We would stay off property anyway and so it was more normal prices, and I’m pretty sure I ate enough $1 whoppers in my childhood to account for much of the junk in my trunk 
(anyone else remember those?!)
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Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame bun
When on sale. But that dollar whopper was a big draw.
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I grew up poor, so it was rare for us to take trips. The biggest trip we ever went on was to the Chicago Zoo. My Mom packed lunch and we couldn’t buy souvenirs. Same for school field trips. My Mom once sent me on a 4 night school trip to St Louis. She gave me ten dollars. Ten dollars for four days!! 
Those trips made an indelible impression on me.
If I have to go on a trip on a budget - I don’t wanna go. My husband says I’m a brat. 
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I have lived on strict budgets too. Or rather had little to no money. Vacation isn’t fun if yuh can’t afford to eat.
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I’m exactly the same way. I distinctly remember the shame of going to a theme park and watching my mom pull sandwiches and snacks and “souvenirs” from a bag. Maybe it was unkind of me to be ashamed of my mom doing that, but it left a mark on me. I just wanted to not be “that kid.”
If I gotta bring sandwiches and stuff in, I don’t wanna go.
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My friend’s family picnic on the grassy area in front of the castle when they go. It’s a large group of 10 or more. They’ve had ppl ask tgfm where they got the awesome looking food 
. They come here once a year, rent a house BC it’s cheaper.
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I feel like the budget trip is absolutely obtainable and doesn’t cut out so much that you wouldn’t feel like you are on vacation.
Also, this is assuming 2 adults 2 kids, right? It’s feeding the Disney adult 10 year olds that kicks ups the food price so dang much.
Our 2019 was at the low end of moderate range if you divided by person (yay family of 7! A family of 4 could probably go to Disney twice on the amount of money we spent). Our trip included a stay at CSR, free dining with the paid upgrade to the full DDP, 3 one day tickets to Universal, 4 NSSHP tickets, and 5 day park hoppers. We made the DDP stretch over 6 days by sharing meals (before they tracked kids meals on QS) and eating breakfast in our rooms. Kids had their own souvenir money to spend.
Probably it’s the free dining that actually brought the price of our trip way down. Without free dining we would have probably only had 1-2 character meals instead of 4 and not had nearly as many park snacks, brought in many more snacks, and shared more meals. Maybe we would have stayed value. 
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Our last trip we packed lunches every day so I could say yes to pricey desserts each day and have park based meal each night, including Artist’s Point one night with our Visa Rewards. I also grew up poorer than the kids at school, but appreciated so much what my parents could make happen. Time will tell if my kids come away with a negative experience. (They’ve been blessed to do Disney-on-a-budget many times over.)
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Disney Visa rewards are going to be helping to pay for our meals for our trip after Thanksgiving. We also have Landry gift cards from our other Chase Visa rewards, which we are using at Yak and Yeti and Trex. Since our trip got moved moved back a 1 1/2 years, we have racked up the points. We are also eating at 2 restaurants that have the 10% discount with the Disney Visa card.
We by no means are trying to take a deluxe trip. We budget what we can, but food is one area that we cannot skimp on (and we don’t eat at signature restaurants). We just don’t do all the extras, like after hour parties or staying in a deluxe resort.
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I don’t think we usually spend a lot on food- except for a couple nice tables service meals. When in the park we seem to eat less. We bring in snacks- uncrustables, yogurt, water, chips or pretzels- and usually one of those mio flavors to add to the water. My kids are still young so will snack throughout the day. I don’t mind spending on food but hate to waste money when they’d rather eat an uncrustable and yogurt. My husband and I will often get an appetizer and share a meal. I have found most places the portions are pretty decent. I always seem hungrier when at home watching YouTube and planning our trip- in reality I usually don’t eat (or drink) as much as I had planned! Maybe it’s the heat!
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Same for me. I usually chalk it up to the heat, but last trip it was chilly and it was the same.
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That’s a Big Mac from McDonald’s…
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Lol yep
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I did a quick sample of 7 days, where I had dinner at a QS each day, plus enough food delivered via Instacart, including all tips and taxes, to cover breakfast and lunch, plus one snack per person per day in the parks.
I came to $543. I could even go less.
But this would give us food from:
MK
- Golden Oak Outpost
- Pinocchio Haus
EP
- Sunshine Seasons
HS
- Woody’s Round up
- Backlot Express
AK
- Flametree BBQ
DS
- Earl of Sandwich
Of course, exact QS choices might vary, so I just assumed eating in those particular places.
Breakfast involved Oatmeal or Cereal each morning.
Lunch involved sandwiches (either PB & J, or lunch meat), with crackers and a treat such as cookies). Also included and additional treat (aside from an in park snack) such as Pop tarts, etc. Also sandwich baggies.
I “ordered” enough to have extra food for snacking before bedtime, and added some cushion for extra items I might haven’t thought of.
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I haven’t typically budgeted for my trips. I’ve guesstimated how much they’ll cost before I start booking them but the reality is usually 50-100% higher. From time to time (ahem) I then sell a car to help pay for it. Of course trips from the UK include transatlantic flights: for me (as I insist on flying business class) this accounts for about a third of the total cost.
I’ve budgeted for $100 a day on food for my upcoming trip. Partly because of low ADR availability this includes a higher proportion of QS / lounge meals and a lower proportion of TS / character / signature meals than previous trips (also: no DDP).
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I understand, and you’re not a brat. I definitely enjoy trips more now that I’m older and have $. My wife and I are fortunate with our careers, but I was cheap for a long time. I worry much less spending my own money than having to ask my parents and the whole argument that would erupt over a $5 ice cream or $20 plush (I don’t remember prices from the 80’s!).
As a teen, I chose not to go on a couple family trips because I didn’t want to hear the arguments about how much everything cost.
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You could choose not to go on family trips?! I only dreamed of such a thing!
Of course… I only remember us going on two family trips in my youth. Because my parents refused to spend scarcely available money on family trips when my sisters and I would brawl the entire time (it was mostly the older two, okay!)
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In 2018 (our last trip) we probably got close BUT we had the one free quick service meal a day deal. To that we added Tusker Hkuse and Tratoria al for no charachter breakfasts, both around $200; date night meal at Boathouse around $100; and around $30 per day for snacks (7 days). So a little bit north of $600 but not much. We had breakfasts in the room and brought lunch on the days we weren’t doing a character meal. Also, we did not buy sodas. We brought those with us as well.
Could not do the $600 budget without the quick service deal though.
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We could easily do that. Part of might be that a sandwich in the backpack is MORE desirable to me than a QS Meal. Practically luxurious if I made it and using special ingredients. e.g. croissants instead of sliced bread. I think it is because I associate sandwiches with outings, because my parents always wanted me to buy my school lunch. The only time I had sandwiches was when there was a school field trip or track and field day. Our first USF we did that a lot. We’d eat bits of our lunch while in line. We stayed in an offsite condo. We weren’t even on a budget. But the offsite places looked better and we didn’t waste park time at a restaurant.
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