Do People Really hate food & drink.... to save money at Disney???

[emmalgin]

Sounds crass, but on so many of these boards, I hear the same thing about food & people never having a drink.....

The big part of Holidays for me is eating and having some drinks. This is not being at home and eating on the go and cold cereal for breakfast or a muffin. It is a vacation. I want a nice dinner each nice or a meal I don't get at home.

Here I read about cold breakfast bars, pretzels & sandwiches and liquor is a four letter word..... What gives?

 

[MickeyFlirt]

I am the same as you. On vacation I like to eat in restaurants and I also like to have a drink or two with my meal or while sitting by the pool-not to get drunk or anything just to sit back and relax. We usually eat out for breakfast, counter service for lunch, and a sit down meal for dinner. Than a snack some time during the day. a lot of food I know, but we don't eat like this at home.

 

[blanq]

Well, keep in mind you are posting this on the "Budget" Board. The people who frequent this Board love to go to WDW, but sometimes they have to find ways to do so economically.

I am not a big drinker (a glass of wine or a margarita once in awhile is about it for me), but while on vacation I do love to have some drinks by the pool. I disagree that alcohol is a 4-letter word on the DIS. I have seen plenty of threads, generally on the "Restaurant" Board, about "drinking your way through WDW", "best Martini's", "best Margarita's", etc.

My family does sometimes plan for breakfast in our room, and we do bring snacks. We pick up items as we get a grocery stop with our towncar transfer. I have done this more for convenience than great savings, as we don't like to waste park time by standing in line for snacks, or taking an hour or more to sit down every day and have breakfast. The savings is a side bonus though. Also, there is no way we could eat three sitdown meals a day...I would burst! So, we usually eat a light breakfast (something from our stash, or grab-n-go), one sit down meal and one fast food, per day.

Finally, not everyone is a "foodie". Some people could care less what their next meal is, as long as they fill their belly. They don't care about establishments such as the Flying Fish, CG, Citrico's, Jiko, etc, where you get a great meal and it can cost a bundle. Now, I am not one of those people! I love a great meal, and don't mind paying for one. My point is that everyone has different eating/drinking patterns, for different reasons. It is nice we each get to do what we want, and that WDW provides so many options for different budgets and tastes.

 

[disneysteve]

The big part of Holidays for me is eating and having some drinks. This is not being at home and eating on the go and cold cereal for breakfast or a muffin. It is a vacation. I want a nice dinner each nice or a meal I don't get at home.

Here I read about cold breakfast bars, pretzels & sandwiches and liquor is a four letter word..... What gives?

To each his own. For us, we like to get an early start and spend our time in the parks enjoying the rides, shows and shops. We don't want to spend an hour or more eating breakfast. We also don't want to spend $10 per person or more. We would much rather have a glass of juice and a bowl of cereal in our room and be out the door.

As for lunches and dinners, we will do one or two nice sit down (or nicer buffets) during the week. Last trip we did Crystal Palace for lunch one day and Boma for dinner another day. But again, we are at Disney to do what can only be done at Disney. We can eat at a nice restaurant anytime at home. We can only see Fantasmic or ride Space Mountain or browse shops at Downtown Disney when we are there. If that means dinner is hot dogs from Casey's, we're ok with that.

As for alcohol, we are not big drinkers and, my wife particularly, hate paying more for a glass of wine than we pay for a bottle at home. Plus if we had a drink or two, we'd be too tired to enjoy the rest of the evening. Also, we do our own driving while at Disney so I can't drink anything unless it would be a good long time between the drink and getting back in the car.

Disney has many wonderful restaurants and if that's what makes the vacation special for you, then by all means go and enjoy. But there is certainly nothing wrong with those of us who look forward to other aspects of our Disney trips.

 

[mamalle]

we may eat breakfast in the room on some days. Mine eat cereal so it isnt that big of a deal. we always do one character breakfast though on each trip so then we eat a light lunch. I will have a drink by the pool or with dinner. It just depends. I try not to eat three pricey meals each day so we are not spending $$ of money.

 

[meandtheguys2]

DH is diabetic, and his levels shoot sky high when he "eats out" every day. Too many hiddens. We have to stay where we can cook, or at least refrigerate what is best for him. The fact that it saves money is a pleasant bonus. Besides who want to spend $7 on a drink. That is just plain foolishness!

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Last Feb Disney trip, night before we froze crystal light pink lemonade in our freezer (in water bottles)next morning put them in baggies, & in our backpack. I also packed pretzels. This was great.

Lunch time, we waited in line for 30 to 40 minutes, & kinda fought for a table.
Just for hot-dogs, & hamburgers.

Dinner, we were going to eat in the country. I haven't read the boards, but every restaurant just about laughed at me, when I asked if we could eat there. Forget it. You need to reserve "EARLY."

Next year I will reserve Dinner in the Countries,and I am, starting off at the "Waffle House for breakfast & packing lunch in my backpack. I hated all the time we wasted for a meal that wasn't that great & cost $$$$$

 

[newholidayx2]

the day we get to the parks at their openings we'll either have something in the room or grab something quick
planning 7 sit-down brkfsts the mornings we're planning on hanging at the pools
booking alot of late PS lunches and just a few dinners to save money

 

[Jon99]

As far as the drinks, I drink more than the average guy, but when we go to Disney I might have 2 or 3 beers the entire time.. Our dollars have to stretch, and we would rather spend money on our resort than to spend $5 plus on a beer...

 

[KristiKelly]

Sounds crass, but on so many of these boards, I hear the same thing about food & people never having a drink.....

The big part of Holidays for me is eating and having some drinks. This is not being at home and eating on the go and cold cereal for breakfast or a muffin. It is a vacation. I want a nice dinner each nice or a meal I don't get at home.

Here I read about cold breakfast bars, pretzels & sandwiches and liquor is a four letter word..... What gives?

We don't usually eat out for breakfast simply because we have kids who just want to get to the parks, eating slows them down. We will have cereal, breakfast bar or something. Otherthan that, we do eat out. Also, eating a sit down meal each time takes up so much time. We usually eat one sit down a day and one counter service a day.

If you eat at 50's Prime Time @ MGM there is a bar. DH likes the Bloody Mary's.

I had heard people rave about the drink (can't remember the name) at the Poly, it's put into a carved out Pineapple. DH got each of us one when we checked in, seems like they're about $10 ea. I didn't like it, taste like cough syrup to me.

We usually take a case of Corona with us. After we put the kids to bed we will sit on the balcony and relax with a couple of drinks.

 

[disneysteve]

We usually take a case of Corona with us. After we put the kids to bed we will sit on the balcony and relax with a couple of drinks.

We have done this. When we do our grocery shopping, we'll pick up some wine or coolers or something and have a drink back in the room after DD goes to bed while we are unwinding and watching TV.

 

[Disneyrsh]

The other point you might have missed is that if you eat out every day at Disney you are probably eating a LOT more calories than you would normally at home. And if you eat that much food at home then, DANG!

Frankly, if I eat breakfast at Trails End Buffeteria (my fave), I'm spending the next few hours snoozing on the beach trying to digest it. If we want to get into the parks early and not feel like we've got anvils in our stomachs, then we do cereal and oj and tea in the room as soon as we get up.

Seriously, you can't do three buffets a day and not expect to gain weight!

And I don't buy the whole 'we can walk it off' theory because it's hard to walk with a ton of food weighing you down!

We're big on grazing in the park and doing one big buffet meal a day, usually lunch because after we go back to the room and crash for a few hours...

 

[DisneyDotty]

Oooh--I like the Corona idea. Maybe some bottles of individual margaritas, too!
Yep, vacation for me is relaxing and eating out--being served food, as opposed to waiting in lines, if possible. But that's just my (and my dh's)
way of vacationing. We don't go to Disney every year, so when we do we like to take our time and savor the experience, including meals.
Enjoy Disney however way you like--whatever you do will be magical!

 

[oogieboogie]

A big part of our vacation is eating at WDW. We agonize over allearsnet menus to see where we want to eat. However, we're not big breakfast eaters, so we probably only do 1 sit-down breakfast the entire trip. Typically for breakfast, we'll just grab a couple muffins, split that among 4 people (2kids, 2adults) and be done with it.

Lunch and dinner are the big meals for us. We enjoy our food at WDW, and we try to plan new places each trip we make. However, we're not drinkers so we don't order drinks. Once in a blue moon we'll order drinks, and DH will get his strawberry daquiri at Poly, but for the most part, we just do the regular fountain drinks. It has nothing to do with trying to save money.

 

[Debbie]

When we are on vacation-and it doesn't matter where-we find that 2 meals a day suits us just fine. We don't often eat at the sit downs, not for the $$$ (although it is a real benefit ), but because we aren't hungry enough, or willing to give up park time, to justify the time and/or money. Just our family, but that's the way we are.

 

[TNKBELL]

I enjoy eating out, but with 4 DKS it's not always easy to keep them busy while we wait to be served. Also my DS is very picky, down to the brand name of mac n cheese (only likes generic!! not kidding!) So we usually do a shop when we arrive and eat at least 2 meals a day in our condo. Disney has great food though and it should be enjoyed! Having a glass of wine in the evening was a great ending to a magical day! One of the things we look forward to most are the Yum!! And of course, we can't leave WDW without at least one serving of Mickey Waffles! I also enjoy deliberating over each menu to decide which establishment might be graced with our presence that day!!

 

[kcbean]

We do a little of both. I agree with Kristi. We have three kids and they eat breakfast in the room while everyone else is getting ready. Breakfast really isn't an important meal for us so to take the time to sit down and eat somewhere is a waste of good park time. We take snacks to the park and usually bring something the kids don't normally get at home. Then we live it up with a good sit down meal for either lunch or dinner. The kids would much rather be at the park or pool than sitting in a restaurant waiting for their food. Sure, if it was just DH and I we would love to eat out every meal but there is so much to do at WDW and you can eat anywhere.

 

[BostonRob]

It is a vacation. I want a nice dinner each nice or a meal I don't get at home.

Here I read about cold breakfast bars, pretzels & sandwiches and liquor is a four letter word..... What gives?

I agree 100%. I know everybody enjoys different things, but when I hear about people talking about bowls of cereal and sandwiches, it really makes me sad. A major part of my vacation is enjoying restaurant food and not having to prepare or clean up after meals. One of the reasons my upcoming trip is short is because our biggest daily expense on vacation is food by far - and no matter how good of a deal I get on a hotel, each extra day is that much more expensive. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I think I'm too lazy to prepare food on vacation, and too selfish to save money with sandwiches! Dkids and I feel that dining at WDW is an indispensable part of the experience - we plan our dining choices first, the rest of the vacation afterward. I very rarely drink, partly because I'm the only adult and don't want to be fuzzy-headed while responsible for my children, but I will indulge in a tropical drink at 'Ohana and a glass of South African wine at Boma on my solo trips.

 

[georgina]

With 3 kids who are not interested in sit down meals, it would be a tremendous waste for us to do many of them. Plus my digestive system likes the type of food I have at home - cereal, fruit, sandwiches. We do a breakfast buffet and one or two sit-down lunches while at Disney. We happily have breakfast in our room, sorry to hear that makes some of you sad. We drink very little at home and even less at Disney. We seldom eat out at home either. Maybe when the kids are older, we will have more sit-down meals, but it makes no sense for now.

We have even camped at Fort Wilderness and made some of our own dinners! I can tell some of you are horrified! Everyone is different and enjoys their vacations in different ways.