$40 a Day for Dining at Disney

[stayhomemom77]

Everything went beautifully...thanks for asking.

The kids love it here. DD said she wished we could live here forever (it's a one year contract so we've told them we don't know what's going to happen beyond next summer but it looks good for a contract renewal at this point) and DS's only complaint is that we're really far from Islands of Adventure.

They've discovered Harry Potter in the last year and they're DYING to go to the WWoHP but we told them they had to be older so they'd actually go on some of the rides.

In the meantime, from the west coast we're hoping Disneyland next summer and possibly Hawaii the summer after that (if we're still here). Then, no matter where we live we'll have to do Florida once again. The kids would be 11 and 9...the Fantasyland expansion should be done by then (we're looking at 2014 here) so it will be time.

 

[SOnotLayuh]

We only budget 40$ a day on budget trips for DH AND myself... and still never have gone hungry. That says quite a bit - DH is a black hole with a tiny waist (darn those genetics).

We also drink soda for sure - if I had water at every meal I would die.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Alright...AllEars has several MK places updated to reflect September pricing and some of Epcot as well so I took a stab at doing a new plan for those days. You have to be a bit choosier but it's still doable under the original parameters.

So, here's what I've got:

Magic Kingdom $40.02

Enchanted Grove
Cereal/Milk and coffee/tea/hot cocoa

Plaza
Plaza Club with soft drink or iced tea **free refills on these drinks

Cosmic Ray's
Half Chicken Meal with Choc Milk

Aloha Isle
Dole Whip

*I was too lazy to go back and adjust but I think we can look the other way for the extra two cents.



Epcot $40.00

Sunshine Seasons
Muffin and ice water

Tutto Italia
Farfalle and ice water

Joy of Tea Stand
Lucky Combo **combo comes with a soft drink

Kringla
School Bread or Lefse

**Kringla hadn't been updated so I don't know if these items are still $1.99...if they aren't then I'm over but Tutto was the only TS restaurant that had September prices for lunch so I had no other options. Plus I think you could only have ice water once and I have it twice so I believe I'm cheating a bit but again...no one else had updated lunch prices so I had no choice!

So, it's tougher but still quite possible to eat for $40 a day at Disney even with the new price increases.

 

[stayhomemom77]

I haven't had anyone ask recently but I've lost my excel document that I offered to send to anyone who was interested. It's sort of moot now anyway with the price increases but I wanted to say, if you were thinking of asking me for it...I no longer have it. Sorry!



I'm still waiting on the price increase updates...they are trickling in slowly but it's making it difficult for me to prepare anything for posting.

I did however, work out a formula...a general guideline so that you don't have to concentrate too hard when you're out and about. If you stick to these category maximums, you'll be under $40 a day. The first number is a subtotal...pretax and tip (where applicable) and the second figure has them included.

Breakfast-$5.25/$5.59
TS meal-$15.99/$19.91
CS meal-$10.59/$11.58
Snack-$2.99/$3.18

Grand Total-$39.96

Obviously, if you want to get a more expensive entree at your TS meal, you'll need to readjust the other categories or go over $40. Contrarily, if you wanted, say a second snack or a more expensive one you'd need to choose a cheaper entree at your TS meal (which is easier to do when you have TS for lunch).

An example of this formula for the MK:

Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll/Coffee, Tea or Hot Cocoa $6.18 $6.58
LTT Pilgrim's Feast $14.99 $18.66
Pecos Bill's Taco Salad/choc milk $10.38 $11.05
Snack Dole Whip $3.49 $3.72

Grand Total; $40.01

As you can see, I saved a dollar on my TS entree which I used in part at breakfast and in part at snack time. Can't do the MK without my Dole Whip!!





Snack

 

[fromscratchmom]

What a fantastic thread. I'm so glad it got bumped up for me to see it.

I think this was a great idea for fun or for real budgeting on its own, as the OP intended it, but it also made me realize that with the way our family eats we could totally make this work by sharing meals and staying with the fact that we are real water drinkers.

Things to keep in mind about us: Most likely, next time we go we'll be a party of four, me, DH, DD11 and DD13 So that is 40/day times 4 people for 160 dollars a day in my plan. I don't like for the kids to eat a lot of sugar and empty calories and get less healthy and more cranky while on vacation. So as lovely as all that sweet stuff is, I'd rather have healthy happy kids who can enjoy their vacation and not get sick while on it. Which means we are prone to skip all the breads, and cupcakes and pastries that fill up a lot of people's food pics and trip reports. I really like to get to go into a sit down restaurant at least once a day and more is nice too. As a general rule, neither of my girls wants a child's menu or any version of a "kid's meal" while mom and dad are getting to try good foods. My DD11 sometimes eats like a bird and then portions of her food end up in other people's stomachs or in the trash. My DH actually does this at times too. And any of us might do it if we are just too hot. OH and I have a gluten problem but I just left that out so that I could play this game with more fun and less complication. In truth I have no idea how the gluten things plays out at Disney while you are paying out of pocket. So my imagination just filled in here that I'd skip bites of certain things and they'd make me lovely gluten free versions of other things for the same price.

So... knowing that the meal sharing, water drinking, grazing and appetizers could work beautifully for us, I set out to see if I could make a plan for our family for DHS where my family could get to go back to Mama Melrose's and I could try some other places AND where I could just skip traditional breakfast fare as well as sweet breakfast rolls and such. I'd rather start with an early lunch or savory snack.

And these two days are what I came up with:

DHS day 1:

Starring Rolls--
2 Turkey Foccaccia sandwich with chips or fresh fruit 9.19x2x1.065
=$19.57

Brown Derby--
2 Sweet Corn Chowders - with applewood-smoked bacon and ancho chili oil $8.00x2
Brie, Midnight Moon and Prosciutto Cake with Tete de Moine Petals, and an olive-roasted vegetable salad $11.00
Cremini Mushroom Chévre Tortelloni-$9.00
Blue Lump Crab Cake--$12.00
16+9+11+12x1.065x1.18
=60.32

Starring Rolls--
2 more sandwiches with chips and or fruit (either ham or turkey this time)
=19.57

Sci-Fi--
Mixed Greens $7.49
BLT Soup $6.99
7 bean beef chili $6.99
Butcher Steak $22.99
7.49+6.99+6.99+22.99x1.065x1.18
=55.87

1st DHS day's total= 155.33

in truth as big as those sandwiches look we'd probably end up skipping the mid afternoon extra sandwiches which would make our total =135.76 for the day, but then again if we did we might also make up the difference by adding on at SciFi. lol. We are somewhat sporadic.

---------------------------------------------------

DHS day two:

Min and Bill's Dockside Diner--
Franfurter in a Pretzel roll $7.59
Chicken Caesar Sandwich $8.09
7.59+8.09x1.065
=16.70

Toluka Turkey Legs--
2 Turkey Legs $7.59x2x1.065
= 16.17

Catalina Eddie's--
Pepperoni Pizza with Caesar Salad $8.69
Hot Italian Deli Sandwich-- with Caesar Salad $8.69
Caesar Salad with Chicken $7.79
8.69+8.69+7.79x1.065
=26.81

Mama Melrose's
Crispy Calamari for Two $12.99
Chicken Campanelle $18.99
Pork Osso Buco $21.99
2No Sugar Added Mascarpone Pound Cakes - with linoncello-macerated berries and fresh whipped cream $6.49x2
12.99+18.99+21.99+6.49+6.49x1.065x1.18
=84.14

DHS Day 2=143.82
On this one I'm left with lots of wiggle room where I could add on an extra item somewhere.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Hi fromscratchmom! Glad you could join us!

Your DHS scenarios look fabulous. I'm impressed.

We never eat in reality like I post here. What I put down here is largely fiction. I have a serious addiction to carrot cake cookies from DHS and Dole Whips from MK but I haven't eaten a whole one yet! I like to buy them and then share them between the four of us. I'm a "three to five bites and I'm done" snacker...the exception being Mickey Ice Cream bars...I never shared those!

I agree that too much sugar makes my kids (and ME) cranky...especially in the sun! They'd much prefer to share a box of popcorn as a snack anyway.

My kids and hubby are cereal freaks so we always bring cereal and buy milk and eat breakfast in the room. I always tell myself I'm having pastries for breakfast but then it never happens. I like some protein in the morning myself...eggs and yogurt with perhaps a slice of toast works for me.

And I personally would drink water 24/7. I do "buy" bottled water at Disney when on the dining plan but if paying OOP, I just get the free ice water with my food.

DH vacations a little differently though which makes our styles difficult to mesh. Usually, we do either his plan or my plan for the day and switch things up so it's fair.

Hmmm....I wonder if I shouldn't see what I can come up with by trying to give him what he wants and me what I want both in the same day. You can do that OOP, but can you do that under $40 a day?

Stay tuned...

 

[fromscratchmom]

Thanks!

... I like some protein in the morning myself...

Ahhh, you're a girl after my own heart.

We are actually on vacation in Williamsburg, VA right now. (I'm in the room for the evening with DD11 who was not well today.) And I've had three days so far on this trip that I loaded up on protein in the morning and then wasn't hungry until really late in the day-- a big change from the days when I used to eat cereal in the morning and then end up ravenous all day. But like your family, the rest of my clan really like cereal. I should follow your example and just bring it along to give them some in the room each morning!

 

[sharonabe]

I like your idea, fromscratchmom! We, too, are a family of 4 Disney adults, and are not big sweet eaters or soda drinkers.

Here are some of my choices for $160/day for 4:

HS Day $138.73
Fairfax Fare $24.69 (3 breakfast sands, cinn roll, 1 milk)
Starring Rolls $31.92 (3 ham or turkey sands to split between us)
Anaheim Produce $12.52 (2 bags apple slices w/car, grapes, pickle)
50's Prime Time $69.60 (onion rings, 2 Mom's sample platters, cobbler a la mode)
(we have enough left over to add more food somewhere, but don't think we would need it)

Epcot $144.95
Sunshine Seasons $23.07 (3 breakfast platters, oatmeal)
Sommersfest $28.50 (4 brats)
Via Napoli $93.38 (Frito Misto app, 1/2 meter sausage pizza, zeppole)
(with $15 left for snacks somewhere if we want them)

 

[SurfinTX]

Looking at this thread it reminds me of how much easier it is to eat "cheaply" at Disneyland.

Breakfast: Complementary at several locations within easy walking distance.

Lunch: 12 restaraunts within 1/2 mile of the entrance ranging from $3.00 to a very nice meal at $18.00. You also can bring soft sided cooler with plastic bottles and food inside. Add flavor packs to the water and bam the kids are not complaining.

Dinner: Again you can go offsite on your way back to your hotel or eat pretty well if you want to use your entire $40 budget onsite. I especially loved the lobster nachos at the Cove Bar for $12.49. Add a few drinks and bam your at $40 in a hurry...lol!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Okay, here's our HS day eating my way AND his way...

LOTS of food but spread out through the day so I can nibble and he can shovel it in!

DHS Grand Total: $118.34

Breakfast in the room: Cereal, yogurt and fruit
Morning Snack: not necessary in DHS
Lunch at Sci Fi: 2 Burgers and 2 Shakes (DH gets his own burger and shares some of his fries and half his shake with DS. DD and I split the other meal giving DS some of our burger...which he probably won't eat. )
Afternoon Snack: 2 Carrot Cake Cookies (kids split one, DH lets me have a few bites of his)
Dinner at Mama Melrose: Coke, Carne D'Italia Flatbread, Chicken Flatbread and 2 Kid's Meals (no sharing here, DH will probably finish my flatbread and I would drink ice water)
Evening Snack: 2 Boxes of Popcorn (kids to share one, DH to let me steal a couple handfuls of his)

**We've actually done lunch at Sci Fi in that exact way before and it was perfect! No one complained of being either too full nor still hungry and only a handful of fries were wasted.

 

[Infamousmare]

I LOVE this thread!

We have been thinking about using Starwood points to stay at the Dolphin or Swan for a trip in the future, but were bummed that we couldn't do the DDP this way. (We love Disney Dining and love that we don't have to think about it - just use credits and pay tip.) We were scared by the thought of paying OOP for meals; however, doing it this way would leave us full AND with full wallets.

I totally have to show this to my dh. Thanks for putting all of this together!

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

I LOVE this thread!

We have been thinking about using Starwood points to stay at the Dolphin or Swan for a trip in the future, but were bummed that we couldn't do the DDP this way. (We love Disney Dining and love that we don't have to think about it - just use credits and pay tip.) We were scared by the thought of paying OOP for meals; however, doing it this way would leave us full AND with full wallets.

I totally have to show this to my dh. Thanks for putting all of this together!

We have always done the DDP before too...it's just so convenient having everything paid for ahead of time but our next trip in January we are just going to pay OOP and I've gone through and added up the cost of what we are going to spend at the places we are going to eat (California Grill, Kona, O'hana, etc) vs what we will be paying OOP and it's actually cheaper to pay OOP, so you might be surprised if you sit down and do the math.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

What a fantastic thread. I'm so glad it got bumped up for me to see it.

I think this was a great idea for fun or for real budgeting on its own, as the OP intended it, but it also made me realize that with the way our family eats we could totally make this work by sharing meals and staying with the fact that we are real water drinkers.

Things to keep in mind about us: Most likely, next time we go we'll be a party of four, me, DH, DD11 and DD13 So that is 40/day times 4 people for 160 dollars a day in my plan. I don't like for the kids to eat a lot of sugar and empty calories and get less healthy and more cranky while on vacation. So as lovely as all that sweet stuff is, I'd rather have healthy happy kids who can enjoy their vacation and not get sick while on it. Which means we are prone to skip all the breads, and cupcakes and pastries that fill up a lot of people's food pics and trip reports. I really like to get to go into a sit down restaurant at least once a day and more is nice too. As a general rule, neither of my girls wants a child's menu or any version of a "kid's meal" while mom and dad are getting to try good foods. My DD11 sometimes eats like a bird and then portions of her food end up in other people's stomachs or in the trash. My DH actually does this at times too. And any of us might do it if we are just too hot. OH and I have a gluten problem but I just left that out so that I could play this game with more fun and less complication. In truth I have no idea how the gluten things plays out at Disney while you are paying out of pocket. So my imagination just filled in here that I'd skip bites of certain things and they'd make me lovely gluten free versions of other things for the same price.

So... knowing that the meal sharing, water drinking, grazing and appetizers could work beautifully for us, I set out to see if I could make a plan for our family for DHS where my family could get to go back to Mama Melrose's and I could try some other places AND where I could just skip traditional breakfast fare as well as sweet breakfast rolls and such. I'd rather start with an early lunch or savory snack.

And these two days are what I came up with:

DHS day 1:

Starring Rolls--
2 Turkey Foccaccia sandwich with chips or fresh fruit 9.19x2x1.065
=$19.57

Brown Derby--
2 Sweet Corn Chowders - with applewood-smoked bacon and ancho chili oil $8.00x2
Brie, Midnight Moon and Prosciutto Cake with Tete de Moine Petals, and an olive-roasted vegetable salad $11.00
Cremini Mushroom Chévre Tortelloni-$9.00
Blue Lump Crab Cake--$12.00
16+9+11+12x1.065x1.18
=60.32

Starring Rolls--
2 more sandwiches with chips and or fruit (either ham or turkey this time)
=19.57

Sci-Fi--
Mixed Greens $7.49
BLT Soup $6.99
7 bean beef chili $6.99
Butcher Steak $22.99
7.49+6.99+6.99+22.99x1.065x1.18
=55.87

1st DHS day's total= 155.33

in truth as big as those sandwiches look we'd probably end up skipping the mid afternoon extra sandwiches which would make our total =135.76 for the day, but then again if we did we might also make up the difference by adding on at SciFi. lol. We are somewhat sporadic.

---------------------------------------------------

DHS day two:

Min and Bill's Dockside Diner--
Franfurter in a Pretzel roll $7.59
Chicken Caesar Sandwich $8.09
7.59+8.09x1.065
=16.70

Toluka Turkey Legs--
2 Turkey Legs $7.59x2x1.065
= 16.17

Catalina Eddie's--
Pepperoni Pizza with Caesar Salad $8.69
Hot Italian Deli Sandwich-- with Caesar Salad $8.69
Caesar Salad with Chicken $7.79
8.69+8.69+7.79x1.065
=26.81

Mama Melrose's
Crispy Calamari for Two $12.99
Chicken Campanelle $18.99
Pork Osso Buco $21.99
2No Sugar Added Mascarpone Pound Cakes - with linoncello-macerated berries and fresh whipped cream $6.49x2
12.99+18.99+21.99+6.49+6.49x1.065x1.18
=84.14

DHS Day 2=143.82
On this one I'm left with lots of wiggle room where I could add on an extra item somewhere.

I really like your spirit, but am confused. It appears you are eating 4 pretty big, filling meals on day 1. Is the first Starring Rolls "breakfast", Brown Derby is "lunch", the second Starring Rolls an afternoon "snack", and Sci-Fi dinner?

 

[fromscratchmom]

Yeah, I was thinking of us splitting food up and eating smaller more often. But then I figured as big as those sandwiches look, splitting them probably doesn't make them a small meal. Hence my comment about skipping the second set of sandwiches. I'd love to manage to eat smaller and more often, but I bet it is hard to do at Disney even when you are splitting the food up.

Oh and the food at the one sit down is all appetizers for the four of us to split, but no entrees no desserts.

 

[OnlyDisney]

I'm only up to page 9 but I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to lay all this out for us!

 

[NLD]

We have always done the DDP before too...it's just so convenient having everything paid for ahead of time but our next trip in January we are just going to pay OOP and I've gone through and added up the cost of what we are going to spend at the places we are going to eat (California Grill, Kona, O'hana, etc) vs what we will be paying OOP and it's actually cheaper to pay OOP, so you might be surprised if you sit down and do the math.

Went last year without DDP and loved it. Felt it was more freeing--could order what we wanted, didn't have to worry about maximizing value on the plan. I figured out the only thing about DDP that had really appealed to me was having it prepaid.

So.... we got Disney gift cards ahead of the trip and used those to pay OOP. That gave us the pre-paid experience plus more freedom to eat the way we wanted.

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

we made the switch from our big meal in the evening to having it at lunch. Lunch is generally less expensive especially for the buffets. We have breakfast in our villa and do and evening snack like a turkey leg or ice crem...less than $40 per person a day!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Alright...allears.net still doesn't have many updated menus but easywdw.com does so I used those and made a dining plan for the MK with the increased prices still for under $40 a day. It IS harder though...a lot less choice and some of the parks that don't have TS options for quite as cheap are going to be REALLY tough.

Magic Kingdom $39.79 (taxes and tip included)

Breakfast at Main Street Bakery $4.45
Cheese Danish
Small White Milk

Lunch at Pecos Bill's $11.48
Taco Salad
Soda

Dinner at The Plaza $20.14
Plaza Club
No Sugar Added Ice Cream Shake

Snack at Aloha Isle $3.72
Dole Whip

Notice I have either a drink with every meal OR two drinks and a dessert with my dinner depending on whether you consider my shake a beverage or a dessert.

I could also switch things up a bit! If I keep the breakfast and snack the way they are but move Pecos Bill's to dinner I can have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. If I get the Pilgrim's Feast and an ice water, my daily total is $38.31.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Hey, welcome back stayhomemom77.
How are you? Hope all is well on the west coast.

I think at AK I would have the dim sum basket or lettuce cups at Yak & Yeti as my TS meal. I am not a big eater, so it would be enough for me.

 

[stayhomemom77]

Hey, welcome back stayhomemom77.
How are you? Hope all is well on the west coast.

I think at AK I would have the dim sum basket or lettuce cups at Yak & Yeti as my TS meal. I am not a big eater, so it would be enough for me.

Thanks!

I'm doing great and we love the west coast!

I've thought that for myself on more than one occasion as well. The lettuce cups look like they'd be more than enough for my meal at Yak and Yeti. Anything more and I run the risk or either wasting food or feeling so stuffed that walking around the parks and riding the attractions is extremely uncomfortable and makes me miserable.

I'm going to see if I can amend my formula to reflect the increase in prices. $40 a day is still plenty for my family because we have our breakfast in the room so I think I'll:
do a plan true to the spirit in which this thread was started

AND

one that reflects how the stayhomemom family really eats at WDW!

Stay tuned!