How much $ a day for meals?

[jeroenalex]

Hey all!

I'm planning to go to WDW with this autumn, together with my girlfriend. After a lot of research, my conclusion is that the cheapest way for us is buying an annual passport and booking a room-only in a moderate resort (probably PO-RS) with discount. We'll probably be staying for about 10 days.

What I was wondering, how much do I need to count on for meals? That means, breakfast, lunch and dinner. We won't be eating at expensive restaurants, but neither do we want to eat fastfood all day. And maybe some seperate drinks or quick snacks (Fresh fruit, ice cream, etc).

We won't have a car available, so we have to buy everything inside the resort. We plan to use yourride.net for transport from the airport, so a grocery stop would be an option.

All help/tips/advices is/are appreciated!

Jeroen

 

[Grumpy56]

Welcome!

The easist way to save money on food at Disney is to bring at least some of your own. A grocery stop is a good idea, we usually at least do most of our breakfasts in the room, it saves time as well as money. I have a hot water heater I bring along so I can make hot cereal, soup etc. For a ten day visit, get the resort mugs for $10..99, you can then get all the coffee, tea, soda you care for. Food is expensive at WDW but we can often share entrees. For two people I would figure at least $75 to 100 a day. This would mena you could eat one sit down meal in a day. Best time to do that is at lunch, most Disney restaurants have the same or similiar food for lunch but it's cheaper. Another thought is the buffets, we don't usually do those because we don't care for eating a lot at one sitting but if you have a big appetite, they can be your meal of the day and then just do a light snack later.

Have a great trip!

 

[i_miss_20k]

$50/day is possible

for both (not each). i would certainly make a quick stop for some snack/b-fast items. saves time, money, etc. granola bars (and the like) pack well, are light, easy, etc. i like to travel cheap...get to go more places more often.

as for the fast-food nightmare...my last trip was '97 (next in september), but i remember some of the cheaper park options being fairly good values. the cafeteria style eats offer good portions and "packages" (meal w/ drink etc.) for under $10. i remember cosmic rays in Tom-Land had a huge chicken breast meal (with side and drink) for like $7-8. not bad considering.

other options include the sit-down lunch vs. sit-down dinner. almost anywhere you travel, lunches offer nearly the same food for less.

buy a couple bottles of water, then refill. water fountains are safe, right?:animwink:

have fun.

 

[celticdog]

My last trip (2 adults), i allowed $70 a day for food and drinks. Some days we exceeded that, on others it was much less. We, however, did not eat lunch. We did a good breakfast and then a fairly early dinner. We spent a lot on drinks during the day, as it was hot when we were there. That's why budget is so high. You can easily spend $10 per person per day on water/sprite/coke/etc.

Breakfasts ranged anywhere from $7 (hotel food court) to $35 (character breakfast).

Dinners ranged from $15 (service counters) to $60 (Coral Reef and Captains Tavern).

Costs were for two adults. AS Grumpy stated, definetely get a Resort Mug. It's well worth the cost.

 

[tigsmom]

we always allow about $100 a day for meals (2 adults, 2 kids). Get those snacks...we always carry granola bars and peanut butter crackers with us. The resort mugs are a MUST!!! We go thru 5 or six drinks at the resorts a day (x4=$$$$$$). We usually do one big meal a day then light meal or snacks. I'm diabetic so I have to watch myself, but we usually don't go over. Enjoy the trip!

 

[Yellow Shoes]

How about some more research for you?

Here are some menus from the parks and resorts with prices.

This will give you an idea of fast food prices, snack cart items, and the various sit-down options. (I also found it helpful in determining where I wanted to eat)


You would want to double check the hours with WDW-DINE, but lunch is almost always cheaper than dinner, and it runs until about 3 PM.

There are many threads here in which people sing the praises of various WDW snack foods (egg rolls, Dole Whip, Mrs Potts' sundaes, churros, beaver tails). Figure those into your eating schedule also.

For the most part, portions are huge, and you can easily share. For example, at Pecos Bill, the 1/2 lb burger is just $1 more than the 1/4 lb. I would split the burger, so you have room for the Dole Whips just around the corner.

Definitely do the grocery stop. IMHO, Orlando water tastes really funky, so bottled is a must for me (melted ice will do in a pinch, however).

 

[DisneyPhD]

I agree with Yellow Shoes on the water. I never drink it at home, but it is a must at WDW, it tastes funky there!!!!

There are many options for snacks and breakfeast that you can get at the store depending on your taste and save you a bit (of time and money.) Mugs are also a must.


We used to figure 50$ a day, some days more some less. It all evens out in the end. We spilt most meals at sit down (unless they are all you can eat, then we don't spend much that day otherwise.) Waiters have never given use a hard time about spilting meals, after all you don't want leftovers. You can always get a yummy snack later if you are hungery.

This year we are planing for 75 a day, 2 adults and a tolder, but hope to be under budget. (most all you can eat the kids under 3 are free.)

 

[jeroenalex]

Thanks for all the quick replies!
I'd thought we'd have to save at least $75/day each for food, but after reading these posts I think $60 will be fine.

Jeroen

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I would say at least 35 dollars per person per day. If you are going to use YourRide, make sure you take advantage of the free grocery stop. You can stock up on water and soda and not have to buy them in the parks. That will save you a lot of money when you eat at the quick service locations in the theme parks.

 

[cindy_k]

My normal budgeting for food is $50 a day per Adult and $35 a day per Child.

This will give you enough money for some sit down nice meals.

Cindy in NY

 

[wild01ride]

My rule of thumb is- plan high and try to snack light when possible. Make the most out of your sit-down meals. It's easy to make a quick snack cost as much as a light lunch at some eateries- so be careful!
I usually try to do one "nice" meal a day and one low-budget meal. And I agree with all of the above- do breakfast as inexpensively as possible (with the exception of a character breakfast or two)
I definitely agree on the resort mug (especially if you're a coffee drinker like me!)
It isn't hard to go over budget- but it's fun to live it up while you're there!

My biggest suggestion is: make some sacrifices ahead of time before your trip and then you need not feel guilty about enjoying yourself to the fullest while you're there- WDW can be very expensive, but the experience is all worth it in the end!

 

[EthylCooper]

I can see I'm in the minority here, but I budget $14 a day for food (lunch and dinner--I keep quick breakfast foods & fruit in the room to save both money and time), plus an extra $50 for the week for 2 sit down meals and $15 for a week's worth of odd sodas/ice creams/Auntie Gravity's smoothies. ::slurp:: You said you don't want to eat much fast food, but remember that WDW has lots of tasty and unusual options. You can get very yummy non-burger options for $7 all over the parks.

 

[SirNim]

eat fast-food for lunch, eat at the pricier sit-downs for dinner, and scattered throughout the day enjoy little snacks, so they fill you up and you don't eat so much, and spend so much, at dinner... yet you get that dinner feel, you know...

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Large breakfast and large evening meal. Fruit and snacks during the day with as much as you need to drink when you need it (prevents hydration)

 

[SpongeScott]

Obviously, everyone is different in their tastes and patterns. We budget about $75 a day for meals. One year we ate in the room for breakfast, another year we would split a breakfast platter at the food court and use our refillable mugs. We would typically fast-food for lunch, but there are some very good fast-food places in WDW--you just gotta find them and find one that suits your tastes (IMO, Pecos Bills is the best on Disney property). If you do a sit-down meal, consider doing it for lunch. You get the same quality food, but it is much cheaper than the dinner time. Usually for dinner, we go off-site, grab something in the parks, or head back to the hotel and eat in the food court again. The biggie for us is taking our own water in and refilling throughout the day. Doesn't have to be cold to be useful--it just has to go in your body.

 

[Dwarful]

well, I highly recommend bringing along snacks..we packed an extra small bag full of snacks on our last trip..the great thing about that was we had an empty suitcase for souvineers! do the grocery stop and resort mugs!

we like to do breakfast in the room or a character breakfast., have snacks, drinks etc. then we usually do a nice sit down lunch late..say the last sitting for the lunch price..somewhere around 3pm. This helps do several things..avoids lunch crowds, cheaper than dinner but almost always the same foods, and we don't need a big dinner.

We always do allow for some treats..character meals, ice cream treats during the parades etc...its a vacation after all and you don't want to say "gee, I wish I could have that $3 ice cream bar but its not in the budget!" so always allow a bit extra for treats and bonus tips for the wait staff when they go above and beyond and deserve more than the usual!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Ths is what I would suggest. $50 per person (adult/child) per day. This will allow for meals and snacks. If you want to bring snacks with you, I would suggest that you think about mailing a box addressed to the Resort with your name and date of your arrival on the bottom left hand corner. They will hold the box for you until you check in. That way you can send snacks/cereals,ect. and not have to contend with packing it with your clothing. Packing or sending small bottles of laundry soap and fabric softner also will help if you are going to be there for a long period. PO has laundry facilities located at each quiet pool and it will save you plenty of room in the suitcase for souveniers if you only bring 4 days worth of clothing and do a load late at night or early in the morning every few days.
I would also take advantage of the grocery stop and get plenty of bottled water for the parks.

Have a great trip!

Pam

 

[meanmice]

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

I've found this place too help

 

[Horizons38]

I agree with Pam on the money , for us (2 adults) we always count 50.00 per person a day, we eat a small something for breakfast unless we go to a character BF, if we have lunch in a more "fancy" restaurant then we eat lighter for diner. Some days we save others we're right on, and whatever is left we obviously spend on goodies to bring back The great thing at Disney is that with all the walking i dont think anyone can gain weight even with all the good food !:lol: We also buy the resort mugs they are a great deal.

 

[rosie.ca]

it only cost me 30 dollars a day to eat at the parks