Limited Budget??

[starygurl82]

Hello!

I don't know if this is where I should be posting (first time)... but we are going to Disneyland November 28-30 on a limited budget (2 adults and 1 5 year old boy) and I really don't know how much money we should have with us for in the Park... I plan on us eating breakfast in the room and one character breakfast...

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated..

 

[princesszelda]

If you can bring in your own food/snacks in the park. Also try and share meals. We plan about $50 a person a day. But we do not bring in our own food or drinks.

 

[disney1990]

When we go and do counter service meals, we plan on $12-$15 per person, per meal. DH & I usually share a large drink.

 

[wdwmickey]

Definately bring some of your own snacks (we like granola bars, dried fruit, etc) that you can eat on the go (or to prevent a low blood sugar melt down--mine, not my kiddos ) and you can get a free cup of ice water at any counter service restaurant.

ETA: My DD and I usually share a counter service meal, many of them are quite big!

 

[DizNee Luver]

When we're at DL we only eat 2 meals.....a big breakfast & an early dinner. We find it's plenty & we're not hungry.

You can go to allears.net to look at menus & approx. prices to plan ahead. I figure $10/day per adult for snacks/drinks (if you don't bring your own)

You'll find counter service meals run about $10-$12 with a drink & sit downs will run you more. Don't forget to figure in tax & tip (if you go to a sit down).

 

[chttyangel]

Eating inside the park or any of the "theme places" (Goofys Kitchen, Rain Forest) have always been the biggest expense for us. We were going on a cruise too the last time so we really wanted to save some money in the Park. We ate breakfast at the hotel, took a break mid-day and had pizza delivered; stuff like that. The mid-day break was nice And saved so much money!! Just bought fun snacks in the Park!

 

[starry_solo]

One counter service meal that is large is at the Plaza Inn - their yummy chicken! I heard you can get 2 breasts (rather than a breast, thigh, and drumstick) and those are usually quite filling. Refillable soda too.

 

[spacemermaid]

Behold...the complete list of all the DLR menus, with prices: http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm

I have found this to be a most useful budgeting tool...you can know in advance about how much your dining choices will cost, and plan accordingly.

 

[starshine514]

If you're on a super-tight budget:

-bring peanut butter and baggies and nab bread and jelly from the free breakfast at your hotel to make PB & J sandwiches

-bring in your own other snacks - trail mix, pretzels, fiber one bars (those things are yummy and filling). I like to have snacks ready to whip out whenever the kids get hungry. They make their own trail mix bags before we leave home, so they get to put in the stuff they like best (we usually have out peanuts, cashews (sometimes other mixed nuts, it depends), raisins, m & m's, trix, golden grahams, cinnamon toast crunch, mini-pretzels, sometimes small crackers or cracker chips, banana chips, etc. Each person designs their own with what they want, bags it, labels it, and I pull out one for each person to toss in the backpack each morning). Apples also travel well

- get each person a filter water bottle (walmart has them for about $5) and just refill at water fountains and drink water

- eat at counter service (I adore the corn dogs, so those are a splurge for me and my girls - we get two and share) or outside the park (the Denny's across the street has a $2, $4, $6, $8 menu - my girls share the $4 value slam from there - you can't beat $2 each! There's also a McDonalds, Quizno's, etc across the street as well)

Doing this, we might spend $50 for our family of 4 in a day, but usually less.

 

[starygurl82]

thank you all for your input! Its great!!

 

[Huff]

Jazz Kitchen Express in DTD is a great place for a good sized meal at decent prices. $6 gets you a very good double cheeseburger with fries.

 

[shamrockshake]

we tend to do what starshine does. make sandwiches in the room and bring to the park. snacks. juice boxes, soda, waters all in a backpack.fruit. just do not bring glass or alcohol into the parks.

Have fun

 

[mydisneymoney]

If you buy a meal at a counter service and want to buy a soda, buy a large and ask them to hold the ice. Then ask for a couple of cups of ice on the side. You can pour the pop into the cups of ice. You get way more pop this way. I also agree with sharing a meal as well if you are going to eat inside the park. Look around at what other people are eating to see how big the portions are. Also, most of the time the menus only show things as a combo. It is my understanding that you can ask just for a single item so if you want just a burger but no fries, ask about it. The kids meals come as a combo which includes a choice of drink. We buy a large pop for the whole family and pick the small bottled Dasini water for my son's meal and then we take the water with us to drink later when thirsty. They fit really nice in a backpack or fanny pack.

 

[BlueChariot]

There have been a lot of good tips here, things DH and I do all the time. We are also on a tight budget for our upcoming trip 11/23 to 11/26. DD, who is 16 months, is also along for the ride, so we have to figure her in as well. But I've budgeted $50 - $75 per day for food, snacks, and drinks. DL (as opposed to WDW) has many quick service restaurants that provide a lot of food for the money. We try for those types of restaurants as much as possible, rather than counter service which doesn't seem to have as much bang for your buck. We find at the quick service type restaurants, we can share a meal and be satisfied.

Just to clarify, I am referring to counter service where you order separate at a register and then wait for your food. "Quick service" is referring to a restaurant where the food is already prepared, you pick out what you want, and then pay at the register on your way to a table. (I hope that makes sense).

As for souvenirs, I'm a cheapie there LOL!! I collect pressed pennies, so that is the majority of my souvenirs. We do splurge a bit on t-shirts, etc. but try to find them on sale. I don't think we spend more than $150.00 total on souvenirs during the entire trip.

So for our three-day trip coming up in a few weeks, I've budgeted a total of $375.00 for food and souvenirs. Of course the price of tickets is on top of that, and I'm sure we'll spend a "little" something extra on DD, since it will be her first trip to DL....

 

[tanyaewa]

#1 - never order a beverage with a meal. Bring your own crystal light packs and add to a cup of water.
although many kids meals come with drink. You can keep souvenir plastic cup from some.
#2 - bring snacks, granola bars, PBJ sandwiches, jerky, nuts etc.
#3 - 1 *treat* per day. frozen lemonade is a good one to share.
#4 - no souvenirs. bring your own glow stix from $$store. Collect buttons fron cast members

 

[tzeitel]

We just went to DLR for the first time I had budgeted $50 per adult and $25 for DD(9) for food but ended up spending less - we were so busy we did not think of eating until we were out of the park! We basically had breakfast and dinner (with a churro/Mickey ice cream in between )

We did have a car ($67 for a week through Costco) so we did take a trip to the supermarket and got water, bananas and some snacks. It also made it easier to go off property to eat.

Sign up for email updates (but not until about a week before you leave for your trip)-

Mimi's Cafe - they send you a free breakfast right after you sign up and other offers on a regular basis. Great breakfast, friendly staff.

Millie's Restaurant & Bakery - they send you a 50% off coupon. Food was good (nothing spectacular, a bit like Denny's).

Red Robin - sign up and you get a free appetizer. Looove Red Robin

Check out this site for coupons - Rainforest Cafe, McDonald's, California Pizza Kitchen, La Brea and many more.
http://anaheimoc.org/coupons

Do you have the Entertainment card? They have really good prices for tickets. We got our Sea World and DLR tickets through them and it was the cheapest I had seen them - I checked all the DLR ticket sites mentioned here and the Ent card was the cheapest (adult DLR 3 day PH was $175). They also have a bunch of other coupons.

We did not get many souveniers. I got a couple of Vinylmations ($40), DD got her monogramed ears ($16) and a Mike Wazowski plush ($12), DH got a souvenier cup ($6 came with coffee). We also got a Christmas ornament ($12), a DLR photo frame ($13) and got my 2 nieces a toy each ($20 total). Of course we spent enough to get the super soft blanket that comes with a $40 purchase (it was $17).
You can take your little one to the silhouette shop and get a super cute souvenier (for not much $) that he will not outgrow.

Most dollar stores carry Disney stuff. Cute little toys, coloring books etc that you can give to your little one as souveniers. I also got our glow sticks there

 

[starygurl82]

Thank you again for the tips. We are getting our tickets through the military special, $99 3 day park hoppers... Can't beat that!!

 

[raftislander]

You've gotten some great advice here. I want to second that buying drinks at the parks will blow a food budget quickly. I, too, bring the Crystal Light packets to add to a cup of free ice water. Dollar Store glow necklaces will make you son feel like he is being treated to something special but will be far less $$$ than anything on the carts they have out before the fireworks at the park. Do splurge on a treat now and then. Many treats can be easily shared - dole whips and churros. (Get three spoons for the dole whip) By watching costs on meals (sharing) and doing small splurges, you can satisfy your hunger and still feel treated. There is also a Subway at Harbor and Katella and a Quisnos at one of the hotels on Harbor just north of the entrance to the park. We have carried Subway sandwiches into the parks.