$ for food

[pabef601]

How much money should I plan for food? Lunch and supper only. 5 days 4 people. 3 sit down all else counter service. Bongos, Hollywood and Vine, Whispering Canyon.

[manutd1]

We are a family of 4.. 2 adults....2 kids. We spent on average 80.00 a day on food. We stayed 7 days. 560-600 for us for food. Snacks also thrown in. I would eat a kids meal often due to just not being overly hungry. We didnt do sit down meals this time. Counter service only. Kids love the 3rd pound burgers..and I do too. A lot of options with counter service. Next time we go....Back to some sit downs. So I would think 600.00 or so for food? Edit.....Well we did eat at some sit downs at M.K., Epcot. We didnt have reservations but got a table easy... La Hacienda San Angel we did eat at this time. Along with Liberty Tree Tavern. I almost forgot those cause we didnt have reservations....just last minute thing.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We usually do one TS per day. I typically plan for at least $200 per day for my family of 4. CS can easily run $40-50 for a family of 4 if all order adult meals. Add in snacks and a TS meal, and $200 actually might not be enough! Of course it depends on where you eat and what you order. Many times we share meals or just have a light lunch and snacks instead of a full lunch.

[John]

There was a mention of this on the most recent podcast (episode 77) how folks throw away money with package vacation plans.

Food wise, I call it my 10, 20, 30 plan (at least that's what I think I said - lol).

Plan on $10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner - per person or $60 a day. That usually leaves room for snacks, drinks and mickey bars if you don't do fine dining for dinner each night.

Reality with us is breakfast is usually something quick (coffee, Danish, cereal, egg sandwich), Lunch is usually sandwiches or fast food, Dinner is sometimes sit down, but more often than not, it may be something like walk up. If you tend to eat bigger dinners each night, adjust accordingly.

If you end up with money left over great. Far better paying yourself than paying for a plan you don't use.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

There was a mention of this on the most recent podcast (episode 77) how folks throw away money with package vacation plans.

Food wise, I call it my 10, 20, 30 plan (at least that's what I think I said - lol).

Plan on $10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner - per person or $60 a day. That usually leaves room for snacks, drinks and mickey bars if you don't do fine dining for dinner each night.

Reality with us is breakfast is usually something quick (coffee, Danish, cereal, egg sandwich), Lunch is usually sandwiches or fast food, Dinner is sometimes sit down, but more often than not, it may be something like walk up. If you tend to eat bigger dinners each night, adjust accordingly.

If you end up with money left over great. Far better paying yourself than paying for a plan you don't use.

This is exactly how I plan, usually it's more then enough money.

[Gregandmel]

We are a family of 4 (2 boys ages 24 and 15) and it astounds me that sometimes $200 per day isn't enough when we go. (I spend about $175 per WEEK on my grocery bill) and we have in-room breakfast before we head to the parks (we bring stuff from home as well as have Garden Grocer deliver some stuff). It's easily $40-$50 for counter service lunches and another $70-$80 for dinner (throw in a couple of cocktails sometimes). Add in a few snacks and drinks throughout the day and the money just disappears! LOL. This next trip I am not going to order a meal for myself, just nibble on everyone else's'. Seems I never eat a full meal anyways so maybe we can save a little money this time. We are only doing one TS meal this next trip (going to Universal) and I"m budgeting about $120 for that one. Crazy!! But we save up and enjoy…..it's the only time I don't blink at spending this type of cash while we are gone.

[NJGIRL]

We had five of us our last trip.

Breakfast was grab and go...so about $35 each day
Lunch was CS...so that was about $50 each day
Snack & Drinks...more drinks than anything and they are expensive..$30 each day
Dinner was TS...including tip was about $200 each day

So we were spending a little over $300 each day on two adults (I am a small eater) and (3) 16 year old boys.....

$63 each person per day......John's formula works!

[Figment104]

There was a mention of this on the most recent podcast (episode 77) how folks throw away money with package vacation plans.

Food wise, I call it my 10, 20, 30 plan (at least that's what I think I said - lol).

Plan on $10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner - per person or $60 a day. That usually leaves room for snacks, drinks and mickey bars if you don't do fine dining for dinner each night.

Reality with us is breakfast is usually something quick (coffee, Danish, cereal, egg sandwich), Lunch is usually sandwiches or fast food, Dinner is sometimes sit down, but more often than not, it may be something like walk up. If you tend to eat bigger dinners each night, adjust accordingly.

If you end up with money left over great. Far better paying yourself than paying for a plan you don't use.

This is the formula we use too, with an add in for an adult beverage a day, so I think we plan on $70/adult per day (the added $10 is for the adult beverage since those seem to hover around $7-$10 depending on what you get).

[LittleSpirit02]

Great formula! Spot on advice (as usual).

[AndrewJackson]

If you're like me, you'll use a spreadsheet and have a detailed budget for each day and category.

Then, just multiply the "Total" cell by 1.3, and you'll be pretty close.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Love John's advise.

We tend to eat a few more TS and tend to allot $75 per day per person. We eat fabulous meals when we vacation and this doesn't have us unhappy at all.

[princessgirls]

John is right on!!!!

Also, I do a $75-100 order with a food store that delivers (Garden Grocer) for gallon of milk, case or two of water depending on when we go, and grab and go breakfast items. That has worked very well for us. Eating a quick breakfast in the room saves tine and money.

I have to order, because we normally fly and don't rent a car, but if you have a car...go and get! So easy!!!!!

We typically do a counter Service lunch and sit down dinner. Family of 4 with snacks $200 a day if I'm lucky....

Julie

[Hammer]

There was a mention of this on the most recent podcast (episode 77) how folks throw away money with package vacation plans.

Food wise, I call it my 10, 20, 30 plan (at least that's what I think I said - lol).

Plan on $10 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner - per person or $60 a day. That usually leaves room for snacks, drinks and mickey bars if you don't do fine dining for dinner each night.

Reality with us is breakfast is usually something quick (coffee, Danish, cereal, egg sandwich), Lunch is usually sandwiches or fast food, Dinner is sometimes sit down, but more often than not, it may be something like walk up. If you tend to eat bigger dinners each night, adjust accordingly.

If you end up with money left over great. Far better paying yourself than paying for a plan you don't use.

This is pretty much what I do, though my total per person per day is higher. This is due to a few factors-

1. We have a couple of alcoholic beverages per day, and they are usually wine and mixed specialty drinks, which cost more than an average beer
2. We eat mostly at the more expensive signature dining establishments and usually get appetizers, entree and dessert (though appetizer or dessert is usually split)
3. We have been known to have sit down for both lunch and dinner
4. We used Tables in Wonderland

I looked over our slips from our last trip, and we averaged $85-90 per person per day. The secret is to know how you like to eat on vacation when planning your bugdet. I know my sister and I have more expensive tastes, so I plan accordingly. It is better to allot more money than less in my book.

[VacationDisney]

We have mostly used the Dining Plan even if it is not offered for free when we go. What I do, to see if the dining plan still works for us, is to check out the TS restaurants (that we'll be eating at) and add up what we would order. We very much enjoy a TS meal at the end of a busy day at the parks. For us there is no way for a dinner that WE can get by on $60 for 2 adults. Sometimes we like a glass of wine so that adds a few more $ to the tab.

Breakfast is usually Mickey waffles or eggs and bacon and with drinks that adds up to about $10-12 a day per adult.

Lunch is tricky since we eat at different places within the parks that can offer different items. I usually plan on $12-15 a day per adult.

See what works for you and all will be fine! Have a great time

[hauntedmansiongirl]

When we go off the dining plan, I go online and look at the menus and guess what everyone will order. I always overestimate. I add in tip too, and I prepackage little envelopes for each restaurant or each day in the park. It's my way of preplanning costs- essentially the dining plan without the dining plan! I like that we can get whatever we want and don't have to be constrained to the dining plan.

Have fun planning! It's half the fun!!!