my food budget

[MOMOFMNM]

Can anyone tell me if I am being reasonable, as lst time we went we had free dining but will be paying OOP this time because we will be at the Dolphin on the teacher rate...
we will eat breakfast in room...we ate one meal per day last time with a snack or two per day and were not very hungry after having meals!! We are a family that splits meals, do not drink alcohol, brings water/drinks to the park with us, asks for free ice water, that is our eating habit...if we eat a late lunch we did not get dinner but get a snack before fireworks then go back and go to bed and maybe get a refillable mug and have some more snacks in room...we are not huge eaters at all.

here is my food budget:

13th Aug: Epcot LeCellier Lunch 80.00 plus 30.00 snack 110.00 total
14th: MK CP lunch 80.00 plus 30.00 snack 110.00
15th:MK CS only day 60.00 total
16t: MGM 50's lunch 50.00 plus 30.00snack 80.00 total
17th:AK Tusker House lunch CS all day 60.00
18th: EPCOT CS day 60.00
19th: Character meal bkfst 80.00 total

I am budgeting around 600-700 dollars for this...I have looked at the menues and know what aprox we will order...at CS places I like to get kids meals or share...we are mainly snacky type family...but we like the "fun" places to dine too like 50's and sci fi....and HAVE to do one character meal!!
LeCellier is not a MUST but I would like to try it for a late lunch..
or maybe a Blue ZOO dinner with the free camp dolphin for kids...

anyone with lots of NON dining plan experince like to comment??? thanks!!

 

[eliza61]

If you guys are mainly snackers then I think you should be fine. My family (we're the opposite of you, 3 boys) are more sit down diner types so my food budget is usually more than my lodging cost . Sci-fi is a great restaraunt, the food is not bad (not the best in Disney) but the theme is awesome. You might want to add in a few extra bucks, if possible just on the off case you run across something the girls would really like. (we ate in rainforest cafe at the animal kingdom and every one wanted the animal straw toppers... go figure)

Have fun

 

[JandJ]

DH and I eat the same way! Disney is one of the few places where you can still get a free cup of ice water which is great and if we eat lunch we split a kids portion. I've never broken it down by day like you have, we live near Disney and go all the time and we usually eat breakfast on the way, and just spend on one meal, usually dinner, and we prefer sit-down restaurants so we got the DDE card and have saved a bundle. If you budget $100/day you might be cutting yourself short so you might want to budget $150 to $200/day and then if you don't spend it all on food you can get more souveniers or better yet save it for your next Disney vacation!

 

[Thumper's Tara]

Okay, I am a budgeting nut, so I am going to share the way I do it...

I normally set up a spreadsheet in Excel to figure out how much food money I need. Personally, I would rather over-budget for my food and know that I can have what I want, then cut it too close.

I choose my restuarants and look at the menus. While I don't always get every course, I plan on ordering appetizer, main course and dessert. If there are two choices that I like, I go for the more expensive one...

If alcohol is a choice, I plan for two drinks at that restuarant. Again, I may not want them, but it is nice to have the room.

So, for me at Le Cellier, it would look like this:

Cheddar Cheese Soup: $ 4.99
Filet Mignon: $30.98
Canadian Cake $ 7.99
Drinks (2) $11.90
Sub-Total: $55.86
Tax (7%) $ 3.91
Tip (25%) $14.94
Grand Total: $74.71

Again, I put in more than I figure I am going to eat/drink. This gives me a little cushion. I also build a cushion in for great service (the 25% tip)!

As I only eat one big meal a day, I don't do a lot of budgeting around CS. I normally budget $10/day/person.

The example above was how I did it for my solo trip, but I did something very similar when I planned for my family trip.

It sounds like you are on the right track! Just make sure you are accounting for tax & tip, and give yourself some wiggle room.

I hope this helps!

ttfn,
Tara

 

[lsket]

We are a famiy of 5 ( kids 11,10,and 3) last trip in December we spent right at $600 for 5 days for food. We did use the DDE which we got with our AP. We included 1 table service ( rainforest, planet hollywood, a CB, Olivia's at OKW and plaza in MK) each day and CS for the rest. We only ate in the room 1 time for Bfast. So you should be about right with your budget. But if you see something that you HAVE to have and you didn't budget for that then.... It don't hurt to pad the dining a little.

Lynn

 

[pooh2001]

Wow - you are all great budget people.

We are a family of adults - 4 of us, who like sit down restaurants.
We budget $185 a day - maybe just round to $200.
Always dinner at a sit down - lots of character meals and we also pay for
the 7:15 pm HDD (no discounts) and a Cindy prepaid breakfast.

We get the DDE card to help with a 20% discount at most places.
DH wants healthier food to eat for our family. No burgers, pizza, hot dogs, chicken fingers, french fries or mac & cheese.

DH likes....turkey breast, carved beef, and boneless ham, accompanied with Tavern-made mashed potatoes, market vegetables,Spice Rubbed Prime Rib,Orange Teriyaki Chicken,Rice with Peas, Garlic Steamed Broccoli Polonaise
Mandarin Orange Glazed Baby Carrots, spring mixed greens, Caesar Salad,sauteed squash with chives, niblet corn, salmon with a caper butter sauce, curry chicken with Israeli couscous, apple chutney stuffed pork loin with apple glaze, portobello raviolis with a pesto cream, mussels in ginger broth, salmon with a dill cream sauce, chicken marsala, cheese lasagna,Spicy-sweet and sour shrimp, Honey-coriander chicken wings,Marinated Sirloin Steak
Asian Barbecue Pork Loin, Mesquite Grilled Turkey......

Guess where we eat ...... 1900 Park Faire, LTT, Cindy's, Coral Reef, 'Ohana, Rose and Crown, RFC, Crystal Palace, Plaza, Hollywood and Vine, Chef Mickeys,....

We do break down and eat a Mickey ice cream while at WDW.

We are not over weight people - just like the A/C for our meals

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I like the idea of looking at the menus as if you're at the table ready to order... think about what you and your family would actually order if you were there and imagine you're all fairly hungry.

Sitting in my office right now, I would tell you that we'd get water with our food... but if I close my eyes and imagine sitting down at sci-fi and finally getting out of the heat that I would let my kids order those ding-dong shakes with the light up ice-cubes... and voila, the realistic total for our meal becomes clearer.

We are in the same boat you are. Last fall we did the dining plan and we went hog wild with great meals. It was way too much food than we normally eat, so I thought this time we'd try to budget for eating the way we normally would. I think I'll try the excel spreadsheet idea for the food... i already have one going for the schedule...

Good luck with your plans!! Where in IA are you? My folks are in Clear Lake!

 

[MOMOFMNM]

I like the idea of looking at the menus as if you're at the table ready to order... think about what you and your family would actually order if you were there and imagine you're all fairly hungry.

Sitting in my office right now, I would tell you that we'd get water with our food... but if I close my eyes and imagine sitting down at sci-fi and finally getting out of the heat that I would let my kids order those ding-dong shakes with the light up ice-cubes... and voila, the realistic total for our meal becomes clearer.

We are in the same boat you are. Last fall we did the dining plan and we went hog wild with great meals. It was way too much food than we normally eat, so I thought this time we'd try to budget for eating the way we normally would. I think I'll try the excel spreadsheet idea for the food... i already have one going for the schedule...


we are in Des Moines

I have just switched my entire vacation due to the food costs! we are now going to go in Value season, stay either at Poly again, CR wing, or rent BCV points...so that we can add the dining and ME. We are also going to shorten our vacation by one day...we want the DP and we want a deluxe so we are going to have to limit ourselves somewhere!! We may look at the new family suites but DH says he needs a white sandy beach with fireworks...
it is hard pleasing everyone and finding the best price for the family...all I can hope for is some kind of discount for Sept/Oct like free dining again!!! I am not holding my breath...