First Trip Without DDP - Tips Needed for Food Budget!

[aimo]

Evening all!

We are heading to Clarion Inn LBV in October for 11 nights - family of 4, 2 adults, 2 kids aged 8 & 11. We plan to just visit Universal (3 parks) this time, and maybe have a beach day, possibly Kennedy Space centre too. On our previous trip we stayed on site at Disney and had the QSDP, so having to juggle the food budget is a whole new experience for me! I have been trying to research as much as I can but it is a bit of a minefield! Is a budget of $100 a day realistic? (The main reason for keeping the budget down is to prove to my husband that we can go to florida every year, and it wont cost us any more than a beach holiday in Europe - even with all the extras... ! ) My plan to keep costs down goes like this...

Take some Robinsons squashd or similar with me and take advantage of free water available in the parks

Bring mini packs of cereal/snacks from the UK as I've heard these can be very expensive in US supermarkets, buy some milk and have breakfast in our room some mornings. Grab some milk/fruit/snacks/bottled water from local supermarket (any suggestions near LBV?)Take snacks to the parks.

Sign up to restaurant email lists/print off vouchers

If buying quick service type meals, maybe order 2 or 3 depending on portion size and share between all of us.

Get a takeout sometimes rather than sit down meal.

Any advice, suggestions, critiques etc welcome!

[Disneyloverz]

You can get free cups of water from the quick service places (even if you're not buying anything)
Bottles of water can cost a fortune in the parks!

[Ridersmom]

Or you can pick up a case of 24 bottles from most supermarkets or Walgreen/CVS type places for $5. (or less).

[dancingbear]

I made this list a while back so worth double checking websites etc to see if the offers are still running but this may help xxx

Monday
Olive Garden 3-5pm dinner duos $8.99 4r Smokehouse - kids eat free Manny’s - kids eat free
The coop - kids eat free
Smashburger- kids eat free after 4pm
Logan’s Roadhouse $8.99 meals & 2 sides from 3-6pm
Tuesday
Olive Garden 3-5pm dinner duos $8.99 4r Smokehouse - kids eat free Manny’s - kids eat free
Kobe - kids eat free
Miller’s - kids eat free
Nypd pizza - BOGOF (one free cheese pizza)
Ruby Tuesday - family of 4 under $40
Bob Evans - kids eat free after 4pm
Denny’s- kids eat free after 4pm
Graffiti junktion - 2 free kids meals with each adult one! Logan’s Roadhouse $8.99 meals & 2 sides from 3-6pm
Wednesday
Olive Garden 3-5pm dinner duos $8.99 4r Smokehouse - kids eat free
Nypd pizza - kids eat free (make own) The porch - kids eat free
Mannys - free fajitas
Logan’s Roadhouse $8.99 meals & 2 sides from 3-6pm
Thursday
Olive Garden 3-5pm dinner duos $8.99
4r Smokehouse - kids eat free
McAlister’s deli - kids 99c
Logan’s Roadhouse $8.99 meals & 2 sides from 3-6pm
Saturday
Steak & Shake - kids eat free
Logan’s Roadhouse $8.99 meals & 2 sides from 3-6pm

[aimo]

That’s super helpful! Thanks!

[aimo]

Quick question, as a general rule do you need to make reservations? Or can you get away with walk ins?

[EatandPlay]

Realistically, $100 per day for four people will be challenging if you're planning on eating out every meal. Dinners are the most expensive meal so you might need to find some creative solutions for that like making your own, assuming you at least have a mini bar or fridge in your room. You can get a great affordable breakfast at Denny's and lots of places have very affordable lunch specials, such as Millers. Dinner before 6pm can also yield some deals at many places too. Good luck. Let us know how you make out.

[Mrs Valentine]

Share QS meals, have free water. Try not to eat in restaurants as you will need to add a tip.
Walgreens in in LBV and you can get packs of water and fruit, cereal, crisps, cookies, etc. much cheaper than the hotel shop. You have a largish fridge at the Clarion, so put yogurts, milk etc in there and eat in your room.
(I thought they did a free continental there anyway - maybe it wasn't in your deal).

[tonymc]

If you have a car, there is a huge Walmart on the road north from the Clarion (Turkey Lake Road), where we usually call even if staying on-site. We usually buy bulk packs of water, a case of soda cans, snacks and fruit, and when we have stayed at OKW/SSR, plenty of breakfast items (oatmeal, cereal, frozen breakfast sandwiches, fruit juices).

Worth buying a few 24 packs of water for the parks - if you have a fridge with an ice making compartment, freeze a couple of bottles the night before and put them in an insulated bag with unfrozen ones as well as any perishable food/snacks.

Also buy a coupe of the large gallon “cans” of water for using in the room - no point in using all your small bottles which are better for the parks!

As you mention yourself, for lunch at the parks, split a QS meal and share drinks.

At dinner, quite often the appetizers will do as a main - I have often seen chicken tenders with fries as a starter!

[Elise79]

One of the things apart from sharing meals at QS is too look at the kids meals too.

I often have a kids meal myself as I don't need a whole adult meal for lunch.