How much to budget for meals?

[RLGNC]

Good morning! I would like some advice on how much to budget for meals per day. I know this will vary substantially by family and restaurant type, so here's some info on us. Family of 4, not huge eaters, will probably eat breakfast in room and do mostly quick service dinners and lunches (planning just 2 TS meals for our 6-day trip) and a snack here and there. I'm trying to determine if FD is worth it (we are staying at POR), but also would just like to know how much I can expect to pay per day if going OOP.

Thank you!

Becky

 

[Hootch]

Last Trip we averaged around $45-$50 per counter service meal. Wife and daughter are light eaters. Add to that probably another $20-$30 for snacks per day and a couple of splurges (Ghiradelli sundaes for example) at an additional $30-$40 per time.

 

[dreiwhit]

We ate once per day at a QS restaurant in Epcot, MK, HS and AK when we went in late February - early March. With the meal and a drink, for a family of four, it was just a few cents under $60 a meal total - about $15 per person.

 

[CJB2002]

Last time we went as a family of 5 in 2014 we spent just around $950 on food in 5 days. This included our refillable mugs, a sit down meal every day, (not anything fancy, think rainforest cafe and 50's prime time) a qs meal every day, snacks and breakfast. We meal shared a lot, also if there were decent kids meals at a qs place I got those. It was an almost $500 savings on the dining plan for us. We're not heavy eaters in the heat so that helped us

 

[TeacherDL]

I actually go through the menus and see exactly what we would eat and compare the difference in price that way.

 

[BethR9]

In case you haven't looked at it yet, allears.net has menus listed for all restaurants. This is a great way to get a better idea on costs. I think they are fairly updated. I am not sure if the prices include tax or not (is food taxed??). I was just looking at it this morning trying to decide if it was worth it.

I believe you can now substitute the dessert for another side. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[Baptist]

How old are your kids? Disney considers a 10 year old an adult when it comes to meal pricing. I tend to struggle with this as my 12 and 10 year old daughters are not big eaters (except for dessert). So, price fixed is generally not a good deal for us.

 

[tink9702]

I actually go through the menus and see exactly what we would eat and compare the difference in price that way.

I did this as well. DH and I tend to like the more expensive item on the menu and the kids eat straight off the kids menu. We pretty much drink water. Average cost for our family was right around the $50 mark per Quick Service meal.

That doesn't include dessert since we would most likely just get a snack later for approx. $6 a person.

 

[sharonabe]

QS adult entrees are mostly $10-12 and drinks are around $3. There are some entrees in the $14-20 range, but those are definitely shareable entrees, so your cost comes down with those. Kids meals are $6-7 and include their drink. Snacks are an average of $5. If the adult entree is a combo meal (w/fries, chips, etc), you can get it without the side for a couple dollars less.

 

[Pemeberly]

Yay, a fellow Tar Heel!

I think about $12-15 is standard per person for a QS meal, assuming you get no kids meals. I definitely recommend looking at menus beforehand, though, just to get a sense!

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I budget $15 pp for a quick service meal and $25 pp for table service. Some meals come in higher or lower, but using these numbers, we usually have enough money left to cover snacks and drinks during the day, too. ETA: all of my people are 10+.

 

[Cynister]

I agree with the others, I'd budget about $15-20 PP with the extra depending on if the person gets an alcoholic drink or dessert in addition to the meal.

 

[jdsWDfan52]

Quick meals lately range from $9.00 to $14.00, with no drink. Reg. size soft drinks $ 2.99, water $ 2.75, I heard drink prices are going up. Snacks run mainly around $4 to $5.

 

[Lynzer4]

I always use this website... http://www.distripplanner.com/

You can input your ADR's and pick a place for everyday of your visit and it will estimate your cost of food. It will show you what it would cost for the dinning plan vs OOP.

I usually figure it the way I normally eat. The way with DP (dessert, snack and mug) and see the difference. That helps me determine what I would be paying OOP normally and OOP like I would eat on DP.

Personally I never buy breakfast from Disney unless I doing a character breakfast. I ship from Amazon food for breakfast items or bring from home. That helps cut cost!

 

[Shellyb84]

In case you haven't looked at it yet, allears.net has menus listed for all restaurants. This is a great way to get a better idea on costs. I think they are fairly updated. I am not sure if the prices include tax or not (is food taxed??). I was just looking at it this morning trying to decide if it was worth it.

I believe you can now substitute the dessert for another side. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

Food is taxed, I believe it's around 6.5%.

You are correct, you can sub the dessert for a side or snack, and you can also sub the drink.

 

[BethR9]

So you can sub with either a side or snack? Didn't know this. And can do the same with the drink? Awesome!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Also remember that if OOP you can purchase kids meals for adults if wanted. Also, you can not order the package meals listed on the menu boards. You can delete the fries for example, if not wanted, and lower meal cost by $2-3.

 

[Micca]

I agree that checking the menus at allears is a great idea. You probably have a good idea of what types of things your family normally likes to eat even if you don't predict exactly what they'll order. Please don't forget to budget for tips, and I'd add a 10 percent cushion to account for any unexpected price increases (which can pretty much be expected at this point.)

There's no question that food is a major part of the equation of a WDW vacation. Going for "cheap" won't be inexpensive, and splurging can put costs through the roof.

 

[Shellyb84]

So you can sub with either a side or snack? Didn't know this. And can do the same with the drink? Awesome!

Yep. Like extra fries for example or any snack that would qualify as a snack credit.

It's a great value to sub the drink! We drink water mostly anyway.

 

[WDmommyof4]

We went last in November. We are 1 adult and 4 Disney adults, so a family of 5. Since we were paying ourselves, some of the boys still chose kid's meals, while others had adult meals. We budgeted $200 per day for two meals and a snack and that was with all counter service meals and dessert only with dinner. We came in just under that on some days and right at $200 on others.