Dining Budget Ideas - Only CS in the Parks - Have You Done It?

N

novdisneydreams

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Let me start by saying that I LOVE the Dining Plan - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it - and if I could I'd definitely go that way. But in my constant quest to get back to Disney while my kids are still young, I've come to the conclusion that the dining plan is the thing that has to go. It is $100 a day for my family of four, and I do think its well worth it for what you get. But its $100 a day, which is a lot. I'd happily go to Disney without the TS meals (love them, but love the bigger picture more!) if is was between doing it that way and not doing it at all. So I've been wondering if I could do just CS and eat on $50 a day - half price, not bad - but is it possible? Has anyone done this? We'd be onsite, at a value, so no kitchen - but I do plan to get in on a fridge swap. I'm not counting the stuff I'm bringing from home (or maybe having delivered) in my $50. It is Me, DH, two boys 5&8 . Here are my ideas:

Bring water, iced tea and juice from home - take beverages (mostly water) into the parks with us.

Bring breakfast from home - cereal, pop-tarts, bagels, peanut butter, little jars of fruit, etc.

Bring snacks from home or have them delivered - cheese sticks, fruit, cookies, crackers, etc.

Eat pizza in the room for lunch or dinner sometimes. I know that Disney pizza isn't the greatest, but it is only about $15 for a pizza in the food court - that with some fruit and baby carrots could be lunch for us, I think - not the greatest variety or nutrition-wise, but my kids both love pizza and hey, its vacation (and we'd be at Disney!).

Get sandwich stuff - bread, cheese, lunch meat as well as chips, etc - do some lunches in the room or pack for the park.

Eat CS the rest of the time - so 1 or 2 times a day.

Bring some "special" desserts/treats that we don't always get at home (doughnuts, snack cakes, candy bars) to jazz up our in-room meals - maybe bring Mickey plates and stuff to make it fun!

Have one "bought" treat a day - probably ice cream bars or cones.

Has anyone ever done this???????????????? I have heard so many people say that they wouldn't because its vacation and eating is part of it. I do agree with that somewhat, but my kids wouldn't mind breakfast in the room AT ALL -we actually did that when we were ON the dining plan. And as far as neat restaurants even (many of) the CS in Disney have some atmosphere so I know they'd be happy. Its really DH a I who would miss out on the fancier foods, and we really don't mind too much :)

I've been looking up some of the menus on allears and I found a couple CS meals that we could do for about $20 - burger for the DH, salad for me, kids meals for the kids, bring our own drinks - but is it possible to do this for a whole week?

I'd appreciate any success (or even failure) stories on eating in Disney on a budget ... THANKS!:goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes
 
I did only CS meals while at Disney. We just got back from our two week trip last night!! I went with a 3 and a 5 year old by myself so we shared two kids meals each time. The kids meals give you plenty of food! I think Cosmic Rays is the best place to eat at the Magic Kingdom! The chicken strips are real chicken and not pressed! Sorry, I can write more later if you want! I am super tired!
Heather
 
We only ate counter service while there and did just fine. We were there for 7 days. We brought sandwich meat and such to the resort and ordered pizza 1 day and had leftovers for the next day. We only ate 1 cs a day for 10yo, myself and hubby. I ordered kids meal and order adult food for my 10yo as he is a bigger eater than myself. We also got free ice water with our meals. You can go to any place at the parks and get free ice water, not bottled water. We saved a bunch just by doing this. We also brought in flavored packs for our water like lemonade too. We spent about 30.00 a day on CS food for the 3 of us but we only ate 1 meal while in the parks and the rest in the room or off site.
 
We did this for one trip. Breakfast in the room and cs for lunch and dinner. It was fine, but I do have to say by the end of the week dh & I were both tired of chicken and burgers. We have not done it since.

We would get the 1/2 chicken meal and another adult meal and share between the 4 of us (kids were probably 3 & 5 at the time).
 


Absolutely! Last summer we took our boys with the same plans you mention. They were 4, 5, and 9 at the time. First of all, they were much more interested in the rides and characters than in the restaurants. Secondly, the heat kept us from wanting any big meals. We typically started with breakfast in the room (cereal, pop tarts, donuts or breakfast bars), took modest snacks into the park (water, peanuts, trail mix). Ate one CS meal in the parks, then ate off-site or in the room for a (late) supper. For lunch, ignore the "combos" and think family style. We ordered 3 burger/fry combos at Pecos Bill, split it (my 4 and 5 year old can NOT finish an entire adult burger). We were pleasantly full, but not stuffed. One day we tried the CS Chinese restaurant in EPCOT (can't remember name). We ordered one pork fried rice, one pork lo mein, and one other "entree", 5 or 6 egg rolls, and shared it all "family style". This worked well for our family. We did not skimp on food, but we also did not throw away tons of leftovers. Several days we stopped mid-afternoon for a snack (popcorn, fruit, or ice cream).

Typically my kids are big eaters, but my husband and I were both surprised at how far our budget went when we ignored "kids combos".
 
We did almost all CS meals a few trips ago. It was fun. We got to try several places we'd never been to before.

The biggest $ saver is to order a kids meal for adults. It was plenty of food for me and I was often glad to have room for a treat later, since TS always fills me up too much. It's a little tougher to come up with variety (allears will help there) with kids meals, but it's not too bad. Fish at the ABC Commissary - MGM - and Chicken at Sunshine Seasons - The Land at Epcot - stand out as good kids meals.

Have fun!
 
I think that it could be done without much problem. We are going to do the same thing the next time we go. We always eat breakfast in the room, because I hate the early morning hassle with food. I have DD's 13,11,7,3 and breakfast is much easier that way. We always share CS meals because nobody finishes the whole thing. I think it is a good way to reduce the cost of the trip and still have a good time.
My girls would much rather have the popcorn or ice cream bars than the fancy meals. That way you have more time for everything else.
 


i just got back and did it.. except i did include a charactor meal too.( wish i did moreTS ,only cause it seems nice,it was our first time) i have 7 people,so no i didnt get less then 50 a day. but it was much cheaper then dining plan.. HOWEVER i regret not getting the dining plan and having more ts. .. but if you hav e had them all,and had the experience ..
 
We've done only CS in the past. With a little investigating you can have plenty of variety. My vote is for Columbia Harbor House in the MK. It's just past the Peter Pan ride almost across from the Haunted Mansion. It's just below street level and has A/C, a big plus in my book. Had sandwiches large enough for two adults and things like mac-n-cheese for the kids. The food was very good for park food and it was cool and quiet. Have fun in Disney.
 
we went in early august...and used the dining plan. while it was WONDERFUL...i think we could have made it just fine all week eating right there at everything POP. the food was SO good....id have to sit and add it up to see how much we might have saved. the good part about the DDP was that dd ate any CS meal she wanted....with only one cranky and rude CM questioned what we were doing. she had kids meals most of the time...but there were times she had a burger just like the rest of us.

it just depends on what you can afford. for us....it was the conveinence...the ability to have all the food paid in full before we arrived. that was way more important to us than the monetary stuff.....
 
It has been my impression that the majority of people who go to WDW do what you are proposing (but probably not the majority of DISers ;) ). I will admit that lately I have fallen in love the Dining Plan and with many of the TS restaurants and their theming. However, on our first few trips, we spent very little on food and concentrated on rides and fun.

In fact, on our first couple of trips, I prided myself on spending less than $20 per day on food whenever we went to the parks. We stayed off-site at the Holiday Inn Family Suites, before it became the Nick Hotel, and when they offered a free hot breakfast to all guests. We had a big breakfast, and took bread, peanut butter, jelly and sometimes ham back to the room. We made sandwiches for lunch and took them to the parks, along with some snacks that we bought at Wal-Mart or Target, or brought from home. We also took bottled water with us into the parks, and then everyone got ice cream from a park vendor in the afternoon.

In addition, we went when the HIFS offered specials such as $50 per day in hotel credit. Since kids ate free, we were able to get a free dinner in the hotel restaurant, including pizza for the kids. Those were the good old (inexpensive) days! ;)
 
Thanks for all ofthe great input:wizard: It does sound like it can be done ... Hmmmmmmmm ... Maybe I can pull this off, after all!:goodvibes
 
Just wanted to add that we like the CS at EPCOT World Showcase more than many TS restaurants! If you try to have at least one daily meal there, you don't have to go near burgers or fries and you'll find incredible variety. The French bakery has fantastic--truly great--sandwiches that are big enough to split and I think they're under $5-6. Other "not just burgers and fries" options are in Future World, pizza options at AK and Disney Hollywood Studios (almost typed MGM!),...we love the Italian sandwiches at Pinocchio's Village Haus and, as others have said, Cosmic Ray's has great choices.

Eating just CS for us (DH, DS11 and myself), with none of us sharing AND usually ordering dessert, comes to about $52 a day. Frankly, I think you could hit your $50 and not resort to having to sit in your hotel room eating cold cuts and leftover pizza for lunch/dinner...travel time counts for something, too.

Karla B.
 
Yes, it can be done and you'll have just as good a time doing it! We've done a few "budget trips" where we did only 1 or no TS meals - it was just as fun as the trips where we eat TS every night - a different experience, but the bottom line is that's what we neede to do to be able to go to Disney! Sure, having a nice meal can add to your experience, but like others have said, there is plenty of good food to be had at some CS places. Check out the menus so you can have an idea of what would be some good CS places at each park. Sharing is a good way to save money and I have also ordered kids meals for myself - just the right amount of food for me! Good luck!
 
We have 3 picky eaters in our family (everyone but me). Going to eat at Table Service restaurant and paying that price for my picky family is just not going to happen at WDW. Besides they would protest about missing the ride/show time!

Usually when we go to WDW, we eat almost all counter service during our trip. We generally go for 7-10 days and we stay off-site. Most trips, we eat in a table service restaurant about 3 times. Pizza in the room or fast food off site at least 1-2 times.

We eat breakfast in our hotel (we've always stayed at hotel with breakfast buffet). We usually have a couple of snacks during the day, which we share. Then we eat a counter-service meal at non-meal time (when it is less crowded). Cosmic Ray's is our favorite, there is something for each of us (I reccomend the caeser sala with chicken). The kids age 10 and 4 will either share an adult meal or a kid meal. Often, 3 kids meals is enough for the 4 of us to eat.
 
Danemom said:
We did almost all CS meals a few trips ago. It was fun. We got to try several places we'd never been to before.

The biggest $ saver is to order a kids meal for adults. It was plenty of food for me and I was often glad to have room for a treat later, since TS always fills me up too much. It's a little tougher to come up with variety (allears will help there) with kids meals, but it's not too bad. Fish at the ABC Commissary - MGM - and Chicken at Sunshine Seasons - The Land at Epcot - stand out as good kids meals.

Have fun!
Click to expand...

I agree, I did this a few times. I especially liked the breakfast kids meal at the land in Epcot. They even subbed a coffee for the OJ.
 
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