Realistic Food Budget?

[Mkaz]

I'm back with more questions. What would be a realistic food budget for us if we decided not to go on the dining plan? We will be staying at either POP Century or All Star Movies (not sure yet) from June 4, 2006, to June 10, 2006. It is me, DH, DD 13, DS 6. We would plan on bringing plenty of snacks and drinks from home to cut down on the cost of food. We would bring cereal for breakfast in the room. We are hoping to get away from renting a car if possible so our choices may be slightly limited. I think that our best bet would be hoagie shops, pizza and buffet type meals. We will share meals and use coupons whenever possible. I did come up with an estimate, but I want to see what you pros think first. Thanks for your help.

 

[mmeb144]

We've brought poptarts from home for breakfast and our own snacks, too. My family is me, DH, DS13, and DD11. I would budget around $100/day, doing what I outlined above. That would be splitting the counter service meals and maybe only doing a table service every other day. You really need to budget in a character meal. They are worth the memories!

Marie

 

[thelionqueen]

If you are really trying to save $$ and not worried about character meals or any other meals for that matter, here is my suggestion.

Get fruit, oatmeal, cereal, muffins, milk, juice, lunchmeat, bread and snacks (chips, pretzels, etc) @ Super Wal-Mart (10 mins out of the world) Put all perishables in cooler (buy @ Walmart) or in fridge (rent $10 per day @ POP)

Eat a hearty and healthy breakfast, pack some snacks in your bag for the parks. Get a snack of some kind if needed, then have sandwiches for dinner. You will probably have to eat at least a counter service a couple of times during your stay (can split kids meals, they're huge).

With this budget you could spend under $300 for the whole trip and eat well. I have done this on a strict budget and my family didn't even know (or care) that we were skimping.

I would try to do $500 for a little breathing room though if you can. Have a great trip!!

 

[powellrj]

we usually count on $100 a day for our family of 4. We usually do breakfast in the room, one nice meal a day and then snack/sandwich type meal.

 

[MickeyBabe]

Breakfast in the room is a definate. Granola bars, poptarts or something like that is a good thing. (Something that requires no refrigeration and packs well )

As far as your "sit down" resturants, the lunch menu is always cheaper, So I would eat lunch at a sit down and dinner at a counter service.

Click Here for the Menus​

I have heard on the DVC boards about local pizza places that deliver. Not sure if they deliver to the Value Resorts. But it is worth checking out.

As far as a budget doing this, I don't know the particulars but the Menus can help you figure that out.

Have fun!

 

[FINFAN]

We always bring instant oatmeal, the ready cooked bacon and the microwave mac/cheese...you can use the microwave at the food court for these...and buy your bagels at walmart/publix...wherever, MUCH cheaper than at the resort and you can use the toaster in the food court. We still budget $125 a day for 4...usually don't need it all, but better to be over budget than under.
Are you planning on using a car service? You can geta 1/2 hour grocery stop with them.

 

[Mkaz]

Thanks everyone. Well, I wasn't too far off the mark. I figured roughly $500.00 for food. I am so glad that I asked about this. I didn't want to end up getting a total shock once we got there. Now we need to decide which would be better for us, dining or no dining plan. The cost for the four of us for the dining plan is $749.76 (if I did the math correctly). I would add about $20 to $30 for drinks etc. from home. Grand total = $779.76. If we don't have the dining plan I could probably figure $100.00 per day (maybe a little on the high side) which totals $700. Add in the cost of snacks and drinks brought from home the approximate total would be $730.00. Then we would have to consider that we may need some sort of a car service or rental car as well. Hmmm..... I'm not sure what the best option would be.

It almost seems like the cost for each would just about level out, no?

 

[dnbent]

We have gone to Disney both on the Dining Plan and on our own budget plan. The dining plan was much more fun. No one worried about what anyone was ordering and we were still carrying the change from our first hundred dollar bill around in our pocket the day we came home. The dining plan was GREAT. It was so much more fun being the MOM on the dining plan. I would say if you are able to do the dining plan without stretching you finances to thin I would go for it.

Good Luck,
Becky

 

[GPALANGE]

I say the dinning plan. My family wrestled with this same question when we went in October and ya know what, it was nice to just not to have to worry about it and have it all taken care of for us