Hi Lakeesha,
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel!
In my experience, food costs at the Walt Disney World Resort are more than what we would spend at home. But our table-service and signature dining experiences have been fabulous! My family prefers to get a Disney Dining Plan or Disney Deluxe Dining Plan for a few reasons: 1) We stay on property - since we always fly and rarely rent a car, we eat exclusively at the parks and resorts, 2) We hate to lose time at the parks to leave and find somewhere else to eat, and 3) We eat two - three meals per day.
Our girls still adore character meals, so we always do a few of those. To give you an idea of cost for our family of four, I just called to speak with a cast member in dining. Princess Storybook Dining for breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is currently pricing at $52/adult and $31/child (9-years old and under). Prior to our trip, I always call 407-939-1947 to speak to a cast member in dining to get prices for character meals during the dates of our visit.
Lakeesha, prior to every trip, we sit down and pick the restaurants we plan to visit for each meal. I then check the menus to get an estimate of how much food will cost. For our upcoming trip, we have dining reservations for The Edison on the first evening.
The Edison Dinner Menu will give you an idea of typical dinner pricing. To find a restaurant menu, check the homepage of the restaurant, click on View Menu, then select breakfast, lunch or dinner. Keep in mind that a dining plan includes drinks with your meals and two snacks per person per night of stay. On our last visit, drinks were about $3.00 and up while snacks were typically $5.00 and up. With a dining plan, you also get a resort refillable mug. We refill these mugs at least three times a day!
Magic, memories and Minnie Mouse hugs,
Donyell