Dining on a Budget! Help!

[kymom99]

It's often faster to walk over to the CR from the MK. No pushing a stroller up the monorail ramp. No waiting for the monorail to arrive. No getting stuck between stations. It only takes about 10 minutes from park exit to CR entrance to walk.

Oh sure that's right. We used to like the monorail though. But walking is much easier.

 

[amcnj]

If there are some sit down restaurant you feel you must do, check out the menus ahead of time and see if the lunch offerings, which usually cost a bit less, suffice.

 

[Marionnette]

This will be my first time to Disney as an adult, and would love some tips on the cheapest way to dine at Disney! We will be staying in a studio at AKV. Two adults, two kids. TIA!

Since you will be in a studio, you will have a coffee maker, toaster and a microwave as well as a dorm-size refrigerator. Breakfasts should be easy. Even some lunches, snacks and easy dinners are possible. The DVC resorts also have charcoal grills if you want to take the time to get one started and do a little cooking.

InstaCart delivers from Publix (grocery chain). You can read a review of it here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/planning/using-instacart-and-saving-money-by-eating-in-at-walt-disney-world/ It might save you a few bucks on dining.

Pack a collapsible cooler in your luggage. Order Ziploc quart-size bags from InstaCart. Use them for ice because your mini-fridge will not have a freezer. Get the ice from the resort ice machine. Bring some healthy sides like fresh veggies and hummus and cold drinks. If you want to skip QS meals in the parks and you want to pack something more substantial, order fried chicken with your InstaCart (it's good cold) and bring it along. Or make sandwiches with cold cuts and cheese but instead of bread, use tortillas. Avoid any dressings made with mayo.

 

[Bren's Mom]

We stay in a timeshare condo off site, so not sure if all of this will work for you:

We have a rental car and a full kitchen, so I go purchase groceries for breakfast, lunch and some snacks.

We have frozen waffles, French toast sticks, cereal, fruit for breakfast. Just doing breakfast in your room saves a ton!

We pack snacky type lunches. A small soft cooler (like a 6 pack can size) with a gel frozen pack. Yogurts, cheese slices or cheese sticks, washed grapes, little fruit cups, etc. go in the little cooler. That goes in a backpack with crackers, nuts, whole fruit.

We get a fun snack sometime during the day.

We eat outside of the park at a restaurant local to our condo, or order curbside takeout or pizza some nights. If we eat at the park, we are careful not to over order since no one is eating any leftovers like at home. 3 meals for 4 people isn't unheard of, especially if we are wanting dessert. Add an extra salad sometimes.

 

[WAHMto5]

I budget for eating out 1 meal a day (normally dinner) and some snacks at the parks. Breakfast we have pop tarts, bagels/cream cheese, yogurt, fruit, etc. For lunch we do as others have stated and pack a soft sided cooler, rent a locker and have sandwiches, fruit, chips, etc. We also carry a small backpack for snacks and a reusable water bottle (filled with CS ice water)through the parks.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We order kid's meals at some CS restaurants. They come with an entree, drink and side (sometimes 2 sides) and are pretty filling.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

We carry a backpack with us in the parks because we have all the vlogging equipment. But we also put snacks in there. Just small stuff like Rice Krispie Treats, beef jerky, peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks, etc. My wife buys the mug, even if we're not on the dining plan. That will save money because each time she wants to buy a coke for breakfast or late at night, which is 3-4 times a day, she just fills up the mug.

For me, I bought a filtered water bottle at Walmart and just filled that up as we passed through the lobby/food court each morning and afternoon. We usually pop back to the resort midday for a break and then head back to the parks in the evening. So I filled my bottle, a 32-ounce bottle, first thing in the morning, when we got back to the resort, before we left back to the parks and when we got back to the resort late at night. Save a lot of money. Cost $13 at Walmart versus numerous cokes/bottles of water at the parks.

As for meals, we also split a meal wherever we go. We don't ever eat our meals if we order separate, so we just start sharing and ordering an extra salad or vegetable or something like that if we need to do so.

 

[la79al]

Honestly, we always pack meal type food (cut up chicken or ham, string cheese, fruit, veggies, etc, my kids won't eat sandwiches) and find a spot in the shade to sit and eat. My kids have way more fun eating while they are people watching then eating in a restaurant. To them, unless it's a character meal, it's a restaurant just like the ones at home and all they know is they are missing ride time. Eating what we bring though gives them time to actually look at the park. The other plus is because the food came out of a container or bag, when it's time to pack up and keep moving, it's very easy (works great when toddler is asleep during meal time or decides she wants to snack later).

 

[adamak]

Freeze water bottles. Refill with water fountain.
Bring instant oatmeal or instant ramen from home. Microwave.
Pack bread from luggage (I did it in cooler times). Buy egg / ham and make a warm sandwich or omelette.
Pack snacks (gold fish whatever) from home in zip lock bags. Basically anything you can bring from home and somehow eliminate delivery, you'll save $. You get the idea. I even packed wine in my (free) checked luggage.

Have a nice meal at lunch time.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

For lunch or dinner there are many options in the park that won't break the bank. Pizzafari at AKL, Peco's Bills at MK, the Sunshine Seasons food court at Epcot.

 

[Darcy03231]

Depending on how big of an eater you are, my mom and I split a lot of meals at WDW. A couple that come to mind right away are the fish & chips at England in Epcot, the half a rotisserie chicken at Cosmic Ray's in the Magic Kingdom, the half a chicken dinner or the BBQ Sampler platter at Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom, and the chicken and ribs combo platter at the ABC Commissary in Hollywood Studios.

 

[ah1126]

We always pack breakfast and eat in the room while we are getting ready. Even big eaters can share meals sometimes, or depending on the kids, they can posibally share too. Sometimes I get one adult meal and it is enough to share with a child too. No one wants to be overly full then walk around the park in the heat. We also carry in snacks and at least one meal for the kids. I have a picky eater and a kid with allergies, so I like to look up the resturants and check out what they all offer and prices before we go.

 

[NKHarris329]

Bring snacks with you, share meals, order burgers or sandwiches without fries, bring your own water bottle and refill as needed.

We generally pack a container of trail mix, a few small sweets, and Larabars to eat while we are around the park. In the hotel we have lunchmeat and bread, fruits, chips, etc. Since we return to the hotel mid-day we can opt to skip eating at the park and eat lunch in our room. I'm more than happy to carry a small backpack with a handful of snacks and water if it saves us having to buy $40 in snacks/drinks at the park.
For my family (2 adult 2 young kid) a counter service meal per person is too much food. We order 1-2 meals and get extra sandwiches (not listed on the menu but is an option) or get a larger plate and share with a kid. We typically share food at sit down meals as well. We can usually get by with 2-3 entrees. Obviously if you have family of bigger eaters this might not work for you.
We also avoid buying soft drinks or juices in the park because they really add up. I always suggest carrying your own water bottle, and refill as necessary while walking the parks. It gets hot, people get sweaty, distractions are everywhere and dehydration is no fun.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

We always eat breakfast in our room....you have a great food court at AKV...Mara....but how long are you staying?...pack a suitcase with instant oatmeal,food snacks...bring water in a back pack to the parks...dining at Disney can give you sticker shock...check the prices like some suggested..how many park days....

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I use discounted Disney Gift Cards to pay for all the meals we eat on property. There is a huge thread here about ways to get the cards at a discount. My favorite way is to buy the cards at Kroger when they run a 4x Fuel Points promo and pay for them with a cash back credit card. We have 4 drivers in my household, so we use all 35 gallons of discounted gas. I feel better about paying WDW food prices when I know I've already gotten a discount.

Most of the time we drive to WDW, but when we've flown, I pack non perishables in my suitcase (cooked sealed bacon, bagels, donuts, fruit). When we stay off property, we get a timeshare with a full kitchen. We do a grocery run and usually eat breakfast in the WDW hotel room or the off site condo. Occasionally we'll make a lunch or dinner at the condo too. On the DVD board, folks who stay in studios often invest in a small covered electric skillet, so they can make things like scrambled eggs, or tacos. There are some threads on here dedicated to studio cooking.

 

[shruley]

We aren't big breakfast eaters so we always pack a few things to eat quickly in the mornings, and often things that can be eaten on the go, as hitting rope drop for EMH is important to us. (Think granola bars, applesauce pouches, pop tarts which my kids eat cold.) I will bring in a few snacks for the kids, mostly so if they are hungry we don't need to stop immediately to get them something, but nothing that needs to be kept cold. Past that, I am not about cooking meals or bringing meals into the park with me. That's not a vacation to me. We also travel at the end of August when it's HOT. We tend to eat less at meals and put more towards getting snacks (usually ice cream or something cool) throughout the day.

For us, the keys are 1.- none or very few character meals or all you can eat places. The per person price is crazy for my now teen girls who don't eat that much. 2. We also either share meals, or the teenage girls order kids meals. It's either one or the other, mostly because if we don't we ALWAYS have food we end up throwing away. For CS, Pecos Bills was great for sharing as was Casey's Corner (we got the large hotdogs with mac and cheese on it with fries, and 2 people couldn't even finish one meal!), Comic Rays and Flame Tree BBQ. 3. We like to do sit downs almost every day. For sit down, look at menus ahead of time and choose somewhere with reasonably priced entrees. 50's Prime Time, Sci Fi Dine In, Plaza, Yak and Yeti, Via Napoli (if you share pizzas) were pretty good values for the price and food you got (I'm sure there are others). 4. Doing more Counter service and less sit down can save you money. Look at places like World Showcase, Sunshine Seasons, Be Our Guest lunch, Santuli Canteen, Columbia Harbor House for some more interesting food choices at a decent price (besides the price, you're also saving money on not needing a tip!) I also feel like the restaurants at Disney Springs are a little more reasonably priced than the parks. WE love Earl of Sandwich there. Blast pizza is there too, D-Luxe Burger could be a reasonable meal too, the burgers are large.

 

[abmitch01]

Always, always, always bring water/drinks into the park. I’ve used Garden Grocer and Amazon Now. There are also other delivery services. I like allears.net for menus/pricing to help me plan

what is Amazon Now? I was going to get an Amazon Pantry box delivered to our condo. Is this different?

 

[krysenchips]

what is Amazon Now? I was going to get an Amazon Pantry box delivered to our condo. Is this different?

Yes this is different. Basically, you are ordering groceries like from instacart, but from Amazon.

They have a different site specific to prime now, and have slightly different offerings including fresh produce, frozen food, dairy, things like that. It will be delivered within a 2 hr window that you set at the time of checkout.

 

[Lmans77]

I agree with grocery delivery, Garden Grocer, Instacart, Amazon now.... Garden Grocer is convenient as they will leave your stuff with bell services, but is more expensive. The earlier you order though, the more of a discount you get. Basics are eat breakfast in the room, bring water (I bring a Brita and refill). Pack a lunch, easy stuff like sandwiches, snacks, etc. Then eat QS for dinner and many meals you can share because they are so large. DD and I will often share one meal and a side item. Or you can research the more moderately priced table service restaurants (like the Plaza, etc).

Oh and I agree with PP about taking ziplocks to make ice packs. I would fill a ziplock with ice from the machine and take a couple diet cokes every time we went to the park, and put in a cheap soft lunch bag.

 

[abmitch01]

thanks for this info!