Cheap Eating tips, please?

[Jennie in TO]

We will be doing All Star Resorts the last week of January. I think I can get a free fridge because of some medication I have. We plan on bringing a cooler as well. If we bring breakfast stuff like cereal, fruit, muffins etc, can we get fresh milk on site for a reasonable amount? There are 5 of us and all are milk drinkers. We also thought of bringing lunchmeat, cheese and bread, granola bars etc. and packing a small fanny pack lunch for each person. We could just buy a super size drink and share it. Don't have to worry to much about lots of water in January. More like hot chocolate...LOL!

I was wondering though, about the evening meal. We would like that to be our large meal so that all that "riding" can be done on a light stomach. What are the best strategies for eating at Disney? Our kids, age 8 - 13 are notoriously light eaters at meals, and would rather just do healthy snacks. My husband, on the other hand, would appreciate a good big meal at that point.
Is it cheaper to just eat at an inexpensive place on site, or to actually drive off site (factoring gas money and we haven't a clue about that area)? Is it expensive to order pizza to your room? Are food prices at All Star outrageous?

Thanks for any tips you have.

 

[pampam]

I wouldn't get the pizza at All Star. Had it once. Never again. The fridge is usually a small bar type fridge. Since you are requesting it for med. it may be even smaller- about the size of a toaster. Many are requesting a fridge but don't want to pay the $5.00 a day charge for it so Disney has been known to supply the tiny fridge or offer to keep the med in a fridge at Guest services so you can't really count on getting a fridge. Since you will be driving, you can bring a cooler and the ice is free. Milk on site is not cheap, but there again you can drive to Publix or Wallmart Super store and get a better price. You can always order from the childs menu but the selection isn't great. Disney will allow you to share meals (not the buffet of course) but I think your best bet is to take snacks fruit or a small sandwich with you. I think your idea of a belly bag p.p. is a great idea. As for off site eating, I guess it depends how tired you are at the end of the day. It definitly is cheaper to eat off site, but you know, eating on site isn't too bad. We don't bother too much with the food court at all stars. It's o.k. but not a meal you will remember. And it also depends on how long a vacation you have. You may not want to spend valuable time leaving property. We like to eat at the other resorts, but our favourites are Restaurant Marakesh, Le Cellier, Prime Time, Hoop de Doo(PS) and we always do 1 character meal. A good site is http:// wdwig.com/dining. htm It has menus and pricing at Disney. That will give you some ideas. Hope this helps.l

 

[powellrj]

On our last trip we ate snacks in our room for breakfast, things like fruit cups, juice boxes and granola bars. We then did late character breakfasts so they were cheaper and we had already been to the parks and were ready for lunch. We never at lunch at the parks and then we went off site for dinner everynight. There are many area resturants to chose from and the prices are much cheaper than eating at Disney. We keep our budget at a little over $100 a day for a family of 4 kids ages 6 and 11.

 

[girlsx2]

One thing to keep in mind is that in January the park hours will be greatly reduced. We were there 2nd week of Feb and the parks closed at 6 pm. Epcot did stay open until 9:00 (maybe not all week). We did eat offsite for dinner 2 or 3 times during our trip. There are about a thousand places to eat on 192. It is very easy to get there and get back from Disney property. However, it's all up to you. I have read on another board that there are coupon books everywhere in Orlando with coupons for some good places to eat outside of Disney. It may be worth checking into.


Cya There!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

From the All-Stars there are two off-site options.

You go up toward the McDonalds. At the traffic light make a left, which will take you to Osceola Parkway Eastbound. The next major exit will be World Drive heading South to 192, take that exit and go West; there is a Perkins almost at the 192 intersection and quite a few other places.

A second, less known route, is go past the McDonalds, under the overpass, and then turn onto Osceola Parkway Westbound as if you were going to Animal Kingdom. Stay to the left toward Animal Kingdom Lodge. There will be a traffic light; turn left there and it will take you out to 192 about five miles West of Main Gate. There are still a lot of places to eat, but it is more toward residental areas than touristy. Also you are better off finding a groceery store in that area.

 

[geffric]

I have never been to the food court at ALL Stars but we like the Food Court at Port Orleans. Gives everyone an option that various with their own taste etc.. it's sandwiches, salads, pizza etc.

Off site there are as many options as you have at home. from the Ponderosa or Golden Coral buffets to Shoney's, Tony Romas, Sweet Tomatoes, and all the chain restaurants like Olive Garden, Outback, Bennigans, Fridays etc..The coupon books are available outside all the stores and restaurants on 192 or at the Crossroads SC by downtown Disney. Here is a link to the Best Read Guide, one of the coupon books that you find in Orlando http://bestreadguide.com/orlando/stories/062403/din_dininglist.shtml

 

[kcashner]

Since you will have a cooler, go off property and buy a gallon of milk. Keep it on ice in the cooler. Even at a local supermarket, it was a lot more than I pay at home, but sure was cheaper than buying on property. Eating off property is easy...there are tons of restaurants along 192...like every food place you have ever heard of. If you get a coupon book (free at most grocery stores) you will have additional savings.

If your kids like McDonald's, get some of their $1 Christmas coupon books...12 coupons for $1, each good for a free fries, free pie, free drink, etc. If you use one fry coupon, you've gotten your money's worth, and there is a McD's on Disney property near the All Star hotels.

We take snacks to the parks. Depending on my mood, I also take juice boxes to the park...saves buying a meal. Any stand that serves drinks in glasses will give you a cup of ice free. You can dump the juice over the ice.

Character meals are expensive for adults, not too bad for kids...you really should do at least one. I like to get up early and have cereal in the room, then schedule a character breakfast for 10 or 10:30 (as close to closing as you can get.) That easily makes a "lunch," and can be your big meal that day.
Generally, I'd skip the all star food courts.

 

[pjlla]

one of those fridge/coolers that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car?? They also have adapters so that you can plug them into regular socket in the house/hotel. I've heard a lot of good things about them. I have seen them at Walmart and Target for under $100. Seems like they would be really hand on a long car trip (no stopping for ice and no soggy food in the cooler). We have considered buying one several times, but don't really need one. I have a friend who bought one for a family trip to Washington DC (about a 10 hour drive from here).... She loved it and now they use it when they go camping, etc. Look into it.... it could possibly pay for itself in food versus restaurant savings......P

 

[dandave]

We buy things like milk and juice (and beer) at the resort gift shop. The gift shop prices are much cheaper than the food court prices.

 

[Lollipop Mom]

just wanted to second the idea of the travel fridge. We went to a family reunion when my oldest son was just a few months old. I was still nursing so I pumped milk for him (he was one of the rare ones that would take a bottle happily as long as Mommy wasn't in the room!) and could store it in the fridge. Since then it has joined us on many a family trip! You can set it up to keep stuff warm or cold. They are really fantastic for keeping stuff cool and, like pjlla said, not soggy. When you get to the resort you just bring it in, switch out the adapter and plug it into your room. If you drive to any of the parks, you could put your lunch in there and leave it in the car so it stays cool for you.

We paid about $70 for ours, which is a larger one, and it has been worth twice that to us!

 

[Jennie in TO]

Woah there boys!!!!............ What is this about driving to the parks when you are staying on site???? Really???? Do you have to pay for the parking when you do this???? I like the cooler/car have lunch idea!!!!

 

[westjones]

We bought a portable fridge from Walmart that works in the car and in the room. Something like this one:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...dept=4125&path=0:4125:4138:5164&xsell=2190915

We got it in the store, not online, and it looked alittle different than this one, but basically the same thing.

We have really enjoyed it on our trips. While we are driving (18 hours to WDW from our home) we have drinks and snacks, and then we take it in our room with us. We have used it camping, and it has been a big help with my Girl Scout Troop (taking drinks and snacks on outings).

I don't know my way around WDW, so I can't give directions, but we have found grocery stores not far away and have been able to pick up things fairly easily.

We have bought things at the store at Old Key West and Beach Club Villas when we stayed there. The prices are high (maybe triple the cost off site), but it is convenient. We just got our milk from there, everything else I brought with us.

DJ

 

[westjones]

Oh, I forgot to mention, the website:

http://www.allearsnet.com has been a BIG help to us in planning our food budget.

Here is a link to the All Stars dinner menu and you can see what they offer and prices:

http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_asm3.htm

If you plan to eat in the parks, check out the different places from the main dining menu:

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm

Have a great trip!

DJ

 

[Disnmike]

We go to Disney regularly and we usually bring the fun boxes of cereal and purchase milk at the food court each morning. We give each kid an allotment per day of $20.00 and we make a game out of it. They have a pad of paper to keep track of how much they are spending at each meal. Sometimes they just have a turkey leg and a drink for lunch so that they can splurge on dinner that evening. Now I am reminded every time before we leave to make sure I pick up the little note pads. As for dinner and lunch we usually eat at the parks taking into consideration the time that is used to go on and off property we do not think that it is advantageous. We do have 2 dinners that we splurge on during our visit usually at the coral reef and marakesh. We always pack our snacks and some juice boxes in our backpacks to hold us over so snacking between meals is kept to a minimum. This time we purchased some meal tickets and will see if they are worth while. Have a great time.!!!!!

 

[iluvflorida]

By all means go off property at night. Like others say the are thousands of eating places on #192 very close to disney. If you like buffets I recommend Golden Corral that has everything including steaks, large salad bar, 3 ways of chicken cooked, hot veggies, ice cream, fresh baked buns, pizza, etc. etc. (all you can eat one price). Pick up the discount booklets that are everywhere in Kissimmee/Orlando for discounts for eating, donuts, mini golf etc. Golden Corral is 10% off. Have childen rate but not sure what ages. Buffet was $9.95 before discount last year. Go to www.goldencorral.com for locations but the one I go to is near Entry Point Road (road to Westgate Villas timeshare). Have fun

 

[westjones]

Disnmike,
How old are your kids? I like the idea of them keeping track of thier food budget. I don't know if my kids could do it (well one could, the other I am not sure).

Great idea though! Do you let them keep the extra money at the end of the day?

Thanks for the tip!
DJ

 

[Disnmike]

Hello, my kids are 9 and 15 and it really works great for them. We do let them keep the left overs at the end of each day. Which encourages them to watch their budget.

Good luck

 

[beatnik]

When at Disney, my husband and I typically spend about $45 per day for food for the 2 of us--so we have become masters at inexpensive eating. Some of our techniques may work for you, some not:

1. We eat breakfast in our room most mornings. Cereal, toast or English muffins, fruit, juice, and coffee. Sometimes pastries. We have a plug-in cooler and toaster oven which we bring. The toaster oven packs inside the cooler and we have a collapsible dolly that we use to wheel it into the room. We pick up milk, juice, butter, bread, jam, fruit, and soda when we arrive at the Winn Dixie near DTD (go past DTD hotels on Hotel Plaza Blvd, at end of road turn left onto Apopka-Vineland, the Winn Dixie is about 1 mile down on the right). We bring our camping pack of cups, bowls, plates and utensils, a dishtowel, saccharine, aluminum foil, some zip locs, and a sponge and soap.

2. We make extensive use of Q and C vouchers, sometimes splitting meals, sometimes not. We usually stay off Disney property to save money and like to eat at the various resorts to get a chance to experience the lovely ambience of the place.

3. When at counter service, we try to really think about what we want, rather than just order a combo meal. For example, when recently at Typhoon Lagoon, we knew we would be having a large dinner, so for dinner we got a wrap sandwich and side salad and split the meal. It was just the right amount of food.

4. If going to water parks, bring a small cooler with drinks. If we go to theme parks in hot weather, we also leave a cooler with drinks in the car-- that way we can have a drink on our way from one park to another it we decide to park hop.

5. We don't really drink much-- probably just one drink per trip. This is not a money-saving device (we just don't drink much), but it winds up inadvertantly saving us a bit. We also rarely order appetizers (can't eat that much). We get dessert with the Q and C voucher, so if we ate lunch with a voucher, we usually don't feel the need for dessert at dinner.

6. We have a Disney Rewards Visa card and had $126 in rewards dollars to spend on our most recent trip. This translated into 2 day's lunches at Typhoon Lagoon and dinner for 2 at Ohana (plus 2 rounds of minature golf!).

7. Our trip before last, we purchased the Orlando Entertainment book and used some of the buy one-get one free coupons in that book (we only saved about $20 on a 2 week long trip, however, and stuck to mostly Disney restaurants on our trip of a couple of weeks ago).

8. Although we usually eat at Disney restaurants, we will eat an inexpensive meal or two off-property to stretch out food budget. We like Denny's, Steak and Shake, Orlando Ale House, Bennigan's, and Jungle Jim's. For a bit more money, Chevy's, Pizzaria Uno, Bahama Breeze are good.

9. I occasionally eat a children's meal. Sometimes we don't even eat dinner if we've had a big lunch.

Thats all I can think of for now! I cannot comment on any of the food at All Stars-- haven't stayed there for 10 years.

Beatnik

 

[pjlla]

Originally posted by Jennie in TO
Woah there boys!!!!............ What is this about driving to the parks when you are staying on site???? Really???? Do you have to pay for the parking when you do this???? I like the cooler/car have lunch idea!!!!

No..... if you are staying on-site the parking is free at the theme parks ($7/day for off-site folks).........

 

[Jennie in TO]

What are these Q and C vouchers people keep referring to?