How much do you budget?

[MrsInsG]

We've done it all on our trips - deluxe dining plan, no dining plan but lots of character meals and pricier table services, quick service plan, regular DDP, etc. This past January I did a quick "girls only" trip with my three daughters. We ended up each eating a breakfast at BOG, sharing one (yes ONE counter service nugget lunch), eating several snacks (again, shared), and sharing two entrees at Tony's. It really depends on how you want to do it. We have an upcoming surprise trip (5 days in January), and we'll do one or two sit downs and the rest will be counter service and snacks. You can make most any budget work at WDW, you just have to decide what you want to spend and build around it.

 

[SGMCO]

I use Allearsnet Dining menus with prices (they have been accurate on cost) and try to figure what we might order use the highest entree price. We never order appetizers or deserts. We mostly drink either water or soda with meals, with the exception of sharing a Flight of either Beer or Wine with water (only where available).

 

[3littlecuties]

We usually spend $1700-$1800 for 7 days. We have 2 adults and 3 children (11, 9, and 7). We usually eat breakfast in the room but will get QS breakfast at the resort once or twice during the week. We have a TS every day and usually do at least 1 or 2 that are shows (Spirit of Aloha or Hoop Dee Doo) or character meals. We eat QS for our other meal of the day. We do not get soft drinks with meals (just water) and do not usually eat dessert with meals unless it is included with a buffet. We eat desserts (like Dole Whips!) at other times like mid-afternoon or when waiting for evening shows. I'd say we average about 8-10 alcoholic beverages for the week between DH and I. We'll get a snack here and there but most of our snacks are brought from home.

 

[shellyj]

how much do you budget for dining during your trip? What are the dynamics of your group? How do you like to eat?

We are a family of 5. I start with $100/day total - $20 per person -then I add for special meals. And I could easily cut that in half we if cut out our TS meals. We eat REALLY well at Disney. I start stocking up on non-perishables a couple months ahead of time so I can take advantage of coupons and sales and spread the cost out a little. Then when we get in town, we do the rest of our shopping at the Super Target off Osceola. We pack water and snacks for the park.

Generally, we eat out at least once a day but we avoid reservations during our preferred park hours. Four of us can easily share 2 QS meals. If we're very hungry we might add an extra side or grab some Chip and Dale trail mix. The spicy one is soooo good. My youngest has autism and is very picky, so I always bring his food. It's enough to fill us but not stuff us so we are ready to keep going.

Our next trip is looking something like this, we'll probably add
10 days including travel, 7 park days, TS includes tip

2 adult dinners out, probably Boma $300
Tusker House breakfast $130
Sci Fi apps and shakes $80
5 QS lunches @ $40 rounded up for sodas or extra sides $200
Snack/spending money $100
1 Delivery/take out from town 50
Groceries at Target $200
Total of $1,060 or about $106 per day.

And then I probably spend $150 or so on pre-shopping and picnic foods we pack for the drive down from VA. But that is spent from our regular weekly grocery money so I don't include it in my vacation budgeting.

At Sci Fi, we haven't cared for their entrees but we LOVE the experience so we get apps and tip generously so the server doesn't lose out on a lower check

We have tried the dining plan before and we have NEVER saved money with it, even when we did a lot of character meals. We actually end up feeling tied down to too many TS reservations. Last time we used a plan we really lost out bad, so we won't do that again unless it's free.
We start with our budget, eat what we want when we want, and we generally come home with money still in the vacation account.

 

[SL6827]

The most important meal of the day for my husband is breakfast. I personally can get by just fine on some Mickey waffles, bacon and such, him, no. He doesn't mind going off site to eat at the Waffle House, Golden Corral ect, which do have fabulous breakfast, but I hate going off site. So next March I will have to budget for a TS breakfast for several days. I hate to pay buffet pricing, but I am thinking about trying the Trails End buffet for breakfast. We also love Boma, but the price of it is getting and higher and higher, but I still might do it in March. Kona has a good TS breakfast. Absolutely no character breakfast, even though he loves the selections of those as well. Any other breakfast meals you might suggest that are not buffet style?

 

[Monykalyn]

I put our numbers into a spreadsheet from 2015 trip-
with groceries (snacks/breakfast in room then to offsite condo), Universal meals(and lots of butter beer!), Disney meals-the kids had charging privileges and dashed into Epcot for snacks frequently lol-came to $227 a day for a family of five, for ~12 days. Included alcoholic drinks for adults (SWW and had to try the specialty drinks), a dessert party, and an expensive star wars breakfast. I had budgeted $250-300/day but didn't end up spending near that amount.

I should note-my DH is not one to restrict himself when on vacation-if he wants a steak-he will order a steak-and let the kids get one too. It is why I budgeted so high

 

[Lisa F]

I don't budget. I figure out what I am likely to eat and then I figure out how much money to save and then I add a few hundred for things I didn't plan. But I only go once every 2 years or so and I don't want to be worried about a budget.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

While I have done the math and have found out that our dining habits make it better for us to pay OOP (vs any plan), I don't really set a hard budget. We usually do 2 TS meals a day...some signature...some character...some AYCTE/buffet...some traditional menu. We rarely order dessert, but have been known to make meals out of appetizers (sometimes multiple), and often order cocktails with dinner vs soft drinks. Cost per day could be anywhere from $300-500. I also consider dining a big part of the experience and am more likely to do single park tickets and cut back on souvenirs (not big shoppers anyway) if I really need things to balance out in the end.

 

[FrancoFun]

I don't budget. I figure out what I am likely to eat and then I figure out how much money to save and then I add a few hundred for things I didn't plan. But I only go once every 2 years or so and I don't want to be worried about a budget.

Yes, when I say "budget" I mean I look at what we want to eat and then set that money aside. I was pretty good at it too! Within $5 of my estimate on our trip. It's not so much about what we "can" spend as what we need to know we will spend so it is not a surprise when we are there.

 

[Lisa F]

Yes, when I say "budget" I mean I look at what we want to eat and then set that money aside. I was pretty good at it too! Within $5 of my estimate on our trip. It's not so much about what we "can" spend as what we need to know we will spend so it is not a surprise when we are there.

Yeah, i get it... but I would not budget x per day or x for the whole trip like some do. I mean it's great that it either works for some or they eat consistently enough that they can get an idea of a daily budget. I don't think I do and it can vary from trip to trip so I just sit down and figure out about what to expect depending on my trip. I work backwards from what I am likely to do and then set that aside vs. figuring out how much I can spend and figuring out how to stick within it (which is really more what I think of when I think of a "budget.") I budget all year long but when I vacation I splurge and do what I want! I almost always end up with extra money at the end, last trip it was enough for a down payment on a cruise!

 

[sharonabe]

Absolutely no character breakfast, even though he loves the selections of those as well. Any other breakfast meals you might suggest that are not buffet style?

The Wave at Contemporary and Grand Floridian Café at GF both have interesting looking breakfasts. Pepper Market at CSR is a QS breakfast with some different options as well.

 

[Pennstate6411]

We have ran the numbers - family of 3 DD only 2 at the time we will be there for sat to sat trip. We only plan on doing 3-4 TS - 2 of them being buffets so DD eats for free those meals. After reviewing prices and knowing how we eat, we decided to budget. We are not huge 3 meal a day people so other than getting something for DD for breakfast we are looking at most about $100 a day for QS only days and the days with TS about $200. So for a week about $1100 for the 3 of us. This does not include alcohol although there probably wont be too much drank - maybe on our date night ( my parents are coming too so they will watch DD one evening) we will indulge in a few beverages but overall but we have another 1000 for our discretionary fund (all the purchases will make, alcohol, bounce back offer etc.

 

[King of Naboombu]

We figure out all TS reservations we want each day. Then estimate the cost of each of those (estimated on high side and to include tip) and then re-evaluate what meals we feel are definitely worth the money to us. That gives us a total TS cost. After TS is figured out I look at the QS meals we need based on what days we do not have reservations for either lunch or dinner. Then add rough estimate of QS costs at $60 each meal for 2 adults/2kids. $60 is high average for us but there are drinks/snacks factored in. We add up the TS and QS to get a total for trip...usually averages around $250 per day.

 

[SL6827]

The Wave at Contemporary and Grand Floridian Café at GF both have interesting looking breakfasts. Pepper Market at CSR is a QS breakfast with some different options as well.

Might look into the Wave.

 

[ulcards99]

This seems a bit low (although in line with what we are hoping to spend). How many meals do you usually eat each day? I'm assuming most are CS. How often are you having TS?

Like I said, some days we at each more expensive meals and some days we ate more QS meals. That was an average per day per person. We don't do signature restaurants usually, except for Le Cellier for our anniversary. For our May trip, this is where we ate and how much it cost.

5/21
$44 - Sci Fi Diner
$6.25 - scallops booth
$6.50 - shrimp and stone ground grits booth
$9.99 ice cream

5/22
Gaston's - $4.79 cinnamon roll
Pecos bills - $25.12
Ice cream $11.27

5/23
13.02 flame tree. ($3.06 discount)
$83.00 Le cellier

5/24
Pecos bills $11.50 ($2.70 discount)
Dole whips $11.70
BOG $71.89+$14.11 tip=$86 ($7.50 discount)

5/25
$17.45 backlot express ($4.10 discount)
$44.52+$10 tip Rose and crown (8.20 discount)
Ice cream $9.99

5/26
Via Napoli $29.72 ($3.10 discount)
Ice cream plaza MK $12.34


5/27
Pecos bills $23.41
Ice cream $6.01
Milkshake $5.85


This was our cost for our Nov/Dec trip last year.

Day 1
$25.12 pecos bills
$5.00 iced coffee
$9.52 wine
$60 wave

Day 2
$34 whispering canyon
$5.75 ice cream sundae

Day 3
$17.77 yak and yeti lunch
$98 boma

Day 4
$26.84 France
$5 ice cream

Day 5
$17.45 backlot express
$36.00 via Napoli
$4.79 dole whip

Day 6
$7.14 croissants
$28 beaches and cream
$11 and $10 blaze and wolfgang

Day 7
$4.79 Cinnamon roll
$38.31 be our guest

We usually tend to eat one big meal a day with snacks. They just give you so much food, it's hard to eat too often. That's why I don't feel like the dining plan is worth it for us because we don't eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. We would weigh 100 pounds more if we did once our vacation was over lol

 

[scrapquitler]

how much do you budget for dining during your trip? What are the dynamics of your group? How do you like to eat?

There are three of us (DH, myself and DS14). I usually plan to spend about $150/day on food, snacks, alcohol and soveniers, and that usually works out just about right for us. For perspective: We eat quick service, maybe have one sit down meal during the trip, I sometimes eat kids meals, DH and DS will sometimes have a pizza from the food court for dinner and share it. We snack a lot, but we share the snacks among ourselves, so if it's time for ice cream, we have a mickey sandwich or an ice cream sunday, not three of them. We eat breakfast in the room. We drink a lot of water from counter service, but we also buy sodas, coffees and bottle waters. DH and I usually drink 1-2 adult beverages total nearly each day. And we buy a couple small souveniers like pins or a christmas ornament, etc. but nothing big.

 

[Chrelaine]

Might look into the Wave.

We loved The Wave for breakfast. You can order the buffet or from the menu, so it makes it easier if your party includes folks with different preferences.
We thought the buffet was one of the best on property. The way the food is presented feels much more upscale for lack of a better word. Many items are served in individual cups/bowls. Also, for Disney, the prices were reasonable. No characters and not a ton of atmosphere ( no views of a castle, lake, monorail...etc) but a great, calm way to start the day. The restaurant is not chaotic like a lot of the buffets. The breakfast buffet is relatively hidden from the dining room.
I wouldn't hesitate to go again for the buffet or to order from the menu.

 

[Princess Mulan]

I tally up our food costs (meals, snacks, drinks, tips) after every trip, and we always come in just under the dining plan cost. So when planning I figure that our food costs will be near Disney's stated price for the dining plan.

We prefer to pay OOP because we order whatever we want when we want, and our total cost actually is cheaper than the DDP since it includes tips and all incidentals.

BTW, we always have a table-service dinner with counter-service breakfast and lunch. Our dinners usually are signature.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We eat breakfast in our room, and about half the time, we have lunch in our room. We drive down, and it is very easy to bring chicken salad, deli meats, cheese, fruit (apples, halo oranges, bananas, grapes), some veggies (carrots, cucumbers), chips, etc. with us. We didn't purposely go back to the room to eat, but our plan last summer was to hit a park until lunch time, then go to a water park or spend time at the pool. When we went back to change for the water park, we ate lunch too.

Family of 4, two adults, two teenagers (last trip they were 15 and 13). DH & I tend to share cs meals about half the time because it suits what we would normally eat (I don't eat much). We carry water bottles with us and drink that at cs places or get cups of ice water; none of us drink soda, although we like good sweet tea when we can find it (brewed sweet tea, not syrup stuff). We usually plan for about $50-60 for a cs lunch or dinner, and we had 3 dinner ADRs last trip, which ended up being more than we wanted to do. For the ADRs, we go through the menu and get a rough guess of the cost by what each of us is likely to order if it isn't fixed price. We ended up spending a little less on CS than we had budgeted last year, and our ADRs were very close because they were all fixed-price things, so it was easy to guess. We don't bother budgeting for snacks, it just comes out of our extra/spending money. Even though we eat in the room, we don't bring many snacks with us because we know we won't eat them. We have tried the dining plan or the qs dining plan a few times, but we always lost money on it because we don't order things we don't want to get the best value out of it.

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

We eat breakfast in the room, bring water bottles, eat QS or snacks for lunch, a couple TS for dinner but mostly QS. With an average of $45 dollars a day for each adult. It's about the same as the QS dinning plan but we love the flexibility to skip meals or go offsite.