PDA

View Full Version : hotel and food questions



horsemom
01-09-2007, 11:48 AM
Should I splurge for a hotel with breakfast and evening food(snacks/cocktails) or would this extra $40+ be better spent at Mcdonalds or food in the park? I am traveling with a 4 and 9 year old. We have never had a vacation like this so I really want it to be good. Trying to find decent hotel is giving me a headache!!!! How much money should I plan on spending daily for food?

ShirleyFilms
01-09-2007, 12:07 PM
My experience (been five times in the past 2 years) has been that 3 people can eat for about 30-40$ per meal at sitdown restaurants inside the park. It varies widely however. Some places (like the really upscale Blue Bayou) will cost $80+ for 3 people. While some of the food carts (if you just want a corn dog or a turkey leg and a drink) might feed you for 15-20$.

I guess it depends on what hotel you stay at, but every "continental breakfast" we have had (in the hotels surrounding the park) has been worthless and NOT worth paying anything extra for. You might as well just bring your own breakfast food (fruit and cereal). It will be better than what you get most places. There are some convenience stores on almost all sides of the park (sometimes INSIDE the motels) where you can get milk and other snack food/donuts. There is also a Dennys just across from the main entrance.

Hope this helps some. There are probably others with more information than I.

hlbtimes2
01-09-2007, 12:08 PM
I would start by looking at www.dlresortinfo.com for menus. It will give you an idea of what food costs are. Only you know what kind of eating habits you and your kids have. We usually plan about $100 for 2 adults and 2 kids (4 an 8) to eat. That includes some drinks and snacks. Some days come out more (character meals) some days are less.

We really like the candy cane inn. Its close enough to walk, but offers a great shuttle that runs every 1/2 hour. They have a good (continental) breakfast, which saves our family of 4 about $40 per day. Its nicely decorated, clean and gets great reviews.

Malcon10t
01-09-2007, 12:10 PM
Should I splurge for a hotel with breakfast and evening food(snacks/cocktails) or would this extra $40+ be better spent at Mcdonalds or food in the park? I am traveling with a 4 and 9 year old. We have never had a vacation like this so I really want it to be good. Trying to find decent hotel is giving me a headache!!!! How much money should I plan on spending daily for food?Where is this one? If it's like the Hilton, my kids never liked the evening "appetizer." It really depends on which hotel. Personally, I plan on spending $30 per day per person (my kids are 16-21). I usually don't end up spending that much. But with your kids, I would probably say you could get by easily on $50 a day, unless the 9 yo is big eater.

ktrm
01-09-2007, 12:11 PM
You'll get lots of opinions on this so heres mine. I love having breakfast for my 5 and 6 year old at the hotel. It saves a lot of whinning in the park. There are some nice breakfast places in DL itself but it does get kindof expensive. If its your first time to DL, you may not want to spend too much eating so eating breakfast at the hotel saves some of this precious park time. Heres some hotels with breakfast that I know of.

Hotels or motels
Candy Cane Inn--Continential Breakfast. No protein items(ie eggs, sausage, etc)
Hampton Inn--Continential Breakfast but offers one hot item per day that changes. Waffles etc.

Suites type hotels
Embassy Suites--Huge full, made to order breakfast with omlettes etc. Very yummy.


I know there are tons of others, but these are the ones I am familiar with and have either stayed at or heard glowing recommendations.

Malcon10t
01-09-2007, 12:23 PM
You'll get lots of opinions on this so heres mine. I love having breakfast for my 5 and 6 year old at the hotel. It saves a lot of whinning in the park. There are some nice breakfast places in DL itself but it does get kindof expensive. If its your first time to DL, you may not want to spend too much eating so eating breakfast at the hotel saves some of this precious park time. Heres some hotels with breakfast that I know of.

Hotels or motels
Candy Cane Inn--Continential Breakfast. No protein items(ie eggs, sausage, etc)
Hampton Inn--Continential Breakfast but offers one hot item per day that changes. Waffles etc.

Suites type hotels
Embassy Suites--Huge full, made to order breakfast with omlettes etc. Very yummy.


I know there are tons of others, but these are the ones I am familiar with and have either stayed at or heard glowing recommendations.I agree. I am thinking the OP is thinking of the Hilton, as that is the Conceirge price diff, adn it includes breakfast and "appetizers". Personally, they have one of the best contenintal breakfasts around. they also have a nice appetizer setup from 5-7. BUT, the appetizers really aren;t kid friendly.

Residence inn has a great hot breakfast with everything except omelets.

Most of the rest of the places have pastries and apple juice. They aren't worth it, as we need protein for my daughter or she gets very cranky, very fast...

jaymesmom617
01-09-2007, 12:38 PM
I like the free breakfasts for the convenience. When you are in a hurry to get to the park it is nice not to make another stop. The main thing that I look for in a breakfast is cereal. That is what we would be eating at home anyway and it is pretty fast.

I don't know if I would worry about an evening appetizer. That would require leaving the park to go back to the hotel. Since it seems like you would spent the same money on the park, I wouldn't spend the time going back to the hotel.

hlbtimes2
01-09-2007, 12:39 PM
But with your kids, I would probably say you could get by easily on $50 a day, unless the 9 yo is big eater.

I think that is probably a bit low. The average kids meal is $6 plus tax. If they all 3 ate twice a day in the park, and had kids meals it would be about $40. That doesnt leave much for drinks, snacks or "adult" meals for mom.

nvmom
01-09-2007, 12:50 PM
I like a continental breakfast just for the convenience. We're staying at the Camelot Inn and Suites next month so I already know what to expect- which isn't much- as far as the breakfast goes. Still a bowl of cereal, a croissant and a cup of coffee or juice... and we usually grab a couple of apples & banana for later.. that gets us started for the day.

I like the idea of an evening appetizer kind of offering but I think it would be wasted for us. We don't necessarily want to leave the park during the times they're offering this.

As for the cost of food.. yep, it's expensive but it also depends on what your kids are used to and what you tell them ahead of time. I think some guidelines are in order. That's what we do for our 3. A lot of the portions are huge... so the kids have to share. They don't each get a kids meal every time. Or we'll all agree to share a couple orders of something so that we can have a fun snack a little later. That kind of thing. It's the drinks that can really kill you so make sure you bring in your own water bottles or juice boxes.

There's also a lot of take out and delivery options available in the area. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut last trip (very reasonable.) Heck, my kids will eat pizza for breakfast the next morning. :)

nvmom

babytmakes5
01-09-2007, 01:42 PM
Our family of five (kids ages 7, 6, and 4) spent about $100 each day on dining. We knew we would spend a lot, but even we were surprised how much we spent! We brought our own bottled water, granola bars, and other snacks for the kids while we were at the parks. Since we were on a different time zone, it was essential that we ate something BEFORE we entered the parks each day or the children would get too hungry. We even kept a loaf of bread, peanut butter, as well as a box of Cheerios and milk in the refrigerator in our hotel room. STILL, we spent $500 on dining for our five day stay at DLH...unbelievable. I'm not complaining--we had a good time ;) . We did some character meals, and ate one sit-down meal each day. Defninitely plan on spending lots on food!

disneyochem
01-09-2007, 02:37 PM
I agree. I am thinking the OP is thinking of the Hilton, as that is the Conceirge price diff, adn it includes breakfast and "appetizers". Personally, they have one of the best contenintal breakfasts around. they also have a nice appetizer setup from 5-7. BUT, the appetizers really aren;t kid friendly.

Residence inn has a great hot breakfast with everything except omelets.

Most of the rest of the places have pastries and apple juice. They aren't worth it, as we need protein for my daughter or she gets very cranky, very fast...

I think the OP was referring to hotels like Residence Inn and Embassy Suites. We have stayed at both and have enjoyed the evening appetizers. At EB, they have a happy hour every night of the week; at RI, there are meals only Sun thru Thurs. At RI, it is not too bad--hot dogs, chili, etc. Not haute cuisine but certainly hits the spot with young'uns. During the off-season, we like to stay at Maingate RI--they have a hot, cooked to order breakfast that saves up a lot of $$$$. Plus it is nice to come back to a little BBQ and drinks!

rentayenta
01-09-2007, 05:15 PM
We enjoy a light breakfast in our room; oatmeal or ceral and fruit before we hit the parks. We usually bring our own to the PPH.


I would plan on about $60 a day for food- total. We have 2 adults and 3 kids and we don't go over $100 on average. My kids are not huge eaters and we are use to sharing, treats included. The portions are big so it's easy to share.