Honestly, how can you possibly afford to eat in Disney??? (LONG)

[curlyjbs]

great responses! Again, if you are a "rockerfeller" please don't be offended. I guess everyone just does what they can do.

<font Color =FF0000>HIFS 10/01
<marquee direction ="right" align="middle" behavior="alternate">can't wait, can't wait, CAN'T WAIT!!</marquee>

<font face="comic sans MS">"It's disney, it's crowded. Get over it!"</font>

 

[goofymom/pop]

We have done the family of five trip several times. We stayed off site with a free breakfast buffet, and only ate lunch in the parks on occasion.On average at counter service it is 6.00 per adult and around 4.00 per child, I eat a childs meal. Most days we went back to the hotel for a break and a swim and stopped at Wendys for salads, burgers etc. We had a few character dinners lined up ahead of time so we budgeted for those nights. There are also alot of good restaraunts in the crossroads area that are cheap for dinner.

This years plan began last June we are staying off site at HIFS with free breakfast and free kids meals all day long.

I bought the kids all the little goodies they might want over the last year, goggles, mister fans, hats, sunglasses, disney pins for trading, mickey toothbrushes, splashballs, etc. so they dont ask for them on the trip. they each saved their own spending money for the trip and they only get sovieys they can afford.

We are planning two character dinners this trip, at a cost of around 100.00 dollars for five of us.
wheww thats alot but we will eat cheap another night or two.

Free dinner at the Rainforest with a test drive at GM.

We will eat at the hotel at least two dinners on off park days, and the kids eat free those days.

I always buy my passes months ahead of time so they are paid for, same for the room, and airline tix.....

I know it is a very expensive trip, so far my costs have been, $854.00 for room for 7 nights, 200.00 for car for 7 nights, $920.00 for 5 airline tix, park passes eeeekkkkk....$1000.00 for 2 child 4 day park hoppers, one adult 5 day park hopper plus, one child park hopper plus , and one adult 4 day park hopper. We have some days on old passes to even everyone out. And we usually budget 100.00 a day for food. So yes you are right this is the THE expensive vacation and I wish I were a Rockefeller. Friends of ours go and stay at the deluxes with ultimate park hoppers and spend away....but we cant do it and save all year just for this trip..alas I could take a family of 5 to Cancun for 4000.00 air, food, alcohol, and activities included. And no LINES either....hard choice....hmmmmm but I love disney.

Caribbean Beach 91
Off site 92
Off site Caribe Royale 97
All Sports 00
HIFS 5/01

 

[Lynn CC]

There's only 3 of us and we go each year for atleast 10 nights. We have noticed in the past couple of years that prices for food has gotten expensive. It is also expensive here on the Cape. I spend an average of $200.00 a week for the 3 of us if I cook and pack meals.

Last month we spent a little over $1500 on meals in WDW, but that is a big part of our trip. DH loves to try different places and old favorites.

Some suggestions would be to split meals or just order appetizer and dessert. Sometimes we skip lunch and just have ice cream (it's vacation afterall )
Last year we went to Beaches and Cream and ordered "The Kitchen Sink" This sundae could easily feed your family for lunch! So skip, it!
It's something the kids will always talk about
We have a picture of the time we skipped our lunch and ate that Sundae, it's HUGE! and so much fun.

You could also bring along your own little cereals and just buy milk, and get bowls at the food court.

I'm sure you'll get some great ideas here, mine were just some fun things we have done over the years.

<IMG WIDTH="275" SRC="http://disneyclipart.simplenet.com/Mouselaneous/Everything_Else/MKK.gif">

 

[curlyjbs]

Oh my god, the kitchen sink! I had that when I was a kid but I think it was Disney Land not world. wow, Thanks for the memory!

<font Color =FF0000>HIFS 10/01
<marquee direction ="right" align="middle" behavior="alternate">can't wait, can't wait, CAN'T WAIT!!</marquee>

<font face="comic sans MS">"It's disney, it's crowded. Get over it!"</font>

 

[worm761]

just a little note of thank you to all of you that have posted your food budgets. i am the one doing all of the planning for our trip. (first one for everyone but me although i dont remember my trip. too young) i was planning a budget of $100 a day for food for me and my ds. i am not a big eater but i do have to eat often because i have low blood sugar and get weak if i dont. so thank you. you all just cut my budget considerably. and my sister will be happy when i tell her too!!!!!!!!!!!!
angela

 

[kbp13]

Get a cooler (or an in room frig which would be much more convenient) and have in room cereal. then go back to the room for a swim and resting and make sandwiches. It really is great resting in the mid day going back to the parks well rested and looking at the folks leaving after a long day is amusing when you're not them. Save the money for a special meal. take a few snacks in a fanny pack to get you through the day. Granola bars or the like are good, the hunger which strikes unexpectedly is usually the most expensive (value wise anyway).

Kurt from MI

CB 1995
Vero/ASMov 1999
DVC joined 1999
OKW 1999
HH 1999
Disneyland Paris 2000
Vero/DCL/BW 2000
HH Dec 2000
AKL Concierge/DCL Magic July 7/Vero July 2001

 

[mikesmom]

When we stayed offsite we always had a breakfast buffet that kept everybody going well past noon. My family is not into the early entry thing (like to sleep in a bit on vacation) so we rarely ate breakfast before 10 am. Now we are DVC members so we cook a big breakfast in the room (they have full kitchens). With the big breakfast, everyone wanted lunch about 2 or 3 pm, which is lunch prices but obviously substituted for dinner.

Disney meals are LARGE, you won't want three meals a day, and unless you are a big eater, you won't finish the meal. I recommend splitting one, or doing appetizers, or if on site with a fridge, take leftovers to the room.

Also there are healthier, filling snacks available. In MK for instance, there are stands with fruit, hot sweet or regular potatoes, and turkey drumsticks. IMHO a very substantial lunch can be made there for much less than a sit-down restaurant.

 

[Tiggerkeeper]

I guess it is all in how you look at it! The "Rockefellas" we ain't! And who are the Jones'? We eat one meal in the park when we go to WDW and that is usually lunch or maybe a character breakfast. We take a small microwave and come back from the parks for a break and fix dinner then go out again. Simple as that. The kids (who are now teenagers) always help plan the meals. Yeah, I agree, it is expensive to eat in the parks and I often wonder how people with large families and average incomes do it. But we have made budget eating part of the adventure of the trip. I'd much rather spend my money on something fun!

Melissa

 

[musical2]

First since we are staying at Old Key West, we are going to eat breakfast in our room each morning we go to the parks. Then we snack at late morning and have a large sit down lunch sometime around 2:30 - 3:00. Many times you get the same foods for lunch, but just less expensive. If you get a buffet lunch like at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom or at Akershus or Biergarten in Epcot you can eat all you want and pay lunch prices in the afternoon before the dinner seatings. Then we have a late evening snack.

Bart

 

[Mic]

I feel your pain! We are a family of 6 that just returned this morning from a 5-day trip to the "World" and food was a major expense. We took my sister and nephew along on this trip, and had planned on budgeting a little better out of consideration for her wallet(and mine could use some, too)but it is sometimes hard. Since we have 4 children, the AP discounts at certain restaurants were great, but they are no more. We still find Tony's in MK to be reasonable, since I can order something from the kids' menu ($5)and add a salad($3). We usually do sit-down meals, but on this trip we ate in America in Epcot(forgot the name, but it is counter service)on Tuesday night. Since the restaurant only serves chicken tenders and hot dogs as kids' meals, the CM suggested we order the DOUBLE cheeseburger meal basket w/out the cheese, and purchase an extra bun for $.70, since DS, 8, wanted a hamburger. DH ate the other burger, and DD's(12,10,&6)ordered kids chicken tenders($3.25)that included a drink, so entire meal was @ $20. That is our personal best for on-site meals! Also, at Rainforest Cafe in AK, my sister ordered a child's pasta and a salad, and was able to use my DVC discount to get 10% off that. LeCellier in Canada is good for large portions, so DH and I split a steak($22)and each order a salad($3)and kids order from kids menu($5-6.50)for a total bill less than $75 for dinner, which is good at WDW for a party of 6. I agree that counter service for a large family is quite expensive, so we budget $150-200 per day for our family for breakfast in the room, a snack in the park, lunch(sit-down) and dinner(sometimes big, sometimes small). Another trick...while at OKW on this trip, I packed some spaghetti noodles and a large plastic jar of Ragu sauce. I drove to the Olive Garden at Crossroads and purchased a large salad that feeds 12(included dressing and 12 breadsticks)for a quick in-room dinner. Having the stove in a 2-bedroom was sooo nice, but we have also combined this salad ($12.95)with a pizza(@$10)for an inexpensive meal in our room when we were staying in a studio. Just check out all the menus on Deb's site, and you will find a few that are reasonable. Spoodles is reasonable for lunch, as are a lot of restaurants on-site, so make lunch your big meal, and counter service or in-room pizza can be dinner. Sorry so long...I hope this helps!

 

[Bete]

Always remember eating breakfast and lunch out will be cheaper then dinner. This is true if you're at Disney or not.

Going for groceries is a must if you want to save on eating costs. Taking fruit and snacks in a back-pack will help in the parks. Noone has died from drinking the water from free fountains in Disney parks. We use the entertainment coupon books alot. You can buy multiple books to save for 5. Most of the coupon places will be off-site.

For Disney meals, I found ordering vegetarian to be cheaper. Splitting meals or getting meals off the child menus all work very well, too.

The one bonus you get from eating a meal at a Disney park is the convenience. You get a well-deserved rest, a good meal and you save time not going in and out of the parks. You will probably lose at least an hour going to an outside eatery if you plan to go back to the park. I rather have that hour extra every day because it adds up to at least an extra day per each week you are there. You make choices and compromises and there are no real secrets out there for saving money on meals at the parks.

You have to offset the time factors and ambiance of eating at a Disney place versus not doing so.

We usually compromise and the parks that we want that extra time we eat there and sacrifice at other parks on other days.

On our best day we will eat an early buffet for breakfast outside of the park. We will take snacks, drinks and fruits to carry us through the day at the park in a backpack. We will eat a late lunch in the park which is on the light side. After the park closes we will go outside to eat a meal if we are still hungry. Eating late meals is not the most healthy but again it's all a matter of compromise. I'm real keen on not losing too much park time. Good luck. I don't find anything wrong with eating peanut butter sandwiches every day if you are on a strict budget. It's only for a week or two and it won't kill you.

 

[Lisa P.]

I can so easily agree with much of this, especially what Shamrock30 wrote. We use many of the same strategies mentioned. IMHO, sometimes the nature of these boards (frequented by many ravenously addicted Disney fans ) encourages heavy spending when it comes to Disney. Anything Disney is sometimes presented as inherently better than anything similar but non-Disney.

Our own varied experiences at WDW restaurants have been good but we've clearly paid more for specially themed, unique surroundings, convenience and time-savings. Mixing offsite with onsite stays, enjoying fully-equipped timeshare resorts (with kitchens) and camping in a pop-up are all ways that we cut expenses in other areas.

Our annual vacation budget could afford us a week of real splurging at WDW per year. We choose NOT to do that in favor of more vacations elsewhere as well, longer trips and extra weekends away throughout the year. Like some others here, we are very fortunate, very blessed and we know it.

It's easy to compare yourself when you see on these boards that some people really do drop a bundle on deluxe WDW splurge trips with all the trimmings, whistles & bells. But remember that the vast majority of people everywhere in the world will never ever afford even one frugal trip in an entire lifetime. If you are blessed to be able to do a budget trip, count yourself fortunate.

Some of those who take the deluxe trips cannot afford them, choosing for various reasons to finance them and increase their debt load. If you are able to avoid debt for your trip(s), count yourself doubly fortunate.

Those who can easily afford deluxe trips without sacrifice are a tiny number of people. They are fortunate to enjoy that financial blessing but that doesn't automatically make their enjoyment of the trip (nor life in general) any better than your enjoyment of your frugal trip. It may... or it may not. Also remember that some people who enjoy deluxe trips have waited decades for the privilege. Others who enjoy them now may find themselves with less privilege in years to come. Things are usually not as they seem, especially on a bulletin board!

 

[Biyanna]

We eat 2 sit down meals a day at WDW. Hubby & kids love character meals and fine dining. We load up at the character breakfast buffets, skip lunch and have a fine sit down dinner or another character meal. Now, our small children don't understand the loading up concept so we usually pack a couple of PB&J sandwiches for them at lunch time.
As for, how can we afford it, well I clip coupons. Yesterday I saved 42.00 at the grocery store. That 42.00 went into our Disney savings acct. We also save change and put away money each week for our vaction. After we pay for everything whatever is left is spending money and food allowance.
Some people don't want to spend that kind of money on meals. And that's fine for them but we look forward to the restaurants at WDW. So it's a priority to us. Many restaurants are attractions. For example we dined in Mexico and the man made lake and volcanos were so beautiful. We forgot that we were inside a building. Our table was right next to the lake. The view was wonderful. While we dined, the clouds rolled in and a lite amount of thunder quietly twinkled through the sky, all while we watched others take boat rides around the lake. Priceless!!!!

Biyanna
AS Sports 1/98'
AS Sports 1/99'
AS Sports 1/01'
AS Sports 1/02'
Will hubby ever let us stay anywhere else?

 

[Belle5]

LisaP,
Well said! So many things we do or choose not to do through the year, we do with our trip in mind. For example, we may say, "If we do this such and such ourselves, that's a Disney meal paid for. If we don't do such and such, that's a night in our hotel." We try to pay for our trip through the year by prepaying where ever we can, so that the only thing left for us to pay for when we arrive at WDW is our food and souvies. My husband won't eat anything but Disney meals while we're there. He has "the bug" so bad he would take any WDW resort food court meal or any Disney theme park counter service meal over any "outside the world" (even a highly regarded) sit-down restaurant costing the same amount. I think it's something they put in the water down there...

 

[Bill From PA]

We just got back from PO Riverside on Sun. We bought a soft sided cooler and a frozen product called Breakfast Pockets,two dozen, which are egg and cheese in a large wrap shaped like a shrimp roll. We froze two quarts of milk and took along a pack of small cereal boxes. All this fit in the cooler. DxL has a microwave in the food court which I used on the breakfast wraps. We didn't pay for a breakfast all week. The empty cooler we stuffed with Disney purchases.

Bill From PA

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy

 

[Julia M]

as I am planning our first family trip to the "World". We will be going 12 days, and eating alot of special meals and doing alot of special things. I would like to add, however, that this trip is probably one that will not be repeated for another 3-4 years, so, yes, I am splurging. We're not Rockefellers, but dh is an engineer and does okay. As a comparison, our vacation last year was a week in Gold Country (we're in CA) at a friends condo (we payed the cleaning fee) We brought meals from home to bbq each night and took small, either free or inexpensive day trips. The entire week was about $300! Had a great time, too! Our trip in April is looking like it will be at least $5000 and maybe closer to $6000. I guess the point I am making is that you may be reading about a trip that will only happen every few years.

Despite this being a spurge trip, we are eating b'fast in our room, and we generally do not by alot of souvenirs. I bring along a couple of snacks, and each of us will have a water bottle. We have about 7 sit down meals planned for 12 days-the rest are counter service. I am splurging on what seems important to me, and budgeting on the rest.

I have been saving for almost a year. We have a change jar, and every time I get an "extra" check (someone owes me money, I participate in a "focus" group, etc) I save it and buy travelers checks. The kids have received Disney dollars as gifts, so we won't spend much on souvenirs for them.

Once again, very informative thread for me-thanks!

First trip: July, 1983
Second trip: April 17-20, Dixie Landings
April 20-28: Orange Lake COuntry Club

 

[greatbooks]

Several of you have mentioned these as budget savers, but are either of these practices frowned upon by CMs? I have been browsing the child's menus and so many state "for children 11 and under". Maybe it is easier at counter service than table service? I need to save $$, but don't want to feel guilty. I definitely have to draw the line at leaving with extra food from a buffet table for snacks later on.

 

[LeahA]

My husband and I came up with a great plan to budget our money. We both get an alloted amount of money per day for our food/drinks. It's up to us to spend within that certain amount. So, say we both get $40.00 per day. I have the power to spend my $40.00 anyway I want. If I want to skip breakfast and have a light lunch,or, if he wants to have a few drinks with dinner, we know what we have alloted to spend for that day. We know that dinner will be our only sit down meal, inside or outside the parks, depending on how much money we have left.

Our ds-4, get's his share of money, that we control, but, with him, we order alot of ala carte items, we don't get him alot of kids meals, he doesn't need anymore toys, and he's the one kid in america that doesn't like fries with his meals, so we just get him the main course.

Our budget is about $100.00 per day. $40.00 for dh, $40.00 for me, $20.00 for ds.

 

[Jomrog]

I brought a cooler and kept ice in it. We had cereal that we brought from home for breakfast and did fairly well by having two meals/day. We found that the big turkey legs were a meal in itself! They were very tasty too! The turkey legs cost about $5.00 each and big enough to share. I brough pop tarts & snacks to keep in the room but found that we weren't there often enough to eat them. LOL! The only other thing that I felt was worth it when staying onsite was the refillable mugs. They are also my favorite souvenier. If only we could get ALL hotels to offer these mugs.

Joanne

 

[Debbie]

We have 5 kids, so we usually do the counter service thing, where getting a kids meal is absolutely no problem. However, when DH and I went in January 2000, we did the sit down meals for a change. Because I wasn't often hungry for the meals (they are big!), we usually ordered an apetizer and an entrée to split. We never got the feeling that the CM's frowned on that, in fact they were quite helpful when (one time-with the kids) they suggested that one meal would be too much for the 11 yo. In that case, we ordered one meal and a side of fries for two of them (11 and 12) to split. And I often order children's meals at CrackerBarrel, so why not at any other restaurant? At Rainforest, they had 2 "dimensions" of kids meals. The regular size and a slightly larger size. They were mmm-mm good!

Oh, and don't forget that when you are budgeting, you can count on the grocery budget that you are not presently using at home!

Enjoy!

<font color=green>Debbie &#176o&#176</font color=green>

debbie@disneyinfo.com

<font color=red>I may not be able to go to WDW, but I can read about it!</font color=red>

offsite-'85
CBR-'90
FWHomes-'94
FWHomes-'97
HIFS/BC-'99
Dixie Landings-Jan. '00 (just the parents)
HIFS/Dixie Landings-Aug.'00