Best value for money on food in the Parks and CW

[gigi from canada]

We'll be going to Universal for the 3rd time in the last couple of years. We'll be staying at RPR for 5 days at the end of August. We are not renting a car. We have 2 kids aged 12 and 10.

I'd like to keep expenses on food down this time around. We'll be eating breakfast in the room.

What restaurants give the best value for money in the parks, resorts and CW?

 

[damo]

Sal's Deli at Portofino is great value IMO. Excellent pizza at a reasonable price.

Volcano Nachos at Margaritaville also a great value.

 

[macraven]

at rpr bula bar, the menu is basic and reasonable.
the nachos are enough for two people, maybe 3 if is for a snack.
check the menu section in the rpr sticky for the food places onsite.

at city walk the cheapest place could be burger king.
basic menu as the other chain bk have.

margaritaville has the burgers and a kid menu you could order from for them.

check out damo's sticky of food/menus, etc at the top of the forum.
menus and prices are listed for places in the park, city walk, hotels.

 

[Cuchman]

Wow, Gigi, you sound like us.....similar philosophy last trip, breakfast in the room and keeping food costs down.
My kids are older,12,14,16 on our last trip....but close enough.

I have several recommendations:
First, Volcano Nachos at Margaritaville.......easily feed four people (for us ) for about $15.....and we're talking a meal. Maybe we're not big eaters, but it was great for us. It's an enourmous amount of food and quite good.
Another winner for us is the family feast at Three Broomsticks. I think it was $50 or so, but it fed all five of us with substantial leftovers and the food was very good for theme park fare. We keep ziplock bags in our bags for just this reason. We'll definitely do that feast again next trip.
The Taco truck in the Simpsons area is another decent value. Quite a bit cheaper than the stuff inside the food court and plenty of food for a serving.
Speaking of Simpsons....the big pink donut! It's only $5 and is enough for two or more. Makes a good treat....or even breakfast if you need one out of the room.

If you are looking for one nicer meal (which is something we usually do) I recommend Mythos. If you get sandwiches instead of pricier entres, it is very reasonable. Not much more than one of the counter service places.

We did eat at Burger King in city walk...I think you can do better price-wise because it is basic BK food but at greatly jacked up prices. But it is relatively fast and easy.

A couple small other recommendations..... Popcorn bucket. We bought one and refilled it at least a dozen times(I wAnt to say it is $1.25 to refill?) and it was a fun and popular snack with the kids.
Also, refillable mugs....BUT......buy the ALIEN from the men in black shop. It cost like half as much as the other mugs (6.99? 7.99?) and actually holds more soda - a cast member checked it for us and proved it out.

As side note, we're also there part of the last week of August, so maybe you'll see us also trying to save money on food.

 

[gigi from canada]

Thanks Cuchman. Great ideas. Last time in March, we spent a lot of money on food with daily stops at strarbucks, lunch in the parks and sit down restaurants in the evening. This is a unexpected trip for the kids in August and I'm bringing my mom instead of hubby. Everything seemed to justify another trip: fly on points, Aph rate for hotel and annual passes already in hand. We did the nachos and yes they were huge! The only thing I didn't like is they put the liquid cheese as a layer and then top it off with real cheese. I'm for sure going to do the 3 broomsticks feast! Maybe on a day when we combine lunch and dinner. I never thought of the popcorn bucket! Would it fit in a backpack? I would be the one stuck carrying around the empty bucket !

I've never been in Florida in August! See you there!

 

[Cuchman]

Thanks Cuchman. Great ideas. Last time in March, we spent a lot of money on food with daily stops at strarbucks, lunch in the parks and sit down restaurants in the evening. This is a unexpected trip for the kids in August and I'm bringing my mom instead of hubby. Everything seemed to justify another trip: fly on points, Aph rate for hotel and annual passes already in hand. We did the nachos and yes they were huge! The only thing I didn't like is they put the liquid cheese as a layer and then top it off with real cheese. I'm for sure going to do the 3 broomsticks feast! Maybe on a day when we combine lunch and dinner. I never thought of the popcorn bucket! Would it fit in a backpack? I would be the one stuck carrying around the empty bucket !

I've never been in Florida in August! See you there!

Hey Gigi,
We usually hang the bucket from a carabiner on someone's belt. It's not bad, it gets shoved in a locker with everything else for most of the rides.
I'm gonna try to attach a photo of the bucket and the alien for scale.
Funny, we justified our extra trip with a lot of the same reasoning.....we had a trip in February and stayed at the hard rock....we are catching the tail end of our annual passes from last August! And yeah, it sure was hot then....But we can manage....it'll be great.

Oh, and I think we got our nachos without something on it by asking....but I forget what.......maybe they would do that for you.

 

[gigi from canada]

Awesome! We are going to do the popcorn bucket for sure. That's manageable.

 

[PantherPete]

Red Oven Pizza is a reasonably priced choice. You can feed a family of 4 for around $30 there. And it has a nice seating area for people watching. Or you can take it and sit at one of the tables by the river. And, unlike the pizza in the parks, the pizza is really good.

 

[tinydancer09]

I second Sal's pizza. I think it came out to $6 a piece and we got beers. Three of us split a pepperoni pizza. It's at PBH which is a nice boat ride over from City walk. They'll even pack it to go... can be awkward getting it back to RPR as you have to go to city walk and switch boats, but they wouldn't be an issue for me. Jake's bar downstairs has a nice outside area near a water feature. They have a buffalo chicken pizza on the menu for $14 dollars. It would feel at least 2, probably more like 3 or 4 non-starving people.

My sister and I tend to eat a large lunch and then split something in the evening like a chicken strip basket. Splitting meals saves so much money! We're not heavy eaters in the parks so it works out well for us. Sometimes getting the kids an adult meal and splitting it is cheaper as well. My parents used to do that for us six kids. They'd just order so many of each thing and we all shared. If you can get them to agree on one thing might be an option?

Don't forget about the trusty hotdog vendors! (Find the nathan's ones they're the best!) Think hotdog and chips are under $9 and always fill me up! Oh and the hot dog place on citywalk sells a footer that'll probably feed both you and the kids... and maybe mom too!

Also, if you purchase the freestyle cups, but don't think you'll drink the 5-6 soda's worth of refills/reactivation you can just get free water at the vendor stations that have fountains or $1.19 refills of soda.

There's a Moe's in city walk as well and I hear the bread box is good and has reasonable prices. Check out the casual dining on the universal site.

Thinks I do to save money are: bring my own water to the hotel. I hate orlando tap water. I go to publix and get the liter or 1.5 liter bottles of water and back and take. I also pack snack crackers like the peanut butter ones and stick them in my purse. Security has never made me throw them out, but with tightened security IDK. I also bring my own drinks(cokes) to the hotel so I don't have to go to the hotel restaurants if I'm feeling the need for caffeine. If you're taking a cooler for breakfast items make sure you take one that rolls so you can take it down to the ice machine to fill up as needed.

Now that I've written a book... My biggest recommendation is just to look cover the menus before you go and have a game plan. Have a few different options per day. It will save you time and probably money because when you're hot and hungry you (At least I) make bad decisions. I have a really awesome app I got on my phone that has all the menus for all the restaurants. I have one for disney and universal. You can even search the exact food item you're looking for. It's called Magic Guide for USO. I love damo's food thread and do refer to it very often when I'm doing my hard research before the parks. This app is very helpful once you're in the parks and need to make a decision in a split second.

 

[FrankDIS72]

The Panda Express in Citywalk gives you a lot of food for $11-$12.