How Much Disney Food Budget

[SourLemons]

Hello all, posting for traffic.

Curious how much you would allocate for food per day, per person in Disney world.

There are 5 of us and we'll likely just have a snack or lunch on the go and then a sit down meal in the evening. Maybe breakfast a couple of days but again will probably just be snacks for breakfast?

We were going in March 2020 and had the dining plan but it's not available at the moment. So now wondering what to budget for food.

Don't go until the dining plan is available. Seriously you could spend £500 a day with five of you if you want to eat in Disney restaurants for each meal. If you were staying on site I'd consider moving to off site and self catering - bring food into the parks with you and eating occasionally on i-drive instead

That will be ALOT of money
Goodness knows how much.
Couple of hundred a day, Easy

Having only ever gone with the dining plan, try to wait it out until it’s back on! Some of the restaurants for the evening are really expensive (some of our favourites in Epcot where around $70-100 dollars each for the meal! Expensive but worth it)

Another favourite in animal kingdom lodge was buffet style (September before Covid) and was around $30 dollars each I think (I kept an eye on what it would have cost without the dining plan for the trip!)

Snack wise your looking at around $5-15 dollars each for a snack (they can be very large though).

If you plan your restaurants in advance you can get an idea of the prices online. Even then- factor in a bit more than that to cover you

First question are you still staying onsite and planning to eat within Disney or eating offsite?

Figure out that with the dining plan if you are in a moderate this will give you 2 counter service meals a day which can be very filling (Satuli Canteen or Flame Tree BBQ for example) or if in a deluxe would give you 1 counter service and one sit down meal. The sit down meal will cost you around 18-20% in a tip alone (we used to use the $200 gift card for the tips) so choose a restaurant buffet one, work out the cost of that then the tip on top.

The snacks are also huge, Dh and I used to have a cinnamon roll and a coffee for breakfast on the dining plan but we had refillable mugs so at the resort lots of free drinks. We took empty metal water bottles with ice into the park daily and filled up from the free water fountains to stay hydrated.

How much was the dining plan worth for your stay, that is a rough guide. Obviously you can come in under that but it requires planning and can be a bit miserable if you are counting the pennies whilst you are out there. We have been a lot and always had the dining plan. At Universal we had club level so again had pre-paid for food at the hotel.

It also depends on how old the members of your party are, ie if you have a 4 year old that is very different than a 15 year old.

We go to Disney world every year and have been for the last 14 (it’s my only indulgence in life) apart from this year and last, obviously. Our experience has given us the conclusion that, unless on dining plan, our rule of thumb is $100 per day, per adult. That factors in tips, snacks and that some restaurants are more expensive than others, evens out over the holiday.

I should also have said the portions are huge and you can share. I will post this link to a "Dibber" ie someone who loves Disney and is on The Dibb forum and this is her dining plan QSDP (quick service dining plan) with links to each meal had. Just so you can see portions.

www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1013966

We had it all booked for 2020 but the day we were due to fly trump shut the borders. We had the dining plan.

We booked onsite for 2022 with our fingers crossed that the dining plan would come back. There's a pop up on their site that says to sign up to stay in the loop if they bring the dining plan back. We would only lose the small deposit we paid.

Then this week they released that 'up to 950' dollar dining credit and now I've basically lost all hope of the dining plan :/

There's 5 of us, two teens one child, two adults...

I cannot imagine the disappointment you must have felt after all the planning and excitement of it all.

The whole covid thing has killed the dining plan dead for the time being however it is such a massive thing for both UK travellers and US too. Over the years the only real change to the (free) dining plan was blackout dates usually Christmas and Easter however a couple of years ago they stopped it Mid October removing it for UK half term dates and of course Halloween.

The number of non-Disney restaurants who also sign up to this are huge especially those in Epcot and Disney Springs. Ultimately I cannot see it disappearing altogether, whether it will be free for UK visitors will remain to be seen.

I think the dining credit is Disney dipping their toes back into the Dining Plan. They want to keep you in the Disney bubble and eat onsite, hence the Disney buses etc transporting you round. No need to hire a car and have the ability to go off site (we'll ignore the Magic Express being canned although Mears have said they will still run it I assume for a small fee from the passengers.)

Have a look at the link I put above, also above that just above the red banner it says " Reports and Reviews for Dining and Restaurants" click into that and see lots of dining reports. All Disney menus are online or they should be and you can see the prices of items. The reason to look at the food report is to see the portion sizes.

We found the portions so big we were often ordering child portions for adults or sharing a portion around the parks, which could bring the price down. The breakfast in our hotel was pricey but there was shop where you could grab a coffee and pastry or muffin to go for a few dollars. But you certainly could spend loads if you want to eat in the sit down Disney restaurants for every meal.

I think there is no dining plan whilst the restaurants are limited numbers and some closed. The must need the money from paying for food at the moment.
I was hoping for 2022 but it might be 2023 for it to return, I hold on to the idea they need it for the Brits to visit again.

If limited places are the reason there's no dining plan, I would worry you won't be able to book restaurants every night, especially if you are tied to the youngest's schedule. Difficult to know how full it will all be I suppose.

We self catered there a good deal more than we normally do on holiday. I don't think it spoiled it in the least. There was so much else to enjoy.

If you Closely managed costs, did only QS, bought refillable mugs (for use in resorts only), sometimes shared meals, got snacks in to have for breakfast in the room some days, then I think you might manage $60 per person per day.

I didn’t think there was much expectation of free dining plan to be back for 2022, but perhaps the paid for plan will come back next year and free the year after.