First time without free dining... How much do I need to save?

[cinnderly]

Hi there! I am taking my son to DW in August. We have been 4 other times and have always been on free dining, so I barely had to budget for food. This time I went with a room discount (a much better deal for us) so I am saving each week for our food, souvenirs, incidentals, maybe a tour or other fun things. I'm wondering how much you would budget for food? My son is 15 and EATS, constantly. I plan to make a few reservations at our old favorites, but we won't be doing a sit-down meal every day. I will have some snack-y/breakfast things delivered, also.

So what do you say? For 6 days, a starving teen and a mom who likes to buy souvenirs - how much would you like to have with you? Right now my DVA is set to save $40/week, bringing me to a bit under $1200 by July. I plan to add extra here and there when I can as well, but not sure what my goal should be.

 

[toyotaae86lg]

To get an idea I plug all my days and restaurants into a dining calculator and it will give you an idea of how much to budget.
http://www.distripplanner.com/

 

[Babsy]

DH and I stayed at the AKL in January. We ate in TS restaurants every day, including some signature and character meals. I purchased a few souvenirs, but not many. WE also had daily snacks and a few beers/glasses of wine thrown into the mix. Everything was charged back to the room. The grand total when we received our bill was about $1200+ over the hotel room cost.
We ate in Crystal Palace, Tiffins, Be Our Guest (twice), Jiko, Boma, Biergarten, Rose and Crown and the Skipper Canteen. We usually had breakfast at Mara. we had ice cream at Ample Hills Creamery. We ordered whatever we wanted regardless of cost.

Hope this helps.

Enjoy!

ETA: we were there for 6 days

 

[Babsy]

To get an idea I plug all my days and restaurants into a dining calculator and it will give you an idea of how much to budget.
http://www.distripplanner.com/

WOW! I have never seen this before! It looks great. I plan to try it for my next trip!

 

[Roxyfire]

We are also a mom son combo but mine doesn't eat that much. I just went to every single menu and put the thing we'd likely order in a spreadsheet. I also accounted for 1 $5ish snack for each of us per day. I know some days we will get 1 and some we'll go over. There's a sticky with the buffet pricing too. We're huge creatures of habit so it's easy to guess. I keep quick service and table service tabulated separately so I can add tax and tip where appropriate then add all together. Barring any huge price increases, things should be just about right.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I usually go with the ole $50 per person per day.

 

[cinnderly]

Thanks everyone!

 

[kayteekt]

We went just went at Christmas, our tab for the week was $1300 for 2 adults and 2 small children for 6 days. We eat TS meals 2xs per day on average. I would say about 300 was souvenirs. So 1000 for food. We are also AP holders and have TIW, so that was with 20% off. So that would put it back to 1200. Note this total did include 2-4 alchoholic drinks per day. Also, we did a CP package meal which was pricey.

Unless you were doing a lot of character/buffet/aycte dining, you may be pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't talk yourself out of not doing TS to "save" money. Many of the breakfast and lunch entrees esp aren't too far off of what QS in the parks cost. Example burgers in the parks $10-15 at a TS $15-18, but you get a guaranteed seat, a bit of time to relax, eating out of the elements, etc... For us, it's worth it, however everyone has their own opinion.

 

[adisneyaunt]

I typically "think" on 100-150 a day for food/tip for 2, sometimes 3.
It's a personal thing tho...some days can be more and several always seem to be less... so I really don't do an actual Budget ...
have a wonderful visit!!!

 

[Parker Clan]

My husband and I usually budget around $1000 for food. We do TS for every dinner, eat some TS for lunch and breakfast. I'd say $1200-1300 would be good for two adults

 

[addiln]

When I plan I generally use $75.00 per adult per day for food. That will include lunch and dinner along with a snack at some point in the day. That normally puts me well over that actual amount we spend and I come home with a few bucks in my pocket from that.

 

[cinnderly]

This is great, I'm starting to feel like we should be good with $1200.

 

[JennyDrake]

When I plan I generally use $75.00 per adult per day for food. That will include lunch and dinner along with a snack at some point in the day. That normally puts me well over that actual amount we spend and I come home with a few bucks in my pocket from that.

THIS!. With a teen that eats and eats and eats... (been there, done that) I would get one buffet per day, and 2 CS if you are wanting to save money and maximize park time. That, plus a snack and (one) drink in the park will run ~$70-75, depending upon the buffet. In general breakfast and lunch buffets are less expensive than dinner.

 

[McKelly]

When I plan I generally use $75.00 per adult per day for food. That will include lunch and dinner along with a snack at some point in the day. That normally puts me well over that actual amount we spend and I come home with a few bucks in my pocket from that.

This is exactly what we plan.

 

[monorailsilver]

My current budget for my August 2018 trip is $1600 for food for 10-12 days, maybe a bit more but not much. That also includes buying mugs for all 5 of us.

We bring down/ship breakfast but we may rent a car for a day or two before to go to the Space center so if we do I will pick up breakfast that way.

I had 2 pool days and my girls at Mac and cheese for lunch...the microwave cups and then they got ice cream.

We don't buy soda in the parks for meals. We have refillable water bottles. That alone saved $$$$.

I look at the menus and prices before we go. We know where we are going to eat just not what day and I go from there. Some meals we can get by cheaper/sharing as we know we are going to eat a snack.

 

[Stephanie Branco]

To get an idea I plug all my days and restaurants into a dining calculator and it will give you an idea of how much to budget.
http://www.distripplanner.com/

This is so helpful. Thanks!

 

[jsrj21]

Have you priced out the QSDP? We get it every year and also go to a new restaurant every trip just to try it out [sort of a tradition at this point]. I use my Disney Visa reward points for that meal and for our must-do dinner at Boma. I would price out a dining plan first.....you might be better off.

Good luck and have a blast!!!

 

[ChimCher-ee]

We are also a mom son combo but mine doesn't eat that much. I just went to every single menu and put the thing we'd likely order in a spreadsheet. I also accounted for 1 $5ish snack for each of us per day. I know some days we will get 1 and some we'll go over. There's a sticky with the buffet pricing too. We're huge creatures of habit so it's easy to guess. I keep quick service and table service tabulated separately so I can add tax and tip where appropriate then add all together. Barring any huge price increases, things should be just about right.

I did the same exact thing! I'm going solo, though, so had to guess only what I'll want. I had so much fun looking over all the menus -- even if I end up choosing different items on the trip, my budget should come pretty close to covering.

Refillable mug, snacks, QS meals, buffets, and TS meals with drinks, appetizer, desserts and tax/tips where applicable all come to about $80/day.

 

[Azjenn]

To get an idea I plug all my days and restaurants into a dining calculator and it will give you an idea of how much to budget.
http://www.distripplanner.com/

This is amazing!!! Thx for the link!!

 

[Disneyhenry]

Hi there! I am taking my son to DW in August. We have been 4 other times and have always been on free dining, so I barely had to budget for food. This time I went with a room discount (a much better deal for us) so I am saving each week for our food, souvenirs, incidentals, maybe a tour or other fun things. I'm wondering how much you would budget for food? My son is 15 and EATS, constantly. I plan to make a few reservations at our old favorites, but we won't be doing a sit-down meal every day. I will have some snack-y/breakfast things delivered, also.

So what do you say? For 6 days, a starving teen and a mom who likes to buy souvenirs - how much would you like to have with you? Right now my DVA is set to save $40/week, bringing me to a bit under $1200 by July. I plan to add extra here and there when I can as well, but not sure what my goal should be.

Why don't you just add a dining package? So much easier imo