Most bang for your buck at WDW?

[RLGNC]

We hopped on this with our 8 year old on our last trip for Smuggler's Run and all ended up in the same car anyway!

That is awesome!

 

[1GoldenSun]

My family's favorite snack in Epcot is a baguette dipped into a shared bowl of lobster bisque from Les Halles. Cheap, delicious, and pretty filling. When my kids were little this would constitute a full lunch (not so much now that they're teens). Sometimes at home I'd ask my kids what they wanted for dinner and my son would say "bread and soup from France!"

I think the biggest bargain is simply touring the resorts using Disney transportation. Especially at Christmas, when they're so beautifully decorated. You can park at Disney Springs, take the boat to Old Key West, take a bus to MK, take the monorail on the loop around those resorts, take the boat to WL and back, bus to one of the Epcot resorts and do that tour (including Swan and Dolphin), then bus back to DS. Snacks, lunch, maybe a little shopping (you don't have to buy anything; just looking is fun for me) along the way, and that's a full day of fun!

Our Pirate Passes are blocked out for my birthday weekend in December, but I rented DVC points for the weekend at WL anyway (my favorite resort at Christmas) just for resort touring. And eating, lots of eating.

 

[Marthasor]

The family meals at P&J's at the Ft. - less than $30 for a ton of food (and it's yummy!) that feeds 2-4!

Kayak and canoe rentals at Ft. W - $13 an hour

 

[Lumpy1106]

Maple popcorn refills at the Canada Pavilion, $2. </THREAD>

 

[coachk34]

The family meals at P&J's at the Ft. - less than $30 for a ton of food (and it's yummy!) that feeds 2-4!

Kayak and canoe rentals at Ft. W - $13 an hour

These meals are ones we plan to use for dinner ones night at the fort along with the $18 large pizza.

What about the $4.99 Smores Latte? Any idea if that is a 12 or 16 oz drink?

 

[bnhonest]

Quick Service kids meals! $8 gets you an ample portion, two sides and a refillable drink. Save the extra 4 you would have spent on the adult entrée and put that towards a cool cupcake or something.

 

[M&E]

Personally I would say the refillable mugs that you can buy at the resorts that can be used for your entire stay. If you are a soda and/or coffee drinker, it's a great deal for only $20 especially with how much 1 bottle of Coke and 1 coffee costs. On my May trip I filled mine before going into the parks, at night and while I was at the pool and felt like I was getting good value out of it. Also if you're visiting other resorts you can use the refill stations there.

Did you find it annoying to have to carry around the mug for the evening? I like the idea of bringing a drink, but I would probably finish the drink before I even got to the park. I wish you could also refill at the park. I also can't decide about those dang popcorn buckets. My boys LOVE popcorn, but the idea of carrying one around all day bums me out.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Did you find it annoying to have to carry around the mug for the evening? I like the idea of bringing a drink, but I would probably finish the drink before I even got to the park. I wish you could also refill at the park. I also can't decide about those dang popcorn buckets. My boys LOVE popcorn, but the idea of carrying one around all day bums me out.

Personally it didn't bother me since I bring a somewhat big backpack (think bigger than a Loungefly) and just toss it in there when I'm finished. It is nice if I'm visiting another resort that I can hop into their quick service and refill my mug. I ended up doing that when I visited the Polynesian. I agree that it would be nice to fill it in the park. I wish WDW had the cups that Universal has where you can get refills in the park, including ICEEs.

 

[mdoc]

Personally I would say the refillable mugs that you can buy at the resorts that can be used for your entire stay. If you are a soda and/or coffee drinker, it's a great deal for only $20 especially with how much 1 bottle of Coke and 1 coffee costs. On my May trip I filled mine before going into the parks, at night and while I was at the pool and felt like I was getting good value out of it. Also if you're visiting other resorts you can use the refill stations there.

Agreed! And they're a great souvenir, to boot. I drink from my resort mugs at home all the time.

 

[mouschievous]

Maple popcorn refills at the Canada Pavilion, $2. </THREAD>

YES. And staying at a skyliner resort makes it so much easier. We got 3 refills one day - and we weren't even doing Epcot that day

For us, Skyliner resort is a win. We also have found that we don't care to spend the money for a deluxe; a moderate is plenty nice for us, given the little time we spend there.

 

[WedWayPilot]

$8 Pony rides at tri circle D

Via Napoli can feed 4 people at a table service restaurant for $50, which for WDW is almost impossible.

Cases of bottled water at the resort gift shops. I don’t remember the price, but it’s certainly cheaper than $4 a bottle in the parks.

Yak and yeti local cafe chicken fried rice for $6. Can easily be a meal for 1 person and possibly a light meal for 2 people.

Gaston’s cinnamon roll is huge for $6, easily shareable.

Cheddar popcorn refills in Epcot for $2.

 

[Shellyred8]

We frequently stay at the Boardwalk and we will take a walk to the gas station across the street to get some beverages. We usually pick up Powerade, Tea, and juice. They are quite a bit cheaper there than buying them on-site.

 

[gorkt]

Not sure if it is available anymore but the breakfast buffet at Trails End was a pretty good deal. I also think Satuli's in AK is a great quality meal for the money. I agree that any hotel on the Skyliner line is worth the premium (except for Riviera potentially). We stayed at CBR last trip and my husband insisted on staying at a Skyliner accessable resort this time. Not only do you get quick and stress free access to both parks, you get quick access to many of the restaurants on the skyliner route.

 

[SeanWM48]

Fort Wilderness in general.

For a moderate it's a pretty big price for cabins but as you can see referenced already above in other posts, you get a lot for that money.

• Tri-Circle D can be visited for free. Still has a very new feel to it. Gorgeous, great for photos, see horses up close etc
• All the side activities are fun for kids and adults. Nightly sing-along s'mores fires with movies playing for example
• Cabin is your own mini house, no neighbors, no noise on other side of walls
• Trail's End buffet is a bang-for-buck food option for sure
• Hoop DD show, albeit ticketed event, is right there on property and delivers for the price
• "included" views of MK fireworks/electric pageant parade
• generally exploring the area is pretty awesome and time consuming. other guests make it fun by decorating their cabins/golf carts/campsites

i sound like i work there or something but the Fort delivers.

otherwise; when I hear bang for buck i think of Disney Springs. I can spend an entire late afternoon and evening there and be completely happy. Walking around drinking and eating, isn't that half the battle with Epcot? yet I can walk into Springs for no charge. That air balloon ("air balloon") ride for 25 bucks isn't bad at all either. basically for the price of a small meal you get an incredible view of the place and a very memorable experience.

 

[our two princesses]

Maple popcorn refills at the Canada Pavilion, $2. </THREAD>

Quick question - in the late fall, we bought the 50th character popcorn bucket with the blue lid. Will I still able to use it in AK this September?

 

[sydneysmom]

for us, we're doing a different bang for your buck this upcoming trip..... it's just my DH and I, so instead of staying at the Poly, we changed to the YC. We figured since we would be there for Food and Wine festival, why not be closer to Epcot ? So that's a huge bank for our buck right there. We've never stayed there, but when we went for breakfast at the BC, we fell in love with Stormalong Bay..... for my DH, that's HIS huge bang for the buck because he loves the idea of a lazy river. We also decided to do the behind the scenes tours.... I'm hoping for Wild Africa Trek, Caring for Rhinos and Keys to the Kingdom tours..... and last bang for our buck will be the MNSSHP. Last time we went was 2010, and that was a MUST DO for me.... rides are walk on and seeing the Headless Horseman is just priceless !! We opted out for Genie+, I don't know that we will need it in Sept..... but I will prob buy the ILL for Guardians . so that's our bang for the buck for our week !

 

[MomOTwins]

Quick question - in the late fall, we bought the 50th character popcorn bucket with the blue lid. Will I still able to use it in AK this September?

Yep!

One thing we think is really good bang for your buck if you have soft pretzel lovers in your group (my middle DS is addicted to them), is to buy the GIANT pretzel at Pongu Pongu in AK, rather than the little Mickey pretzels. The giant one is only a couple dollars more than the mickey one, but easily 3-4 times its size, so perfect for sharing.

 

[VandVsmama]

I definitely agree re: the refillable resort drink mugs. For our trip in Jan. 2021, I did the math and figured out that it would actually be cheaper overall to purchase the mugs. And literally every time we returned back to the resort from a park, we would refill it with a drink. It more than paid for itself.

 

[jimmymc]

Staying at Caribbean Beach in a room right near the Skyliner is a better experience than being on the monorail, regardless of cost. It takes less time to get to Studios or Epcot than just catching the monorail in many cases. Best location on property for a Studios and Epcot fan.

Katsura Grill in Epcot has amazing food for quick service prices. The chicken curry meal is huge and comes with good tasting fresh veggies, super helpful in a hot theme park.

The entrees at Homecomin can easily be split. You can also order the side of biscuits as an appetizer, and paired with a single entrée that is more than enough to feed two people. The Blue Hooch also gets you tipsy in a hurry, if that's something you're looking for.

If you want to try staying deluxe or DVC, Animal Kingdom lodge is a great value and way closer to the parks than people think. The bus to Epcot or Studios takes about the same amount of time as a Magic Kingdom resort. Plus you get amazing theming, pools, the animals, and several on-site restaurants.

This one might be controversial, but I think Genie+ is a deal at every park (except maybe Studios). As someone who really likes E-ticket attractions and would normally wait an hour plus for them, being able to skip the lines and see more shows/try some longer meals is well worth $20 a day.

I really can't think of too many great values for food or extra experiences. I think they all range from "fair price" to "way too much", nothing I would say is really a great deal.

 

[gorkt]

Another thing I remembered from past trips. OKW is underrated. Yes, its not as convenient to the parks, but it really isn't that bad, and you get SO much room space. Renting a DVC 1 bedroom villa gets you fantastic accommodations for the money. Huge balconies too and a really chill laid-back atmosphere. It was really relaxing to wake up and hang out on the deck in the morning as well as relax in the afternoons and evenings.

In fact, renting points in general is a good idea, particularly with middle men to make the experience easy and stress free. Renting a studio gives you a deluxe room for the price of a moderate. If you get a 1 bedroom and don't mind cooking you can save some money that way.