No Dining plan....tips on where to eat for 1st time visit

[dancing_girl]

Hi Everyone! Our first visit to Disney will be the week of May 13-20
It will be my husband and I, and our 9 year old daughter. We will be statying at All Star. We opted out of the Dining plan, but we are still trying to not spend an extreme amountof money. I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips on where to eat that is budget friendly? We are going to do the Dessert party, but other than that I have no idea. Any tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[catheren]

Hi Everyone! Our first visit to Disney will be the week of May 13-20
It will be my husband and I, and our 9 year old daughter. We will be statying at All Star. We opted out of the Dining plan, but we are still trying to not spend an extreme amountof money. I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips on where to eat that is budget friendly? We are going to do the Dessert party, but other than that I have no idea. Any tips will be greatly appreciated!

Congrads on your first WDW visit!
Few questions, cause this will help me advise your planning for dining.
What is the total daily budget that you want to spend per person at WDW?
Are you looking for character buffets, non character buffets, family style, dinner shows, TS, CS?

I know so much to answer

 

[dancing_girl]

I haven't really set a budget yet. I know the food is expensive, but since I've never been there before I wasn't sure how much to budget. I really want to spend as little as possible since the trip is costing so much.

We're mostly looking at counter service with maybe 1-3 table service. I was debating on the Cinderella's Castle breakfast but don't know if it's really worth it since my daughter is at the age that she's getting out of princesses.

Thanks again!

 

[pumpkinmomma]

A couple of tips- plan sit downs for lunch vs dinner. The lunch menus are cheaper. Liberty tree tavern is good for lunch and not too spendy all things considered. Counter service meals are large imo, and easily splittable. You can get free ice water at any cs. You can also bring in your own snacks and drinks if you choose.

Allears.net has menus so you can get a general idea of prices.

The storybook princess breakfast at epcot is a good alternative to the castle and is a bit cheaper.

 

[DisneyMom2Boyz]

Not really sure of your budget but adults are $55 a day and it would be the last year your daughter will qualify for child price of $15. You may really want to do the dining with 1 table, 1 counter , and 1 snack a day for $125 a day because the food is expensive... Also you get a drink and dessert with each table or counter meal. I did the math for my family and the plan is cheaper. The wishes dessert party we did last May and it was a waste of money with what they offered, I would never do it again, if I were you I would use the money for a meal and just find a spot early for the fireworks. Soo... Not worth the money!

 

[dancing_girl]

I really wanted to do the dining plan, but it was cheaper to book through priceline, so we went with that. So I don't think we can do the dining plan, but thanks for the advice! We are thinking about doing one of the cheaper character breakfasts but I think she really wants to do the castle so we may stick with that. Thank you everyone It helps alot, because I feel clueless. LOL

 

[Taja]

Check out the menus in the Dining section at the top of these forums, as well as on AllEars.net. Between them you can get a good idea of what is offered at each diining venue and the costs. If you're traveling during peak or holiday season, be sure to check pricing for those periods. WDW discovered a few years ago that they can charge more for the same dining experience during certain times of the year. That applies primarily to TS and buffets with characters.

As a PP noted, the QS (quick service) portions tend to be fairly large, so it might be possible to split some of those and just order an extra drink or side. It really depends on the individuals who are dining!

I made a last-minute visit to WDW in March 2006 (three weeks notice) and had to dine counter service the entire time. While the food was considerably different than what I normally would eat, I actually enjoyed it. There are places (including resort food courts or markets) where you can buy fresh fruit and veggies, which helped a lot! At a premium price, but since I graze, it worked well for me.

You're going to have a magical WDW holiday!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

IMO, if you can only do one meal, CRT (in the castle) is the one to choose. It offers an experience you can't get anywhere else. The food isn't what most people would expect for that price, but the atmosphere is totally worth it. If it were me, I'd book breakfast there.

For other meals, Sci-Fi @ Hollywood Studios is fun. It has a drive-in movie theme. The burgers are great, & make for a cheaper table service meal. 50's Prime Time has large portions, with a unique atmosphere, but we haven't tried it.

T-Rex & Rainforest Cafe are also unique & the portions are large enough to share. The food is on par with most chain restaurants. If you aren't going to Downtown Disney, you could try RFC at Animal Kingdom.

Epcot has a lot of good restaurants. I would try Le Chefs de France for lunch (to see Remy) or Rose & Crown for dinner (to watch Illuminations). They're both reasonably priced for WDW restaurants.

Plaza restaurant is a cheaper TS, with good sandwiches & ice cream treats. It's also in MK, so you may not want two meals in the same park.

Unless you're big eaters, we don't find buffets a good value. We only eat at those to see characters & only for breakfast.

With the exception of CRT, I've tried to list restaurants that give you more bang for your buck. They aren't the greatest WDW restaurants food wise, but they do offer a unique experience for less money.

 

[lisalis]

We did the dining plan on our first visit and loved it, but we did get overwhelmed trying to keep up with all the table service reservations. Had we not shared food with our 2 1/2 year old, it would have been way too much food!

I went with just my DS4 last year & did not get the dining plan. There is a good variety of counter services available around the world. We ate at different countries in the World Showcase several times, where I would split a meal with my 4 year old. When we did eat at a burger place, I ordered the kid's meal - more my size. When we had pizza at Pizza Planet in DHS, I split the pizza & salad meal with my son and ordered waters to drink (healthier than soda anyway & they don't have my favorite Pepsi). We did have a few breakfasts & lunches at table service restaurants that I made reservations for at the last minute(only possible because it was January). Breakfast & lunch will be a cheaper time to eat table service. I did buy the refillable mug for a mix of coffee/hot chocolate in the mornings since it was a bit chilly. I packed cereal bars, pop tarts, and snacks so we would have a few snack items on hand.

Before we went the first time, we made a touring plan. I then looked to see what restaurants were in each park & at their menus on the allears website. I made my table service reservations based on what park we were going to be touring & then printed out the menus for the counter serve restaurants. Honestly, since we hadn't been to the parks before it was a bit overwhelming & we just kind of went with the flow when we got there. Have fun!

 

[dworldlovers]

Very happy for your 1st trip Cinderella's Royal Table is a great experience-it's THE castle, after all!! We love Pizzafari in AK for lunch and burgers at the American pavilion at EPCOT, places we never miss!! Liberty Tree Tavern is also very nice. Stop in the bakery on Main St. USA at MK and get a toll house cookie ice cream sandwich that are made-to-order. Almost a meal in itself!! Have fun and yes, prices are a little high, but it's Disney. Portions, especially lunch, are very generous.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

The Crystal Palace is located inside the Magic Kingdom, it is a buffet character meal with Pooh & friends. I think the restaurant is pretty, although not as beautiful as the castle but it will save you money booking it for your character meal breakfast instead of the castle. We have done both experiences & while nothing is as special as taking a little girl to eat in the castle & meet the princesses, the character interaction at Crystal Palace with Pooh, Tiger, Eeyore & Piglet is quite nice. There is also a hip hip hooray parade that the kids participate in that is exciting for them. You could spend the same amount of money to eat at CP and probably a counter service meal for what you'll be spending at the castle.

Also there is a character meal with Alice & Friends over at the Park Fare in the Grand Floridian which is one monorail stop away from the Magic Kingdom. When we were there, we saw Mary Poppins, Alice & the Mad Hatter. MH was one of the funniest characters we've ever seen. They serve bfast & dinner, there may be princesses at dinner, keep in mind dinner is more $$$ than bfast.

WHen you check the allears site, you can also check where the characters are. Have a great trip & to the DISboards

 

[pepe of ohio]

Hi Everyone! Our first visit to Disney will be the week of May 13-20
It will be my husband and I, and our 9 year old daughter. We will be statying at All Star. We opted out of the Dining plan, but we are still trying to not spend an extreme amountof money. I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips on where to eat that is budget friendly? We are going to do the Dessert party, but other than that I have no idea. Any tips will be greatly appreciated!

We've done over 40+ trips to WDW and never do the dining plan or ever will...it just doesn't save us anything, too schedulling and we don't care for most of the TS restaurants or food...we're not foodies...we eat the same at Disney as we do at home...nothing fancy at all...

The wife and I share almost everything, even a hamburger....Disney meals are huge, like the hamburger and fries....easily split for us....leaves us room to graze at the parks (ice creme sandwich, poop corn, funnel cake etc.) There's a tons of counter services across the property where you can get excellent choices...example: POFQ has some great meatball sandwiches and poboy beef sandwiches (huge) again easily shared...HS, Farmers Market has some great chicken and sandwiches and hotdogs (loaded with chili or mac and cheese).....MK's Plaza has some decent meals too and as you can see the trend....all single service platters are easily shared....

We don't like to wander around Disney full to the gills, we rarely eat 3 meals every day....food court breakfasts are decently priced...lunches for us are always pool picnics with groceries we picked up in route (salami, ham, cheeses rolls etc.) and we break from the parks around noon and enjoy the resort pool and munch away....

Disney has never been about the food for us and how many TS restaurants we ate at (though back in the late 70's) food was very good and a part of the action....not any more...we go now for the parks, relaxation, pools and amemities at the resort.....our food bill for a trip is peanuts....we're happy with what we ate (we may splurge on one dinner (usually Yachtsmans Steakhouse) or (Hoop Dee Do) but check out allears.net for their menus and see what the resort food courts are offering, but remember the price will be high compared to what you get around home but the serving size is big...good luck....

 

[kelly495]

We've done over 40+ trips to WDW and never do the dining plan or ever will...it just doesn't save us anything, too schedulling and we don't care for most of the TS restaurants or food...we're not foodies...we eat the same at Disney as we do at home...nothing fancy at all...

I almost completely agree with this.

That said, we do usually eat out every night for a sit down dinner, but it is still WAAY more to pay out of pocket. We got the dining plan a couple years ago and I think we paid over $450 in tips alone!! Those tips on $150 buffets REALLY add up.

Anyway, we like to eat out almost every night for a sit down meal and we will go to Mexico or China, which are on the lesser expensive end.

We also like downtown Disney - Rainforest and Trex, as well as planet hollywood. You can download coupons sometimes for these restaurants.

I will make PB&Js for lunch and bring into the park - this saves both time and money.

Good Luck!!