Help staying at AKL but can I afford to eat there?

[latenthart]

I am staying three nites, AKL, savanah view.
Is there anywhere close that is good, affordable or both, for a mom, dad, and six year old?
most likely lunch we will eat at parks.
so we are worried about breakfast and dinner pretty much.
Can I go to all star resorts and get food?
any close restaurants etc.?
Are there refrigerators in rooms at animal kingdom lodge?

 

[takara]

You will be pretty close to the All Star resorts and also the McDonald's off of the Osceola Parkway. When you check into the AKL, they should give you a parking pass to put in the dashboard of your car. That will enable you to get into the AS resort area. You should be able to request a fridge ( for a charge) when you check in providing there are some still available.

 

[mark & sandra]

Hi latenthart- Welcome to the Dis Boards. Yes you can eat at any of the other Disney hotels, but at the AKL, they have a food court similar to the one at the AllStars. It's called the Mara. The food at any of the resorts are priced about the same, there is not much cost difference at the AKL or the AllStar foodcourts. The AllStar foodcourts do have a larger selection, but only because they don't have a restaurant on the premises. When you drive from the AKL to the AllStars you'll pass a McDonalds, another quick meal choice, not a good one but another one. I believe you can requests a mini fridge at an add. costs. Keep in mind it is a mini fridge, it doesn't hold more then a 6 pack of soda and a couple of other small items. If you have a car you might consider a trip to Walmart to pack up on some breakfast items. Maybe even a small cooler to keep milk or juice. It would help keep down breakfast costs.

 

[Gillian]

The dinner food there at Mara was pretty good. We ordered 2 things & split them between 2 adults & a 2 year old (who, honestly, just wanted a banana).

If you are meat eaters & want to splurge on Boma 1 night, try to go when they have flank steak. It's yummy!

 

[n2mm]

I understand completely. We think that AKL is a beautiful resort, but the food choices are not good (IMHO). I want a normal breakfast, not buffet, so the only choice is their fast-food place Mara's. After a couple of days of that, it gets boring. I can't do all you can eat (Boma's) more than once, and Jiko's is not my cup of tea. So I now try to choose resorts by looking at the whole picture to include meals. I still seem to choose Dixie Landing/Riverside alot, because they have a good food court and great restraurant. Also like WL for the same reasons. If you have a car, eating is not a problem, but if you rely on the buses, this option is time consuming. Good luck!

 

[latenthart]

I thought i saw a post about some certificate good at ak? 10.99 or something. anyone know what i am talking about?

 

[Muffy]

I think you will find Mara sufficient! To save money on fridge rentals, pick up a styrafoam cooler.

 

[jennymouse]

We just returned from AKL 11/3. There were three of us and we ended up splitting stuff a lot from Mara. Not just to save money, but the portions were huge and we were wasting too much by ordering individual meals. They have a delicous double cheesburger & fried that we split and it filled two of us up....and we had extra money to help support my DGD7's newly found pen trading habit!

We love breakfast food but don't eat much for breakfast at home. After wasting a bunch of food at breakfast, we started picking up a box of donuts from Mara that was only $3.80 or so that lasted us two days. Mara has a fantastic selection of donuts, sweet rolls, etc.

We did try Boma for dinner & breakfast once each during our 8 night stay. We weren't impressed and felt we didn't get our money's worth, but lots of other folks on the DIS would disaggree.

AK has a meal deal for around $11, but you'd have to enter the park to eat there. I don't know when you're going but while we were there it closed at 5pm so dinner there was not an option for us. Don't hesitate to split food while in the parks too as thier portions were large as well.

 

[hallie]

We stayed at the AKL and we're on a tight food budget. We eat at the Mara a lot and really liked it! A lot of the times I just ordered a childs meal for myself because they were big enough for me. At the Mara you order your food and then they bring it out to your table inside or out on the patio. Oh and don't hesitate to ask for things to be prepared differently, they were very nice there!

There's also a Steak-n-Shake just outside of Downtown Disney, next to the Crossroads shopping center. It has great burgers and stuff and is table service, we love it there. It cost us about 20.00 for the 4 of us, with desserts even. I would skip the McDonalds right near AKL and go to the All-Star resorts food court instead, comparable prices and much better food there. The All-Stars is a more traditional food court. There are a variety of different counters to choose from, you get your food and then you pay at a register.

Last trip we also went over to the Coronado Springs food court to eat. It's called the Pepper Market, it was really good, lots of choices. What you do is they give you a ticket and then you go around to the different staions they have and get your food. A waiter gets your drinks for you and after your done you pay. Since we weren't eating at a lot of full service places we really enjoyed touring the food courts, it was fun. Port Orleans Riverside has a nice food court too. It's a neat way to eat cheaper and explore the other resorts at the same time!

We LOVED the AKL and it was well worth eating cheaper for us to stay there, I don't have any regrets.

Have a great trip!!!!!!!