How to eat cheap in Disney (and area)

[CrystalS]

Our group of 6 (4 adults, 2 children under 5) will be going to Disney for 5 days (one of those days will be in Knotts Berry Farm). We have a lot of money into a Disney cruise from Vancouver to LA and in the hotel and park tix so we'd like to be frugal when it comes to eating in and around the parks if possible.

Does anyone have suggestions for lunch and dinners? (Breakfast is provided at our hotel) I was thinking maybe ordering pizza a night or two, any suggestions for the best priced delivery? How about a few meals in the park, what are the best "bang for your buck" places? I'm hoping we can have one "good" meal in the parks during our stay, so any suggestions for a splurge would be great too

Thanks everyone!

 

[HydroGuy]

Our group of 6 (4 adults, 2 children under 5) will be going to Disney for 5 days (one of those days will be in Knotts Berry Farm). We have a lot of money into a Disney cruise from Vancouver to LA and in the hotel and park tix so we'd like to be frugal when it comes to eating in and around the parks if possible.

Does anyone have suggestions for lunch and dinners? (Breakfast is provided at our hotel) I was thinking maybe ordering pizza a night or two, any suggestions for the best priced delivery? How about a few meals in the park, what are the best "bang for your buck" places? I'm hoping we can have one "good" meal in the parks during our stay, so any suggestions for a splurge would be great too

Thanks everyone!

Get a hotel with a fridge and microwave such as BWPPI, either buy some groceries or have them delivered, make your own sandwiches each day, etc., and minimize meals in DLR.

 

[mama2dutchies]

We do a lot of walk ups and share meals.. my 2 under 5 just share my meal.. my older and my hubby split and maybe an extra order of fries... then we will fill in with snacks we bring in.

 

[never2muchdisney]

Big Thunder Mt. BBQ is all you can eat. Lunch and Dinner.

Marri’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant on Katella! Excellent food! Very reasonable prices! They deliver too. Pizzas serve exactly what is stated on the menu. Menu online.

Subway on Harbor Blvd. $5 footlongs!

 

[cpster]

Big Thunder Mt. BBQ is all you can eat. Lunch and Dinner.

Marri’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant on Katella! Excellent food! Very reasonable prices! They deliver too. Pizzas serve exactly what is stated on the menu. Menu online.

Subway on Harbor Blvd. $5 footlongs!

Do you by chance remember how much an adult is for the all you can eat BBQ? Thanks!

 

[Bungle]

We always eat breakfast at the hotel and sometimes lunch. I bought some gift cards from restraunts.com when they had their 80% off sale last week so we will be eating out more than we usually do. Also if you have a car you can travel a bit and go get tacos or vietnamese sandwiches Sometimes just grabbing a roasted chicken and a salad from the grocery store works too.

That being said we always set aside a bit of money for eating in the park. No matter how prepared I am we always end up getting something.

 

[mama2dutchies]

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/big-thunder-ranch-bbq/

 

[Pegleg55]

I ate there a couple years ago & had the best time! The food is okay, but there is plenty of it, so I feel it's a great value. I have been researching character meals for my trip next week & was surprized no one ever mention Thunder Ranch BBQ. When we were they Woody, Jesse, and a few others were there as part of the show. It was a relaxing good time & never felt pushed to leave before we were ready to go. The red velvet cup cake is to die for. I can't wait to eat there again this Sunday when we will be taking our 4yr old grandson for the first time to DL. He has been so excited to go to a BBQ with Woody.

 

[taaren]

Do you have a car? On our budget style trips we eat a lot of In-N-Out up by the Disney Outlet store a few miles North on Harbor, also awesome becase its open late (ie after park closing), and Del Taco only bc DH loves it and we don't have it on our island. Another thing we do is go to places w larger portions like Rancho Zocalo and split plates when we don't want to leave the park for lunch or pack one. Sometimes we do breakfast in the hotel, just grab a turkey leg midday, then close the park and head to InNOut. The main killer on food budget is water so defnitely bring your own bottles of those. After the cruise we'll probably be so overfed we'll be looking forward to small light meals anyhow!
For a splurge our vote is always Cafe Orleans for Monte Cristo and beignets with vanilla & raspberry dip, though you can get the beignets at the walk up counter by the Orleans train station as well (sans sauces) for less, and Blue Bayou has better atmosphere, it has a price to match.
See you in Sept! 5 months still seems so long ...

 

[perlster]

If you interested in all-you-can eat BBQ, check if you will be visiting KBF on a date when Joe Cool's Backyard BBQ is offered.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I ate there a couple years ago & had the best time! The food is okay, but there is plenty of it, so I feel it's a great value. I have been researching character meals for my trip next week & was surprized no one ever mention Thunder Ranch BBQ. When we were they Woody, Jesse, and a few others were there as part of the show. It was a relaxing good time & never felt pushed to leave before we were ready to go. The red velvet cup cake is to die for. I can't wait to eat there again this Sunday when we will be taking our 4yr old grandson for the first time to DL. He has been so excited to go to a BBQ with Woody.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the barbecue is no longer a character meal. It is all you care to eat barbecue, but drinks and desserts now cost extra. The musical entertainment is still presented, but the characters are not there. If you want your grandson to see Woody, he usually appears in Frontierland near Big Thunder and the petting zoo area or the barbecue, and he has been seen in DCA as well. As one of the CMs at City Hall, Guest Relations, or one of the info booths where and when to go to find Woody that day.

 

[NVDisMom]

Split plates, bring your own water and soda. Those two things alone will make a huge difference. Eating outside of the parks is great, but be aware that the places on Harbor don't usually participate in their chains' promotions. Subway didn't have the normal $5 subs like here at home, Quiznos doesn't take any coupons at that location, McDonald's has a more limited $1 menu, etc. Some are also priced higher than normal.

Our normal go tos for budget meals outside of the parks- Delivery pizza from Round Table, Subway (even at $6.25 its a steal), and Mimi's (split, their servings are huge). We have had bad experiences with Quiznos, Ihop and Denny's and avoid those.

In parks/DTD, White Water Snacks, Rancho Del Zacolo, Jazz Kitchen Express, The mexican express place, and the soup/salad place on the wharf are all reasonable, solid choices.

 

[cpster]

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/big-thunder-ranch-bbq/

Thanks! I've got a slow computer and even slower connection so thanks for the direct link.

 

[pixiewings71]

I ate there a couple years ago & had the best time! The food is okay, but there is plenty of it, so I feel it's a great value. I have been researching character meals for my trip next week & was surprized no one ever mention Thunder Ranch BBQ. When we were they Woody, Jesse, and a few others were there as part of the show. It was a relaxing good time & never felt pushed to leave before we were ready to go. The red velvet cup cake is to die for. I can't wait to eat there again this Sunday when we will be taking our 4yr old grandson for the first time to DL. He has been so excited to go to a BBQ with Woody.

Yup, no more Woody at the BBQ...your DGS can see him next door at the ranch but not at the BBQ. The food is still just as awesome and plentiful but drinks and desserts are extra. That's OK with us tho, we weren't all that impressed with the cupcakes and we prefer to fill up on the actual food at the BBQ instead of desserts so we tend to skip those.

OP there's a McD's on Harbor, walking distance, a Mimi's on Harbor which has HUGE portions and is walking distance, the prices at Mimi's are reasonable. There's a Denny's on Harbor that we've eaten at many times and never had any problems with, standard Denny's fare, fast service, standard pricing so I always recommend them. The IHOP is wayyyyy overpriced, we avoid it while at DL (heck we avoid it at home too lol), the Captain Kidd's right across the street from DL is disgusting, please do yourself and no matter what cheap price or cool promo they offer, just don't eat there....the food was so nasty that DBF and I couldn't even eat it, we had to grab a bite later that was actually edible! Eating in the parks is also doable, just share meals (at BB and CO they charge split plate fees so just ask for an extra plate when they bring your food out to avoid the fee) and eat CS. Also take in your own snacks and water bottles, you can refill the water bottles various places around the parks and that will save you a ton!! Water in the parks is crazy $$$!

 

[Piglet99645]

Do you by chance remember how much an adult is for the all you can eat BBQ? Thanks!

According to the DisneyDining App it is $19.99 for adults, $9.99 for kids for Lunch.

Includes:

BBQ chicken and ribs
cole slaw
ranch beans
corn bread
vegetarian option available
youngsters receive a souvenir sipper

Desserts are a separate menu, and drinks are not mentioned.

Dinner is $24.99/ $9.99 and also has smoked sausage and corn cob wheels on the menu.

 

[CrystalS]

Do you have a car? On our budget style trips we eat a lot of In-N-Out up by the Disney Outlet store a few miles North on Harbor, also awesome becase its open late (ie after park closing), and Del Taco only bc DH loves it and we don't have it on our island. Another thing we do is go to places w larger portions like Rancho Zocalo and split plates when we don't want to leave the park for lunch or pack one. Sometimes we do breakfast in the hotel, just grab a turkey leg midday, then close the park and head to InNOut. The main killer on food budget is water so defnitely bring your own bottles of those. After the cruise we'll probably be so overfed we'll be looking forward to small light meals anyhow!
For a splurge our vote is always Cafe Orleans for Monte Cristo and beignets with vanilla & raspberry dip, though you can get the beignets at the walk up counter by the Orleans train station as well (sans sauces) for less, and Blue Bayou has better atmosphere, it has a price to match.
See you in Sept! 5 months still seems so long ...

Thank you for all the advice We won't have a car though unless maybe we can get one free from points (saveon points or wyndham rewards or something like that). But I think through points it is only for one day, but maybe if we could get one to drive from the port to the hotel, we could stop at a grocery store for snack/lunch style items. I think our hotel room will have a fridge and microwave in it so that would help for sure! This way we could get bottled water from a grocery store too and not have to buy in the parks, that is a great reminder about water, I hadn't even thought of that yet!

And your right 5 months does seem like a LONG time, I can't wait!

 

[HydroGuy]

Thank you for all the advice We won't have a car though unless maybe we can get one free from points (saveon points or wyndham rewards or something like that). But I think through points it is only for one day, but maybe if we could get one to drive from the port to the hotel, we could stop at a grocery store for snack/lunch style items. I think our hotel room will have a fridge and microwave in it so that would help for sure! This way we could get bottled water from a grocery store too and not have to buy in the parks, that is a great reminder about water, I hadn't even thought of that yet!

And your right 5 months does seem like a LONG time, I can't wait!

Just so you are aware, I have read that Vons has grocery delivery service. So you can get that and will not need a car.

 

[pixiewings71]

Von's does have delivery so yes, that's an option. Another option is to get a taxi from your hotel to the Target down Harbor, it's not that far so it shouldn't be that expensive. The Target has food items available, we always get another case of water there when/if we run out and they have sandwich stuff, chips, bfast foods, snacks.....

 

[danabalana]

We did rent a car. There were 6 of us. We went to Costco and bought a tray of premade sandwiches some fruit, chips and drinks. I think there was both beef and turkey. We repackaged them in zip locks and it only took a few minutes. They lasted several days because there was no spread and no soggy veggies.
We also stopped at Trader Joes and got coffee and yogurt. Saved a ton and ate healthier.

 

[mickey22]

We also take the number for Costco on Harbor (by the outlet) and order pizza. We take that back to our hotel and put it in Ziplock bags. we have also gone to Taco Bell. Our family of five can eat for about $10 (no drinks). We bring in the water packets to flavor the water also! We also bring in snacks and only plan on maybe one meal a day (usually lunch) at DL. It does cost an arm and leg for our family to eat there. And with a teen boy, and pre-teen boy......it can get pretty expensive!!!!