Need help planning the cheapest food budget possible

[cassie714]

We are going to Disney in two weeks for 4 days. This was a unplanned trip so we are kind of tight with our budget. Our previous trips I have been spoiled and we ate sit down dinners for all our meals. I am planning on bringing cereal bars and pop tarts and such. If anyone could give me some good ideas about where we will find the cheapest eats I would appreciate it. What is the least amount of money for food I will be able to get away with? It will be Mom, and 3 kids ages 9,5,2 Thanks

 

[NatureBoyChris]

My wife and I went to Disney a few years back under a tight budget, here is what you can do. Go to walmart and buy a cooler. You can get a good size one at walmart for cheap if you don't already have one. This gives you a fridge..lol. You can get ice out of the machines and you can put things like milk, soft drinks, and sandwich meats in them. You can also bring the sandwiches into the parks and snack on them. Another thing you can do is share more meals in the park. For lunch get counter service and share the food. You dont want to get too stuffed anyway walking around the parks. We also ate outside of the parks, we love chick-fi-a and we could eat there for about 10 bucks.

 

[Tissa]

Are you staying on site or off? If staying on-site will you have transportation? We did a 4 day trip last staying on-site but went off-site for all of our meals except for a couple of food court dinners. We spent about $250. There were 4 of us.

 

[HappyLawyer]

all these are good ideas, i have nuts, chips and snacks, fruit rolls etc. also you can get away with two meals per day, breakfast, then ice cream or snack from the parks then dinner, if you are staying off property i have lots of coupons for resturants, i received them with my tickets from ticketmania, if you have a kitchen or fridge in your room/villa etc, go to the store get meat and make sandwiches. also i don't know where you are staying but i was stressed out my villa was over a grand and it took up all my money i mean i was going to disney without any spending money at all just enough for food, i read lots of posts here and went to skyauction.com got a villa 7 nights for 215.00 total and we are staying at a hotel-days suites for 3 nights prior at great rates, i now have opened up 800.00 by making those changes, i am less stressed and more excited.

 

[way2manykids]

You could very easily share meals from Counter svc restaurants. Order the Double burger, 1 W/ fries and an extra bun. Put one of the meat patties on the other bun and divide the fries amongst the kids. Buy an extra drink or share a large one. Tada-lunch for everyone for around 10 bucks. You can also go to FW and eat at Trails End. They are very reasonable. You can even get a buffet to go that will feed everyone in your group . Order kids meals at counter service and order them without the premium (usually a cute little box) to save $1.50
Go to the Garden Grill for the ICE CREAM social. ($6.99 ea) for a great character "Meal" experience.

 

[blanq]

A couple of lower costs meal ideas are:

1. Cosmic Ray's (MK): For 15.99 you can get the family meal deal, which consists of a whole rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes, which will feed up to 4 people.

2. Trail's-to-Go (FW): For 19.99 you can get the "Giddyup & Go", which consists of 10 pieces of chicken, fries, coleslaw and 4 biscuits. This is just take-out though, so you'll need to take it and find a place to eat it.

With kids, the cost of snacks and drinks can add up quickly. You might want to consider water bottles for each person in your family. You can carry powdered drink mix in a ziploc bag, and add to the water if desired. Also, if everyone has a fanny pack, or you share a small back pack, you can fill it with snacks, such as dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, cheese & cracker packs, pudding cups (remember plastic spoons), etc.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

On the topic of Fort Wilderness, the pizza to go is also an inexpensive meal that would easily feed all 4 of you. If you're coming from your hotel, bring a can drink for each of you, and you can really save. There are picnic tables on the deck surrounding Trails End. There's also tables down by the marina. FW is an easy boat ride from the MK. Also, there's a playground & petting zoo for little ones to burn off some steam while Mom relaxes awhile.

 

[DJFan88]

I also read on another saver site, that you can buy 2 slices of bread at counter service hotels for like .79 and then there are condiments (which are free) of pb and j. great for the kids. I would just check the condiments first to see if there is any pb there. Or, if you are going to take the suggestion of the person who said to go to walmart and get the cooler, why not bring bread and pb and j. I think I'll make sure I have plenty of that. My 4 year old always wants that for lunch anyway. And with kids, you know they'll be tired after a long morning at the parks so you'll be back at your hotel. Just be sure and bring all you utensils.. Also, the 11.99 refillable drink cups should last you all week. Thanks to all for your great ideas here.

 

[bearzabout]

As an adult, I typically spend $20/day on food at Disney.

Some tips:

At AK, buy a meal deal at the counter. They cost about $12.77. You can order a large dinner (which can easily be shared), get a large drink to share and a coupon for either ice cream or popcorn later. You will have an extra coupon for a drink to use later also. You can use the coupon for the large Powerade bottles as well as pop and water.

Bring empty bottles to refill with water throughout the day. This will mean big savings. Also, always order large drinks and put any you can't finish in the bottle along with the left over ice to drink later.

At Epcot, the desserts in Norway are huge, cheap and good. A $3 sweet pretzel, school bread or other pastry can easily be shared.

At Marketplace, the Earl of Sandwich has an excellent selection of tasty sandwiches for $5.00 each. I hear the brownies and cookies are good also (and not very expensive).

At Downtown Disney, $10 will buy a variety of cuban snacks from the take out window at Bongos. The flavors may be a bit odd for kids.

Ask the Confectionary to cut up a caramel apple. You can all get a few bites for about $3.50.

For breakfast in the room, I like to have clementine tangerines. They are easy to peel and are a great addition to any type of bread/cereal/pastry breakfast.

 

[cassie714]

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions! These should help out tremendously. We are driving so bringing a cooler with food will work wonders. I was wondering where I would get ice once we were there(duh), forgot about the ice machines. Anyway thank so much for everyone's ideas.

 

[bongo59]

when we were strapped for cash i'll tell you what my smart little wife did........she got online at SAMS CLUB and shopped online at the orlando store and prepaid for it all...........she asked them to pack it in boxes and on the way to disney from the airport we stopped in picked up all our food and drinks for the week and she was out of the store in about 7 minutes.........she even had them pack the stuff in a throw away cooler and we used the cooler in the car for drinks. We got to the parks early and parked right in front so the kids could go out there and get a drink or ice cream when they wanted

 

[bobcat]

On our budget trips we alwas use the above suggestions as well as bringing our own sandwichs and snacks. We always spend time at the pool in the afternoon so we will usually pack a picnic to eat while we are there. You can also buy a kids meal for yourself. I have done that quite a few times when I wasn't really hungry. Also one Turkey leg will make a nice small meal for my two kids and myself. Add chips and a large drink to share and we are stuffed. We also carry snacks with us, cheese crackers, granola bars ect. so if we are hungry we have someting to tide us over until meal time. My Brita water bottle is a lifesaver in the summer and really saves us from buying lots of drinks.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Why don't you just visit DEB'S SITE and look over the menus from around the world to get an even better idea of a budget.

Hope this helps!

Blessings,

Denise