Eating in Disney

[MickeyMad]

Hi everyone :wave:
Just a quick question - I am planning our budget for staying at the Swan in March and was wondering how much I should allow for eating out. I am having a 2 week vacation with my husband and 2 children (aged 14 & 11). Any thoughts or suggestions would be great also I have been told we cannot have a dining plan staying at the Swan - is this right?

 

[jayjay]

Hi everyone :wave:
Just a quick question - I am planning our budget for staying at the Swan in March and was wondering how much I should allow for eating out. I am having a 2 week vacation with my husband and 2 children (aged 14 & 11). Any thoughts or suggestions would be great also I have been told we cannot have a dining plan staying at the Swan - is this right?

You are right. You cannot have the dining plan since you are staying at the Swan. One way to save some money is to share your food. Alot of the portions are HUGE, and you should be able to share your food and save money at the same time. Late lunches are cheaper than dinners, so that is another suggestion. We did that at the Concourse Steak House, by the time the evening came, we just wanted a desert. Cost depends on where you eat and how much you eat. For the 3 of us, one is 3 years old, it cost us somewhere between $20 - $35 for counter service. Our lunch at the Concourse, of course we were on the plan, was $108. That included appetizers, entree, and desert for each. Plus, because we were on the plan, tax and tip was included. Hopefully, this will help you.

 

[MouseearsDeb]

Do you have to stay at the Swan or could you compare maybe another deluxe resort that would allow you to take advantage of the dining plan?

 

[Hakunamatata]

Take a look at the menus provided on this site. There are prices. Then you can budget exactly what you need.

Have a great trip!

 

[KrazyKowboy]

Our family of 3 typically has a light breakfast ( muffin and beverage ), a counter service lunch ( hamburger, fries , drink ), a mid afternoon snack, and a nice full service dinner, all on Disney properties.

On our trip last year we averaged $150 a day and at times I felt we were making value choices to save a few bucks.

This year we added the Disney Dining Plan to our Magic Your Way reservations and paying $89 a day. ( 2 adults x $39, 1 9 yr.old child x $11 )

Disney advertising states you'll save about 35% and by my calculations they hit the mark just about dead on.

If your family of 4 tends to do well with fast food fare and light breakfasts, you'll probably average about $100 a day out of pocket. Add a full service meal to the mix and four adults can easily add another $100 to $150 to that total for the day.

If you frequent off site restaurants like the many you can find at Crossroads Shopping Center you can knock a substantial amount off that total. Be aware though that most of the fast food places near Disney property like Mickey D's don't carry the dollar menu items. And items like a Big Mac that you get for $2.29 at home will be more like $3.49 in the Disney area. Even snacks like packs of crackers that go for $.50 at home will be a dollar at Disney, and that $.50 cent Coke ? Forget it !!

A few years back we did a bit of dining off property at places like Cracker Barrell, Longhorns, McDonalds. Saved money but wasted time driving everywhere when we could have been in the parks, had a meal and right back to the action.

Here's a complete listing of Disney restaurant menus and prices http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm

 

[MickeyMad]

Do you have to stay at the Swan or could you compare maybe another deluxe resort that would allow you to take advantage of the dining plan?

Unfortunately already booked and paid for. I didn't realise until afterwards that we couldn't have the dining plan.

 

[MickeyMad]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Will have a look at the menus and sort something out. :wave:

 

[KrazyKowboy]

I love to eat as much as anyone and planning for dining always plays a part in my trips to WDW.
But even on a budget I think I'd enjoy the attractions just as much regardless if I'm eating hamburgers and fries or prime rib.
Don't llet the dining budget overshadow the bigger picture.
I might enjoy the DDP, but can only dream what 2 weeks at WDW would be like.
A week stretches my wallet.
Have a grewt trip and have fun !

 

[DisneyMomof2]

As mentioned earlier - a late lunch is a perfect substitute for dinner. A few years back we scheduled the latest lunch ressie we could for the Biergarten in Germany, we got lunch prices and while there they began to bring out the dinner items for the buffet. Another good idea was from a reader of MouseSavers,com who suggested Chef Mickeys for a late breakfast @11:30, just before they close, you pay breakfast prices and actually are eating lunch. Have a light snack befreo you leave for the parks, a late breakfast (actually lunch) and a late lunch (actually dinner) and with snacks you could save alot of money. Have a great time at the world!!! :sohappy:

Check out MouseSavers.com for lots of great tips to save money on food and drink at the World.:sohappy:

 

[erinuga]

To save money, we eat breakfast in our room- usually cereal (we drive so we bring a toaster too- but seeing that you are from the UK- that might be difficult)- check to see if the swan will put a mini-fridge in your room (they do this at POR) if you have coffee and cereal and fruit- you can save a ton of money on breakfast every morning!

 

[TrentMom]

Unfortunately already booked and paid for. I didn't realise until afterwards that we couldn't have the dining plan.

Since you are not going until March, there is still plenty of time to change your reservations. Did you book through Disney? If so, I don't see why you can't call and change your resort so you can get the dining plan. Since you already paid, they can just put that towards the resort you want. If you have to pay more, you can do that or if it ends up being cheaper, they can credit your credit card.

Am I right anyone? If not, I apologize. But, I can't see any reason why you can't change your resort with your vacation being almost 6 months away.

Good luck!!!

 

[MickeyMad]

Since you are not going until March, there is still plenty of time to change your reservations. Did you book through Disney? If so, I don't see why you can't call and change your resort so you can get the dining plan. Since you already paid, they can just put that towards the resort you want. If you have to pay more, you can do that or if it ends up being cheaper, they can credit your credit card.

Am I right anyone? If not, I apologize. But, I can't see any reason why you can't change your resort with your vacation being almost 6 months away.

Good luck!!!

Thanks for the input TrentMom, we didn't book through Disney we did it through a travel company here in the UK. I have asked them if we could change the resort and they said that it was not possible. Probably go with having a large breakfast at the hotel, some fruit or a snack for lunch and have a main meal in the evening for dinner, sounds like a rough plan.

 

[BRER STITCH]

That's an easy one!

You need to bring $40 a day per person.

That's it! No heavy math....no voodoo....no magical formulas.

If you bring $40 a day per person, you should have enough cash to eat wherever and whenever you like, without having to do your own shopping and cooking in your room.

What you don't spend you can blow on snacks or a souvenir you normally wouldn't buy....or put it towards your next trip!

ALWAYS over budget for food! Better safe than sorry!

HAVE FUN!

:wave:

 

[MickeyMad]

That's an easy one!

You need to bring $40 a day per person.

That's it! No heavy math....no voodoo....no magical formulas.

If you bring $40 a day per person, you should have enough cash to eat wherever and whenever you like, without having to do your own shopping and cooking in your room.

What you don't spend you can blow on snacks or a souvenir you normally wouldn't buy....or put it towards your next trip!

ALWAYS over budget for food! Better safe than sorry!

HAVE FUN!

:wave:

WOW - so simple, thanks :wave: and no more headache trying to work things out, yipee :sohappy:

 

[goofyfamily]

I suggest you check out the menus of the restaurants and that will give you a great idea on how much to bring. It will also help you decide what restaurants you would like to try. You can eat at a reasonable price in Disney. We now do the dining but our first two trips we did not. We ate at Pecco Bills in the MK and that was a lot of food cheap. Also if you want atmosphere make sure you stop in Si-Fi or Prime time in MGM for lunch and even just get a banana split or something like that and you can have a nice Disney experience cheap.