How much do you spend on food?

[jenseib]

We have been going to Disney for that few years and doing the dining plan, so we never have a thought about how much food is.
Now that I'm trying to do a budget trip go to Universal, I am trying to get an idea of how much we would spend if we went.
It would be 3 of us (1 child, 5), for 5 nights (thurs afternoon to Early Tues. morning) Woth Disney it wasa bout 100 or so a day for hte dining plan and we got a snack and a counter service and a table service each day. We actually had more than we could possilbe eat.
If we go to Universal, we will stay off site, so I figure we can hit some I-drive restaurants, but I would like to try some at Universal if possible, and I'm sure we'll get a CS each day. The hotel I'm looking at has a continental breakfast too. So most likely DD and I will share a CS when we can.
And try for 1 big meal a day.
So long story short...what do you budget per day for food?

 

[ky07]

We have been going to Disney for that few years and doing the dining plan, so we never have a thought about how much food is.
Now that I'm trying to do a budget trip go to Universal, I am trying to get an idea of how much we would spend if we went.
It would be 3 of us (1 child, 5), for 5 nights (thurs afternoon to Early Tues. morning) Woth Disney it wasa bout 100 or so a day for hte dining plan and we got a snack and a counter service and a table service each day. We actually had more than we could possilbe eat.
If we go to Universal, we will stay off site, so I figure we can hit some I-drive restaurants, but I would like to try some at Universal if possible, and I'm sure we'll get a CS each day. The hotel I'm looking at has a continental breakfast too. So most likely DD and I will share a CS when we can.
And try for 1 big meal a day.
So long story short...what do you budget per day for food?

We are a family of 4 and whether onsite or off I always did a budget of $150.00 a day and we eat at the parks and citywalk and I also use the same amount when we stay onsite and even did that budget last year with me and DW only trip and we stayed at RPR and never went offsite.
always found when we stick with that amount for our vacations we come home with money left over.
Hope this helps

 

[jenseib]

Thanks, that does help. I was thinking along 100 a day, but yes some days I don't think it will be enough.

 

[Purseval]

You could live on $10/day if you had to but you're already planning on CityWalk and CS. That's why it's hard to plan a budget for other people when you don't know what their idea of a "budget" really is.

 

[donaldduck352]

We are a family of 4 and whether onsite or off I always did a budget of $150.00 a day and we eat at the parks and citywalk and I also use the same amount when we stay onsite and even did that budget last year with me and DW only trip and we stayed at RPR and never went offsite.
always found when we stick with that amount for our vacations we come home with money left over.
Hope this helps

We do the same budget.We never went over and had extra money.And thats eating at the best restruants.

Alot depends on how much beer I drink!!!!

 

[ky07]

We do the same budget.We never went over and had extra money.And thats eating at the best restruants.

Alot depends on how much beer I drink!!!!

Or how many Hurricanes my Dw drinks

 

[Mad Hattered]

Alot depends on how much beer I drink!!!!

Ditto!

 

[Purseval]

We do the same budget.We never went over and had extra money.And thats eating at the best restruants.

Alot depends on how much beer I drink!!!!

We almost never eat at the "best restaurants" and I can name a certain Proud Redhead who offered to buy me a beer and I wouldn't even take it for free We just never got in the habit of eating or drinking at the parks. When you think about it, 1 meal not eaten at a CityWalk restaurant can pay for 1 day in a 3-star hotel. 2 Beers can pay for a massive Golden Corral pigout. It's not that we can't afford it it's just not something we do.

 

[diskids2]

When we go, we budget way too much for food and we spend way too much for food. The good thing about the dining plan was it budgeted us!

For our summer trip my whole family is on board with trying to cut back on the food expenses. I had to tell my kids (19 and 15...so they are old now) that we would not even go if we couldn't get the food budget down. Last year we were on the dining plan, but the year before we spent about $200 a day on food And the bad thing is much of it is wasted.

This trip I told them that we would eat where we liked eating and they could get expensive menu choices, but that we all didn't have to order an appetizer per person and not eat our meal and then order dessert and two hours later get a snack somewhere....it gets crazy....we don't eat like that at home so let's not go overboard on vacation! At least to a limit.

I'd love to see us spend about $150 per day.

 

[Darcy03231]

When I went last April it was me, DD (18) and DS (16). I found we averaged about $100-$125/day on food, drinks, snacks. We did eat almost every meal at a table service restaurant (NBA City, Bubba Gumps, Margaritaville (several times), Mythos, The Kitchen, etc.). We also didn't eat breakfast in the parks/hotel, except for one morning. We aren't big breakfast eaters so I brought a collapsible cooler and did a grocery run. I got cereal, yogurt, fruit, and milk, along with some breakfast bars, pop tarts and snacks.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Or how many Hurricanes my Dw drinks

2-for-1 Hurricanes on Tuesdays

 

[ky07]

2-for-1 Hurricanes on Tuesdays

Sounds good but DW tried one at Jakes at RPR that about knocked her socks off

 

[macraven]

We almost never eat at the "best restaurants" and I can name a certain Proud Redhead who offered to buy me a beer and I wouldn't even take it for free We just never got in the habit of eating or drinking at the parks. When you think about it, 1 meal not eaten at a CityWalk restaurant can pay for 1 day in a 3-star hotel. 2 Beers can pay for a massive Golden Corral pigout. It's not that we can't afford it it's just not something we do.

if you change your mind, the offer is still on..............



i stay onsite and spend under $32 a day for food and beverage.

 

[Coach81]

Based on what you are saying.. I'd plan for about $65.00 to $75.00 per day..

Good luck and have a great time!!

 

[kohlby]

We eat breakfast in our room with food we bring. We stick to CS and sometimes eat off-site at a kid-friendly restaurant, like Sweet Tomatoes. Doing this, we're no more than $20 a day per adult. So $40 for the two adults. And $15 for the 6 year old, $10 for the nearly 4 year old, and $0 for the baby who just eats a few bites of what I'm eating. So, the grand total is $65 for a family of five with three young kids for us. We'll likely spend even less.

*The exception for us is that we have Dining with Shamu at Sea World planned so that will be our splurge!

 

[Kath2003]

2 adults and generally we budget $60/day. Realistically we spend neaerer $40-50.

 

[ang]

thanks for posting this ....I'm trying to plan our first vacation at Universal and had no idea how to budget...we are cs kind of people not big on over price restaurants....does anyone no where to find groceries stores or a super walmart at near universal?

 

[NJR]

For those who are interested... we were there last week, and one of our new "favorites" is the express breakfast at Pastamore. For $6.99 ($4.99 for a child), you get a nice plate of scrambled eggs (at least 2 eggs worth), real sliced potatoes fried with onions (ie not just tater-tots), a croissant, and either coffee or OJ. After a solid breakfast like that, we were fine to have a light lunch, either granola bars and fruit, or a share a CS meal in the park. We were very pleased with the value!