With the return of the Free Disney Dining Plan Offer and the Disney Dining Plan, there are plenty of ways to make sure you stay on budget. As a result we thought we’d do a round-up of How Much It Actually Costs to Eat at Walt Disney World. Mind you, food and snacks are a huge part of every Disney vacation for us, so we’ll break this down pretty thoroughly. So you can find your best Disney Dining Budget for your next vacation.
So, it’s true we have NEVER been huge advocates of buying the Disney Dining Plan. At least not unless you’re on a long vacation where the price drops considerably after the 9-day mark. We are however huge advocates of the Free Dining Plan Offer! Whenever it comes available. In truth, we’ve re-arranged vacations in order to take advantage of the thousands of dollars savings you can sometimes get from this offer. But since Disney is still expensive, we have decided to get clear about how much money food costs at Walt Disney World.
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Cost of Eating at Walt Disney World
Ok, to be clear here often the cheapest option for eating at Walt Disney World is to just bring your own food. If you choose this route, you won’t be the only one! We’ve seen many families strewn across the parks pulling sandwich baggies out of their backpacks and feeding their crew. No shame there. We’ll break this down by meal and price ranges, and then hopefully you will have an idea of what to consider for your Disney Dining Budget.
Why We Like the Disney Dining Plan Model
Before we dive into the particulars of your Disney dining budget, the main reason why the Disney Dining Plan Concept works is that it pretty much gives you your plan for the day. And by that, we mean that you know what you’re eating based on your plan. The plan we like best is the basic Disney Dining Plan. This gives us a snack credit breakfast, which is a great way to save some money since you know we’ll be at Starbucks anyway. And we usually do have a stack of Kind Bars or breakfast bars in the room too to help offset breakfast needs. This model also gives us 1 table service meal and 1 quick service meal. BUT, in the absence of the dining plan, this is how we budget something similar. Per Person, Per Day.
The Ideal Dining Plan for ONE DAY
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- 1-Quick Service Meal 15-20 each ( Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner)
- 1-Table Service Meal -35-55 avg ( Character Breakfast or Dinner)
- 2-Snacks 10 avg ( Breakfast plus Snack)
This is actually a great template for each day. Knowing that this would be your meal layout you could have a table service breakfast one day, and a table service dinner the next, knowing that your other remaining meals would be quick-serve. This keeps your budget the same each day, even though you take advantage of different dining options. Cost? $70-95 dollars, per person, per day.
The Cheapest Dining Plan for ONE DAY
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- 2-Quick Service Meals 15-20 each ( Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner)
- 2-Snacks 10 avg ( Breakfast plus Snack)
Of course, there are other ways you can do this a little cheaper or a little pricier. The cheapest way to do dining at Walt Disney World is with the model for the Disney Quick-Service Plan. This allows you 2 quick service meals and 2 snacks a day. BUT, since this completely eliminates the option for a table service meal, we never choose this model when budgeting for food at Disney. If you plan, however, to go the cheapest route with only quick-serve meals, check out our Best Quick Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World. Cost? $50-60 dollars, per person, per day.
The Most Expensive Dining Plan for ONE DAY
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- 3-Table Service OR Quick Service Meals $15-$75 ( Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner)
- 2-Snacks 10 avg ( Breakfast plus Snack)
If you know that you and your family will need 3 square meals plus snacks a day then you would move up to the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan model and in this scenario you can pretty much eat a full 3 table service meals a day. So it’s by far the most expensive dining plan at Disney. Cost? $70-185 dollars, per person, per day.
General Disney Dining Budget Per Person Per Day
When planning your Disney Dining Budget, plan for about $80- $100 Dollars Per Person/Per Day, depending on which dining models you like above. Know that the range here could be between FREE ( if you’re bringing you’re own food) and $250 dollars per person per day if you’re eating at signature restaurants, or ordering alcohol.
A General Disney Food Budget includes:
- Breakfast- $15- $20
• A coffee and sandwich at Starbucks or a quick-serve commissary meal at your resort. - Lunch- $15-25
• A quick-serve meal in the parks, or at a resort restaurant - Dinner- $35- $65
• A buffet meal at a table service restaurant like Crystal Palace, or a more expensive quick service meal. - Snack $10
• If you want to cover two snacks for the day bump this up to 15. As in a fancy drink, like the American Dream and the Loaded Mac and Cheese .
This Does Not Include
- Specialty Drinks: Alcoholic or Non-Alcoholic. We did not include drink prices in these costs, because water is an easy budget-friendly FREE substitute. If you plan to order a specialty drink with each quick service plan and $5 dollars to each amount.
- Gratuity: Your tip amount is not only based on personal preferences but also on automatic charges that may take place at some restaurants.
Cost of Breakfast at Walt Disney World
As mentioned above, there are several ways to do breakfast at Walt Disney World. On vacations where we know we’re going to be in the parks for the bulk of the day, we sometimes will just have kind bars, or Nutri-Grain bars in the room with our in-room coffee/ tea before we head into the parks for the day. Of course, we know we’ll grab a coffee at some point before lunch, so this “free breakfast” in the resort can keep us going until lunchtime.
Our favorite breakfast is often at Les Halles Boulangerie de Pattiserie in Epcot France. This is a quick-serve breakfast and you can get a sandwich and coffee for about $12 dollars.
Other mornings you may want to make special with a character breakfast at Topolino Terrace. So think about this before your vacation. Plan out your restaurants and dining plans ahead of time so you can nail down your dining budget for Disney.
- Cheapest: Free. If you bring granola bars, fruit, etc.
- Budget: $15- $25 Quick Service Dining at Resort or in Parks.
- Character: $35- $69
- Signature: $75+ dollars per person if eating at Cinderella’s Royal Table
Cost of Lunch at Walt Disney World
Lunch at Disney World is usually just a basic quick-serve meal. We often try to leave the parks for lunch. Mainly because the crowds at Disney World become unbearable right around noon. So we usually take a break and head to the Monorail Resorts or the Disney Boardwalk. If you’re eating in the parks, then these are our favorite places in each park to consider for lunch.
- Magic Kingdom: Pinocchio’s Village Haus
- EPCOT: La Cantina de San Angel or Sunshine Seasons
- Animal Kingdom: Satu’li Canteen
- Hollywood Studios: Woody’s Lunch Box or Ronto Roasters
Just like breakfast, you can choose how you want lunch to go. If you’re want to make it simple and are staying somewhere that allows you to make your own food, you can easily pack sandwiches. We’ve seen loads of family bring in little coolers, and just pull out bags of chips and premade sandwiches. This is perfectly okay in the parks.
- Cheapest: Free. If you bring sandwiches, drinks, etc
- Budget: $15- $25 Quick Service Dining at Resort or in Parks.
- Character: $35- $69
- Signature: $75+ dollars per person
Cost of Snacks at Walt Disney World
Snacks at Walt Disney World deserve a place in your Disney Dining Budget. From grabbing a Dole Whip in Magic Kingdom to the Spring Rolls at EPCOT, there will be times you want to try out all the New Snacks at Walt Disney World. So how can you possibly choose? And how can you possibly budget for this?
There are so many of the Best Snacks in Magic Kingdom you will have to plan to at least try a few! And some of our favorite non-dessert snacks show up on our Best Snacks at Animal Kingdom list. And if you’re looking for a wide range of treats to try from all the countries you will find those in our Best Snacks at EPCOT post. Plus, a Disney Vacation just wouldn’t be complete without a signature popcorn bucket you can refill for your entire vacation which you can grab as one of the Best Snacks in Hollywood Studios.
How much do Disney Snacks Cost?
Disney Snacks cost $5- $15. Depending on the snack. But this could go as high as 55 dollars a person on a single “snack” if you are having Tea at the Garden View Tearoom. And even higher if you are buying several specialty snacks at the Parties, Festivals, or After Hours Events.
Cost of Dinner Walt Disney World
Dinner at Walt Disney World can be whatever you make it. Because some days we just want the 25 dollar pizza from the pizza window at Trattoria al Forno. Other days where we want something extra fancy like Toledo at Coronado Springs. We’ve pulled together the best restaurants in each Disney Park and which ones to skip. Check out all our Disney Restaurant Reviews.
Dinner:
- Cheapest: Free. If you bring sandwiches, drinks, etc
- Budget: $15 -$25 Quick Service Dining at Resorts or in Parks.
- Character: $35- $69
- Signature: $75+ dollars per person.
Total Cost of Eating at Disney World for 1 Day
As you can see from everything we’ve shared in this post you should plan about $80-$100 dollars on average per person/per day for your Disney dining budget. This is a conservative, but budget-friendly estimate that we’re often able to stick to without breaking the bank. We highly recommend figuring out your food plan BEFORE you go on vacation. Without the dining plan, eating becomes less structured and could mean you’re waiting in lines or realizing you need a dining reservation too late. For this reason, paying for your food ahead of time with the Dining Plan added to your Disney Vacation Package, can save you time, money and lots of stress in moment. What are your favorite Disney dining tips? Let us know! We’ll be adding to this post as we get more intel on how to save money on food at Disney.
Rochelle Mariah is a writer, designer and photographer. Determined to make Planning a DIY Disney Vacation easier she makes lots of lists and drinks lots of coffee. When not designing apparel at Polka Dot Pixie Shop, she's watching old movies and planning the holidays. She has been traveling to Disney destinations since 2010.
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