how to Budget eats

[tirby]

I realy want ot be able to get close on eats cost. By close I mean with in a few 100 dollers. We will only be in Disneyland 3 days but we want to go to down town disney too. So 4 total. Anyway, how can a family of 4 with2 teens get a good Idea of cost. It has been so long sence I was there that Milk was .79 cents a gallon still!! So I'm sure cost will be up there. I don't eat out at home so I would like to be able to on the trip.
A few things to consider. (Mc.Donalds is not prefered. Subway I like.)
1. I would like to eat once at the Jazz Kitchen and Once at the Rainforest cafe. Lunch would be fine, and cheeper I think.
2. We are eaters. At least 3 of us!! And a pretzel for us is a snack not a meal.
3. Nothing Fancy or foo foo. Just good old fashion food is fine.
4. I would like to eat food that maybe I can only get at Disneyland at least 1 time.
5. I dont want to eat the same thing all the time.
After all it is my vacation
Ok that said can anyone help? Our trip will be 13 days total but only 3 1/3 at disneyland the rest will be up the redwoods and the oregon coast.
Any help Ideas tips or things you find to be most valuable.

 

[mad hatter fan]

You can check out the menus and prices on allearsnet.com. That would give you a good estimate for your food budget. Have fun planning!

 

[Albort]

or you can consider bring your own food in, like sandwiches... save times too, eat them in line.

 

[mdburd]

When I was planning our trip, I took the meal plan for all seven of us (6 adults, 1 child). I know the Disneyland meal plan is not directly comparable to the plans offered at Walt Disney World and is often maligned; however, I figured it was a way to discount my spending on food whilst there.

The vouchers that were included ($6, $10, and $15), as well as those for the character breakfast ($28ish) and the "breakfast inside the park ($9ish) are, in my view, a pre-paid discount on what I will end up spending.

I figure that what I've pre-paid will cover about half of our food expenditures--taking what would have been around $1200 (or more) to the $6 to $800 range for us.

Just a thought....

 

[shellyof4]

I'd say 40$ a day per person on average. You might spend a little more one day, a little less the next. But that's what I'd budget as a minimum for the 3 days...120$ a day. That's with 2 inexpensive meals, one more expensive and about 2 snacks each. You might even want to say 50$ which is what most of the guide books say though we've never spent that.

Shelly

 

[tirby]

or you can consider bring your own food in, like sandwiches... save times too, eat them in line.

I didn't think you could do that!? That would be nice for some of the meals

 

[hlbtimes2]

I didn't think you could do that!? That would be nice for some of the meals

You can bring in small amounts of food. You can not bring in a cooler bigger then a 6 pack, soft sided size. You can't bring in glass containers of any kind. And sometimes they get funny about plastic tupperware type containers. But, you can bring in small snacks, sandwiches, bottles of pop, water and juice.

For restaurant prices I like www.dlresortinfo.com Seems to be a pretty good list of what is available in the parks, dtd and some surrounding restaurants. We usually try to eat a light breakfast at the hotel (candy cane inn's free breakfast) then either a large meal and a snack or two medium size meals in the park. For 2 adults and 2 kids we probably spend $100-125 a day in food and snacks.

 

[tirby]

You can bring in small amounts of food. You can not bring in a cooler bigger then a 6 pack, soft sided size. You can't bring in glass containers of any kind. And sometimes they get funny about plastic tupperware type containers. But, you can bring in small snacks, sandwiches, bottles of pop, water and juice.

For restaurant prices I like www.dlresortinfo.com Seems to be a pretty good list of what is available in the parks, dtd and some surrounding restaurants. We usually try to eat a light breakfast at the hotel (candy cane inn's free breakfast) then either a large meal and a snack or two medium size meals in the park. For 2 adults and 2 kids we probably spend $100-125 a day in food and snacks.

Great info on that site THANKS and the lunch thing is great!! Take 4 sandwiches and some other stuff. Is there a Subway or anything like that real close? We will be staying at Park Vue Inn.
I don't want to drive if I dont need to after I get there.

 

[Albort]

i dont know about subway, but im sure like regular sandwiches would be fine... you might as well buy a drink and use the bottle from drinking fountains. Thats what i would do.

 

[tirby]

We will be traveling from Idaho. Is there a place I can go shopping that is close AND EASY to get to? Like a regular grocery store?

 

[hlbtimes2]

There is a subway across the street from the candy cane inn. Not exactly sure where your hotel is (and I'm too lazy to look it up!). There is a cheap, discount store about a mile (from the harbor interection) up Katella. Can't remember the name, but they have all the basics. Its not a nice store, but serves its purpose. We usually go get water and pop there. You could also consider a delivery from albertsons.com You have to be at the hotel to accept the delivery, but it does seem to work well for a lot of people. I think there is an actual Albertons close by, but I'm not sure where. You could probably mapquest it.

 

[Welivefordisney]

My family of 5 was able to eat 2 meals a day in the park for about $100/day. Keep in mind the kids meals are usually 6-7 dollars and in some cases came with just as much food at the adult meals and included a small drink!

 

[tirby]

My family of 5 was able to eat 2 meals a day in the park for about $100/day. Keep in mind the kids meals are usually 6-7 dollars and in some cases came with just as much food at the adult meals and included a small drink!

OK time to give me pointers. This is looking more along my lines!! Any tips for me. Can anyone order off kids menue and what places offered the most food for the $$

I see you live in WA I live in Lewiston Idaho and have a son in Moses Lake.

 

[Glynis]

Great info on that site THANKS and the lunch thing is great!! Take 4 sandwiches and some other stuff. Is there a Subway or anything like that real close? We will be staying at Park Vue Inn.
I don't want to drive if I dont need to after I get there.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but the Park Vue has small refrigerators and microwaves in the rooms. We usually make a stop at a grocery store to buy peanut butter and jelly and bread for lunch, and oatmeal for breakfast. We also stock up on microwave popcorn for the evening snack.

 

[Welivefordisney]

We live in Moses Lake as well, it is a small world after all.... sorry bad pun!

Ok, here is what we did:

Tip One! get a nice bottle of water and take it into the park with you and continue to fill it. The drinks inside the park, water included, can be very expensive for the amount you receive.

At Tomorrowland we ate at Tomorrowland Terrace:
the Bacon Burger (my husband had) was very good and came with fries - around 8$, my veggie burger was really good with fries for around the same price. My kids had kids meals(plenty of food) that had chicken strips or burgers with fries for around $5-6 each including a drink. The thing that adds up is the additional drinks at 2.49 -3.50 per drink.

In New Orleans we ate at the French Market:

French dip and Pork sandwiches come with fries and are big enough for 2 adults to share - which we did. They are around 8-9$ each. The kids meals were mac n cheese, chicken strips, or a chicken breast with fruit and I think fries and a drink for around 6$. Again, drinks were $2.49.

My 13 year old loves to eat and she enjoyed the kids chicken strips and the bread bowl soups. The Bread Bowls have either Chowder or stew (and I think they might have a soup of the day) and run aroun 8-9$ a bowl. But again, there is too much to eat - with the bowl.

In Adventureland we ate at the Bangal BBQ:

Beef and Chicken Kabobs are around 4 dollars each and have a fair amound of meat - but we usually got 2 each for the adults. The Vegie Kabob is wonderful and is priced around 2.50 -3 $. And the bread sticks are around that same price. When we ate there we could easily spend 40$ on the kabobs, they were really really good!!

We couldn't resist the Gibson Girls Ice Cream for a late breakfast one morning, they have cones and sundaes. They were 3-7$ each depending on dipped cones or sundaes and extras.

Our hotel had the basic continental breakfast so we took advantage of the rolls, toast and fruit each morning.

I hope that helps!!!

 

[tirby]

Welivefordisney,
How funny we are so close. Thanks for the tips. I cant wait to get there.
Only183 days left

 

[mikayla73]

Also make sure to check those Disney magazines and other touristy voucher info they seem to have at all the hotels. We have found some buy one get on free for IHOP and other things like that.

There's also a pizza place by subway, although I have never eaten there, I heard it was pretty good.

We ate at RB Jazz Kitchen and I think our bill for two adults was around $80 and we didn't have any alcohol, but the food was worth every penny. I have been in the Rain Forest Cafe, but never ate there, but know the prices are similar.

There's also the ESPN club in DTD, I found a coupon online for $20 off. We ate there, but probably wouldn't eat there again. Even with the $20 discount we spent $50, that was no dessert or alcohol, and the food was just OK.

In DL make sure to have a dole whip. They are by the Tiki room in Adventureland.

We also always hit In-N-Out burger ... a few times since we can't get it at home (yum yum). There's actually quite a lot to eat around DL, if you are willing/able to drive. Most are close enough to walk, but I wouldn't want to walk to get food after walking all day in the park.

I have never actually kept track of all our food spending, but plan on it when we go next time to see if we would benefit from using the DDP when we go to WDW.

 

[Welivefordisney]

I never did get one of those Dole Whips at the Tiki Room... My daughters were lucky enough to have them- my parents bought them one while my husband and I were on Indiana Jones...... by the time we got out, the girls had devoured the treats!! They loved them!!

 

[tirby]

Ok what is a Dole Whip??
And just incase any one knows is Lunch cheeper than Dinner at the RB Jazz Kitchen and Rain Forest Cafe?
If so that might help save on $$

 

[mikayla73]

A dole whip is basically pineapple ice cream. It's very creamy and yummy yummy!! As far as I know there are only three places to get it, DL, WDW, and the Dole Plantation in HI.