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View Full Version : Need Tips for Strecting WDW Food Budget



LeeAnn
01-31-2008, 06:00 PM
Hoping to plan trip for during "Free Dining" (if offered) time. But it's not really free w/ tip not included now. For a 3 night stay, how much do I need to budget for tips?

Since snacks are only single serve now and I can't use box of donuts. How else can I strecth snacks? Or what do you do for breakfast?

Should have a car rental for a day so I can go to grocery store? Don't want over buy, what are essentials?

Refillage mugs are good for lengther stays. Don't think it would good 4d/3n stay. How much is coffee and soda to find out break even point?

Might had a day prior to "Free Dining" where meals would be out of pocket. Where would be a good baragin for CS and TS?

It's DH38, Me36, DD5, DS4 & DD2 (so she free).

Any tips welcomed? Thanks.

Strmchsr
01-31-2008, 06:35 PM
"Free" dining isn't really free anyway since you're paying rack rate for the room. If you're really concerned about stretching your budget you might look for a room only discount and pay for food OOP eating mostly at CS restaurants. We always bring our own breakfast regardless (pop-tarts or granola bars, etc) of whether or not we do the DDP which helps save money. Also, if you're able to go to the grocery store, renting a fridge if you're at a value or having one if you're at a mod or deluxe will allow you to buy your own water bottles/sodas/milk for cereal, etc which can also save money. It doesn't save as much at a value since you have to rent the fridge, but it still beats park prices.

jszczur5
01-31-2008, 06:37 PM
[QUOTE=LeeAnn;1534254]Hoping to plan trip for during "Free Dining" (if offered) time. But it's not really free w/ tip not included now. QUOTE]

It never was really free - not when you consider that you have to pay rack room rates.

We always take bowls, spoons and cereal with us, and then buy the refillable mugs, so we can get the milk free with our meals which we then put in a cooler. I think you will break-even with 2 refillable mugs over the course of 4 days. A couple of coffees each day and a couple of sodas will make it worth while. I think the milk is almost 2 bucks to buy, so once you get 6 free with your meals, your mug is paid for. We only ever buy 2 mugs between 4 of us. Hubby and I share a beverage and refills, and our sons do the same.
It's a shame that you can't get the Entemann's 8 pack of donuts anymore - but they are still cheap enough to buy.

Kidsmom
01-31-2008, 06:38 PM
Planning on your budget for tips will depend on your restaurants....some might be $10 tip and some $20 or more.

For breakfast, we bring a case of single breakfast cerels from BJ's and boxes of poptarts that we pack in a duffel bag. We buy milk at the food court and keep it in the fridge in the room (we also get some plastic spoons from the food court)

You could pack donuts from home if that is what you like. We also pack a case of goldfish snack bags that we have on hand in the parks for long lines when the kids are hungry or need a distraction.

I don't think the refillable mugs are the best bet for that short of of stay. If you do feel the need to buy, just buy 2 or 3 not 5. When we went last year we got 4 mugs (we are 2 parents and 4 kids) so DH got his coffee, me my soda and the kids split lemonades

I am sure others will have much better advice for you especially regarding tipping and inexpensive restaurants but here are my 2 cents.

Have a blast!!

vamaggie
01-31-2008, 06:47 PM
The refillable mugs are about $12 so if you have >6 sodas/coffees etc during your stay they pay for themselves (and are nice souveniers for home)We got 2 last trip and shared since our kids don't really drink soda. To help stretch the free dining, you may want to consider splitting a breakfast CS and a lunch CS for you and your kids. Some of the meals are really big. We split with our DS10 & DD4 when we went last. Between the CS & snacks we were not hungry. Essentials for us were water bottles & snacks like goldfish. We brought the fish & water from home and used the suitcase for souveniers on the return home. I would not rent a car for one day--too expensive and too much time away for a short trip.

scootch713
01-31-2008, 07:42 PM
I pack one suitcase with food. I put it in, juice boxes, poptarts, cereal, mozzerella cheese sticks, block cheese, crackers, ect.. I put everything in a large box(like something hard like juice boxes come in) and nothing gets smashed. We had more than enough for breakfast and snacks for a 6 night stay. Then, the beauty of it all..... you have an empty suitcase to bring everything home(that doesn't pack as easily as it did when you left home).

alpro2
01-31-2008, 07:50 PM
We ship a box of dry goods to the resort. Items include cereal, power bars, cereal bars, chips, and other snacks. This saves on breakfasts and snacks. Shipping costs no more than $20.

magicofdisney
01-31-2008, 09:15 PM
We always stay at the values. With a discount, you can save a lot of $$ that way. We always take a cooler (on wheels) to store our drinks and cold food items in. This saves money on renting a fridge. From what I understand, getting a good fridge is hit or miss. NEVER, NEVER buy milk from the food court. You can go to the gift shop and pick up half a gallon for less than $4. I hope the pp sees this and uses the gift shop from now on for milk. We also take sodas with us and breakfast items. Eating at all CS will save money on food and there will be $0 in tips. CS at most parks are quite varied. Have fun! :mickey:

LeeAnn
01-31-2008, 10:09 PM
Renting a car for a day is to drive from parents place Cape Coral, FL to Orlando. 3 Hour Drive (too bad they aren't closer)

So it's fly into RSW, visit parents, Drive to WDW, P/U items, then use magical expres to fly out MCO?

Magical Express is still free?

Have colopaable cooler? Will that help keep milk overnight?

I like the idea of sharing meals. Bring own snacks and water.

Any other?

Which CS are best to share meals?
At POP and the parks?

crazeedizneefinatic
01-31-2008, 11:00 PM
Some of the suggestions are really good. Bringing snacks from home really does help for breakfast! I do have to disagree though with the posters that said you don't get the dining plan for free. Last September was the 1st time we took advantage of the "free" dining. We stayed at CBR for 10 days, 8 day park hoppers and all food included. 1 CS, 1TS and 1 snack per day. We brought breakfast items from home. The cost for 3 adults and 1 child was $2600.00. Now if you break that down that is just $65 per day per person. We ate all 10 days and actually left 1 CS per person behind. $65 per day for moderate hotel, park hopper pass (8 days, the other days we entertained ourselves with relaxing or DTD) and food is not bad to me! Don't let people scare you into thinking it's not a good deal. This year will probably be less of a value since the tip is not included or appetizer, but still may be, we will see how much extra we spend. We stayed at a moderate resort so I am sure the value would be more if you stayed at a value resort.

Tink#64
01-31-2008, 11:03 PM
I pack one suitcase with food. I put it in, juice boxes, poptarts, cereal, mozzerella cheese sticks, block cheese, crackers, ect.. I put everything in a large box(like something hard like juice boxes come in) and nothing gets smashed. We had more than enough for breakfast and snacks for a 6 night stay. Then, the beauty of it all..... you have an empty suitcase to bring everything home(that doesn't pack as easily as it did when you left home).

This is what we do - exactly! Our first trip I was so scared that the food suitcase was going to be over the weight limit at the airport! :funny:

We've never done the dining pkg, we always do value, bring breakfast, carry snacks in our packs. DH & I carry water bottles that hook onto our packs & the only cokes we buy are at meal times. We always do the mugs at the resort, as we eat one meal a day in the food court at the resort. We always take a swim break & eat our lunch or dinner around the pool. The food isn't that big of a deal to us, & we do mostly cs's meals. We do plan a couple of ts's, usually try & visit a different resort & have a nice dinner there. We never spend what I budget for food! But we always spend more than I budget for souvenears! So it all works out. :mickey: We use the empty food suitcase for all those souvenears! :blush:

Kairi_7378
02-01-2008, 08:49 AM
We also pack a suitcase of food and water bottles and sometimes sodas.

On our last trip, DH and I split all of our CS meals and we were really able to stretch our food money that way. Here are some places with very large portions that are split-able:

Flame Tree BBQ
Tangerine Cafe
Jumbalaya at POFQ food court
Peco's Bill
Cosmic Ray's

aurorafan
02-01-2008, 09:10 AM
We were on the dining plan when we went in Oct., and found the refillable mugs to be worth it. If you eat CS at the resort, you can get an extra bottled drink (we got water) and have your drink for the meal with the mug. Then you take the water into the park and you don't have to use your snack credit ;). At breakfast CS on the DDP you get 2 drinks (juice and something else), so again I got 2 bottles of water, used my mug for my drink and took the extra water into the parks.

I had bought bottled water from the online grocery store and we ended up hardly using it because of the refillable mugs ;)

goofysbabe
02-01-2008, 09:58 AM
We have been on the DDP and my children are still young enough to share a meal and my husband and myself share a meal. So we would use 2 CS credits for breakfast & split then at lunch we would use 2 CS credits and split that and then at dinner time we would then all use our TS credits and have a nice meal. We NEVER use our snack credits for water, we bring water & snacks from home. The snacks we do get with our credits are those that we couldn't buy at home. Like Mickey Ice Cream bars or school bread things like that. We always buy a mug and use it alot. My husband drinks coffee like there's no tomorrow and I drink diet coke and share with my kids so after 3 of us get a drink, it's time for a refill, so we pretty much get our moneys worth from that.
Now we have not been with the new 2008 changes, but for the way we use the plan and the places we chose to eat at for or TS meals I think we are still going to come out ahead - guess we'll see in December.

gardenia
02-01-2008, 11:08 AM
Sharing mugs isn't "budgeting", it's cheating. Let's have some honest suggestions here.

TBY2225
02-01-2008, 11:31 AM
I still think the free dining is a great deal even if you have to pay rack rate for the room. We saved $1600 last year during the promotion and are going back this year with the bounceback deal! Even if you ate only CS and brought snacks from home, you are still going to spend more than the difference in a room only deal! That being said, I agree that sharing is a great way to go. DH and I share a CS for breakfast and lunch and so does DD6 and DS2. Then we each do a TS with DS2 sharing with all of us. I used to get the doughnuts with my credits also, but, there are other great snacks to get to share! Popcorn, cups of grapes and apples with caramel, mickey pretzels. You just have to look and ask if you aren't sure. I have never heard of anyone going hungry on the dining plan. If you are concerned about sharing, bringing stuff from home is a good choice also!

vamaggie
02-01-2008, 11:41 AM
Sharing mugs isn't "budgeting", it's cheating. Let's have some honest suggestions here.

I hate to disagree but I do. How is sharing a mug cheating? The mugs state they are good for refills for the length of stay. It does not say each person must have their own. DH drinks coffee/coke all day so he gets his own. I enjoy coffee in the am and our DS or DD likes a hot chocolate or something later in the day so we share. If I am wrong, we will change our pattern but again I don't feel we are cheating.

goofysbabe
02-01-2008, 12:16 PM
I hate to disagree but I do. How is sharing a mug cheating? The mugs state they are good for refills for the length of stay. It does not say each person must have their own. DH drinks coffee/coke all day so he gets his own. I enjoy coffee in the am and our DS or DD likes a hot chocolate or something later in the day so we share. If I am wrong, we will change our pattern but again I don't feel we are cheating.


I have to agree it says good for the length of your stay - not good for one person. We always buy new mugs when we go, we don't bring them from home. For what we pay for our Disney vacation I think sharing a drink or two is ok and I'd rather have the cup empty than leaving it half full just to threw away - that's wasteful!

aurorafan
02-01-2008, 12:29 PM
Sharing mugs isn't "budgeting", it's cheating. Let's have some honest suggestions here.

My husband and I often share drinks at fast food places (McD's etc.)--is that cheating? To me that's the same as sharing a mug.

mpaxton88
02-01-2008, 12:51 PM
This probably isn't helpful for a 3 day trip, but I read this on another fan site and thought it was pretty cool.

"Delivery - Goodings, an upscale supermarket located close to Walt Disney World, allows you to order online and have the groceries delivered to most hotels and resorts in Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, International Drive, Celebration or Kissimmee. There is a $50 minimum order and a $20 handling charge. "

More hints can be found here. [URL removed per TOS]

ElenitaB
02-01-2008, 01:07 PM
The official rules regarding the use of refillable mugs can be found here (http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/accomodations/mugs.asp) on InfoCentral.

Back to LeeAnn's question, we often use our snack credit for something that we can eat for breakfast. We always visit the Main Street Bake Shop when leaving MK after Wishes and enjoy something yummy for breakfast the next morning in our room. As long as you're fine with pastry for breakfast, it works.

LeeAnn, considering you'll have a car with you, you might make a stop at a local grocery store and pick up some good in-room breakfast fare. While there, pick up bottled water which you can throw in the freezer of your room fridge (if you're staying at a mod or deluxe). If at a Value resort, the water bottles can chill overnight with ice in your cooler along with your milk. I'd buy Parmalat milk as it won't go bad. Other things we buy at the grocery store, when we manage to get to one, are cereal, bread (I bring our favorite brand of peanut butter from home), jelly, bagels and cream cheese (which can hang out in the cooler) and fruit.

Magical Express continues to be complimentary; I'm not sure if it's necessary but the planner in me says you should set it up before you leave for your trip.

jszczur5
02-02-2008, 12:42 AM
I hate to disagree but I do. How is sharing a mug cheating? The mugs state they are good for refills for the length of stay. It does not say each person must have their own. DH drinks coffee/coke all day so he gets his own. I enjoy coffee in the am and our DS or DD likes a hot chocolate or something later in the day so we share. If I am wrong, we will change our pattern but again I don't feel we are cheating.

I agree with you. Sharing a mug is not cheating.
We take one water bottle into the parks, and then use the fountains all day for refills. Is this cheating also? I don't think so.

magicofdisney
02-02-2008, 03:26 AM
Another tip, all CS offer free cups of ice water. And yes, the cooler filled with ice, should keep your milk cold. It's never failed us and we do it ALL the time! :mickey:

gardenia
02-02-2008, 08:57 AM
I agree with you. Sharing a mug is not cheating.
We take one water bottle into the parks, and then use the fountains all day for refills. Is this cheating also? I don't think so.

Do you take your whole family to an all-you-can-eat buffet and ask to pay for just one meal? Do you take a group of 20 school kids to a resort and buy them one mug? Yes, it's cheating. I'm stunned by some of the stuff folks will try to justify. If you can't all afford your own mug, for heaven's sake don't go to WDW, save your money.

Natazu
02-02-2008, 11:55 AM
We ship a box of dry goods to the resort. Items include cereal, power bars, cereal bars, chips, and other snacks. This saves on breakfasts and snacks. Shipping costs no more than $20.
That's pretty smart. Maria's idea I suppose.

ElenitaB
02-02-2008, 08:12 PM
Moderator Alert

Please keep to the topic of stretching our food budgets while at WDW and maintain a friendly tone to our conversation. Thank you.

tinksmom02
02-02-2008, 11:22 PM
We stretched our CS credits by sharing meals. The "bounty platter" at POFQ was a huge sampling of everything--Mickey waffle, eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon--so DH and I would each get one, and give DD5 our waffles. For some reason, on the DDP you were allowed 2 beverages with breakfast (maybe cause no app or dessert?), so we would get some OJ for breakast and water for the parks.

For our CS lunches or dinners, DD and I would sometimes share a meal, kids or adults, depending on how hungry we were.

We brought cereal and pop tarts from home, but typically used this as evening snacks. We like to have a nice breakfast in the am.

We also did what Ellen suggested, stopped at Main St. bakery on the way out of MK one evening and got treats to enjoy later on.

As for your debate on purchasing the mugs, I would think it all depends on how much time you'll be spending at the resort. Like someone else said, if you'd be buying more than 6 drinks, you should get one.

ltam16
02-03-2008, 09:07 AM
We signed up for the Staples Rewards Card and had water shipped to Pop for free! They also have snacks & stuff on their website so I think we might try that too. My DH also cleaned out the garbage can in the room in the bathtub and then put in a clean can liner & filled that with ice from ice machine and put our milk & water bottles in there! It worked great, didn't leak like our collapsable cooler did when the ice melted. Mousekeeping might have thought it was strange....

I also carried those "to go" drink mix packets for the water. If we were in the park we could refill our water bottles and not mind the taste from the water fountains!

vamaggie
02-03-2008, 09:14 AM
I also carried those "to go" drink mix packets for the water. If we were in the park we could refill our water bottles and not mind the taste from the water fountains!

I don't like those Crsytal Light drink mixes but I did find TruLemon and TruLime packets that are only lemon or lime flavor (like lemon juice) These worked well if you don't like the super sweetness of the other drink mixes.

Lorraine444
02-03-2008, 10:11 AM
One great cost savings was Ice water.
You can get free Ice water @ any place that sells fountain soda. Some people will say the water doesn't taste good, but I didn't think so.
Not to mention in the heat water is needed often. This was a huge savings!
I also packed peanut butter crackers, granola bars, and single serve pound cakes. You can also bring the powdered single serve drinks like Koolaid & Crystal lights.

BelleLovesTheBeast
02-03-2008, 12:37 PM
Sharing mugs isn't "budgeting", it's cheating. Let's have some honest suggestions here.

The people who work for Disney do this and they reuse it for months. They don't consider it cheating.

BelleLovesTheBeast
02-03-2008, 12:40 PM
We get bottles of water for each person and a gallon so we can refill them while we are there.

Also we share meals at CS that have big portions.

Joy2theworld
02-03-2008, 01:05 PM
I may be wrong, but I thought in the past in order to qualify for the free dining you had to stay a minimum number of nights. I thought it was four or five.

irish1967
02-03-2008, 02:51 PM
Hoping to plan trip for during "Free Dining" (if offered) time. But it's not really free w/ tip not included now. For a 3 night stay, how much do I need to budget for tips?

I would do this...

Where will you be making your ADRs? Looking at the menu, what are you and your family LIKELY to order at each restaurant? Add it up (along with the cost of your drinks) assume you'll have fabulous service and calculate 20% of the total. That'll give you a really good idea about what you'll need for tips.

Or to be safe, assume you and your DH will each order the most expensive item and your children will order the most expensive item on the children's menu and use those amounts to calculate the total of the bill and then calculate a 20% tip. That way, you know you'll have more than enough saved assuming someone orders a less expensive item!

Have a great trip!

BriarRose0708
02-03-2008, 03:15 PM
Another tip, all CS offer free cups of ice water.

Really? Are they the regular size cups or teeny tiney? I had no idea, thanks for sharing that great tip! Also, does anyone know if food court soda dispensers have a water button, or am I forced to buy bottled?

I am on a food budget for my upcoming 7 night stay. My friend and I plan on packing a small suitcase with poptarts, english muffins and peanutbutter for breakfast, along with granola bars and other snacks to take to the parks. A good thing we did was agree to book a few TS meals but to splurge on only 2 of them (we chose CRT and Coral Reef). The other 2 or 3 we're getting appetizers, sharing an entree and no dessert. Also, at many of the CS places you can order a kids meal which comes with healthier options and is cheaper. An other great tip (that I stole from Rachael Ray) is to eat table service at breakfast or lunch. Breakfast is usually cheaper and many of them are buffet style. Lunch menus are anywhere between $5 and $10cheaper for most of the same dishes served at dinner. This varies from place to place, of course, so check out the Menus section of Info Central.

I hope you have a great time!

bobpfef
02-04-2008, 12:58 PM
Really? Are they the regular size cups or teeny tiney? I had no idea, thanks for sharing that great tip! Also, does anyone know if food court soda dispensers have a water button, or am I forced to buy bottled?



Most places gave us a small size cup, but not teeny tiny. A few times I asked if I could please have a larger cup and it was never a problem.
And the food court did have a water button, at least at POR

Disney Doll
02-04-2008, 01:55 PM
I always bring dry cereal and have breakfast in the room. At the beginning of the week I hit the grocery section of the gift shop and buy milk or juice to keep in the room. I do this mainly to save time b/c the food courts are a nightmare in the mornings and I'd rather be on my way to the parks rather than standing in line for mickey waffles. However, I think it is also a good money saver. We tend to eat mostly CS and actually prefer to snack (especially in EPCOT WS) instead of having a couple of big meals.