Any tips on saving money at COUNTER SERVICE

[Alice28]

I agree about sharing one large soda- the larges are QUITE big (& I love my Diet Coke!)! We bought a case of bottled water at Kash and Karry on the way in for $7 something...24 bottles! Each bottle of H2O at the parks is $2.50...we saved A LOT of money. Only twice do I remember buying an extra bottle of water or soda while walking around the parks. We have two boys and they both like a lot of the same foods; often we would just buy one adult sized chicken strips or hot dog and split it- that would save a few bucks. And one time I bought a huge fruit salad at our hotel's food court (the Contemporary), ordered two orders of chicken strips and it fed all of us. Don't be hesitant to mix and match like that; at Columbia Harbour House we ordered two of the fish and chicken combos, one with carrots, one with fries, one clam chowder bowl and one side salad and we had food leftover! My parents shared several meals (they were doing WW at the time, and they always seemed to have plenty of food) and then later they would get a popcorn or an ice cream bar. We had a group of seven and we did a lot of sharing off of each other's plates, and that made meals fun- lots of variety. Have fun!

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

Not counter service, but at the Rainforest Cafe, the 4 cheese pizza (may have been listed under appetizers??) and the plain caesar salad fed 4 of us (DH, me, DS4 and DS2). The kids meals are so overpriced there that I try to avoid ordering them.

Okay, so we did get a "Volcano" for dessert. Isn't that mandatory at the RFC??

 

[Kay1]

This may not be appropriate but I've always wanted to share. The little ice cream place in Africa at the AK sells floats for $3.50. They are big and filling and they come with an adorable long spoon with a cute safari Mickey Mouse on it. I can't remember what the cup it comes with is like but I always felt it was an excellent value.

 

[pmcpmc]

Shop at walmart for breakfast,lunch,snacks and only buy dinner.
That's what we do when we stay for 3 weeks in the summer.
Different story on our own in adult time,how sweet.

 

[cockermon]

Some ideas to save:

1. Bring juice boxes/water & fruit along to round out a sandwich or pizza as a meal

2. Buy only the kids meal deal at Animal Kingdom - let your kids have the ice cream & parents share the soda. It is only 5.99 - quite a good deal compared to adults. Grown-ups can just get the sandwich/entree.

3. Bring small, healthy snacks ( granola bars, oranges, etc) and eat mid-morning so you don't get too hungry at lunch

4. Vouchers+/or sharing also good- keeps portion sizes & cost under control

P.S.- Can you tell I'm a dietitian?

 

[whozit]

An earlier post suggested the child's meal deal at AK for $5.99 (this gets you a child's entree (including small soda, I think) and then vouchers to use (now or later, at AK only) for an ice cream and a bottled water or soda). There is also an adult's meal deal (still get the ice cream and bottled drink voucher)....it costs quite a bit more (I can't remember, $10.99-$12.99)....but it is not a bad deal. At the Flame Tree BBQ, the children's entrees available on the deal were PB&J, chicken nuggets (I think), and maybe one other thing. With the adult meal deal, you can get any adult entree....my niece likes ribs, so we got the rack of BBQ ribs, it also came with baked beans, cole slaw (maybe a roll?) and a BIG cup of soda (probably 20 oz). We split that meal for lunch and it was more than enough, and we weren't hungry for dinner (although my niece did use the voucher to get an ice cream bar just after the parade).

 

[Mic]

crazymomof4-
Tell your DH not to sweat the bun thing, it was actually suggested to me by a CM at Epcot (at the counter service place in America) a few years ago. We have 4 kids, too, and were standing in line to order dinner, and we noticed that they did not have a kids hamburger meal. My husband and I were discussing whether we should order the adult combo meal for our son(7 at the time) when the CM suggested my husband order the double burger combo and an extra bun. I was so grateful to him, because I never would have thought of that, and we spent about 70 cents for the bun instead of $7 for the meal! It's no longer an issue for us, however, because my-then-7-year-old picky eater grew into a "hollow" 10-year-old that eats more than his 2 older sisters combined!

My daughters and I love salads, so we once shared 2 of the counter service salads without chicken in MK(less than $5 each)and an order of chili cheese fries and each had a water. My DH and son each had a combo meal with drink, and our total was @$28 for 6 people. We have also spent much more at counter service restaurants, too, so we prefer to do sit-down lunches and counter service dinners.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by Mic
My daughters and I love salads, so we once shared 2 of the counter service salads without chicken in MK(less than $5 each)

Some of the salads on property are pretty large. I know 2 of us shared a grilled chicken salad at the restaurant at America in EPCOT on one trip. Don't know if they're still that large, but it was certainly more than either one of us needed.


Steve

 

[missypie]

I was inspired by all of the tips about sharing meals on this board, so when our family went out to eat Mexican food this weekend, I suggested to my DH that we share the 4 item "choose your own" combo platter - that way we spent only $9.95 for the two of us, instead of each of us spending $7.95 for a combo with 2 items...we did that and it was PLENTY of food ... but I guess I only "broke even" because DH ordered a marguerita that ended up being $5.99!

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by missypie
I was inspired by all of the tips about sharing meals on this board, so when our family went out to eat Mexican food this weekend, I suggested to my DH that we share the 4 item "choose your own" combo platter - that way we spent only $9.95 for the two of us, instead of each of us spending $7.95 for a combo with 2 items...we did that and it was PLENTY of

Yes, the sharing rules apply everywhere, not just Disney. Thanks to the growing obesity epidemic in this country, most restaurant portions have become monstrous. We almost always share when we go out. The amount of food being served is just obscene. We couldn't possibly eat it all. I'd much rather have them give me less and charge me less, but I realize I'm in the minority given the increasing size of the average American.

Steve

 

[missypie]

I so agree about the portion size. At the Mexican restaurant, they split our 4 item combo in the kitchen for us (we didn't request that, but it was nice of them) and it took up two full plates! I felt like I had over eaten, eating only half of an entre. (Of course, I also ate their delicious chips and salsa and fresh tortillas.)

 

[diane1102]

We're going in early December - 2 adults, and 2 daughters (ages 9 &13). Since the parks are closed early that time of year, we were thinking of this as our meal strategy-- let me know what you think.

We're in a villa, so we'll all eat a sit-down breakfast. We're not early birds, so we'd rather take the time to eat a meal. We're going to pack lunch and eat in the parks - PB&J, fruit, yogurt, nuts, granola bars. And I figure the kids will want to get ice cream or something by later in the afternoon. We'll stay in the park until 6 or 7 closing. Then to a sit-down dinner later on. I'm hearing a lot about the size of meals at counter services, but is it feasible to split meals at dinner. Or order appetizers instead of entrees? Any advice? With the shorter hours, I can't think of other strategies. Thanks. Diane.

 

[missypie]

Even with the "shorter" hours, you're planning a lot of time on your feet ... think about walking around/standing in line from 10 am to 6pm, even 4 days in a row ... quite tiring. My point is that you may want to vary your strategy by eating at least counter service lunches a few days. Sometimes you end up with time to "kill" while waiting for a Fast Pass to come up ... that's the perfect time to go to the rest room and at least eat a counter srvice meal where you sit for about half an hour. It can do wonders for your energy level.

 

[diane1102]

Thanks Missy. I know what you mean. What I meant when I said that we'd get a snack in the afternoon, I meant a sit down snack-- like fries and drinks. Or ice cream. And refresh and regroup. Not a 'snack on the run'.

Anyone else have meal sharing strategies? We're really not big eaters, so any ways to save money in table-service restaurants would be appreciated.
Thanks
Diane.

 

[missypie]

I don't recall if it's been suggested on this thread, but if it hasn't, check out wdwig.com. They've posted the menus of all the restaurants. You can't really tell the portion size from the menus, but they give you a great idea of what is available and you can begin to get an idea of where you can share - e.g. where it says you get half a chicken, etc.

 

[disneygeek]

To those of you that like the toppings bar:

Did anyone notice the cutback at toppings bars on types of toppings? It was about 2 years ago. Far fewer items. The one that we noticed was Backlot in MGM. My DH who never complains said something to the manager. He said it was part of the changes all over WDW.

 

[Alice28]

disneygeek~

We ate at two restaurants with topping bars: Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills. Now this was my first time eating at either restaurant, so I don't have the past to compare it to, but there were lots of items to choose from, and for the most part, plenty of the items offered. Lots of grilled onions, mushrooms, cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, etc.. my dad made a little side salad out of the toppings at those restaurants and when we would grab a meal at the food and fun center at the Contemporary- he would get a turkey sandwich and LOAD it with tomatoes and lettuce AND make a salad too...he loves his veggies.

 

[Mic]

If I remember correctly, the toppings bar at Backlot Express in MGM is GONE! We rarely eat at the counter service restaurants in the parks, but when we do, Backlot was always a favorite. We decided to do lunch there this past June, and were very disappointed. It started to rain at 11 am, so we ducked in to have an early lunch and to wait out the rain. There was already a long line of folks waiting to order, and the CM's would not open the registers! I am not sure when they open, but 11 am for lunch seems about right. They started taking orders at 11:25, and they acted like they were doing the paying guests a favor to take their money! It was very wierd. And the toppings bar was definitely not there!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Maybe the toppings bars are disappearing or getting smaller to keep guests from making salads out of the the sandwich toppings. It's not called a salad bar. It's a toppings bar - put the extras on your sandwich only.

 

[cdrn1]

We did the extra bun thing with the hot dogs at Pinocchio Haus too. Those dogs are HUGE!