Want to keep food budget to $30/day for two adults for next trip...can we do it?

[IvyandLace]

Okay, here's the situation: My DH and I are trying to squeeze in another WDW trip this summer due to our almost expired PAPs (darn them! ) We are trying to go as "cheap" as possible. We will be driving down to Florida so will be bringing water, food, snacks, etc. We will have breakfast in our room and also have one "sandwich" meal a day with stuff we will bring and take to parks in a cooler. We would like to make lunch our "good" meal of the day and are wondering what sort of ideas y'all can come up with to help us make this meal as "special" and varied as possible-trying to keep it to $25-$30/day for two adults. We will also have a Brita water bottle to keep us hydrated. I am trying to avoid the basic hamburger/fries meal that will get old fast! Any ideas??

Thanks!
IVY

 

[sandieb]

The Tusker House in Animal Kingdom has some really good food with reasonable prices. Also, the buffet at the Trail's End in Fort Wilderness is very reasonable. You can check out the menu and prices. Sandie

 

[wdwpluto]

How about getting vouchers and using them at the Pepper Market? Huge selection of different kinds of foods there.

 

[MiraDawl]

I've never used them before, but what about VKL vouchers? I think they cost around $30 and from what a lot of people have written, two adults would eat rather well on just one voucher. They include appetizer, entree, beverage, and dessert, plus tax and tip!
Even if you just bought one or two to try, it could be a good savings, and a good meal!

~Mira

 

[crisi]

The World Showcase has a ton of "fast food" ethnic restaurants.

I think the real trick to this is to know where to go in each park to get something that isn't a burger. Puruse the menus over at www.allearsnet.com. There are actually a lot of choices to be purchased at counter service windows (Tusker House is good). However, for every place that sells something different there is another, easier to find place that sells a burger and chicken fingers.

Even without the VKL vouchers, you may be able to stay under $30 at some of the sit down spots. Most of the restaurants, if you are willing to split you can do three courses for under $30 at lunch time. Nine Dragons has a $30 lunch for two (tax and tip would put you over), or you could make a meal from their dim sum menu. Tempura Kiku has cheap entrees - it isn't quite sit down, but it isn't quite fast food either.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Cosmic Ray's in MK has a rotisserie (sp?) chicken meal with mashed potatoes for 6.99, even though it's counter service, it's not a burger or hot dog.

 

[Hollymom1229]

Also consider Biergarten in Germany for lunch. $14.99 per person for lunch, but as AP holders you get a 10% discount. I think the same is true for 9 dragons, but only at lunch.

 

[jann1033]

i second the voucher idea, 2 q/c would be under 25, leaving you a little for a snack or use a third to split for dinner( which would take you a few $$ over the 30). you can get a ton of "non burger" food at pepper market,, pop,tangerine to name just a few, for your money. it would be rough to resist the treats which are what really run up the food total imo but doable.

we easily split the lunch vouchers also and were full which would be a nice change. if you went minus vouchers you'd just have to be more careful in ordering..I think the french menu includes a soup sand. dessert for around 15 each. also whispering canyon breakfast or lunch skillet or trails' end are big ayc and trails'end includes beverage ( at least i know breakdfast does, not sure about lunch)and would be on budget. only problem with sit downs is the tip could take you over

ak vouchers were a good deal too

 

[Dreamfinder2]

What a great challenge - you need to post after your trip and let us know how you did. If I understand correctly, what you're looking at is basically one meal a day "out," and that should be doable. In addition to using vouchers, check out menus before you leave and do some planning, then stick to your guns. Have fun!

 

[dalt01]

30.00 a day for two???? NO WAY unless you call Rachael Ray for help or are willing to be hungry and have your nose pressed up against the restaurant window. "please sir, can i have some more?"

 

[tkyes]

30.00 a day for two???? NO WAY

Why not? One meal for under $30, no problem.

Columbia Harbor House has a great tuna sandwich and pretty good clam chowder. Check out the menu on Deb's site and consider getting an appetizer and sharing an entree. Disney has no problem with people sharing and it saves quite a bit of money.

I've posted this before, but here are some of my experiences -



ESPN Zone - Boardwalk - While the ESPN Zone wasn’t our first choice we decided to eat here so we could watch what turned out to be an incredibly horrible football game. We didn’t arrive as early as we would have liked so we had to stand in line, but the line moved fairly quickly. DH had the hot roast beef sandwich and I had the grilled chicken sandwich with swiss cheese. Our food was standard sports bar fare, but we have no complaints. I had a mudslide and DH had a couple of beers in the process of watching the game. Later in the evening we also shared the apple brown betty with ice cream (an extra $1 for the ice cream). It came out nice and warm and was very good. We will return to ESPN if we want to watch a game, but I think we would eat someplace else on the Boardwalk if there wasn’t a game. If you don’t count drinks our meal with entrees and dessert was around $23.00



Coral Reef / Epcot - We ate here on our honeymoon 4 1/2 years ago and decided we were long overdue for a return trip. Both of us were craving the lobster bisque so that’s what we started out with. I don’t even want to know the nutritional information on this soup, on vacation, all rules are out the window. We then shared a grilled mahi mahi on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes. The potatoes were full of garlic and very good. The fish was a little bland, without the potatoes it would have been too bland and needed some seasoning. We passed on dessert today. Still one of our favorite restaurants we will definitely be back to watch the fish and enjoy a great lunch. Total for lunch with no beverages was $31.00



Plaza Restaurant / Magic Kingdom - We just shared a club sandwich minus the mayonnaise and that was it. We passed on ice cream and decided to stop in candy store on our way out instead. The club sandwich is good although it could have used a slice of cheese. We love the plaza because it’s a nice place to sit down and you don’t have to make a PS for it, so it’s flexible. Our total for just our club sandwich was $11.00



Beaches and Cream / Beach Club - This was a last minute addition to our plans. We were wiped out from our day in the park and needed an evening off. I told DH the plans were up to him. His perfect evening in WDW? Beaches and Cream followed by mini golfing! We walked right into Beaches and Cream around 5:15. We each had hamburgers, DH a cheeseburger actually and we shared a malt. Burgers, fries and ice cream were delicious as always! We never dislike a meal at Beaches and Cream. Total for dinner and malt (just water to drink) was $20.00

 

[MikeWazowski]

This might be a little tough, but you can probably get pretty close to the $30 a day range. Like everyone else said, your going to want to stick to counter service restaurants. Which is not a bad thing. Here's some of my favorites:

Columbia Harbor House - MK
Casey's Corner - MK
Tusker House - AK
The Land - Epcot
Fish Place (Can't remember the name) - Epcot

With the brita water bottle you will be saving alot of money right there or you could buy a resort mug. Good Luck

 

[HopperFan]

We have actually gotten by with not much more than that with 3 kids (when they were smaller) by eating in the room for breakfast, and having sandwhich fixings and making lunch our main meal, splitting some items.

What my DH and I do now is order a disney salad, which that in itself can feed us both, with maybe a sandwhich or other side. We split it all. They have some GREAT salads. Had an awesome one at Peco's Bills (a place I generally don't like), had another kind at Columbia house, another kind at Plaza Pavillion (which is great with Italian sandwhich).....that is all at MK.

Every park and hotel have great salads - some with chicken, they run around $7-8 and they are plentiful. We share a side or sandwhich and sometimes even share a large soda. Total for us two is less than $20, leaving you money for ice cream later in the day in your budget.

 

[dalt01]

sorry im going to stick to my guns on the "NO WAY". think about it 5 bucks per meal per person per day WITH a drink and a tip???? and how about an ice cream bar "honey you eat the left ear and i'll eat the right and i'll rassel ya for the body.

 

[bytheblood]

Here are some places you can eat for under $10.

http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/dinemk.html

http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/dinemgm.html

http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/dineak.html

http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/dinews.html

 

[Aquagirl]

Animal Kingdom has a lunch meal deal for $11.99 per person. You get a meal and a beverage plus vouchers for a bottle of soda or water and one for a popcorn or ice cream. It is a great deal especially if you eat at Tusker House.

 

[catheren]

sorry im going to stick to my guns on the "NO WAY". think about it 5 bucks per meal per person per day WITH a drink and a tip???? and how about an ice cream bar "honey you eat the left ear and i'll eat the right and i'll rassel ya for the body.

Dalt01 -- very funny!!
I think the poster means a $30.00 meal each day for the two of them. They are planning on bringing breakfast stuff and eating in their room then sandwiches, snacks and drinks are being brought into the park. Leaving them 1 meal to spend $30.00 for two.

More power to you -- I couldn't survive on $30.00 per 2 adults at WDW!!

 

[catheren]

sorry im going to stick to my guns on the "NO WAY". think about it 5 bucks per meal per person per day WITH a drink and a tip???? and how about an ice cream bar "honey you eat the left ear and i'll eat the right and i'll rassel ya for the body.

Dalt01 -- very funny!!
I think the poster means a $30.00 meal each day for the two of them. They are planning on bringing breakfast stuff and eating in their room then sandwiches, snacks and drinks are being brought into the park. Leaving them 1 meal to spend $30.00 for two.

More power to you -- I couldn't survive on $30.00 per 2 adults at WDW!!

 

[Andy123]

Honestly, I don't think it can be done and still have a good time (and any good food)...

When my wife & I eat just counter service, it's almost $18 for the two of us... if it's $30 EACH, then that shouldn't be a problem... but $30 total I think is impossible...

 

[tkyes]

Andy - why isn't it possible? You just said it costs you $18 total for you and your wife to eat counter service. That's under $30 right? Mission accomplished!

The OP said 1 meal - lunch. The only stipulation was avoiding burgers, easy enough at most any counter service. I still think she can even squeeze in a sit down meal.

If they can eat one day for $18 then they can spend the extra $12 the next day at a nicer sit down lunch.

They can still find some good food and have a good time doing it!