Need Tips for Strecting WDW Food Budget

[LeeAnn]

Hoping to plan trip for during "Free Dining" (if offered) time. But it's not really free w/ tip now. For a 3 night stay, how much do I need to budget for tips?

Since snacks are only single serve and I can't use box of donuts. How else can I strecth snacks? Or what do you do for breakfast?

Should have a car rental for a day so I can a grocery store? Don't want over buy, what are essentials?

REfillage mugs are good for lengther stays. Don't think it would good 4d/3n stay. HOw much is coffee and soda to find out break even point?

Might had a day prior to "Free Dining" where meals would be out of pocket. Where would be a good baragin for CS and TS?

It's DH38, Me36, DD5, DS4 & DD2 (so she free).

Any tips welcomed?

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Since snacks are only single serve and I can't use box of donuts. How else can I strecth snacks? Or what do you do for breakfast?

• Get big snacks and share. Figaro fries are very filling. Alone they were good enough for a meal for me (215 lb guy who likes to eat). Could have easily shared as a snack for two.

Should have a car rental for a day so I can a grocery store? Don't want over buy, what are essentials?

• I like breakfast in the room - whatever you like. Pop tarts / bagels / muffins / milk / cereal / yogurt. What will your family eat?
  
  If it were me I would also have a meal off-site during the grocery store run. That would save a lot of money.

REfillage mugs are good for lengther stays. Don't think it would good 4d/3n stay. HOw much is coffee and soda to find out break even point?

• I probably wouldn't get a refillable mug on a short trip unless I wanted it for a souviner. It would be about 5 drinks to break even - maybe 6. Will there be a coffee maker in the room? You can have your coffee there. If you are going to the store anyway, pick up some bottled water and soda there. Carry it in the park.

Might had a day prior to "Free Dining" where meals would be out of pocket. Where would be a good baragin for CS and TS?

• There are tons of threads about "best bargain CS" and buffets are good for TS so I won't elaborate on that, but don't forget you can always bring snacks into the park. Even PB&J or something else that won't go rancid without refrigeration for something more substantial. If your day prior to free dining coincides with the day you have the car, again, eat a major meal off-site. Even having a hearty off-site breakfast at Perkins or Bob Evans will satisfy me until late afternoon, then I have a late lunch and I'm good for the rest of the day.

 

[Tricia1972]

Since snacks are only single serve and I can't use box of donuts. How else can I stretch snacks? Or what do you do for breakfast?

For breakfast the MK bakery had amazing snacks. Single serving of French Toast Loaf and Cinnamon rolls would be big enough for two light eaters for breakfast. Especially supplemented with a snack from the room.

Should have a car rental for a day so I can a grocery store? Don't want over buy, what are essentials?

For a $10 delivery charge Garden Grocer will deliver groceries to your room. You can order water, bagels, Pop Tarts, etc and have them sent to you for just $10. That'd probably be cheaper than most car rentals.


Refillabe mugs are good for lengthier stays. Don't think it would good 4d/3n stay. How much is coffee and soda to find out break even point?

I don't think that these are a good value in general, unless you're getting a few sodas a day from the food court. If you're eating breakfast at the food court for four mornings wouldn't the cost for four coffees be about $8.00 (Not a coffee drinker so don't quote me on this). Unless you're stopping back later on in the day for a soda, you won't come out ahead with a mug. You're right though, for longer stays it's a better deal.

Might had a day prior to "Free Dining" where meals would be out of pocket. Where would be a good baragin for CS and TS?

There are a few threads on the Restaurant board right now about dining cheaply at WDW. I'd check them out for suggestions. (The thread from today has links to two previous threads)

 

[Smile4Me]

A box of poptarts or granola bars is what me and my boyfriend call breakfast,,,we generally pack our own. If you take them out of the box and put them in some ziplocks they take up less room. a six pack of bottled water can go far, if you drink the initial water and then refill them in the parks throughout your trip. If you don't like the water taste bring flavor packets. Just dont throw them away!

Don't be afraid to split larger counterservice meals like a mini pizza from the Pinocchio restaurant in the MK (I forget its name) or a half chicken meal from one of the counter services in Tomorrowland...Also the Flametree BBQ Counterservice portions are mighty big as well!
Also alot of counterservice meals come with a Large drink,,,so order one complete meal, and then maybe another sandwhich,,split the side and drink!

 

[ammo]

Hoping to plan trip for during "Free Dining" (if offered) time. But it's not really free w/ tip now.

You are onto something when you put free dining in quotations. And I'm not just talking about the tips. In order to get free dining you have to pay full rack rates. I am convinced that you can travel more cheaply by using room discounts and then spending part of the savings on less expensive meals. Of course, if you would buy DDP anyway, "free dining" may be the way to go.

 

[metsno1]

"Free" Dining gave us the ability to go to restaurants that we wouldn't even consider paying OOP for. Artists Point alone was well over $300 for me, DW and 2 DD's. Coral Reef was well over $200!

But now, with the tip no longer included (and the omission of the appetizer, which we don't find to be any big deal), it looks like we would have needed to budget, what $50 for AP tip and $35 for CR? That's not chump change, and could cover CS meals without a problem!

So, depending on where you choose to eat during your three days, you could conceivably spend up to about $200 on tips alone!

BTW, we stayed at CSR, and found the Pepper Market to be an outstanding way to "spend" our CS credits! Lots of food, freshly prepared, and really good!

 

[Glenn]

Where are you staying & will you have a frig? You can get milk at some of the disney store along with 2 liter soda. Bring cereal with you for a good breakfast. I remember the Pluto candy at downtown disney also had bagels for 1.25 but that was a yr ago. Earl of Sandwich at dtd is also pretty good. Someone on another board also mentioned that the Hess gas stations have snacks at a decent price. And last there are a number of chain restaurants like Perkins at the crossing area which is just outside of disney not far from downtown disney. Decent food for a good price.

 

[momof3girls6712]

We just returned from a 5 day trip with 6 ppl (me, DH, DD12, DD7, DD6, and DDF11). We eat at 4 TS meals plus ordered a birthday cake, DTD rain Forest, and ordered Papa John's pizza twice plus 1 CS meal. We packed along 3 cases of water, snacks, tuna packets, and pb & J. I was very pleased with our food budget. We choose not to get the ddp. We did mean to pick up the DDE and regreted not taking the time to. We will be ordering it for May. Altogether (including the food we brought), we spent about 800 dollars. I had budgeted 1500 so I was thrilled. The two oldest girls did order off the kids meals, but because they wanted to. The kids would snack all day out of the backpack and never were really hungry at a meal.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We split counter service meals a lot of the times.

At Pizza Planet, we get two of the meal deals for the four of us, and it's plenty. It's a small-ish pizza, salad and drink.

At Epcot, we can (and have) split the wet burrito between DH and I.

Where are you staying? Pop and CBR (and I assume all of the resorts) food courts have an Adult Breakfast Platter, that's plenty to share. It was scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, and a biscuit, and for some reason I'm thinking we got sausage.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

You can certainly split meals to save money.

As far as renting a car for a day to get 'groceries', remember the value resorts do not have coffee makers or fridges.

Start saving now for your tips. Print out an envelope with each of your TS names and put in your estimated tip money in it. Choose one envelope each week you get paid and put that money in the envelope. This will certainly alleviate saving the tip money 'in bulk' right before your trip.