"Eating On The Cheap" Inside The Parks

2angelsinheaven said:
Hit the Coke exibit in EPCOT for free soda in a sports bottle (byob).
----------------------------

I would be SOOOO embarrassed to do that! :earseek:
 
OMG!!! I'm so embarssed. I'm sorry sorry sorry! I thought I had spelled it correctly. I am so very sorry everyone.

I got a good laugh out of it! We knew you didn't mean to!
 


Let's see...we love to eat in Disney restaurants and love to save money. Now that child's age at the buffets has dropped from 11 to 9, we'll be eating LOTS more meals off-site. Regarding Disney meals, they are huge (and trust me, we are BIG eaters!). We often get the double cheeseburger and an extra bun, split the fries. I do load up on the toppings at the topping bar, but only if I actually have a sandwich to top! The ribs and chicken meal at Starlight Ray's is a great deal, you get a ton of food (DH and I had *leftovers*, something that doesn't often happen). In the counter service restaurant in Morocco in Epcot, we ordered 2 meals and split them among 4 (3adults, 1 10yo) and had enough for dinner (OK, we popped $1 for an extra loaf of bread). Japan in Epcot has a pretty good counter service place that is fairly reasonable. Offsite, try Macaroni Grill. Once again, the portions are HUGE (at least for the pasta, haven't actually tried the beef or chicken entrees),they are reasonably priced, and haven't balked at sharing entrees (usually get 1 adult and 1 kid entree for 2A/1child). Another hint is take-out from Olive Garden. We call in the order as we leave the park, it's pretty close to ready by the time we get there, and they give you an obscene amount of salad with every meal. DD and I split one adult meal back in our suite, and there's usually salad left over. My Dsis and her DH, 2dd's get one adult entree, one kid's meal- and you get a full size salad with the kid's meal, just like the adult meals! Another "cheaper" option is Goodings. They have a large selection of reasonably high-quality (ok, not restaurant quality, but better than I expected) entrees and dinners in the deli section that you can take home and pop into the microwave. This probably costs about $4-$8 per person, depending on what you get, which is comparable with counter service in the parks, but jeeze, some days I just can't look at another burger/hotdog/chicken sandwich and fries, you know!?!? I haven't tried doing this with entrees from Publix, just Goodings. At AK, DD and I usually get a Caesar salad and breadsticks (with sauce) and share for lunch at Pizzafari- she really doesn't care for most of the food offerings at AK. Can't help you save food $$$ at MGM- we love 50's Prime Time, nobody ever wants to share their meals, although sometimes DH gets pot roast and I get fried chicken and we split them! We did discover Mama Melrose's on the last trip, which I think is a better deal and I'm sure they let you split entrees. THe other thing to ask about is kids ordering from the adult menu. Several times at Spoodles, they have let DD order a half-portion from the adult menu and charge us half-price plus$1. I suspect they are NOT supposed to do this, but have on occasion. DD doesn't eat real meat, just burgers/nuggets/dogs, but gets tired of these repeatedly at WDW, with mac 'n cheese or naked sketti as an alternative. It's really nice that she can get something *real* and *adventurous* on occasion, without paying for a full adult entree (even though Spoodles is pretty expensive). OK, my last hint, which we do and which will probably draw criticism, is...we drink our own bottled water/juices (from our backpacks) at the counter service restaurants. Nobody has ever said "don't", and we are of the majority that thinks that FL water tastes nasty, making all the overpriced fountain drinks nasty. If you do get a fountain drink, get one large drink for 2 to share. It's cheaper, and there is plenty to drink. BTW, the only lemonade we saw last June (and it was EVERYWHERE) was MinuteMaid LIGHT, which is sweetened with Splenda. The kids HATED it (and DD doesn't drink carbonated beverages), so I felt almost justified in giving her Capri suns from the backpack!
 
When we were there in February, we hated the food situation. The table-service places were expensive. The counter-service was also expensive and we didn't think the quality of the food justified the cost. And $2.50 for a bottle of Dasani water! I don't particularly care for Dasani brand water, but its heaps better than the tap water at Disney :sick: .

We're going again in December and this is what we're planning (the two of us):

We're bringing a small napsack (baggallini :cheer2: ). We'll eat breakfast in our room. Then we'll bring some snacks - I'm thinking granola bars, crackers, maybe some fruit or uncrustables. We'll also carry a bottle of water into the parks each, and I'm going to pack some of those new Crystal light bottled water flavorings. Hopefully we'll be able to make the Disney water palatable. We'll have a late lunch (a couple of CS and a couple of TS, at lunch prices) and then purchase :mickeybar (or bring) another snack for the early evening. We'll have a sandwich back in our room at night (if hungry).

We're also planning a breakfast at the Castle.

I think this should keep us satisfied and energized, without feeling like we've spent our life savings on food. :goodvibes
 
What restaurants are near DD? We are going to be at POR and I've never eaten off site but would be willing to go to save some $$.

Can you still order out from Trail's End? We're thinking about doing that for lunch/dinner one day.

Where is the all-you-can-eat pizza place for $3.99?

Thanks for you help DISer's!! :love:
 


Weluvdisny said:
What restaurants are near DD? We are going to be at POR and I've never eaten off site but would be willing to go to save some $$.

Can you still order out from Trail's End? We're thinking about doing that for lunch/dinner one day.

Where is the all-you-can-eat pizza place for $3.99?

Thanks for you help DISer's!! :love:

I'm really bad with street names. Cici's isn't too far from DTD. From DTD head towards crossroads. Turn left on 535. Turn right at the light at Olive Garden. It's back behind Olive Garden.
 
disneysteve said:
I just want to clarify this. SOME people dislike the water in Florida. They say it has a sulfur taste to it. We drink the local water constantly when we're there and never noticed a problem. We almost always order cups of water at Disney restaurants because we don't want all the soda and it is cheaper. We also carry a sport water bottle and refill it throughout the day with ice and water from the restaurants, fountains or sinks. We're always amazed by how many people are willing to shell out perfectly good cash for bottled water when there is an unlimited supply available for free. This is very much a personal preference issue.

I totally agree with you Steve! I am not willing to spend money on water that can be used for souvenirs :smooth: We take water bottles with us and refill from the fountains or get large glasses of ice water from counter service with our meal (and put the leftover in our bottles). I want my kids to stay hydrated and not live on soda. I even took Crystal Lite packets for them to put in their water if they were bored with plain water. We didn't use one packet! All of us are completely fine with the Florida water. I liked it when I lived there too. It takes just like the water at my house so we have no complaints!
 
leebee said:
we drink our own bottled water/juices (from our backpacks) at the counter service restaurants

I used to embarrass my kids by doing this when we would go to fast food restaurants on the road. They finally learned that if they would just order a cup of water and not beg for soda that I wouldn't make them take a can out of the cooler.

I see no problem at all with it at counter service. You buy food. Who's to say you can't drink your own drink if you have one.

I also sometimes do it at local restaurants if they don't carry my preferred drink. I don't care much for Pepsi products, for example, which is all Taco Bell carries.

Sheila
 
A good tip for an inexpensive restaurnat outside of the world is Sweet Tomatoes!!!!!!!!! so awesome, all you can eat buffet and very yummy.
 
anditoo72 said:
A good tip for an inexpensive restaurnat outside of the world is Sweet Tomatoes!!!!!!!!! so awesome, all you can eat buffet and very yummy.
I'll second that. We didn't get there last vist but definitely have it on the list for this year. We loved it when we went there. Something for everyone and very reasonable prices.

FYI, it is located off I-drive near Belz.
 
When we went in May I was VERY concerned we'd go completely broke just eating. We're traditionally BIG eaters. I don't know if it was the heat or what - but we really did not eat like I thought I would.

The only table service we did was Cinderella's Castle for dinner (DH and I ) I wish now we would have split an entree .. it was WAY too much food. (It was our anniversary... DS's ate a "the Alfredo place" at Epcot - they wished they'd split their entree as well. We also did the Buffet at Hollywood and Vine.

Other than that is was breakfast in the room - and the rest counter service. You can EASILY split a lot at the counter service. We would do the "meal deal" with the fries/etc. then a seperate sandwich. We wished we would have split a meal at Columbia Harbor House - it was quite a bit of food. Sometimes we'd order a double cheeseburger and just cut it in 1/2 .. no extra bun thingy - too much starch anyway.. ;)

The only place I was GLAD we didn't split was Earl of Sandwich - the sandwiches were NOT huge there - but the price is certainly right. And the food is delicious!!!! I think it's the best deal for the food I've seen - while the portions were not huge .. the quality of the food was great!!
 
disneysteve said:
I just want to clarify this. SOME people dislike the water in Florida. They say it has a sulfur taste to it. We drink the local water constantly when we're there and never noticed a problem. We almost always order cups of water at Disney restaurants because we don't want all the soda and it is cheaper. We also carry a sport water bottle and refill it throughout the day with ice and water from the restaurants, fountains or sinks. We're always amazed by how many people are willing to shell out perfectly good cash for bottled water when there is an unlimited supply available for free. This is very much a personal preference issue.

I never knew there was anything "wrong" with the water until I read it here on the DIS boards. I've never had a problem with any of the water from the counter service places (or other restaurants) or in the room.

I did find the water a little odd from a water fountain at MK one time, but thought that maybe it was just because the water fountain was so old. It also wasn't cold and maybe that's why I didn't like it from that fountain.
 
disneysteve said:
We haven't gone this route. Somehow that feels like crossing the line to me. It would be like walking off with the whole tray of free samples at the supermarket.

Agree.

Also very tacky IMHO, and I am a tightwad!!!!!
 
I don't mind Florida water - i grew up with water with a very high iron content so it takes a lot to disgust me. However, I usually order water and ask for a couple of lemon slices on the side (or they may be on a condiment bar) - then I squeeze a bit of lemon juice in it and add a pack of splenda. I get very sick to my stomach if I drink too much soda in the heat and this is a great alternative for me. I usually suck down around 80 ounces of water a day.
 

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