Feeding Teenage Boys..with NO dining plan. UGH!!

[powellrj]

I would get a grocery delivery if you don't have a car. You can keep lots of food in the room to fill them up while they are there, plus have food to take with them to graze on.

If you have a car, you may want to consider some off-site meals. I know there are several CiCis pizza places around town. While the food isn't great, when my boys were teens, you could fill them up for not much money! There are lots of off-site buffets or even regular places you can fill them up for much less.

Good luck, I remember when my boys were teens and I think I could have fed a small country on what I spent on feeding them and their friends!!

 

[Pixiedust34]

I agree with the grocery delivery. We buy nearly all of our breakfast foods, snacks, a case of water, juice boxes, fruit, and beer for the adults to have delivered to the room. Carry snacks into the parks.

I ordered the usual breakfast items and fruit, plus a loaf of bread and peanut butter. Ds would make himself peanut butter bread in the room when hungry. That would fill him up OK for a while.

Splurge on a buffet or two if you can, or the all you can eat skillet at WCC. It's good for them to know they can pig out all they want on a couple of meals. We do have free dining for our next trip, and ds's (15 yo) request was Crystal Palace not for the Pooh characters but for all of the food! A fun place to splurge would be at Beaches and Cream if you get the Kitchen Sink.

Make sure everyone is drinking a lot of water (especially if you are there during the summer months) and that may help curb the appetite a little, too.

 

[irishfanx4]

Thanks everyone for the AWESOME tips and suggestions!! Both my husband and I got some great ideas to take advantage of from you all!! We even took notes! LOL!!
We are driving so we will have the car to make a grocery run. And we will fill up the cooler with munchies for the room as well as snacks and water bottles to take in the parks! We will for sure be loading a Disney gift card for each of our boys with their own food allowance. Thanks again all!!!

 

[kwhite1022]

My plan for when my son is a teen is to not bring him! Honestly, we just got back from there, and hubby and I already decided we will take our youngest daughter back when she is 8 or 9, but the older two would be 13 and 16, and we see no point to them doing the Disney trip. I saw too many teens with younger siblings, making life miserable for everyone else because they were "forced" to do Disney with the "fam"

Im sure this trip must be something your guys want to do and the food thing will be your toughest decision! Id also think about the dining plan, then its already paid for and you can unleash them on buffets

 

[irishfanx4]

My plan for when my son is a teen is to not bring him! Honestly, we just got back from there, and hubby and I already decided we will take our youngest daughter back when she is 8 or 9, but the older two would be 13 and 16, and we see no point to them doing the Disney trip. I saw too many teens with younger siblings, making life miserable for everyone else because they were "forced" to do Disney with the "fam"

Im sure this trip must be something your guys want to do and the food thing will be your toughest decision! Id also think about the dining plan, then its already paid for and you can unleash them on buffets

Had to laugh at that!! Our youngest son made our first trip with him miserable! He was 8. We actually thought about putting him on a plane and sending him home to my sister!
But actually this trip BOTH our boys are excited about going. They will be 19 and 17. So they will be old enough to go off to do teen things together without Mom and Dad this trip.
We would love to do a dining plan but we are staying at Shades of Green and they don't participate in the same Disney dining plan. They are on property but have their own meal plan. Which to us isn't realistic at all. We would have to return to SOG for every meal and leave the parks. So not going to happen for us.
So now the saving up needs to start!!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Giordanos pizza delivery. Big thick Chicago style pizza. http://www.giordanos.com/

Trails End buffet at FW is one of the cheapest buffet at Disney.

Take a bag of trail mix with you. We usually get the big bag at Walmart and then bring some ziplock bags to take some to the park with us. Also take a ziplock bag on the plane.

 

[scrapquitler]

Definitely have them carry a few snacks into the park.

I would give them a budgeted amount for food, and if they want extra snacks beyond that, they can use their own spending money.

I'd suggest that if you eat a few meals offsite, that can help save bunch (Cici's pizza, maybe?) If you do want to have some sit down meals on site, I'd suggest buffets. That way they can eat as much as they want, and hopefully will do okay with a smaller meal for the other meals of the day.

 

[TaraPA]

Our boys are big eaters too, so we try & hit a buffet once a day. Our favorites are Boma (either breakfast, dinner or both), Captain's Grille (cheap breakfast buffet at YC - I think $16.99 per person) and Whispering Canyon Cafe - all-you-can-eat skillet of meats, mashed potatoes, baken beans, corn on the cob, etc. WCC is cheaper at lunch - it's $19.99 per person until 4pm so we go around 3 & that's our big meal of the day. If they can't fill up on that skillet then something's wrong!

I see you have a year to go - do you do any of the survery or rewards sites? I do Quick Rewards & earn about $150-$200 a year in Disney gift cards for the kids to use on snacks. The surveys can be time consuming at times, but to me it's free Disney money that I don't have to take out of a paycheck.

 

[tar heel]

I've fed three big boys several times at Disney without resorting to packing picnics. There are lots of big counter service meals and some big snacks that they really like. We also eat a sit-down meal most days, and we've found the portions to be generous. We're not real big on buffets except for the specialty ones like Boma and Tusker House. My family also likes Whispering Canyon. A few suggestions:
1-We carry a few quick and easy snacks in our park bags -- granola bars, fruit snacks, dried fruit, juice boxes, etc.
2-They drink their milk at sit-down restaurants where they can get five or six refills. Buying those little cartons at counter service places in the quantity they want would be really expensive.
3-Everyone carries a water bottle on a strap and refills as needed.

 

[swilshire]

I'm not always a fan of Golden Corral, but the one on 535 near I-4 was very good when we were there in March. We ate there twice after we saw how well the two teens ate. They had a much better meal because they tried more vegetables than they would have in a normal sit-down restaurant.

Sheila

 

[jlr9882]

Here is my plan for feeding my teens. Our last trips have all been in the summer so the heat cuts the appetite a little. We prefer smaller meals when it is so hot.

We fly so I pack a bag of breakfast/junk food. Things like breakfast bars, crackers, microwave popcorn, small bags of chips (pack in a shoe box) Anything they will snack on that won't melt or cause any harm on the plane. I make them come to the store with me so I know I am taking what they will eat! I also bring flavor packets to add to the counter service water. I use this bag to bring home any stuff we buy. Then we have WEGOSHOP deliver water, cans of soda, tea, and DH some beer. They also bring some lunch meat and bread. Maybe some fruit. What ever sounds good for lunch.

Breakfast: In room before rope drop. What ever we have in the room is fair game. They can make a sandwich or fruit or a breakfast bar. But they must eat something.

AM Snack: Each person brings a little snack to eat in line (chips, special K bar whatever they want.

11:30 Sit down to a "real" snack: We order a kids meal for everyone at this time. Kids meal run about $5 each but include a drink. They are big enough for a snack. More filling than just pop corn or ice cream.

1 - 2 ish: Leave park for hotel. We swim/nap and have a picnic by the pool with our delivered food.

6:00 ish: Dinner at the park usually counter service. Everyone orders a regular counter service meal. Figure about $10 each for this meal. But the portions are pretty good size.

PM snack: Again each person carries in something from the room stash of food. We will get ice cream or something if we want it. Figure about $3 - $4 for a cart type snack.

We ask for water all day long and add the flavor packets to the tap water. If you ask they will fill a cup with ice and water - so much better than the drinking fountain or carrying the heavy water bottles.

I have used this plan on 4 trips now. All with 3 teens. It works really well!

Great plan! When we don't get the DDP, we also bring cereal etc for breakfast and plack snacks and drinks from home to the parks. I had bought a qs kids meal before, and it was plenty for me. I also have gotten the free cup or ice water before too.

 

[littlelulu33]

I am sure you already checked but...did you call and check prices staying at a Disney resort with the military discount. We are actually cheaper staying at a Disney resort then SOG and then you can add the dinning plan and still get tickets on base

 

[Cheshire Figment]

It might be worthwhile, depending on how long you are staying, to invest in one annual pass and then get a Tables in Wonderland Dining Discount card.

 

[hsmamato2]

Well, have them fill up on that breakfast for sure! Then cs for for lunch and dinner...cs isn't so bad if you don't buy a bunch of sodas.... For instance 4 people = 4 cs meals at 10.00(?) plus one LARGE soda with 4 straws (that's a always enough for the 4 of us) = approx. 40.00 for a lunch or dinner.
Or in my case, Get a cheeseburger alone,I don't want the fries anyway,save a little money.... or if you want to eat a TS buffet somewhere, go for the LATEST lunch booking,so it's cheaper, yet they can fill up on the buffet and then a light cs dinner (see above pricing)
I think for cs 2x a day for 4 people with sharing a drink cost would run about 80.00 per day total- We just don't do a lot of snacking, it's too costly, and we don't buy drinks,there are water fountains all over the place,or free ice water in cups at every counter.....
Also, there is a LOT of good cs in WDW, I was there for a week in Dec.,never once ate a burger or fries at cs!
(this is without bringing in a ton of food, bringing your own lunches in can save you even more)

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Definately bring your own water bottles to the parks. Buying drinks will add up fast!

I would choose counter service or buffets when eating in the parks. You can research on here for the best bang for the buck. (Biggest servings)

Why not to DDP though? Will the teenagers be going off on their own at all? While DDP is not always the best deal...it really can manage costs when the kids will be off on their own. Maybe CS DDP? That makes it nice to not have to worry about snack costs.

 

[Suz D]

Definately bring your own water bottles to the parks. Buying drinks will add up fast!

I would choose counter service or buffets when eating in the parks. You can research on here for the best bang for the buck. (Biggest servings)

Why not to DDP though? Will the teenagers be going off on their own at all? While DDP is not always the best deal...it really can manage costs when the kids will be off on their own. Maybe CS DDP? That makes it nice to not have to worry about snack costs.

They are staying at Shades of Green and it looks like SOG doesn't offer the DDP. I like the suggestion of checking for the military discount at one of the regular onsite hotels and adding the DDP.

 

[danygirl]

bring lots of snacks into the parks!!! We always bring fruit - apples, clementines, plus when we went in January we brought candy bars - which won't work when it is hot. but we also brought prepackaged cookies and cheese and crackers. just something to hold off cranky teenager melt down (one of my dd is a swimmer and eats more than a teenage boy - seriously - I have son too so I know) you could also do candy that doesn't melt, like twizzlers and skittles.

each time you eat in the world it costs ....so by bringing snacks we were able to keep the costs way down. we also brought sandwhiches, but that won't work well when it is hot, they will just get gross unless you bring a cooler. a cooler doesn't really work when you are past the stroller stage, but I saw someone post a link to a cooler backpack from target that might work for you. we also drink the free water, I find that soda makes you feel gross when you are riding rides in the heat. you can bring crystal light for flavor or that mio stuff.

 

[IDoDis]

A lot would depend on if you will have a car. I've learned that the price we pay for a rental ($15-ish per day on priceline) is well worth it when we didn't have the dining plan because we could go off-site for dinners. On our last trip, we went to the store and bought cereal and milk, a couple cans of nuts, a large bag of apples,and a large pack of turkey lunch meat that I put in snack-sized baggies. I packed plastic bowls and plastic spoons. I also packed pop tarts, granola bars, and the pre-cooked hard-boiled eggs from Costco. The protein from the eggs kept the hunger away. There were a few days when we ate breakfast at McDonald's. There is one on the Disney property.

We'd eat CS meals at the parks for lunch, choosing the ones that had the most food (like Flame Tree BBQ in AK). I'd often share a meal with DD. Sometimes we'd get cones from McD's on the way back to our resort for an afternoon break. Sometimes we'd get snacks at the resort which was pricier.

After a nap and swim break, we'd go to dinner off-site, usually getting something really good for a fraction of what we'd pay at a TS place on-site. We did eat two TS meals on-site though. After all, we were on vacation!

If you won't have a car, then pack as much as you can take on the plane in backpacks. Our resort had a store where we bought milk for cereal after we ran out. It was more expensive than a regular grocery store, but way cheaper than eating out.

You can also save money by not buying park hopper tickets. We found that they weren't necessary. The money that you save on the tickets can be applied towards food.

 

[Granny square]

We brought in whole wheat pb and j's to supplement the feeding of our teens. they still ate but it was cheaper than it might have been. I swear they are all tall, thin and eat a ton!!! Id love to have their metabolisms!!

 

[bookgirl]

I'd arrange a grocery delivery or bring some stuff from home. High protein filling stuff so that they can fill up on that and not get the starving feeling every few hours. If you get enough snacks in them then they should do fine with a normal sized meal and the supplemental snacks that the park offers (popcorn, mickey bars, etc).

I've got 13 year old twin nephews (one who won't eat much of a variety so we have to make sure we get and have stuff he will eat and one who eats enough for both of them plus some and only draws the line at eating tomatoes every thing else is fair game) and whenever I have them there is usually at least one other tag a long friend and they are always hungry. Even cheap fast food can run 30 bucks to fill them up. I try to keep plenty of food flowing so that they never get starved and end up needing 3 meals at once to curb it. If I get them feed every few hours on a snack (normal sized both healthy and some crappy food choices) then they go to meals hungry but not desperate.