and I have found that we eat meals that end up having half of everything thrown away. So, we order one meal and then, later share a little snacky that is a whole lot cheaper than a meal! Honestly, though, I don't think 75 dollars for four is bad! DH and I were averaging 60 bucks a day for two. We do like the table service, though!
 
Something doesn't add up here. You spend $75 per day for 4 people (which is under $19 per person per day), and you eat non-stop? One of three things has to be true:
1.) You aren't eating as much as you think you are;
2.) You are spending way more than $18.75 per person per day; or
3.) You are doing remarkably well and really can't expect to do much more trimming of the food budget.

(Choices 1 and 3 are not mutually exclusive.)
Unless you go grocery shopping and eat all meals from store-bought food, you really can't do better than what you are doing now. It's hard to imagine any family of four eating 2 QS meals each day for less than $50 even if you share. Toss in store-bought breakfast foods and some extra hydration at the parks and you are darn close to $70 per day. I think you are already at the bare minimum. And besides, if trimming the vacation budget is necessary for you, WDW has many more places where you can cut back. Going down from $75 per day to $60 per day for food is largely invisible in the grand scheme of a Disney vacation.
 
well i think its bad cause i spend 100 a week on food at home so 75 a day seems a lot . the reason we dinner at 4pm and then we eat again at 11pm when we get back to the value movie resort . its what we have been doing every year im just wanted advice so thanks everyone.
 
well il give an example
breakfast i get a danish or toast
kids and husband get mickey waffle
lunch we each get a sandwich or slice pizza at the fast food court in park
dinner another food court meal at park my chicken dish at epcot was12 bucks then we share a meal at 11pm when we get back to resort . i guess we are doing good but its a lot when i do not eat 75 bucks a day at home




Something doesn't add up here. You spend $75 per day for 4 people (which is under $19 per person per day), and you eat non-stop? One of three things has to be true:
1.) You aren't eating as much as you think you are;
2.) You are spending way more than $18.75 per person per day; or
3.) You are doing remarkably well and really can't expect to do much more trimming of the food budget.

(Choices 1 and 3 are not mutually exclusive.)
Unless you go grocery shopping and eat all meals from store-bought food, you really can't do better than what you are doing now. It's hard to imagine any family of four eating 2 QS meals each day for less than $50 even if you share. Toss in store-bought breakfast foods and some extra hydration at the parks and you are darn close to $70 per day. I think you are already at the bare minimum. And besides, if trimming the vacation budget is necessary for you, WDW has many more places where you can cut back. Going down from $75 per day to $60 per day for food is largely invisible in the grand scheme of a Disney vacation.
 
Unfortunately you cannot compare your at home grocery bill to food at Disney as you are at a Theme Park. Even if you go to a local fair at home I am sure it is expensive to feed your family.

Think of it more like if you were to eat out 3 or 4 times a day at home. I don't think I could eat out feeding my family of 3 for $75.00.

We can never eat breakfast out for less than $20.00 and lunch is hard unless we all order off the $ menu at McDonalds.

I would think that you could do Garden Grocer and bring some items from home and save on breakfast, snacks and late night eating. This would mean that you could switch to just eating 2 CS a day.

We try to eat as close to our normal time as we do at home. That means that we eat dinner either in the park or resort by 6:00 and then might only have a snack later, but usually we don't. I also like to keep DD to a regular bed time though as she just does better. We also prefer to do rope drops as you can just get toooo much more done.

I hope you can figure out a good balance that works for your family.
 
well i think its bad cause i spend 100 a week on food at home so 75 a day seems a lot . the reason we dinner at 4pm and then we eat again at 11pm when we get back to the value movie resort . its what we have been doing every year im just wanted advice so thanks everyone.


Well unless you're spending $100/week at home eating out 3x a day, then you can't compare. Go eat out 3x a day at home and THEN compare what you spend to $75/day at Disney. You have to be realistic here. You're feeding FOUR people three meals a day, and you're buying ALL of it. At Disney World.

If you want to spend less, you buy less food. That's it. No one needs a meal at 11:00pm. You could cut that out and just go to bed instead. And bring a box of cereal. There ya go.
 
I have found that eating out is getting more expensive- EVERYWHERE.

I see you have 3 options.

1. keep doing what you are doing $75 is pretty good for a family of 4.
2. Do QSDP for a few dollars more get mugs (not sure if you included the cost in your 75, but you sounded like you get them) this would give you more food, more snacks and probably more freedom
3. Bring groceries and eat more in the room (sandwiches, breakfast) This is probably the only way to save money considering where you are.

GL
 


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