Any way to cut costs on meals @ WDW

[jenniy122]

Not judging, but why buy water? It's free from any counter service, and is filtered so there's not really any of the swamp taste that you get from the fountains. Plus in summer, unlimited ice! I bring a reusable bottle and just dump from the cup in there for easy carrying.

 

[luvmyfam444]

To piggyback on to this idea: if you are not already doing Bing rewards, sign up for them and get going! I earn a $5 Starbucks gift card about every 3 weeks using Bing Rewards. Depending on when you travel you could have a nice stockpile of money in your Starbucks account.

signed up but haven't looked at it in probably a year.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Are you paying OOP or trying to stretch DP credits? With credits, you can order extra sides instead of a drink and dessert and then split the entrees (for now anyway). We fed eight people with four credits quite a few times doing this. At the resort we used our refillable mugs for drinks and at the parks we ordered cups of water.

Someone mentioned Pecos Bill, but be careful not to order the nachos. Being $12.99 we assumed they big be enough to share between two people (we have done so at the nacho stand in Dinoland and at the Smokehouse in DTD), but I was shocked at how small these bowls were. Definitely not sharable.

looking into buying TIW. yes OOP

 

[luvmyfam444]

we went to DC a few years back & I packed a suitcase of just food. We had b'fast in the hotels & a meal on the mall & then had a cheap fastfood meal as well

 

[havaneselover]

This thread is great. We're only doing 1 day at MK but I'm trying to keep the food cost to a minimum. I'm thinking of doing breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks and lunch at the Noodle Station. We probably will do three kids meals. I'll pack snacks and get free water. Not sure on dinner--will depend on whether we park hop. If we want an ice cream bar or a dole whip, I'm good with that. Just don't want to spend $40 on CS lunch for food that's so so.

 

[MariMama]

Not judging, but why buy water? It's free from any counter service, and is filtered so there's not really any of the swamp taste that you get from the fountains. Plus in summer, unlimited ice! I bring a reusable bottle and just dump from the cup in there for easy carrying.

Buying water is worth the convenience to me. I can walk up to any kiosk and buy water without having to search out a QS location and stand in line to get it. I MUCH prefer the taste of Dasani to swampy FL water, filtered or not.

 

[uccats97]

looking into buying TIW. yes OOP

TIW is only available to purchase if you are a FL resident, an annual passholder or DVC member.

 

[luvmyfam444]

TIW is only available to purchase if you are a FL resident, an annual passholder or DVC member.

got one with us that's a FL resident

 

[monorailsilver]

I don't do the dining plan.

The last time we went I told my family: no soda in the park but they could drink all they wanted on pool days with their mug refills. I shipped down bottled water and we used the kids thermos lunch bottles which kept the water cold even in the summer sun.

I shipped down breakfast items and we ate in our room while we were getting ready and were out the door by 7-7:15 to get the monorail, boat or bus.

Lunch, sometimes we would split a meal but we did buy in the parks/resort and the same for dinner. On pool days, I had the Mac and cheese cups so my girls ate them at lunch time, they didn't mind one bit.

I looked at menus before we went and estimated $40/meal for the 5 of us knowing where we would eat and I pretty much stuck to that. A few places were just under $50 because my son has a few allergies so I needed a dairy free pizza for him. We did do 2 TS meals but even with those I came under what the dining plan would of cost us.

I also do rewards sites and have Disney rewards so I have about $1000 in free money and we use that for food.

 

[monorailsilver]

We have always shared meals(we are a family of 5). Our boys are almost 10 and big eaters so I know our next trip will be a little more pricey food wise. But the sharing of meals works out well for us and if anyone is still hungry then we just buy more, or the kids get ice cream. We bring in snacks and a drink for each of us(we used to bring in all our drinks but since our daughter is out of the stroller its too much to carry so we end up buying water now). I think sharing also helps up try out different things too, especially in Epcot, lol.

I made my kids carry a bag with their water. The only one that complained was my 7 yo so my dh carried hers most of the time. I need to find a lanyard so they can carry their water that way/cross cross a toss their body.

 

[Deb & Bill]

got one with us that's a FL resident

The FL will need to pay for all the meals. You cannot use the card if your name isn't on it. They will ask for an ID to confirm you are the card holder.

 

[scrapquitler]

I eat a lot of kids meals. Sometimes two of us will share a regular QS meal, and get an extra side to add a little more for DH.

We get a pizza at the food court at Pop at least once or sometimes twice on a trip, it costs about $17 or $18 and feeds all three of us.

And free ice water at the QS locations. Always. You save a TON of money not buying sodas or bottled waters.

 

[Gradeadork]

Ship an Amazon Pantry box down. You can include drinks, snacks, and microwaved meals. We usually eat breakfast in the room (though Mickey waffles are a must some days...), then I will eat a kids meal for lunch (cheaper and healthier), and I'll "splurge" on an adult counter service meal. I'm bringing my daughter and her friend, who are both light eaters. They also have no desire to "waste time" (their words) eating table service meals. The dining plans aren't worth it when my husband isn't with us.

 

[kandb]

I saw they have a double angus bacon cheeseburger at Restaurasarus for $17 (ouch) and the single burger was $13, so it was $4 extra for the extra burger with no bun. Don't know how much they would charge you for a bun but $17 is kind of high.

 

[akayek31]

I have TiW and usually eat at the value resorts or AK with it. I eat kids meals since I am trying to lose weight (they even let me eat off the kids menu at 50's Prime Time). I buy gift cards at Kohls with my credit card and then buy Disney Gift cards at Best Buy. I also buy gift cards from my JCP card for offsite restaurants and eat there. I have worked at Cracker Barrel for the last 14 yrs so I get a 35% off discount so I will eat there some. I eat in the room for breakfast also. In September I am going to eat whatever I want because I am only going for 8 days.

 

[MommaBerd]

I'm thinking of doing breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks

Oh my goodness - this is a brilliant idea! My kids see Starbucks as such an exclusive treat (since it is so expensive) and Starbucks gift cards are frequently "on sale." (And it gives me another option for my eBay Bucks!)

 

[MommaBerd]

The last time we went I told my family: no soda in the park but they could drink all they wanted on pool days with their mug refills.

This is a great idea, too. It will incentivize my kids to drink water; one of my kids in particular is not a great water drinker.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Best idea I've always taken advantage of is a the free cup of water. Otherwise, we always save money by eating breakfast in our rooms.

 

[Marionnette]

looking into buying TIW. yes OOP

Make sure that you understand the terms of TiW.

• There's an automatic 18% gratuity added to your bill at TS locations.
  
• Not every TS location accepts it and very few CS locations acknowledge it.
  
• There's a limit to the number of people that it will cover (parties of 10 or fewer).
• There are blackout dates.
  
• The bill MUST be paid by the cardholder. You can settle up between yourselves later, but the cardholder has to be the one who pays at the restaurant.
• The cost is $175 for FL residents and it takes $875 in spending just to break even.

 

[daughtersrus]

We flew SW so we were able to take more bags than we needed. We packed one with food like cereal, banana bread, granola, beef jerky, Nutrigrain bars, candy (not chocolate) ... We ordered a few boxes from Amazon Pantry with chips, cookies, crackers...other things we didn't want crushed on the plane. We also ordere pop and water from Amazon. I ship Amazon enough for other things so I would take the slower shipping on those items in exchange for a $5.99 credit for Pantry. That paid for the shipping for our trip. I also brought the small concentrated bottled of Powerade to add to our water bottles or the water we would get in the park.