How would you eat at Disney for about $25 a day.

[disneyfantotheend]

Not sure about the amount, but you can definitely cut costs.
Breakfast either in room snacks you bring with you, pastries or cereals, rather than meals.
Lunch or dinner (if you have too big an appetite to do both) split something (obviously only works if you have 2 people who enjoy the same foods.)
They have cheap sharable snacks.
Free water, if you can handle the taste
Look at allears.net to find good value meals in their menu section.
You could also order cold cuts and bread from a grocer or go to Walmart and have sandwiches for lunch in your room, but to me it isn't vacation if I have to make meals in my room. Even if it is just a sandwich.
OHHHHH and there are local pizza places that deliver. If you have a family a pizza would be cheaper than individual meals.

 

[Texas Crude]

If you told me I could only spend $25 a day on food, I'd just assume stay home. Where's the fun in that?!?!

 

[cheryllarsen]

Take sandwiches! Also check out Couponing to Disney. She posted money saving ideas for sharing recently.

 

[cheryllarsen]

We rarely eat in the park.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I could do it on food alone, but I buy alcoholic beverages.

Taking sandwiches isn't something I'd want to do, eating there is half the fun.

 

[MichelleMu56]

I could do this at the Magic Kingdom, but I know my husband couldn't. This assumes you drink water with each of your meals (which I do).

Breakfast - Casey's Corner Muffin - $2.99
Lunch - Pinocchio Village Haus Meatball Sub with French Fries or apple slices - $9.29
Dinner - Pecos Bill's BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with choice of Corn on the Cob, Apple Slices, or French Fries $10.29
Total - $22.57

I'm not sure about the other parks, but I might give it a try sometime.

 

[momto4obkids]

My MK day would be nothing but ice water to drink.
A cinnamon Roll at Gastons $4.19
Ham,Prosciutto,Swiss Waffle Sandwich at Sleepy Hollow $7.49
Battered Fish Platter from CHH $7.99 yum!

With 6.5% tax,shich i think is the tax in florida? It would come to 20.95, so I would have enough for some popcorn at a cart also. $3.50 no tax

TOTAL $24.45

 

[Hoosier Dad]

You can do it on $30 a day per person. Eat breakfast in the room, take prepackaged snacks into the parks. Most quick services are in the $10 to $12 range for an entree and side w/o sodas or dessert.

You're probably spending thousands of dollars for tickets/lodging/transportation. Don't make your family miserable by trying to save a few dollars and eat sandwiches everyday. Even 2 quick service meals a day will give you variety.

Since you're looking to save every dollar possible, look into purchasing Disney gift cards at a discount. I saved over 10% on my Disney package by purchasing second hand discounted Target gift cards to stack on top of my 5% Redcard discount when ordering Disney gift cards online. Just make sure not to overbuy gift cards as they can't be returned.

 

[eva]

How about around World Showcase.

Breakfast - Norway - School Bread $2.99
Lunch - Katsura Grill - Teriyaki Chicken with veggies and rice $9.99
Dinner - Fish Shop (UK) - Fish & Chips $9.49

Total: $22.47 + $1.46 (tax) = $23.93

I would still need a snack though. If you are willing to eat a baked good or fruit for breakfast and stick to CS meals that are around $10, it is doable. But with all that walking a person will probably lose weight. And I got to have my Grey Goose Slushy!

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Pretty sure you can choose to do away with the sides like chips/fries/etc and get it a little cheaper. That is for the things that include a side, but many do.

 

[Figmentmommy]

I could use up that $25 real quick.....margaritas in Mexico and just about anything (and everything!) from Karamell Kuche!

 

[minnie mum]

Sure its possible. But who wants to vacation like that? If I faced that kind of limit, I'd postpone the trip until I had the food budget I could be happy with.

 

[mullysisters]

I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat snacks or sweets. I generally lose 5-6lbs when I visit Disneyworld but I still spend more than $25/day!

 

[tasha99]

I think $25-30 is doable if you have breakfast in the room and 2 counter service meals. Thankfully WDW has more than just burgers and fries, which could get monotonous after a week. Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney is good and inexpensive.

With such a tight budget, though, I'd really be considering some other options, such as:

Free dining-- if it's offered during your dates, it might be worthwhile, especially if you are planning on staying onsite anyway. Often the upgrade to a moderate is about $80-100 per night, which for 4 people could cover their food.

A condo--I've never been there, but I think that Wyndham Bonnet Creek looks amazing, though you would need a car. With a condo, more and better meals could be made in addition to breakfast. Someone would have to be okay with simple cooking while on vacation, though.

Rent a car--and eat offsite.

 

[joannamet]

I don't think that budget is realistic

I totally think its doable. $100 per day is my budget for food and spending money for our family of 3. We eat breakfast in the room and since we bring that food with us I don't include it in the budget. Likewise with bottled water and snacks.Most people don't eat 3 meals in restaurants in WDW. So we stick to CS lunch and dinner with DD and I both getting kids meals (I'm not a big eater.)

Average cost of CS kids meal is $6.00
Average cost of CS entree is $10.00

So that's $12.00 each for DD and I and $20.00 for DH for a total of $44.00 per day on meals and we never go hungry or feel that we've missed anything.

Staying below budget most days means we can splurge on a couple of buffets or TS meals.

 

[SouthJersey]

I could do it on food alone, but I buy alcoholic beverages.

Taking sandwiches isn't something I'd want to do, eating there is half the fun.

3/4 of my fun lol.
Former fat kid here!

 

[McKelly]

I could maybe do it for around $30.00 and bring two bottles of water in, which I do.

Breakfast - Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel $4.79 and my water

Lunch - Corn Dog $4.75 and Frozen Lemonade 3.99

Dinner - Broccoli Peppercorn Salad - $8.99 and $2.99 soft drink.

Snack - Ice Cream Bar - $4.00 and my water

Total - $29.51 plus tax $31.43 (If I had to keep it under $30.00, I suppose I could eat a chocolate croissant instead of the Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel for breakast.)

I would not feel deprived at all with the above. It would meet my vacation junk food quota for the day.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

I could definitely do this on a Magic Kingdom day and likely at AK. I'm not a big snacker so it would basically just be meals. I like wine and milkshakes too much to do it at EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. I will also add I think being a vegetarian may help and I'm assuming $25 before tax.

MK
Breakfast- Coffee and fruit or yogurt ~$5 (max if bought at food court)
Lunch- BoG Potato Leek Soup and Drink ~$8
Dinner- Columbia Harbor House Lighthouse Sandwich and Water ~$10
Total ~ $23

AK
Breakfast- same as above ~$5
Lunch- Kids' cheese pizza at Pizzafari ~$7
Dinner- Veggie Burger and Drink at Restaurantasaurus ~$13
Total ~$25

 

[sharonabe]

I took the challenge and did a quick scour of the menus. Drinking water throughout the day and snacking around the World, here's what I would do:

AK
Pizzafari Ancient Grain Hot Cereal
Harambe Jalapeno Pretzel, Fruit & Cheese
Yak n Yeti Chicken fried rice
Kusafari Zebra cupcake
Total $24.87

HS
Writer's Stop Carrot Cake Cookie
Backlot Exp Kid's grilled veggie sandwich meal
Starring Rolls cupcake
Anaheim Produce Hummus w/pretzels
Hollywood Hills Theater Ice cream
Total $23.49

EP
Sunshine Seasons Croissant Berry Pudding, Strawberry Shortcake
Joy of Tea Curry Chicken Pockets
Boulangerie Bacon/Cheese Roll
Kringla Veggie Torte, Troll Horn
Total $27.16

MK
Sleepy Hollow Nutella Waffle
Casey Corner Corn Dog nuggets
Pinnochio Vil Haus Tomato Soup
Columbia Harbour Chili
Plaza Ice Cream Sundae
Total $27.53

Four day average is $25.76, so just a little bit over the $25 limit.

 

[AriesAriel]

I bet sometimes you could snack as your meal. Like, order an appetizer and that's your meal. I know I could. I could also order off the kids' menu and be full.

Same here. This is what I plan to do when we go. Not because of budget, but because I don't want to spend more just to waste it! I hardly ever finish a meal here at home, but with a $5 value meal, it's no big deal. Double that price and suddenly the guilt sets in. LOL!

I have 2 kids, so I'll just have them come to the QS counter when I order so it's not an issue!

I'm also looking forward to having the Yak & Yeti fried rice for one meal and the mac & cheese (noodle gratin?) at Epcot. I think there are turkey legs somewhere too? <- any of those three would fill me for a meal time.