Meal Budget Number??

[newtodis]

What are some good figures for eating at both TS and CS meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner? I'm trying to help a friend make some plans and get a budget together and I really don't know what numbers to give him for a ballpark to put in the budget. We (our family) generally does a character meal for breakfast and maybe a CS for lunch or dinner and the other meal back at the house/condo. I'm not 100% sure where we're eating yet (we've got some time to decide) so I can't just use figures for the exact places we have ADRs and I'm drawing a blank on CS. A price per person for child/adult would be great!

I would appreciate any help/suggestions!!

ETA: I can't believe I forgot snacks! Does $5/person sound reasonable per snack?? We don't get many snacks at Disney so I don't know on this one either....

 

[waltwhitman]

im interested in this too

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I would say $12-$15 per day for adult CS dinner, $7-$10 for adult CS breakfast and lunch and $5-$7 per day for child CS meals. And $5 per day seems reasonable for snacks. They average $3-$5.

TS meals are a little harder to estimate because it really depends on what restaurants they're considering. If I had to give a generic estimate I'd say $20-35 per adult for adult TS meals (plus tip) and $10 for child TS meals (with lunch costing slightly less than dinner).

 

[beroh2253]

WOW this is tough you don't want to try to pick off the actual menus.
this would be my guess per person
Breakfast Cs $9
Lunch CS $15
Dinner TS $45 plus tip
Dinner TS Buffet $35 +tip

 

[OhThePain]

If you go to allears.net, you can check out the menu's from most CS and TS restaurants as well as snack stands. Most of the menu's include prices. Checking out a couple of menu's for each meal should give you a pretty accurate idea for budgeting.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I would say $12-$15 per day for adult CS dinner, $7-$10 for adult CS breakfast and lunch and $5-$7 per day for child CS meals. And $5 per day seems reasonable for snacks. They average $3-$5.

TS meals are a little harder to estimate because it really depends on what restaurants they're considering. If I had to give a generic estimate I'd say $20-35 per adult for adult TS meals (plus tip) and $10 for child TS meals (with lunch costing slightly less than dinner).

I agree with this one...it should give a fairly close estimate. It could cost more though based on things like appetizers, desserts and alcohol.

OP...your friends need to know how they would like to dine to be able to come up with a better budget. Meaning....do they want to have a TS everyday or are they happy with just CS and maybe 1 or 2 special TS meals. If they want to have a TS everyday you should really look at the DDP it might be the best option.

 

[newtodis]

I agree with this one...it should give a fairly close estimate. It could cost more though based on things like appetizers, desserts and alcohol.

OP...your friends need to know how they would like to dine to be able to come up with a better budget. Meaning....do they want to have a TS everyday or are they happy with just CS and maybe 1 or 2 special TS meals. If they want to have a TS everyday you should really look at the DDP it might be the best option.

Thank you all so much for all of your help! I so appreciate it!!

I totally understand that apps, dessert and "mommy's drinks" will cost more. I was just trying to get an idea to give to them.

We're trying to get this budget together I guess to see how much they'll be able to dine and figure out from there where they want to eat based on what's allowed in the budget. We're not staying on site so the dining plan isn't an option for us this trip.

Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate it!

 

[cbg1027]

I budget $80 a day for myself. My habits are a bit different from most though -
I usually eat all my dinners at a TS, and probably half of those are signatures.
Lunches are split between TS and CS.
I do 1 or 2 TS Character breakfasts per trip.
I either eat something quick in the room for breakfast that I picked up the day before (pastry) or eat my the resort CS.
I eat maybe 1 snack every other day.

 

[DH-2-mamaduck]

If you go to allears.net, you can check out the menu's from most CS and TS restaurants as well as snack stands. Most of the menu's include prices. Checking out a couple of menu's for each meal should give you a pretty accurate idea for budgeting.

Agree there, allears.net menus is what I used to budget. My '06 visit we spent <$550 on food for 2 adults, 3 little kids for 5 days. The ~$11-$12 covers the QS on the budget side like at Pinocchio Village Haus for Pizza & Drink or if you need more, the $12-$13 covers Cosmic Rays - 1/2 Chicken and Drink (two of my favorite QS at MK), for places like for adults and $5-7 for kids. Snacks can get expensive as they add up in a hurry! $3 here, $4 there...

My last visit, I did the DDP and saved a ton and ate really good. Consider bringing snacks from home and drinking water / refilling your water bottles.

 

[StuckInKS]

I am planning our meals now and it really varies. We can eat at Plaza for $60, but Le Celliar will cost us around $115. Both are TS. As for character meals, CRT is going to cost us $200-220, but Crystal Palace is only going to $75. CS is a little more reliable, and I would put that at $10/adult and $5/kid. If I had to budget blindly for TS, I would say $25/adult and $7.50/kid; but at someplace like Le Celliar, it would likely be more like $35-$40/adult. Our snacks usually ranged from $2.85 to $3.95. I am budgeting $3.50/snackthis time (about $250 for 5 people over 7 days.)

As suggested, using allears to look at the menus, especially character meals because those prices are set, will help your friend budget.

 

[ValinWV]

My husband and son are there now and their counter service meals, Lunch and dinners ran about $15 each. Some were lower but the highest was $15.