What do you budget for food?

[goodferry]

We are a family of six (one under 1) that will be going in June, we plan on one sit down meal a day and we are staying in the concierge level at the Poly, how much do you usually budget for food? We will be there for a week with no car.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I posted a similar question yesterday, not sure how far down it is though.

I'm going to allow $140 a day, but we are a family of 2 adults, 1 ds who will be 4, and 1 ds who will be just under 2. This is allowing one sit-down/character meal each day and the other two meals will be counter service. I based this on the menus/prices on allearsnet.com.

Hope this helps!

Steph--determined to plan this without DH help, only his wallet

 

[disneysteve]

Last trip in November, we were 3 adults and one child (8 yr old). Including our travel days (we drove from NJ), we averaged under $17/person/day for all meals and snacks. We ate breakfast in our condo with food purchased at the supermarket. We did counter service, a couple of buffets, some offsite meals, some sit-down - a nice variety. Thanks to the obscenely large portions at most restaurants, we often shared meals which helped lower costs. We also drank mostly tap water or 3 of us shared one soda when we got one.

I've seen plenty of people say they spend upwards of $50/person/day, so the range varies a lot, but there is no need to spend a fortune on food unless you really want to.

Steve

 

[bengalfreak]

There are three of us ( two adults and DD is 14). We budget $100 per day for food and rarely use all of it. We eat breakfast in the hotel room, either bring in sandwiches in a cooler or go off property for a fast food lunch. And then eat dinner in the parks. Sometimes dinner is counter service (we share meals) but about half the time it is a sit down affair or dinner package at a moderately expensive theme park restaurant. You can have a great time and not break the bank for meals.

 

[SnowWitch]

Staying on concierge will save you from breakfast expenses, however, depending on what sit down meals you choose your cost maybe $125-150 per day. I recommend Deb Willis site, they have every menu you could imagine from Disney and you can better plan your needs. www.allears.com I think. If not do a search by using her name.

 

[Tina]

Her site is http://www.allearsnet.com
You can use the menus to get a good idea of what you'll spend if you have the time.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I budget $50 pp per day, for us...four adults (my kids are 21 & 23), but never use it all.

 

[Jamieb]

I usually budget $50 a day per person as well. We don't always spend that but if you eat park food it can add up to that quickly. We try and plan one sit down meal as well, usually lunch or early evening as it's a nice way to get out of the heat and relax for a bit.

It can be done for cheaper but I would have to say most counter service meals are not large. There are a couple that could be shared but most are average size for an adult. You could get one adult meal and maybe split it up for the kids.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by Jamieb
I would have to say most counter service meals are not large. There are a couple that could be shared but most are average size for an adult. You could get one adult meal and maybe split it up for the kids.

We frequently share counter service meals. For example, one order of fries is more than enough for the 3 of us. So at a place like Cosmic Rays, one of us will get a meal - burger and fries or chicken strips and fries. The other two will just get the sandwich without fries. That isn't on the menu but you can do it and not pay for the fries. Then we all split the order of fries. Also, if we aren't drinking tap water, we'll get one large soda and share that. Really cuts costs a lot.

Steve

 

[bengalfreak]

You can also order a double cheeseburger and an extra bun. We have done this quite frequently and made single cheeseburgers out of it. An extra order of fries and you have a cheaper lunch.

 

[owensamo]

Our last trip in January, DH, DD (1.5) and averaged $40/day total for the three of us, which I thought was pretty good. In 7 nights, we had 2 sit-down meals (character breakfast at the Crystal Palace and lunch at the Whispering Canyon). We had breakfast and some lunches or dinners in our room (we had a villa at Old Key West), and the rest of the time we had counter service. We did split a few meals (especially since DD doesn't eat much), but often we each got an entree.

I was shocked when I added it all up and found we'd kept to our $40/day budget! Hopefully when we go back in May (unexpected trip, thanks to grandpa being sent to a conference), I hope we can keep to a similar budget.

Mur!