Eating at WDW on a budget

[lissiesmum]

Well, I went from almost starting a pre-trip dining report as I was on the deluxe dining plan, to no dining plan in 24 hours! A theme park view room came available at the Poly so to be able to afford it, I gave up the dining plan and now I have limited money to spend on food while we're there. I was hoping you could share some tips on some inexpensive meals or meal portions that are large enough to share with a child who is not a big eater. We will be on the monorail line, and will only be going to the MK and Epcot. I am also considering ordering from gardengrocer and eating some breakfasts and lunches in our room. Any ideas would be much appreciated

 

[arielmomma]

Many of the CS meals at WDW are large enough to be shared. At MK (Cosmic Rays), the 1/2 chicken, 1/2 rib meal is huge. I have also been known to share the wraps with some additions from the toppings bar. At Epcot, we have been known to share at Tangerine Cafe (Morocco) and at the CS in Mexico - the combo platter is good sized. For breakfast, bring breakfast bars and cereal from home. Same for snacks. As for drinks, bring water bottles and some crystal light/kool aid packets. Eating cheap can be done!

 

[pattyw]

Wolfgang Puck Express at the Downtown Disney marketplace is wonderful!! It's a CS, but they do bring your food and fill your drinks. The menu is great- and portions are good.

 

[candielips]

Have you considered the QS dining plan or is your budgeted limited to less than that?

 

[allicat1214]

We stayed at the Poly many years ago and brought a lot of food from home (we drove) and I set up the iron board as a "kitchen counter". This was before the major renovation so I don't know if there is more counter space now, but this can be applied in any hotel room....

Here are some things I've done over the years:

--Use your coffee pot to make hot water or get an inexpensive electric tea pot to make hot water which can then be used for grits, oatmeal, hot tea, hot chocolate, individual mac n'cheese servings, etc. Obviously this is all to eat in your room. Buy plastic bowls/spoons made for hot meals so you can throw away and not have to worry about washing dishes...or see if you can get room service to bring you regular coffee mugs to use. (I know the plastic mug idea isn't "green" but if you're flying bringing a bowls can weigh your suitcase down!) This also helps you get ready and at the parks quickly in the mornings!

--my kids always had a fanny pack of their own and in the mornings they would load up with their favorite snacks that we brought: granola bars, trail mix, fruit candies (when they were little I would buy a box each of the disney fruit gummies: princesses for my DD and mickey & friends for DS) They could eat anything in their fanny pack whenever the wanted and I didn't have to hear "mom, i'm hungry...."

--peanut butter & bread: you can make pb&j sandwiches and put in zip lock bags and carry in fanny packs.

--bring your own water bottles to carry in backpacks or buy those water bottle straps ahead of time or at the parks. At CS restaurants ask for ice water (it's free) and replenish your bottles for later in the day.

--each a bigger lunch than dinner at the parks. Lunch is usually less expensive.....or at least one day eat a big breakfast but not first thing in the morning...find the latest breakfast time and consider that lunch!

also, i'd check out the budget board for more ideas.... but it can be done!!!

 

[Grumpy92]

We bring items for breakfast. We like one sit down meal a day but have saved $$ by doing it at lunch. The menus tend to be the same with lower prices then we do a CS for dinner.

One of our fave dinners is at the POR foodcourt. They have create your own salad or pasta areas and we love the carving station. We avg $12 for a meal there and the food is good.

Here are some great CS locations:
Tangerine Cafe, Roaring Forks, Sunshine Seasons, Kringla Bakery (Norway), Earl of Sandwich, Pop Century FC

Capt Cooks at the Poly offers a great breakfast.
Alot of guests feel Trails end is the best deal on property. It is a buffet at FW.
Here is a link to the menus: www.allersnet.com/menus/menu.htm

 

[lissiesmum]

Thank you all for some great ideas! I've kept 3 character breakfasts and one trip to Boma, and I will definitely do gardengrocer and order some water, snacks, milk, cereal etc for the other days. Definitely do-able!

 

[fla4fun]

Poly rooms have a small refrigerator, so you can keep things like lunch meat, cheese, milk, etc., in the fridge. When I'm on a tight budget, I eat breakfast in the room (a PBJ, cereal, etc.), eat lunch in the parks, and eat dinner back in the room (maybe a meat and cheese sandwiich and chips). You won't go hungry, but you may get bored.

What kind of budget are you looking at per person? I have done pretty well on $20 per day (covers two basic CS meals per day), but I usually budget $25. I put any extra leftover each day toward the one or two TS meals I book. I also budget about $50 or so for buying the in room food for the trip. So for a ten day trip, overall, I'm budgeting about $30 per day, but not necessarily using all of that. If I'm there for 10 days, that would be a $250 + $50 budget, and I might only spend about $150 if I eat more in the room.

The big expenses are drinks and snacks. You can get cups of iced water at any CS restaurant, instead of soda or more expensive drinks. You can bring your own snacks with you, and just splurge now and then for a treat. It's easy to end up spending close to $10 for a snack and drink in the parks if you aren't paying attention.

 

[lissiesmum]

I'm not sure how much I want to budget per day yet. I have six TS meals scheduled and I'm trying to sort through to see what ones we can give up. Ideally, I'd like to keep four of them: two are character breakfasts, one lunch, and one dinner. I will order some water/soda/juice/choco milk from garden grocer, some cheese, meats, crackers, bread, PB &J, snacks, etc, and I'm planning on doing most of my CS meals at Capt Cook's. We love their noodle bowl so I know we'll be eating there often. We also enjoy their cheeseburgers and adult grilled cheeses, so we're in good shape there. We're happy with croissants in the morning, so that's a cheap breakfast. In the parks is where it gets tricky and as the PP said "boring". I don't always want to be eating CS all week, because that will get old quick, but I figure, if I bring out some towels and bring some gardengrocer stuff and put it out on the beach for a picnic, might make things more exciting to eat, right?

 

[carps09]

We like to bring snacks in the park with us like grapes, water bottles we can refill, Crystal Light powder, and goldfish. Buying snacks in the park can add up quick, and this does seem to help.