How much is enough?

[Beauty-The Beast]

Hi All.

Well I'm trying to figure out how much to budget for meals. Trip is Nov. 15 through the 22nd.
We are driving down. I am taking sandwiches, and snacks for the trip down, figuring we'll stop for dinner and probably breakfast in the morning of the 16th. I have order 10 Q&C vouchers for our 4 days at the park. So far this is how I have my itinery set up.
We should arrive Sat. the 16th. towards afternoon, maybe sooner. So I'm not planning anything for that evening(at least not WDW. We are staying offsite, DH, myself and our two teenage DD. After a 16 hr drive, we will eat in the room. Bringing already prepared dinner from home, then were looking at going over to the Town Mall. We're staying at the Comfort Suites right by there. They have Classic Car Cruises every Saturday night and we enjoy those so that will take care of Saturday.

Comfort Suites has a complimentary continential breakfast every morning and we plan on taking advantage of that And then off to the parks early.

Sunday, I have planned starting out at Epcot. I've tried to miss the early opens on all the parks. Don't know if we'll hop that day or not, but I want to be able to see Illuminations that night.

Monday, I'm looking at starting at MK
Tuesday were doing Ak, and then the Arabian Nights Dinner Show
Wednesday will be MGM.

I guess without continuing to babble on, my question is how much should I alot for the four of us for meals. I'm also bring enough food to eat at least one or two more dinners in our room.

We plan on doing B&C on the day we go to Epcot. The girls are really looking forward to a KS.

Suggestions are appreciated. Great Site. Glad I found it.

16 days and counting.

 

[travelitis]

Start by looking at the menus at www.wdwig.com. That can help you decide if you want to eat counter service, a picnic, or full service.

 

[Local_Girl]

Hi Beauty-The Beast!

I agree with Travelitis--check the menus on Deb Will's site to get an idea of not only costs, but also what the different parks and resorts have to offer. My own plans are similar to yours--we will have all breakfasts at our resort before leaving for the day, several picnic lunches, and some dinners back at the resort as well. I'm trying to "spread out" the more expensive dining experiences for us, with a dinner PS at Chef Mickey at the beginning of the trip, and a PS at 'Ohana on our last night there. In between, we may do another sit-down dinner or lunch, but will primarily do counter service meals when it's inconvenient to get back to the resort. I'm not adverse to a little cooking on vacation and we'll be in a villa with a kitchen.

You'll get a wide spectrum of answers on this board regarding how much to budget per person per day--many families of about 4 seem to go with the $100/day figure, but with 2 teens, it may be higher. Some days will be more, some less, usually it evens out. I will say that we plan on spending MUCH less than $100/day for meals (with perhaps the exception of the days we do CM and 'Ohana). And don't forget to figure in the special snacks you might want like Mickey Bars and Dole Whips! Good Luck and have a great trip!