What do you budget for food if no free DP?

[jformica]

My boyfriend would also be less likely to order that $30 steak and probably get a burger or salad. No DP for us would be a drag! /QUOTE]

Having the DP can be a drag the other way too. Especially if you've paid for it. Sometimes I feel that I SHOULD order that $30 steak instead of the $18 mushroom ravioli that I really want just to get my money's worth out of the plan. So it really depends on what you want to eat and how you like to eat. Do you want a dessert every day with every meal? Do you want a soda with every meal or do you prefer water? Personally I don't like to drink water with meals and want a bit more. I've figured out though that I'm quite happy with free ice water at the restaurant once I've dropped a Crystal Light package into it. Look at the menus and figure out what you'd like to eat and how much it will cost. That will give you an estimate to make a calculated guess on what you'll need to budget for.

I can't agree with you more. I think you should definatly figure where you want to eat each day for both TS and CS then look at the menu's and price out what each of you would "likely" get. That's what we do. There are 5 of us (3 kids) and usually the dining plan is the way to go as my children love steaks and other "costly" meals. Out of the 7 years we've gone, we've had the dining plan 5 times. The 2 times we budgeted for meals was completely stressful. I was worried about not making the budget and then once it looked like we were I buckled down more thinking that we could actually walk away with extra money for souviner's. For us, the dining plan takes the stress out of the entire eating experience. I'm not at all concerned with what everyone is getting. If we have desert left over we take it with us and bless someone along the way with a free desert.

But to answer your question (lol) I would say to budget at least $50 if not $75 a person a day.

 

[cbg1027]

I average about $100 per day for myself only.

That is eating mostly CS breakfast (may do 1 TS breakfast) , half CS and half TS lunches, and mostly signatures for dinner. I rarely snack and I might have an alcoholic beverage once every other day.

I have a TIW card so it brings my total down to an average of $85 per day most of the time.

 

[pjhootch]

We don't purchase the dining plan. We have always kept our food budget very low. Generally 100.00 a day for a family of 5. We DO bring boxes of granola bars or chips or cookies to keep in the hotel room and everyone carries a snack into the park every day (all adults now).

We don't get drinks in the park, except a cup of coffee or 2 when my husband and I start to run out of steam. We always drink from the water fountains or ask for a cup of water when we get lunch from the counter service places.

We will usually have a very nice table service meal which totally blows the budget, once every trip. We don't usually do this in the parks, but one year we did CRT.

 

[sjs314]

DH and I can easily spend between $150-$200 a day since we normally do at least 2 TS meals a day sometimes 3. We enjoy starting our day with a nice breakfast and ending it with a nice dinner.
We have always also bought the refillable mugs

Neither of us drink although DH will have an occasional beer with a meal and while we love appitizers to keep within budget we find ourselves either limiting ourselves to either an app or a dessert but rarely both.

Trying the DxDP for the first time ever on our next trip and looking forward to not having to look at the prices and just order what we want. I fully expect to find having the DxDP very convient and making this vacation more carefree.

 

[collegejunkie]

we budget around $60 per person per day. snacks and such sometimes make us go over this, but this is what we aim for. if we plan a special meal, then we know it'll be over. we're doing the DDP for the first time this year and after doing the math based on what we'll probably order, it seems like a good deal. as others have mentioned, everyone is different so i would take a look at some menus online and see what everyone in your party will probably order to get a good idea.

 

[havoc315]

Obviously, if you want every single entitlement under 1 of the dinng plans, you should probably get the plan. But you can eat a "modified plan," for less than the costs of the plans.

--modified deluxe. TS lunch and dinner every day, many signature meals. Some desserts, but not every meal. Some appetizers, but not every meal. Some scattered snacks. $60-80 per day, per adult.
--modified ddp. Moderate priced lunch CS entree, moderate priced dinner entree. Dessert only with dinner. 1 snack per day. About $40-50.
Modified ddp -- breakfast version. CS breakfast, moderate TS dinner -- $38-$45 per person, per night.
Modified QSDP -- 2 CS meals per day, 1 snack -- skip some desserts. If using CS for breakfast, $22-$28 per day. If using CS only for lunch and dinner -- $27-35.

** in each case, would also need to budget 18% for tips on TS meals, not included above.

 

[B-Ride]

For my husband and I, I plan on $100 per person per day.

We just got back last week, taking 2 of our adult sons and their families and it averaged at $125 per person per day. None of us eat desserts but we do have wine with dinner usually.

You sound like great candidates for the deluxe dining plan.

 

[humboldthny]

We did fine on about $80/day for 3 of us (that includes 1 TS each day, but only breakfast or lunch as they are less expensive, no character meals)....we're not huge snackers, so that covered about 1 snack/day that we shared.

 

[h2odivers]

me DD43, DW42, and DD7 allow $100 per day for dining. O know this seems low but this does not include alcoholic beverages. Breakfast is usually cereal fo DD, coffee for DW, and bagel and cream cheese for me. Lunch is CS split a kids meal and entree between the 3 of us. Dinner for a weeks stay is at least 4 TS meals put we are not appertiser or dessert eaters and usually get two salads and split an entree. We are just not big eaters so we don't seem to spend alot on food. I would check the menus at the restaurants yo plan on eating and just think about what you and your family would really order. I think when your on the dining plan your going to order the most expensive thing on the menu, i.e. steak, but if you if you weren't you'd probably order what you want, instead of the most expensive item. Unless you always order steak. A little research and planning will save you money and worry, besides you might fing out that the DDP is the best option for your family.
Have Fun!

 

[NorweJenNY]

We often peruse menus in advance and get a rough estimate of what our meals would cost. Buffet meals and family style meals are easy to predict.

On our last few major trips, we (2A/2C) figured an average of $100/day, but that's with a TiW card for 20% discounts... so it would probably be more like $120-125 if we didn't have that. Some meals would be shared and some wouldn't... more lunches... and cost-effective dinners - like dinner at Beaches & Cream with dessert is cheaper than a dinner at Le Cellier without. I'm kinda strict with Disney budgeting.

Though for smaller trips that budget can vary and be much smaller. For instance, we recently had a spur-of-the moment day trip where it was just me and the kids and my budget was basically the one $25 Disney gift card I had received, and a few spare dollar bills leftover from groceries that week. I was on a special diet at the time and figured I'd be better off if I packed my own meals in an insulated lunch bag. I got the kids two lunches at AK, two ice creams at MK, and two dinners at POFQ - ended up using up the gift card and paying just $0.52 OOP. These smaller, less-planned trips we just don't have tons of money to dump into!

Yet another trip we've got coming up, is our anniversary trip - just hubby and me... but it's been a long time planning (10 year anniversary), so we're planning 2 TS per day, with TiW, & breakfasts in room or just a small snack on the run - $125/day for the two of us... no signature restaurants, and few appetizers/desserts.