HELP budget meals

[SHERSKY]

We are leaving in 10 days and I'm trying to plan budget had car repair that got into my vacation money. We are not big eaters or that interested in wining and dining just eat and spend money on other things. How do I get by the cheapest on food. 2 adults 1 jr and 1 child. Thanks for your help.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

We always eat breakfast in the room (we take muffins and the like with us. None of us are big breakfast people). Typically we have counter service lunch and a sit down dinner, however you could do 2 counter service meals and still eat very well.

I have a 7 yo DS, and he and I often split meals, because he has never finished a meal in his life, and I really don't need the calories

We typically spend about $100 - $120 per day on food (with the sit down meals), but I think we could do it on $65 - $70 if we needed to. I'd rather eat cheaply than not go at all!

 

[mrsmom]

We ate before we went to the parks, then took snacks in a backpack and drinks too, and then ate a nice dinner
Mrsmom

 

[SHERSKY]

Thanks for the feedback. I was in hopes we could get by on $100/day. My DD never finishes a meal either so that is a great idea. We will also take snacks. Thanks Everyone. This is A LIFESAVER board.

 

[magic]

We always eat in the room for breakfast cereal, fruit, yogurt, sweet rolls...unless we are doing a character breakfast which we normally do once per trip, and then we have a nice sit down lunch at our favorite restaurants at about 1:00.

The meals are much cheaper at lunch and we all enjoy the nice break. We normally will eat a cheaper night meal or have a sandwich in the room. This really saves the money if we are on a tight trip.

 

[Cindy B]

Not only that, but I think we may have done only about $20-30/day for food.

This is a family of four and two small 6 &4 children
First we brought not only muffins, etc, but yogurt, pudding, bread, peanut butter, fruit roll ups, raisins, granola bars, etc. We also bought Lunchables for them for lunch. We also brought two 12 packs of soda/ice tea, and about 5 packs of juice boxes

The kids and us had a breakfast in the room, and we brought snacks, so around 10 am they had a snack., we packed Lunchables for them. WE would sit down somewhere to eat, and they the kids, would share a side item with there lunchables.

For dinner, we would hit the McDonalds, or just pick up stuff at the food court. (We loved the tabouli wraps!)

The food we brought came out of our grocery budget.

 

[Jane E.]

Like others have posted we always made lunch our big meal of the day. When we ate a big lunch we weren't hungry for snacks during the day. We also made sure to carry water bottles, so we weren't draining our funds buying sodas. For dinner we found that when we wanted to save money, pizza was a great choice. For less than $20, we could buy a large pizza, soda, and cookies for desert. We also found that Subway was an inexpensive way to eat. Usually at Subway we spent less than $15. We were staying at a condo offsite, so we were able to stop on the way home from the parks.

 

[dznynut]

I have found that the counter service kids meals are filling enough for me. Usually you get chicken strips (very good, much like KFC's) fries (or carrots) and a drink for $4. A real bargain for WDW!

 

[Saffron]

We always ate breakfast in our room - cereal, milk, muffins, bagels, juice boxes etc. We also ate most of our lunches in our room too since we always took an afternoon break. Just bring as much food from home that will not perish quickly like p.b.and j., cup of soup, pop tarts, individual packages of tuna salad, crackers, cookies etc. Then at dinner we would usually eat at the food court. We spent hardly anything on meals. For 2 adults and 2 teenagers, we spent about $40.00 a day. Refillable mugs are wonderful when you are on a budget!

Just make sure you take your own water bottles and some Kool Aid to put in the bottles. You will get very thirsty touring the parks and the price of beverages for a family of 4 is a real budget killer! You can refill the bottles at any of the drinking fountains.

Have a great trip!

 

[phins_jazy]

Saffron, that's exactly what we are planning on doing. Bringing as much food from home as possible. Since we already have budgeted for food at home it will be like we aren't really spending money on vacation. Our hotel has a microwave and a fridge. I was planning on bringing some little microwave cups like the little dinty moore ones and the little spagettio cups. The one thing is they have that little metal ring on the top. Does anyone know if they'll make the metal detector go off??? Crazy question I know but I'd rather know beforehand.

 

[drogerstn]

Eating lunches in the room during a midday break often feels more relaxing than worrying about which restaurant to visit and waiting in line. It takes the pressure off and saves money. We take snacks into the parks to help us make it until lunch because we will get hungry before making it back to our room for the midday break. Breakfast in the room saves time because it allows some to eat while other are getting ready and visa versa.

If you stay in the park all day, you can pack a soft cooler with sandwiches and drinks and put it in a rental locker. We did this on our 1st trip, but on our other visits, we decided to buy lunch in the park on days that we don't go back to our room.

 

[jimmybop]

Someone once said on the Boards to bring a cooler with you (check it under the airplance.. and put belts on it so it wont open)... that way you can use it in yourhotel room.. plus when your all done with all the food in there.. you can use the cooler to bring stuff home... (and we all know we could use more room for packing...)

 

[mi2kdz]

After my first experience buying lunches for our family at the parks I realized that one lunch was enough for two people. Even the drinks are huge. We now split our lunches and our drinks and buy one dessert for all of us. I always tell my kids that I will buy another lunch if they are still hungry when they finish the first, in three years this has never happened. We save a bundle this way and we no longer are throwing away half eaten sandwiches and lugging huge cups of lemonade around the park with us.

 

[sande]

One thing I found hard to find at WDW was fruit and veggies. yes there are a few locations but not everywhere and pricey. We bought a $3.00 styrofoam cooler at Walmart in Kissimess and stored bottled H2O, and OJ and milk. We also bought oranges which we could eat at breakfast or travel part of the day with.

sande

 

[JAYNED]

WE ARE STAYING ON PROPERTY IN JULY 01

WHAT WE DO IS GO TO "PONDEROSA"

WE USUALLY HAVE A McDONALDS FOR BREAKFAST - AROUND $10 FOR A McMUFFIN EACH (SORRY!! DH DD DS & ME)

THEN WE HIT THE PARKS AND GO TO "PONDEROSA" FOR EITHER LUNCH OR EARLY DINNER WE PAY AROUND "$12" EACH FOR STEAKS AND ALL YOU CAN EAT MY DD - 8 HAS ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET AND MY DS 5 EATS FREE..

AFTER THAT IF THEY ARE STILL HUNGREY WHEN THE PARKS CLOSE WE HAVE "MASHED POTATO AND GRAVY AND MACARONNI CHEESE"FROM KFC FOR THEM FOR A COUPLE OF $$

MAKES FOR A ECONOMICAL EATING ITENARY

OTHER GOOD IDEAS ARE THAT WDW PROPERTY HAS MICROWAVES IN THE FOOD COURT AREAS WHERE IF YOU GO SOMEWHERE LIKE COSTCO FOOD IS SOOO CHEAP AND YOU CAN JUST WARM IT UP AND EAT IT IN YOUR ROOM

SORRY TO GO ON BUT ALSO LOOK OUT FOR MEAL DEALS AT SOMEWHERE LIKE PIZZA HUT WHERE THEY HAVE "BUY ONE GET ONE FREE"

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SPEND LOTS AND LOTS OF $$ ON FOOD IF YOU JUST LOOK AROUND.

JUST ONE MORE THING IF YOU ARE STAYING IN DISNEY PROPERTY THEY DO A "BUY AND MUG AND DRINKS ARE FREE" - YOU NEED NEVER PAY FOR SOFT DRINKS EVER AGAIN IF YOUR MUG IS IN ONE PIECE"


FROM JAYNE IN BIRMINGHAM UK

HOPE THIS HELPS

 

[PTKeil]

Don't forget to stop off at a restaurant on your way in to pick up one of those tourist books. They usually have two tons of coupons for all sorts of restaurants!
The Ponderosa thing is a great idea, too. Last time we went we got there about 10:30 (lunch ended at 11) and were only charged $11 for all four of us for all u can eat. At 11am they switched the buffet over so we got to pick from the fresh lunch items also for very little money.