Hi Krystal,
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! I am thrilled to see that you are carefully planning your budget for your Walt Disney World Resort Vacation!
Your spending allotment will depend on your family's tastes and preferences. I do suggest that you be sure to consider tips. We generally tip 18% on all of our table-service meals. If you have a family of four staying three nights and your average table-service meal was $150, you would need about $80 to account for tips for those table-service meals. To get a more accurate estimate of tips, I price out our meals based on our dining reservations. My family always does a dining planning day where we sit down and everyone picks out what they plan to order at each of our table-service restaurants. Making these selections helps me estimate tips.
To check costs for your planned meals, from the restaurant website, click on the "
View Menu" link that is currently located on the right-hand side just under the note that indicates if dining plans are accepted. Select breakfast, lunch or dinner. If dining at a buffet and no price is listed on the menu, you can call guest services at 407-939-1947 and ask what the prices will be during the specific dates of your visit.
Since we always map out our dining to be sure we do not run out of meals, we have never purchased additional food when using a dining plan. We fly, so we have to budget for meals in the airport. Otherwise, we spend very little money in the parks. Last summer, we bought pirate swords for the girls that cost about $10 per sword. If you plan to do laundry, be sure to take money for the laundry facilities.
Krystal, on our last 5-night stay, we spent about $300 after arriving and most of that was for meal service tips on the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan.
Magic, memories and Minnie Mouse hugs,
Donyell