Saving Money on Food

[seggerman]

I'm going to Disney - and I don't want to waste money by paying theme park prices for food. On the other hand, I haven't been to Disney in almost 2 decades so I don't want to waste time heading to International Drive for dinner every night. I inadvertedly scheduled a trip the week Star Wars Galaxy opens. So - advice for most moderate priced restaurants in the parks - and what to do about breakfast on a planned December trip? I am a heavy on the veg person myself - my boyfriend is more of a meat and potatoes eater. On my last trip I recall bringing bags of shredded cabbage and buying a soup at the German pavilion and gradually eating the two together. Yum.

 

[Nick6300]

You could look into a few of the grocery delivery service like Amazon. If you’re having a car there or willing to uber if not, you could go to a Publix or Walmart nearby to buy food to bring in. We generally pack all our breakfast foods that are mostly quick cereal bar type stuff - to eat while waiting at bus stop. I have taken an insulated soft lunch bag with a frozen water/ice pack and snacks like cheeses, pbjs, apples. But that was more for our day trips and it was getting too expensive when going every week. I’ve seen all kinds of things like people packing made hot dogs, chicken, pizza into the park- that’s not us.

For our upcoming trip, we’re packing breakfast, and bringing in few snacks like nuts. But mainly dining for lunch and dinner onsite. Mainly quick service to both save money and so that it’s quicker. Just my preference but I don’t like to spend a ton of time at table service. We limit those to about every other day, lunch at Be our guest or yak n yeti or le cellier. And maybe 1 breakfast like garden grill before park opens.

 

[SFlaDisneyfans]

We are heading down in two weeks and the inflation at the restaurants over the past few years has been astounding. While i understand the time vs money quandry of eating off site, I gotta say Disney prices are pushing us this trip to eat off-site for the majority of our stay at dinner. You dont mention where you are staying but take a look at google maps "Disney Springs" and look at the area just NE of Disney Springs (Apopka/Vineland Rd). There are easily 50+ places to eat of all price ranges and flavors.

That being said, strictly in parks try to maximize any discounts you may get (DVC/AP/Landry's). Depending on your length of stay, see if a tables of wonderland card is worth the cost (20% discounts add up and if you are eating in the parks each day you might save enough to pay for the card). We either do a full breakfast meal or a full lunch and something of a healthy snack for the other. From a value perspective in AK there is Flame Tree BBQ and Pizzafari. In Epcot the Sunshine Gardens food court is a very nice selection and in France there is a nice little sandwich shop (La Hallas Boulangerie) with quiches/cheeses/sandwiches/tarts). We rarely eat in the Studiou because it is so close to the Boardwalk/BeachClub/Swan/Dolphin area which offer wider choices. MK I like the food and value at the Skipper Canteen and Liberty Tree but in general MK seems to be one of the harder places to eat without feeling gouged. We will often take a boat from MK to either Wilderness Lodge or Fort Wilderness to eat at Whispering Canyon or Trail's End instead of eating at MK.


Enjoy your trip.

 

[Nick6300]

I like the PP suggestions for park restaurants.

MK - there’s some value by splitting a meal with the help of the toppings bar at Pecos Bills. Easily doable. There a toppings bar at cosmic rays too but I think more limited. We like Columbia Harbour House for QS that has some different options than burgers and pizza. We usually get breadsticks and sauce for a value snack at Pinocchio’s, and occasionally their flatbreads and sandwiches. Sleepy hollow’s chicken waffle sandwich’s are popular- not sure I’ve had one recently though.
EP- the French patisserie- there are still some ham croissants for like 4.75, pizza slices for something like $4.5.
http://allears.net/dining/menu/boulangerie-patisserie-les-halles/all-day/
Use Allears menus and research values and preferences - saves you time, and it’s sort of fun to figure out where you want to go. We actually spreadsheet choices from narrowed down restaurants for meals and snacks ahead of time so we can mobile order quickly without staring at menus.

We sometimes walk to the boardwalk from EP to areas like the bakery and corn dog stand where the food is much cheaper.
Sunshine seasons has a big variety like PP stated, some good sizes too on sandwiches and such. We go to the Norway bakery too for sandwiches and desserts.

AK- cheese bacon fries at Flame Tree is a good value - huge and like $6.99. The onion rings. We do get the rib chicken platters sometimes but i think they’re something like $17. There’s a toppings bar at Restaurantasaurus. Nachos at a little snack cart in the carnival area for like $7-8. We always get the fried rice and egg rolls at Yak n yeti QS counter, but they keep rising the tag on them. But the fried rice is filling and a value compared to the meals there. We like the canteen in Pandora - not really a huge value but tasty for a QS.

HS- we get the fried green tomato sandwich at Rosie’s. There’s a vegetarian caprese sandwich for 9.99 at Backlot Express.

Disney Springs has lots of options of course but for value, Earl Of Sandwich. Kind of embarrassing to admit but We used to walk the crosswalk from Disney Springs to the Hess gas station and buy a bunch of food for cheaper - whole pizzas for like $6, .99 slushes, 2-litters and even microwave stuff for later at the hotel.

 

[Master Fastpasser]

Stick to Quick Service restaurants.
Look at menus for food options and prices.
Disney is not your usual expensive theme park fare.
There are plenty of reasonably priced food with a variety of options.
For breakfast I usually just bring something from home like protein bars and water etc.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't see food money as "wasted", but I do agree with sticking to moderate choices. As someone else said, Disney food isn't typical theme park quality -- it's good. Have you looked at All Ears Network menus? You can use them to choose ahead of time your restaurants.

My thoughts on making your total food budget more affordable:

- You don't say where you're staying. If you're staying off-site, try to choose a hotel that provides breakfast. If you're bidding on Priceline, bid for a 2.5 star room. These tend to be Holiday Inn Express, Country Inns & Suites, Hampton Inn ... and they tend to include breakfast.
- As someone else suggested, mail yourself a box of food. Granola bars, etc. Carry a few into the parks each day.
- Alternately, place a grocery order to Walmart (or another store) and pick it up on your way to the hotel. This'll allow you to choose bagged salads, yogurt, and so forth. For his meat and potatoes ... is he okay with frozen things?
- Instead of buying drinks (yet you must be hydrated!), ask for free ice water at Quick Service restaurants.
- I do like the idea of one sit-down meal per day. We need the mid-day rest, so we enjoy sitting, drinking several big drinks, and starting again refreshed. This doesn't have to be an expensive meal.
- Consider splitting a meal or ordering kids' meals.
- Consider ordering your meals through MDE so you don't feel rushed by the line behind you.
- You can ask for "sides" -- fries, etc. -- to be left off your plate, which will save you a dollar or two.
- Consider ordering pizza to your room for your evening meal. Almost everyone likes it, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a cheaper meal.
- Do you have Starbucks gift cards rattling around in your purse? People are always giving these to me, and I don't drink coffee ... so I'm saving them for breakfast biscuits at Disney.
- You can "join" the club for Rainforest Cafe or Earl of Sandwich and get some free stuff.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I do a grocery store delivery of breakfast goods, water, fruit, chips, dips, cheeses and PBJ supplies. you'll balk at the "start up" costs, but it will save you in the long run. You have to eat whether you're at home or at WDW, don't forget.....you're not eating at home, so move the grocery budget over from "home" and put it in the WDW column.

 

[seggerman]

I will stop at Pubix after landing for fruit for 4 breakfasts and lunches as well as bags of cabbage. I will bring string cheese, also for breakfast. Maybe get bagels too, so breakfast is limited to coffee for me. As for Disney meals - Sunshine Seasons sounds good. Harambe Market. Columbia House. Pop Century.

 

[gorkt]

When we did more budget trips, we ate breakfast in the room, a late lunch/early dinner at 2-3 pm in the parks and then eat snacks that we would bring with us to keep us full. This also saves a lot of time and aggravation eating at off hours, but not everyone wants to do this.

 

[wishuponastar1984]

I would also add options like GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEATS, and Favor to your food options. Restaurants vary but it is a good way to get a hot meal delivered. Sometimes it is nice to eat in the room after a long day of touring. You can order via the app on your way back to your resort.

 

[SFlaDisneyfans]

Someone mentioned Starbucks gift cards and I realized I totally spaced on there being Starbucks in parks now. BJs/Costco/Sams etc do their regular gift card sales. I just picked up some Starbuck's cards for like 20% off. I hadn't thought about using them in WDW. Speaking of gift cards to save money, dont forget the Raintree Cafe's and Yak and Yeti are Landry's locations and you can look for discounted cards for those also.

 

[firefly_ris]

I'm going to have repeat suggestions that other posters said but just to re-iterate that they do help, here's what we did recently. I was feeding 5 people (2 adults and 3 children) for a week in WDW, staying onsite in a moderate room, so we only had a fridge and coffee maker.

- Accumulated Starbucks gift cards via things like Ibotta and Groupon. Starbucks is no longer in my regular every day life budget, so I save these up and use them on vacations and splurge on Fraps and stuff. But they also have breakfast pastries and other things like that.

- Did an Amazon Prime Now delivery for the room. My DH arrived a day ahead of the kids and I so he ordered while he was already at the resort and met the delivery guy at the front desk area, so he avoided the whole bag holding fee thing. We ordered items for breakfast -- bagels, bananas, Pop Tarts, mini cereals, 1/2 gallon of milk, cold brew coffee (I do not care for the in-room coffee). We also ordered some snacks to take into the parks like granola bars and fruit snacks. Then we also ordered some cheese sticks, pepperoni, etc. for in the room. Lastly, alcohol... my DH got boxed wine, a few beers, and I got hard seltzers. That saved a ton. You can take them in a cooler to the pool if you want and avoid the expensive pool bar.

- Only did 4 table service meals the entire week, anything else in park was a snack or quick service. We split a lot of stuff too. My kids are light eaters, and so they could order 2 kids meals to split amongst the 3 of them, stuff like that. I limited alcohol ordering in the parks.... basically just 1 drink at the table service meals (I'm not a big drinker so this was simple for me... I'd rather eat my calories in dessert form). Some snacks were hefty enough to replace lunch for me as well. If there's particular table service or quick service you're interested in, look at menus and prices online and you can build a general idea of how much each meal might cost you.

The last thing is one thing we didn't do which was GrubHub/UberEats/other takeout delivery services, but this seems like it would be a good idea.

 

[Nick6300]

We've never done grocery services despite obviously knowing it was avail. We are going to try to do an order this time. Aren't the Value non suite rooms equipped with a very small frig that might not even get that cold, and just a small ice box? So you can't get a full gal. of milk for instance?

 

[firefly_ris]

We've never done grocery services despite obviously knowing it was avail. We are going to try to do an order this time. Aren't the Value non suite rooms equipped with a very small frig that might not even get that cold, and just a small ice box? So you can't get a full gal. of milk for instance?

They can fit a gallon of milk. We just didn't need that much and the half gal left room for more other stuff.

 

[Nick6300]

They can fit a gallon of milk. We just didn't need that much and the half gal left room for more other stuff.

thanks, and do you think these little frig's are cold enough for most items? I think our delivery - we were mainly going to focus on heavy things that we didn't want to pack such as gatorade and other drinks. But we haven't really decided yet.

 

[firefly_ris]

thanks, and do you think these little frig's are cold enough for most items? I think our delivery - we were mainly going to focus on heavy things that we didn't want to pack such as gatorade and other drinks. But we haven't really decided yet.

Yeah, I feel they were. We were storing lunch meat, cheese sticks etc and they were what I felt was the correct temperature, for 7 nights. No freezing capability though.

 

[Anthony1971]

I would look through the menu's and decide what type of food you like.... Bottom line is you buying ?? because it is less expensive than something you actually want has 0 value but buying something you will enjoy eating has a lot of value paying a few dollars more... Disney has become VERY expensive for food and for a lot the quality is not there but there are some places that still have a decent quality food and good quality food especially in EPCOT and DS... for breakfast BYO for lunch Animal Kingdom has Flame tree (although you are better off at Whispering canon at WL as it is all you can eat and only a few dollar more for LUNCH) Satu'li canteen and yak and yeti local food café all offer decent quality. EPCOT any of the countries one that gets little attention is China where the CS is far better than the TS and also reasonable but seating is limited. MK the only place we eat is Columbia harbor house which is recent years has declined a little but still decent. HS try the Hollywood brown derby lounge. Ask for ice water it is free.....If you are spending time at the resort get a Mug... Honestly two people for a week can easily spend less than 500 eating at Disney and eat very well...

 

[wishuponastar1984]

thanks, and do you think these little frig's are cold enough for most items? I think our delivery - we were mainly going to focus on heavy things that we didn't want to pack such as gatorade and other drinks. But we haven't really decided yet.

Deli meats and cheeses can be stored at slightly warmer temperatures but I think the temp was fine. If you are worried about milk then just leave that off your list and you can always pick up single-serve milk to supplement cereal. Even without a fridge at all, there is still a ton of items you can purchase that will help keep your food budget in check. I don't think of it as depriving myself but more along the lines of convenience. I don't want to waste time standing in lines for snacks sometimes so having grab and go items in the room or in my park bag is great. Get things that you may not let your kids normally have at home so it still seems like a treat. We focus on individually wrapped items rather than one big bag of things (chips, 100 calorie pack almonds, mini bags of trail mix, individual cereal bowls, etc) This is also the time to get creative. I like to put peanut butter and bananas on a bagel. It isn't the most traditional breakfast but it satisfying and relatively healthy. Also a good idea to throw some sandwich baggies in your suitcase in case there is something you want to split and take into the parks. Easier than trying to wrap in a napkin or paper towel.

 

[bravestmerida]

We bring breakfast food or get it from grocery stores on every vacation, whether deluxe or budget. If you eat dry breakfast food (cereal, bread, oatmeal, peanut butter) you can easily bring it from home. Same goes with fruit; I have been known to pack a bunch of green bananas and a bag of apples in my carry-on. Yes, my husband and child complain about the "soft" bananas, but they eat them anyway. Yes, my carry-on is super heavy, haha.

Our goal is always to eat breakfast in the room (with coffee), bring snacks in, have a QS lunch that we share and either QS or sit down dinner. I am a huge snack person but rarely touch the snacks we bring, so I end up supplementing my QS meals with those - usually an apple, granola bar or trail mix. My kid also often prefers eating an appetizer from sitdown menus rather than a kid's meal, YMMV on cost if doing that. At QS you can order a kid's meal for some savings. Also, if supplementing with snacks, you can have a piece of fruit and a side for some savings, for example, I ate a huge apple with a side of breadsticks and marinara at Pinnochio's for dinner one night.

We spent $450 on Disney food on our last 6 day trip with 2 adults and 1 child (including 1 meal at Tusker House). This doesn't include $50 in giftcards spent at Rainforest Cafe. I cashed in credit card points for that.

 

[Jorjabelle]

One of the reasons we are camping at Fort Wilderness is being able to bring and prepare our meals at our camper and sleep in our own beds.

The only ADRs I’ve made are for Oga’s Cantina - four ADRs - just for the atmosphere and to assure a reason to go in if at capacity.

I’ll have a backpack with collapsible water bottles we can fill with ice water from the Quick Service counters for free - I don’t like the taste of FL water in the water fountains.

No sodas, coffees except for what we bring and have at the campsite.

I’ll pack snacks and PBJ sandwiches for in the parks. I have a small fishing tackle box I’ll put different cut up fruit, nuts, cheese, veggies and dips with a slim frozen cooler pack underneath inside the box to keep it all cool. And a sleeve I made out of reflectex to insulate.