Afforable food for 2 adults and 4 kids?

[LuLusApple]

This last trip we ate brekki at cocos on katella they had a 4.99$ special about 6 diff options. Me and DD12 ate for under 15$ including tip cheapest full brekki I have ever had

 

[Mugglemama]

we are a family of 6 as well, and sometimes we do DLR trips that MUST be serious budget trips if they are going to occur at all, lol.

on our cheapest trip, we brought stuff for PB&J sandwiches and made them at the hotel in the morning before we left for the parks. we brought a lot of apples, bananas, raisins, granola bars, etc., as well. cookies, too.

then, as it was off-season and we had brought 2 sandwiches per person into the parks, we waited until leaving the parks in the evening, then drove over to El Pollo Loco and did the drive-thru to take back to the room. it's my most favorite chicken ON EARTH, and is prepared in a healthy way (grilled - no breading), and we could get a HUGE dinner with sides, etc. plus churros, that fed us all with food left over, for under $30!!

we also bought extra churros there to take into the parks the next day, because at El Pollo Loco, they are 2 for $1.

we don't drink soda during our DLR trips either, unless we are buying a meal at an in-park restaurant. we buy a case of water bottles before the trip at wal-mart (i think it's less than $6), and bring several into the park each day.

lol, our really cheapie trip, where we did the pb&j sandwiches, etc., i think our budget was something like $40 per day for food for 5 (youngest wasn't born yet back then)! and we did it! of course, we had spent probably about $75 on snacks, water, fruit, sandwich supplies, etc., before the trip, but still, it felt like we had spent close to nothing after that 5 days.

fortunately, our trips since then haven't had to be quite that cheap, lol, but we still never spend more than $100 per day in the parks, except for the last day when we buy souvenirs.

we eat bananas or cereal bars for breakfast while standing in line waiting for the gates to open, then we either do one large meal inside the parks (always Taste Pilot's Grill because that's where my kids always want to go) around 2 o'clock, or we leave in the middle of the day and go grab El Pollo Loco and take it back to the room for our midday meal/swim/shower/nap routine. we often make a run to 31 flavors during that time too, since it's better ice cream than what you get in the parks, and costs half the price (or less). then we all just have fruit or a cereal bar or something later in the evening when back inside the parks if anybody wants it, but nobody is usually very hungry (we always have raisins, apples, homemade cookies, etc. with us for snacking throughout the day. there have been times we even brought ziplock baggies of popcorn and cotton candy so we didn't have to buy them in the parks).

i don't know about everyone else, but eating more than one DLR restaurant meal a day would SERIOUSLY screw up my tummy! sometimes we skip it and go to El Pollo Loco solely for that reason, because for some reason the DLR food really does a nasty job on our tummies, even if we're drinking tons of water and eating fruit each day.

 

[laura&fam]

In the parks - well almost in Cal. Advent. - try White Water Snacks in Grand Californian. Enter from the shortcut in Cal. Advent. The portions are huge and easily shared. We also order pizza out of the parks and have eaten at Millie's and Mimi's. Both are very good and nice sized portions. Take your own water to the parks, it'll save you a mint. I buy a gallon at the Minni Mart on Harbor in the front of one of the hotels and refill two bottles each day that we are at the parks. There is also a Quizno's, IHOP, & Denny's on Harbor.

I've seen alot about bottled water lately. Is there something wrong with the tap water? I've always just filled up our bottles at the tap, should I not be?

 

[Mugglemama]

I've seen alot about bottled water lately. Is there something wrong with the tap water? I've always just filled up our bottles at the tap, should I not be?

i haven't heard anything bad about the tap water in the area, although tap water in general probably isn't that great, lol. we used to live about half an hour from DLR, and never, ever drank the tap water. but my sis lived 2 houses away and drinks it all the time, so who knows?

we take in bottled water because public water fountains gross me out (i'm kind of a germ-a-phobe), and don't like the taste of tap. we don't refill our water bottles, we open a new one.

 

[pixiewings71]

We refill our water bottles but yes, the water in Anaheim has an odd taste to it. We generally take 1 bottle per day and refill as needed thru the day.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

If you do a late breakfast/early lunch (breakfast served til 10:30 I think) at Tomorrowland Terrace the breakfasts are very large, around $6 and come with a drink--I love that you can get a coke instead of oj or milk. My kids are small, but they split the french toast sticks w/a large sausage patty and 2 orange wedges, DH got the spicy chicken sand and we were all full plus fries & french toast left over. We didn't have to wait in line since it was not typical hour for breakfast or lunch.
Even though it's 3x more $ than you'd pay in the grocery store, I buy the kids fruit from the cart on Main Street or by Jungle Cruise--lots of fiber to fill them up and help counteract all the junk! Still cheaper than a kids meal, even if you throw in a juice box.

 

[Glynis]

We just spent 5 days at DL at the beginning of June, and since we are a lot like the OP, here's what we did.

We filled up on the hotel's continental breakfast! Seriously, this saved us a ton!!!

We also packed in snacks ourselves. I never buy jerky except for DL trips, so to my kids, that's as good as a Mickey bar! I also pack granola bars, fruit leather, fruit snacks, apples and oranges. Most times this will tide us over through lunch. If we find that the kids are still hungry, we will leave the park and head back to our hotel. We travel with sandwich fixings, so we can make PB&J, turkey and cheese, or even hot dogs in tortillas. We stay at the Park Vue hotel, so we have the fridge in the room as well as a microwave.

As for meals in the park, we have found that the Plaza has the largest portions, and we can feed our family of 7 on 2 chicken dinners and a Cobb salad.

Rancho del Zocalo also has platters that are large enough for sharing.

DH loves to get a turkey leg and split that with the kids. I hate them, so I stay away from that!

We have also eaten at the Hungry Bear, and found that the burgers are big enough to split.

As for the IHOP, stay far away!!! The place right next door (can't think of the name, but it's a buffet) is much better priced for a buffet! We have also found a Chinese place just up the street from IHOP that is excellent food, excellent priced, and HUGE portions!

 

[Potterswife]

White water snacks at the GCH, it's so close it's basically inside CA
Taste pilots grill at CA
Bengal BBQ inside DL
Those yummy turkey legs
Mimi's cafe, right down the street, sign up your email and recieve a BOGO for breakfast
Subway $5 subs
Pizza Hut is walking distance close

You will always get more bang for your buck outside of the parks...except for that rip off IHOP across the street. We usually eat breakfast in the room, bring snacks for lunch and eat out early dinner.

 

[pixiewings71]

We just spent 5 days at DL at the beginning of June, and since we are a lot like the OP, here's what we did.

We filled up on the hotel's continental breakfast! Seriously, this saved us a ton!!!

We also packed in snacks ourselves. I never buy jerky except for DL trips, so to my kids, that's as good as a Mickey bar! I also pack granola bars, fruit leather, fruit snacks, apples and oranges. Most times this will tide us over through lunch. If we find that the kids are still hungry, we will leave the park and head back to our hotel. We travel with sandwich fixings, so we can make PB&J, turkey and cheese, or even hot dogs in tortillas. We stay at the Park Vue hotel, so we have the fridge in the room as well as a microwave.

As for meals in the park, we have found that the Plaza has the largest portions, and we can feed our family of 7 on 2 chicken dinners and a Cobb salad.

Rancho del Zocalo also has platters that are large enough for sharing.

DH loves to get a turkey leg and split that with the kids. I hate them, so I stay away from that!

We have also eaten at the Hungry Bear, and found that the burgers are big enough to split.

As for the IHOP, stay far away!!! The place right next door (can't think of the name, but it's a buffet) is much better priced for a buffet! We have also found a Chinese place just up the street from IHOP that is excellent food, excellent priced, and HUGE portions!

PLEASE tell me you are not talking about Captain Kidd's...OMG, we ate there once and I could not even eat my food....it was disgusting...DBF had the buffet and it too was disgusting.......