Bringing in food

[CUnit]

Overly excited to be planning our 5th family trip and returning after 2 years! (feels like an eternity) We are trying to cut down on cost this year and avoid buying the dining plan. Mostly because my son will be 10 and I can't see the sense in paying the adult price for him.

So, what do you bring in the parks to eat? I'm looking for some ideas of foods that can not melt in August, when we go.

 

[Lumiere Lover]

Granola bars, peanut/cashew mixes. More of a snack type treats. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Robo]

Why not eat at counter service, and pay out-of-pocket, at least for some meals?

No Disney dining plan has never made sense for us as a way to save money, regardless of the ages of the members of our party.

 

[DizDaD7]

Frozen Uncrustables are great ways to save a lil....But yess I agree on the CS meals...There are plenty out there that have great deals on things.

 

[sonocruiser]

Uncrustables are great! Put them in a hard tupperware type sandwich holder so they dont get crushed in your park bag. We also use hard plastic ziploc containers for fruit.

 

[soniam]

I would only do snacks. We bring protein bars, granola bars, individual packets of peanut or almond butter, beef jerky, and fruit (apples, grapes, orange slices). There's also crackers and cookies. There are the snack packs of crackers and cheese or peanut butter. Someone once suggested a jar of pickled wienersThought I would just throw that one out there

 

[fla4fun]

When I have been on a tight budget, I would have something in the room for breakfast, eat lunch in the park at CS, and then have sandwich fixings in the room to have for dinner when I got back for the night. You also have the option of packing a small soft side cooler with sandwiches and filling Ziploc bags with ice to keep it cool. You can put this in a locker where it won't be in the sun all day to help keep it cool as well.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Before Disney I make a Costco run and buy the large packages of the prepackaged peanut butter or cheese crackers, granola bars (but not with chocolate as they melt), gummy snacks, small bags of pretzels, etc. Each person takes a couple of snacks for the day. We eat QS meals, when we are in the parks we don't like taking the time out of the day for TS meals. We aren't big soda drinkers so always ask for courtesy cup of ice water at QS with meal which quenches the thirst.

 

[disnut8]

I second the Uncrustibles. Also, things that won't smush or break (Uncrustibles can smush but are still tasty). You can get plastic containers that have several compartments and fill with whatever you guys like. Personally, I would take in a plastic container filled with pretzels of whatever sort and be content with that as my snack all day long. Raisins are good as well. For sweetness, get a box of SweeTarts or Sprees or Twizzlers bites for the day.

You should also look at the counter service places as my husband and I will usually share a meal there. Or, for your family at Animal Kingdom, you could get a 1/2 slab of ribs and a half chicken at Flame Tree BBQ (both come with baked beans and jalapeno cornbread) for around $25. Also at counter service places, you don't need anything to show an age to get a kids' meal. In my 50s, I can easily get a kid's cheeseburger or a drumstick or something of that nature, two sides and a drink and I usually carry at least one of the sides along with me after the meal.

 

[MataHari22]

My go to for replacing a meal or for a snack to hold me over are BelVitas. (Cookies/Breakfast bars) My favorite are the chocolate. I will also sometimes, bring in a piece of fruit. I don't eat anywhere near enough for the dining plan to make sense for me.

 

[MamaLema]

We bring 2 small soft cooler bags. We put frozen juice boxes on the bottom and sandwiches on the top, adding additional 2 juice boxes on top. We have never had a problem with food spoiling and we only go in August.

We love WDW but don't care for the food quality at all.

 

[theone74733]

Like others have said, we normally make a run to Costco before the trip starts and load up on granola bars, fruit snacks, and trail mix to eat throughout the day.

We normally only do one QS a day while we stay at WDW (TS maybe once during our stay). The greatest part about staying at the Disney All Star Resort Sports is the McDonalds is located within walking distance so we usually eat breakfast there and pick up some apple pies/cookies for lunch. I am not a heavy eater (especially on very hot humid days) so normally the snacks fill us up until dinnertime. Of course, the Dole Whip is something we always have to get.

These things help us keep the food budget within control.

 

[Accident]

Do you have a target budget for how much your comfortable spending on food? I save the most OOP vs Dining plan because we don't normally eat the amount of food that you get with the dining plan. We're not appetizer and desert for everyone eaters.. But we maybe do 1-2 table services if we are there for a week.

 

[bumbershoot]

So, what do you bring in the parks to eat?

Water and snacks like Clif bars. That's it.

We can't do the easy Uncrustables b/c of the corn syrup, HFCS, and color; DH and DS react HUGELY to those things, and it becomes very unpleasant very quickly. And I'm not interested in carrying around a hotel-room-made PBJ for the day.

We almost always have a table service each day, and generally some sort of counter service and/or food court meal. DS has eaten like a horse since he was around 9, as DH and I have decreased what we eat, and even at home some days he eats more than either adult in the house eats.

 

[sticker231]

Nobody suggested "a can of corn" yet?

 

[Sparkly]

Usually we eat CS at the parks (IMO I would rather buy a meal then eat a squashed warm sandwich at lunchtime!). When we're not on the DDP we bring small snacks and bottles of water with us- pretzels, gummy sweets are good things to bring.

 

[Carriemel]

Nobody suggested "a can of corn" yet?

I was just thinking about that!!!!

 

[minnie mum]

I was just thinking about that!!!!

Me too.

We don't bring much more than bottled water and a couple prepackaged snacks or pieces of fruit. But we've found that most CS meals are plenty big enough to split between 2 of us. Sometimes we'll add an extra side.

 

[HeidiGW]

Just an FYI, we were there at Christmas and they SEARCHED every bag, every pocket. Not that I saw them disallowing anything...BUT taking most everything out of every bag every time! (When my kids were little, we brought a ton of stuff...I would have been pissed off when they destroyed my neatly arranged bag, mostly because I could not get it back in place!) The lines were so crazy, we stopped bringing a bag although I would have liked to have one. My husband just carried my epipen in his pocket....

 

[Agent B]

We do fruit snacks and beef sticks. We've found that chewy granola bas or those with chocolate melt too much.