How much should I budget for food?

[DisneyDreamer0610]

Hello everyone! It has been some time since I have been on here! Glad to be back!

We are going and staying off property this year! Since Disney isn't doing the dining plan and we have to pay for food alacart, we decided we weren't getting much "added value" so we are renting a house close to Disney, but...we have not had to budget for food in years SO...any advice on how much to budget for a family of 5 - My husband, myself, son - 18, son - 17, daughter - 11, going May 28-June 5th. Thank you for any ideas and suggestions you have!

 

[Darcy03231]

A lot depends on how you plan on eating. Are you doing your own meals at the house or eating out for every meal?

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

If you plan on eating a lot of meals/drinking alcohol/snacking at the parks and on Disney property then I would just budget the cost of whatever meal plan you would have bought for your family on a per day basis. Obviously, cooking at home or eating offsite will cost a lot less but it's always nice to have money left over.

 

[DisneyDreamer0610]

A lot depends on how you plan on eating. Are you doing your own meals at the house or eating out for every meal?

We plan to eat breakfast at the house and lunch in parks, and maybe dinner in park or off property at restaurant maybe disney springs ?

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We made our own dining plan. In the MDE you can go like you are ordering food. Pick out what you think you will spend on lunch etc. I found that we spend differently at each park. At MK we tend to buy more QS food than we do at AK. Everyone is diffrent so it's hard to put a number on it... although we tend to spend about 100 each a day for the adults... we bought Disney and landrys giftcards at Sam's club and saved some money

 

[QueenIsabella]

If you have some idea of which restaurants you'll go to, check out the menus on All Ears to get an idea of prices.

Beyond that, it really can be all over the map--do you want simple stuff, like burgers or subs? An offsite seafood buffet? The price would be very different. On the good side, you're spoiled for choice on options.

In addition, you could consider some very simple dinners at the house--frozen meatballs with jarred sauce and pasta, burgers (most houses have grills) pre-cooked chicken strips over a Caesar salad mix--that type of thing. I understand that a lot of people don't want to cook at all on vacation--and I totally get that--but when we've rented a house in Orlando, my kids were much more interested in a simple meal, chilling by the pool, versus going out for a dinner. And of course, you could get pizza or something else delivered.

In any event, I would be generous in budgeting--have money for splurges, and maybe even money for takeout pizza on the day you get back home.

 

[TwoMisfits]

For my 10 day trip in a condo (and I've got 6, with the 4 kids close to your 3 - 1 of mine is still a child, but 5 adults), I'm budgeting $350 for groceries/in-room beer for spouse and $1250 for eating out for $1600 for the trip.

I have plans to eat at Morimoto's (I have a D+ card to use, but I still "budget" the expense as is) family style dinner for $250.
I also have plans to eat lunch/dinner at Mythos ($150), Cowfish ($150), Lombard's Seafood Grille ($150), and Vivo Italian Kitchen ($150) (We will have an AP to have a discount at each site).

My sister-in-law is hosting us at her beach house on the eastern shore, so all meals are on her that day. My brother is taking us for a day to Sea World or Busch Gardens using his free annual passes, so I'm planning $150 in CS that day (I figure it might be a long day, so I'm planning 1 CS and a bunch of snacks or 2 CS...

I've got $100 for Universal park snacks or a small CS or 2 (we have 4 days in Universal - thus the 4 sit down meals there) and 2 meals in town on happy hour deals or Groupons or takeout for $75/each.

The overall plan for groceries is 10 in-room breakfasts, 6 in-room or brought lunches (with 4 lunches out or with family), and 3-4 in-room dinners (with 5-6 dinners out or with family).

Last trip, when I had no allergies or illness, we ate 1.5 meals/day out. This time, I'm planning 1 meal out (with a fun snack purchase/day) b/c we find that works best for me.

PS - We don't do breakfasts out b/c having a dairy and tree nut allergy is death to a breakfast menu. It becomes such a sad experience for my ordering that my kids would rather we cook the in room bacon or french toast for me. In fact, we may get the vegan donuts from Universal and make our donut fresh toast if I find out they are also tree nut free...

 

[LovesTimone]

Budgeting for food, drinks, snacks, and adult beverages is difficult for me... as you never know what you will be doing, or where you might be at, and if you decide to go earlier or stay later because your having such a good time...Change of plans that happen...

Plus how does your family normally eat... big eaters, constant grazers, picky...

We budget very generously for food, drinks, snacks, and adult beverages, by per person per day... 150.00 to 200.00 a day, which is seems like alot but when a character breakfast is 100.00 plus tip for 2 adults... it goes fast... or dinner out is pushing 150.00 to 200.00+ with adult beverages for 2 adults... splurging on a bottle of wine... spring for dessert...lots of yummy ways to run up that bill...

Since you are renting a vacation house... you have a full kitchen to use which is so nice...plus a car... you can get what you need as you go...
If you have to throw away food from the vacation house than that's really a huge waste of money...

I would get stuff for the house to start with for like 3 days at a time... you can make adjustment as you go... and stop to pick up more food as you go...

Breakfast foods, and keep it simple, frozen waffles, pop tarts, maybe scrambled eggs and toast, or make your own breakfast sandwiches, so you can eat in the car, on the run... Bottled water, soda, or other drinks, then some snacks... something for late night munchies...

You can pick up things like Publix chicken and sides which are very good, or Publix subs are really good, and you can get them made to order. Get some chicken tenders, and couple bags of lettuce, tomatoes, some shredded cheese, bottled dressing and you got a chicken tender salad... Plus Publix has pre-made meals, that you can heat and eat...
Hit somewhere like Olive Garden and get a pan of baked spaghetti or lasagna or chicken parma, which comes with salad and bread-sticks...
Pizza, and Chinese on the way back to the house in the evenings...

 

[QueenIsabella]

For my 10 day trip in a condo (and I've got 6, with the 4 kids close to your 3 - 1 of mine is still a child, but 5 adults), I'm budgeting $350 for groceries/in-room beer for spouse and $1250 for eating out for $1600 for the trip.

I have plans to eat at Morimoto's (I have a D+ card to use, but I still "budget" the expense as is) family style dinner for $250.
I also have plans to eat lunch/dinner at Mythos ($150), Cowfish ($150), Lombard's Seafood Grille ($150), and Vivo Italian Kitchen ($150) (We will have an AP to have a discount at each site).

My sister-in-law is hosting us at her beach house on the eastern shore, so all meals are on her that day. My brother is taking us for a day to Sea World or Busch Gardens using his free annual passes, so I'm planning $150 in CS that day (I figure it might be a long day, so I'm planning 1 CS and a bunch of snacks or 2 CS...

I've got $100 for Universal park snacks or a small CS or 2 (we have 4 days in Universal - thus the 4 sit down meals there) and 2 meals in town on happy hour deals or Groupons or takeout for $75/each.

The overall plan for groceries is 10 in-room breakfasts, 6 in-room or brought lunches (with 4 lunches out or with family), and 3-4 in-room dinners (with 5-6 dinners out or with family).

Last trip, when I had no allergies or illness, we ate 1.5 meals/day out. This time, I'm planning 1 meal out (with a fun snack purchase/day) b/c we find that works best for me.

PS - We don't do breakfasts out b/c having a dairy and tree nut allergy is death to a breakfast menu. It becomes such a sad experience for my ordering that my kids would rather we cook the in room bacon or french toast for me. In fact, we may get the vegan donuts from Universal and make our donut fresh toast if I find out they are also tree nut free...

If you go to Citywalk, Voodoo Donuts is an absolute MUST! They're expensive, but amazing. No idea on the allergy thing, though. We even brought home an actual "voodoo" donut for my older son, who didn't go with us to Universal. They probably have some plainer flavors that could make good french toast.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

I would also look into DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats type delivery for dinner in the evenings at the condo. It is nice to be able have a "real" meal but not having to worry about cooking. It is more expensive than cooking yourself but still cheaper than going out since you can skip the drinks and all the add ons that seem to creep on the bill when dining out. You can have beer and wine delivered with a grocery order or when you stop to buy breakfast foods from the grocery. If you want hard liquor delivered you can try drizzly. Other option is to scope out what is close by the condo and call in an order for pick up when leaving the park.

 

[StuckInKS]

Hello everyone! It has been some time since I have been on here! Glad to be back!

We are going and staying off property this year! Since Disney isn't doing the dining plan and we have to pay for food alacart, we decided we weren't getting much "added value" so we are renting a house close to Disney, but...we have not had to budget for food in years SO...any advice on how much to budget for a family of 5 - My husband, myself, son - 18, son - 17, daughter - 11, going May 28-June 5th. Thank you for any ideas and suggestions you have!

Are you planning to eat mostly at the parks or are you going to cook since you are in a condo? We went last week and spent about $300/day on food with 2A/5C (kids ages 17, 16, 13, 10 & 9). All of the kids wanted adult meals, so that is for 14 adults QS + 14 snacks per day, which is a little more than you will need. I would budget $15 per QS meal and $7 per snack.

 

[Darcy03231]

So much depends on how your family likes to eat and what. If you plan to do mostly QS meals I agree with the PP to plan $15/adult and $10/child. Snacks $5-$7. If you plan to do TS meals I would plan $35/adult and $20/child. Having said that, DH and I can rack up well over $150 on just the two of us in a nice restaurant if we get a more expensive item, alcoholic beverages, etc. For TS meals I would look at the menus for places you think you might eat at and figure it out from there.

 

[Merlin's Magic]

We planned out by the restaurants we planned to go to. By looking at the meals and seeing what we gravitated to, I was able to budget approximates for meal & tip (where applicable). Some of the table service meals came out to about $50/person, when factoring in a possible glass of wine as well. I ended up budgeting over for most of our meals and snacks, and came in about $1000 under what Disney would have charged for similar on the dining plan for 10 days, 3 adults. And in that budget we had 10 table service, 1 signature, and a dessert party, plus the refillable cups.

 

[MrsPete]

A lot depends on how you plan on eating. Are you doing your own meals at the house or eating out for every meal?

Yes, together with your group, sit down and talk about your priorities: do you want to hit all the rides, allowing for one sit-down at lunch? or do you want three nice meals each day, and you'll fit rides in you're able? or do you really want to hit Be Our Guest, but you're not fussy about the rest of the meals? You've gotta determine YOUR PRIORITIES overall /and for each park.

If you have some idea of which restaurants you'll go to, check out the menus on All Ears to get an idea of prices.

Beyond that, it really can be all over the map--do you want simple stuff, like burgers or subs? An offsite seafood buffet? The price would be very different. On the good side, you're spoiled for choice on options.

In addition, you could consider some very simple dinners at the house--frozen meatballs with jarred sauce and pasta, burgers (most houses have grills) pre-cooked chicken strips over a Caesar salad mix--that type of thing. I understand that a lot of people don't want to cook at all on vacation--and I totally get that--but when we've rented a house in Orlando, my kids were much more interested in a simple meal, chilling by the pool, versus going out for a dinner. And of course, you could get pizza or something else delivered.

In any event, I would be generous in budgeting--have money for splurges, and maybe even money for takeout pizza on the day you get back home.

Excellent advice -- and a lot of what I was going to say:
- Yes to All Ears Network. It's an excellent resource that'll allow you to consider which restaurants are best for your family. Sometimes the menus are incomplete, so consider googling "Restaurant name menu"; you can find pictures of MANY menus (and many plates) by doing this.

I decided I was going to pay for a counter-service meal for my family for each day's lunch -- so I picked out the counter-service meals I thought would suit us, and I printed the menus /shared them with my adult children, and together we picked our lunch spot for each park. We have a vegetarian and some other specific wants, so this worked well. Without planning, I fear we would've ended up with pizza every lunch.

Depending upon your family's eating habits, consider splitting large meals between two people. My family prefers small meals + plenty of snacks at Disney.

One last note about online menus: Don't forget to include the price of drinks, tax, and (if appropriate) tips. We all know those things can really make a difference in the bottom line.

Yes to cooking simple meals at the condo. At home I often make extra meals /freeze them. If you're driving and can bring a cooler, you could do all the hard work at home and bring home-made meals that just need reheating. A pan of burritos freezes well. My family loves tacos, and it'd be easy to freeze the prepared meat /just chop up veg at the condo.

Another low-cost option is food from a grocery store deli. A cooked chicken and potato salad is an easy meal. My local grocery stores often have things like ribs, broccoli salad or pasta salad. Pick up a bag of rolls too, and you have an easy meal that's actually enjoyable.

You can pick up things like Publix chicken and sides which are very good, or Publix subs are really good, and you can get them made to order. Get some chicken tenders, and couple bags of lettuce, tomatoes, some shredded cheese, bottled dressing and you got a chicken tender salad... Plus Publix has pre-made meals, that you can heat and eat...
Hit somewhere like Olive Garden and get a pan of baked spaghetti or lasagna or chicken parma, which comes with salad and bread-sticks...
Pizza, and Chinese on the way back to the house in the evenings...

I don't shop at Publix at home (too expensive for every day), but their deli on vacation is a great option. We also love their chicken salad.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I second shopping at Publix! We literally have one, a block away from home, and I rarely shop there because their prices are a bit high. But--their subs are wonderful. They have a large selection of cold prepared foods, excellent salads, and hot food to go, as well.

If you're staying in a place with a kitchen, know that Publix ice cream is high quality, fun flavors, and they sell a full half-gallon. We stock up when it's on sale, 2/$7. Which still isn't cheap, but it's so delicious! It would be very easy to get the ingredients for sundaes one night--even with Publix prices, it would be a bargain compared to fancy desserts elsewhere.

 

[kathy884]

I usually for groceries and meals out budget $50 per day per person. We usually do a two trips to the grocery store per trip (a big one and another to get things we didn't think of). Do note that we do all breakfasts in, buy snacks for the condo too, have a few but not most lunches and dinners in, do counter service not table service in the parks (sometimes do meal deals at places like SeaWorld, Universal), that dinners out on days when we aren't in the parks for dinner are relatively modest places, "Ordering pizza and salad for the gang and pick it up and eat at condo", "Ford's Garage", "Olive Garden", "Perkins", "Steak n Shake", etc. I get tap water with meals, DH gets coffee, others get soda, but no one gets alcohol which can add a lot to your costs. My budget covers groceries, meals in the park including any meal deal purchases, and dinners out.

Also, do note that for me my budget is my best approximation, not a number that I have to be under on. I can gage closely enough and have discretionary funds to cover if I am over on items.

Sometimes too depending on room in suitcases I will bring some things from home for non perishable snacks and for kitchen supplies (some zip lock bags, kitchen garbage bags, some laundry detergent pods and bounce sheets, mac and cheese, soup, (for DS who likes to heat up these snacks). The condo will give our starters on some things, but you might need some of your own too. Getting groceries for just a week means we waste some food we wouldn't at home when you are there week to week and buy some items that for at home would last you months (salad dressing, relish, ketchup, etc. based on what you might be cooking in). That means that meals in are not necessarily as big a cost savings as they are at home, and it's more of a preference to stay in some nights and chill out together after a busy day (healthier eating too perhaps) vs. doing that to save money. It is nice to have a condo and not HAVE to go out for all meals (eat healthier).

We don't do many higher end meals or table service at Disney. On the rare occasion that I do a meal like that, I make that a separate budget item, as that would be a budget buster for me (e.g. whole group to a fun, but not inexpensive small plates place like Cafe Tu Tu Tango, whole gang at Disney table service, buffet, family style place for dinner (e.g. Ohana at the Polynesian). For things like that I look at menus ahead of time and guesstimate costs including tip. We usually are pretty budget oriented in Orlando and do 0 to one meals like this on the trip.

 

[Tygerlilly]

So what I'm doing for our upcoming trip is I looked at every restaurant I think we would like to eat at, check the menus, and do kind of a rounded up estimate of how much we would spend at each place. Then add it up for a total and that's my rough estimate.
We drive, so in the month or two leading up to the trip, I keep my eyes open for deals on snack foods to bring for the kids. I also plan to take a loaf of bread and a jar of PB and jelly with us to make the girls a sammich because they're fairly picky eaters and I'm just not sure they're going to eat chicken nuggets or cheeseburgers every day for every meal.

Currently, I have 16 potential restaurants listed with a total of $1300ish. I doubt we eat at 1/3 of them or even spend what I have estimated, but it gives me a good starting point. Plus, any extra from the food budget gets moved to the souvenir budget at the end of the trip! Lol

 

[happiestpoe]

We have a look at restaurant menus and pick what we'd eat for each meal. We figure out what each meal will cost and budget around that. We don't do park breakfast-- my other half never eats breakfast-- so I pick up instant oatmeal cups, yogurt, fruit, bars for me to keep in the room. Definitely helps with cost.

Depending how we're feeling, sometimes we just snack instead of having a proper lunch. An eggroll here, a dole whip there, and we're pretty much full before dinner.

 

[TamaraQT]

My experience has been that with kids/teens there isn't so much focus on food. As parents we worry about food more than they do. You are on vacation so it doesn't have to be a "food schedule" as a must-do. Stop!! Take a breath. You are in a house/condo so you have PLENTY of eating options than park food. You have older teens like I did. Walmart/Publix are your friend. Let this work for you. Go load up on stuff they can make quick meals and snacks for themselves. You will be surprised how creative they get and uninterested in having "sit down" meals all day every day. They will pop frozen waffles in a toaster and call it breakfast. They will make a deli sandwich if you keep deli meats, cheese, bread, rolls around. Older teens enjoy feeling a little more independent and less structured on vacation. You are about to discover the TRUE cost savings available by having a full kitchen at your disposal. You don't have to spend your time cooking. As someone else said, throw some frozen meatballs and a jar of sauce in a pot. Heat and eat over pasta or on rolls. Publix has pre-made heat and eat meals too. Things like Mac & Cheese, Fettuccini Alfredo etc. Throw it in the oven, Get a bag of salad and some salad dressing to go with it and that is dinner. Get a couple of rotisserie chickens for even more options and leftovers. Sit out on your balcony/patio and have dinner with your family instead of a restaurant full of strangers. Talk about the fun you had all day. These are the memories that will last a lifetime.