How much do you REALLY spend on food at Disney???

[easyas123]

As two adults, NOT on the dining plan, we average spending about $300 a day....we don't go offsite for meals (we are bubble people ) and while we have snacks in our room, we don't plan on bringing food into our room in order to have it for a meal. We usually like to do one sit down meal per day...sometimes we do 2, sometimes we do none, all depends on the day. What we do like is to have drinks, and those really add up! ha ha! We don't drink soda pop, but we do buy water.

 

[Keli]

I will have to tip regardless, so it shouldn’t be any different right? The cost of the meal is the cost of the meal, and 18% is 18%. Am I right?

I don't think you understood my post very well. What I was expressing is the mistake I, and others, have made when trying to determine whether the dining plan is 'worth it'. I included the 18% tip in my estimations of what my food costs would be if I paid out of pocket. But when calculating the cost of the dining plan I only took the $ amount it would cost me to add it to our reservation and not the tips I would still be paying. That is such an easy mistake, for me at least, and it made my comparison very inaccurate. It's hard to calculate the tips you will pay on the dining plan, you have to look at menu prices and estimate how much your bill is likely to be at every location you plan to eat and then multiply that by 18% and then add it to your dining plan cost. Then you have a better idea of how much out of pocket costs will be vs dining plan costs. I'm not sure I would have made the same choice if I had made an accurate comparison before our last trip.

 

[clutter]

We enjoy the dining plan because of the exact reason OP stated. Without it, we certainly spend less on dining, but we cancel most character meals and tend to order less expensive options. No matter how many times I tell myself otherwise, I cannot help but factor cost into my order. With the dining plan, I don't care as much when the kids eat only a few bites of their $20+ meal or no one eats the dessert or appetizer with a weird texture. We try new things, expose the kids to foods they wouldn't normally eat, have more character and signature dining experience, etc. We also like planning one big sit-down meal per day, so it just works for us. We have found it best for us to split into two rooms and get the Deluxe plan for one room because we don't do much QS. Then, we also add a $100 grocery order for snacks, drinks, and breakfast in the room. For us, it is less about the cost and more about the type of vacation we want to have. You have to figure out what works best for you, but based on your opening post, I would recommend going with the dining plan!

I love the DP for the same reasons. My dd and I used it so much when she was younger, especially because it gave me the chance to to a TS every day (my definition of a vacation). This year we went back for the first time in a while - and she had turned 21, as had her friend who joined us. So the alcohol inclusion was

But then I looked at how we really ate, and I reconsidered. We just don't tend to do desserts, and we don't do soft drinks. But I liked having everything paid for before we go, so I purchased $1,800 in gift cards ahead of time to apply to our room bill. Perfect! On our first night, with just dd and I, we ate at Le Cellier. So good. So uncomfortably full after. I think we only did one CS the entire week. We tended to do lounges or appetizers for some meals. (Nomad Lounge ) Boma for breakfast - SO GOOD. I have to say, it was one of our best food trips ever!!! We ended up spending about $1,700 that trip. At $40/round for drinks in Epcot (girls wanted to do drinks around the world), we did pretty good!

If you want a sit down meal every day and want convenience - get the dining plan. It's wonderful if you tend to order the pasta when you want the steak because you won't spend the money out of pocket. (Another reason for gift cards - I already spent the money, so now I HAD to enjoy it.) It's more cost effective if you tend to order soft drinks at every meal. We do ice water, so we lose a lot on that.

Of the times I bought it in the past, the only time I regretted it was with friends on a 4 day trip for their first time. The TS meals were just too time consuming.

But as for park hoppers - I'm an old AP holder. I don't know how to do the parks without hopping!

 

[Jedi Crim]

I think it really depends on how you look at it. This trip coming up in April will be just me and my teenage daughter. On our past trip a few years ago, I was in serious "mom mode" and would cringe when she would want the 7$ ice cream or fancy drink. This time I decided to book us the QS plan so that when we got there, she could have full range of everything she wanted from the menu's that was available. The only talk I will have with her is that make the most out of her choices and not use them for a bottle of water or a cheap snack.

I think this will be less stress for me and more free for her to feel like she's getting more spoiled than she already is! At $52.00 a day, I think we will at least hit that mark if not exceed it when you factor in most QS meals are around 12-15$ plus a drink. Additionally, no tipping is required for the QS meals so when we walk in, it will be a free for all and she can choose what she wants without having mom say no.

 

[monorailsilver]

We are a family of 5. Our last trip in August my kids were 17, 14 and 12. Our budget per meal in 2013 was $40. But prices went up so I figured between $50-60 per meal total for all 5 of us.

Breakfast-we bought at super target along with snacks and water. So with that, breakfast probably cost us $25 for the 11 days, if that and water maybe $10. Plus some snacks but not a lot.

Lunch and dinner were primarily quick serve. We had 4 ADRs which were planned for, one of them Was at trex and I had a free Landry’s $100 gift card so that cost us $6 plus tip. Chef Mickeys was a last minute change, well I changed when I read whispering canyon cafe (cheaper meal) was going to be quieter. And we ate at beaches and cream and Via Napoli.

We did not buy drinks for our quick serve meals since we had our water.

A few of the QS meals we split so it saved us more money. We ate at Casey’s twice. Both times dh and I split the foot long hot dog and fries. We split 2 fajita platters between dh, ds14 and myself from pecos bills. We split a pulled pork sandwich, well dh and I did, and then he and DS split a ribs and chicken combo at Flame tree BBQ. Dh and I split a turkey sandwich from the marketplace at the beach club ($9.49 for one sandwich so we had a <$5 meal). One evening dh was not hungry so he didn’t eat. One evening DS had stomach problems post England’s fish and chips so he did not eat. My girls got pizza from Wolfgang pucks and split it, I had a piece but I also had a salad. My 17 yo also ordered the kids meals frequently, sometimes my other 2 did as well.

We are pretty boring eaters. I did look at all ears and knew about where we would eat most meals so I was able to figure out meal cost.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

We are a family of 5, kids the same ages as yours... with the kids paying the adult meal prices, it’s much less for us to pay as we go, but I will say, we aren’t doing any ADRs. But I made a spreadsheet with our Anticipated meals and snacks, and I’m budgeting $900 for our upcoming trip and that’s for 7 days in the park and 2 travel days. We bring our own breakfast food though.

 

[siren0119]

We are a family of 5, kids the same ages as yours... with the kids paying the adult meal prices, it’s much less for us to pay as we go, but I will say, we aren’t doing any ADRs. But I made a spreadsheet with our Anticipated meals and snacks, and I’m budgeting $900 for our upcoming trip and that’s for 7 days in the park and 2 travel days. We bring our own breakfast food though.

That's about what our budget was 2 years ago with our kids! We had a grocery delivery and did breakfast in the room, brought packed lunch/snacks for the park, and ate one full meal (usually sit down ADR) per day plus some park treats. We didn't end up using it all and let the kids get some extra pins for souvenirs

 

[chaoskids]

I really want to do the dining plan for convenience!!! It just isn’t cost effective for us. Even applying $7 to every snack and $15 to every CS, it is still less $$ to pay OOP. We are DVC and use TIW and most breakfasts in the room. It saves a ton of time.

 

[mco65]

Family of 5 here as well almost the same ages as the OP. We can stay just over $100 a day when we skimp... which would include 1 table service and then snacks for the day... We do like sit down character dining and always have a couple of those plus a sit down in the Showcase at Epcot.. on those days, it gets ugly ~300. so for us, on average we are about 200 per day so if we are there for 5 days, i plan on 1k for meals.

Free dining is nice.. we haven't had that in a LONG Time. WE did pay for the dining plan once as well but that was a while ago as well. We come out ahead by not doing the dining plan.. but only a little bit. If you like to eat and want to sit down at least once per day, it would be worth it and if its FREE, then all the better!

 

[Jedi Crim]

Even applying $7 to every snack and $15 to every CS, it is still less $$ to pay OOP.

Thats not including the drink or specialty drink you get with the two meals also as well as gratuity at the other TS places. Not saying its for everyone but for me I think it's going to work out to our advantage. I'm going to keep the receipts for our meals to validate this when we are done.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

OP I didn't read all the responses. I have 3 boys and 1 girl. All the years of going to WDW, I really enjoyed the DP. It was nice to just let them get snacks without stressing about the money at that moment. I kind of consider it the part of the trip that lets me chill (I deserve a break once every two years!). The QDP is what we go with now because the table services have become so expensive and you have to pay 18% on the total amount if we were not using credits! The QDP can be used the day you check in and all the way up to 12pm the day you check out. We spread it out and might even share a few. It has gone up each year and eventually it might not be worth it anymore. I save money on gift cards (shopkicks, swagbucks, Best buy rewards, sams etc..) and use it to pay for our trip. So that helps!

 

[chaoskids]

Thats not including the drink or specialty drink you get with the two meals also as well as gratuity at the other TS places. Not saying its for everyone but for me I think it's going to work out to our advantage. I'm going to keep the receipts for our meals to validate this when we are done.

We are seven Disney adults. I did include the drink for those 21 and over on the spreadsheet. The TIW card includes 20% off alcohol too. So it seems like a better fit for us. For now anyway!!

 

[JenniferYoung44]

The DDP works to save us money every time. Every trip I crunch the numbers and weve ate at great places and saved. However to see whether free dining is better or the room discount and paying for the DDP you really have to run the math. Also a tip I learned and have done every year. Consider having one person get an annual pass. Then you can look at AP room rates which are up to 40% off. 20% off Merchandise and if you dont get the DDP 10% off most table service. My AP pays for itself and then some in discounts every single year. Oh and free memory maker, so thats another $160 in savings.

 

[riddlemethis]

The 4 of us spent $2200 on food. We ate what we wnated when we wanted, and ate at a sit-down restaurant once a day, and picked up quick service for other meals. We also drank a lot .. soo...

 

[easyas123]

The 4 of us spent $2200 on food. We ate what we wanted when we wanted, and ate at a sit-down restaurant once a day, and picked up quick service for other meals. We also drank a lot .. soo...

This is us to a T! We couldn't relax and enjoy the trip if we were nickle & dining ourselves all day long-

 

[msec]

There are 4 of us (all adults - parents and adult kids - ages 21 & 23) and we spend approx $400-$500 or so per day - we usually eat 2 TS a day, snacks, drinks etc... My son is not a huge Disney fan - so I bribe him to vacation with us with the food and snacks

 

[DrHickenlocher]

Something that turned out really well for us and isn't always considered is the potential for food prices to increase by the time you arrive. We bought the Dining Plan prior to the big October 2018 increase, so when we were doing the comparison math, we were calculating with July 2018 menu prices. What looked like a good value for us at July 2018 prices turned out to be a HUGE value at January 2019 prices. And don't forget to calculate the tax. You're paying tax out of pocket but not paying tax when using a credit.

After 4 character meals (Tusker House Rivers of Light Dining Package, Akershus, Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Dining Package, and Crystal Palace), one Signature (Jiko), alcoholic drinks across the board, never once using a QS credit on a kids meal, and using a TON of snack credits at the Festival of the Arts ($11.00 ribs for a snack credit!), my post-trip math calculated that we consumed $1,860.60 worth of food and drink for the $1,241.60 we paid into the Regular Dining Plan for 2 adults + 2 kids for 6 nights (i.e. we cleared $619.00 of "value", and now that I look at those numbers it's a weird coincidence that the cents column came out to 60 cents for both).

Normally, we're very frugal eaters at theme parks, and rarely drink. We live in SoCal and pack PB&J sandwiches and bring juice boxes when visiting Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Legoland, etc. We certainly could have gotten through our WDW trip spending WAYYY less than $1,241.60 if we wanted to. But for us, getting the Dining Plan was like eating on a cruise. Eat whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, without worrying about how much it costs. Go ahead an order a cocktail with dinner. I'm not driving home! We're on vacation!

 

[dreiwhit]

In March of 2016, we at lunch in the parks and were spending $60 for a family of four for lunch.

After that trip, we've taken our lunch into the parks for the other trips. Since we stay off site, we'll go by a Subway next to the condo the night before and pick up sandwiches for the next day. That cuts the lunch costs down significantly. We eat breakfast and dinner in the condo.

On our Feb 2018 trip, my daughter really, really, really wanted to eat at Crystal Palace. So we did. It was around $150 for breakfast for the four of us. That's the most i've ever spent on a meal in my life!

 

[unrequited23]

We just got back from a 9 day trip on Wednesday. Me, DH, DS 7 and DS 4. I just finished adding up our receipts and we spent $975 including the purchase of 2 refillable mugs, popcorn bucket and a prime now delivery of breakfast foods and snacks. We had 4TS meals including a character breakfast. We either had or shared (2 citrus swirls for the 4 of us was plenty) at least one snack a day not counting the popcorn bucket refills. I definitely could have gone for an adult beverage or two more than we had, but the prices combined with the fact that my DH didn't want one kept me from ordering. I also couldn't justify $7 for a Mickey pretzel when the kids were more than happy with the popcorn.

We spent about $65 more than I had figured we would. My DH had said he would order water in the parks, but decided to get a soft drink every where he went.

 

[Sandiz08]

Last couple trips, about 1200 to 1500 for a family of four. We have breakfast in room. One counter and one sit down most days. Character meals, snacks, alcohol, and extras, etc.