It sounds like your idea of meals and budgeting is similar to mine. Right now I plan to just pay out of pocket for our meals since like you we just eat a simple breakfast in our room. And this trip I anticipate us just eating mostly counter service meals and a few table service ones since my kids will be 21 and 15 at the time we go. They are more interested in hitting the rides and because of their ages we will not be doing character meals. Though we do enjoy experiencing the different atmospheres and meals that Disney offers. So, right now I am just trying to decide how many table service meals we actually do want to do. I plan to use the menus to get a good idea on what we would eat so I can compare the price of OOP to the dining plan easily.
It also sounds like your trip planning is going to be a bit complicated with the number of people coming and the health of your mother. If your mother does join you all at Disney, I would expect that she will want to stay at the resort for some of the time and then you and your sisters will need to plan to take turns staying with her so that each of you will have the chance to tour the parks.
I am budgeting $60/meal so $120/day for the 5 of us. We won't buy drinks while at the park and will just drink our water (I will buy, ship or have my FL sister bring water to us, a few cases and we have the thermos containers that keep the water cold in the summer).
I am thinking of 2-3 TS, the past few times we just did chef mickeys and WCC. We told the kids no to chef mickeys and they are bummed so I need to figure something else out...good thing I have over a year!
We will still do WCC, my DH loves that place and he, my son and my younger dad love ketchup!
I want to do HDDMR but my DH doesn't want to. He isn't into shows. The last time I went to it was in the 80s and he said, it will be similar food to WCC.
I know I want to eat at via Napoli for a few reasons-I think we can all easily eat the large pizza and mainly because my dairy allergic son can now eat cooked cheese and it would be so nice if by next year he could eat full fledged dairy...wishful thinking!
I also want to bring my kids to the 50s prime time. My older 2 ate there but they were nearly 2 and 4 and the youngest was growing in the tummy. But I don't like to eat at a park-feel like I am wasting my time. But (another but), my kids will be older (17, 14 & 12) and won't require a nap, well they may, its up to them, but we will still have down time in the afternoon from the park. So if we are staying at the BC, we can do an early lunch at the 50s and go back to rest right after, heck we can walk off lunch on the mile walk back...wait I can send DH in the boat with them and I can walk in peace and tranquility...and lots of sweat....alone!
Other then that lunch and dinner will be caseys, pecos bills, turkey legs, sunshine food court, etc....
When we went in 2013, I budgeted $40/meal for the 5 of us, 2-3 ate off the kids menu but that won't work this time, maybe some meals. We went over once and that was at cosmic rays when my girls wanted some orange slushy drink so I spent $50...ugh...and one snack cost us $50-MICKEY chocolate covered apples and blue slushies that my oldest dropped....yay money wasted.
My mom is not a given to come. If she does, it would be to fly down with us and then she would go with my sister back to her house. She couldn't walk the parks and would need a wheel chair. We take her with us to FL every April and this year I was surprised she was able to walk park if the seven mile bridge, but we walked slow. Andwe walked a little in key west-like a mile if that, and again it was slow and she sat while we walked to the beach/pier. Even though her memory is dwindling, I asked her the other day and she said she has been there enough and it used to be her favorite vacation spot (next conversation with her will be "go somewhere else, there are more things to see other then Disney"). She even said she'd sit in the room..um...no. By next year at this time I anticipate 24 hr care or at least day time care for her in her home.