Eye Opening Food Prices!

[DisLiss]

I feel like WDW's food is actually less than Universal's, so as I plan our next trip (Which will include 2 days at Universal.) I found it was actually a relief when I started looking at WDW menus. But I agree with others, as a family of 4, with a teen boy, eating out is pricey no matter what. We had lunch at an Uno recently and the total rang in at $95 and change. (That did include the tip, though.) Ouch! Since my family tends to go for mostly quick service meals at WDW (at least now when we're going with kids), we can easily spend less at WDW for a meal than we sometimes do at a restaurant at home. We can drink water we bring or free water. There are no tips for quick serve. We can share any which way we want. And we can pick and choose things from multiple places to make the "perfect" meal. So we keep our Disney food spending low by doing breakfast in our room, mostly quick service meals in the park, and only doing sit down for a few places we know we all will love enough to make the time and money spent worth it.

 

[EveDallas]

It's pretty close to fast food

It's a sit down burger place. No one said it was fancy.

 

[garnwr32229]

That is actually really excellent analysis! Yes, it was the two adult sodas that got us there.

We just signed up for their rewards program. And I’ll look for coupons next time. We actually don’t go there very often, but we do enjoy it.

We go to Red Robin no Wednesday’s when kids can eat for 1.99. Or if I have a coupon.
Actually anytime we eat out I scope out where kids free. Tuesday nights is a popular night that kids eat free

 

[disneycat321]

We did DDP the first two trips, but we're paying OOP this time. We do too many TS meals for DDP and not enough for DxDP, and not enough character meals to make it worth it. I can definitely see how it would work for some, especially those who are planning a lot of character meals. We're only planning on Cape May breakfast and Garden Grill lunch this trip, and both of those are less expensive character meals. (relatively speaking, of course.)

In real life, we are very frugal and don't eat at restaurants much at all. The food at Disney, and especially TS meals, is a big part of the experience for us. I do make fun of myself for how at home I'll say things like, "Carl's Jr is $10 for a meal now! That's so expensive!" and then turn around and say, "This place at WDW has entrees that are only $18! Isn't that great!" But vacation me is very different from real life me in terms of splurging vs. being frugal.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

It's a sit down burger place. No one said it was fancy.

Yeah, my response was unreasonably snarky. Apologies.

 

[garnwr32229]

We're all different, and I mean no offence by this what so ever, but that seems like a crazy amount to spend at a fast food place! I'm in Jersey, and we have expensive restaurants here, so I'm not ignorant to expensive...


ETA - We are a family of 5 as well, and since shopping at Aldi's I get away with about $100 or less per week. Maybe I'm just cheap?? LOL

We are a family of 5 also and I’m the cheapest person ever if you ask my husband. I pinch pennies with the best of them.

1. Aldi is amazing! Only way my kids get snacks in the house.
2. We are going to Disney in May/June and after crunching numbers numerous times I decided to go with the dining plan. We have no plans of going to Disney any time soon so we are doing tons of character meals. If we didn’t have the dining plan I’d been pinching pennies the whole time and stressing too much. With just the reservations I booked and the refillable mugs we are already at $2000(for 4 adults and 3kids) that is not counting the quick service meals or snacks or the alcoholic drinks added on...the dining plan is $2300. So I’m thinking we will come out ahead. However I’m absolutely saving all recipes bc I want to know

 

[TammyLynn33]

Agree 100%. Im not sure we will get our moneys worth but I like not looking at prices the whole time Im on vacation. I don't want to tell someone no over one cream only if its before dinner or they've already ate their junk limit for the day and I in no way would pay for alcohol with meals, now I won't feel guilty.

It only hits me every time I make a payment now how much Ive spent (but more of that is the Cdn dollar sucking right now)

We are a family of 5 also and I’m the cheapest person ever if you ask my husband. I pinch pennies with the best of them.

1. Aldi is amazing! Only way my kids get snacks in the house.
2. We are going to Disney in May/June and after crunching numbers numerous times I decided to go with the dining plan. We have no plans of going to Disney any time soon so we are doing tons of character meals. If we didn’t have the dining plan I’d been pinching pennies the whole time and stressing too much. With just the reservations I booked and the refillable mugs we are already at $2000(for 4 adults and 3kids) that is not counting the quick service meals or snacks or the alcoholic drinks added on...the dining plan is $2300. So I’m thinking we will come out ahead. However I’m absolutely saving all recipes bc I want to know

 

[aml3679]

We just got back last week and yeah the prices are expensive. I do not know how a family does it. I think we will get the Quick Service Dining Plan next time. Here are some prices I saw:

Popcorn $8

Water $4

Soda $4

Mickey Waffle $7

Just to name a few. One day, we ate breakfast at POR The Roost. My husband and I each had a Mickey Waffle with Sausage, 2 Coffees, and 2 OJs - $30+. OJs are $5. We finally bought 2 refillable mugs (at the resorts only) which we could fill with coffee or soda.

 

[vinotinto]

We just got back last week and yeah the prices are expensive. I do not know how a family does it. I think we will get the Quick Service Dining Plan next time. Here are some prices I saw:

Popcorn $8

Water $4

Soda $4

Mickey Waffle $7

Just to name a few. One day, we ate breakfast at POR The Roost. My husband and I each had a Mickey Waffle with Sausage, 2 Coffees, and 2 OJs - $30+. OJs are $5. We finally bought 2 refillable mugs (at the resorts only) which we could fill with coffee or soda.

The River Roost is open for breakfast? I thought the only option was the food court!

 

[bdiddy]

My best friend is a math teacher and has been to Disney probably at least 25-30 times. Awhile back, maybe like 5-6 yrs ago she did a fun side science project with her husband and 3 kids where they compared several years trips using the DDP and not using the DDP.

She had this planned by the way and purposely got the plan on one trip and not the next and logged everything in as soon as they got home. I think she used 4 separate trips and two of each to compare and both times it came out that NOT getting the DDP was cheaper.

She said they ate as normal on each trip and didn’t take into account them having the plan or not having the plan when booking. All their trips were also during summer and spring break over a 2 year span so it was the same time of year and same amount of days they were comparing. She also made sure that if they ate at 1 signature dining in one trip with the plan they made sure to do the same on the next.

I can’t remember the exact number it was that they saved but since they’ve done this “experiment” they have NOT gotten the DDP.

Anyway, it was interesting and fun to follow along with them and see the results.

 

[angelmav]

You are telling me it is an eye opener! With Free dining, I was thinking it was a no brainer. But I called and priced out a room discount, which was Significantly less while paying for the DDP. Which led me to go through every meal I thought we would eat with the DDP and compared cost if paid for OOP (and assigned a $10 value to each snack credit, I know, too much) and OOP for the places we would want to eat came out $300 cheaper. In fairness, I don't have any character breakfasts in my lineup, so that likely swung things in favor of OOP. We would be paying for some meals OOP anyway (CS breakfasts, and a couple extra TS) so there is no EXACT fit for our family. But still, for what we want to eat, I was shocked there was no savings at all. Guess things have changed. Still, glad I ran the numbers. As nice as it would be not to look at prices, that's not worth the extra cost to me!

 

[Keckster]

On our trip last October for 5 Night/6 Day stay (2 Adults, 13yr old, 11 yr old = 4 Disney Adults), I crunched the food numbers big time. I mean Excel spreadsheet crunching down to specifically planned restaurants and pretend to order off the menu and then add everything up including tax plus gratuity when warranted (table service restaurants). We allotted for the same number of snacks per person as the meal plan. The budget came in under the standard dining plan. While some would get stressed about keeping up with receipts and making sure staying on budget during the trip, I think I would stress more wondering if we were getting the full value of the dining plan. I like the sense of control over what is being spent and the freedom to adjust. Having a planned and realistic (using Disney food prices) budget actually made me enjoy the whole vacation even more. Even with a post-budget Disney across-the-board food price increase in effect right before we arrived and a last minute Ohana ($260) substitution for what was the budgeted quick-service restaurant ($80), we still ultimately came in under budget.

The food services we used:
Day 1: El Mercado (QS-lunch); Ohana (TS-dinner)
Day 2: Kusafiri (snacks); Kilimanjaro Cart (snacks); Tusker House (TS-lunch buffet); Dinorama Cart (snacks); Trek Snacks (snacks); El Mercado (QS-dinner)
Day 3: RIX Cafe (snacks); Catalina Eddie's (QS-lunch); Sci-Fi Dine-in (TS-dinner); Rix Cafe (snacks)
Day 4: Crystal Palace (TS-breakfast buffet); Pirate's Bazaar (snacks); Storybook Treats (snacks); Panchitos (snacks); Cosmic Ray's (QS-dinner)
Day 5: Panchitos (snacks); Sunshine Season (QS-lunch/snacks); Fountainview (snacks); El Mercado (QS-dinner/snacks)

 

[halfpintpeggy]

You are telling me it is an eye opener! With Free dining, I was thinking it was a no brainer. But I called and priced out a room discount, which was Significantly less while paying for the DDP. Which led me to go through every meal I thought we would eat with the DDP and compared cost if paid for OOP (and assigned a $10 value to each snack credit, I know, too much) and OOP for the places we would want to eat came out $300 cheaper. In fairness, I don't have any character breakfasts in my lineup, so that likely swung things in favor of OOP. We would be paying for some meals OOP anyway (CS breakfasts, and a couple extra TS) so there is no EXACT fit for our family. But still, for what we want to eat, I was shocked there was no savings at all. Guess things have changed. Still, glad I ran the numbers. As nice as it would be not to look at prices, that's not worth the extra cost to me!

I bet you'll end up saving more than the $300, wishing you a wonderful trip!

 

[TreAntDeu]

My best friend is a math teacher and has been to Disney probably at least 25-30 times. Awhile back, maybe like 5-6 yrs ago she did a fun side science project with her husband and 3 kids where they compared several years trips using the DDP and not using the DDP.

She had this planned by the way and purposely got the plan on one trip and not the next and logged everything in as soon as they got home. I think she used 4 separate trips and two of each to compare and both times it came out that NOT getting the DDP was cheaper.

She said they ate as normal on each trip and didn’t take into account them having the plan or not having the plan when booking. All their trips were also during summer and spring break over a 2 year span so it was the same time of year and same amount of days they were comparing. She also made sure that if they ate at 1 signature dining in one trip with the plan they made sure to do the same on the next.

I can’t remember the exact number it was that they saved but since they’ve done this “experiment” they have NOT gotten the DDP.

Anyway, it was interesting and fun to follow along with them and see the results.

That is amazing. My family of 4 did something similar. Our experiments ended up the same. We never get it anymore because we have found that we spend less OOP and eat less because we aren't trying to use all our credits.

 

[enchantingodin]

I find this so interesting. We go every year, and every year I consider getting the dining plan. But after cost analysis, yes I'm a spread sheet kinda girl, it's always cheaper for us to pay out of pocket. Sure we could get it, and save money, but I would be focusing on getting the 'best bang for the buck' instead of just ordering what we want. Plus there's no way I could drink that much alcohol, and I would feel obligated to do so because I already 'paid' for it. Glad it works for your family though.

If you're looking for availability, try Cape May at Yacht/Beach club (sorry can't remember which one it's at off the top of my head) for a character breakfast. They're usually not full, especially if you go around a 'brunch' time.

 

[chris benton]

"Free Dining" is just akin to moving money around unless you dive into the details and check how those details work out or you. Car dealers do this kind of stuff all the time, and not just with interest rates, either. Walt is no dummy. Bait and switch is the more extreme phrase, but it's pretty darn similar if you think about it. If you work the numbers and you come out ahead, then by all means, hurrah! But just thinking you got free food is not 100% accurate, at ALL.

Paying for the dining plan is basically just averaging out your per meal food costs. Sometimes, you could pay more for that meal with the DP, and sometimes you could pay less for that meal. But, no matter what, you're paying for that meal. If you don't pay attention, and you wind up overpaying for that meal, you've lost money, because you prepaid the cost of that meal, and you are not getting a refund. If you don't use the credits, you've lost money. You will not be refunded. If you make a mad dash to use up credits on snacks the last day of your trip, unless you dearly want those snacks, and can't them anywhere else, you've lost money. The markup is pretty big. If you throw food away, you've lost money. You've already paid for the food you are throwing away.

I am not against the dining plans. I wish I could get them to work for our family, I really do. If we went with extended family, we'd probably have a better chance by getting two rooms and splitting meals. We just can't eat the amount of food on the DP's, and we are pretty big eaters. They just don't fit how we eat, and I'm ok with that. I also don't "judge" but I don't understand the whole "don't like to pay attention to the bill" thought. You can lose money if you don't pay attention to what you order, you might prepay x for a meal, but when you order, that meal might cost x - $4.00. Of course, it might cost x + $5.00 too. Does that ever cross your mind? Or is it still just better to prepay, and then not worry about it at ALL? I'm truly not being snarky. I have some thought processes that don't make sense to some other people as well. I'm pretty sure we all do. BTW - so far, this has been a pretty "civil" discussion on the DP values. The previous threads I've seen fly off the rails. There is no "one size fits all" with these, The DP's work for some, but not for others, and some ppl will definitely lose money on a dp, and some will come out ahead.

 

[Keckster]

"Free Dining" is just akin to moving money around

Very true. On the surface, it looks like a great deal, but when your paying full rack rate on the room + tickets w/hopper option required. You have to really do some comparison shopping to just how much of a "deal" it is, if at all.

 

[Upatnoon]

I think for many visitors, the dining plan and "free dining" also offers a psychological benefit rather than a monetary one.

Some people feel better by not stressing over the price of every meal, even if they may be paying more in the end.

If one spouse is not a Disney fan, the "free dining" may conceal part of the price of the trip and make it "easier to swallow."

 

[mamapenguin]

I feel like WDW's food is actually less than Universal's, so as I plan our next trip (Which will include 2 days at Universal.) I found it was actually a relief when I started looking at WDW menus. But I agree with others, as a family of 4, with a teen boy, eating out is pricey no matter what. We had lunch at an Uno recently and the total rang in at $95 and change. (That did include the tip, though.) Ouch! Since my family tends to go for mostly quick service meals at WDW (at least now when we're going with kids), we can easily spend less at WDW for a meal than we sometimes do at a restaurant at home. We can drink water we bring or free water. There are no tips for quick serve. We can share any which way we want. And we can pick and choose things from multiple places to make the "perfect" meal. So we keep our Disney food spending low by doing breakfast in our room, mostly quick service meals in the park, and only doing sit down for a few places we know we all will love enough to make the time and money spent worth it.

I'm not sure where you ate. I found prices pretty comparable at both, other than Universal is generous with their AP discount like Disneyland is.

 

[DisLiss]

I'm not sure where you ate. I found prices pretty comparable at both, other than Universal is generous with their AP discount like Disneyland is.

As I mentioned, we in planning mode. We're vegetarian, which isn't as easy to deal with at Universal, so we were constructing a budget based on what food was available there, and for us, meal for meal Universal kept costing us more. Obviously it will depend on where you eat and what you eat.

Another factor is probably that my kids are more into the specialty drinks at Universal than the ones at Disney. They're okay with basic beverages at WDW, but at Universal they want every type of Butterbeer and a Flaming Moe and so on, and they add up.