Help! I can't stand 10 days of fast food!

[missypie]

[Note: I've tried posting in the Restaurants forum, but get few replies.]

The one thing I dread about a 10 day WDW vacation is the food/restaurant part of it. When we were at DLR earlier this year, I thought I would die if I had another meal that came with fries. We had a fridge, so we were able to eat yogurt, cereal, etc. in our room for breakfast, but the lack of variey of food was still a problem.

I'm not a total health nut, but where in the World can one get something a little different (maybe pasta? chicken salad?) without spending a lot of time and money? I know that you can get just about anything at the buffets, but what about for quick meals in the parks, or in the evening when everyone is tired? Recommendations, please!

 

[Rneighh]

Tusker house in AK has some wonderful options that does not include fries. In Epcot we enjoy the counter service in Japan -- I can't recall the name right now. Also try Trails End Buffet at Fort Wilderness for a reasonable and good buffet.

Renee

 

[kathylovesdisneyworl]

I would suggest going to the web site wdwig.com and look under resturants. They list every place to eat along with menus and the prices. That should help.

 

[sardan]

Missypie - we share your frustrations with food choices. Seems Disney is getting better at substituting fruit/veggie options w/their meals. We have our favorite spots for the non-burger / non-fried choices:

MK - Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland has nice options
AK - Flame Tree
EPCOT - Sunshine Food Fair in The Land
Yakitori House in Japan
MGM - ABC Commissary

These are the counter service restaurants that are usually pretty quick. I'm sure there are other suggestions out there.

 

[Lewisc]

Wolfgang Pucks Express (DTD) is a good choice. Mama Melore is a reasonably priced restaurant in MGM.

I second the suggestion of the Food Court in The Land.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi.. at many of the counter service places I noticed you could get grapes or an apple instead of fries.

Of course you can also get onion rings instead of fries too which is usually what I picked lol

I agree that Tusker House has non-fast food, fast food (ie) rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and greenbeans for around $8.00

>>^..^<<

 

[mport]

We two have a difficult time eating fast food every day and we don't budget $100 for one meal so it is tough.

I will tell you though, one evening at down town disney we went in one of the shops, don't remember which one, and they had deli sandwiches and my DW and I both ordered a chicken salad sandwich and it was excellent it may have been about $6.00 or so but it was tremendous. We enjoyed it so much that when we return we always make it a point to go to that shop just for the chicken salad.

 

[CEDmom]

Originally posted by mport
We two have a difficult time eating fast food every day and we don't budget $100 for one meal so it is tough.

I will tell you though, one evening at down town disney we went in one of the shops, don't remember which one, and they had deli sandwiches and my DW and I both ordered a chicken salad sandwich and it was excellent it may have been about $6.00 or so but it was tremendous. We enjoyed it so much that when we return we always make it a point to go to that shop just for the chicken salad.

That place was really good and had lots of neat kitchen things, but I hate to be the one to tell you that it's closed. A sandwich shop will be opening up in its place.

 

[jdads2]

We ussually try and mix up our sit down meals and our counter service meals. I'll make PS's for 1 sit down meal each day and if we decide not to go I'll cancel, ussually the day before. We also buy fruit for snacks and even breakfasts some days.

 

[tjmw2727]

WDW is getting much better in this regard but you do have to know where to go and that you can ask for substitutions. Most meals will substitute carrots or grapes for the fries. I am also seeing more fruit carts in each park.

Some of our fav's are:

MK - Columbia Harbor house - can't remember the name of the salad with chicken but it is awesome.
AK - Tusker House or Flame Tree as well as one of the stands in Asia. I can't remember the name of the stand in Asiia but it had stir fry including an all veggie option.
Epcot - To many to choose from, most of the counter serve places in WS offer healthier and interesing choices. We love LeCellier (sit-down) and the Land "food court" as well as both the counter service and sit down rest's in Mexico.
MGM - Prime Time or Mama Melrose for a "sit down" or the commissary for a counter service.

We always eat breakfast in the room and bring cereals and fruit, yogurt etc. If I am going to do a sit down meal it is generally at lunch due to prices and portion sizes.

I didn't notice where your staying but a few of the resorts quick serve places or food courts offer some good options as well. Animal Kingdom (fantastic soups!) and Coronado Springs come to mind.

try www . wdwig.com for a complete listing of menus from all the parks and resorts.

Enjoy
TJ

 

[missypie]

I checked the menus, esp. of the restaurants y'all recommended, and there are actually some decent options. I'm a planner but don't plan down to which counterservice at which park on which day. But I will write down the places with the best menu options at each location/land/resort. Thanks!

 

[dmonroe]

Even when we do sit down meals, our family just gets tired of eating out for 8-10 days in a row! This year we are staying at BCV and are bringing 2 meals along with us. Nothing fancy, just a Chicken Pot Pie and a pasta dish (both frozen, of course! ) with bagged salad. We figure this will at least give us the option to eat in the villa 2 nights.

When we do eat fast food, we like Tusker House and Pizzafari (we usually split a pizza and a salad) in AK, Sunshine Food Fair in Epcot, Cosmic Rays, Pecos Bills in MK. We usually do sit down at MGM. Hopefully this year we'll avoid "burger burn-out"!

 

[Kimberle]

Another poster told me you can get take out from Whispering Caynons (WL). Thinking abt doing that a couple of nights. We can then "cheat" and get child's meals (sshhh!!) They have a couple of nice options on the menu. Can always add an appetizer or dessert if we're still hungry.

Don't know where you're staying, but maybe that would be an option for you. I'm sure other resort resturants will do take out too.

 

[maggiew]

There was a HUGE fruit cart in AK last time we were there. I believe it was outside of the entrance to the Safari ride. They had so many good selections. We bought a big cup of mixed fruit (like in a parfait glass) and snacked on it all morning.



Maggie

 

[missypie]

Bagged salad is a good idea! Even if we don't rent a fridge, it would be okay in a cooler for a couple of days and it's easy to get small packages of salad dressing. I'm not one of those women who eat salad all the time, but at DLR after about Day 4, I was craving lettuce!

I guess I need to just resign myself to renting a fridge... it makes me nuts to think that for the price I will pay to rent a fridge for 10 nights, Disney will be able to purchase 2 fridges! However, for a family of 5, just being able to have a decent breakfast in the room will save us more than $10 per day (not to mention quite a bit of time.)

 

[kda]

MK:
Columbia Harbour House has a very good salad with chicken and feta cheese (large enough to split), and New England clam chowder in a bread bowl
Pecos Bills or the Mexican fast food place closer to Pirates of the Caribbean used to have a very good taco salad, which you could get without meat
Plaza Restaurant is a sit down restaurant, but service is usually pretty quick and the sandwiches are made to order, so they're of MUCH better quality-- grilled chicken, burger, excellent potato salad, and a great salad with chicken and strawberries. Again, servings are large, so things could be split. (Oh, yes, and lots of ice cream options!). This is definitely a step up from counter service and isn't that much more $$$, especially if you're splitting meals. They also have a soup, as I recall.

AK: Tusker House and Pizzafari (which has a salad, I think)

Epcot: try the outdoor quick service at Norway and Morocco; there's 'healthy' food choices at the Wonders of Life

MGM: Hmmmmmm......... can't remember. We don't eat there much. I don't care for many of the fast food choices there.

 

[swilphil]

We made a grocery stop on the way from the airport and bought lots of fruits, bottled water, breakfast foods, pbj, juice and other snacks, along with a cooler. You can really save a lot of money this way. I found there were salads at a lot of the counter service restaurants. I think WS in Epcot has the most interesting choice of counter service options. If you can save some money by having some breakfasts and lunches in your room, treat yourself to a couple of nice sit down dinners. There is a lot of variety here.

Good luck!!

 

[*Flower*]

We bought a portable electric cooler- that inserts into the "lighter" plug in the car. We also picked up an adapter/extension cord that can be used in a regular house outlet, and we use this instead of renting a refridgerator.

The initial outlay would be under $100, and we use it on every trip- which saves a LOT in rental fees.

It's just a thought........

 

[CindyAnn]

You've already heard most of it, but:

AK - Tusker House (roast chicken)
AK - Flame Tree (ribs, BBQ chicken)
MK - Pecos Bills (chicken salad or chicken wrap)
MK - Columbia Harbor House (tuna sandwich)
Epcot - Sunshine Season Food Fair (in The Land) and lots of places in World Showcase (we get McNuggets for the kids near Canada so we can eat in peace).

Food Court breakfasts often seemed to cost us around $27 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children, by the time we added in some fruits and a few healthier items. For a family of 5, I'd guess you'd be saving at least $20 a day just by having some basic breakfast items in your room fridge.

For a change of pace, try out the lunch buffets at Biergarten (adults $15, children $6) or Akershus (adults $14, children $6) in Epcot. Note that beverages, tax and tip are extra (and also dessert at Akershus).

Have fun!

 

[HopperFan]

We always eat in room before we go and try to carry apples in our backpacks.

MK:
Our favorite stop is Columbia House. Besides good chicken fingers and fish they have chowder and good sandwiches.
Try the Plaza Pavillion at the edge of Tomorrowland (which looks out over Castle. Counter service but they have a great italian sandwich and great salad. My DH and I get one of each and split. It is very filling.
We've also been pleasantly surprised by the taco salad in Adventureland.

MGM:
To us if offers the least number of options for non-sitdown meals.
Backlot express did have a fresh burger you top yourself and salads. As before we often get salads and some main dish and split it. One trip we treated to Mama Melrose and ate very light dinner.

AKL:
We enjoyed the pizzafari and no we did not eat pizza. We ordered a variety of salad, sandwich, etc and then we all ate family style. Just a alittle of each for each of us, but it was good, fresh and we were full.
Tusker House had a great menu of good foods, but it was too crowded for us.
Lots of healthy food carts.

EPCOT:
World of Food there - no pun. We planned PS at a country's restaurant at @ 2pm. This was our main meal of the day so it did not break the budget. Breakfast in the room and then a light snack for dinner time. We ate our apples watching Illuminations.

We once went for 3 nights (2 full days in parks with leftover hopper days, rest of the time in hotel), room was prepaid and we did the four days with $200 cash for everything else, which is mostly food. (Family of 5)