Going in June with our family of 5 - 2 adults, kids ages: 6, 4, 1 (a baby with the appetite of a professional football player lol). I guess the basic question is, how much do I estimate the cost will be for each adult/child at either quick service or table service dining in order to begin building a budget?
Since I don’t know what I’m doing, here’s a bunch of information you probably don’t need to help answer my question
We will do 4 park days, a Disney Springs day, and spend some time at our resort.
I’d like to eat breakfast in the room on park days to save time/money. In each park we will probably buy snacks and either do 2 quick service meals or 1 quick and 1 table. We will obviously dine at Disney Springs the day we go there, and I want to try dining at our resort at least once and then hopefully eat in our room once that box has been checked. Just realized we will probably end up buying lunch at the pool once on a resort day.
I think it’s fun! After a bit you can kind of round on the QS meals. I think it’s also helpful to learn the menus a bit to help choose where to go.
We had wanted to do Lecellier but the prices were just too high and things like that are helpful to know ahead of time. At MK we usually eat wherever is closest when we are hungry but sometimes I will try and steer us close to CHH, etc if I need something not a burger!
I usually look at the menus and price out estimates of what I think we would get. Then after I’ve estimated our dining, I buy discounted Disney gift cards to make our own “dining plan”. I normally charge to the room and just go to the front desk with my gift cards to pay off my balance, that way I don’t have to carry them around. I believe you can also enter a gift card now when ordering QS for pickup.
We do the same as @jbakken and bring discounted Disney gift cards (purchased at a wholesale club like BJs for 5%off) and either use the cards directly, or charge to the room and pay off with the cards daily.
For budget, we use the dining plan cost as an estimator, generally we plan for $100 per person per day, $85 for child under the age of 10. Unless you purchase a meal for the 1 yr old, they dine free by eating off someone’s plate.
Also as an FYI, Ogas is not so much a proper meal location. It’s more of a lounge with bar snacks. They did just start serving a flatbread and something else I can’t remember but I’m not sure of the portion sizes. We usually eat at Docking Bay 7 before going to Ogas.
Oga’s is a bar/lounge. I wouldn’t go there to eat as you would more than likely be given a standing table and the food choices are more of a snack than a meal.
I get discounted gift cards for around $75-$95 per person per day depending on what meals we have planned. DD21 and I can eat for around $75 total for both of us as we will split QS meals and snacks throughout the day or we split an appetizer and meal at a TS restaurant. We can get a few alcoholic drinks as well.
A VERY rough estimate that I used for my family of 5:
Each quick service meal- $50-$75
Sit down restaurants- $150-$200
Characters/buffets- $250+
My kids were older than yours when we first went so we didn’t have anyone sharing meals. We also only did one snack a day, if that (brought our own), so they were probably hungrier for “real” meals. We bring our own breakfasts too and eat in the room or while waiting for the bus. If you’re unsure of where you want to go, but want to start saving now, this could be a basic guide to start with.
I also go to Allears menus both to find out what’s on the menu and to get prices
Character buffets are fun for us but the expense comes in that there’s no sharing and they can be a real time sink.
We do most of our character interactions at buffets. In May we were 2 hours waiting to see all 4 or 5 that were at Crystal Palace. It might be a long time before we go there again. Maybe it was unusual.
Chef Mickey’s in July was more what I’ve usually experienced. I think Disney says allow 90 minutes but an hour is usually all we need. This was true in December at Cape May and Tusker House.
For qs meals we like the combo meals like the chicken and ribs. We’d get an order of fries also and 2 adults and an 8 yo had plenty to eat.
We are a family of four. We never buy more than three meals in total for any given time. I let the other three pick what they want, and I finish each of their plates when they are done. It’s a great way for me to get a variety of items, and save money at the same time. No one ever finishes their own meal.
If you are unsure of what you think things will cost, I would suggest purchasing discounted gift cards for the value of the meal plan. I would make a substantial bet that you will have significant money left in those gift cards, after paying off all of your food. That leftover amount could pay for souvenirs, activities, or the beginning of the next trip’s savings.
That also works as a great way to determine if the dining plan is worth it for you for next trips. We found substantial savings by booking discounted rooms and paying out-of-pocket for the dining plan.
We also noticed that there is far too much food at a table service restaurant when using the dining plan. We are water drinkers, and prefer to get a snack later in the day, rather than adding dessert to our meal. If you are larger eaters, like dessert with your meal, and want alcohol, the meal plan is slightly more beneficial, but even then, my calculations work out best when we pay for food out-of-pocket.
Great advice given. They have some calculators out there. You can also budget the cost of the dining plan. You will generally come out cheaper in real life.
I would skip Oga’s with the kiddos. Probably won’t impress them much. Better places to spend some time eating and drinking. Grab a couple fancy drinks and sit around Echo lake. Lots of wide open space for the kids to have some unstructured time.
My only additional planning tip is to definitely check out the menus before you go, it may change where you decide to go.
For example, I had wanted to go to Skippers, but after looking at the menu, for the price, it likely wouldn’t be a hit for my kids and mother. Crossed that off the list. Result: only doing QS in MK (Columbia Harbor House, Pecos, Sleepy Hollow).
I also looked at the price of the character breakfasts (and HEA dessert packages), and looked at the menus for what we’d get for those dollars, and decided no way (but you have younger kids so your equation is much different and everyone here raves about character bfasts).
Make no mistake, Disney is still getting my money, lol, I just decided to spend those dollars differently, ie. Wild Africa Trek, and two dining packages, one for Fantastic and one for the Epcot holiday processional.
I think dinner is a much better value. And really a late lunch/ early dinner is even better. Have a QS brunch and an evening snack. I think if you’re going to do breakfast, do it as late as possible, like at brunch time (and maybe even time it for when they are changing out to lunch if possible).
I think it’s the characters everybody loves. There are MUCH better breakfasts on property that don’t involve characters.
I’m going to try out Ale & Compass breakfast while there (for convenience as we are staying at BWV and menu/value). Looks very reasonably priced (by Disney standards). Can anyone recommend?
I’ve enjoyed them both times we are there. Once I added on the buffet. It’s mainly fruit and lighter options. The meal would be more than enough food.
I also like Trattoria at Boardwalk.
We are also brunch people vs. breakfast. I don’t typically eat until after 10am at the earliest. At home I don’t eat until after 12. Some people like a big breakfast first thing.
