Disneyland on a Budget

[stubby]

Hi..new here..just joined today. We are planning a trip in October-2nd-5th.
We have 5 people in our family(me, hubby, 3 girls 9,7,5) and are wondering what you guys recommend on a budget for us. We will be eating lunch and dinner in the park for all 3 days we are there...and I like to have different meals(meaning I don't want burgers twice in a day). Also any ideas on souvenirs for the girls? Something not too expensive...that they will keep for awhile?

 

[bzkds]

We share meals as much as possible in the park(but we don't eat in the table-service restaurants). A lot of the portions are very generous! I usually bring breakfast food to the hotel, so we can eat while we are getting showered and ready. We also refill our water bottles each day to avoid buying new ones.

As for souvenirs, my kids like to get a pin each trip we make. They can pick something special that reflects that particular trip. And the pins are usually $10 or less. They keep them on a lanyard in their rooms at home. I have also given my kids gift cards with $20-$25 on it to use as "money" for souvenirs. Once it is gone, no more shopping!

Beth

 

[AmyPond]

I haven't been to the parks since January 2009. But I recall Pizza Port in Disneyland giving decent portions of pasta. And they have little side salads that are only a few dollars.

http://allears.net/dlr/din/dining.htm That website will give you menus and prices. so it might be helpful.

We like to eat breakfast at Tomorrowland Terrace because you get quite a bit including a drink. However, I heard that the drink may no longer be included in the price. So I'm not sure about that.

I think pins are a great souvenir and they really aren't too expensive. Vinylmations are cool and cost $10 for a small figurine.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Double post sorry.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Pizza Port does have good portion sizes for splitting. Their pizza however is in my opinion terrible. My daughter wouldn't even eat hers last trip so we split my pasta which was yummy. Rancho del Zocolo has large portions and their food is good. Carnation Cafe is a sit down restaurant, but their prices are in line with counter service and they are really good. A must visit for my family. Pacific Warf Cafe in DCA has really good soup/salad bowls. Also, a lot of the restaurants at DTD have walk up windows with cheaper selections but the same yummy food. Ralph Brennan's and Tortilla Jo's to name a couple.

 

[stubby]

Pizza Port does have good portion sizes for splitting. Their pizza however is in my opinion terrible. My daughter wouldn't even eat hers last trip so we split my pasta which was yummy. Rancho del Zocolo has large portions and their food is good. Carnation Cafe is a sit down restaurant, but their prices are in line with counter service and they are really good. A must visit for my family. Pacific Warf Cafe in DCA has really good soup/salad bowls. Also, a lot of the restaurants at DTD have walk up windows with cheaper selections but the same yummy food. Ralph Brennan's and Tortilla Jo's to name a couple.

What about the BBQ place? I can't think of the name off hand but it is all you can eat. Is the food good? For the 5 of us for lunch it would be $70...that sounds a lil high to me but maybe not???

 

[reynmagsmom]

Everyone else is doing a good job describing food so I will tackle souvies, Our fav is always ear hats my kids get a new one every trip so they have quite the collection now, and at 12 to 16 dollars not too big of an expense.....Mr. Potato head pieces are reasonable also(you can stuff a box with all the pieces that will fit for like 25 bucks)...... it will depend on what your kids enjoy, for mine it changes every year and this year we have a new addition, our 8 yr old nephew now lives with us and it will be interesting to see what he prefers on our next trip

 

[stubby]

Everyone else is doing a good job describing food so I will tackle souvies, Our fav is always ear hats my kids get a new one every trip so they have quite the collection now, and at 12 to 16 dollars not too big of an expense.....

Are those the ones that they engrave? Does that price include engraving? My girls had mentioned them so I am thinking that may be something for at least the younger 2.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

What about the BBQ place? I can't think of the name off hand but it is all you can eat. Is the food good? For the 5 of us for lunch it would be $70...that sounds a lil high to me but maybe not???

Celebration Round-Up... I haven't actually eaten there myself, but I can't think of having read a bad review for it. All the reviews I've read people have really enjoyed it. Whether it's worth the money is up to you. There is a dining review thread with a ton of photos and reviews. I will bump it for you.

 

[Flitterific]

For those on a budget, I recommend the following counter-service restaurants: Taste Pilot's Grill in DCA (decent burgers and I heard their BBQ is pretty good), Pacific Wharf Cafe in DCA (awesome bread bowls with soups and salads), Carnation Cafe in DL (looove their loaded baked potato soup), Plaza Inn in DL (for their fried chicken) and White Water Snacks in Grand Californian Hotel (yummy nachos). You can also do Cafe Orleans on a budget if you share entrees. Their pommes frites and gumbo are super yum!

Just check out the menu on allears that PP posted and check out the food thread which has pictures of a lot of things that I mentioned so that you can get an idea of the portion sizes. Have fun!

 

[Lissame]

For our trip this past week we let the kids get 2 pins each (we get pins for each trip--one with a date and another is their choice)

This time we started collecting smashed pennies. The penny holder is $6.95 and the smashed penny machines are everywhere all over the park, they cost 51 cents each and the kids really got into smashing them and collecting them. The most inexpensive souvenir!

There is also a Disney Character warehouse about 5 miles up Harbor in Fullerton. We have yet to find anything spectacular there, but the clothing is significantly cheaper than the same things in the park. When we went this time, we even found some things that were still in the park, but for half the price. Just not all sizes are available. My husband hated the place because he thought it was very dirty and smelly, but it's worth checking out.

 

[reynmagsmom]

Are those the ones that they engrave? Does that price include engraving? My girls had mentioned them so I am thinking that may be something for at least the younger 2.

I believe names are extra now I think, $3 more I looked for a reciept but couldnt find one..... I know someone here who has been recently will be more sure!!
Oh and the pressed pennies are my daughters favorite thing to do, pretty much every theme park in So Cal has them she has 4 books filled from over the last 10 years

 

[jenniferrose]

Are you set on eating lunch and dinner in the park (meaning, their food), for every meal? We usually either bring in sandwiches and fruit and eat them somewhere, or go back to the hotel for lunch. Saves a lot of money!

 

[teach1abc]

I get the disney.com emails. I recently bought tshirts that were on sale for every day we are in the park for $5.99 for both of my kids. I thought I might wrap them up and give them to the kids each morning before we head to the park. I think we paid $25-30 for one kids tshirt in the park last time we were there. That should help cut down on souvenirs.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

I get the disney.com emails. I recently bought tshirts that were on sale for every day we are in the park for $5.99 for both of my kids. I thought I might wrap them up and give them to the kids each morning before we head to the park. I think we paid $25-30 for one kids tshirt in the park last time we were there. That should help cut down on souvenirs.

I do this every trip. I also got DD some inexpensive Princess dolls at the Disney Store and each morning she got a suprise "souvineer" from her suitcase. Then the last day of our trip she got to spend her pre-earned money (earned by doing special things around the house) on whatever souvineer she wanted.

 

[Mike_M]

The Turkey Legs offered in both parks make a great meal, are pretty filling and have usually been one of the better deals in the park. Plus, you can eat them on the go so no being tied town to an area.

 

[chickyann]

Our girls loved collecting pressed Pennies & character autographs, we bought them an autograph book each & a penny book to share, it was all relatively inexpensive

 

[tommya60]

Micheal's has some Disney items in their $1 bins, so did Target last time I was there. I bought sweatshirts in advance and suprised D with them. I would get the autograph books (or buy some in advance--Walgreens had nice ones recently). Remember to skip pages so you can put the pictures in the books--D loves them.

 

[mmlover74]

I always go to Target before a Disney trip and buy souvinears. My DS knows that if he is good, Mickey comes to visit him in the night and leaves something special. I bought some of the toy story 3 figureines that I figured would be at WDW.

 

[wvnative]

As we usually drive, we bring stuff for lunches and breakfasts with us.

As are very fond of Taste Pilots though and the food there is generally enough for me and my teenager to split. We never go without having a meal at Carnation Cafe. We usually split a parfait and a breakfast croissant one morning.

We both think the pizza in the parks leaves a lot to be desired. I've heard good things about both the flavor and the size (easily splittable) of their chicken fusilli. You can order pizza for delivery to the hotels too if you find yourself in your room at a "feeding" time. lol I believe there's a Quizno's in one of the hotels on Harbor as well.

We've also heard good things about the fried chicken at Plaza Inn.