Hello, Kate,
Thank you for sending your question to planDisney. In the past, the
Disney Dining Plan has been a great tool to help families budget for trips as well as a way to save money. I wish I could share with you future news about the Disney Dining Plan, but at this time we don't know any updates.
To help with your planning for a food budget, each restaurant lists an estimated cost for what each guest might spend on each of their pages on the
Walt Disney World website. For example, here are three restaurants my family might eat at while visiting:
Whispering Canyon Cafe for breakfast
Columbia Harbour House for lunch
Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo for dinner
When I visit each those restaurant websites, I can see an average amount that might be spent at each of them over to the right-side of the page. Based on those averages, it looks like I might spend approximately (please know prices may change) the following:
Whispering Canyon Cafe: $15 a person (when two dollar amounts are shared; I assume the first is for breakfast while the second is for lunch/dinner)
Columbia Harbour House: $14 a person
Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo: $14 a person
From those average amounts, we may spend around $58 a person. Please keep in mind I didn't estimate for snacks on this day. You could do something similar with your future trip to give you a better idea of costs.
For a more specific estimate, you can visit the independent website AllEarsNet.Com which shares specific costs with the menus. It could also be a fun way to begin daydreaming about your future trip and all the yummy food you will get to experience. When I did it with my own specific choices from the restaurants I listed above and included a Dole Whip and a Starbucks drink, my total was $59.95. I was happy to see the estimate was quite similar to the other one.
I hope this helps to provide with two ways to possibly estimate your dining costs for your November trip. I'd also encourage you to visit the
Disney Parks Blog and the
Know Before You Go page, including the
Disney Park Pass system, for news and updates as your trip draws closer.
Wishing you a magical trip! Please let us know if we can help with any further questions. -Kara