The 'Budget Trip' $150 Per Day for Family of 5 - May 2019 **COMPLETE P14**

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Ha ha, like all good food reports I love that it started with a photo fail. The pie looked lovely though. Looking forward to the next update.

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It was really hard to get back into it again remembering to say 'NO DON'T EAT THAT!' so I could get a photo haha x

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

Completely agree on the sandwiches for kids, nuts! My DD did not like the cheesy pasta but tucked into the crackers and the rest - can't believe the kids menu unchanged from 3 years ago 😂

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I just don't get it. A plain ham or cheese and the kids may actually eat them. Yeah Caitlin didn't like it and boys weren't too keen either. It's mad isn't it

Originally Posted by darsch1982

Following

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thanks for following x

Originally Posted by dixonsontour

Looking forward to this, hope you had a lovely holiday.

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Thanks Stephanie, took lots of hints and tips from you so thank you! We had a lovely time x

Originally Posted by scojos

Ooh im in! Does anyone like pesto lol?

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My husband does, but tbf there's not a lot he won't eat thanks for reading x

Originally Posted by piglet100

Following this! Also having an unplanned budget trip in Sept and aiming for $100/day on food for 2adults and a 2yo so looking for tips!

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I think you should have no problem at all with that budget hope you enjoy reading x

Originally Posted by florida addict

I'm looking for saving tips too thanks

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hope you pick up some tips x

Originally Posted by rinroo

Great start! I’m really looking forward to reading along. I keep telling my other half that we’ll do a budget trip but it never quite works out 🙈

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Thanks for reading We probably could have done it much cheaper, but this was our budget, we managed a lot better than I thought we would tbh! X

[caitlinsmummy]

Day 1 - Denny's, SeaWorld and Longhorn's

First morning we were up early. Kid's snacked on cereal we'd brought from home and we had some fibre one bars.

We'd planned Denny's which was just round the corner from our hotel so we walked it. Arrived at 6.30am and there was just one other table in

Denny's

Before we left the UK I signed up to Denny's birthday and mailing list. I was emailed a 20% off coupon which we intended to use today. For some reason I hadn't printed this at home so only had it on my phone but this wasn't a problem. I can't remember the servers name but she was lovely and kept our drinks refilled and made sure we were ok.

Drinks

I had an iced water, Chris had OJ, Caitlin had apple juice, Thomas had chocolate milk and Noah wanted a hot chocolate

Noah loved how 'big' his hot chocolate was. We were all quite amused at him ordering this as it's totally out of the norm for him!

Chris - Grand Slam Slugger - Buttermilk pancakes, eggs,* bacon strips and sausage links. Served with hash browns or choice of bread, plus coffee and juice.

For some reason Chris didn't take a picture of his pancakes. He really enjoyed this.


Me - Choconana Pancake Breakfast - Ghirardelli® chocolate chips cooked inside buttermilk pancakes. Topped with bananas, more Ghirardelli® chocolate chips and whipped cream. Served with two eggs,* hash browns, plus two bacon strips or two sausage links.

This was lovely, I really enjoyed this. I managed all the breakfast and most of the pancakes! I opted for bacon and no eggs (Caitlin got my eggs instead I think)

Caitlin and Thomas had

Build Your Own Slam - Pick any 3 items and make it your own.
Thomas - Fried Eggs, Hash Browns and Pancakes

Caitlin - Sausage, Bacon and Toast (she had my eggs I didn't want) and they brought out a side of pancakes that hadn't been ordered

Noah - Jr. Chocolate Chip Pancake Breakfast - Ghirardelli® chocolate chips cooked inside buttermilk silver dollar pancakes, a bacon strip and a sausage link.

He opted for 2 sausage instead of bacon and sausage.

We all really enjoyed Denny's I wasn't expecting much but it was one of our favourite breakfasts and so cheap too!

We had the 20% off voucher which brought the total to around $32 I think, we paid $40.98 with tip which we were over the moon about!


SeaWorld

I was a bad food reporter in SeaWorld and didn't get any photos

We had a delivery from FairyTale Personal Shopper the night we arrived which included 3 Lunchables for the kids, a sandwich for Chris and I and a big box of rice krispie treats as snacks for the parks.

Caitlin had cheese and ham crackers with a cookie and drink, Thomas and Noah both had 2 mini hot dogs with a mini chocolate bar and drink. These were something like $2 each and worth it for us, they then each had a rice krispy treat each. Chris and I shared a ham and swiss sandwich which was HUGE! This was around $5.

We went to watch the One Ocean show and decided to get a refillable drink and some snacks. We had brought bottles of water and coke zero with us but they'd nearly all gone already so we decided to get the refill. Thomas got a slushy (ICEE as they call it) we got the refill and got some popcorn too, I have a feeling we got something else but honestly can't remember what it was .

This was $31.39

When walking round to Sesame Street I seen the pretzel kitchen that I'd seen so many people mention. So I went and got some pretzel bites with a cheese dip to share. It was mainly Caitlin and I who ate them. Again I forgot a photo. I paid cash for these and I think it was around $8

I promise I do get better ... I think

Longhorns Steakhouse

All showered and sorted we headed to Longhorns, it was around 7.30pm by the time we got there but it wasn't too busy. We waited about 10 minutes for a table.

We got drinks, I can't remember these but I know Chris got a bottle of cider, Noah had water (with our squeeze juice in) and I think Caitlin, Thomas and I opted for soft drinks. I signed up to Longhorns before we left and printed a coupon for a free appetiser.We opted for

Texas Tonion - crispy onion petals and zesty dipping sauce

Chris and I ate these and they were lovely! So tasty, in fact I could eat some right now. We were told there would be some bread, however, even after we finished the appetiser we still didn't have it, so we flagged our server and she apologised and brought some over.

Caitlin is such a pain when it comes to food, she wanted steak but just steak on it's own so we ordered it with fries and a pilau rice hoping she'd eat the rice (she didn't like it). Chris opted for cesar salad but we shared it as they brought it with the appetiser. This was really tasty too.

Chris and Caitlin - Renegade Top Sirloin 8oz - a juicy usda choice top sirloin - $14.49

Me - Flo's Filet* - our guests' favorite - the most tender cut of beef. - $18.99 I think I went for the 6oz, I opted for loaded baked potato and Mac N Cheese with mine (Chris and I shared the Mac N Cheese

I really enjoyed this! The steak was so juicy and tender and the loaded potato was so different yet so nice. I also felt like I was doing well by Slimming World with this meal ... until I got to the Mac N Cheese

Thomas and Noah got the Chicken Tenders ... in hindsight we should have just got one between them as Noah didn't eat the chicken and they were so tired they didn't eat much at all, plus we still had Caitlin's fries going spare.

Thomas and Noah - Chicken Tenders - All Kid's Meals Are Served With Fresh Fruit, Drink (1% Milk, Fruit Juice Or Fountain Drink) And Side (Steamed Broccoli Or Seasoned Fries)

We all really enjoyed our meal here and concluded it was the best evening meal we'd had on this trip. I definitely want to go more than once next time!

Total including tip was $98.12

This was our most expensive meal of the trip but we knew it would and it was totally worth it! I think total before tip was around $82.

Total Spends

Day 1 - $178.49 - $28.49 over budget

[Goldia]

Breakfast at Dennys looked fab and a great price. I'm so pleased you liked the Longhorns steak. Great start! Shame you ended up over budget but at least You enjoyed the meal.

[Buggles94]

Loving this report so far and can't wait for the trip report too! Glad to hear the Fabs are back although the BA Magnum was rather amazing on our last flight over

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Breakfast at Dennys looked fab and a great price. I'm so pleased you liked the Longhorns steak. Great start! Shame you ended up over budget but at least You enjoyed the meal.

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It was so nice. Obviously it was our first ever off site breakfast (not including when we went with our parents when we were younger)

Longhorns was amazing, it's on our definite list for next time. We weren't too bothered about the overspend as we knew tomorrow we wouldn't spend much as it was our Discovery Cove day x

Originally Posted by Buggles94

Loving this report so far and can't wait for the trip report too! Glad to hear the Fabs are back although the BA Magnum was rather amazing on our last flight over

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Thank you hopefully either get it started today or tomorrow.

I was so happy, Mr Grump just didn't get it haha. Oooo now a Magnum might just trump a fab lolly might have to look at BA for the next lot of flights thanks for reading xx

[buddy23]

Budget report you say? Fantastic! Love a bargain! Enjoying your report so far and hopefully get some tips for our gang!

[caitlinsmummy]

Day 2 - Discovery Cove and Food Court at Caribbean Beach Resort

This morning started again with everyone having snacks in the hotel room of cereal and Fibre One bars before heading to Discovery Cove. We arrived at 7.20am and the queue wasn't too big.

We were in and on our way for breakfast by 8am.

Discovery Cove

Breakfast is kind of like a buffet. Everything is plated onto plates but you can take as many or as little as you like. There were sausages, bacon, eggs, breakfast potatoes, mini french toasts, muffins, pastries, fruit, yoghurt and cereals. You could help yourself to everything plus drinks.

For those that don't know Discovery Cove is all inclusive, so all food and drinks are included throughout the day. You can upgrade to a premium package for drinks $30 but as Mr Grump and I aren't huge drinkers we didn't bother.

After our dolphin swim I went and got some snacks. I had a white wine (which I didn't rate at all and it went in the bin) a pretzel and some lays.

We went to the stingray pool and had a snorkel with the fish. Whilst waiting for Mr G me and the kids went and got some drinks (mixture of sodas and ICEES) the kids also got a pack of lays each and a mini rice krispie treat.

Lunch was again included. There were lots of things to choose from, from burgers to salads with a choice of desserts too. I had a burger with fries and salad, Mr G and I also shared some of the Mac N Cheese, Caitlin had a pulled pork burger, Noah and Thomas each had a hot dog.

The food was nice enough and it wasn't too busy when we went for lunch either. We saved so much money this day with everything being included it was great!

Carlos Bakery

Now I apologise as Thomas tipped the bag up so the cakes got a little squished

Vanilla Buttercream Cupcake - Vanilla cupcakes iced with an all natural meringue-based buttercream frosting containing real vanilla bean and topped with sprinkles.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Lobster Tail - Filled with a delicious chocolate hazelnut cream and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

M&M Cookie - A soft cookie made with chocolate covered candies.

Total for these was around $15 (paid cash and don't have the receipt)

Chris and Caitlin shared the cupcake and said it was ok but nothing special. I had the lobster tail and again I wouldn't say it was amazing. I'm glad we tried it but don't think we'd be back. Thomas and Noah enjoyed their cookie.

Centretown Market - Caribbean Beach Resort

I had planned for dinner to be at Disney Springs at Blaze and Cookes of Dublin, but due to getting my purse stolen we ended up being really late and it was 8.20pm by the time we'd got checked in at CBR so we decided to just head to the food court. Whilst unpacking I realised I'd left my shorts back at the hotel so I rushed back to get them and everyone ate the food so no photos!

We got a large nugget meal with fries, pasta chicken alfredo with a breadstick and 1 drink. The CM gave us 2 cups though which was lovely of her. Total cost for this was $27.13


Total Spends

Day 1 - $178.49 - $28.49 over budget
Day 2 - $42.13 - $107.87 under budget. Add in yesterdays over budget gives us $79.38 extra on our $150 a budget

[lemon-squeeze]

Enjoying your report, sorry to hear about your purse getting stolen, not what you need at any time but more so when you are away from home.

[Kat11]

Great food report. I’m enjoying how you are working out your daily spends on a budget.

Kat 😃

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by buddy23

Budget report you say? Fantastic! Love a bargain! Enjoying your report so far and hopefully get some tips for our gang!

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I'm a sucker for bargains and offers! Best advice is sign up to everywhere before you leave x

Originally Posted by lemon-squeeze

Enjoying your report, sorry to hear about your purse getting stolen, not what you need at any time but more so when you are away from home.

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Thank you, it was a very stressful thing, which I'll detail more about in my report. It was entirely my own fault but as you say definitely not what we needed. It really put a downer on my reveal too luckily there was only around $30 plus my 2 bank cards, revolut and driving licence. I cancelled the cards straight away and reordered a driving licence for when I got home. I was more bothered about the passports still being there! Thankfully they were x

Originally Posted by Kat11

Great food report. I’m enjoying how you are working out your daily spends on a budget.

Kat 😃

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Thanks Kat, glad your enjoying it. To be honest, this isn't how we worked it out on the holiday so I have no idea if we actually ended up on budget or not so I'll find out when all you do as I'm doing the calculations as I go along xx