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MommyTo3Boys1Girl
01-12-2006, 09:11 PM
I am trying to figure out our DLR budget for our upcoming trip the first week in March. It will just be my 4yo, who is a picky, but good eater, once he finds something he likes, and I. I like to snack, so I am thinking we will only have one BIG meal a day. I am still tossing around lunch at Goofy's one day, as a special treat for him. And am going to call tomorrow and make PS reservations, so we have them, and can always cancel. We will be there 2 full days, and 2 half days. I am thinking $40 a day for the 2 full days and $30 a day for the half days. What do you all think?

MammaSilva
01-12-2006, 09:14 PM
if you're not including the Goofys meal in that budget it sounds realistic to me for you and the 4 year old!

potterphreak
01-12-2006, 09:46 PM
I agree with Mamma. But then again, he might go nuts-o when he sees the gi-normous turkey legs, collectible buckets of popcorn, churros, dole whips, etc. LOL IMO, I would suggest Minnie and Friends over Goofy's Kitchen. GK baaaaaad, Plaza Inn good, Princess meal in DCA even better.


Have fun!!!

SandraVB79
01-13-2006, 01:57 AM
Turkey leg was +/- $7, don't forget to budget the Dole whips! ($2.75)

asharpcook
01-13-2006, 04:05 AM
Think about you and your son sharing meals. My son and I did this and we both got PLENTY to eat. We shared the fried chicken meal at the Plaza, the corkscrew pasta meal in DCA, and breakfast at various locations. We did go back to the hotel in the afternoon for a break and had sandwich or cup of soup type stuff there to eat. We took waterbottles with us to refill at the park, and limited our 'snack' foods to things like frozen lemonade (it was summer) and churro's. We did splurge on a large popcorn bucket when we were watching Fantasmic.
I think your budget is quite realistic. Remember that most of the portions are good sized, and you won't go hungry!
Have a great trip!
Anita;)

CamCay
01-13-2006, 10:23 AM
wow, we must eat a lot. i couldn't imagine less than fifty a day for two. Definately not including Goofy's kitchen. We are snackers too. The water bottle refilling is a good idea, those are about $2.75. Maybe $40 is realistic, if you try. But who want's to say no to a four year old when he wants another churro cause it may not fit in budget? Maybe you have one of those good four year olds i've heard about........

hlbtimes2
01-13-2006, 10:42 AM
[QUOTE=CamCay]wow, we must eat a lot. i couldn't imagine less than fifty a day for two. [QUOTE]

You're only talking about a $10 a day difference. That is one stop for a drink and snack. LOL

SandraVB79
01-13-2006, 10:55 AM
as if I would EVER share a Dole whip, huh! :rolleyes: :)

raych30
01-13-2006, 03:18 PM
LOL Sandra,

I'm not sharing my Dole Whip, either :D

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
01-13-2006, 09:48 PM
Thankfully, as I said, my 4yo is picky. He won't eat turkey legs, churros, etc. So that saves on buying HIM those things. Honestly I think I will have to have more in my souvenier budget for him, than I will for food. LOL He LOVES to shop!
I had thought about doing Plaza for our character meal, but neither of us are breakfast eaters. And they only do breakfast there. We did Ariel's, when it was not the Princess group, and loved it, although he was sick. But he isn't much in to Princess' so I am thinking that wouldn't be worth it. I am leaning more towards not doing a character meal and just taking him to Blue Bayou. I think we can see all the characters he wants to see, and get the SAME autographs in his book as we have gotten in the past, just being in the park. His favorite ride is POTC and he loves eating in there. Plus, it would be cheap, he will only eat the bread! hehe

mareed
01-14-2006, 07:13 PM
I am leaning more towards not doing a character meal and just taking him to Blue Bayou. I think we can see all the characters he wants to see, and get the SAME autographs in his book as we have gotten in the past, just being in the park. His favorite ride is POTC and he loves eating in there. Plus, it would be cheap, he will only eat the bread! hehe

POC and Blue Bayou will be closed in March, so that won't work. Good luck finding good food while you're there. We were so disappointed with all of our favorite places to eat (it's been 1 1/2 years since we were there). We didn't really find anything that was great. :(

cfrith
01-14-2006, 08:16 PM
Hi! What we like to do since we usually only go for 2 or 3 days every couple years, is head to the DL hotel to Goofy's kitchen on our last day in Anaheim. That way it kinda feels like we got a little extra time at DL without actually going to the park that day. Nice (sad that we have to leave though!) way to say goodbye.

kkmickey
01-14-2006, 08:39 PM
Blue Bayou will be open until the 6th, I believe, so you should be ok.

When I took my kids when they were little, I found it frustrating to spend SO much on drinks and snacks! You don't have much choice on the meals, unless you have a car and drive to someplace offsite (or walk). But who wants to leave???

I would always go to the local grocery outlet and buy juice boxes, water bottles, and snacks like nuts, raisins, granola bars, etc. Those saved us a ton of money, and also helped during the times we had to wait in line or for parade seating, etc. Then I bought them all little fanny packs that had water bottles attached, and they just carried their own snacks.

Have fun, and SEE YOU THERE!!! Kristin

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
01-14-2006, 10:23 PM
POC and Blue Bayou will be closed in March, so that won't work. Good luck finding good food while you're there. We were so disappointed with all of our favorite places to eat (it's been 1 1/2 years since we were there). We didn't really find anything that was great. :(

We planned our trip the week before POTC closes, that is his favorite ride and I wouldn't dream of taking him if it was closed, it closes the 6th and we are there the 1-4.
We are AP holders, so I am familiar with a lot of the restaurants, and actually have some food places in mind that I am looking forward to eating at, without DH looking over my shoulder asking if I am eating "THAT!" hehe
I DO plan on bringing a lot of the snacky foods for him, in a backpack so I don't have to worry about that so much. Going to the grocery store and stocking up kids snacks is a great thing. I guess I am going to just have to watch MY food budget.

tink360
01-14-2006, 10:53 PM
We planned our trip the week before POTC closes, that is his favorite ride and I wouldn't dream of taking him if it was closed, it closes the 6th and we are there the 1-4.
We are AP holders, so I am familiar with a lot of the restaurants, and actually have some food places in mind that I am looking forward to eating at, without DH looking over my shoulder asking if I am eating "THAT!" hehe
I DO plan on bringing a lot of the snacky foods for him, in a backpack so I don't have to worry about that so much. Going to the grocery store and stocking up kids snacks is a great thing. I guess I am going to just have to watch MY food budget.

Bringing snacks is what I was thinking too, the meals don't run so much but the snacks really can add up. If you can save some room to pack food, that might save some $ too. Some of the little convenience stores around the park charge an awful lot for the little jars of peanut butter, etc. Worst I saw was charging 50 or 75cents each (can't remember exactly) for the cellophane packets that come free from the fast food places - plastic utensils, salt & pepper, etc.

cfrith
01-15-2006, 07:09 AM
There is a Target right down the street too for snack food.

DianeM
01-15-2006, 08:11 AM
We save a fortune when we travel by eating breakfast in our room. I bring cereal, and bowls and spoons, and we buy milk at a convenience store. It's amazing how much breakfast costs in the park - you can easily spend $15-$20/person on that single meal. A big bowl of cereal keeps us going until lunch. If our hotel offers breakfast, we may stop by to pick up some fruit, but skip their cereal - it's usually low fiber stuff that won't keep you going for an hour. Another way we save is by sharing snacks, which also makes sense nutritionally. I love churros, but they are pretty high in fat and cholesterol. Sharing one with my husband is fun and we both enjoy a lower fat snack. If you have a car, take a trip one evening to knotts and get fried chicken with boysenberry pie at their take-out. Another way to save a fortune is to bring your own bottled water or other beverages.

One thing to keep in mind if you want to bring any of your own food is to bring your own utensils and bowls and plates. I use a plastic picnic set that has everthing but is light weight. You might want to use paper plates, though, to keep from having to wash too much in the hotel sink.


I am thinking $40 a day for the 2 full days and $30 a day for the half days. What do you all think?

ILovePoker
01-15-2006, 08:34 AM
If you want to save on food, best thing to do is not eat at Disneyland. Pack sandwiches or buy something from Costco and eat because there really is nothing at the parks that costs less than 6.50.

hlbtimes2
01-15-2006, 09:22 AM
If you want to save on food, best thing to do is not eat at Disneyland. Pack sandwiches or buy something from Costco and eat because there really is nothing at the parks that costs less than 6.50.


There are very few places anywhere that you can eat for under $6.50!

I dont think food prices at DL are all that bad, its drinks that kill you. $2.50-$3.00 for a drink is really to much. I think they try to make all their profit in the drinks. The bulk quantities they buy in, they aren't paying more then a couple cents a peice- even with cup, drink and ice.

ILovePoker
01-15-2006, 10:45 AM
There are very few places anywhere that you can eat for under $6.50!

I dont think food prices at DL are all that bad, its drinks that kill you. $2.50-$3.00 for a drink is really to much. I think they try to make all their profit in the drinks. The bulk quantities they buy in, they aren't paying more then a couple cents a peice- even with cup, drink and ice.
Very true. With a meal and a drink you could be paying well over 10 bucks just for a fast food meal.

I suggest buying some Gatorade or water at a nearby Target or Costco and bring the drinks into the park with you instead of blowing 2.75 on water.

keschy
01-15-2006, 11:13 AM
When we go I always pack food so we can have PB sandwiches for lunch inside the park and I usually bring something we don't normally have like chips too to make it a special 'picnic'. If your hotel offers breakfast you can eat there too so you end up having plenty of money for snacks and nice dinners. Have Fun! I'll be there that weekend too :)

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
01-15-2006, 02:03 PM
We always stay at HoJos, and they don't have breakfast. We won't have a car, but I always stop at the mini market on our way back to the room, and get nanas, bread, oj, water etc. I am planning on putting peanut butter and jelly, plastic jars of course, and some misc. snacks in our suitcase to take with us. I will have a back pack, so we can put the snacks in there to take in to Disneyland. I can drink water all day, and my little guy likes it too, so probably just one "drink" a day for us will be good, although I don't let him have soda, we both like lemonade.
Thanks for the suggestions.

donaldquackers
01-15-2006, 02:28 PM
My family is the type that doesn't need to eat 3 good meals a day on vacation. We stop at food for less and get lots of stuff for the hotel room. We eat there in the morning and again if we come back during the day for any reason. We like to eat one good meal in the park sometime during each day. The snacks at the park is what we like and I have to budget for them. Several years ago I took my 2 teenage daughters to WDW. We fell in love with the ice cream bars. They were $2.50 each and we liked them so much we had to each have 2 every day. We stayed 5 days, so that was $75.00 just for those. When we got home we dreamed of the bars and went back the next year, and did the same thing. Then we went again the next year but they had changed the bars. We didn't like them. The bonus I guess was we then had extra money for other things. We don't like the ice cream bars at DL, but love the dole whip, the churros, and I could go on and on. We last went to the park in the summer and brought water bottles. If we hadn't done that we wuld have spent a fortune on drinks.

Petersgj
01-15-2006, 03:12 PM
We have 3 small children so we like to take a break in the middle of the day and go back to the hotel and swim, nap, or whatever. There are a lot of restaurants along harbor, plus we always bring food with us and eat in the hotel. I don't think we miss much, we get there first thing in the morning when the lines are short, then leave during the peak times, then back to the park fully refreshed for the evening of festivities.

sambo
01-15-2006, 10:43 PM
My adult children and I went last October and we calculated $50 a day each for food. Some days we went over, some days we were under. On average we were under our food budget for the stay. We are not really big eaters, but $40 a day would have forced a few decisions that with $50 we didn't even think about it.