Break down dining with kids? What do you do?

Mom of 3 Princesses

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 4, 2011
I will be taking my 4 and 9 year old to Disney alone this year for about 8 days. When hubby comes, we usually do the DDP because it is just much easier.

My 4 year old eats okay, but mainly just breakfast, my 9 year old daughter is a bit of a bird, and eats quite lightly. I was thinking about NOT doing a dining plan this time because of it.

I am thinking they could probably share one adult meal. Maybe even a kids meal... So, We would have to eat out at least 2xs a day... and really we would only do what would be considered QS, with exception of perhaps a dinner at Park Fare or the Castle.

how much should I budget to take for food?
 
They could for sure share. You know with QS large portions are usually given. My sister and I are adults and shared about every QS meal on our last trip. My sister eats like a bird as well. Each QS seemed to have run about $12-$15 without beverage.
 
You could play around with the numbers on this calculator to get a better idea http://www.distripplanner.com/ but I will say sharing is a huge plus. Last summer it was myself and my two 13 year olds and sometimes we shared one meal (I had prepared them prior to the trip that sharing of some sort between the 3 of us would have to be an option when we did not have an ADR). One example, we went to Cosmic Rays and got the chicken and ribs meal with potatoes and green beans. I took the ribs, my children shared the chicken and we divided the potato and veggie into 3 portions. All of us had a lunch that hit the spot for about $16 (we had water in our Brita bottles). Of course, we were intentionally leaving room for that Mickey bar later in the day but what is Disney without a Mickey bar ;)!?
 
Hope it helps. Also, since often times part of the plus side of having the dining plan is that it is prepaid, already taken care of so you don't have to worry about it during the trip...what I did was estimate what we would spend (I overestimated to be on the 'safe' side) then I had a gift card with that amount on it that I used just for meals. I made sure to include our TS meals and tips for those along with our CS meals and while I know it is all just kind of mind games it still gave me that feeling of having the food already taken care of without the massive amounts of food on the dining plan that we didn't need on this trip.
 
After going through the calculator, I think I may go ahead and just get the dining plan. I would save ABOUT 90 bucks overall on the QS and have nothing left, or I could throw in a bunch of TS and go DDP and save over 100.00..... SO very helpful... and then I would not have to worry about how much I have don't have, etc
 


I love all the suggestions! My 14 and 10 year old are decent eaters, but my twins are 8 and eat like birds so we always have them either share a meal, or eat off our plates. We always bring nutrigrain/granola bars for breakfast and trail mix to the parks for snacks. We do bring a couple water bottles but you can ask for a free cup of water at any of the QS restaurants as well.
 
You could play around with the numbers on this calculator to get a better idea http://www.distripplanner.com/ but I will say sharing is a huge plus. Last summer it was myself and my two 13 year olds and sometimes we shared one meal (I had prepared them prior to the trip that sharing of some sort between the 3 of us would have to be an option when we did not have an ADR). One example, we went to Cosmic Rays and got the chicken and ribs meal with potatoes and green beans. I took the ribs, my children shared the chicken and we divided the potato and veggie into 3 portions. All of us had a lunch that hit the spot for about $16 (we had water in our Brita bottles). Of course, we were intentionally leaving room for that Mickey bar later in the day but what is Disney without a Mickey bar ;)!?

thank you so much for sharing that site! It has help me plan the dinning part of the trip!
 
I always get the DDP when travelling with my children. The snack credits alone are great. They may want popcorn or some candy, SNACK CREDIT! Plus on the DDP you pay for a child menu prices not three adults prices. You always get desert and drinks with the childrens meal as well, so get a water and a milk. Split the milk for lunch and bring the water for yourself to walk around the park. Also with a childs meal, you dont have to get a child size drink, the plans allow you to recieve an adult size beverage. So take advantage of that.
Sharing meals is great too, but do what ever makes econmical sense.
 
There are 3 of us. DH, myself and DD7. Decided against the dining plan as I calculated it would be cheaper to pay out of pocket. I was right. DD & I need to eat as soon as we get up so breakfast is in room cereal, muffins and yoghurt. DH shared most counter service meals with DD getting a kids meal or snack pack. Did 2 table service meals the whole 8 day trip as we don't eat out much at home and it was a waste of precious park time. We would share a snack in the afternoon suck as a pretzel, popcorn or ice cream. American portions are HUGE!!! Got ice water with most meals or one pop to share as well. Brought our Brita water bottles. Starbucks was great for water and snacks and used our starbucks giftcard .
 

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