Family of 7! Need inexpensive dining

[TPratt]

My husband and I and our 5 children are going to WDW next month for 5 days. This is our first trip to WDW. I am very frugal and am trying to enjoy this trip without totally blowing a wad! We are staying off-site at a place with a kitchen, so some of our meals will be eaten at the hotel, but I want to be able to eat at least one meal and snacks in the parks each day. Does anyone have any tips on how to feed a family of 7 (Children's ages range from 1 to 10) in the parks for cheap?
For example, I love the tip to order a double cheeseburger and an extra bun to feed 2!
Restaurant names, portion sizes, etc would be helpful! Thanks so much for your tips!

 

[iloveeeyore]

Well, you already know my favorite one about the cheeseburger. Cosmic Rays in Tomorrowland MK serves a chicken/ribs combo that can easily feed 2 hungry people or 3 little (or 3 big not-so-hungry) people.

Flame Tree BBQ in AK also serves very big portions, but I don't think they're quite as big as CR's.

ETA: Tangierine Cafe in the Morocco pavilion in Epcot offers shwarma platters that are HUGE and delicious and easily shared.

 

[shocker]

Flame Tree in AK is also a fav. for us. It's not inside the park but is walking distance from Int'l Gateway entrance to Epcot, ESPN Zone on the Boardwalk really gave us the most bang for our buck but lacks for "trying some new cuisine" inside Epcot. Another tip, especially if one of your 5 will be needing a stroller, is to take your own food. Even if just sides like chips, crackers, drinks (or drink mixes for free water offered at all CS), etc. that you can add to sandwiches that you purchase in park. If you can bring all your own snacks than that might help free up some budget for the meals themselves.

 

[honeydiane1953]

My husband and I and our 5 children are going to WDW next month for 5 days. This is our first trip to WDW. I am very frugal and am trying to enjoy this trip without totally blowing a wad! We are staying off-site at a place with a kitchen, so some of our meals will be eaten at the hotel, but I want to be able to eat at least one meal and snacks in the parks each day. Does anyone have any tips on how to feed a family of 7 (Children's ages range from 1 to 10) in the parks for cheap?
For example, I love the tip to order a double cheeseburger and an extra bun to feed 2!
Restaurant names, portion sizes, etc would be helpful! Thanks so much for your tips!

No disrespect intended Disney is expensive. Food there is too. Plz read the thread re how much do u spend. People spend diff amounts but for me, grown daughter and 2 and a half yr. old (will eat off our plate) plan/expect to spend between 1000. to 1200. dollars. We will stay 6 nights and 7 days.

 

[wdwmaw]

We use to be very frugal in the parks till we started doing free dining. That said please look at the menus here and this will give some idea so you can add up some things in advance.

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

I find Disney is a much better value compared to local attractions here. Meals do have large portions and can be split between several.An adult burger meal at Pecos Bills is $6.59 and a childs meal is $4.99 so you could save $3 by letting 2 little children share an adult meal over ordering 2 childs meals. Water is free just ask for it everywhere, take drink mix ins for the kids if they don't like water. Breakfast sit down meals are cheapest and lunch is cheaper than dinners, so plan on eating biggest meal early and have dinner in the room. Staying off property you could book an 8am breakfast in the park and they you would be first in for a 9am opening, great way to get a head start. If not then we have found that breakfast in room, sitdown or big CS meal at lunch in the park and then have sandwiches back at hotel late saved us a bunch. Take snacks with you so when the little ones fuss they will have something so you don' have to always buy food.Also, if you want to try some resort specials, like Tonga Toast from Kona, then just eat it at Captian Cooks's Snack Co., CS in the Polynesian. Most of the CS for the resorts theme the food to their sit down resturant taste so give that a try to save.

Places we always find a good value
Cosmic Rays - MK
Casey's Corner-MK
Flame Tree BBQ-AK
Trails End Resturant-Fort Wilderness ( good buffet for the price)
Cantina de San Angel- Epcot ( we all get Plato del Nino )
Earl of Sandwich- Downtown Disney

Have fun and hope you have a great trip

 

[Kay1]

I think the Trails End Buffet is a fantastic idea. You've been given a lot of great advice. Hope you have an absolute blast!

 

[maxiesmom]

Be warned that there have been some reports of Disney charging for the extra bun, so you may want to skip that and just cut the burger in half. But typically there is no problem sharing food at Disney, the portions are quite large.

 

[LaurenT]

My husband and I and our 5 children are going to WDW next month for 5 days. This is our first trip to WDW. I am very frugal and am trying to enjoy this trip without totally blowing a wad! We are staying off-site at a place with a kitchen, so some of our meals will be eaten at the hotel, but I want to be able to eat at least one meal and snacks in the parks each day. Does anyone have any tips on how to feed a family of 7 (Children's ages range from 1 to 10) in the parks for cheap?
For example, I love the tip to order a double cheeseburger and an extra bun to feed 2!
Restaurant names, portion sizes, etc would be helpful! Thanks so much for your tips!

If you've got 2 or 3 children under 3 years old, they'll eat for free in the buffets - so, you could do 1 nice Character Breakfast Buffet without it breaking you - say Crystal Palace - I know it's not splitting a double burger, but if you do stuff like that enough, it'll free up some to splurge on a Character Breakfast - it's really priceless to have the characters visit your kids at the table, you'll have pics to last a lifetime and it'll free up time in the park because you won't have to wait in line to meet them.
Oh...and you can bring snacks into the park...no need to buy them there (except ice cream...it'll melt)

 

[LaurenT]

AND...there's a budget forum here..check it out, it has all kinds of ideas on how to save up for the trip and how to save while there.

 

[PatsGirl]

Sunshine Seasons in Epcot has some great meals that will feed two adults or three children. First one that comes to mind is the baked chicken with mashed potatoes and veg choice for under $10 if I remember right. They also have an asian counter that you pick three or four items for under $10 that could easily be split...

 

[chartle]

Be warned that there have been some reports of Disney charging for the extra bun, so you may want to skip that and just cut the burger in half. But typically there is no problem sharing food at Disney, the portions are quite large.

they have always charged extra for the bun. the issue is how much, some post 80 cents some say $3.00.

most of the the cs portions are large. its been awhile since i have to feed small childern but a lot of the meals would be a little larger than a value meal at mcdonalds.

a pizza is about 10"

 

[zhazhazsu]

For a buffet I would book the latest breakfast available, and make it more of a brunch. Just have a cereal bar in the room, and then fill up, and then a CS shared meal or snack later that night.

Also you can after a week of eating WDW portions you may find yourself just snacking for lunch or dinner. I was soo not hungry for like a week once we got home.

 

[LadySiren]

Hey, you sound just like us! We've got a tribe of five too, and are heading to WDW for a six-day stay in June. We're staying offsite at our timeshare and will be making good use of the kitchen.

Our plan right now is to do two character breakfast buffets. We'll be doing a midday break each day, going back to the TS to cook lunch, have a swim, nap, etc. Then, we'll head back to the parks in the evenings. I'm planning on us doing easy, inexpensive breakfasts - yogurt, bagels, cereal, fruit. We'll also be taking snacks with us into the parks to ward of the hungries.

Lunches will also be easy, comfort-foods - mac & cheese, chili dogs, fruit, veggie trays, chips, etc. I'm not sure about evening meals yet; two of our five are teenage boys who eat like the food is going to run out tomorrow scared1. I have a feeling if we do CS meals at the park, I'm going to end up buying two meals per boy.

I'd like to do some offsite dining, as well - there are a number of chains in the area that we don't have here at home, but that I used to eat at when I lived elsewhere. Some of these are fairly economical, such as Sweet Tomatoes (soup/salad buffet). I'm planning on hitting up the coupon and restaurant sites to see if we can get coupons, which should save us a little more.

Overall, food is going to account for a fairly substantial portion of our trip cost. We're pre-buying items such as souvenirs, glow sticks/necklaces/wands, and surprising the kids with them, so those will be paid for. We're also signed up for GAD, which we'll be using for tickets as opposed to FPs. All of this should free up extra funds for us to use on special things, such as the character and offsite dining. I'm even flirting with the idea of taking DH to Medieval Times for dinner one night. Should be fun!

Anyway, hope you and your tribe have a great time.

My husband and I and our 5 children are going to WDW next month for 5 days. This is our first trip to WDW. I am very frugal and am trying to enjoy this trip without totally blowing a wad! We are staying off-site at a place with a kitchen, so some of our meals will be eaten at the hotel, but I want to be able to eat at least one meal and snacks in the parks each day. Does anyone have any tips on how to feed a family of 7 (Children's ages range from 1 to 10) in the parks for cheap?
For example, I love the tip to order a double cheeseburger and an extra bun to feed 2!
Restaurant names, portion sizes, etc would be helpful! Thanks so much for your tips!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Some of the ts restaurants we thought we "reasonable":

Plaza at MK
Sci-Fi at DHS
50's PTC at DHS
Rose and Crown at EPCOT

I would do at least one character meal though - it sure beats chasing them through Disney for pictures. Some suggestions:

Cape May Buffet Breakfast at the Beach Club
Crystal Palace Breakfast at MK
Chef Mickeys Dinner or Breakfast at the Contemporary
1900 Park Fare Breakfast or Dinner at the Grand Floridian

Enjoy!

 

[MissionMouse]

... I am very frugal...staying off-site...with a kitchen, ...want to be able to eat at least one meal and snacks in the parks each day...

As others have indicated...Disney is a resort and is provides food as resort prices. You can check out the dining section on this site. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining.htm to get futher details to cost and menus. In essence to be very frugal with food you should not consider table service restaurants. Counter service restaurants are available and require no advanced planning. Personally, if you want to go very frugal and already have food and kitchen at your 'hotel' you might consider bringing in your own food and drinks. Below are some of the basics regarding coolers and lockers:

Theme Parks:

Full size coolers whether with or without wheels are not permitted
Coolers smaller than 24"L x 15"W x 18"H (the size of the large lockers) are allowed
Neither glass or alcoholic beverages are permitted


•Lockers may be rented to store items during your visits to theme parks
•The fee to rent a locker is
•$7 per day for a small locker
•$9 per day for a large locker
•$5 refundable key deposit for both small and large lockers

 

[dancin Disney style]

It is super easy to save money if you do your homework. We stayed at POP in July 2008 for 14 nights and our family of 4 (kids were 8 and 17) spent $4040. That included every penny that we spent.

We got in on a fridge swap. We brought a toaster, kettle, cutting board and a good knife. That was the extent of our kitchen. We had breakfast in our room all but 2 days and had half our lunches in as well. We went offsite many times for dinner but also had several resort CS dinners. We went to places like CiCi's, Ponderosa and Cracker Barrel. We had 3 Disney TS dinners and several in park CS lunches. The total for our food was only $917 that's $65 per day. We did a lot of meal splitting which is easy to do since the portions are usually large. Also, I did my research to find out which CS places had the best selection (beyond burgers and chicken nuggets) those places tend to have the largest portions. Another savings is to order a kids combo meal for an adult (at CS not TS).

A great place for a meal and it happens to be one of our must do's anyway is Earl of Sandwich in DTD. The sandwiches are large, freshly made and only about $5 each.

 

[maxiesmom]

It is super easy to save money if you do your homework. We stayed at POP in July 2008 for 14 nights and our family of 4 (kids were 8 and 17) spent $4040. That included every penny that we spent.

We got in on a fridge swap. We brought a toaster, kettle, cutting board and a good knife. That was the extent of our kitchen. We had breakfast in our room all but 2 days and had half our lunches in as well. We went offsite many times for dinner but also had several resort CS dinners. We went to places like CiCi's, Ponderosa and Cracker Barrel. We had 3 Disney TS dinners and several in park CS lunches. The total for our food was only $917 that's $65 per day. We did a lot of meal splitting which is easy to do since the portions are usually large. Also, I did my research to find out which CS places had the best selection (beyond burgers and chicken nuggets) those places tend to have the largest portions. Another savings is to order a kids combo meal for an adult (at CS not TS).

A great place for a meal and it happens to be one of our must do's anyway is Earl of Sandwich in DTD. The sandwiches are large, freshly made and only about $5 each.

Just as an FYI you are not supposed to bring anything like a toaster to cook with into your room. The Value resorts provide toasters for you to use in the food court. Too much of a chance of a fire with cooking implements.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Most of the fridge swaps include toasters and whether they are allowed or not tons of people bring them and use them. This goes on in hotels everywhere not just WDW.

 

[Belle5]

Welcome to the DIS! It will be many, many years before will be as cheap as it is right now for you to vacation! Only one of your children is a Disney "adult" (your 10 year old). It looks like at least one of your kiddos will be free (anyone under 3).

At the counter service places all of you can order kid's meals if you want to since you will not be on the DDP (certainly all your kids).

Plan now for one big character meal. I would say the easiest one for you would be the Garden Grill. I detest character buffets--but I didn't back when my hands were full with little ones. It is a precious time that passes all too quickly. You need to go while your kids are in that age range. I like Garden Grill because you don't have to get up and fill a bunch of plates--the food is brought to you.

Walk on the dangerous side and have Disney junk food for your dinner--the pictures and memories will be worth it and it's a lot cheaper than a meal. (We have done this at Beaches and Cream--kitchen sink--yuck! and Ghirardelli (the earthquake--yum!) but an ice cream or dessert meal anywhere would be great. Your kids will think you are awesome for this!

I lot of the fast food pizza places (Toy Story Pizza Planet) have pizza's that are easily shared by at least two kids.

I remember packing PB&J's and fruit once when my kids were small like yours and we ate outdoors in the parks.

Have fun!

Belle5
Mom to five Disney "adults" and one child

 

[DisneyWisher]

If its a warm day and you are thinking about ice cream for the kids snacks. Stay away from the carts. You pay between $3 and $3.50 at the cart. Head over to Main Street Ice Cream Parlor http://allears.net/menu/men_msic.htm or Aloha Isle (in Adventureland by Swiss Family Treehouse) http://allears.net/menu/menu_alh.htm big enough for the kids to share. Also look for Mickey Shaped pretzels in the bag. You can get them for around $1. Any other snacks I would bring with me. Maybe get a bag of cotton candy for everyone to share its around $3.50, maybe $4. Another thought for snacks is the bakery. Have the kids share some cupcakes or cookies.

Disney can be expensive, 2 of my daughters are grown and on their own but 10 years ago it was me as a single mom and the 3 of them going. But we managed. We always got lucky. One time eating at Comic Rays the fries were taking a long time to come out, my youngest was 4, hot and hungry = cranky, the manager gives me 4 crunch ice cream bars (they don't carry them anymore). For the older girls (14 and 12) it was a treat to eat dessert before the meal.