We are planned for June 2021. 4 people over 18, 2 just over 10. We are currently set for AoA in a family suite.
My concern is food budget. Obviously, there are not dining plans right now. I’m hoping they come back, we enjoy the idea of pre-pay type of thing. We used the standard plan on the last trip, 2 snacks, 1 QS, 1 TS each day. We usually used 1 snack option for breakfast because we are not big on breakfast.
However, if dining plans are still not an option next year, I would like to start setting back money for meals. Does anyone have a calculator they have used previously? Or even a method of estimating?
I found a couple, but one didn’t seem to add up correctly, it said I was using more than the allotted credits, but didn’t list costs total of dining plan or out of pocket. Another, wasn’t even working.
If you want a ROUGH estimate (very rough), I’d use the following:
$7 per snack. (Snacks can range from $4 to $8, so $7 works well for me.)
$15 per adult QS (not including any drinks)
$10 per child QS
$25-30 per adult TS (although, this one varies a lot depending on the TYPE of TS)
$20 per child TS.
This will give you a ballpark figure, which might be overly high or low.
Of course, if you want something more accurate, you should take the time to glance through the menus and find the items you are MOST LIKELY to choose. Even if you don’t end up picking those items, or even those specific places, it will probably average out to be close enough.
I think Ryan’s numbers are good but I would say $35-40 TS (without drinks). I am high maintenance.
Agreed on upping the avg TS price… If we eat at TS, we usually get an app, main course, and dessert… so it’s not cheap. We don’t use TS often though.
I assume a shared app and shared dessert. Generally it is going to be around $200 for three adults with drinks.
If u have paid previously for the dining plan, its about the same if you choose moderately priced meals. The regular dining plan is too much food for us. We spend less doing 1 TS, 1QS and 1 or 2 snacks a day. We always bring breakfast bc we aren’t big eaters either. Mini muffins, honey buns, apples and oranges are enough for us.
I tend to budget $100 per person / day. That’s a TS + QS + Snack and often a bonus extra treat / specialty item / cocktail. (However, I have no small kids. 2 adults & a teen)
We probably spent $100/day for all three of us! But we didn’t do two meals in the parks. Our stomachs were on west coast time so we’d have a late lunch (3:00 or so) and then just snack in the room after park close.
Really depends on the restaurant and the actual items you order. We were closer to $55 for TS. We are foodies. If you don’t order appetizers or dessert, @ryan1 numbers are okay. I used his numbers before our trip and even with our high TS costs, the initial estimate was close.
What helped us with the total food cost is that we didn’t want 2 snacks per person per day. We got between 3-5 snacks per day total. Lunches were lighter, if we had a big dinner planned.
Last December, myself, DH, DD21, DS20, CA Grill, $425 with tip.
2 appetizers, 4 entrees, 2 dessert, 4 non alcoholic drinks
Boathouse was $310 for similar number of dishes.
Homecomin’ was $160 for dinner: 2 appetizers, 3 entrees, and no dessert.
Grand Floridian Cafe was $120 for lunch but no appetizers or desserts.
We also had Storybook Dining. 3 Bridges, and Garden Grill for lunch.
As I said- with drinks and tip is is usually $200 for us at a regular meal. I would double that for a signature (your CG or Boathouse example).
This is almost exactly what I use to figure - just a wee bit more generous.
Before each trip, I jot down the name of every restaurant I may possibly want to visit, then using allears.net I will figure out the price range. As I get toward making a touring plan, I will then print off the menus so that my family can even be making meal selections when we’re waiting in rides. Nowadays, the apps probably are just as good, but I don’t like sharing my phone. I can usually, almost exactly figure out what food is going to cost us. But we are a family of eight, and food prices are a big deal for me.
My family has expensive tastes!
Thanks everyone! I knew there would be great advice to discover here!! 
Mine does enjoy exploring foods on cruises, but they are really good at keeping costs down for other dining. They almost always ask, “What’s the limit?” and “Should we get water this time?”
This is true. We don’t, typically, so it didn’t occur to me include those items.
Yeah, for us to enjoy those more expensive restaurants, I factored in, with your help, some do-it-yourself options over 10 days. DH would rather be even keel on the lower end the whole time. But nowadays, he looks forward to what he can enjoy during vacation! 
We will visit DD next week in San Diego. DH is already dreaming about where he can eat!
We don’t eat out at home that often. When we are on vacation, I refuse to cook, so, we get to indulge a bit.
I get it. Eating out regularly has never been our norm. But at some of these restaurants, the appetizers and desserts are the BOMB! 
This is so good! My only peeve with DS16 and his GF on our trip was the constant ordering of sodas, milkshakes etc. I tried hard to not complain, but my preference is to avoid paying for overpriced drinks at least most of the time. That was one big reason I missed our revoked free DDP!