In park budget for family of 4?

[Malcon10t]

Prices have gone up so much in the past few years.

Well, the prices I quoted were from last weekend. I went back to look at my AmEx bill. For breakfast at Rancho, my daughter had the Chilliquillas, powerade, and cinnamon chips, while I had the Steamboat and an iced tea. At Carnation, I had the Oscar breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes, english muffin, and fruit) and tea, while my daughter had the Mickey waffle with strawberries, bacon, and a side of the potatoes and tea.

 

[buttercup3]

At Carnation, I had the Oscar breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes, english muffin, and fruit) and tea, while my daughter had the Mickey waffle with strawberries, bacon, and a side of the potatoes and tea.

Oh man! Mickey waffles?? I thought they only had those at character breakfasts in the park! Gotta add that to the budget!!

 

[SMD]

You can get Mickey waffles at Whitewater Snacks in GCH, it's CS. They also have Mickey pancakes at RDZ, also CS.

 

[Kindermouse]

Since you are driving there is the capability to do things very frugally. we have done this before so we could squeak an extra trip into the budget when there wasn't really room for one. I brought most of our food and drinks with us in a cooler and put it in the in room mini fridge. I brought with us breakfast and the the stuff for snacks and a packed lunch. for dinner we did Pizza outside of the park, Ihop, and Carnation Cafe. I only allowed 2 snack for the whole trip. 1 25 dollar souvenir only. We only spent 150 dollars over 3 1/2 days on that trip for 2 people.

This upcoming trip however is a whole different story. It looking to be about 200 dollars a day from the plans I have made.

So there isn't 1 set budget and how you choose to do things can make a huge difference in terms of spending.

 

[buttercup3]

You can get Mickey waffles at Whitewater Snacks in GCH, it's CS. They also have Mickey pancakes at RDZ, also CS.

Good to know! We prefer CS so thanks!!

 

[travelgirl06]

We always bring water bottles (with lots of ice) that we refill throughout the day and I bring some "kid snacks" - granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. for when they need something quick. We are local and eat breakfast at home (when. Go to WDW we usually eat in our room - oatmeal, yogurt, protein bars, fruit, etc.). We usually wind up with a mind afternoon meal and snacks (and sometimes gran fast food on the way home).

We've found some good (for Disney) prices at Downtown Disney. A few of the restaurants have happy hour - the other weekend we went to Catal and made a meal out of happy hour apps, and kids meals for the kids and DH and I each got a cocktail. It was probably like $60 for all of us, including drinks - not a huge meal (and one of my kiddos is only 2, so not eating a tom), but very nice and relaxing and not extremely expensive. The taquerilla at Tortilla Jo's also has good food at decent prices, and of course there's Earl of Sandwich. We like DTD as a nice break from the crowds midday and we've been pleased to find some nice, easy food options. Of course, going over to Harbor is also an option.

CS in the parks - I like Plaza Inn and the chicken dish is huge. Rancho del Zocalo also has decent portions and there are a lot of good options in DCA. I would just share when you can (we like to share an entree sometimes then splurge on a snack later in the day).

 

[tdhickey]

$200 a day is a good expectation for food, snacks, souvenirs for a family of 4, a bit more if you sneak in Blue Bayou or a character meal. I find a sit down restaurant meal is $70-$100+ and a counter service meal is $55-$60 for a family of 4, all getting drinks, maybe one dessert to share. Assuming two meals in the park, one bigger and one smaller, snacks and the odd treat with some basic souvenir spending than $200 a day is a reasonable expectation to actually spend.

Also, I'd rather spend a few bucks on a muffin or churro to split than carry food with me all day for snacks, same with water, I'd rather buy a couple bottles through the day and enjoy super cold filtered water.

 

[TamaraH]

For food on our most recent trip, we spent about $140/day for our family of 5. That was all meals and snacks in the parks. We carried water bottles, but would get lemonade or specialty coffee with meals.

Souvenirs, we spent about $350 throughout the trip.

If you don't mind me asking, did you do any table service meals on that daily amount? What would your typical day consist of? Thanks!

 

[disneyfirsttimer18]

If you don't mind me asking, did you do any table service meals on that daily amount? What would your typical day consist of? Thanks!

Other than a PTN package at Aladdin's Oasis and a free dinner at Goofy's Kitchen we just did CS.