Budget Lunches

[smullins4]

Planning a trip for June. Planning on packing lunches for my large crew. Ideas on menu? Ideas on special magical places to have a nice picnic lunch in each park?

 

[Marionnette]

Planning a trip for June. Planning on packing lunches for my large crew. Ideas on menu? Ideas on special magical places to have a nice picnic lunch in each park?

Best Tips for Carrying Lunch into parks
Spin Off: where to eat lunch if you bring it
Ideas for Picnic Lunches?
Packing lunch for the parks

 

[GatorMama]

If you have a kitchen to prep in or cook it, it will help. We get bored of deli meat or nut butter sandwiches after two days so that's not w great options for us. Our favorite so far is chicken salad sandwiches. Either made in the condo or I even made it at home once, brought it down to FL with us and used it our first day at the parks. BLTs are a nice change from the usual turkey or peanut butter too. If you want a warm meal, you could use your cooler as a place to store warm foods instead... Like tacos or burritos.

 

[worm761]

Those are all great threads posted for you to read. Lots of different options.

I suggest two things:

1. Go look at Pinterest for ideas. I have a ton here: http://www.pinterest.com/disneybug/lunch-on-the-go/

2. Practice! If you do not already pack lunches for when you are out during the day, I suggest you do some practice. Not all ideas will be ideal for your family. Learn what works and what doesn't. And remember to add variety. I love to take a wrap, some sun dried tomato pesto, and a slice or two of turkey and eat that. But I don't like it every single day.

Someone posted a website you can buy small amounts of condiments (like mayo packets and such) to take into the parks with you. I thought it would come in handy: http://www.minimus.biz/

 

[Pembo]

For my family, we typically eat lunch in the parks at counter service and then dinner is a sandwich or something back at our hotel or condo after our afternoon break. That seemed to work better for us and we didn't have to haul food around with us. Just a thought....

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Planning a trip for June. Planning on packing lunches for my large crew. Ideas on menu? Ideas on special magical places to have a nice picnic lunch in each park?

You won't find any places in a park to plop down and have a picnic lunch. There are a few benches for sitting but you will not find picnic tables. There are no grassy area to sit in. You will not be allowed to carry in a large cooler.

 

[worm761]

You won't find any places in a park to plop down and have a picnic lunch. There are a few benches for sitting but you will not find picnic tables. There are no grassy area to sit in. You will not be allowed to carry in a large cooler.

Not true. Tom Sawyer Island at MK had picnic tables the last time were there.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I was going to suggest Tom Sawyer Island in MK for a picnic lunch. I didn't see any really good places at the other parks.

Just remember no large rolling coolers and no glass items allowed.

You don't say how large your group is but one day I saw a family eating on the short wall outside Test Track in Epcot. They had fried chicken, what looked like coleslaw or potato salad, chips, and brownies. I figure they had maybe stopped at Publix and bought the food. Oh and water and juice to drink. They had 2 small coolers that fit under their stroller.

I was resting and being nosy so I watched them. It looked much better than some of the food you could buy in the park!

 

[Feberin]

We ate while waiting for the boat from HS to Epcot. It was a nice shady spot and we had to wait anyways. We also had "picnics" while saving our spot for a parade. I got chicken salad at Pubix for me it was delicious and really easy to make the sandwiches in the morning. We also would just eat our sandwiches for lunch and then eat snacks that we packed here and there. We packed a lot of fresh fruit and things like hummus with chips.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I've never done it at WDW but I discovered a cool trick for sports events that might work. Boil hotdogs & burgers & wrap them in foil. Lay a towel in the bottom of a hard cooler and pour boiled water on it then lay a layer of plastic on top and the hotdogs and burgers go on top of that. They will keep hot for hours.

Of course you should test with your cooler first.

 

[Oodalally13]

I saw a family with some kind of rice dish in individual sandwich bags with forks. I could be wrong maybe it was tabbouleh or quinoa salad, but I wasn't close enough to tell the difference.

 

[bearzabout]

The footlong deli sandwiches that are made to order at Publix are huge and a bargain. Get any dressing on the side.

They have many options for take away food.

Nachos made with a bag of chips, shredded cheese, a jar of salsa, canned corn, black beans and cold chicken is an option.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

Last time we went we took some lunches for our boys. They are picky and I have a hard time paying $10 for lunch for little kids. I made a Bento box with lots of different options...some cheese, fruit,carrots, yougurt, deli meat, cheese crackers, teddy Graham's. They loved having lots of choices, and none of it needed to be heated.

 

[Alesia]

I've never done it at WDW but I discovered a cool trick for sports events that might work. Boil hotdogs & burgers & wrap them in foil. Lay a towel in the bottom of a hard cooler and pour boiled water on it then lay a layer of plastic on top and the hotdogs and burgers go on top of that. They will keep hot for hours.

Of course you should test with your cooler first.

FYI: Hard sided coolers are not allowed in the parks.

 

[puffkin]

We take lunches in all the time. We use a soft sided cooler and have zero issues. We don't mind cold cuts or PB&J so we don't get horribly adventurous. I like the sandwich thins since they don't get crushed. I get the kids the pouches of applesauce and individual packs of cookies/chips since we don't normally get those at home. Makes it more of a treat. I usually bring in a big bag of grapes or other fruit for snacking on. I freeze water bottles and capri suns to use as ice packs. We usually just inside at a counter service restaurant in the summer. It is just too hot to eat outside in my opinion. Sometimes my mom (who travels with us) buys a meal because she isn't as keen on packing a lunch. We try to go off in the corner though and out of the way and avoid the smaller counter service places where seating might be more of an issue. You'd be surprised how many people do pack. We always see quite a few when we are eating.

 

[LuvOrlando]

FYI: Hard sided coolers are not allowed in the parks.

I have a soft on the outside one with a hard plastic removable interior