Best way to save on food?

[Booyakasha]

Did you see the laughing guy after that? Guess not, but the poster after me sure did.

Yeah, after we ran out of money for hot dogs, we just strolled on over to the YC, all of us starving and secretly hoping to find a used room service cart with some crumbs left on it.

I did see the smiley, but that is the thing they are always up for interpretation. I honestly thought that it meant that there was no way you husband was going to share.

all of this was addressed at the OP (not you) who was trying to scrape together a meal for $15 for 4. I still stand by my original post that says it is quite possible that Disney might be too expensive for his/her family. Obviously since you are so rich that you can stay at the YC that isn't a problem for you. Aren't you lucky.

B.

 

[verlee]

the ability to do some of that will depend on your room set up, not sure if you have a fridge in POP or not. For me the challenge is balancing the cost of groceries and things I might need to make sandwiches but won't use up (i.e. condiments) versus the time to make the items and the cost of eating in park. Now that it costs to check bags, that has to be factored in. We had planned to pack a bag of groceries and with the luggage fee it's actually cheaper to have garden grocer deliver for us.

In the past we've stayed off property with a full kitchen so we could eat in, pack lunch and then we'd nibble our way around epcot for dinner most nights. It worked well for us though in truth, even doing that I am not sure we were able to get it as low as you are looking for which is admirable. At a minimum you can pack a suitcase of snacks that will last you the week and avoid any of those kinds of costs entirely as well as your own refillable water bottles. If you have a car you can pick up fruit to pack without bothering with the sandwich making or dealing with the challenge of keeping things like cheese and deli meats cold if you don't have a fridge. When my kids were younger the packing of snacks saved us a fortune and a lot of whining.

I agree with taking your weekly grocery budget as your starting point to offset your food expenses but I know at least for us, that is quite a bit smaller than Disney will cost us for the week even if I cooked all our meals this trip as even with that, you are starting from scratch on ingredients.

Eating off property will save you as well, of course, but eating out is eating out and it's going to add up. Reading the menus and reviews will help you get an idea of where you can get bang for your buck on items to share. Good luck

Thank you!. That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

 

[verlee]

OP- I'm in the same boat as you, trying to do this on the cheap becasue I'd rather spend that money on other stuff and not food.

Eating out every meal with average prices can run a family of 4 $300-400 a week pretty easily. I shudder to think how much it would cost at theme park prices.

How much do you normally spend for groceries in a week? You can add that to your food budget if you haven't already since you won't be needing the usual groceries. The way I figure it, I budget to spend $200 on groceries and $50 on takeout in a normal week already so that's where my Disney Dining budget starts.

Also... look at the menus. They have the prices online for most of them. You can see exactly how much lunch at this place or dinner at that place will cost you and make decisions before hand.

I do the same thing. I try to start with our weekly budget for food. Then add as little as possible for food. That way I don't have to count it as part of the trip cost. I will take a look at the menus. Thanks for the advice.

 

[roadtripper]

I like to eat, but I find the kid's meals to be just right for me, and at counter service no one cares who you are ordering them for. You get a drink, sometimes 2 sides and a dessert, and often they are about 4.50.

At Epcot, we snack around the world (it's the drinking around the world that kills the budget ) Churros are about 2.99, I think (margaritas are 8.00!)

I don't know where you're staying, but the All Star Movies food court has great chili cheese fries for about 3.50--they filled me up for lunch.

My only other advice would be to budget one or two sit down meals for the week so you don't feel deprived--there are lots of neat places to try. Have fun!

 

[verlee]

I like to eat, but I find the kid's meals to be just right for me, and at counter service no one cares who you are ordering them for. You get a drink, sometimes 2 sides and a dessert, and often they are about 4.50.

At Epcot, we snack around the world (it's the drinking around the world that kills the budget ) Churros are about 2.99, I think (margaritas are 8.00!)

I don't know where you're staying, but the All Star Movies food court has great chili cheese fries for about 3.50--they filled me up for lunch.

My only other advice would be to budget one or two sit down meals for the week so you don't feel deprived--there are lots of neat places to try. Have fun!

Thanks, we will! Are the kids portions bigger then where you would find elsewhere? $4.50 sounds reasonable.
We have ressies. at Boma and plan a night at T-Rex. We couldn't go and not have a few exciting dinners. We just don't want to make food a big expense.

I think it is interesting that so many think being budget conscious means not being able to afford to go. I just have different priorities.

Thanks again!

 

[lilybrooke14]

We found that eating a sit down lunch left us with little room for more than popcorn for dinner, even with all the walking. I packed Pop Tarts in our luggage (we don't usually eat Pop Tarts....that may have been a highlight of DD's trip ) and then I had water and orange juice delivered to the room.

 

[verlee]

We found that eating a sit down lunch left us with little room for more than popcorn for dinner, even with all the walking. I packed Pop Tarts in our luggage (we don't usually eat Pop Tarts....that may have been a highlight of DD's trip ) and then I had water and orange juice delivered to the room.

my ds never get pop tarts either....except on vacation. And, they love them too.

 

[Mickee]

These are my intentions, did not get a dining plan....never even priced it.....

We'll stop on the way from the airport to get some cereal, snacks, fruits, lunchmeat & cheese, tomato's & lettuce, rolls & make some hoagies (not subs ).........water, Sunny D's & some soda....

Eat Breakfast & pack a lunch for at least 1/2 the days..and then hit some various CS & TS for dinners....

We do Have Chef Mickeys for Breakfast & Dinner on different days and a Breakfast at AK, forget the name....

I'll cut some of the cost by grocery shopping for at least 1/2 the days, we're there for 8 days.....

Did it before and it worked well.....

Good luck

 

[mom22bless]

Cosmic Rays would only let my kids get nuggets or a chicken salad. I asked if they had a kid's burger and they said no. I flat out told them that was dumb.

There are a lot of great options at CS beside burgers and nuggets. At MK, Cosmic Rays has ribs and chicken. Columbia Harbor House has fried fish. There are plenty of different options in the World Showcase at Epcot. A lot of these meals can easily be split between two people.

 

[mom22bless]

Now THAT is a funny response!!

Did you see the laughing guy after that? Guess not, but the poster after me sure did.

Yeah, after we ran out of money for hot dogs, we just strolled on over to the YC, all of us starving and secretly hoping to find a used room service cart with some crumbs left on it.

 

[mom22bless]

I know friends that aren't "rich" that have stayed at YC/BC or other deluxes. They just plan their trips out really far in advance and budget for everything a little at a time.

I did see the smiley, but that is the thing they are always up for interpretation. I honestly thought that it meant that there was no way you husband was going to share.

all of this was addressed at the OP (not you) who was trying to scrape together a meal for $15 for 4. I still stand by my original post that says it is quite possible that Disney might be too expensive for his/her family. Obviously since you are so rich that you can stay at the YC that isn't a problem for you. Aren't you lucky.

B.

 

[mom22cuties]

For the four of us, we spend around $30 for lunch at counter service. We also split meals. Usually my DH will get a meal, and the kids and I will split two meals.

 

[acourtwdw]

I think that you could do $15 per meal for your family. You kids are little and depending on what you eat, it can be done. I am of course refering to CS not TS. My Dsis and I spilt a lot of meals at WDW. The portions are huge! FlameTree BBQ, Cosmic Rays and Peco Bills all jump to mind on places that we have spilt meals.

Even at TS, we have spilt meals. We will order an appy and an entree to spilt. If you ask the server to spilt your meals, they will do it in the kitchen and sometimes give you extra sides.

I know what you mean about not wanting to spend big $$$$$ on meals. It seems like a waste.

Oh, don't worry about what other people think on the boards!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I know friends that aren't "rich" that have stayed at YC/BC or other deluxes. They just plan their trips out really far in advance and budget for everything a little at a time.

Thank you. We too are FAR from rich. But we are good at planning. You hit the nail on the head.

Glad you caught my snark.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I think if you really tried you could keep a CS under $15. As an example, you could get a double cheeseburger combo, order an extra bun and an extra order of fries. That would be two regular burgers and two orders of fries to split between four. If you are light eaters I would think that would be enough. You can order water and bring some of those crystal light packs from home so it won't seem like you are drinking water with every meal. I'm sure you wouldn't want to do that every single meal but it would work for some meals.

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

I think there a few places that are really big in portions!

Main street bakery has huge cinnamon rolls that could easily be shared for breakfasts and not to mention funnel cakes around the parks(not a nutritous breakfast but hey its your holiday!)

We have eaten at several counter service locations and found the place opposite POTC to give big portions. I had a chicken wrap that looked like a log I barely ate any of it!

Flame Tree Barbeque also gives big portions as well as Cosmic Rays. The Hollywood Studios is a difficult place as they don't have a lot of counter service locations to choose from so a picnic at this park would be a good idea!

We found that the desserts that come with meals are too much to eat just after and so we saved these for breakfasts! obviously this only works for non melty things!

Sunshine Seasons in Epcot seems like a place where you get a lot for your money! and there is a lot to choose from!

At pop you can get dominos pizza delivered there so that might be an idea for a dinner!

 

[hegsag]

Do you have a kitchenette where you are staying? Will they allow a crockpot? You may want to call & ask. Not only will it save you time but money as well. We always stay at a villa off site that has a full kitchen so you may not have the same options as I did (we just got back). If you go grocery shopping you can always buy a bag of lettuce (already chopped), cucumber, tomato and add lunch meat and cheese & that can be a meal that you can have on the cheap. I second another poster about packing some special snacks from home that your kids love that they don't get on a regular basis to make it special and exciting for them (without costing a bundle). I do that with fruit snacks

Don't buy condiments as you can get all at counter service stations - salt, pepper, mayo, relish, ketchup, mustard & probably alot more.

 

[hegsag]

Another thing you can buy is precooked meatballs & spaghetti sauce and heat it in a microwave for some yummy meatball sandwiches which is alittle different than a regular sandwich with lunch meat.

My kids can live off of pbj sandwiches...I would pack peanute butter.

 

[kellykaypa]

And boy did they ever! Your not alone..I'm sorry to say, you said what I was thinking. It's not beyond the realm of possiblity that one takes a vacation they cannot afford...I didn't say you are..just said that it is possible.

This current economic situation is due to just that.

I happen to agree with you. I'm going in a little over a week and I am not by any means rich..just an average "jane". But..if I had to worry about splitting food and accounting for every cent it would not be worth the trip.

NOT saying your doing that..just saying I wouldn't.

 

[tippy77]

I second the suggestion of ordering kids meals at counter service locations for the adults. Especially at breakfast--there is no way I could finish an adult portion but the kids meals are the perfect amount of food!

Also, for my past two trips, I have ordered a case of bottled water from Staples and had it delivered to the resort. At $2 per bottle in the parks, it was definitely worth it to order it in advance.