Eating Cheap at WDW During Land & Sea Vac.

[Frequent Flyer]

We are doing the Land & Sea Cruise and I am trying to keep the budget as low as possible. Since meals are not included for the Land part of the trip, I'm hoping to get some tips for eating cheap.

Better to eat at the park or at the hotel (Caribbean Beach)?

Is there a free continental breakfast at Caribbean Beach?

Are there refrigerators in the rooms? If so, should we pack lunches for the park?

Any other information?

 

[crisi]

Head over to the budget board, there will be lots of good advice. Or the restaurants board.

The Carribean Beach has a food court. Prices will be the same (approximately) as in the parks. There will also be microwaves available, IIRC.

No free breakfasts at Disney however.

I believe moderates have fridges now, and you can pack sandwiches in if your budget is very tight. But check out the counter service menus - the prices actually aren't too bad at a lot of counter service places - and there are a few bargains - if you aren't huge eaters, the chicken and ribs dinner from Cosmic Rays will feed two.

Lots of people pack a suitcase with breakfast bars/pop tarts. A few cans of tuna and a can opener. Peanut butter. Bread can be had at the store in most resorts.

 

[laura_hattaway]

Hi there! We stayed at the CBR a couple of years ago, and the food court stuff there is good but outrageously expensive. A bowl of mixed fruit like you get at the grocery store for $1-2 (pineapple, cantalope and honeydew, and grapes) is around $5. Wraps and other snacky "real" food is more. Really, it's incredible. But the CBR DOES have a refrigerator. Unfortunately, no way to heat up left-overs, so make sure to take something you can eat chilled or at room temperature (unless you want to try to get creative with the coffee-maker burner, which I'm not recommending!).

 

[Tigger98]

We stayed at the Beach Club back in April. We went to the gift shop and bought some breakfest foods (i.e. donuts) and got the mugs that could be refilled at any resort for free. As for the parks, we bought a larger mug and carried that with us (filling up 2 resort mugs filled one larger mug) during the day. We also ate light - DH and I or DS and I shared plates. This was easy for us as DS doesn't eat that much. We also saved our appeite for the ship - free food on the ship!

 

[WDWLVR]

Since this is about eating at Disney and not about cruising I'm going to move it over to the Restaurant board for you. I'm sure they will give you lots of great advice.

 

[Grumpy92]

You might want to hit the grocery store before you arrive on property and pick up some breakfast foods. You could also get some snacks or sandwich makings for during the day.

One of the best suggestions I can give you is about the full service restaurants. There some great full service restaurants but instead of having dinner there do lunch. The menu is generally the same but the prices are less then those on the dinner menu.

The foodcourt at CBR is due for rehab so you might want to check when the dates are for that. We find the the POR Foodcourt to have some of the best deals. They have a wonderful deal where you get turkey or beef plus to sides and cornbread for around $9. Great dinner
The other location I would suggest if PH at FW. The Trails End buffet is consistently voted by guest as one of the best values at WDW.

Take a look at the menus on the web.
http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm#res

 

[fla4fun]

A lot depends on your appetite. For example, when I was at CR last week, I really liked their Italian subs, but they were too big for me to eat one at a meal. But if I bought one sandwich and two bags of chips, it did me two meals, and was right around $10. You can also split meals at CS restaurants or buy one meal and an extra side.

Will you have a car or are you relying on Disney transportation? If you are relying on Disney transportation, you are more limited in your grocery selections. You can take Disney transport to one of the DVC resorts and buy a loaf of bread and some sandwich fixings, as well as cereal and milk, doughnuts, etc. The prices are comparable to convenience store pricing (a little higher than grocery prices, but not completely out of line) and you can get a lot more for the money than buying sandwiches in a restaurant.

I do recommend, if you are planning something like this, that you stick some ziploc baggies in your luggage. They will come in handy for food storage in the fridge as well as transporting food into the parks. A small collapsible soft side cooler might be a good idea as well. You could fill a baggie with ice to keep your lunch cool, and either carry it or stow it in a locker. I have one that is about the size of a six pack (which would make it about the size of a medium camera bag) and it has a shoulder strap. It folds completely flat when empty. I use it to take lunch to work, but it would work for you too. Keep in mind that the locker rental will run about $5 per day if you go that route. You aren't required to put it in a locker though.

 

[Tricialiv]

We flew down so I had water, pop and breakfast food delivered by Gardengrocer. A few snacks too. I think we saved a ton of money.

 

[emmabemmainc]

Hi there! We stayed at the CBR a couple of years ago, and the food court stuff there is good but outrageously expensive. A bowl of mixed fruit like you get at the grocery store for $1-2 (pineapple, cantalope and honeydew, and grapes) is around $5. Wraps and other snacky "real" food is more. Really, it's incredible. But the CBR DOES have a refrigerator. Unfortunately, no way to heat up left-overs, so make sure to take something you can eat chilled or at room temperature (unless you want to try to get creative with the coffee-maker burner, which I'm not recommending!).

Wow--I'd love to be able to get a bowl of pre-cut fruit for 1-2 dollars--I'm not sure where you live, but that's not possible here! I think 5.00 is pretty cheap, actually.

BTW--is there a separate restaurant board? The PP mentioned it--just wondering!

 

[hsmamato2]

bring/order some easy breakfast foods,like a box of cereal,and buy a quart of milk in the gift shop- paying $5 for breakfast for days is WAY cheaper than anything in a restaurant....
in parks, check out allears.net for the menus- there are many decent and good options at counter service places in the parks, we usually spend less than $20 a day for lunch for 4,and and less than $30 per night for dinner for 4......and we rarely eat burgers and fries....
we used to bring in sandwiches for lunch,but it was costing $$$ to make and carry,and the cost to buy a bowl of soup wasn't too high,so we stopped that

 

[sconnell]

Bring breakfast and snack items. I really would suggest doing dinner as your small meal in the room.
What time of year are you going? Park hours are a factor too. If you are going when the park closes earlier, then dinner in the room is easier. Eat a late lunch then snack and dinner when you get back to the room. Sandwiches and stuff.
Have fun!

 

[Frequent Flyer]

Thank you all for your responses. This answers a lot of my questions and gives me a lot of great tips.

Will you have a car or are you relying on Disney transportation?

Yes, we will be relying on Disney transportation.

I think we'll definitely try to do grocery store breakfasts in the room, pack lunches for the park, and then get a good dinner. Or a late lunch/dinner combo and then just good snacks before and after. Sounds like it won't be too hard to keep the cost down. My DH will be relieved!!

 

[cwt580]

you cant take food into the parks. i think the only thing you can take in is a unopened bottle of water....

 

[Luv2Roam]

If you want some decent and good priced walk up counter service food, try the Bongo's walk up at DTD.

 

[crisi]

you cant take food into the parks. i think the only thing you can take in is a unopened bottle of water....

Since when? Because this must be very recent.

Disney has long allowed food in their parks. The security guards let it pass - and there hasn't been a "not permitted" on the signs for more than a decade. They do this for a number of reasons, not the least being that some people have to make sure their blood sugar stays consistent, and for them its just easier to bring food in. They do not permit alcohol, glass containers, and rolling coolers and will hold those at the gate. They will permit a soft sided carryable cooler, sandwiches, snacks, drinks. My favorite budget board thread was the guy who saved money bringing MREs into the park. Do a search for "canned corn" - that was another good one.

We've been going for years, and for the last ten have regularly brought in fruit snacks, granola bars, and other snacks. We don't haul in lunch, but plenty of DISers do.

 

[cwt580]

well maybe i am wrong. but when we went last,at epcot, they wouldnt allow us to bring in food and pop. they even checked our packs etc. this may be because we were there shortly after 9/11!!!

 

[crisi]

well maybe i am wrong. but when we went last,at epcot, they wouldnt allow us to bring in food and pop. they even checked our packs etc. this may be because we were there shortly after 9/11!!!

We were there in February 2002 - and they checked packs, but let us bring in food and pop. There may have been a brief period following 9/11 when they didn't let you bring in food, but if so, it was brief.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I don't know what the specifics are for food. I have seen a policy regarding coolers. The cooler has to be able to fit into a locker. If guests are allowed a cooler, then I would think that would include food/beverages. I think lots of guests with special needs or kids bring in food and beverages on a regular basis.