My Dining budget so far - good estimate?

[marriedmarylander]

So far I have considered my PS's at
CRT, H&V, a character breakfast, and Fulton's
and estimate of the counter service meals.

So far the total cost is $337 - of course the counter service places I estimate at $10 per person which might be high depending on the location. For the H&V and character breakfast I know it's $17.99 pp (not including tax, tip) and CRT I just estimated $40 before tax and tip. Fulton's I estimated at $50 before tax and tip.

Then, there is a day at Islands of Adventure so I figured about $30 for counter service food there.

That's $367.

What do you think?

 

[golfgal]

Are you staying on property? How many days are you going to be there? Did you check the menu prices at allears? That would give a better idea of how much things cost. From most reports, $10 for counter service is right. Did you look into the MYW meal plan? That would be $35/day for 2 meals and a snack. A lot less expensive for adults to eat that way, but you have to stay onsite for that.

 

[jjohnson]

It seems low to me if your going to be there 7 days.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

IF going to Islands of Adventure I would try to eat at Mythos It is yummy and it was voted best theme park restaurant in the US - it is higher priced than counter service but it is a really cool restaurant in the park. We ate there last year and loved it!

 

[becka]

Have you looked at the menus on allearsnet.com? I think you are underestimating your CRT and Fulton's dinners - especially Fultons. It is pretty expensive but we enjoyed the food.

When it was just DH and I we always budgeted $100/day for food and we always came back with a little extra money. It is nice to over budget a little in case you feel like splurging a little.

 

[marriedmarylander]

We are staying onsite but going to IoA for a day - I don't know if we'll need 1 or 2 meals there.

Fulton's and Earl of Sandwich aren't in the dining plan but we get AAA discount with the package we booked. I think Sunday we will spend time at DTD before we leave. Fulton's we could skip but on Sunday I don't want to be shopping and run back just to use a restaurant that takes the dining plan.

I've considered the dining plan but if we go to IoA that's a day without using it - depending how many meals we miss.

So far there are only 4 sit-down meals planned. We don't have any PS planned for Wed or Sat. Wed is the day we are going to IoA so I'd hate to make a PS and then ended up not making it unless we did it for 8 or 9 at night (I think IoA closes at 7 so for sure we will be out of there by then probably earlier).

The dining plan also includes for each sit-down meal: appetizer, entree, desert, beverage. When I got out to a regular restaurant (Friday's, Chili's, etc) if I get all that food after the appetizer I can't eat my entree - literally if I take a bit I feel like I've eaten too much and I'm going to hurl. The only person who'd eat it would be DH and after an appetizer and entree he can't get desert. The only exception would be ina case maybe where we didn't eat all day or only had a small snack. If the portions are tiny at WDW restaurants than maybe we'd be eating all this but I read somewhere on these boards they give out pretty good size portions.

And Counter service meals include a desert also so again a lot of food (maybe if portions are small this is ok)

The snakcs we'd only use it for soda or water. I know DH and I hate popcorn and ice cream bars. On a day water is nice, but soda makes you more dehydrated right? We had planned to bring out own water.

My calculations went something like this:
4 sit down meals - Character meal, Fulton's, H&V, CRT
9 Counter service meals - Mon(1), Tues(1), Wed(2), Th(1), Fri(1), Sat(2), Sun(1)

9 CS meals estimate at $10 per person per meal = $180
Character meal (b4 tax,tip)=$36
H&V(b4tax,tip)=$46
CRT(2 entrees, 2 drinks, b4tax,tip)=$50
Fultons(2 entrees, 2 drinks, b4 tax, tip)=$60

Total = $372

I upped CRT and Fulton's estimate.

 

[jjohnson]

The appetizers at Chili's & Fridays are HUGE. Is your plan for 6 nights? If so your estimated cost to pay out-of-pocket is almost the same as the dining plan & the estimate doesn't include drinks in the parks or tax & tip. Even if you don't eat everything on the plan, I think your better off doing it & not having to worry about the budget everytime you open a menu.

You are allowed to share meals & then bank some for (2) SD meals. Another idea is to eat a counter breakfast or early counter lunch so you would be hungry to eat more for dinner.

 

[marriedmarylander]

Hmmmmmmmmmm.......................

DH looks at me crazy when I mentioned the dining plan. I guess he thought it sounded like a lot of money. He wanted to do just one sit-down meal the entire time.

 

[jjohnson]

Fulton's is on the low side. The average entree is around $30.

Someone on these boards used the DP at Earl of Sandwich. There was a $8.50 limit.

Do you normally drink alot of water? I drink tons & 1 bottle a day would not do it for me personally.

 

[lovemygoofy]

This year my husband and I are doing the dining plan. My dh was just thrilled to hear that it was created because one of our favorite things to do is sample different kinds of resteraunts(sp). We enjoy a nice sit down dinner or charcter meal once a day to relax. Our plan is to share a couple of the TS dinners so we can go to some of the nicer places that require 2 TS per person. We like the option that it's already paid for and we can choose to eat what we want within reason of course. Whatever we don't finish in the evenings we can bring back to our room for a midnight snack or for a morning treat.

To the OP, if you are really concerned about your budget but could do the dining plan then I would think that might be the best for you. You don't have to get just soda, water or popcorn. There are fresh fruit stands around that are considered snacks or you can get snacks at your foodcourt to carry through out the day. We ate at Fulton's on our last trip and it was expensive, especially if you have any alchol with your dinner. Our bill came to about $80 and the food I will say wasn't out of this world for that price. Counter service can be expensive too because if you are like us you get tired of burgers and chicken fingers quickly or other fried items.

Of course if ya'll are going to be way more into the parks and less about what you eat then the dining plan maynot be what you need. If you have more questions about your food budget feel free to PM me. The last time we went we were on a limited budget but I did budget about a $100/day to be on the safe side. Good luck and have a great trip.

 

[weregoingtodw]

I've budgeted $500 for 7 full days for my 9yo DD and me.

*breakfasts in the room (one hotel breakfast - SoG is very inexpensive)
*six table service meals ('Ohana, Marrakesh, GF Tea, Colombia, Jiko - DD not accompanying me, and H&V)
*eight counter service meals (have Q&C vouchers for two of those; two of those are also at SoG)

HTH!

 

[disneydom]

As a rule we budjet $100 a day for each person just 2 of us but when you include the cost of drinks snacks it adds up fast and if we go home with left over cash ha ha thats great , This trip we will be sending for the DDE card it will save 20% at most WDW sit down meals & drinks. wine fest here we come