Reasonable budget for 12 days at Disney

[DiannaVM]

So our upcoming trip is a bit spur of the moment so I am stressing out about having enough money set aside (lots of unwanted and unexpected bills). I wanted to know for two adults drinking at least one alcoholic drink a day for twelve days, what would be a reasonable amount we should set aside just for food?

This is taking Into consideration that at least once we will sub a meal for snacking at Food & Wine and that most meals will be quick service (the only sit down meal I was planning on having I am actually going to cancel due to money constraints.)

Thanks!

 

[TwoMisfits]

So our upcoming trip is a bit spur of the moment so I am stressing out about having enough money set aside (lots of unwanted and unexpected bills). I wanted to know for two adults drinking at least one alcoholic drink a day for twelve days, what would be a reasonable amount we should set aside just for food?

This is taking Into consideration that at least once we will sub a meal for snacking at Food & Wine and that most meals will be quick service (the only sit down meal I was planning on having I am actually going to cancel due to money constraints.)

Thanks!

$25 for 2 drinks/day (1 per person) - beer can be cheaper, but most other drinks will run $10+...
3 CS meals/day at $15/meal x 2 = $90/day (you can probably be a little cheaper, but that will pad the alcohol budget if you have an extra drink)

So, for all CS and 1+ drink per person, I'd say $115/day to know you'll have enough money. If you decide to eat some meals in your room, this would drop, but you wanted to know reasonable...

$115 x 12 = $1380 for the trip...

 

[poohfriend77]

It depends a lot on your eating habits. Are you taking breakfast/snacks to eat in the room, or are you buying 3 meals a day? Do you drink soda/Starbucks, or are you happy with free ice water?Could you share meals if you're light eaters?

I'd estimate $80/day for 2 quick serve meals each, an extra snack or Coke, and two adult drinks, but that could vary a lot. The best thing would be for you to check menus online and just add up what you'll *probably* get. Then I'd add 10-15% as a cushion for when you want an extra snack or drink. I wouldn't want to be stressing about money the whole time because I guessed low on the budget!

 

[DiannaVM]

That was my thing I don't want to go into it with too little money. I was guessing around $1,000 actually, give or take so I was curious what you guys thought. We may end up having some meals off property since three nights we will be staying off property too, but I wanted to err in the side of caution since most of our time would be in Disney parks.

We can usually get by with just two meals and a snack or two in between and we rarely do desserts. We can both probably get by with just drinking water for most meals.

 

[Hikergirl]

Last fall dh and I went for 5 nights, so 4 full days of meals and we spent around $1000. We did a couple TS meals, and small breakfasts from Boardwalk bakery, and the rest was spent on drinks and food from the F&W booths. To be fair we did not limit ourselves to 1 drink per day, but we used the F&W vouchers for most of them. If I were going for 12 days I would up the budget to $1500 if possible. You don't have to spend that much, but it is there if you need, or even want more food/drinks.

 

[Marionnette]

So our upcoming trip is a bit spur of the moment so I am stressing out about having enough money set aside (lots of unwanted and unexpected bills). I wanted to know for two adults drinking at least one alcoholic drink a day for twelve days, what would be a reasonable amount we should set aside just for food?

This is taking Into consideration that at least once we will sub a meal for snacking at Food & Wine and that most meals will be quick service (the only sit down meal I was planning on having I am actually going to cancel due to money constraints.)

Thanks!

I agree with @TwoMisfits calculations but would pad the budget more. That one day of grazing at F&W will be an expensive one. Disneyfoodblog.com has pictures of all of the menus with prices. You can check them to get an idea of what an afternoon of eating around the world may cost you.

You will also want to remember to budget for tips for the bartender that fixes your drinks (if you are served at the bar) or the server who brings them.

I would bring $1500 for food and alcohol. There should be a little left over but I would not count on too much.

 

[persimmondeb]

We went once with a smaller budget than we had anticipated, and it was frankly stressful. We were off property, so we didn't have the dining plan, and that made a huge difference. I'm assuming it's too late/not budgeted for you to add the QSDP, but the other thing we do which helps is stack up Disney gift cards as much as possible, and also let family members know that this what we would like for bithday gifts etc. Now that said, while I go out of my way to avoid repeating the experience, we still had a good time and didn't starve.

 

[DiannaVM]

I agree with @TwoMisfits calculations but would pad the budget more. That one day of grazing at F&W will be an expensive one. Disneyfoodblog.com has pictures of all of the menus with prices. You can check them to get an idea of what an afternoon of eating around the world may cost you.

You will also want to remember to budget for tips for the bartender that fixes your drinks (if you are served at the bar) or the server who brings them.

I would bring $1500 for food and alcohol. There should be a little left over but I would not count on too much.

Yeah, I am trying to actually pick ahead of time what I will be wanting at F&W so I know more accurately how much to set aside just for that. We may actually pay for that out of our spending budget, rather than the food one only because like you say it will be a little expensive.

 

[persimmondeb]

Oh, and to actually answer your question, for two adults I would find $100 a day to be a reasonable QS budget (our low budget trip was about $80 for three, although that was five years ago).

 

[DiannaVM]

We went once with a smaller budget than we had anticipated, and it was frankly stressful. We were off property, so we didn't have the dining plan, and that made a huge difference. I'm assuming it's too late/not budgeted for you to add the QSDP, but the other thing we do which helps is stack up Disney gift cards as much as possible, and also let family members know that this what we would like for bithday gifts etc. Now that said, while I go out of my way to avoid repeating the experience, we still had a good time and didn't starve.

I thought about adding the plan, but I can't figure out how to add it to my already existing reservation. Is it possible to add it without getting a vacation plan?

Have a QSDP would take some of the stress off by knowing most of our stuff will be pre-paid (including some of the F&W options that take snack credits).

 

[hsmamato2]

you won't save any money by adding a plan..... but you will save money by NOT adding it,and choosing not to buy the items you wouldn't have bought without it- KWIM? You save a bundle by either NOT buying soda with lunch, or buying just one and sharing. same with lots of other treats and meals. A giant cupcake can be shared,as can a box of flavored popcorn,as can one side of fries with a hotdog etc. It all depends on your preferences, but overall we spend about $60 per day on 2 qs meals (give or take) and that's without any 'trying to save or share' methods. Ex. 2 qs meals at Columbia Harbor house, one iced tea to share,that's probably about 28-30 buck total. for a dinner qs we might buy a bit more, or choose to buy a snack somewhere else while walking. We eat a basic breakfast in room usually, some cereal or protein bars along with our coffee or tea to get going. (usually due to laziness)

 

[DiannaVM]

you won't save any money by adding a plan..... but you will save money by NOT adding it,and choosing not to buy the items you wouldn't have bought without it- KWIM? You save a bundle by either NOT buying soda with lunch, or buying just one and sharing. same with lots of other treats and meals. A giant cupcake can be shared,as can a box of flavored popcorn,as can one side of fries with a hotdog etc. It all depends on your preferences, but overall we spend about $60 per day on 2 qs meals (give or take) and that's without any 'trying to save or share' methods. Ex. 2 qs meals at Columbia Harbor house, one iced tea to share,that's probably about 28-30 buck total. for a dinner qs we might buy a bit more, or choose to buy a snack somewhere else while walking. We eat a basic breakfast in room usually, some cereal or protein bars along with our coffee or tea to get going. (usually due to laziness)

I actually agree with not saving with the plan, but sometimes having it already paid takes some stress off. But last time we did end up scrambling to spend our snack credits. And last time we were there we brought our own water into the park and as you said, we usually shared a large soda. I can get away with sharing most of my meals, but I cant say the same for DH. I am making plans now to probably not only order water, but order some more food/snacks to have in the room for breakfast though knowing us, it wont stop us from buying something once we get to the park but at least sharing that something will be easier without anyone going hungry.

 

[hsmamato2]

I actually agree with not saving with the plan, but sometimes having it already paid takes some stress off. But last time we did end up scrambling to spend our snack credits. And last time we were there we brought our own water into the park and as you said, we usually shared a large soda. I can get away with sharing most of my meals, but I cant say the same for DH. I am making plans now to probably not only order water, but order some more food/snacks to have in the room for breakfast though knowing us, it wont stop us from buying something once we get to the park but at least sharing that something will be easier without anyone going hungry.

Without the plan, buy disney gc at the grocery store ahead of time,and put in the amount you plan to spend and bring it with you. Bam prepaid food. And you get to buy what you want,thus actually saving over prepaying for foods you might not want anyway. we tend to graze through anyway, makes sharing fun and more of an adventure.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I would plan on a $1500 budget. It's on the generous side, but that way you don't ruin your vacation by mentally nickel-and-diming every little drink or snack. I know that's what I would do--"Oh, no--is this funnel cake going to put me over budget?" That's not enjoyable.

 

[DiannaVM]

Without the plan, buy disney gc at the grocery store ahead of time,and put in the amount you plan to spend and bring it with you. Bam prepaid food. And you get to buy what you want,thus actually saving over prepaying for foods you might not want anyway. we tend to graze through anyway, makes sharing fun and more of an adventure.

I would love to buy GC but I live overseas so I can't. It would pretty much put me on the same boat I am already on since I would have to use the credit card lol.

I honestly wish i hadn't let my DH talk me into moving up the trip. It's messing with my planner-type personality lol. He keeps talking about a bonus he was supposed to get at work that should help us, but he has been waiting on it since July. I think they were telling him bs with that "bonus". Lol

 

[katmatry]

I don't think anyone can tell you what you need to budget. You need to look at the menus and do the math. We are leaving Friday for a 5 day adult only trip, I budgeted $300 a day. That said, we did a 7 day family (dh, dw, ds 12, ds 17, dd 19) trip to Universal in August with a $300 a day budget and came in right on budget.

 

[hsmamato2]

Well, I'm basing it on OP's stated preferences,and what I generally spend on 4 people daily....we average about 100-110 per day for the 4 of us on a weeklong trip. Anyway OP, just create a separate budget line for your food expenses,and try to manage it that way. Think of it this way-you won't be spending *more* than the qsdp would cost you anyway.....

 

[holden]

We went for 8 nights in June and brought approximately $2000 in gift cards to use for food & drink. We blew through them before the trip was over.

 

[SGMCO]

(2 Adults)DH and I will be going 1st week 7 nights in Oct. and I used Prices on menus from Allears and calculated cost of meals, plus tax and tips and I think we can spend less than DP cost. Bring quick breakfast food for eating in room. We are doing 7 TS meals at lunch time- (no signatures or Buffets) and 8 QS meals. If I would purchase regular DP it would have cost $970 (doesn't include tips) for the week so I know we can eat for less than that, we don't order Appetizers or Desserts. We're not big drinkers but will have to try a couple of the Craft beers made for F&W festival. Alcohol at Disney is very expensive.

 

[Pkltm]

I actually agree with not saving with the plan, but sometimes having it already paid takes some stress off. But last time we did end up scrambling to spend our snack credits. And last time we were there we brought our own water into the park and as you said, we usually shared a large soda. I can get away with sharing most of my meals, but I cant say the same for DH. I am making plans now to probably not only order water, but order some more food/snacks to have in the room for breakfast though knowing us, it wont stop us from buying something once we get to the park but at least sharing that something will be easier without anyone going hungry.

Now that the plan includes two snacks it makes going to food and wine much better. We maximize those snack credits and use them on items over $5