We did it again! Family of 4 eats for $75 a day. Read all about it, plus reviews!

[K and K's Mommy]

Thanks for taking the time to post all the prices and reviews! You spent a lot of time for all of us on the Dis!

 

[Jrabbit910]

Good for you! You should do a food network show!

 

[mom2my3kids]

I have to say I loved looking over your budget. I like seeing what other people eat...

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I'M THE OP AND IT'S AMAZING WHAT THE DISCUSSION OF MONEY WILL DO TO PEOPLE! IF EVERYONE WOULD GO BACK TO THE OP AND R-E-A-D IT, THEY WILL SEE THAT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH WE SPENT EACH DAY UNTIL AFTER WE GOT BACK HOME AND I ADDED UP THE RECEIPTS . I ACTUALLY EXPECTED US TO SPEND BETWEEN $85-100 EACH DAY. THE $75 A DAY WAS NOT A GOAL, AND THERE WAS NO CONSPIRACY TO STEAL ANYTHING FROM ANYONE. WELL, APPARENTLY FOR THE 3 SIT-DOWN MEALS WE HAD I CHEATED DISNEY OUT OF A TOTAL OF $5.90. I GUESS NO ONE'S COUNTING THE $2400 WE SPENT TO GET THERE. MAYBE THE $2.39 WE SPENT ON A BAG OF CHIPS THAT WE CAN BUY AT WALMART FOR $0.88 WILL MAKE UP FOR IT. AND AS FAR AS BRAGGING OR MISLEADING PEOPLE, THAT WAS DEFINITELY NOT MY INTENTION. I WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE THAT ARE NON-DISNEY EXPERTS HAVE SOME IDEA OF MENU COSTS. LAST YEAR WAS OUR FIRST AND IT WAS VERY HARD TO IMAGINE PORTIONS AND HOW OFTEN WE'D WANT TO EAT. ANOTHER FACT THAT MAY (HOPEFULLY) CLEAR THIS ALL UP IS THAT THE SINGLE PARTY WE WERE WITH INSISTED ON MATCHING OUR TIPS AT THE RESTAURANTS. THIS MADE EVERY TIP 20% OF THE TOTAL BILL. I DIDN'T STATE THIS BEFORE BECAUSE I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BECOME SUCH A VITAL ISSUE. LITTLE DID I KNOW!

Whatever you tip is your business, but if you post it on the internet, you shouldn't be surprised when others comment. In addition, the fact that another party "matched" your tips does not mean you as a party tipped 20% unless the other party ate off of your plates and did not order any food of their own! If you mean that they left the same dollar amount for a tip, but ate food of their own, then you could not have left a 20% tip.

Ten percent of a 50 dollar food bill is five dollars. If the other party had a comparable bill, and left the same tip, it is still ten percent.

The only way this could be possible is if the other party left a tip that was about 30 percent (approximate) of their bill to make up for the small tip your party was leaving. Then, they didn't really "match" your tip, they increased theirs to compensate for yours.

 

[princesstigerlilly]

Whatever you tip is your business, but if you post it on the internet, you shouldn't be surprised when others comment. In addition, the fact that another party "matched" your tips does not mean you as a party tipped 20% unless the other party ate off of your plates and did not order any food of their own! If you mean that they left the same dollar amount for a tip, but ate food of their own, then you could not have left a 20% tip.

Ten percent of a 50 dollar food bill is five dollars. If the other party had a comparable bill, and left the same tip, it is still ten percent.

The only way this could be possible is if the other party left a tip that was about 30 percent (approximate) of their bill to make up for the small tip your party was leaving. Then, they didn't really "match" your tip, they increased theirs to compensate for yours.

I must have reached the end of the internet-- now I have seen it all. A pissing match over tipping, lol.

Of the thousands of posts I have read on this board, this is one I will certainly will not forget. What is the point of your post Lulu? Are you suggesting she is a liar? Are you suggesting she has poor math skills? Are you just trying to bully and make yourself look big? I'm a bit lost as to why you posted this. It didn't need to be said. Your post, above all the other posts in this thread, stands out as an attatck at the OP.

Your post has nothing to do with the intention of this thread, it only picks apart her explination. An explination that she never should have had to give. She started this thread to share some info. Period.

I do however like how you justified your picking her apart by stating she should not be surprised by the reaction becasue she posted her tipping amounts on the board. Classic passive/agressive. Nice.

This thread is about her family's dining experience at WDW. Why not just leave it at that?

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I must have reached the end of the internet-- now I have seen it all. A pissing match over tipping, lol.

Of the thousands of posts I have read on this board, this is one I will certainly will not forget. What is the point of your post Lulu? Are you suggesting she is a liar? Are you suggesting she has poor math skills? Are you just trying to bully and make yourself look big? I'm a bit lost as to why you posted this. It didn't need to be said. Your post, above all the other posts in this thread, stands out as an attatck at the OP.

Your post has nothing to do with the intention of this thread, it only picks apart her explination. An explination that she never should have had to give. She started this thread to share some info. Period.

I do however like how you justified your picking her apart by stating she should not be surprised by the reaction becasue she posted her tipping amounts on the board. Classic passive/agressive. Nice.

This thread is about her family's dining experience at WDW. Why not just leave it at that?

The purpose of my post was to point out that ten percent of one bill and ten percent of another do not equal twenty. Correct math is important to anyone who is budgeting.

What was the purpose of yours?

 

[princesstigerlilly]

The purpose of my post was to point out that ten percent of one bill and ten percent of another do not equal twenty. Correct math is important to anyone who is budgeting.

What was the purpose of yours?

The purpose of mine was to get an answer from you as to the point of your post. Sitting where I am, your post looked gruff and sort of mean, to be honest. I am not calling you a mean person, just that I interepreted what you said that way. Like you were telling her she was wrong and that what she said wasn't good enough for you.

She owes no one an explination, and she deserves respect to not be picked apart. Anyone with 1/2 a brain will decide their own tiping budget. People are interested that her family was full after sharing meals and happy to see that we don't all have to eat like those on the DP to have a great vacation.

We all know how hard it is to express tone and sentiment on the internet, if that was not your intention, I am sorry I read it like that.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

The purpose of mine was to get an answer from you as to the point of your post. Sitting where I am, your post looked gruff and sort of mean, to be honest. I am not calling you a mean person, just that I interepreted what you said that way. Like you were telling her she was wrong and that what she said wasn't good enough for you.

She owes no one an explination, and she deserves respect to not be picked apart. Anyone with 1/2 a brain will decide their own tiping budget. People are interested that her family was full after sharing meals and happy to see that we don't all have to eat like those on the DP to have a great vacation.

We all know how hard it is to express tone and sentiment on the internet, if that was not your intention, I am sorry I read it like that.

I do believe you misinterpreted what I said.
The first thing I mentioned was that what she tips is her own business.
Certainly, it was not my intention to pick on anyone.
I know many people budget very carefully (myself included) and I wanted the OP to clarify what she meant by "matching" the tips, since my best attempts didn't make sense to me.
I read this thread to get some ideas for budgeting for meals, as I think all of us did and the point of my post was to ask the OP to explain how her ten percent tip combined with the other party's could equal twenty.
I did not post to excoriate her. You don't need to be sorry. We can all share our opinions like adults. I learned a long time ago not to take anything you read on the internet to heart. You're right- without understanding facial expressions, personalities, etc. each sentence may be read in ten different ways.

 

[princesstigerlilly]

I do believe you misinterpreted what I said.
The first thing I mentioned was that what she tips is her own business.
Certainly, it was not my intention to pick on anyone.
I know many people budget very carefully (myself included) and I wanted the OP to clarify what she meant by "matching" the tips, since my best attempts didn't make sense to me.
I read this thread to get some ideas for budgeting for meals, as I think all of us did and the point of my post was to ask the OP to explain how her ten percent tip combined with the other party's could equal twenty.
I did not post to excoriate her. You don't need to be sorry. We can all share our opinions like adults. I learned a long time ago not to take anything you read on the internet to heart. You're right- without understanding facial expressions, personalities, etc. each sentence may be read in ten different ways.

So true to not take anything to heart that is posted online! (Something most people, like me, learn the hard way). Good to know we're on the same page and you have no resentment for my asking.

 

[thefigueroas]

Tipping debate aside, I am amazed that you are able to get your husband to share with you at all! I suggested sharing on a few with my DH for our next trip as a way to stretch our CS credits and you would have thought I asked him for one of his kidneys! What is it with some men and their food?

 

[TwingleMum]

To the OP if you haven't run screaming from the Dis BBs you poor thing. Thanks for posting some budget ideas. People can apply what they want and leave the rest. Have a magical day

 

[Goobergal99]

Tipping debate aside, I am amazed that you are able to get your husband to share with you at all! I suggested sharing on a few with my DH for our next trip as a way to stretch our CS credits and you would have thought I asked him for one of his kidneys! What is it with some men and their food?

I was thinking the same thing my DH is a bottomless pit, he could devour two CS meals in a sitting and still have room for more

 

[Dorisk3]

The original point of this post was to show how the OP's family got by on $75 a day at Disney for food. However along the way we find out that maybe the $75. may not be the whole issue here. I agree with Lulu- the OP is partly saving money on not tipping properly or if she is tipping properly, not putting that in her overall total. It probably still averages out to the $75 a day- but if we are analyzing amounts it could really even be higher if someone who tips the acceptable amount goes.
Lulu after I read the post about splitting the tips- the math bothered me too- I knew it still didn't equal out to 15 %.

Alright, bottom line- what do I personally care? The OP poster is not a great tipper-hardly the end of the world. But what bothers me is that in a way things might be a little misrepresented here. I'm not saying the OP was lying- she did an excellent job tallying things and reporting. But the fact is to eat on $75 dollars a day at disney as the OP gloated in your subject line, you are going to be eating alot of chicken strips, pepperoni pizzas and sharing alot of meals and going light on tips to servers. It is what it is- the OP stated it in black and white- argue all the want!

 

[jbbt]

In addition, the fact that another party "matched" your tips does not mean you as a party tipped 20% unless the other party ate off of your plates and did not order any food of their own! If you mean that they left the same dollar amount for a tip, but ate food of their own, then you could not have left a 20% tip.

Ten percent of a 50 dollar food bill is five dollars. If the other party had a comparable bill, and left the same tip, it is still ten percent.

The only way this could be possible is if the other party left a tip that was about 30 percent (approximate) of their bill to make up for the small tip your party was leaving. Then, they didn't really "match" your tip, they increased theirs to compensate for yours.

She very, clearly states that the other party was a "SINGLE PARTY", so your argument doesn't apply. It most certainly is possible!! A very simple example - If the food cost was $10 per person, her family of four's cost would be $40 and she would leave $4. The single party's cost would be $10 and if he left $4, the total tip would be $8 or 16% tip.


NvrBnToWDW - I really enjoyed your reading your information!!! I love to see how much different families spend. Like I said before, our first couple of trips, we ate just like you guys. We were too busy doing other things to have more table service meals. I want to warn you though , each time we go back we, or really, I - mom the planner, add more table service restaurants, not so much for the food, but for the atmosphere and something different to do..LOL. Anyway, my caution is that with each trip I somehow manage to increase our food budget and now I find it hard to reverse that trend. So with each trip we spend more and More and MORE....ahhh...I know Disney is laughing all the way to the bank!! You've really encouraged me and reaffirmed to me that I really don't have to spend a lot on food to have a great vacation. Thanks so much for your info. I would love to see more people write out their dining just like you did. It was quick to read and very easy to understand. THANKS!!!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

She very, clearly states that the other party was a "SINGLE PARTY", so your argument doesn't apply. It most certainly is possible!! A very simple example - If the food cost was $10 per person, her family of four's cost would be $40 and she would leave $4. The single party's cost would be $10 and if he left $4, the total tip would be $8 or 16% tip.

If someone left a 4 dollar tip on a $10 meal, then they tipped 40 %. That's exactly what my second option theorized.

 

[Aristomommy]

Tipping debate aside, I am amazed that you are able to get your husband to share with you at all! I suggested sharing on a few with my DH for our next trip as a way to stretch our CS credits and you would have thought I asked him for one of his kidneys! What is it with some men and their food?

LOL!!! You just described my husband He usually asks me "what are you getting?" and plans on eating half of my meal (without asking). Then he can order something else and taste two dishes instead of one. He keeps looking at me and my food until I give him the go ahead to dig in.... I think it must be a man thing.

 

[rigs32]

I'm not trying to stir the pot, I swear. BUT I've heard one of Rachel Ray's shows on the Food Network is about eating cheap while traveling. I don't have cable so I've never seen it. And when people talk about that show, they routinely say she's "cheating" because in order to stay within her set budget, she will tip 10% or less.

Now, I'm not trying to attack the OP. But I am trying to point out that when it comes to food budgeting, it is common to address the tip included in that budget. It is the one part of the equation that is within our control and people do it differently. I went to a conference with a co-worker and not only was she overly demanding and a bit condescending to service people, but she tipped horribly if at all. I thought he behavior was out of order, I told her so, and now we don't talk as much anymore.

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

Just wanted to thank the OP for her report. It is cool to see how different people approach their WDW experience. I know that you were absolutely stunned that there ended up being a debate on the DIS! I know I was....not. Good job though, very thorough!

 

[thefigueroas]

LOL!!! You just described my husband He usually asks me "what are you getting?" and plans on eating half of my meal (without asking). Then he can order something else and taste two dishes instead of one. He keeps looking at me and my food until I give him the go ahead to dig in.... I think it must be a man thing.

Amen Sister!

 

[mjmcca]

WELL, APPARENTLY FOR THE 3 SIT-DOWN MEALS WE HAD I CHEATED DISNEY OUT OF A TOTAL OF $5.90.

This is the problem you didnt cheat Disney out of anything. You paid your bill for the food. The tip goes to the server exclusively and they are the one who was "cheated". You may have paid a whole lot for your vaccation but that server didnt see a dime of it.