Best Meals for the Prices (Not Dining Plan)

[book_junkie]

So, I was reading the other threads about how this place was a good value and this place wasn't, and the very long one about how eating at Disney doesn't make sense if you don't want to sell off a child and don't like the dining plans. And while there are those who are fine leaving WDW property, there are a alot (like me and mine) who aren't. For us, it breaks the magic to leave and go to a Cheesecake Factory or an Olive Garden or a Burger King...

So, ignoring transportation factors of getting there from the point you're at, what are the best meals that you've had IN the Parks for the value? Counter or table service? Vegetarian or not?

 

[rachel09985]

Avoid buffets...those are real money pits.

You can eat cheaply for a restaurant at Sci Fie Drive In. Honestly if you want to eat at restaurants at Disney World it is not cheap. Counter Service is normal price everywhere.

Do you have a problem with spending money or do you not mind spending a money if it is good quality??

 

[Quin]

I would say for standard meal "value" it would be some of the CS options, such as the half chicken or ribs or both at Cosmic Rays in MK and Flame Tree in AK. Take free icewater for your drink and skip dessert. Some of the moderate resorts have similar options at dinner only. I have not eaten there but have read about a particularly large build-your-own pasta dish at POR.

If you are feeding a bottomless pit (I have a friend who once took FOUR teenage boys to WDW........I cannot BEGIN to imagine what they spent....) then I think you have to do some buffets. Best "value" would be Biergarten lunch and next best value would be Trails End buffet dinner.

 

[MelissathePooh]

Trails End dinner buffet is still somewhat reasonable price wise. We've always found the quality and selections to be quite good. We pay OOP here generally.

Shutters (Boatwrights and Maya Grill, for that matter) are typically pretty good quality and much more reasonable than other TS restaurants. Honestly one of the best steaks I ever had at WDW - anywhere really, was at Shutters.

Anything in the theme parks or deluxe resorts is over-inflated to make the DDP more appealing. If you're paying OOP, the breakfast character buffets are the best way to maximize money - although still overpriced. The lunch and dinner buffets are set up to promote the DDP. If I was on the DDP, I wouldn't use a credit for breakfast - usually not lunch either.

We will get the DDP on occasion, but we price everything out and book particular dining so that we come out as far ahead as possible of the DDP cost. Convenience of it means nothing to me

It bugs me because there are a handful of places left that we do still love to go and because of the pricing we get boxed in to the DDP. One or two character meals for a short trip and you can come out ahead of the cost - where you'd pay more OOP than on the plan.

I hate the DDP and what its done to Disney dining. I use it when it makes sense, but I hate it.

 

[book_junkie]

Avoid buffets...those are real money pits.

You can eat cheaply for a restaurant at Sci Fie Drive In. Honestly if you want to eat at restaurants at Disney World it is not cheap. Counter Service is normal price everywhere.

Do you have a problem with spending money or do you not mind spending a money if it is good quality??

I have no problem spending money if it of a good quality- one of the problems I ran into last time was that we were finding burgers everywhere at counter services, and by the end I just couldn't take 'em anymore !

I guess what I wanted was to start a discussion about what everyone thought was a good meal was "at Disney", some favorites that you love. When I go, I have a car so I have the option of going "off-property" as a lot of others have suggested to get better value for our money, but to me it breaks up what my mom would call "Mickey time" and go to a local place instead of something on Disney property. Others may not have a car and are relying on Disney transportation, and I thought it might be helpful to others as well.

I've been lurking around a few of the not-again threads and was wondering what some positives people had, that's all. Sorry if I was confusing- it's been a VERY loooong day that started extremely early, and still not over for me.



For example, I the Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby, but I can pass on everything else on the menu.

Another example, even though it's a table service and you need an ADR, after four days of burgers or very weak broiled chicken sandwiches, I was the grilled chicken sandwich at the Plaza Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. Same price we were paying for most counter service meals, but it was significantly better in quality. And you got refills and a table...

Or stopping by the Bakery on your way out of MK for the night, and buying a cinnamon roll for breakfast the next morning. They're HUGE, and $4.00 can probably be split by two people (or one person is going to have one massive sugar rush for whatever activity you're planning next) ...

 

[SabresFan]

Kona Cafe for breakfast isn't crazy expensive, and the food is awesome. We were on the dining plan when we ate there, and I think the bill for 4 came to around $50 or $60 - and of course, we all had juice and an entree even though if paying OOP we might have had a couple people go with just water.

Even their lunch and dinner prices are on the more reasonable side for Disney, and the food is excellent.

 

[sharonabe]

Wow, you could only find burgers at CS? We only ate CS on our last trip, and I only had one burger in five days (and I really wanted a burger that day).

So, maybe some places you can find different things than burgers for CS.

I've said it MANY times on different threads, we really like Min and Bill's Dockside at HS. They have a pretzel dog and an Italian Sausage hoagie wrap that are both really good.

Epcot's Yakitori House is another favorite CS. The curry is good as are their various combo meals.

Columbia Harbour House is our favorite at MK. The tuna sandwich is good, but so is the chilli! The portion size of the chilli is a little small, but on a rainy MK day, it sure was good.

 

[John Tag]

Our CS stops are usally..

AK-Flaming Tree BBQ..Ribs or BBQ Sandwich or Y&Y
HS-ABC mixed food,Curry chicken ect or Starring rolls great food great ham and turkey sandwich
E-Sunshine seasons big food court many selections.
MK-Peck Bills Taco salad,"Burgers" Wrap or #1 stop Columbia harbor house..Shrimp basket,fish and chips ect.

We stay 8 days and usally only 1 burger, Our first ever trip we did many burgers. But since found all the menus online and found many places as cheap as those burger places and better.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Or stopping by the Bakery on your way out of MK for the night, and buying a cinnamon roll for breakfast the next morning. They're HUGE, and $4.00 can probably be split by two people (or one person is going to have one massive sugar rush for whatever activity you're planning next) ...

Similar example is Starring Rolls in DHS - can get some ample pastries for a reasonable price (and can split them)

Two other thoughts when you are paying OOP:
1) Lunches: Lunch prices are generally cheaper than dinner so you can get comparable meals at the signature or other high-end restaraunts (not the exact same, but still good) for less $

2) Split food. On our last trip we ate at Fultons and split some apps and one entree and we were able to all have enough to eat, try different things, and it wasn't too expensive (compared to everyone getting an entree)

 

[julie4423]

Here are some of my favorite CS for something different. Being CS, they are all fairly reasonable.

AK-Yak & Yeti CS...this food is awesome, and we all got more than we could eat. You could definitely split from here for smaller kids.

Epcot-Sunshine Seasons has a little bit of everything. We all shop from a different counter there, and I haven't had anything I didn't like. All of the countries in the WS have a CS with interesting choices.

HS-I haven't spent much time in this park, but I did like the Backlot Express. Again, an option for everyone.

MK-This is honestly my least favorite place to eat. For value and just ok food, Cosmic Ray's has the half chicken you can split. I like Pecos Bill's because off the huge fixins bar. When it is time for a burger, at least you can get mushrooms and onions on top.

We also have a problem with the turkey legs. They are so good! We'd use it as a filling snack and just share. I believe they have these at all of the parks.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

hi. i agree some places are a better value.. here are my thoughts:

Epcot:
the Biergarten buffet.. it's a buffet with entertainment and wonderful theme
at a reasonable price.
Sunshine Seasons: we paid OOP for breakfast and didnt feel ripped off.

Magic Kingdom:
Cosmic Rays is a good value on the DDP, but i wouldnt go there OOP. The Plaza has reasonable prices on their food.. seems like a waste to use a TS credit there, so a good OOP place.

Animal Kingdom:
Flame tree is great food that will fill you up. Average price.
Donald's breakfast buffet is one of the cheapest character buffets. Great too.

DHS:
Sci-Fi has reasonable prices as does 50's on certain items.. NOT the $10 shrimp cocktail.

Resorts:
I agree Kona Cafe's breakfast prices are a good value. Not good usage of DDP.
Wilderness Lodge has good prices on breakfast at WCC.

 

[pooh2001]

we are in the same boat with food

We eat breakfast most of the time in our resort room.
The gift shop at most resorts sell milk in small containers.
From Garden Grocer we order small mini boxes of cereal, granola bars, some fruit, plastic bowls and spoons. It saves us lots of time and money. For us, DH, DW, DS age 19 and DD age 17 - 4 adult prices at meals, for 10 breakfasts, it saves us at least $400.

If we do a buffet character breakfast, such at Crystal Palace in MK - we get a10:15 am ADR on an early entry morning in MK. This way, our CP breakfast is our lunch- since we would have eaten breakfast at 5:30 am and rode a bus to MK at 6:30 am for a 7 am early entry opening. We tend to go to WDW duting the summer, so we do MK on early entry AM's and are our of MK by 11:30 am.

Other great place we like at Liberty Tree Travern for lunch. We skip the dessert and get iced tea for dinks. You get an AC seat and have an ADR, so no crowds.

Cosmic Rays is good if youi eat at an off time, if you are going during the busy season.

Another MK place to eat is the Plaza Resturant - again no dessert, iced tea and great sandwhiches and burgers. You get an AC seat and have an ADR, so no crowds.


EPCOT - we have "snacked" around the world. I love the egg rolls in China, the hot dogs and pretzels are great in Germany. Find your favorites at each Country.

DHS - we eat lunch at the CS across from the Beauty and the Beast Show. I do not know the name of all the places. There are at least 4 CS all in a row from fresh fruit to pizza, to burgers.

AK - we have done Flame Tree, but we like to splurge at RFC. We are part of the Safari club and get a free appetizer with our meal. Plus we do not need an ADR with the Safari club card.

Check out the menu's and see what works with your family.

 

[osprey6]

It was far from what i would truly consider reasonable for lunch anywhere else, but in MK we are big fans of Liberty Tree Tavern. DW and I had huge portions, and only required a quick snack much, much later in the day after having lunch there. Dinner is more expensive, but it may well be the least expensive all you can eat dinner at WDW, although it's a set menu.

 

[minnierocks]

We just returned from an OOP trip...we opted not to use the dining plan due to premium pricing. Here is my opinion and what we thought about the value of the meals. Other than Le Cellier which was the worst meal of the week, I am rating on value. There were good meals that were overpriced and there are meals that I would definitely consider a good find.
Most of our table service meals were during lunch times because lunch entrees are less expensive. Our meals include 2 adults and 2 teens.

DHS:
Mama Melrose (Fantasmic dining package)-It was a really good meal, but not worth $160. We were paying for the convenience of reserved seating.

Sci-Fi-It was good food but it was $80 for burgers and shakes. The fun atmosphere does make up for it just a little.

Backlot Express-Chicken nuggets were good...coffee was pretty good. I would eat here again.

Epcot:
Biergarten-$21.99 for a great buffet! The desserts were fabulous! This was a good value and fun entertainment. This is definitely on the "go back" list.

Sunshine Seasons-We eat here every trip. There is something for everyone, plenty of seating, and the prices are reasonable. Many times, I order a kid's meal for myself since it comes with a drink.

Le Cellier-Awful and a rip-off...enough said...

MK:
Casey's Corner-It was an expensive hot dog, but I loved it! It was the BBQ dog and I would definitely get it again. We bought a meal and split it, so I would consider it a good value.

The Plaza-It has been a favorite in the past, but the burger from Sci-Fi was better. Milkshakes are fantastic...but again...$80 for burgers and shakes, with no fun atmosphere.

Cosmic Ray's-The fixins bar make this a good value. Meals are reasonably priced and being able to load up your burgers and fries is a bonus!

AK:
Yak and Yeti (counter service)-Keep walking...was overpriced and not good.

DTD:
Earl of Sandwich-Best value of the week! Large, tasty sandwich for $5.99...and 10% off bill if you have AAA!

Resorts:
Trail's End-Good value...good "comfort food"...and they have brewed sweet tea! Yum! We all enjoyed this place.

Pepper Market-We had more than one meal here and it was good every time. The value comes in the huge portion sizes. Meals can easily be shared.

I hope this helps...I based all of my opinions on my most recent experience and not on past trips.