Enough money for food

[tinkmlj]

We are going to be at Disneyland for 5 days. I am a little worried about how much money to bring for food. We will have the free breakfast at the hotel and I will also bring things like nutrigran bars and such so I dont need to worry about sending money on breakfast. We will probably do most of our eating in the park and also at like McDonalds and Quiznos. I am not planning on going to any of the sit down places or character meals (though I wish we could). So my question is do you think $500 total will be enough (including churros :p). We are a family of 4. My two boys are 8 and 2 1/2. Also my hubby is a BIG eater, so we cant split meals. :eyeroll:
We are on a tight budget but I want to have a good time and not have to stress too much about not having enough money.

[kohl]

We just went and figured about $10 per person, per meal. Sometimes it was a little more, sometimes it was a little less. We also brought extra snacks in and some days the snacks were our lunches. Also brought in water so we didn't buy any drinks.

[MammaSilva]

I would say that $500 for the 4 of you for 5 days would be more than enough especially since you won't be buying breakfasts. Even if you did a character meal the 2 1/2 year old would eat for free so if you waited til day 3 and looked at your budget you might be surprised to see that you could splurge on one sit down or character meal if you wanted.

[JoeCool]

We are going to be at Disneyland for 5 days. I am a little worried about how much money to bring for food. We will have the free breakfast at the hotel and I will also bring things like nutrigran bars and such so I dont need to worry about sending money on breakfast. We will probably do most of our eating in the park and also at like McDonalds and Quiznos. I am not planning on going to any of the sit down places or character meals (though I wish we could). So my question is do you think $500 total will be enough (including churros :p). We are a family of 4. My two boys are 8 and 2 1/2. Also my hubby is a BIG eater, so we cant split meals. :eyeroll:
We are on a tight budget but I want to have a good time and not have to stress too much about not having enough money.


I think $500 will be more than enough. You can bring snacks like granola bars. Sometimes we buy potato chips and pretzels and put them in big ziplock bags. We also bring cookies and chocolate.
You will have plenty of money for churros.

[tinkmlj]

I would say that $500 for the 4 of you for 5 days would be more than enough especially since you won't be buying breakfasts. Even if you did a character meal the 2 1/2 year old would eat for free so if you waited til day 3 and looked at your budget you might be surprised to see that you could splurge on one sit down or character meal if you wanted.
My boys would be thrilled to do a character meal. If we did have extra towards the end, what a wonderful surprise that would be for them!

[kfreak]

When my GF and I go to the parks we usually spend like 20 a meal for the 2 of us, and like 20 for drinks in the park. So at most for 2 of us is like 60 for the day. Now you wont be spending money on soda like we do. But I truly think that 500 is going to be way more than enough. I think you will find if you bring snacks into the park with you then you will be able to do the Character Dining you want to do.

[CariBelle]

I also think you will have more than enough. Even if your hubby is a big eater there are still meals you could split- Pizza Port always come to my mind for this. Boyfriend is a huge eater also but we can go to Pizza Port and order a pasta dish and get an order of breadsticks (focaccia bread?) with sauce to share and have food left over. Or you and your son could split. My advice is to check out how much food other people are getting and the decide before you rule it out. I also eat kids meals a lot of the time, not to save money really, but because I like the choices better. The kids mac and cheese is so yummy (and so is the kids hamburger/slider meal at Taste Pilots Grill)! Plus it saves room for a churro after :D

[JoeCool]

We are going to be at Disneyland for 5 days. I am a little worried about how much money to bring for food. We will have the free breakfast at the hotel and I will also bring things like nutrigran bars and such so I dont need to worry about sending money on breakfast. We will probably do most of our eating in the park and also at like McDonalds and Quiznos. I am not planning on going to any of the sit down places or character meals (though I wish we could). So my question is do you think $500 total will be enough (including churros :p). We are a family of 4. My two boys are 8 and 2 1/2. Also my hubby is a BIG eater, so we cant split meals. :eyeroll:
We are on a tight budget but I want to have a good time and not have to stress too much about not having enough money.

Here is a link for some coupons

http://www.anaheimoc.org/Articles/Archive/Webpage10153.asp

There is 10% of at McDonalds - the one right across from Disneyland!

[Malcon10t]

So my question is do you think $500 total will be enough (including churros :p). We are a family of 4. My two boys are 8 and 2 1/2. Also my hubby is a BIG eater, so we cant split meals. :eyeroll:
We are on a tight budget but I want to have a good time and not have to stress too much about not having enough money.We are a family of 4 adults. I usually budget $120 a day for food. You can ask the kids, we eat well on that. When we stay somewhere with hot breakfast, its more than enough, and we usually have 1 character meal a trip.

[tinkmlj]

Thanks for the link to the Mcdonalds coupon, I will definately use it!

And thanks to everyone, I feel better about the amount of money I can bring. I have never brought snacks into the park before but I could put some in the baby bag. And I will definately bring some water bottles in to help save on drinks.

[JoeCool]

Thanks for the link to the Mcdonalds coupon, I will definately use it!

And thanks to everyone, I feel better about the amount of money I can bring. I have never brought snacks into the park before but I could put some in the baby bag. And I will definately bring some water bottles in to help save on drinks.

Snacks fit well in the baby bag. We always bring snacks with us. We do buy snacks at DL as well.

[CariBelle]

We always bring snacks too, the curb that "I'm hungry NOW" feeling while in line or close to meal time. It's usually beef jerky, granola bars, fruit snacks, and maybe some animal crackers. Plus a couple of water bottles.


Oh and if you sign up for the Denny's email newsletter you should get a 20% off coupon, we used it on our last trip to DL.

[fairestoneofall]

I think you can do it....and MammaSilva had an AWESOME suggestion on the character meal.
Also, to save money we bring PB&J's in a small rubbermaid. You could make them if you have a fridge in your hotel room. Also, pringles and lays stacks work well as snacks as the don't crush like chips in a ziplock baggie. We also bring trail mix, crackers (goldfish or cheeze its), dried fruit. For breakfasts in the hotel (again fridge needed) I get yogurts and bring homemade granola....yummy.
The more you save this way, the more chances you'll be able to surprise you little ones with a character meal.

[Poptart]

I would always bring in food for my toddlers; this was before the yogurt/fish cracker combo meal they just came up with. If you brought in food for the 2.5 year old, you'd save some there. DL also sells toddler meals (depending on his appetite) which is chicken and rice and applesauce for like $3ish too. There are a couple of DL restaurants that sell bigger portions that maybe your 8 y.o. and 2.5 y.o. could split like the 3 piece chicken meal at Plaza Inn (someone jump in and correct me if they don't serve that any longer). And I've heard Zocalo's has large portions. I bring along those sticky plastic travel kids placemats for my 2.5 y.o. to split a meal onto.

You might find it cheaper to buy a whole pizza in Tomorrowland vs. 3 or 4 separate entrees.

Outside the park, IHOP has kids eat free. Our kids enjoy eating pancakes for breakfast once a trip. If it's anyone's birthday around that time, a few local restaurants like Red Robin will email you a coupon for a free entree if you register on their website.

If you'll have a car, we always make 1 grocery store trip for a rotisserie chicken and a couple sides to eat in our room.

Limit the 8 year old to 1 or 2 Disney snacks a day and I'm sure you'll make it on budget just fine. Also, you know you can ask for a cup of ice water at some restaurants and refill your own water bottles at a few locations for free.

Have a great time!

[Poptart]

I would always bring in food for my toddlers; this was before the yogurt/fish cracker combo meal they just came up with. If you brought in food for the 2.5 year old, you'd save some there. DL also sells toddler meals (depending on his appetite) which is chicken and rice and applesauce for like $3ish too. There are a couple of DL restaurants that sell bigger portions that maybe your 8 y.o. and 2.5 y.o. could split like the 3 piece chicken meal at Plaza Inn (someone jump in and correct me if they don't serve that any longer). And I've heard Zocalo's has large portions. I bring along those sticky plastic travel kids placemats for my 2.5 y.o. to split a meal onto.

You might find it cheaper to buy a whole pizza in Tomorrowland vs. 3 or 4 separate entrees.

Outside the park, IHOP has kids eat free. Our kids enjoy eating pancakes for breakfast once a trip. If it's anyone's birthday around that time, a few local restaurants like Red Robin will email you a coupon for a free entree if you register on their website.

If you'll have a car, we always make 1 grocery store trip for a rotisserie chicken and a couple sides to eat in our room.

Limit the 8 year old to 1 or 2 Disney snacks a day and I'm sure you'll make it on budget just fine. Also, you know you can ask for a cup of ice water at some restaurants and refill your own water bottles at a few locations for free.

Have a great time!

[MammaSilva]

Another thing we do, split the churros...seriously...half a churro will fill the craving that kicks in when you walk by and smell that wonderful scent...but who wants to drop 12 to 15 bucks on churros...when for six bucks 4 people get a half a churro and it's 'just enough' to curb the craving. Then later in the day you can do it again...you spend the same amount as if you bought everyone a whole churro one time but you get double the bang for the same money. Popcorn is another good treat...we bring empty zip lock bags, buy the $5.00 popcorn and divide it everyone has their own and it goes a long way while watching a parade or show.

[mechurchlady]

You could do the Celebration barbecue one day and let hubby pig out on ribs and chicken for lunch then do burgers at McDonalds across the street at night or even in park. $500 should be plenty enough and allow the all you can eat Minnie breakfast at Plaza Inn where your husband can fill up on lots of food or Goofy's one night for dinner which is all you care to eat. If you do the barbecue then do it at lunch.

[Jenasweetemotion]

$500.00 on food is plenty for 5 day's and 4 people, we also have 4 people in are party and every time we go I budget $20.00 a day per person and everyday we get under that. For lunch and even dinner we always split the meal.
http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm has all the price you can take a look and estimate what you might spend.
Rancho del Zocalo is so good we eat here every time and share a burrito they are big plus if you want more rice it is $1.25 or so the allow 1 refill per soda so you could just get 1 or 2 and share then refill, that is what we do. Plus I find that when I get water there from the soda machine it doesn't taste like chlorine so you can always fill up your water bottle here.
Also the first night we get there we go to Costco and get a pizza for $9.95 if you have a car it is about a 10 min drive and a great meal.
We also will go to Cafe Orleans and just get a couple of entrees to share for lunch Pommes Frites are so good.
PCH Grill is also somewhere we always eat they have great prices and big servings, they are only open for dinner and are a little bit of a walk depending on where you are staying but it is worth trying as well.
I think what you have budgeted is more then enough and if you have money left over like we usually do you can do something special like a character meal. :)

[tinkmlj]

Wow so many great suggestions!!! Yes we will have a fridge and microwave and we will be driving so I can pack lots of snacks and food. I was also thinking that a couple days we could come back to the hotel around lunch time for a break and I could make our lunch.
And my 2 1/2 year old is not a big eater at all so most of the time he could probably just share with us. Instead of spending the money on a separate meal for him that we will probably just end up throw most away anyways!
And thanks everyone for all the great ideas!:D

[MammaSilva]

Just a heads up, IF you do decide to do a character meal, make sure you tell them 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant..yeah don't let HIM hear you call him that but children under 3 eat free at the character meal buffets and at Ariels they bring them a half portion of one of the childrens meal choices, free of charge. We had two toddlers on a trip and both ate free and got their own plates.

[kimbeejohnson]

LOTS of great advice above!

If you're really concerned about making sure your food budget lasts all week (my hubby sounds like yours, also a big eater, and he could spend most of our food budget on snacks in one day!) I recommend dividing up your food money ahead of time and only taking the day's allotted amount with you each day. All the yummy snacks are very tempting, so if we know that we only have "X" amount of money, we are less tempted to impulse buy.

If you know your budget is $500 for 5 days and that you want to spend $100 on Goofy's Kitchen for dinner one night, take out $100 and put it in a special envelope for that meal. Then divide the remaining $400 by 5 days and know how much you have to spend per day for food (since you'll be eating dinner one of those days at Goofy's you could put $90 per day in 4 envelopes and add $40 in the envelope you'll use the day you have the character meal at Goofy's, since you won't be spending extra $ on dinner that day).

Then only take one envelope a day into the parks with you. This way you'll know exactly how much you have each day and that your $ will last all week.

This is a good system for my family because we tend to run out of money by the end of the week if we allow our tummies to rule our wallets! It gives me peace of mind to know that we're staying on budget for our trips (our philosophy is to spend less so we can go more).

And you may be surprised to find you have extra money - so could add it to another day and have a nicer sit-down meal.

[Teddi]

I didn't read thru the entire thread (sorry if I am repeating). Yes $500 is very doable for your family.

The cheapest (and it's just MY opinion but I just think it works the best) is the Minnie & Friends Character Breakfast in Disneyland. I really think you could just budget it is (if you book a later reservation time also, you can almost treat it like a brunch and count it toward one of your "two meals" (not counting your free breakfast) for the day- it has a very nice spread and fills up my big appetite hubby pretty good. And yes it's 2 adults and 1 child.

ALSO- do you have a AAA membership? If so, you can get 10% off there (and also other restaurants)

AAA Discounts

American Automobile Association (AAA) members save 10% on food and beverages (excluding tax, gratuity and alcoholic beverages) at the following locations:


Plaza Inn in Disneyland (YES this includes Minnie & Friends character)

Wine Counry Trattoria in DCA

Ariel's Grotto in DCA

PCH Grill at Paradise Pier Hotel

Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland Hotel


Do you have a Disney Visa? You also get 10% discounts at these restuarants:
Disneyland
Rancho del Zocalo

Carnation Café

Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port

While it's not on the official list, according to MouseSavers reader Jordan M, you can get a discount at French Market Cafe in New Orleans Square.

Disney’s California Adventure

Pizza Oom Mow Mow

Wine Country Trattoria

The Vineyard Room (this is closed right now according to MP, not sure when it's reopening)


Denny's offers Kids Eat Free on Saturday, there's on Harbor opposite the parks.

Coco's offers Kids Eat Free on Tuesday and Wednesdays- there is a Coco's (a step up from Denny's if you don't have them in your area) on Katella @ West street (essentially opposite the far Katella corner of the DCA park property).

According to elsewhere- starting this year Disneyland is raising the prices of some character meals during *peak* times (which i doubt would apply to your trip) but if I do the math right the cost for the family to do Minnie Breakfast would be right about $60 (if you can use one of the 10% off discounts and including approx tax). Adults are $24 each, child $12, infant (under 3) free. AND they bring around free baloons for the kids and you get a free pin per person also.

[Teddi]

Re: toddler meals.

As far as I know, and have seen in the past two years.... the Toddler meals (which we've purchase both in DL and DCA) are $3 and come w/milk or juice (or you can get chocolate milk) and single serving applesauce and a small cup (about the same size as the applesauce cup) of Mac n Cheese. Never heard of the chicken and rice??? If so, do you know where the chicken and rice option is available?

[Malcon10t]

Never heard of the chicken and rice??? If so, do you know where the chicken and rice option is available?Hungry Bear, Rancho, Pizza Port, Tommowland Terrace, in DCA, Cocina, and Pizza Mow Mow are the one I know.

[sjhanksaz]

We pack a lunch in. Sounds like you will have a stroller? A small cooler with some frozen water and lunch works great. We do it all the time and then save the money and do a nicer dinner.