Ideas for reasonable meals?

[Rylamouse]

We are going next week to do WDW, MGM, and AK. Any thoughts on keeping a reasonable food budget? We are keeping a tight budget on food, no fancy meals, what are some suggestions for good eating for lunch and dinner, I have a 4 and 2 year old.
Any favorites at any of these 3 places? I already know we want Pizzafari at AK, don't know about anyplace else there. Have some ideas for WDW and MGM, but would like any suggestions to check out while there.

 

[pumba]

at MK you could get the chicken dinner ..COSMIC RAYS...plenty there for the two little ones and probably you too.....very good in my opinion......
The food courts at the resorts are very good too....plenty selections for them and for you too....alot of the CS at the parks have kids selections for 3.99 which includes the drinks, and grapes and main dish.....Electric Umbrella at EPOT....
AT AK the Flame Tree has a chicken and rib combo .....again enough for you and the kiddos.....unless they are little piggies like my grandson is...hahaha
MGM is hard to pick because there are just the regular food courts there...Backlot Express has kids meals too.....
Hope you have a great time ....we leave this week too.....I am very anxious

 

[JennyDrake]

I think you will be OK at just about any counterservice. Most portions are large, so there would definitely be enough to share off and adult plate with a 2 year old. Another idea is to get a kids meal and split it between the two children.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We find that CS places have large portions so DH and I tend to share most of our food. In DTD we LOVE WPE..the portions are huge and the price is very reasonable, best of all the food is awesome. We also like Cosmic Rays and Peco Bills in MK. EPcot has awesome choices, Sunshine Seasons, Morrocco and China area few of our favs.

 

[blanq]

I am not sure if you are set on eating in the parks, or if you are willing to leave the parks to eat a meal or two.

When at MGM, I would suggest hopping on the boat for a ride to the Dolphin to have lunch or dinner at Picabu Buffeteria. Your kids would probably like the boat ride, and it is nice to have a break from the park(s). They have a family meal deal for $24.00, which consists of a whole rotisserie chicken and three sides. For the sides you can choose from green beans, creamed spinach, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes and cheesy fusilli.

While you are at the MK, you can take the boat from there to Ft Wilderness. Trails End/Trail's to Go is a great inexpensive meal option. Trails End has a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner that is very reasonable. Your 2 year old would be free. The cost is $11.99/$7.99 (breakfast), $12.99/$8.99 (lunch) and $17.99/$9.99 (dinner). At Trail's To Go, they have a Family Meal deal for $19.99 that feeds 4, and includes 10 pieces of fried chicken, french fries, coleslaw and biscuits. They also have whole pizzas here.

You can check out menus/prices for all WDW table service and counter service restaurants at www.allearsnet.com

 

[disnut8]

At Magci Kingdom, Casey's for hot dogs and fries.

Animal Kingdom Flame Tree BBQ. Kids meals are chicken wings (good) and hot dog (good). There's also a side of cheese fries that's pretty good and very sharable. Best part is the seating area, especially down by the water, is very nice with lots of ducks and ibises roaming around so kids can get some entertainment while try eat (just please don't have them chase the animals).

MGM - the market area on Sunset Boulevard down where Twilight Zone and Rock and Roller Coaster are - hurgers, pizza, turkey legs, and foot long hot dogs with a shared seating area. There's also a fruit place there.

At any of the parks, a soft pretzel is alway an option for us. The two of us share one since they are so big.

You didn't ask about Epcot but Lotus Blossom Cafe is a favorite of ours.

 

[iloverags2]

Flame Tree at AK is an awesome counter service stop. Excellent sandwiches and ribs (and really tons of food on your plate). We also love Trails End at Ft. Wilderness for a low cost sitdown meal. It's a buffet, with tons of choices, and the food is yummy comfort food. Beaches and Cream over at Beach Club is another choice. Small sitdown (with no reservations taken), and wonderful burgers!

My husband and I typically split our sit down meals, other than Trails End and Beaches and Cream, as we can never finish an entire entree by ourselves. Works better for us, and lets us leave room for a dessert too. Disney is very accommodating with this.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

We normally do lunch in our room (sandwiches) with a small child she normally needs a nap mid day anyway so we just hop a bus back to the room.

 

[Rylamouse]

I love all the places, I get to go and look at their food to. Thanks for the review website allearsnet.com! I love reading reviews!

I am sure there are pretzel places at MGM, but none have it in their name, as the other parks do. Any specific places anyone knows about. We definetely will be getting those a few times, we are pretzel freaks!

It seems Flame tree is a big hit! I was overlooking it because we are not huge BBQ fans, but it looks like there is enough other things to satisfy, and the portions seem to be pretty big, which is always a plus in budgeting.

If anyone else has anything favorites to add, go ahead!

 

[Rylamouse]

Anyone ever do the Playhouse Play and Dine with the characters from Playhouse disney for lunch?

 

[disneyfan55]

One thing we always do is bring cereal for breakfast, bring snacks and our own drinks. You can also make use of peanut butter and jelly. Just some ideas to supplement the places other have named. At counter service places sometimes we used to get 2 child meals and one adult and share. Always enough and child's meals are more inexpensive.

 

[septbaby]

Trails End buffet at Ft. Wilderness campground is pretty reasonable. Your 2yr should be free and the 4yr will pay the child's price. Pricing as per AllEars.net: Bfast: 11.99/7.99, Lunch 12.99/8.99, Dinner 17.99/9.99 There is a sing along campfire that starts near sundown, so if you had dinner you could go over for the campfire (Chip and Dale are there), stay for the Disney movie and call it a night. There is no charge for the campfire or movie, so a really nice night of family entertainment. Obviously you can do those two things even if you have dinner elsewhere. There are pony rides over there too, but I know your 2yr is too young, not sure about your 4yo. It rained the day we were headed over there, so I can't give you a review. Its on our list for next year.

Not sure where you are staying, but check the menu at your resort CS. We stayed at CBR and for $7.09 we got a breakfast platter that included: scrambled eggs, potatoes, slice of french toast, biscuit, bacon and sausage. We said no thanks to the meats and still didn't finish the platter. The three of you could get a great start to the day with that meal. For dinner ($7.99 to 9.49) you could get two sides plus things like salmon, chicken, pot roast, pork etc. Their kids meal are just $3.99.

If your kids will eat well first thing sharing the bfast platter, nibbling at the park and then a more substantial dinner might work well for your budget. Be sure to see if there are combo meals. I had selected a small pizza and the CM let me know it comes as a combo. I ate the salad and some pizza ends (thanks nephew) and my nephew ate all the pizza he wanted. We were both happy and got two meals out of one. My salad was very fresh and nicely packaged, I didn't even add dressing to it. Finally, get complimentary water for some of your beverages. In the heat you need it anyway and its a great way to save your budget.

I would also pack juice boxes in my checked luggage. You can then have them in the room and grab some each day for the park. Put them in a ziploc bag to be safe, but they'll pack really well.

My favorite Disney snack is the Mickey bar. Nephew liked the itzakadoozie popsicle and the apple slices with caramel dip(sometimes w/o the dip). I'm not sure if Mom would say the Dole Whip or popcorn, she double dipped on both! I must confess that I didn't meet a slice of carrot cake I didn't like (Main St. bakery HUGE or resort CS).

Here's wishing you and your little ones as much magic as you can stand at Disney World!

 

[LarryJ]

If time allows a lot of the resorts not on the monorail have very reasonable pricing and all the posts above have given great suggestions. Always look at even getting 2 adult CS meals and mixing and matching with your 4 and 2 yr old if it fits with you and your children's tastes. Here on DIS you can see almost all the menus for both TS and CS offerings ... I just remembered if it hasn't been mentioned the Restaurantorous in Dino land even has Mikey D's including the chicken nuggets. We are FW groupies and often eat a late lunch like at 3 to 4 and then back at FW just have a late snack and then a fairly good breakfast the next morning.

BTW where will you be staying since things like refers and the AS/POPs have refer swaps that might really help keeping the costs down.

Larry

 

[mom2aredhead]

Anyone ever do the Playhouse Play and Dine with the characters from Playhouse disney for lunch?

The food was good...the flank steak is something that I am remembering as really good there (we were there Oct 06 and May 07 - I think the menu now is the same as it was in May) They also had pasta, chicken and salmon dishes that we liked. Additional choices for kids I remember chicken nuggets, and mac and cheese. We went for the first lunch seating and the one side of the buffet was still set up with breakfast items. Server told us to help ourselves to either/both sides, so my son ate pancakes and chicken nuggets. I know, YUCK, but we're happy when he eats anything without fighting about it.

They go up to the front and dance a few times and the characters come around to the tables - JoJo, Goliath, Leo, and June. It was lots of fun.