cheapest way to eat in Disney?

[disneydee+3]

Can all you great people list you secrets for eating cheap while we stay? There are 2 adults 2teens and a 7yr boy. Any secrets or tips would be great!

 

[Mandabella]

Try splitting the large entrees between two people. This is easier to do at the table service where the portions are generally bigger.

For counter service, DH and I will each get seperate meals but we split 1 large drink instead of buying 2 medium drinks. At table service we may split 1 appetizer, 1 entree, and 1 dessert between the two of us.

We split snacks in the parks too. Neither one of us really needs to eat an entire ice cream or popcorn or turkey leg or funnel cake, so we just split them.

We are also DVCers, and eat most breakfast meals and several other meals in our room. That saves us $$$ and allows us to eat at table service each day instead of going from counter to counter throughout the week.

 

[Chicago526]

My favorite is just to split meals. It might be harder to do that with two teenage boys, though, since they usually eat like they haven't had a meal in a month...

Meals at Disney are very large, even at counter service, and the average person can easily split with another and still have plenty to eat.

 

[Jasminesmommy]

www.allearsnet.com alll the places to eat throughout disney are on this site with there prices. You can also bring Braed and PB & Jelly. Pop Tarts in the morning or add meals to your package.

 

[Disneymom2AA]

It's been awhile since we've been to Disney (Jan.2003) but we had 3 adults, 1 child and an infant. Our first day we didnt' know what to expect and we each ordered our own meal!!! Big mistake for us, we had so much food left over. So we planned accordingly. All places we ate at had big servings(for us anyway.) We would order 1 burger and 1 double burger with extra bun and 1 order of fries and 1 large drink. This would be plenty-if we wanted a snack we bought ice cream, popcorn or I also brought snacks from home. Granola bars, fruit snacks and oatmeal bites. Sit down meals were also a lot of food we all shared two dinners at Nine dragons(chinese) in Epcot and other sit down meals. My husband is a big eater so on certain days he ate his own food while the rest of us shared. Before our trip we budgeted for all of us to order our own meals but in the end when we found out how often we could share we ended up saving lots of $$$$$. We actually came home with over $500.00. Some places serve salads that are really huge and sandwiches that compare to 2 6" subs so they can easily be shared. Hope you enjoy your trip!!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We have 3 teen ds, so splitting meals would never work for us. I usually plan one good sit down meal a day and one counter service. I pack a small suitcase full of snacks and gatorade and koolaid mix, plus we stop at the hess mini mart for soda packs. Breakfast is always in the room, or we bring it in the backpack to the parks, granola bars etc. I do bring my own drinks into the parks. Our sit down meal is usually a lunch buffet. Its cheaper. I make an early ps, like 11:45 am. Before we leave the ps I ask for another round of drinks. All those drinks are refilled into our rubbermaid chugger in our backpack. We are good for the afternoon. Littlest ds also takes a piece of fruit or cookie with him too. Counter service dinner usually. We might get a snack in the parks, but we usually end up sharing those, especially the stuff from beverly sweets at mgm, yummy!! I have seen people bringing their own lunches into the parks. I personally havent done that. Cutting down on the drinks really saves alot. You can go to the allears website to get an idea of all the costs and budget appropriately. Good luck.

 

[FLORIDAFUNFAMILY]

The thing that works best for me is a few candy bars for snacks, I like to go without a pack so I wear pants or shorts with large cargo type pockets. I rarely do counter mostly sit down and the portions are large enough to share.

 

[Taja]

I'm not a big breakfast person, so I usually stop at a grocery store and buy bread rolls and fruit. Sometimes milk, as well, if I take the larger soft cooler (12-can) and pack enough ice around it to keep it cold. I also buy bottled water (16.9 oz with regular caps--the sport bottles don't fit in my small cooler) and take the first bottle of water of the day into the park with me. In addition, I purchase a few snacks--crackers, baby carrots, etc.--to eat in the room and take a few into the park for a morning snack. I refuse to carry more than my shoulder bag (medium size) and my bottle strap (okay, I'll carry a jacket in cooler weather!), so I use the snack-size zip-top bags and just put a few crackers and carrots in them for a late morning snack.

Usually I'll eat a late lunch/early dinner in the parks or at one of the resorts. Solo traveling wastes food, though, as the portions are large. One of my biggest expenses is bottled water in the parks, although the price has decreased slightly and the size of the bottle has increased slightly. Occasionally, I'll splure and have a root beer, but usually stick with water.

Two teeneagers are going to be expensive. Unless yours are different, they are eating machines!

Use the menus on allears.net to plan your costs and tell them how much they have to spend each day on snacks and drinks. Most drinks and snacks start at $2 and go up to about $5 each (I think turkey legs are higher). Also plan where you can find food everyone will like, determine your budget and discuss it with all family members in advance so no one goes crazy in the restaurants! Teenagers certainly are old enough to be involved in the budgeting process.

 

[IvyandLace]

I'd suggest planning on some days with a later breakfast (like Chef Mickeys, Crystal Palace, Cape May Cafe, Ohanas...or, my favorite budget breakfast, Trail's End in Fort Wilderness) and then a late lunch/dinner (there are a few Epcot restaurants that I know for sure serve lunch until 4pm-4:30pm) with a snack to cap off the evening!

Also don't forget about bringing filtered water bottles for eveyone in your family (or a few to share) and stick to water at your meals...that only can save you muchos dineros. We always bring snacks to bring with us in the parks-stuff like pretzels, cheese-n-crackers, nuts, and starburst. We find eating breakfast in the room before we leave for the parks saves not only money but time-poptarts, bagels, juice, milk-n-cereal. This stuff is even easier to store not that the moderates and deluxes have in-room fridges. If you are driving down (which we did for the first time in August for our 10 day stay), bring a cooler and bring sandwich stuff, chips, pop, etc. too. With all our food supplies this past trip, we were able to get down to purchasing one meal and having the other two meals in our rooms (don't worry-no cooking was done!). It was easy to accomplish because we would eat breakfast before leaving early for the parks, and since we were there in August, we came back to the room about 1pmish for lunch, swim, nap, etc. That left us able to have dinner out when we got back to the parks. Of course, we would sometime eat lunch before going back to our resort for our mid-afternoon rest, allowing us to eat in our room (dinner) before we went back to the parks with a snack at the end of the day.

If you have been to WDW before and/or are familiar with the area, I would highly recommend taking a few meals off-site. Really and trully, though it might be considered "heresy" on the DIS, it isn't that much of a hassle to go off-site for a much more affordable meal for all family members. DH and I found our way around Kissimmee quite easily. If you go that way, try out the Entertainment book for some buy one, get one free options. You may also want to check out www.restaurants.com for coupons for off-site dining.

You can buy a double cheeseburger and ask for a separate bun.

If you are Florida residents or AP holders, you may be interested in the DDE which gives you a percentage off each meal you purchase in WDW.

Have a wonderful vacation!
IVY

 

[got2lovedisney]

Sometimes I just get a kid's meal...also note, at the counter service restaurants...although everything is priced as a "basket"...you don't have to get the fries if you don't want to...it's all available "a la carte". Also, there are usually enough fries in a basket for 2 to share. This trip we're going to get the combo basket at Columbia Harbor House. It brings chicken strips, fish strips and fries. My DD will eat the chicken, I'll have the fish and we'll share the fries. We usually get this as 2 separate meals (2x the cost) and I OD on fries but thanks to the DIS...I think I can overcome my french fry dependency!

 

[LSUDis]

Try going in the summer; it's so hot that you won't feel like eating during the day.

Buy a waist pack that holds bottles and fill up at the water fountains. Bring little containers of Crystal Light or something to take the taste out of the water and to have something to drink with lunch. Saves $$$$ on counter drinks.

Take cereal bars, honey buns, Little Debbie cakes, granola bars, etc. for breakfast. There's not enough time to eat in the morning,anyway, and get to the parks early, so eat on the run. Then, have a good lunch.

The other responses about splitting meals is good, too, but I wonder with the new Dining Plan.....or you could still split, and take the other counter service to the hotel's fridge for a snack/meal later......

 

[mhingher]

We usually try to have a few breakfasts in the room. We're staying at All Star Movies and for an extra $10/night we'll have a refrigerator. Our car service from the airport will take us to a food store, where I plan on getting milk, bread and some fruit. I'm bringing cereal, individually wrapped snacks, peanut butter and jelly. We'll bring PB&J sandwiches into the park some days for lunch. When we do a character breakfast in the am, we're usually not too hungry until mid afternoon. We'll grab a snack, and then maybe a counter service dinner.

Splitting meals is always an option, unless you're married to my DH, and he eats everything! We also try to get one drink at counter service meals to share. ANd I agree with LSUDis, if you go in the summer you won't even feel like eating, it's so hot!

Have a great time on your trip

Melissa

 

[luv2nascar]

cosmic ray's in MK has family meal whole rotisserie chicken for 3-4 people including mashed potatoes for $15.99
Pop food court has whole 16in pizza for $13.99
stick w/counter service & one buffet per day
if you have car and want to leave property there are tons of cheap buffets out there
Mcdonalds DTD - kids usually love it
I'd try to read menus and get idea of food budget before you go
Wolfgang Puck's express in DTD was really good & reasonable

 

[disneydee+3]

You guys are awesome! These tips will help so much! I have already made my shopping list so I can stock up on breakfast,snacks and drinks! Thanks guys!

 

[HopperFan]

We travel with 2 teen boys. Breakfast bars in am in room. Lots of snacks in room and bottled water, and we take a few with us in the park. At ASMo last trip we actually found the kids meals pasta was good (3.99), included a bread stick - we each ordered one, we bought a large salad to split and it was a nice meal for @ 25.00 (we had 2 refillable mugs) In parks DH and I often split the salads. They are big, often have chicken and there are so many kinds I find myself wanting to try them all. Always share drinks. We try to eat a larger late lunch so that dinner is either light or outside of the park. Unless we have a dinner PS, then we eat a light lunch. Also have ordered a large pizza to share with a salad. Pizza's are reasonable. Didn't like ASMo but loved the one at AKL Mara and DQuest.

 

[donnabc]

traveled with DH and 5 yo...have 3 favorite tips for you...
1. If you are staying at a value resort, the room delivery pizza is actually not a bad deal (pay the same at home )
2. ...got this idea off another post....bought a double cheese burger and an extra bun($.80)....presto....two burgers (you can each put whatever you want on them at the bar)
3. Took a backpack in with me with snacks and several waters, sodas and juices (saved a fortune and as the day went on and I got tired the bag got lighter! )

 

[soccermom5]

can you bring waterbottles or food in the park with you ?