For those who bring food?

[kimbac3]

Where do you eat it? I'm planning on bringing lunch and snacks but I don't see anywhere on the map that looks like a place to eat it. Do you all just sit on the benches or are there places I don't know about (being a newbie )
Any help or ideas would be great.
Thanks,
Kimba

 

[jkmmah]

The food we've taken into the parks is all pretty portable and easy to eat while walking, like granola bars, apples, string cheese, etc. There are plenty of spots to just sit on a bench to eat if that's what you want to do. Or you could find an outdoor table that's near a counter service restaurant in all of the parks, I believe. It shouldn't be hard to find a spot to rest your feet and nibble.

 

[Nicolepa]

We will eat inside a counter service resturant. Usually we bring stuff for the kids and will buy stuff for the grownup. Snacks are eaten on the go or in lines.

 

[LauraAnn630]

We bring a neat sheet. Im sure you have seen these in the stores. We find a spot on the curb and eat while we are waiting for the parades to start. Someone else also suggested to do this while waiting for Fantasmic.

 

[texas munchkin]

At Magic Kingdom, try taking the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island. There are tables and rocking chairs at Aunt Polly's. Few people actually eat there, so plenty of room. Makes a nice mid day escape, kinda peaceful and quiet. Depending on the ages of your kids, they can explore the island while the grown ups get in a little extra "rest"..

HAVE FUN!

 

[Ozymoe]

At Magic Kingdom, try taking the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island. There are tables and rocking chairs at Aunt Polly's. Few people actually eat there, so plenty of room. Makes a nice mid day escape, kinda peaceful and quiet. Depending on the ages of your kids, they can explore the island while the grown ups get in a little extra "rest"..

HAVE FUN!

I second Texas Munchkin...at Aunt Polly's there are few people using the tables...although if you are going in the summer it might be different. If you look as you go you will see some secluded areas in MK. (If I try to describe them to you now you'll just be overwhelmed), but trust me, there are places near the water by Cinderella Castle (the one I'm thinking of in particular is on the entrance side, not the Fantasyland side.

We never eat in any of the counter restaurant areas unless we buy a meal (or 2) from the counter, as a previous poster also suggested...but at Casey's Corner it's easy to buy a side or two of fries (add hot melted cheese from the condiment bar) and enjoy them at the outside tables [note: this is a great "parade waiting" treatto take to the curb]...CC is where I sometimes gave the kids their sandwiches and juice when we got fries...although DH almost always ended up getting a big hot dog to share with everyone because they are so good and he really just wanted a taste!

You'll see. We never did sit down and do a whole picnic anywhere...just sort of nibbled and noshed as the kids were hungry...and many times we ended up just going to a restaurant anyway!...which was not bad since it wasn't 3 meals every day, just 1...lol

...of course now that the "kids" are 15, 15 and 17 it's an entirely different story. We just bring trail mix or fruit with us and it seems we are ALWAYS buying Disney treats and meals, lol!

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

There is an area near Dumbo, at the water side (that old ride area), that has a bunch of tables and chairs.

 

[disneysteve]

In addition to the places mentioned, in MK there are tables at the train station on both levels. We've lunched there in the past.

In Epcot, there are plenty of places in World Showcase where you can find a table near the counter service restaurants. Usually, if we sit at a restaurant, we'll at least buy drinks or something from the place.

In MGM, there are plenty of tables on the road going to Tower of Terror.

In AK, there are outside tables at the bar in Harambe. Nobody is ever sitting there. There are also plenty of tables inside and outside of Tusker House.

 

[hilltopfamily]

Thanks for the ideas so far---I'm benefitting from all your replies to the OP. For those of you that bring snacks and drinks, or lunches such as PBJ sandwiches. etc......how do you actually manage the items through the day until you're ready to eat it? I mean.....do you bring it in a backpack or a softside cooler, then carry this around all day (& if you do, how do you go on rides?)? And how many water bottles will they allow me to bring in? Could I bring 1 for each of the 5 of us without getting "in trouble"? (we'll be there when it is hot, hot, hot!)
Sounds like you guys have shared some good locations for enjoying what we bring but I'm just trying to imagine the logisitics for my family of 5. My kids will be 8, 11, & 14 when we go so we won't have a stroller to put items in. We will have a wheelchair for my oldest, who has physical disabilities, so possibly a bag on the back of the wheelchair could carry some items? If we do this, do we need to worry about theft while we are on a ride and the wheelchair is unattended by us? I hate to sound stupid, but until you've been there & experienced the whole thing, it's just so hard to picture it in my mind.

 

[swilshire]

Nobody ever bothered our cooler when we left it on the wheelchair. I wouldn't be too concerned about it. We also used a large tote bag for our snacks and sometimes jackets. No problem with these either.

As for water, most food places will give you free cups of ice water. We utilized this ice and added more water from the fountains to a brita bottle for each of us. We carried these in a small cooler like you would carry a six-pack of soda in. They wouldn't fit in our snack cooler with all DS's stuff.

We would typically have one or both coolers, a tote bag, camera bag, sometimes a backpack and a purse or two on the back of the wheelchair. Each of the mobile five of us grabbed a bag or two when it was time to go through security. We sometimes had to move one of the bags to the seat when DS got out to ride a ride or the chair would turn over LOL!

Sheila

 

[hilltopfamily]

Sheila: thank you so, so much!! That is just the kind of specific info I was hoping to hear.

 

[Pete's Mom]

One of the best things we did this trip was to rent a locker at each park to store our cooler and also our jackets, etc. They were only $ 5.00 a day and were certainly better than lugging everything around all day.

 

[cudworth]

With our family of 4 , 9yr ds 12yrdd . One of the adults take turns carrying a back pack with the snacks and sandwiches. All of us wear a fanny pack that has a water bottle holder on it so we each have our own water. This past easter it was hard to find a spot so we sat down behind the fastpass machines at splash mountain and had our picnic. We got some strange looks but we did'nt care.

 

[mtblujeans]

This is a good information thread! Keep it going....

 

[mickeyluv'r]

When we were kids, my mom used to make us drink canned OJ (YUCK!) in restaurants when we were on vaca. I will never do that again! I'd rather drink water. Unless I'm at a food court, and I happen to have a can of soda with me (Most places don't serve diet ginger ale), I never drink outside drinks in a restaurant.

Personally, I'd be careful about what foods I carried around with me all day in the heat. I'd rather split a $7 meal, than end up with food poisoning! We often save money by sharing meals - the portions are often huge! Certainly, if you like safe foods like granola - or can't get through the day without your fix of a certain food, then bringing it may save effort and money, but I'd also keep in mind how much effort it takes to carry a cooler around all day. How much does a locker cost? How much time does it take to go back to the locker each time? Also, I'm a sucker for the smells of Disney foods - fresh popcorn, chocolate cookies, ...

Having said that, I do bring bottle of water. I like having plain old water to drink sometimes- and the Florida tap water leaves something to be desired. It's not sooo bad if it's really cold, but bottled water is better, and bottles can be refilled if needed. Plus, if I have my own water, than it's one less line I have to wait in. Hope this helps!

 

[kimbac3]

I feel much better about bringing lunch in now! Keep those tips coming!!

Kimba

 

[yogibigdog]

Just curious - When did Disney change their policy and allow you to bring food in? I am looking at the last tour guide map I have from Epcot and it states "Food or drink may not be brought into Epcot Center".

 

[Pete's Mom]

Personally, I'd be careful about what foods I carried around with me all day in the heat. I'd rather split a $7 meal, than end up with food poisoning! We often save money by sharing meals - the portions are often huge! Certainly, if you like safe foods like granola - or can't get through the day without your fix of a certain food, then bringing it may save effort and money, but I'd also keep in mind how much effort it takes to carry a cooler around all day. How much does a locker cost? How much time does it take to go back to the locker each time? Also, I'm a sucker for the smells of Disney foods - fresh popcorn, chocolate cookies, ...

Just got back from WDW on Friday. Lockers cost $ 5.00 a day. We only went to the lockers at lunch time, a lot faster than standing in line for counter service I can assure you. Also, it was nice to have a place to put our souveiners and jackets and especially our refillable mugs. Last year were would have to take them to the food court, back to the room, and then go back to the buses.

Each morning we packed two small soft sided coolers. One with drinks and the other with PJ sandwiches, deli meat, cheese, crackers, fresh fruit, etc. Different things each day. No one died or even became sick. We also carried some small snacks in our backpack purses and bottled water. It was nice to be able to sit down and eat a quick, light and affordable meal away from the crowds as opposed to standing in line being jostled around and paying $ 9.00 for a hamburger. We did get some looks, but let me tell you, they were of envy!

Doing this allowed for us to save for some really nice dinners each night at the parks. Rainforest Cafe, Tony's, Sci-Fi, & Whispering Canyon.

 

[disneysteve]

Just curious - When did Disney change their policy and allow you to bring food in? I am looking at the last tour guide map I have from Epcot and it states "Food or drink may not be brought into Epcot Center".

The written policy is that you can't bring in food. The reality is that everyone brings in food. The security guards all joke with the guests as they search the bags at the gate. As long as you aren't bringing in alcohol or glass jars, you should be fine.

 

[pluto wonder dog]

The written policy is that you can't bring in food. The reality is that everyone brings in food. The security guards all joke with the guests as they search the bags at the gate. As long as you aren't bringing in alcohol or glass jars, you should be fine.

If it is just a written policy that explains why - so many people take flash pictures, videotape and smoke in non-designated area. (The other written policies.)
The logic behind this must be you don't have to follow if it benefits you and if everybody else does it why not me. Why does Disney bother with a policy at all? The security guards are not there to see who brings food in. Not trying to get people upset just trying to figure the logic that some rules count and others don’t.