One week out of pocket

[Stigsmom]

Could you help me estimate the cost?

I’m looking at 2 Disney adults and 2 kids- 1 table service per day and 1 counter service per day, for a week.

Maybe it’s just because the week is ending and my brain is fried but I would love some help to estimate the total budget- especially if you have recently been there and done this.

We are leaving in 2 weeks and dining is the only thing we haven’t prepaid. We will also be eating a lot of breakfast/snacks from the room to account for other times. I have 3 gift cards, but I’m trying to figure out how many more to get.

Thank you so much!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You can check menus on Allears.net or on the Disney website to see the prices. Then add tax and tip. Should give you a good guess.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Hard to say. You can eat for probably about $20-25 per person per table service meal at some places, but if you are eating buffets it will be significantly more. QS I'd plan $15 per person, but again could be a few dollars more or less.

 

[rg35]

Yeah you have to look at menus of the places you're eating and do the math. That's the best way.

 

[Horizons-1]

Without knowing where you're eating or what you're eating here is a safe budget that should cover you for the week.

1 Adult: Standard locations (No character meals) w/ drinks
~$20/Counter Service per day
~$50/Table Service per day
Total = $70/Day @ 7 Days = $490/Week

2 Adults = $490 x 2 = $980 ~$1,000/Week

1 Child: Standard locations (No character meals) w/ drinks
~$15/Counter Service per day
~$25/Table Service per day
Total = $40/Day @ 7 Days = $280/Week

2 Children = $280 x 2 = $560 ~$600/Week

Total Budget = ~$1,600/Week

If you're going to do a character meal then you will need to factor about ~$45 extra per day to cover everyone for the added cost. I also considered the Adults getting an average priced item at the Table Service meals. Understandably if you get the higher priced items often then you can easily spend more than this.

Again, if you plan on spending at least $1,600-$2,000 for the week on food then you should be covered. You may come out well below this, but for me I'd rather expect to pay more just in case.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Try www.distripplanner.com

It was pretty spot on for my last trip.

 

[Princess Mulan]

Without knowing where you're eating or what you're eating here is a safe budget that should cover you for the week.

1 Adult: Standard locations (No character meals) w/ drinks
~$20/Counter Service per day
~$50/Table Service per day
Total = $70/Day @ 7 Days = $490/Week

2 Adults = $490 x 2 = $980 ~$1,000/Week

1 Child: Standard locations (No character meals) w/ drinks
~$15/Counter Service per day
~$25/Table Service per day
Total = $40/Day @ 7 Days = $280/Week

2 Children = $280 x 2 = $560 ~$600/Week

Total Budget = ~$1,600/Week

If you're going to do a character meal then you will need to factor about ~$45 extra per day to cover everyone for the added cost. I also considered the Adults getting an average priced item at the Table Service meals. Understandably if you get the higher priced items often then you can easily spend more than this.

Again, if you plan on spending at least $1,600-$2,000 for the week on food then you should be covered. You may come out well below this, but for me I'd rather expect to pay more just in case.

This is pretty close to what we budget. For our most recent trip a few weeks ago, we averaged $60/day for each adult. That amount included everything: tips, taxes, beverages, snacks, signature and counter-service meals, etc. Budgeting $70/day for adults and $40/day for children sounds reasonable to me.

 

[Belleofthehouse]

We will be two adults and two 16 year old boys. I am budgeting $1200 for five days. Breakfast in room (we are staying in the cabins). We are food people so I guesstimate $15-18 per QS meal per person. We do have a few table service meals planned

 

[Bostonbeans99]

If you go to Disney's website you can pretty much find prices to all the restaurants and quick service food places & even snacks.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that $70 per day for adults is pretty close and maybe 25 or so for kids unless they are bigger eaters. If you are going to character meals the cost increases exponentially.

 

[uccats97]

It all depends on where you’re planning to eat for your table service meals. Adding the Disney Dining Plan would cost you about $200 per night and includes 1 table service meal or buffet with beverage, 1 quick service meal with beverage, and 2 snacks, per person, per night plus a resort refillable mug per person. It’s not too late to add that if you think it would be a better value than paying out of pocket.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I think that $70 per day for adults is pretty close and maybe 25 or so for kids unless they are bigger eaters. If you are going to character meals the cost increases exponentially.

16 yr old boys? Closer to the $70 each. But that's not doing a lot of TS dining, mostly CS.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Ive read of people budgeting whatever the DDP costs. They usually have money leftover but it’s a good base.

 

[Nancyg56]

16 yr old boys? Closer to the $70 each. But that's not doing a lot of TS dining, mostly CS.

Oh yeh, 16 YO boys. We would buy the DDp for them. Yes, it is upfront, but if they were my crew, they would eat that much.

 

[Beer Me]

Ive read of people budgeting whatever the DDP costs. They usually have money leftover but it’s a good base.

Family of four Disney adults (two teen boys). Without really trying to save money our out of pocket food cost is about 20% less than the dining plan cost. We do one counter/one table per day and no shortage of snacks and treats but we don't eat a ton and don't usually want the most expensive meals.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Hello,

I tracked this on our recent January trip. We are a family of 5 (2 adults, 14 yr old daughter, 12 yr old son, 7 yr old daughter), but our youngest is a very light eater. The spreadsheet below was to track how much I saved against not using the dining plan, which we had always bought previously. You would be interested in the 3rd last column - that was the sum of our daily spends for food. Note that this only covers items that would have been covered by the dining plan, so you would have to add any additional alcohol, appetizers, etc.

 

[Stigsmom]

Thanks everyone- I especially appreciate the spreadsheet!

My kids are extremely light eaters and I always eat whatever is left over from them. I know it’s vacation, but I’m economical. Snacks will be limited since my oldest has multiple severe food allergies and the snacks we can get as a group will be limited to soft serve and frozen coke type things. We won’t make a lot of food centric purchases outside of the meals.

Also being light eaters we will probably be splitting kids meals and the like for quick service so hopefully on the lower end of costs.

Knowing we have to have at least 1 solid meal for fuel I got mostly either character meals or show packages for the meals... park fare, mama melrose, ohana, Tusker House, and crystal palace- and one be our guest lunch: they are all breakfast/brunch times.

The biggest complication for me is I’m traveling w 3 to 5 other adults also attending these reservations. I don’t mind not splitting the bills exactly but like to have an amount in mind before going in.

Thanks for your help- I know this place is full of planners who already have this kind of info handy.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Try www.distripplanner.com

It was pretty spot on for my last trip.

This is nice, never seen this before- will have to do this for our next trip. Thank you for sharing!

 

[leebee]

Hello,

I tracked this on our recent January trip. We are a family of 5 (2 adults, 14 yr old daughter, 12 yr old son, 7 yr old daughter), but our youngest is a very light eater. The spreadsheet below was to track how much I saved against not using the dining plan, which we had always bought previously. You would be interested in the 3rd last column - that was the sum of our daily spends for food. Note that this only covers items that would have been covered by the dining plan, so you would have to add any additional alcohol, appetizers, etc.

View attachment 324794

Impressive comparison! The only thing I found tempting about getting the dining plan was that it now includes an alcoholic beverage for those over 21. We enjoy a drink or glass of wine with our meals, so I considered it. However... there's no way we'd eat all that food, even though we are foodies and love to eat. I had bariatric surgery 18 months ago and I KNOW there's no way I'd eat a QS and a TS (with dessert) and 2 snacks a day, so we'd end up with quite a few "paid for" credits going to waste. Also, we are eating at several restaurants where I can get a discount by paying with my Disney Visa card, so I'm going to do that at those restaurants and use my (already-earned) rewards points for our other meals. Practically free... our own dining plan!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Hello,

I tracked this on our recent January trip. We are a family of 5 (2 adults, 14 yr old daughter, 12 yr old son, 7 yr old daughter), but our youngest is a very light eater. The spreadsheet below was to track how much I saved against not using the dining plan, which we had always bought previously. You would be interested in the 3rd last column - that was the sum of our daily spends for food. Note that this only covers items that would have been covered by the dining plan, so you would have to add any additional alcohol, appetizers, etc.

View attachment 324794

I can't believe there is someone out there like me. We did the DDP once about 8 years ago and will never do it again. I have made that spreadsheet each time we came back after that and it we saved hundreds of dollars (once we had a 16 day trip and it saved us over a $1,000) by NOT getting the DDP. Not even close to a break even let alone saving money. I wish people would understand that the dining plan is not for everyone. Even if you do character meals like we do, plus Ohana dinner. The dining plan is made to make Disney money. What we find with longer trips is that we don't eat that much by the 4th or 5th day - especially in the heat. Also several times our kids got sick and we would have had left over TS credits because we had to cancel meals.

Great spreadsheet - excel is my best friend. I use it for everything.