Food at Disney World is expensive.
There’s just no way to sugarcoat it.
But I truly do believe that food plays a huge role in your overall Disney World experience. From the iconic Dole Whip and ‘Ohana Bread Pudding, all the way to dry-aged steak and lobster rolls, there’s literally something for every palette.
And even with the yearly price hikes, I feel that in order to make the most of your Disney World visit, you need to try some of the insanely delicious foods, regardless of the ever-changing prices.
So to help break down the costs of eating at Disney World, here’s some detailed info on the average meal prices you should expect to spend dining at Disney.
Jump to:
- Disney World Food Prices
- How much are snacks at Disney World?
- How much does it cost to eat at Quick Service Restaurants?
- How much does it cost to eat at Table Service Restaurants?
- How much does it cost to eat at Buffets or Family-Style Restaurants?
- How much are character meals at Disney World?
- How much does it cost to eat at Signature Restaurants?
- How much are items at festival booths? (Food & Wine, Flower & Garden, etc)
- How much are drinks?
- So how much should you budget per person?
Disney World Food Prices
Below, you’ll find the average price of snacks, table service restaurants, quick service restaurants, buffets, character dining experiences, and festival booth items that you should expect to pay this year.
How much are snacks at Disney World?
Snacks under $5 are officially no longer a things. After the price increase, most snacks are around $5.99 before tax.
From Dole Whips and cupcakes to Mickey Pretzels and churros, most Disney World snacks will cost over $6.
- Snacks = $6 on average
Of course, you can easily pay $8+ for some snacks like a Dole Whip Float or Fruit and Nutella Waffle Sandwich or even $12+ for candied apples, but generally speaking, $6 is what you should plan for.
How much does it cost to eat at Quick Service Restaurants?
The beauty of Quick Service Restaurants is that most of their menu offerings’ price are pretty similar through every establishment.
On thing to note that is you always will have to purchase a drink separately (unless you’re getting a kid’s meal), but I won’t factor that into the price only because some guests prefer to get free iced water.
I also didn’t factor in any desserts. But on average you can expect to pay $5.49 for a cupcake or any other similar dessert.
Here’s how much you should expect to pay at Quick Service restaurants:
- Breakfast (adults) = $12
- Breakfast (kids) = $7.29
- Lunch/Dinner (adults) = $12.49
- Lunch/ Dinner (kids) = $7.49
How much does it cost to eat at Table Service Restaurants?
Since there’s such a huge price discrepancy between a majority of the Table Service Restaurants scattered throughout all the parks, resorts, and Disney Springs, its hard to get a pretty accurate average price.
However, if you were to based average meals prices based on pre-2020 Disney Dining Plan values, you can expect to pay around $26 per adult and $13 for kids minus any drinks costs for adults.
So to sum it up:
- Adults = $27 per meal (not including a drink)
- Kids = $13 per meal (including a drink)
- Dessert = $8
Thankfully most normal Table Service Restaurants aren’t too expensive. It only starts to get pricier when you dine at buffets, family-style restaurants, and character dining experiences.
How much does it cost to eat at Buffets or Family-Style Restaurants?
Before 2020, there were a lot more traditional-style buffets in Disney World. Today, there are only three while the rest have switched to a family-style offering.
Traditional buffets right available right now include Boma, Cape May Cafe, and The Crystal Palace. Previously, Tusker House, Chef Mickey’s, Hollywood and Vine, Trail’s End, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, and 1900 Park Fare were buffets, but are now strictly family-style. Hopefully this changes soon.
Here are the average prices for buffets:
- Breakfast (adults) = $27
- Breakfast (kids) = $15.50
- Lunch/Dinner (adults) = $43.33
- Lunch/Dinner (kids) = $25.67
Here are the average prices for family-style restaurants:
- Breakfast (adults) = $42
- Breakfast (kids) = $27
- Lunch/Dinner (adults) = $55
- Lunch/Dinner (kids) = $36
As some of these restaurants eventually switch back to buffet-format, I expect that prices will increase as well. So I’ll be sure to update accordingly as more information becomes available.
How much are character meals at Disney World?
Whenever I get asked if character meals are worth it, I always say that as long as you go for the characters and not the food, you’ll never be disappointed.
Now don’t get me wrong, some character meals have pretty good food like 1900 Park Fare breakfast and ‘Ohana breakfast, but there are also some duds (when it comes strictly to food).
The character experiences are top notch, but generally, the food won’t be the best meal you’ve had at Disney World..
With that said, here are the average prices:
- Breakfast (adults) = $42
- Breakfast (kids) = $27
- Lunch/Dinner (adults) = $48
- Lunch/ Dinner (kids) = $35
With the modified versions of character dining, meaning the characters won’t come to each individual table, every breakfast location is essentially priced the same at $42 for adults and $27 for kids. Locations include Hollywood and Vine, Tusker House, Chef Mickey’s, and Topolino’s.
Same goes with lunch and dinner as most are priced at $55 for adults and $36 for kids. The cheapest character dinner experience is Crystal Palace at $39 ($23 for kids) while the most expensive is Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White at $60 ($39 for kids).
Generally, Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is the most expensive character meal at $63 ($39 for kids) for dinner but it has yet to reopen.
But even at those prices, at least one character meal should always be on your bucket list.
How much does it cost to eat at Signature Restaurants?
Believe it or not, but, the average prices for signature restaurants are quite similar across the board.
Generally, you will notice few patterns emerge when it comes to pricing when looking at each signature restaurant’s menu:
- Appetizers = $16 on average
- Kid Appetizers = $5
- Entrees (non-steak) = $41 on average for chicken, pasta, tofu, or fish
- Sides = $12
- Kid Entrees (non-steak) = $15 on average for chicken, pasta, mac and cheese, or fish
- Steak = $58 on average for filets, strips, and ribeyes
- Kid Steak = $17 on average at most fine dining restaurants
- Desserts = $13
Only missing from these prices are drinks but I didn’t factor that into this.
How much are items at festival booths? (Food & Wine, Flower & Garden, etc)
Prices vary drastically between each individual booth during Food & Wine, Flower and & Garden, and the Festival of the Arts but you’ll notice that most entrees cost around $6 to $9.50 and desserts cost around $6 to $7.
Alcoholic beverages can range anywhere from $5 to $16. Beer hangs around the $9 range while wine averages around $10 a glass.
So to sum things up:
- Entrees = $8.50
- Desserts = $6.50
- Beer = $9
- Wine = $10
- Cocktails = $15
How much are drinks?
Here’s a quick price breakdown for drinks (soda, alcohol, bottle water, etc.)
- Bottled Soda = $4.69
- Fountain Drinks = $5.99
- Coffee (from Joffrey’s) = $3.49
- Hot Cocoa = $3.49
- Beer = $11 average price
- Cocktails = $16 average price
- Iced Water = FREE
Drinks have some of the more consistent prices besides a couple outliers.
The only time you’ll see major price discrepancy in beverage prices is at Epcot during the festivals.
So how much should you budget per person?
This is by far the most difficult question to answer because everyone eats different.
But to help give you an idea, here are the average daily budgets per person for someone who eats 3 meals a day plus at least 2 snacks and 3 non-alcoholic beverages:
- Adult = $104 a day
- Kid = $52 a day
And for the truly budget-conscious, here’s how much it would cost if you ate at the parks or resorts for 3 meals, but only dined at Quick Service restaurants with no snacks or paid drinks.
- Adult = $38
- Kid = $21.97
Personally, I think most people can do Disney World eating only two meals a day while snacking throughout the day so you could always reduce the first daily adult average by $20.
So in conclusion, around $82 a day per adult and $48 a day per child is a perfect amount to budget for.
One last thing…
Some guest may have dietary restrictions and allergies such as gluten-free or peanut allergies, etc. The beauty of Disney is that their allergy-friend foods are the exact same price as the normal ones. That means you won’t have to worry about at $2 upcharge for a gluten free cheeseburger bun.
…
Hopefully this listing of Disney food prices will help you budget for your next visit.
Thanks for reading!
Julie
I have a very picky child who will likely only want to order a couple kid sides like fruit cup or green beans and will likely not eat the entree that allows kids to pick two sides. When we go to our full service meals should I just tell him to pick an entree he probably won’t eat that comes with sides or is it cost saving to skip the kids entree and just get the sides he will actually eat? Can you buy kids sides separately and if so what is the cost? Thanks!
Tierra
this is ridiculous
Bella Thomason
This better be worth it… its so not WORTH IT!!!!