How much do you budget for food for a family of 4?

[MommyBryn]

We are trying to help my SIL plan a very low-budget trip. They are thinking of the Wyndham by Downtown, and would get tickets through UT. But the one thing I have NO idea what to advise her on is food, as we've done one of the dining plans since that became an option, and back when we paid for our own meals, I was a kid!

So can anyone help me figure out approximately how much they might want to budget for reasonable meals for a family of 4? (the girls would be 7 and 11 at the time) It would only be for 4 full park days, as the first and last day are primarily spent flying (from Oregon), so maybe just one additional meal on those days.

 

[Momto2minniemice]

We are a family of 4 also my girls are 11 and 5. I budget $200 a day. If you eat at a buffet or character dining it will cost at least $100 for the family. Our youngest eats like bird and oldest can eat like a teenage boy when she is in the mood. We normally eat breakfast in the room, pack in pop tarts, breakfast bars, crackers, PBJ sammy, ect. This is for all drinks, snacks, and food for the day. If we have money left over then it is a bonus of saving for the next trip =)

 

[MommyBryn]

Thank you. That helps give me an idea, though I'm worried they wouldn't be able to swing that. I'm thinking they'd probably do QS meals overall. As far as the food in your room, did you have it delivered or do you go buy it yourself? Because they'll be taking such a long flight I don't think packing a bunch of food is all that appealing (which is why we have never done it, either), and sometimes delivery costs more than it's worth, but they also won't be able to budget in renting a car.

 

[worm761]

I'm guessing that they're looking at around $40-50 per counter service meal. We are me, DH, and DD6. Our CS meals cost between $35-45 for the three of us. Some were cheaper. DD always got a kids meal. I sometimes got a kids meal but usually ordered an adult meal. If they're 11 year old is still ordering kids meals when they go out to eat then meals would be less than $50 per CS meal.

 

[Mom2m&k]

We have used Garden Grocer and I believe they put their delivery prices easy to find. We usually do breakfast in the room and then do mostly QS or a TS once in a while. We are a family of 4 and I think we spent about $1100 on food for 4 days last time we went. You can search and look up menus and prices and it will give you a good idea of what you/they might spend. I have used that to determine over and over that the dining plan wouldn't really work for us.

 

[MommyBryn]

Okay, thanks! Yes, I believe both girls would be ordering kids meals. And I will have them browse menus and such, but I just have NO idea where they will want to eat (they've never been on a family vacation before, much less a Disney one!) so it's just easier to get an idea of what other families spend. So it looks like they could get away with under $150/day, and definitely so if they aren't even eating three whole meals (thinking similarly to the QSDP, where there are only two anyway, and I know we've never felt like we've gone hungry at all...we always feel more than adequately fed! LOL).

 

[TwoMisfits]

I would either plan to pack or get groceries delivered for breakfasts, simple lunches, and desserts (and park snacks). Since they will have a fridge (but no heating source, except a coffee maker), you'll want to keep it simple. If you get stuff delivered, order some fresh fruit (apples, bananas, and oranges are all shelf-stable, in case the fridge is small), bottled water, juice boxes, cereals/oatmeal (whatever you eat), peanut butter/almond butter, fruit preserves/jelly, 2 loaves of bread, snacks they like (4-6 of them), paper plates, plastic utensils, and ziploc bags (to bring everything to the park).

If they can't swing $200/day in the park, they likely can swing $100 in groceries and $50/day in park. If they only do 1 park CS and then a shareable snack, they can do $50/day (and not starve, by trying to all eat kid's meals or all share), if they bring a collapsible cooler and easy foods to eat. Only being there 5-6 days, they'll want to decide exactly what they want to eat as the breakfast and lunch, but that's not too hard (I'd suggest fresh fruit, cereal, and coffee/milk for breakfasts and some form of PB sandwiches with salty or sweet snacks and a different fruit for lunch and bottled water and juice boxes for the parks).

Now, this advice is LOW budget. I never go quite this extreme, although I have brought all snacks and drinks to the parks and eaten all breakfasts in a room.

 

[cgncga]

We are trying to help my SIL plan a very low-budget trip. They are thinking of the Wyndham by Downtown, and would get tickets through UT. But the one thing I have NO idea what to advise her on is food, as we've done one of the dining plans since that became an option, and back when we paid for our own meals, I was a kid!

So can anyone help me figure out approximately how much they might want to budget for reasonable meals for a family of 4? (the girls would be 7 and 11 at the time) It would only be for 4 full park days, as the first and last day are primarily spent flying (from Oregon), so maybe just one additional meal on those days.

My family did a trip about a year and a half ago without the Dining Plan. At the time, we were 2 adults and our daughters were 13 and 10. We flew from Canada so we brought very few snacks with us. On that trip, we ate only counter service meals and purchased all the snacks we wanted. We managed to eat for under $100/day for the week. We shared some meals (often 3 meals between the 4 of us), often purchased kids meals for breakfast and sometimes for lunch. We purchased the refillable mugs to use at our resort and didn't buy pop with any of our meals. In the parks we just asked for ice water. We also didn't purchase desserts with our meals--although we often picked up a sweet treat an hour or two after a meal. We ate a variety of different foods and didn't feel that we were missing out at all. We also threw away a lot less food than we do with the dining plan.

 

[Fabnsab]

will they have a kitchen?

 

[Momto2minniemice]

As far as bringing food I have done both before. When flying it is easy to put a box of breakfast. Items in each suitcase. It will last with no trouble. You could always take a cab and go to the store to grab a few items or take über.

 

[StitchBuddy]

We have had groceries delivered before and I don't think it was worth it. The cost was really high I thought. I would pack a suitcase with food and pay to have it checked on the plane. Then, just use it as a carry-on on the return flight. It is really only a four day trip. I'm thinking pop tarts, peanut butter, chewy bars etc.... You can buy fruit, apples etc for I think $1 a piece inside the park. If they carry enough snacks they could just eat a late lunch/early dinner and then a yummy dessert later. My DD loved it when we let her eat dessert for dinner one time. We were the coolest parents around.

 

[starry_solo]

What airline are you using? If Southwest, you get two free bags per person so pack at least one bag with food. Jet Blue gives you one bag free per person, I think?

Otherwise, bring food in a carry-on if you don't want to check in bags

 

[mom2rose&john]

I have budgeted $100-150 per day depending on the restaurants we will be eating at and including a snack if we are not doing a table service. Our family of 4 consists of my husband (ferocious appetite), me (medium appetite), my daughter and son are both light eaters. I tend to share a beverage and dessert with one of my kids. I am also using gift cards for Rainforest Cafe and TGI Fridays to cut costs. I redeemed using SW Rapid Rewards points for the gift cards. I will bring bottles of water and fruit/snacks into the parks to cut the cost. Be sure to bring ziploc bags with you, they prevent spills and condensation from going all over.

We are also staying offsite in a timeshare with a full kitchen but this is totally doable regardless if you have a kitchen or not. We are packing breakfast items in our luggage. Breakfast items include: two boxes of cereal, peanut butter, bagels/english muffins, granola bars and almonds/walnuts. I pack bread items using the plastic shoe boxes you find at the dollar tree. We once packed a case of water and soda in one of our suitcases.

I have also stayed onsite and used Garden Grocer with great success. We did have to purchase milk and bread mid week at the resort store and it was pricey but didn't break the bank.

 

[monorailsilver]

When we went eons ago (2013), I budgeted $40/meal for the 5 of us (dh, me, dd12, ds9, dd7). Yeah I k is crazy right? I don't do th dining plan and we only had 2 sit downs which were planned and not in the $40 plan, I knew they'd be more.

I looked at menus on all ears and knew which places we would be eating quick service and I knew what my kids like. Some meals were a little over and one was $50 because my girls begged for the orange slushie.

I did not buy drinks with our meals as we had water bottles and my kids have the double insulated thermos bottles and those stayed cold with ice I. The hot summer sun. They got soda on our hotel days, there were 5 of them, with the refillable mug. If I had to buy soda it would be much more.

I did ship breakfast down and just bought milk/soy milk from the resort. I also had Mac and cheese cups which my girls ate on 2 pool days for lunch.

 

[Fabnsab]

We stay in a condo w a kitchen. We go to super target the night we arrive and shop for groceries for the week. We eat breakfast in the room daily, pack our soft sided cooler for the parks for snacks and one meal, and end up getting one meal plus a treat at the park.

For 4 of us, it only costs slightly more than if I grocery shopped at home for a regular week.

Even without a car, I'd think the uber cost would be worth it to go shopping since it saves so much from buying.

I always pack-
Cheese sticks
Hard boiled eggs
Sandwiches on kings Hawaiian rolls
Frozen water bottles
Cut up fruit
Something crunchy

We tend to eat this while sitting in our spot, waiting for the Main Street parade. Then we will buy dinner later.

I don't think we go over $500 for our food budget. But we only do the parks for two days.

 

[dbbargain]

Those of you that carry lot of snacks including water/juice to park, how do you manage them while on rides ? Do you typically rent a locker or something ?

 

[Fabnsab]

I know some rent a locker but we still bring a fold up stroller to use for lugging around our crap and for our daughter when she's tired or we want to get somewhere fast. The basket below holds what I bring.

 

[mom2rose&john]

My husband and I will carry a small backpack. We pack 5 bottles of water, and 4 of each (apples, granola bar, fruitsnacks) and one small container of almonds/walnuts.

 

[robfamily]

When are they traveling? Disney is offering one free QS meal during some dates this summer with stay at value resort. Staying on site may be cheaper with the magical express if the Wyndham doesn't offer transport to from the airport. Definitely pack snacks and breakfast from home. Granola bars, poptarts, and even oatmeal packets are easy to transport. We pack apples in our carry on. This shouldn't be a problem if traveling SW.

 

[ldo]

there are ways to save $. We have 2 kids and ate at Pecos Bills and got 2 orders of fajitas for $30 and water to drink. There is a fixins bar with salsa, cheese, etc. We were all full. I recommend taking some food with them. Will they have a fridge? If so, I would take a cooler bag with frozen cheese sticks--they can even get to room temp and still be OK--with a fridge, those would be good snacks/lunch stretchers. If they have a microwave, they can take a few cans of spaghettios, oatmeal, etc. I always pack a pack of mini-cereal boxes, granola/power bars, and a pack of tortillas, if I have room in my luggage. My kids will eat a plain tortilla as a snack. Snacks and drinks are actually somewhat pricey and add up, while an entire quick service kids meal with a drink is only about $6-7. So, have everyone save their soda/water bottle and refill it each night. We saved at least $50 in water over a week by taking 1 water bottle each into the parks everyday.
I just put my snack bag in the bag hold area for rides--there's nothing of value in it. If someone wants it that badly, well, OK. But, most rides, except some roller coasters allow a bag anyway.