Best bang for your buck restaurants

[Jennifer McMahan]

My family of 4 is heading to WDW in January. We are trying to be budget conscious and hopefully share some plates. My husband has a big appetite, but I'm looking for restaurants that have a decent amount of good food, for a not-to-outrageous price!

 

[Anthony1971]

For the most part Disney owned will have the same price with the same amount of food. There are some places that have combo plates at CS places but for a person with big appetite I would think sharing may not be the best option. I would look through the menus but a few that do are MK Columbia harbor house, and Cosmic rays. AK has flame tree HS I do not eat at... Epcot Tangerine café has a large QTY of food. You can always order 3 meal than order more if needed. .. I think the best way to save money is to order a cup of ice water with the meal rather than soda. For TS whispering canyon LUNCH has the all you care to eat skillet that is very reasonable dinner is more expensive but still worth it and yes every person that eats from it will need to order it. Buffets that still offer the lunch price like Germany at EPCOT or a METRO pizza at Italy Via Napoli... None of these are bargains but larger QTY of food....there are no bargains at Disney... I will say again order water look through the menus and eat food that you like as a large Qty of food you do not like is no bargain and will not save you much over eating what you would like and you will have a much more enjoyable vacation... It is not hard to spend under 1K on food for a family of 4 and eat food you enjoy for a week. if bring breakfast foods eat only CS and drink water 2 meals a day could easily average less than 120 a day add 20 a day for snacks some of you can share you will average 140 a day. 7 x 140 is 980

 

[Mazz519]

Buffets are your best bet although they can get pricey

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Some decent TS places when paying OOP for us are Via Napoli, Kona, Beaches and Cream, Plaza, GF Cafe, Wave. Basically no buffets, no AYCTE and no characters. You just order what you want and you can easily share.

 

[Disneypapa]

Whispering Canyon has a skillet meal that is not only good but a decent price

 

[vinotinto]

There are tons of options off-site. Will you have a car? We usually stay "in the bubble," but if you are looking for bang-for-your-buck, that's not what the Disney bubble is good at doing.

Within the Disney bubble, I recommend the counter service restaurants in Disney Springs. WPE is very good quality and fairly generous portion sizes for less than the rest of the Disney bubble (think $11 - $20 for salads, pizzas and entrees). If you eat sandwiches, the chain Earl of Sandwich is another good bet for the money.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Satuli Canteen and The Wave.

 

[gharter]

Inexpensive is hard to find at Disney.
The buffets come to mind. Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge is very good.
Satu'li at Animal Kingdom is another good choice.
MK - Pecos Bills or Columbia Harbour House

 

[Disneypeach]

Trails End at Fort Wilderness is buffet for breakfast and dinner...both are ayce and the food is really good. Pricing is also good for what you get.
only downside is getting there...takes some time...boat from MK is easy/direct but bus/car will require the bus/car to get to the Fort and the "internal" bus to get to the restaurant.

 

[Beth33]

I'd stay away from buffets and table service locations if keeping the budget down is the highest priority. You tend to get the most bang for your buck at counter service restaurants. In the MK, Cosmic Ray's has good sized portions. And even if you're on a budget, stop at Aloha Isle and get a dole whip. It's super yummy and not too pricey. My sandwich at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot was big enough to feed 3. I second Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom. I hear that Harambe Market also serves large portions. I make it a point not to eat in DHS and I've only been to DS once, so I can't help there.

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

Via Napoli, Sci-Fi and Homecomin' are lower in cost and shareable.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We do not eat buffet or AYCE because they are $$ and we pay out of pocket and do not have big appetites.

The Plaza has good portions and almost counter service prices - if you want to split, things like the club sandwich are huge
The Wave breakfast is one of our favorite inexpensive spots
SciFi is relatively inexpensive with decent portions

We can easily split meals at Homecomin' and 50's PT.

There are lots of counter service options but in my experience, few are large enough portions to split. Tangierine & Polite Pig are exceptions I can think of...

 

[unrequited23]

The posters above covered a lot of good money saving/meal sharing tips. Avoid buffet/character meals. Order water. Look for the lower priced TS restaurants--The Plaza was a calm, cool, relaxing oasis. At some CS, I would also order a kids meal for myself vs an adult meal. The braised pork kids lunch at BOG was more than enough food for me and I couldn't believe how my DH ate the entire adult portion and was able to move afterward. Another one that comes to mind is the kid's pizza.

If you happen to be staying at POFQ, they have a 3 piece chicken meal that comes with 2 or 3 sides and cornbread for $14.99. The some meals at CHH are also on the larger side.

We would also share snacks...mainly desserts.

 

[monica9]

You should book either breakfast or lunch since dinner is always more expensive, at least at family style restaurants and buffets. You can book the latest possible lunch time and use that as your lunch/dinner and have a small snack later on. If your DH is a big eater you might be better off doing a buffet so he can stuff himself and then not want as much for the next meal.
Let us know what you end up picking!

 

[toonaspie]

Be Our Guest lunch is a pretty good deal and the portions are huge. Had no problem splitting a Croque Monsier sandwich with my dad and it had plenty of fries. Mom got a huge salad as well.

 

[Jennifer McMahan]

There are tons of options off-site. Will you have a car? We usually stay "in the bubble," but if you are looking for bang-for-your-buck, that's not what the Disney bubble is good at doing.

Within the Disney bubble, I recommend the counter service restaurants in Disney Springs. WPE is very good quality and fairly generous portion sizes for less than the rest of the Disney bubble (think $11 - $20 for salads, pizzas and entrees). If you eat sandwiches, the chain Earl of Sandwich is another good bet for the money.

We will have a car, but are trying to stay in the "bubble" as much as possible. That's part of the appeal for us! Although it does mean we will likely spend more money on food...

 

[chris benton]

You should definitely target Flame Tree when you're at AK.

I can put food away, but walking / rides in Fla heat, plus the general "meh" quality of the food (definitely not BAD for a theme park, but not overwhelmingly fantastic,) kinda suppresses the appetite, imo. Not fun to be walking around and hopping on coasters in 80 degrees with a full belly. Some of the CS meals are massive plates of so-so food. Flame Tree is almost a bargain - decent quality (especially for a theme park) and huge portions. I wish the quality control was this good throughout the dis, but it's nowhere even close. Some of the cs is overpriced trash.

 

[monica9]

Not sure if I can send links on the disboards but you will find all the pricing for every table service and quick service on allears.net.

 

[FutureDis]

Trails End at Fort Wilderness is buffet for breakfast and dinner...both are ayce and the food is really good. Pricing is also good for what you get.
only downside is getting there...takes some time...boat from MK is easy/direct but bus/car will require the bus/car to get to the Fort and the "internal" bus to get to the restaurant.

Also at Wilderness Campground (P&Js Southern Takeout), you can get an 8 piece fried chicken meal, with cornbread and 2 sides (serves 2 to 4 people) for $23.49. You can eat it outside, take an inexpensive ($12 adult, $8 children) wagon ride, and follow it up with the free Chip N Dale Campfire Sing-A-Long, roast marshmallows, and watch an outdoor movie. Fun and fairly inexpensive "out of park, in Disney bubble" evening.

 

[nkereina]

Sharing a pizza at Via Napoli is usually inexpensive and enough to share between two people. Blaze Pizza and Wolfgang Puck Express, both in Disney Springs, also have fairly large portions that would be easy to share.