Are onsite Restaurants more expensive than offsite?

[sweetpeakaris]

Does anyone know? If offsite is cheaper, then i may only chose offsite places to dine. Thanks!

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

Does anyone know? If offsite is cheaper, then i may only chose offsite places to dine. Thanks!

Offsite is much cheaper.

 

[ducklite]

Think about it in different terms...

Add up the total cost of your vacation--don't forget the pet sitter, airport parking, tips, etc.

Add up the hours you will be on vacation.

Divide the cost by the hours.

So if you are spending $5000, and going for seven days, it's approximately $30/hour.

To go to an offiste restaurant you need to plan on it taking about 90 minutes away from your vacation time--and I'm not including the time it takes to eat, that would be the same either way. Walking out of park, tram to car, drive to restaurant, then reverse. Leaving WDW to get food, you've "spent" $45 to eat offsite. Will you actually save $45 over the cost of a similar meal at WDW? I didn't factor in gas either, but that could add another $2-6, depending on where you are driving to/from and the type of car you have.

Anne

 

[PrincessCandaceMarie]

Eating on site, in my view is easier, and less stressful....and time saving too...but it all depends on the person....

 

[Razor Roman]

It also depends on what kind of food you want to eat, for McDonald's and fast food, yes it's much cheaper off-site. If you plan on going to the Ale House, or TGI Friday's, Pizzaria Uno, etc, the cost of a similar meal at a WDW table service place is not that much more expensive, and certainly a lot more magical.

 

[rcyannacci]

I think it all depends on where you go and what you order. Yes, a hamburger at a counter-service place on-site will be more than the one off-site. But the sit down places can be very comparable. We always lunch at the parks (the time to get off site would disrupt the day for us), and usually split stuff since they give you so much food. Our lunch at Le Cellier was only 6 dollars more than our lunch at Backlot Express in MGM, and we had far, far superior food and fun.

 

[Roo'sMom]

Razor Roman- I love your signature!!!

 

[Razor Roman]

Razor Roman- I love your signature!!!

Thanks! I found the picture of a postcard somwplace on the web, photoshopped out what it said, and replaced it with my little joke

 

[Philly81]

We ate most all of our meals onsite unless we want to go offsite to the grocery store etc. when we have some "down" time. We've eaten at Romano's Macaroni Grill which is much less expensive and has better food IMHO than Alfredo's in Epcot. We also love Tex-Mex and have had very good and reasonably priced meals at Chevy's at the Crossroads shopping center. However, if we didn't need to go offsite for something else we wouldn't venture out just to eat. There really are ways to eat onsite and keep the budget in check.

 

[rcyannacci]

a little OT, but I really like Macaroni Grill!

 

[CamColt]

I suppose in general, the answer to your question is yes, onsite restaurants are more expensive than offsite ones, but IMO, you are paying for the convenience, Disney magic,and in some cases, theming, of the onsite restuarants.
I also agree with ducklites way of thinking and we never leave WDW property when we visit, even if we have our own car. I remember once my MIL was saying how impressed she was with her other DIL when they went to Disney...she packed lunches,made sanwiches and they saved soooo much money by taking them along. What she didnt take into account was they were paying to be enjoying park time while they were in fact leaving the MK taking the monorail to the TTA, then taking the tram to their car, eating in a 1000 degree car,then having to do it all in reverse again. IMO that was a ridiculous waste of precious Disney time to save what, maybe $20.00? Definitely not worth it to me. But it is worth it to some people, and that is fine too. You have to do what works best for you.

 

[floridagirrl2]

Gotta agree that, although Disney restaurants are definitely more expensive than offsite restaurants, it's a terrible waste of precious Disney time to leave the parks to eat.

However, there are other ways to save money on food--you can bring snacks, sodas,water, even sandwiches with you if you do not want to pay Disney prices. Disney is pretty liberal about what they allow you to bring in, food-wise.

You can also eat breakfast off-site or stay in a condo or rental house (Orlando is way overbuilt so you can get some good rental prices for condos and houses) and cook your own breakfast. If you plan to visit during a hot time of year, you might want to take a break during the heat of the day, pick up sandwiches from Publix (or make them yourself), and hang out around the pool at your hotel, then return to the parks in the late afternoon or early evening when the weather has cooled off a bit.

You can also eat at counter service restaurants at Disney rather than sit-down restaurants, and split meals or order kids' meals (since I don't eat meat, I occasionally order the mac and cheese kids' meal for $3.99 at the Electric Umbrella--includes applesauce, crunchy snacks, and a tiny Coke).

 

[Aimeedyan]

Shoot yeah, they are much cheaper, but is it worth it? If you're staying at Disney property, you have to get to your car, get off property, and find a place to dine. The palces around the World are PACKED and you will often have to wait for a table. Then, you have to return, find a parking spot, and travel back the parks - it takes awhile just to get in and out of the parks.

If you are staying offsite, it might be easier to do, since you could dine out for breakfast on your way into the parks and save that time (get up early enough to), and maybe dine out on your way home... but I wouldn't leave the park just to dine out to save a few bucks. Def not worth it in time and effort.

On your off days, or downtown disney days, or water park days, then it's alot more feesible, or if your family does a full morning, leaves the park in the afternoon, then returns later - you could eat on your way in or out.

we eat offsite only when we're offsite already. part of the disney magic, to me, is the dining exps. There are excellent places to dine there, that truly are magical and planning the dining is the most fun for me! we eat cheap already by splitting meals, big sit down lunch, counter dinner, breakfast in the room, take our own snacsk and drinks. its really not too bad =)

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Seriously, I do not find WDW that much more expensive (Maybe $5 to $10 more per meal, and then when you throw in the Disney Dining card for Florida Residents, we often pay less than we do at home). Maybe DH and I just dine out normally at more costly places. Anyway, to me it would not be worth the hassle to save a few bucks.

 

[MrsPete]

I agree with Ducklite's reasoning. Some people claim it's so quick and easy to zip around Orlando, go in and out of the parks. It just doesn't seem true to me. I think they're forgetting the time it takes to exit the park, get the hand stamp, walk to your car . . . you get the picture. And many of the Disney restaurants are uniquely themed -- something you won't find amongst the budget-minded places off site.

 

[MrsPete]

OOps -- I meant to include some tips on saving money onsite:

Stick to water instead of sodas. A family of four can shave $8-10 off its bill JUST with this tip. Then there's the health benefit of drinking more water.
WDW portions are huge. Consider splitting a meal.
Consider ordering a kids' meal -- it's plenty of food. The problem here is that it gets repetative: how many times can you eat chicken nuggets?
Order a double burger, which costs $1 more than a single, and split it with a friend.
Don't want fries? Order just the sandwich and cut $2 off your cost. Again -- health benefits too.
Eat your big meal at lunch instead of dinner -- prices are lower.

 

[Ahrizel]

It is cheaper to eat offsite then onsite, however the traveling time and energy is really a factor against it. We stay offsite almost always and often eat offsite. This is more of the eat breakfast on the way to the parks, or get lunch or dinner when where in for the night. Even as dedicated offsiters we don't leave the parks ONLY to eat, simply isn't worth it. However if were going back and forth, or on afternoon break we do eat offsite. We stay in condos or houses so eating in is often a good choice for us with the kitchen. If you're going to leave a park just to eat, don't do it at the MK, the time factor is ridiculous. Getting around Orlando isn't that hard, especially if you stay close. Just eat offsite when you already offsite(coming and going), you can econimize then to balance out the higher inpark expenses.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Yes-it's cheaper. And if $$ for meals is an issue for you, then it's something that might be considered..
But I eat "offsite" when I am at home!! For me, Disney dining is a large part of the total WDW vacation package.