How much do you spend on food?

Sergio S

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 30, 2017
I am updating my Finance briefing to servicemembers who are new to the service and/or So. CA. Many (or vast majority) get stationed/assigned to southern CA are in for a huge shock at the cost of living here, but on a budget...its mangeable. Part of my briefing includes planning ahead when visiting "theme parks" but I generally focus on DL and DCA (since I have an AP I am kinda biased but I try not to be). I would like a realistic look at what visitors usually spend on food and drinks on a typical DL and DCA visit for the following catergories:
-going alone
-going as a couple
-going as a family of 4 or more.

Anyone have an input they would like to share?
 
I budget $200 a day average for family of 4 (kids are 11 & 13 but have used this amt. for years). AP so we aren't into a special vacation-y dining experience as we've done it all. Budget includes alcohol and two meals---if we eat breakfast at the hotel we eat lunch & dinner in the Parks, and if we eat breakfast in the Parks, it's usually late and nobody eats lunch. Most often counter service. Any table service restaurant, even cheaper choice like Carnation Cafe, is at least $100 for us after tip, and DCA restaurants with alcohol have much higher tab. We don't snack much (ice cream, etc.), maybe one round of snacks a day plus a couple stops for alcohol. We don't buy soft drinks very often.
Some days cost a lot more than others, but overall the $200/day works just about every time. We take 3-5 day trips about once a month.
 
When I go alone with my toddler son I usually spend $40 or less for a day visit. I usually don't eat breakfast at the parks, so that's lunch, dinner and snacks. Usually no alcohol. I can spend even less depending on what I decide to eat that day. My son usually shares with me.
 
Cost really depends on so many factors and I commend you for trying to give a guideline to others. When my kids were little and we didn't have much money, I brought in snacks and water; we ate breakfast at the hotel, we split meals, we never ate TS, only occasionally had dinner in the parks and purchased one food treat each day. For a family of 4, we probably spent around $50-60 a day. These days, I can easily spend twice that just for me--with TS for 1 or 2 meals, a specialty meal like WOC dessert or BB!, a coffee drink, lunch at the Cove with a cocktail. You can really tailor the park to fit your budget. It helps to look at the different venue menus.
 


Family of five all eat adult meals. ..usually do one table service and one walk up ,likely one snack such as a dole whip in there. Breakfast in our room and is not included in our in park budget.. $250
 
One thing I tell family and friends, don't let your stomach make all the decisions! Your wallet will regret it later. No matter how hungry we think we are, we can always find meals to share (e.g. RDZ, Plaza Inn, French Market, etc.). The food in the parks is deceptively filling. Drinking the free cups of ice water instead of soda can really save a bundle over the course of a day, but if we really want a soda, we share. At Stage Door Cafe, a large soda is only .40 more than a regular size soda and can easily be shared. Almost always, we find that we get full more quickly than we thought we would have. And if, by chance, one of us is still hungry after finishing a meal, it's not like there isn't any more food to be found! So for DH and myself, we can easily get by on $50 or less for one day of CS. If we're splurging on TS, that's another story, especially if that TS is Napa Rose.
Also, don't forget to ask about discounts -- it can't hurt, especially off site. Some places take AAA, D23, AP, military, AARP, etc. Pizza Press comes to mind as a place that offers various discounts. Other places have online coupons, like Mimi's. Always check the tourist guides in the hotel rooms -- there can be useful coupons hiding there, too.
 
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As a couple, we spend about $80/day or less - that will include a Starbucks coffee, cookie from a bakery etc., QS lunch and dinner outside DLR, such as at The Pizza Press.
 
I budget $100/day just for me. But that's all inclusive (food and souvies) and I don't always spend that much. When I don't I roll it over.
 
As somebody else mentioned, depends. We are also APs and have tried all the park restaurants. We used to spend more on food when APs were cheap, but since they have raised the costs exponentially we spend WAY less on food in park. So now we usually eat breakfast at hotel or outside the park, like Starbucks. Bring snacks and possibly sandwiches and chips into park. Let the kids get a churro or ice cream in the park. Then usually eat dinner at Pizza Press across the street or grab someting on ride home, like the mexican place near the stadium. So if hotel continental breakfast, we usually spend about $40-60 per day for a family of 4.
 
From our last trip I'll say $150 for four of us for a 'regular' day.
That includes lunch at QS, a snack and dinner at Cafe Orleans. Our other nights we had Fantasmic dinner package, Goofy's Kitchen and WOC so I won't count those as that makes the cost much higher. Also our hotel included breakfast so I am only including what we actually spent at the parks.
 
I'd say about $150 average per day for the four of us. We try to eat a big breakfast at BWPPI, and do one more meal with 1 or 2 snacks. Now that we are all eating adult meals, free hotel breakfasts save us a lot of money.
 
Depends on the type of trip we are having. Character dining adds up. If we are doing just regular food I would say about $85-$100/day for 2 adults and 1 9 year old. Breakfast often consists of just coffee for us and a bit more for DD. If you add in Character dining days it could obviously go up significantly.
 
There are three of us. Don't really have a budget but we seem to spend about $50/day per person.
That is for lunch and dinner - breakfast is free at our hotel.
 
Hmmm, I am budgeting about $160 a day for 2 of us for an upcoming trip. This does include a BB Fantasmic package, as well as Carthay Circle and Cafe Orleans lunches. It also takes into account a hotel breakfast. I seem to be coming in a little high compared to others in this thread, but when I crunched the #s for a couple of sample days I was worried that I needed to make it even higher.

Example- a lunch at Carthay Circle with biscuits, entrees, coffees and a shared dessert comes in at around $120 (or higher) with tax and grat. Add a $40 QS supper for 2= $160 And that isn't counting any alcoholic beverages, breakfast or other snacks...
 
Hmmm, I am budgeting about $160 a day for 2 of us for an upcoming trip. This does include a BB Fantasmic package, as well as Carthay Circle and Cafe Orleans lunches. It also takes into account a hotel breakfast. I seem to be coming in a little high compared to others in this thread, but when I crunched the #s for a couple of sample days I was worried that I needed to make it even higher.

Example- a lunch at Carthay Circle with biscuits, entrees, coffees and a shared dessert comes in at around $120 (or higher) with tax and grat. Add a $40 QS supper for 2= $160 And that isn't counting any alcoholic beverages, breakfast or other snacks...

I don't think your figures are that high. Especially since you'll be doing sit down meals. When my husband and I did Cafe Orleans in October we spent $60-70 (I don't remember exactly) on dinner for just the 2 of us. That was an appetizer, 2 entrees, and 2 sodas.
 
$100/day 2 adults 2 toddlers lunch & dinner in the parks

I will up this our next trip because our kids are eating more now. We’ll need 3 adult entrees.
 
I go through and decide where we want to eat, check out the menus and what we might like to order, and add that into my budget. I basically pay for 2 meals a day, a snack, and all the water you want. I figure that into my budget. Anything else is up to the child to purchase. I give my child $20 a day to spend how they want - snacks, souvies, etc. Since my child wants to do a character breakfast, she had to decide which one and I added it into the budget. I basically came up with a budget of $125 a day for our upcoming trip. Some days will be more, and some days will be less. That is for the 2 of us.
 
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Two adults, a 9 year old, and a 7 year old. We eat breakfast at the hotel, bring snacks into the park, and often share meals. It would be rare for us to spend more than $100 for lunch, dinner and the occasional snack, most times it would be closer to $80.
 
We tend, more often than not, to rely on the excellent takeaway deals found in the monthly Anaheim-Disney area magazines, which are found at most if not all hotels. They have advertising for places such as 'Haus of Pizza' as well as other choices. I'm not sure of the name of the magazine but it is free and contains television schedules, should anyone want to partake while they are at DL.

Pizza deals tend to come usually with a box of spag-bol, because we are a UK couple and both fairly slim people we find these deals will last us for 2 evening meals in our room.

We do tend to have at least one meal at Wine Country Trattoria (in DCA) and have tried the snackfood available in the dining area close to Cars Land (think it is some kind of fish-themed area). Budgets have been fairly tight during our trips so far but we hope to try some decent places for eating meals and snacks in DL during future visits.
 

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