(What if You Can’t Do the Dining Plan?)

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How to Eat    Where to Eat    The Dining Plan    Guide to Disney Dining

OVERVIEW

The first section gives ways to reduce food spending on your Walt Disney World vacation; the second addresses those who can’t sign up for the Disney Magic Your Way Plus Dining plan.

YOU CAN’T AFFORD THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY ON FOOD

You can save about $750 compared to the recommended food budget, but at the cost of missing much of the best of Walt Disney World. Adding a little of the best back in lets you save $400 compared to the recommended food budget while still enjoying some of the most family-friendly meals.

The basic itinerary has you eating in Orlando 6 breakfasts, 8 lunches (including two brunches), and 8 dinners.

This includes the Disney “Magic Your Way Plus Dining” basic dining plan, 3 sit-down meals outside of the plan*, and 6 breakfasts in your room. Of all these meals, 4 are character meals,** one is a dinner show—the Hoop Dee Doo Revue—and one is a musical brunch—the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues.

The total food cost for this in the budget is about $540 per person for people ten or older, and about $240 for those younger than ten. The modeled family, with 2 adults and 2 children, one younger than ten and one older, will spend about $1900 on food and snacks.

If you can’t afford this level of spending, you could save $750, without disrupting your itineraries, but at the loss of the best that Disney World has to offer.

You can bring the food budget down to from $540 to $320 per person 10 and older, and from $240 to $140 per kid younger than ten.

Tactically, the way this works is that

• You don’t sign up for the basic dining plan, but rather the Quick Service Dining Plan, which saves (after taxes and tips) about $120 per adult and $40 per kid
• You eliminate the three meals* that are off the Dining Plan, saving another $100 per adult and $60 per kid
• As a result, you eat all of your 16 lunches and dinners at Walt Disney World counter service establishments
• You eat all your breakfasts in your room, at an average of about $2.50 per meal per person
• You still buy a refillable mug per person for about $15
• You still spend an additional $5 per person per day on snacks

You could supplement this with two or three special events and still be below the modeled food budget, without losing so much of what Walt Disney World has to offer.

For example, you could attend Cinderella’s Royal Table lunch, breakfast at Chef Mickey’s, and the Hoop Dee Doo Revue dinner show, and still be below the recommended food budget by about $300.

YOU CAN’T GET ON THE MAGIC YOUR WAY PLUS DINING PLAN

If you can’t get on the dining plan (e.g., if you have chosen not to stay at a Walt Disney World resort), then take the basic approach above and fill out your itinerary with special meals. The difference is that you will be paying cash for the counter service meals, rather than using the Quick Service Dining Plan. See the itineraries themselves for suggested meals, and if needed revise based on this page.

If you do all the meals in the itinerary, but pay cash for them all, you will spend quite a bit more than if you were on the dining plan. An exact figure can’t be given as it depends on what you order. Expect for planning purposes to spend at least $50-75 more per day.

*Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney, Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort, and the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues.

**Cinderella’s Royal Table Lunch, Chef Mickey’s, Akershus Banquet at Norway in Epcot, the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom.

MORE ON WALT DISNEY WORLD DINING

• How to Eat
• The Disney Dining Plan
• What if You Can’t do the Dining Plan?
• Where to Eat
• Dining Alternatives
• The Comprehensive Guide to Walt Disney World Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Magic Kingdom-Area Dining
  • The Comprehensive Guide to Epcot-Area Dining
• Character Meals and Dinner Shows Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Parks Ranked in Order
• Table Service Meals at the Resorts Ranked in Order

LINKS FOR WHAT TO BUDGET FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD

For the basic December trip recommended by this site

• See this for what to budget during the basic December trip
• See this if you are on particularly tight budget, for (difficult) ideas to reduce the December trip budget by more than $1,000

For help getting to much lower budget numbers,

• See this for links to current Walt Disney World deals and discounts
• For basic Disney World budgeting concepts, see Planning Your Walt Disney World Budget
• To design a trip around a specific budget target–e.g., what you can do for $2,500–see this
• For reducing your lodging costs,
  • See The Tightwad’s Guide to Where to Stay at Walt Disney World
  • See this for links to current Walt Disney World deals and discounts
• For reducing your dining costs,
  • For ideas on cutting your dining costs compared to what this site recommends, see this
  • For a period during which dining is sometimes free, see The Tightwad’s Guide to When to Go to Walt Disney World
• For reducing your transportation costs, see this

For Walt Disney World price seasons,

• See this for resort price seasons
• See this for Disney Dining Plan price seasons
• See this for Walt Disney World theme park admission tickets

For the Tightwad’s Guide to Walt Disney World, see this

For the Comfortable Guide to Walt Disney World, see this

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If you can’t go the week this site recommends, see Estimating Budgets for Different Trips