How to eat on the cheap in DLR?

[azdisneylover]

The serving size at many of the food places at Disneyland are big enough to share, like many here have already stated. Flo's diner, for example, has a fruit platter, regular and child's version. The difference between the two is this: the child's version comes with a small Nesquik milk and it's 20 or 30 cents CHEAPER! Same assorted fruit, same plate! Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill. I had the Hacienda Chicken Caesar Salad $12.99. This thing was HUGE. Imagine a dinner plate loaded to the edges and piled up approximately 3" high with romaine lettuce, red bell peppers, grilled chicken breast, cotija cheese, tortilla strips and Pepita Caesar dressing. I ate until I was stuffed but it didn't look like I even touched my salad. I wish they could make that in a half order or even a quarter size. Check out a few of the threads on the boards with food to see pictures of items to see exactly the size. Rain forest Cafe has generous sizes on food. Whitewater Snacks in the Grand Californian has a wide variety of food choices at a good price. Tomorrowland Terrace has a good fruit platter and breakfast platter that you can share too.

 

[chickapin parterre]

grocery stores are close by, with google map and you can find them on line, we head west to Walmart, very clean , stocked store and our last meal of high carbs at Carls. plus in the hotel room we are eating popcorn, oatmeal and peanutbutter, fruit, ramen, soup cups. If you eat while in the room, hunger is controlled so simple snacks in the park do the the job.

 

[offwithyourhead]

Awesome! Thank you so much! Would you recommend going anywhere outside of the parks to eat? Or is that a time waster? I have no idea how difficult it is to go in and out! At WDW its such a pain to leave so we prefer to stay but it seems like it might be easier? Or maybe some places in DTD? We are there for such a short time that I dont want to waste time but this is such a side trip I have to be aware of every penny! Basically we will be heading back from my brothers wedding so we decided a 4 day stop in DLR would be fun but DH says it has to be as cheap as possible!

I made a post here about some ways we saved a ton of money, might be of interest to you: http://www.disboards.com/threads/ho...r-food-and-incidentals.3447207/#post-54415480

Get a hotel that serves breakfast and eat a lot in the morning. Bring snacks. You're going to want a break at some point in the day, so going for dinner is a good time to do it. It's not as much of a pain to leave and come back as WDW would be (really not much of a bother at all), and there are many places right outside DL or a short bus, uber or taxi ride away. If your hotel has a fridge, you can even store leftovers.

Mimi's, Pizza Press, iHop, etc are all very close to the entrance of DL. Good food at prices better than inside the parks. Take advantage of any free offers and coupons you can, and you can eat very cheaply. I spent very little on food in 2 weeks there. I had some very good (home-cooked-quality, rather than cheap mcdonalds crud) meals and didn't pay too much.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

Don't forget that you can bring food into the parks. If you will have a car you can drive to some very close grocery stores and stock up on basics like peanut butter and jelly, bread, granola bars, oranges, etc. I tend to make sandwiches in the morning at the hotel and then bring them into the parks (make sure you bring/buy some plastic baggies too!). I make sure to stay in a hotel that has a fridge and microwave in my room to make this easier. I stay in the parks all day, so usually I eat breakfast at the hotel, have my sandwich and an orange for lunch, nibble on my other snacks throughout the day, and then eat one meal in the parks, usually sharing with someone or a cheaper CS item (DLR has better CS options than WDW in many's opinion). Even if you end up eating two meals in the parks, having those snacks on you will cut down on the money spent on extra in-park snacks like popcorn or churros. You can also have groceries delivered if you won't have a car available.

 

[Blue32]

Corn Dogs at Little Red Wagon are FANTASTIC and can even be ordered without the chips to save a couple bucks.

 

[chickapin parterre]

easy bus routes to the grocery stores if you don't have a car. We walk to walmart to take in the "world" surrounding Disneyland and catch the bus back.

 

[CandMmommy]

If you're staying on Harbour, head over to pizza press for lunch or to grab a late dinner when heading back to the hotel. They are open late and their pizza is actually quite good and cheap as well- $10 for a pizza that easily feeds two people.

We got 2 pizzas for my hubby and 2 young kids and had enough for lunch the next day. I think we only spent like 23-24 dollars.

 

[favflo1]

Lunchables. I got 4 kids and it saved a ton. We then had a nice dinner in the park.

 

[annz53]

easy bus routes to the grocery stores if you don't have a car. We walk to walmart to take in the "world" surrounding Disneyland and catch the bus back.

We will be staying immediately across from Main Gate ~ please can you tell me where I catch the bus to Walmart? Thank you

 

[SMD]

We will be staying immediately across from Main Gate ~ please can you tell me where I catch the bus to Walmart? Thank you

Google Maps has a public transportation search option. Put in your hotel address and either search Wal-Mart nearby, or put in the address of the specific Wal-Mart.

 

[aballerina]

I'm a big fan of ordering kids meals! Here's a pic of the chicken dinner kids meal at Plaza Inn, which is plenty for me. The kids meals include drinks too. Ordering water instead of soda is also a good way to save money.

I also agree with MommyLove's post about staying at a Park Place Inn, since they serve a free breakfast. That can save quite a bit of money on a trip!

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Will they let me order the kid's meal if I don't have a child with me? I believe the menus say the kid's meals are for under age 10. Any cast members enforce this?

 

[rentayenta]

Wasting food is a huge peeve of mine so we usually share. We can always order more if anyone is still hungry (which never happens). Even when dining out at home, we tend to share. It's easier on the wallet and the waistline (which more of a concern for me at this stage in my life- lol!). We find this really beneficial when it comes to our favorite park snacks such as popcorn and churros. I don't want an entire churro; just a few bites. We usually get 3 to share between the 5 of us of course unless someone wants their own. Popcorn is another easy thing to share; 2 will satisfy my family of 5. One to two orders of funnel cake at Hungry Bear or the large (6) order of beignets is easily enough for my family when we've got a sweet tooth. The banana split at Ghirardelli ($12.45) is easily sharable. At the Plaza Inn we will order two orders of the fried chicken dinner (double mashed, minus the beans on one) and a Cobb salad and still cannot finish it all between the 5 of us. At Pizza Port we can do one slice pizza, one pasta (with meatballs), and one salad w/o meat and leave full. Two Dole Whips, again plenty. Bengals BBQ is a tough one as far as sharing goes. I could easily eat 2 on my own so we don't share there but we do visit at least once a trip; it's so darn good.

I echo the others who have suggested staying in a hotel with breakfast, microwave, and fridge option if possible. This next trip will be interesting for us. We have two night at the GCV which will be awesome as our villa will have a full kitchen and laundry. Yes I do laundry on vacation. Before that though we will have 3 nights at the PPH; two regular and one concierge. DH and I like our wine/beer in the evenings and I am not looking forward to paying full price those first two nights. We are flying and will stop by the store for 2 cases of water and snacks but don't think we will do the whole cooler thing. We will be staying in Seal Beach for a few nights before Disney and our hotel will have free breakfast and parking. Love Hampton Inn! And it's next to a Starbucks.

My family consists of me, DH, DD 19, DD 17, and DS 15 and we like to eat!

 

[Darkbeer1]

We will be staying immediately across from Main Gate ~ please can you tell me where I catch the bus to Walmart? Thank you

Easiest option, catch the OCTA Bravo Route 543 Bus going Northbound, the stop is in front of the BWPPPI&S, It is about 3 miles to the corner of Harbor and Orangethorpe. Get off in front of the In-n-Out Burger. (Great place for lunch), walk a couple of blocks east to Lemon, and Walmart will be at the corner. Lots of other options for shopping at this corner, Dollar Stores, Outlets stores like Sketchers, a Target, and a Sprouts Farmers Market. Catch Route 543 going South at the south west corner of Harbor and Orangethorpe to get back. It will stop under the Monorail Tracks across the street from the BWPPPI&S.

 

[JessL]

When you share meals at somewhere like Plaza Inn, I assume you can get extra plates and cutlery?

 

[Darkbeer1]

Some places charge for a split plate, I think Blue Bayou is one. Not sure about the Plaza Inn.

 

[wongck]

New here....
We are a family of 4 and my plan is to order 3 main and share.
We do this at home and works well - the local Chillies, TGIF & hard rock allows us to do it.
I know there's no issues with sharing on QS but we will be doing TS at Cafe Orleans and Carnation Cafe.
Will they allow us to share 3 mains ?

 

[rentayenta]

Plaza Inn is a counter service and does not charge a split fee. It's cafeteria style and you get your own silverware. It's one of our favorite places to eat while at the Disneyland Resort.

We have not had any issues sharing at Carnation Cafe. They happily bring an extra plate. We have not asked them to split the meal for us so unsure if that would provide an additional charge.

 

[Leopardstars]

Thank you for all this information. We were planning/ hoping to have our daughter share from our plates when we go in March. She just doesn't eat enough to justify a meal of her own Half the time. It's nice to hear that other families do this and everyone has full bellies.

Looking online IHOP (on Habour Blvd) has a kids eat free meal in the evenings. We're planning to try that one night.

 

[nikkislaght]

six months before we leave , I start buying Disney gift cards.. in my weekly shopping.. instead of buying starbucks or icecream ect..
I use these to pay for our food at the parks...

We also take non perishable food with us in our suite cases , and then we have room on the way home for souvenirs. we will go to the supermarket when we arrive and buy the breakfast sandwiches and some ham. cheese bread etc, and have breakfast at the hotel, take a sandwich for lunch, snacks and then eat dinner at the parks.

Sometimes we go out of the parks and eat at one of the restaurants along Katelle.. it is very easy to walk to an eatery along Harbor or DTD. and then get back into the parks.. you are so close. unlike WDW.

Have a fun trip

 

[Jedi Mouse]

When we were on a tight budget for a trip we really saved by doing the following:

Take advantage of free hotel breakfasts. BWPPI was our go to and their breakfast is decent.

Take lunch and/or snacks into the park. We made pb&j and carried some cookies or crackers along with juice and water in with us.

Eat dinner in your hotel room. With a fridge and a microwave you have lots of options.


We tried to keep in park meals to either a one light lunch or snack/dessert per day.