How much do you budget

[allboysmom77]

I'm trying to be very prepared for how much our Oct trip will cost. We are going for 6 night and 5 park days. I know there is a wide range of food options, but what do you budget for spending for the week (food, stuff, etc.)?
We have 3 kids (4,7,10) and 2 adults.

I looked at menus and came up with about $2400 for meals, taxes, and tips. This sounds really high to me. But that included 9 TS ,4 QS and 2 snacks per day (which dh thinks is on the high side.)
I'm thinking about cutting back on something - maybe bringing in snacks.
I have budgeted and planned to have this in cash before we leave, I'm torn between enjoying a Disney vacation - we don't go every year - maybe every 3-4 years and I think my kids are a perfect age for characters etc. and the sticker shock of the trip.
We do about $50 per kid in a gift card to spend how they want and I'm sure we will do something like a t-shirt or something per kid.
so food and park extras is about $2700.

 

[BaseballMoM2007]

I have $1200 budgeted for 3 oop TS meals, drinks and tips for 8 TS Meals using the dining plan, and extra drinks etc for a family of 4. So I don't think 2700 is out of the questions paying completely out of pocket.

 

[Princess Mulan]

I'm trying to be very prepared for how much our Oct trip will cost. We are going for 6 night and 5 park days. I know there is a wide range of food options, but what do you budget for spending for the week (food, stuff, etc.)?
We have 3 kids (4,7,10) and 2 adults.

I looked at menus and came up with about $2400 for meals, taxes, and tips. This sounds really high to me. But that included 9 TS ,4 QS and 2 snacks per day (which dh thinks is on the high side.)
I'm thinking about cutting back on something - maybe bringing in snacks.
I have budgeted and planned to have this in cash before we leave, I'm torn between enjoying a Disney vacation - we don't go every year - maybe every 3-4 years and I think my kids are a perfect age for characters etc. and the sticker shock of the trip.
We do about $50 per kid in a gift card to spend how they want and I'm sure we will do something like a t-shirt or something per kid.
so food and park extras is about $2700.

Your budgeted amount works out to $80 per person per night. That sounds like an ample amount to me, especially considering your children's ages. Our trips average less than $70 per adult per night, and that amount covers signature dining, counter service and snacks/drinks every day, including tips. It also includes snacks and drinks for the room. We do not deprive ourselves and order whatever we want, so I would guess that $2,400 for meals, taxes and tips will actually leave you with some extra cash.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I would keep in mind what time of year you are going/weather. We have done trips where we really don't need extra snacks/cold drinks because the weather is temperate. I just went to Disney a couple weeks ago with my two sons (17 and 10) and it was HOT so we bought way more bottled water and ice cream treats than we typically would. Yes, we could have planned better and brought along our own water bottles--but just something to consider.

 

[wdwthanksgiving]

9 TS seems like a lot for 6 nights and 5 days - perhaps cut back to a few more QS (for dinner, Contempo has a nice selection of food and it is very reasonable and on the monorail..also you can go to Ft. Wilderness and order pizza and salad and sit at the picnic table on the porch of Trail's End restaurant - very reasonably priced and the kids enjoyed it). What resort are you staying in and will you have a car? Most of the hotels have fridges so we have breakfast in the room - cereal, milk, muffins, etc...we take snacks with us and you can get free water in cups anywhere in the parks.

 

[Tozzie]

I'm trying to be very prepared for how much our Oct trip will cost. We are going for 6 night and 5 park days. I know there is a wide range of food options, but what do you budget for spending for the week (food, stuff, etc.)?
We have 3 kids (4,7,10) and 2 adults.

I looked at menus and came up with about $2400 for meals, taxes, and tips. This sounds really high to me. But that included 9 TS ,4 QS and 2 snacks per day (which dh thinks is on the high side.)
I'm thinking about cutting back on something - maybe bringing in snacks.
I have budgeted and planned to have this in cash before we leave, I'm torn between enjoying a Disney vacation - we don't go every year - maybe every 3-4 years and I think my kids are a perfect age for characters etc. and the sticker shock of the trip.
We do about $50 per kid in a gift card to spend how they want and I'm sure we will do something like a t-shirt or something per kid.
so food and park extras is about $2700.

Way too many Table Service for the number of days you are going. October is also Food and wine and you may want to try stuff from the booths instead of a table service meal. If you want to try the booths the regular quick service restaurants are open if your kids don't like the booths.

 

[gillep]

Personally, that would be way too many TS meals for me, as I find October to still be quite hot, and that greatly depresses my appetite. However, for the number of people that you have, and the number/type of meals that you selected, I think that your budget is pretty reasonable and maybe on the high end especially if you decide to share meals (where it is allowed), or find that you don't need to snack so much due to the amount that you are eating at your TS and QS meals.

 

[gwbaierl]

Totally agree with others 9, TS is way too much. Go more to QS there are plenty of options for them. I can give you a real cost number from our last trip (Dec.2015) for 6 days. Total for DW and I was $675. This included 5 TS, QS for lunch every day, QS for some suppers, snacks,etc. Had breakfast in room. This cost is in line with other trips. Check out allears.net menus that will help you for prices. In many cases meals can be shared. An example is for your young ones you could order an adult burger and fries and split it. Cost doing that is less then a child meal Portions at WDW are big.

 

[Chrelaine]

I usually budget $200/day for food for our family of 3. That works out to $67 per person, per day. We like table service dinners. I find that some days we are over, but some days we are under so it generally comes out even in the end. I don't really budget for shopping so I am not much help there. We just charge what we want and pay it off when we get home.
I do agree with prior posts that say you may be planning too many TS, but only you know how your family likes to eat on vacation. I think you'll find that you've over budgeted compared to what you will actually find yourselves eating...but isn't that the ideal scenario? Better to over budget than to not have enough!

 

[TwoMisfits]

For what you wanted, 9TS with many character buffets with 3 Disney adults and 2 kids, you probably have the right budget, BUT I'm gonna agree with PPers...you have WAY too many TS meals planned for only 5 park days. I'd cut down to 5 TS meals max (and probably more likely 3 TS) and fill in with CS and even brought in snacks. You could probably drop your budget by 1/3 or more with that plan and you'd get way more park time and way more enjoyment out of the meals you do plan (b/c you could savor them and not rush them and not be too full to enjoy them)...

 

[Jessiemendez1]

I'm trying to be very prepared for how much our Oct trip will cost. We are going for 6 night and 5 park days. I know there is a wide range of food options, but what do you budget for spending for the week (food, stuff, etc.)?
We have 3 kids (4,7,10) and 2 adults.

I looked at menus and came up with about $2400 for meals, taxes, and tips. This sounds really high to me. But that included 9 TS ,4 QS and 2 snacks per day (which dh thinks is on the high side.)
I'm thinking about cutting back on something - maybe bringing in snacks.
I have budgeted and planned to have this in cash before we leave, I'm torn between enjoying a Disney vacation - we don't go every year - maybe every 3-4 years and I think my kids are a perfect age for characters etc. and the sticker shock of the trip.
We do about $50 per kid in a gift card to spend how they want and I'm sure we will do something like a t-shirt or something per kid.
so food and park extras is about $2700.

We do a lot of dining while in WDW, but one thing I've learned is that more than 1 TS a day is a lot. Especially with kids. The whole dining experience can be as much as 2 hours by the time you get there, get seated and eat. I really overestimated food cost our first time. And the desserts are overkill. I'd bring some snacks. And we typically only buy 1 snack per day per person. It's so hot, no one wants to eat.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Well...I don't think 9 is too much? If you mean breakfast and dinner. That's how I do it. But then I would eat maybe two of those quick service.

I think it's just that you're budgeting for too much food in general. Especially during food and wine.

 

[FrancoFun]

We have 5 park days (6 nights) and have 6 TS meals planned (2 breakfasts, 4 suppers) and along with snacks and sharing some QS meals, we are budgeting close to $1000 for the trip. We have two actual adults and a 10yo who eats more than I do.

 

[Mommabearkiki]

Not sure if you are staying on site, but if so it may be worth looking into the deluxe dining plan. At $106/adult and $40/kid (these may not be exact numbers but are very close) it would come out to $400/day or $2000 for your trip (sans tips). That would allow your family the options to have up to 15 table service meals and/or a few signature. Plus it would give you 50 snack credits (2 per night per person - so 5 people x 5 nights x 2 snacks per night = 50 snacks)

We do deluxe dining a lot now because of the value it offers for our foodie family. We love 2 table service meals a day!! Just a thought

Sorry. Editing because I just saw its SIX nights and 5 days. I'm sorry. It would increase the cost to $2400 - 18 meal credits per person and 60 snacks (I think, at least)