How do you save money on food, while at WDW?

[kstrough]

We have a rental car so go to Walmart to get snacks and such. We've also packed certain things and flown them down (we fly southwest which has a generous baggage allowance and we fill the snack space up with souvenirs and outlet shopping purchases). Our favorites are rice Krispy treats, single serve packs of peanuts, fruit loops, and clementines. We usually order two counter service and share- we are a party of three. We also eat offsite a few times.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

We are not big breakfast eaters, so we do Cliff bars on the go or a bagel and cream cheese in the room. Then we eat our big meal of the day around 2 and usually aren't hungry for dinner, so we just get a snack.

When DD was little, she wanted food in her mouth when her feet hit the floor. I used to buy the Lay's Stackers chips before we left, ate the chips at home and filled the containers up with cereal and taped them shut. She could snack on that while in the room and we threw the containers away when they were empty.

DD also has a habit of never finishing a bottle of soda or water, so when we empty one I rinse it and toss it in my bag so she and I can share the next day.

 

[beansmom]

Do NOT eat there! The food is horrible, the service is worse and it's so loud in that place that you can't hear your own family at your table! My DNephew begged to eat there and he was really disappointed! DH and I had a salad, a burger and 2 cokes and our bill (with our DVC discount) with tip was $50. Stay far, far away from there!
.

this is YOUR opinion. Nothing more...nothing less.

T-Rex IS loud, i will grant you, but the kids love the dinosaurs. It's not cheap but what table service is? The food is huge portions and pretty good.
We go once every trip with the children.

 

[tcherjen]

Thanks guys!! We will defintely pack in room stuff. I guess I need to clarify that is is $15 per person per meal. So... basically $45 dollars per person per day. ($225 a day on food ect.) Now we may not eat that much, but I just want to be safe money wise.

 

[andyman8]

Can you order a kid's meal if you aren't a kid?

Just to answer your first question, no. You can order a meal off the kids' menu but you will be charged an adult price. Now back to Dateline NBC for me...

 

[Peter Fan]

We go to T-rex every time. My ds10 loves it. The food is good and it doesn't cost more than any other chain restaurant.

 

[tcherjen]

Just to answer your first question, no. You can order a meal off the kids' menu but you will be charged an adult price. Now back to Dateline NBC for me...

That's what I thougt. I do have a child that will be ordering off the menu, but figured they wouldn't like adults doing so.

 

[PlutosUnDr8d]

Can you order a kid's meal if you aren't a kid? We were going to do quick service meals, not into the table meals. Her request is that we eat at T-rex cafe. Thinking of ordering a sharing app there and going somewhere else for dinner. I couldn't believe it was $16 for a hamburger.

You can order whatever you want at a quick service location, so if you aren't into table meals then that should work as an alternative for you. It has worked for me when it's just my DS and I and nothing piques his interest to share an adult portion! 2 kids meals it is!
Wolfgang Puck Quick Service at DTD has decent pizza and the "individual" ones are large enough to share between two smaller appetites.

I agree with eating breakfast in the room--they have great portable options in the stores now. Bars, breakfast "cookies", etc. Just try them BEFORE you go. . .some of the "breakfast bars" are not pleasing to the palate!

 

[andyman8]

You can order whatever you want at a quick service location, so if you aren't into table meals then that should work as an alternative for you.

Oops. Forgot to mention that. I'm caught up right now, sorry.

 

[Peter Fan]

Can you order a kid's meal if you aren't a kid? We were going to do quick service meals, not into the table meals. Her request is that we eat at T-rex cafe. Thinking of ordering a sharing app there and going somewhere else for dinner. I couldn't believe it was $16 for a hamburger.

I order kids meals for myself at cs places. Never had a problem.

 

[andyman8]

That's what I thougt. I do have a child that will be ordering off the menu, but figured they wouldn't like adults doing so.

Check my above response. At QS locations, you CAN order off the kids' menu. That is an advisable move to save money. Sorry, I was just posting in a rush - something I really shouldn't do. Sorry!

 

[Sparkly]

We stay offsite so eat offsite for at least 1-2 meals a day (going out for breakfast on the way to somewhere or dinner on the way back to the condo doesn't take up park time at all).

We budget $50 per person, per day for 3 meals and a snack or two.

 

[tcherjen]

Check my above response. At QS locations, you CAN order off the kids' menu. That is an advisable move to save money. Sorry, I was just posting in a rush - something I really shouldn't do. Sorry!

Thanks!! That will be very helpful.

 

[mousireid]

If you have the ability ot pick up items at a local gorcery store or have them delievered to your room - even bring items if you wish, it saves money. We always have a case of water (prices of water in the parks OOF!) with satchets of flavor to add if we wish, our own snacks for standing in line, walking about and needing one - portable - nuts, granolas, dried fruit, animal crackers, pnt btr crackers etc. and then we always bought cereal or oatmeal (heck even a coffee maker heats up water for packet mixes!) - even muffins, for breakfast as we all got ready and headed out for the day. We also preferred late seating breakfast buffet around 11am and filled up pretty well for the day being able to grab a cs meal in the evening a few times. We Sometimes we have gone for rope drop and headed back for lunch and a swim/nap/ac rest before going back out again around dinner time.

 

[sharonabe]

Go to allearsnet.com and peruse the menus. I think you can eat QS for a lot less than $15 pp/pmeal. My family of four (2 boys, 13 and 9) can eat well on about $125/day average and that would include a couple TS over the course of a week, and we don't always do breakfast in the room. Now, we are water drinkers (that's free), so that helps a lot.

 

[MSSANDRA]

WDW food is expensive. There are ways to save. We almost always do the DDP now but we did vacation there before that was an option and when money was tighter for our family. Here are a few of my favorite ways to save money

-Don't spend a lot of money on your travel days. If you are driving, pack food from home, plenty of snacks and drinks to last the trip. If you are flying, try to eat before you leave home and take snacks for the airport and for the flight.

-Mix bought food with brought food. On one of our early trips, we took chips, drinks and cookies from home and would go to the food court and just get sandwiches. We sometimes ate in the room and sometime in the food court.

-There is a mircowave in food courts. Feel free to use it. Pop corn from home is a cheap treat.

-Eat a good breakfast in the room. Easier if you drive or can do a grocery delivery. Pop tarts make kids poop out about ten and they are starving before lunch. Think cheap protein.... peanut butter on bagels, ham and cheese on bagels, pre-boiled eggs. If you drive.....take a regular cooler. If you fly, pack a soft sided one and keep filled with ice from the resort.

-Share food. There is no way our family of four needs four meals. Try two and add food as you need to.

-Drink H20! Take flavor packs to add in as you need or want.

-Carry in snacks if you need too. We no longer carry anything into the park but we certainly have before and it works fine. Pack in hard sided containers to avoid crushing.

We really like Rain Forrest Cafe and have never had bad food or bad service there. Our waitress at the AK one this year was soooooo sweet. Meals are really huge here so try ordering two or three and you can add desert if necessary.

Remember that if you were at home you would have to eat that week too so add that money into your budget. Look for other ways to cut your food budget at home in the weeks leading up to the trip. Try eating just out of your pantry stash for a week or two. Meals might be a little funny but I bet most people could do it. Brown bag it for lunch, avoid any eating out at home , or eat meatless for a week or two before you go.

Try not to worry soo much about saving money that you forget to enjoy what you eat!!

 

[PlutosUnDr8d]

Oops. Forgot to mention that. I'm caught up right now, sorry.

That must be some good Dateline!

 

[PlutosUnDr8d]

Pop tarts make kids poop out about ten

I totally interpreted this phrase wrong initially--thanks for the laugh!
All good tips!

 

[Suellen]

Did you mean to ask if you can Order a kids meal at TRex or the counter service? CS you absolutely can - I do it all the time.

$45 should be fine - but I think the CS meal plan is cheaper or maybe the same.

 

[LovinD]

I suppose it depends on how important food is for your Disney trip. I'm not the type of person that gets excited about eating for the most part; I would rather save on meals and use what I save to buy a cool souvenier or too. But, that is just me.

What we do:

--We bring sides with us so that we just have to order a sandwich/burger. All 3 of us order water. Hubby just drinks water; I bring Nestea powder and stir some in; I bring Kool-Aid packets for daughter to use.

--We NEVER eat out for breakfast. We would rather just in the hotel.