food being brought into the parks?

[christianwoman1]

I will be taking a Disney vacation and have a 3 day park hopper ticket. I know that the food is probably outrageous and wonder what the rules are concerning bringing food and drink into the parks. Is there a refillable bottle deal for sodas? I am so excited but will definitely be on a budget and don't want to spend all my money on eating in the parks.
Thank you,
Tammie

 

[HunnyPots]

There is no refillable drink deal for the parks but any counter service location will give you a cup of free ice water, no purchase necessary. You can bring in food, just no glass containers. They will inspect your bags on entry and probably make some "witty" comment about your food, but it will not be an issue.

 

[Justsyd2]

Actually, their food is very reasonable (half the price of most theme parks) and their portions are large. You'll do very well even on a tight budget. Water is free at any Counter Service restaurant. I would ask that you take a look at the Disney Dining Plan - it can be a great money saver, and it's paid before the trip so that you can budget for that and not have to worry about paying out of pocket once there. Also, go to http://www.allears.net to look at park menus to get a look at prices and offerings.

 

[traveljunkie2]

You can definitely bring food into the parks. Glass bottles are not allowed. You can bring a soft sided cooler and rent a locker for it if you don't want to carry it around. We brought a gallon sized ziplock bag loaded with cereal, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. We had ALOT because we had 10 people eating from that snack bag! The guy checking bags just laughed.

A huge money saver for us was the single serving packets of Kool-Aid. They cost about $2 for 12 packets, and you can get lemonade, Propel, Crystal Light, etc. I brought in a plastic water bottle and filled it up at water fountains. Just add the powder and you are set. You can also get free ice water at any of the counter serve places.

We ended up packing a big cooler in our car and making sandwiches in the parking lot. For about $15 we had sandwiches, chips & drinks for 10 people for two days. Lunch in the park would have cost us at least $180 for those 2 days.

 

[crisi]

The other thing you can't bring in is booze.

But a LOT of people bring in food. I believe Disney asks that your respect their "paying restaurant patrons" and not take up tables during busy lunch times in counter services places - so you might be grabbing a park bench. But lots of folks do it.

(And food isn't that outrageous - it isn't cheap, but you may be surprised. check out menus before you leave.)

 

[reagan75]

We also brought in snacks and shared counter service meals. We did the Kool-aid packets as well and even wore camelbacks.

 

[scrapbookingpro]

Also, if you have little ones with you you can use the microwave in the babycare center. I always bring a small container of mac and cheese, or a hot dog and heat it in the microwave there. Saves a LOT of money!

 

[ceecee]

The food isn't that expensive. We have King's Island near us and it has outrageous food prices, so we actually think Disney is a bargain (it tastes good too!) We have so many places we love to eat at all the parks. It wouldn't be worth it to me to carry in food, since you'd have to carry it or get a locker.

 

[gonzalez8530]

Bringing in those single serving packets for kool-aid, etc. and a water bottle will definitely save $$$. In the heat, you can never get enough fluid and with kids, something more than water is always requested. Something with electrolytes is also a plus and can satisfy your thirst better than a soda.