how much each day?

[happykell]

how much do you usually spend each day? we're trying to figure out what to budget for. i've read $100 a day for food, but what other things are there? i plan on bringing a stroller and giving the kids their own spending money. also, ordering from albertsons...does that help cut down the $100/day?

 

[Vacation Dad]

It depends on several things including the number of people and their ages. The one item you can really save on if you want is food. We stay at the Best Western Park Place Inn right across the street, but there are several other hotels that can work just as well. We eat the continental breakfast that is included, and we head back to the hotel for lunch and a break. We bring plenty of snacks into the park with us, but we do still get a few snacks through the day and we do usually eat dinner in the park. Dinner was usually something quick and easy such as a hamburger, chicken strips etc., we didn’t really go for many meals at one of the service restaurants as that cut into our ride time too much! We probably spent about $70 - $80 a day doing it this way, and that is for a family with 3 teenagers.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Depends on how many people there are really. There is only 3 of us, and the only time we spend that much is if we have an expensive sit down meal. We can usually get away with spending $60-70 a day on food. We bring things for breakfast (cereal, milk, muffins, fruit) to keep in our room. Along with other snack foods. That helps a lot. Then we'll do most of our meals either offsite (Mimi's, McDonalds ect..) or grab counter service. Plus a yummy snack in the park!

I plan for 2-3 sit down meals. Be it Blue Bayou, ESPN Zone, Rainforest Cafe, or Character meals. On those days we easily go over the $100 mark on food. So we don't do those every day of the trip, that's for sure!

 

[tortugaverde]

Our hotel had a good breakfast that was included... so we ate there for breakfast. We bought sandwich stuff and snacks for the week at a grocery store... about 80 dollars for the week. Then our family of 4 spent about $25 dollars per night on dinner. We ordered pizza from dominoes on Tuesday (2 for Tuesday deal), frequented IHOP (kids eat free after 4) and Red Robin. We only drink water at dinner... which can save over 5 dollars per meal! We did do two "special" dinners one at Goofy's kitchen and one at the Rainforest Cafe... which were obviously more. But Goofy's was prepaid and at the Rainforest we spent about 35.00 or so.

We only bought two items in the park... box apple juice for the kids one day in Toontown. 1.89 per box. EEEK! I bought a six pack the next day at Target for 1.75.

 

[pippi]

I was planning on bringing those small cereal boxes from home but we are renting a car so I can actually buy those things. We are staying at a hotel that has free continental breakfast so we won't need the cereal boxes then. We're staying in La Jolla for a few days before Anaheim, where is the best place to go food shopping then and cut down on costs?
Pippi

 

[mystic_path]

Yeah I would say $100 a day for food is about accurate. Think about this... if there are 2 adults at dinner time that can run you about $30 with beverages. Add on a few kids which you pay roughly $8.00 with beverages. If you stop somewhere to grab a hot dog for lunch your looking at about $30 for everyone. So yeah all together $100 is about accurate.

I would suggest bringing your own snack foods and drinks into the park, as well as taking advantage of the continental breakfasts if your hotel offers it. That will definately save you money.

 

[bonita_babe232]

I think we paid around $40-$50 for a meal in the park for 3 adults and 2 kids... but it depends what you eat! We would have a later lunch and then have dinner at the resturant beside the hotel at the end of the night... but it all depends one where your eating and what you eating... Disneyland cost $$$ but there are lots of places across the street that are alittle less... i would budget around 100, maybe alittle more depending on size of family...... and if you go over one day under then next you'll be fine.... If you have a rent a car go to walmart thats what we do and get juice boxes, snack stuff and microwave foods and you can eat that at the hotel and save on drinks and snacks in the park!

 

[bumbershoot]

happykell, have you checked out the menus online?

allears.net has them, as does dlresortinfo dotcom.

Many people find it easy to share an adult sized meal, and many find a kid's meal (such as the bean/cheese burrito meal at Rancho del Zocalo, or the penne pasta meal at Plaza Inn) more than enough for an adult. Both of those things reduce the cost, if they satisfy the people in your group.

You can bring water, or even just get cups of ice water from the restaurants, even if you don't buy anything else. There are even places to re-fill a water bottle (one I can think of is inside the Rancho del Zocalo seating area, there's a faucet/fountain thing on the "cart" that has the salsa and napkins).

For our family (hubby and I aren't thin by any means, but we also aren't big eaters) we can share meals, I can get buy with a kid's meal easily, and we have a 3 year old who varies...we're also vegetarian so things like prime rib aren't on our menus or pulling on our pocketbooks...I budgeted $100 a day for everything on our last trip and we didn't even hit that mark.

 

[happykell]

thanks for all the replies. it'll be me and my hubby, and 3 kids...5, 3, and 9 months. i'm thinking with grocery store snacks and sharing some meals, $100 should be a good number.

 

[Amy&Dan]

My kids are 11 and 13 and we spend an average of no more than $100 a day. Some days we come quite a bit under that but on the days we do a character meal then it jumps up.

Meal sharing at almost all of the counter service places helps and is actually a necessity given the enormous portions. What can really drive up your meals is drinks. We always buy water bottles at a grocery store, in the park they are $3 each. I also buy my kids capri sun or juice boxes (they don't get those at home so they are a treat) and they drink that as opposed to soda. And Dh and I share a soda. That can save us about $7.50 per cs meal doing all that.

Also the character meals give a 10% AAA discount. So if you belong to AAA, be sure and show them that, it helps.

I think you will be fine to come in on that budget! My kids used to not like to share a meal but then I told them that would leave them room for an ice cream or churros later and they were fine to share. They never could have eaten their own anyway!

 

[Monkey Monkey]

With your kids that young, I think $100/day will be generous. When I make daytrips up to DL with my almost-3 year old, I bring lots of snacks and a few bottles of water, and eat breakfast before we go or on the way.

My son is a BIG eater, and I have had days where we've only spent around $20 on food and beverages by bringing in our own.

If you hit the parks in the morning and leave mid-day to rest, you can save money on lunch by eating outside the park or having sandwiches in your hotel room, and then have a light dinner when you hit the parks in the evening.