It pays to keep checking rates

[idex]

Thanks...rebooked with the APH rate.

 

[3happydancers]

if it will cost you $75 more overall to buy the preferred ap, figure out a meal cost for the period you will be at the darkside.
the preferred ap allows a 10% discount off of food and merch.

http://allears.net/searchresults.ht....htm&ref=allears.net/dining/&ss=1743j441369j9

you can get an idea from the allears site.
i have not looked thru it but assume it has updates in order to give you a better idea of present costs.


wait, came back after i looked at the above link.
much of it is dated 2008 so figures will be off, some menus have changed completely.

You're too funny. Thanks for checking anyway. Do you think it would be safe to budget $15.00 p/p for each counter service meal or is it more like $20.00? We'd probably have 2 counter meals a day and hopefully have breakfast in our room (breakfast bars, muffins etc).

 

[macraven]

give me some time and i will go over my reciepts from my january trip.

i never even came close to $20 at counter service.


but i do remember boulangerie at the studios is decently priced for the sandwich and potato salad, strip of cantaloupe and strawberry.
with my Ap or AAA discount it was under $10.

i just get a cup of ice water when i do counter service if i don't have my mug for the cheap refills.

 

[3happydancers]

give me some time and i will go over my reciepts from my january trip.

i never even came close to $20 at counter service.


but i do remember boulangerie at the studios is decently priced for the sandwich and potato salad, strip of cantaloupe and strawberry.
with my Ap or AAA discount it was under $10.

i just get a cup of ice water when i do counter service if i don't have my mug for the cheap refills.

This is very helpful. I was budgeting 15.00 per counter service per person. I do have AAA so that helps. I can just purchase the power AP if need be!

 

[Bluer101]

This is very helpful. I was budgeting 15.00 per counter service per person. I do have AAA so that helps. I can just purchase the power AP if need be!

We are a family of 3 and budget $150 for the whole day, $50 per meal. We also normally not use all of it either. Plus most meals are sit down. The sit down prices are not much more than counter if you stick to the middle of the road food prices. I would rather have a good sit down for a few extra dollars.

 

[3happydancers]

We are a family of 3 and budget $150 for the whole day, $50 per meal. We also normally not use all of it either. Plus most meals are sit down. The sit down prices are not much more than counter if you stick to the middle of the road food prices. I would rather have a good sit down for a few extra dollars.

Good to know. DH does enjoy a daily sit down meal much more than all counter service. I might have to adjust my budget a little although the girls really don't eat much. We are a family of 4 and was budgeting $160 per day for 2 meals a day. We planned on having simple breakfast food in our room (muffins, breakfast bars, bananas, coffee, juice).

 

[Bluer101]

Good to know. DH does enjoy a daily sit down meal much more than all counter service. I might have to adjust my budget a little although the girls really don't eat much. We are a family of 4 and was budgeting $160 per day for 2 meals a day. We planned on having simple breakfast food in our room (muffins, breakfast bars, bananas, coffee, juice).

Wow, $160 for just 2 meals. You can bring your own snacks as we do on longer stays. I know at the 3 deluxe hotels they serve basic breakfast foods. At rpr in the orchid lounge they have bagels, pastries, fruit, and such. The prices are reasonable. We spend for 3 about $15-$18 there for breakfast.

Then we will hit Mythos and will run about $35-45 with tip for lunch. Same goes for Confrisco's and Finnigans. Then we do dinner at a Citywalk restaurant. That can range from $30-$55 on where and what we have. Remember, we are eating middle prices entrees. We will also give and take. DW might have something around $20 so I choose around $10. Sometimes we will order 2 items and for DW and I and share both while our son gets his own.

I save all our receipts from trips. We have always gone on this $150 a day budget divided by 3 meals. If you only use $25 for breakfast then $25 can be applied to the rest of the day. This opens up for a few snacks. It helps to get you refillable cup and popcorn keeps costs down. If you end up with extra $$$ at the end of the day you save it. On long trips we divide our money into separate envelopes. What ever is saved each day it goes in a overflow envelope. It's there just incase you need it. If you don't use it it goes back in the bank, our fun account. The only thing that is hard is sticking to your guns and not spend money in the moment. It's nice to do that but can really ruin it after the trip is over.

We have been doing this routine for many years and try to be there monthly or more. This plan works almost all the time and by sticking to it allows us to keep coming back all the time.

I hope this helps you or anyone else. This may or may not work for you. Also look at the sticky thread with the food menus to get an idea if prices and what you like.

We leave in the morning to spend the weekend there again, our happy place.

 

[3happydancers]

Wow, $160 for just 2 meals. You can bring your own snacks as we do on longer stays. I know at the 3 deluxe hotels they serve basic breakfast foods. At rpr in the orchid lounge they have bagels, pastries, fruit, and such. The prices are reasonable. We spend for 3 about $15-$18 there for breakfast.

Then we will hit Mythos and will run about $35-45 with tip for lunch. Same goes for Confrisco's and Finnigans. Then we do dinner at a Citywalk restaurant. That can range from $30-$55 on where and what we have. Remember, we are eating middle prices entrees. We will also give and take. DW might have something around $20 so I choose around $10. Sometimes we will order 2 items and for DW and I and share both while our son gets his own.

I save all our receipts from trips. We have always gone on this $150 a day budget divided by 3 meals. If you only use $25 for breakfast then $25 can be applied to the rest of the day. This opens up for a few snacks. It helps to get you refillable cup and popcorn keeps costs down. If you end up with extra $$$ at the end of the day you save it. On long trips we divide our money into separate envelopes. What ever is saved each day it goes in a overflow envelope. It's there just incase you need it. If you don't use it it goes back in the bank, our fun account. The only thing that is hard is sticking to your guns and not spend money in the moment. It's nice to do that but can really ruin it after the trip is over.

We have been doing this routine for many years and try to be there monthly or more. This plan works almost all the time and by sticking to it allows us to keep coming back all the time.

I hope this helps you or anyone else. This may or may not work for you. Also look at the sticky thread with the food menus to get an idea if prices and what you like.

We leave in the morning to spend the weekend there again, our happy place.

Lucky you! Wish we lived closer. So it sounds like I am over budgeting for 4 people. We were planning to do pretty much what you described and we also usually bring our own snacks and fast breakfast foods; muffins, cereal bars, bananas (we are coming from the World). This helps a lot. I will check out the sticky threat too!!!

Have a happy time this weekend!

 

[sonofanarchy]

The only counter service location that is absolutely ridiculous price wise is Louie's, which is quite a shame, as their pizza isn't half bad. But $37.99 for a cheese pizza? I was in sticker shock in April when we saw that. Via Napoli at Epcot is overpriced too, but their pizzas are larger, and light years beyond Louie's. It was really rather frustrating. Why does a theme park (or any place) need to charge close to $40 for a pizza? They could charge $20 and it would still be overpriced and making them a ridiculously large profit.

 

[Bluer101]

The only counter service location that is absolutely ridiculous price wise is Louie's, which is quite a shame, as their pizza isn't half bad. But $37.99 for a cheese pizza? I was in sticker shock in April when we saw that. Via Napoli at Epcot is overpriced too, but their pizzas are larger, and light years beyond Louie's. It was really rather frustrating. Why does a theme park (or any place) need to charge close to $40 for a pizza? They could charge $20 and it would still be overpriced and making them a ridiculously large profit.

Their cheese whole pie is $31.99, but that is still to high. We just left there and many of the CS restaurants have changed the menu combos and increased their prices.

I believe they did this to make the dinning plan look better. Louie's used to have a slice and salad combo for $8 and change. Now you have 2 slice combo with salad at $13.99. Crazy, this is more the reason we do sit down over CS.

 

[3happydancers]

The only counter service location that is absolutely ridiculous price wise is Louie's, which is quite a shame, as their pizza isn't half bad. But $37.99 for a cheese pizza? I was in sticker shock in April when we saw that. Via Napoli at Epcot is overpriced too, but their pizzas are larger, and light years beyond Louie's. It was really rather frustrating. Why does a theme park (or any place) need to charge close to $40 for a pizza? They could charge $20 and it would still be overpriced and making them a ridiculously large profit.

Their cheese whole pie is $31.99, but that is still to high. We just left there and many of the CS restaurants have changed the menu combos and increased their prices.

I believe they did this to make the dinning plan look better. Louie's used to have a slice and salad combo for $8 and change. Now you have 2 slice combo with salad at $13.99. Crazy, this is more the reason we do sit down over CS.

Holy cr..! Over $30 bucks for a cheese pizza??? Would this at least feed 4 people or is the size more like an individual sized pizza? Around here, a 16" is considered a large pie and can go for about $15.00 but it has 8 large slices. Plenty to feed a family of 4.

 

[Bluer101]

If I remember there is 6-8 good size slices.

This is from last night.

 

[tarheel618]

Holy cr..! Over $30 bucks for a cheese pizza??? Would this at least feed 4 people or is the size more like an individual sized pizza? Around here, a 16" is considered a large pie and can go for about $15.00 but it has 8 large slices. Plenty to feed a family of 4.

Yes it will feed a family of 4. We did this last time we were there. Expensive yes but feeding four people from the other counter service choices is about $10.00 a piece without drinks. This was actually cheaper for us to feed all of us and the pizza is good. I want to say it was 6 large slices.

Another thing I thought was expensive was the turkey legs (right over the 10 dollar mark)

 

[sonofanarchy]

Yes it will feed a family of 4. We did this last time we were there. Expensive yes but feeding four people from the other counter service choices is about $10.00 a piece without drinks. This was actually cheaper for us to feed all of us and the pizza is good. I want to say it was 6 large slices.

Another thing I thought was expensive was the turkey legs (right over the 10 dollar mark)

I think it depends on how much everybody eats.

With the price of drinks, to sit down at lunch and spend close to $50 for pizza and drinks is absurd.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Their cheese whole pie is $31.99, but that is still to high. We just left there and many of the CS restaurants have changed the menu combos and increased their prices.

I believe they did this to make the dinning plan look better. Louie's used to have a slice and salad combo for $8 and change. Now you have 2 slice combo with salad at $13.99. Crazy, this is more the reason we do sit down over CS.

I could have sworn it was higher than that in April. Never heard of Universal changing their food prices during different seasons, so I must have read it wrong.

I love how they have a higher price which is crossed out, then the lower price, as if they're running some kind of fantastic special.

 

[3happydancers]

I think it depends on how much everybody eats.

With the price of drinks, to sit down at lunch and spend close to $50 for pizza and drinks is absurd.

Can we bring in our own water bottles (like you can at Disney)? If not, is it worth it to purchase the refillable mugs?

 

[damo]

Can we bring in our own water bottles (like you can at Disney)? If not, is it worth it to purchase the refillable mugs?

yes you can

 

[3happydancers]

yes you can

That's a big help. Do you know if the refillables are worth it?

 

[damo]

That's a big help. Do you know if the refillables are worth it?

The refillables are great because you can bring them back each time you go unless you are using the freestyle ones...in which case they are time specific.

 

[Bluer101]

We have our refillable red drink cup and a few popcorn buckets. Drink is 99 cents and popcorn is $1.29 now for refills. We also use the red cup to have it filled free with ice water anywhere they serve drinks. Plus I found out that you can use the freestyle machines to get your own water and ice only. It's free to anyone.