How much spending money per day (no dining plan)?

[hannahsmom7]

I haven't been to Disney in 10 yrs (when I was 18 and did'nt much pay attention to cost!) and will be going soon w/my daugther and DH. How much should I count on for our meals and spending money each day? I know this can fluctuate a ton based on where we eat, but I'm assuming we'll go the the moderate places mostly. I have no idea on a ballpark even! Thanks!

 

[mamacatnv]

We found $40 per day per person was a pretty good estimate. If you CS for Breakfast and lunch with a moderate dinner this figure works well. Some friends of ours went using the same figure and they also felt it was a decent estimate.

Example of some of our meals: (We had resort refillable mugs and I took a case of bottled water. We bought the drink straps and each carried our water bottles and used Crystal Light drink packs when we refilled the bottles)

Breakfast at Food Court in resort: French toast & sausage $6, cup of fruit $2-3, Mickey Waffle $5, Deluxe breakfast w/ eggs, biscuit, potatos & sausage $6
Lunch at CS in park: Burger and fries with a ice water(free) $8
Lunch at Food Court in resort: Double Cheeseburger w/ fries $7 or chicken Caesar or taco salad $7
Earl of Sandwich DTD, approx $6 for the sandwich. Chips, salads & drinks extra

Dinner: Food Court $10 - 14
CS in park: Chicken Platter in Tangerine Cafe, Morocco $13, Chicken/Rib platter at Cosmic Rays MK $13
Garden Grill, Epcot: $23 per person (all you care to eat)
Rose & Crown, Epcot: Fish & Chips $14, deserts $4-7
RainForest Cafe - $15-25 for adult entree, drinks in fancy cups $6 & up
Deserts $6-12

Snacks: Frozen Lemonade $4, Turkey legs $5, Churros $2, Rice Crispy Mickeys $3

It is possible to have a lot of variety without breaking the bank.

Happy Planning

 

[twoprincesses]

For our family of four I usually bring about $100-$150 to the park. That is for counter service only and without souvenirs.

 

[KristiKelly]

For a family of 4, we figure around $100 a day. Some days we would go over that but on other days we were well under. Check out www.allearsnet.com, there are menues from all over "the World". This will give you an idea. Are you travelling with small children? If so you might want to include a character meal, depending on the age my kids always like Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace (with the Pooh characters). We usually do 1 sit down a day and 2 counter service. I hope this helps.

 

[lynlam]

We were there just last week, no DP. We have myself DH and two DD's - almost 4 and 6. We budgeted $100 a day and we really came nowhere close to spending that most days. We only ate one Table service the whole week - that was at Le Cellier in Canada at Epcot. Even that meal wasn't that bad - I think right at $50. We ate breakfast in our rooms, though, (poptarts, bananas, granola bars etc) so that cut down and I took snacks in a backpack for the kids.
Anyway, hope that helps!

 

[bigbabyblues]

For our family of 4 (me, DH, DS2, DS4) we budgeted $140 a day for food and used almost all of it. There were days we were a little over and other days a little under, but it all worked out just about even. We didn't have much leftover.

 

[comicguy]

For the 3(Me, DW, and DS now 13)of us we plan an average of 100/day for food but we also bring our cereal for breakfast in out room. Sopme days it runs a bit more if we have a character diner but it tends to even out if we counter service or food court at the hotel.

As for souvigners, the sky is the limit. But my son usuallly has his own spending money, I usually plan on a couple of new polo type shirts and a stuffed Disney character. My wife shops until she finds the item that says buy me.

 

[Figment1964]

When we were there a couple of weeks ago we were eating at counter service restaurants for about $35/meal. That was for 6 of us (me, DH, DS's 12.5, 8,8,7). We stayed in a condo and had breakfast there most mornings before heading out for the day.

I'd gone to allearsnet.com and figured out what the CS restaurants were that we'd most likely be eating in and budgeted that way. I was pleasantly surprised to come as close to budget as I did. I budgeted meals, parking, souveniers, etc before leaving (for a 17 day trip!) and pre purchased Disney dollars to cover that amount. I separated them into envelopes for each day with the budget listed on the outside and the money inside. I came home with $24 dollars from using this method!