Budget tips on dining at WDW

[Pluto777]

I just found another budget trick - did you guys knows there is public bus service in Orlando from MCO to D.S.? I believe the bus makes only 7 stops (Lynx 311) - you're welcome!

BTW, anyone know how far in advance a DVC resort will hold an amazon or grocery package in advance of ariival?

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I just found another budget trick - did you guys knows there is public bus service in Orlando from MCO to D.S.? I believe the bus makes only 7 stops (Lynx 311) - you're welcome!

BTW, anyone know how far in advance a DVC resort will hold an amazon or grocery package in advance of ariival?

Yes, it’s great the public bus is an option. It’s certainly cheap but takes awhile to get places. (But then again, WDW transport can take a LONG time as well.)
I know a lot of folks who stay offsite & take the public bus rather than the free hotel shuttles.

 

[Pluto777]

Yes, it’s great the public bus is an option. It’s certainly cheap but takes awhile to get places. (But then again, WDW transport can take a LONG time as well.)
I know a lot of folks who stay offsite & take the public bus rather than the free hotel shuttles.

I live outside Florida so I have no idea about busses in Orlando, but I was happily surprised to see this (MCO to DS) was an option.

I realize it is not very glamorous to start your vacation on a public bus, but $2 a person MCO to D.S.?? That is a real money saver. BTW, anyone know what busses you could transfer to (if there are any) to reach offsite areas? Also, do the busses take cash or do you need to buy some type of card?

 

[leebee]

I live outside Florida so I have no idea about busses in Orlando, but I was happily surprised to see this (MCO to DS) was an option.

I realize it is not very glamorous to start your vacation on a public bus, but $2 a person MCO to D.S.?? That is a real money saver. BTW, anyone know what busses you could transfer to (if there are any) to reach offsite areas? Also, do the busses take cash or do you need to buy some type of card?

Only glitch I see with taking the public bus to DS is your luggage. I don't believe that Disney Transportation will let you take your suitcases on the bus, so you'd have to figure out how to get from Disney Springs to your resort. I guess you could call a cab/uber and it might be cheaper than taking one from the hotel, but it seems convoluted to me, as well as a time-investment, and as we all know, at Disney, TIME=MONEY!!

 

[LoveToDisney]

I’m interested if anyone knows just how far a walk it is from the Disney Springs Transfer Center stop by Cirque (which is where I think they drop off) and walking over to Saratoga Springs Carriage House via the walkway that goes past parking and across the bridge and up behind the carriage house. I have a scooter so catching an Uber isn’t an option. I assume the public buses accommodate a scooter.

 

[DawnM]

One more thing I will add......We know we spend around $300-$400/week on food for our family anyway, so I take that amount out of our food budget for the trip and don't "count" it. That makes it easier to swallow the cost of food while there. I mean, we would spend it if we were at home or there anyway. That is our breakfast and late dinner money and then usually covers about $150-$250 of CS meals in the parks.

 

[Chuck wright]

Save 10% on any meal ….. just order ice water instead of a drink

 

[halfpintpeggy]

One more thing I will add......We know we spend around $300-$400/week on food for our family anyway, so I take that amount out of our food budget for the trip and don't "count" it. That makes it easier to swallow the cost of food while there. I mean, we would spend it if we were at home or there anyway. That is our breakfast and late dinner money and then usually covers about $150-$250 of CS meals in the parks.

If you don’t mind me asking, how many people are in your household? Because wow! that would be a high grocery budget for my family.

 

[DawnM]

If you don’t mind me asking, how many people are in your household? Because wow! that would be a high grocery budget for my family.

6 of us. 4 boys and 2 parents. $300/wk is pretty average. Add in eating out a couple of times and it can get to $400 pretty quickly.

But you will never see us paying $8k for a week at Disney either! I spend no where near that.

 

[dpswift]

6 of us. 4 boys and 2 parents. $300/wk is pretty average. Add in eating out a couple of times and it can get to $400 pretty quickly.

But you will never see us paying $8k for a week at Disney either! I spend no where near that.

That was our family when the kids were younger. Spent a lot on groceries but our vacations were frugal

 

[DawnM]

That was our family when the kids were younger. Spent a lot on groceries but our vacations were frugal

Not all of our vacations are frugal, but I save where I can. We just got back from a 3.5 week overseas vacation, and that was definitely not frugal in the sense of overall cost, but I don't see any good reason for us to spend $8k on a week at Disney. We have other things to spend our $$ on.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Only glitch I see with taking the public bus to DS is your luggage. I don't believe that Disney Transportation will let you take your suitcases on the bus, so you'd have to figure out how to get from Disney Springs to your resort. I guess you could call a cab/uber and it might be cheaper than taking one from the hotel, but it seems convoluted to me, as well as a time-investment, and as we all know, at Disney, TIME=MONEY!!

Bingo. Not friendly if you travel with luggage. If you have to pay a cab/rideshare from DS to your hotel you should have just paid for Mears and saved yourself the headache of shlepping luggage around.

 

[Dakota731]

It depends on how busy they are. There have been times we have not been allowed to grab a table until we had food in hands.

Which makes sense since often people who have paid for meals can’t get a table if crowds are large.

 

[Dakota731]

Thought I would start a thread for how to save a few bucks while dining at WDW (including Disney Springs). Any great ideas could go in this thread. I know my son likes T Rex, so I was considering getting a Landry's gift card (if I can find at a discount maybe we can save on a family of 5). Any other ideas?

How do you get discounted Landry’s card? Or are you just talking like 5% from Target?

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Costco had them for $25 off last week. I think they were $75 then you got an additional $5 off. on top of that. Would've been nice to buy if we had the money. We could pair that with our Landry's $25 reward we've earned and basically get a free meal.

How do you get discounted Landry’s card? Or are you just talking like 5% from Target?

 

[Dakota731]

Costco had them for $25 off last week. I think they were $75 then you got an additional $5 off. on top of that. Would've been nice to buy if we had the money. We could pair that with our Landry's $25 reward we've earned and basically get a free meal.

I was hoping to use my Landry’s birthday reward on our trip but they require you to use it within 15 days after your birthday month so too soon for us

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I was hoping to use my Landry’s birthday reward on our trip but they require you to use it within 15 days after your birthday month so too soon for us

Oh, I didn't realize that. I was wondering why they said we had to use our reward within 15 days. That didn't make any sense. Hopefully that's just the birthday reward and not the regular reward. We had 1 of each in late July (wife's birthday is July 26). So we were able to use one that weekend for her birthday. But we've still got the other. Hopefully it doesn't expire.

 

[Willow Ufgood]

I was hoping to use my Landry’s birthday reward on our trip but they require you to use it within 15 days after your birthday month so too soon for us

I thought it was the 15th of the month following your birthday month, not 15 days after your birthday.

 

[SL6827]

I thought it was the 15th of the month following your birthday month, not 15 days after your birthday.

Yes.

 

[dpswift]

Which makes sense since often people who have paid for meals can’t get a table if crowds are large.

Totally agree. It is super annoying to walk around with a tray of food to see multiple tables tahKen up by people eating picnic lunches