Packing lunch for the parks

[Cwilson]

Hey all-
We are looking to possibly visit WDW for a family vacation in June. To cut costs, we are thinking about foregoing a dining plan. We would eat breakfast in our room and pack a lunch/snacks. We have DS (2) and DD (11). Any tips/tricks/ideas of things that have worked for you when packing your own lunches? Thanks!

 

[hollypoast]

We pack sack lunches on every trip. We don't do anything fancy…sandwiches, fruit, veggies, caprisun, etc. We usually buy some cotton candy and use the qt. sized plastic container all week for cut up apples and oranges. (and bring peanut butter to dip the apple slices in-- you know the trick right? Take one quarter orange and squeeze the juice over the apple slices to keep them from turning brown during the day.)

It's really easy and saves time once you are in the park. Then we always do dinner some place fun.

 

[hollypoast]

don't forget your small, soft sided cooler to put you lunch in and tuck under the stroller.

 

[Bnb0627]

Bumping this.

We may also being taking lunch into the parks.


Wondering where are good places to sit and eat?

DH is not going to sit on a curb and eat lol.
I heard someone say they ate lunch while riding the train. I've never been on it so don't know if that's a good idea or not!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We used tables at counter service places for our sack lunches (Subway sandwiches works great). We never ran into a time that was so busy that we were holding up a table that a paying customer needed.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Make sure that none of the food can spoil or go bad during a heat situation. For example, no Mayonnaise!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . We would eat breakfast in our room and pack a lunch/snacks. We have DS (2) and DD (11). Any tips/tricks/ideas of things that have worked for you when packing your own lunches? Thanks!

1) We have several friends who pack lunches to save money at WDW.
2) We tell them
. . . cool a freezer cool-pak in your room fridge and put into lunch sack
. . . this keeps almost anything cool until eating
. . . make lunch-meat sandwiches
. . . pack lettuce, tomatoes, etc in a separate ziplock bag
. . . use individual serving pack of mayo for last-minute application
. . . take some fruit, as the cold-pak will keep it chilled
. . . store the lunch bag(s) in a locker inside the gates of the park
. . . at lunchtime, retrieve from locker
. . . sit and eat at any QS eatery that is not overly busy *
. . . this can even be inside with the air conditioning

* Exceptions would be BoG and some Qs where CM's direct seating.

 

[Dizisfun]

We use any of the cs places that have tables outside. But also Cosmic Rays is a place that you could go inside to eat your packed lunches.

 

[Dizisfun]

We have also used frozen bottles of water in our soft sided cooler. It keeps the food cool enough and than we use it to drink as it thaws.

 

[happygirl]

Is it a hassle to drag a cooler through the parks with you or lunch boxes. I can't image that to much fun

 

[ShelliRenee]

One of our favorite places to have lunch in Epcot is at the Mexican Pavilion. There are tables on the Mayan Pyramid (go up the stairs and turn before the door.) It is a nice out of the way location and no one feels deprived by not eating Disney food because it is not an eating establishment.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Is it a hassle to drag a cooler through the parks with you or lunch boxes. I can't image that to much fun

We put ours in a locker. MK was the only place the lockers really were inconvenient as we didn't have any reason to hang out in that part of the park.

 

[Traveliz]

One of our favorite places to have lunch in Epcot is at the Mexican Pavilion. There are tables on the Mayan Pyramid (go up the stairs and turn before the door.) It is a nice out of the way location and no one feels deprived by not eating Disney food because it is not an eating establishment.

I don't bring my lunch but I am always looking for out of the way seating places and that sounds like an awesome spot!

Liz

 

[Bnb0627]

Is it a hassle to drag a cooler through the parks with you or lunch boxes. I can't image that to much fun

I'm only packing sandwiches and snacks so its not going to add that much weight to our backpack. We also don't pack much in the backpack it's really just for souvenirs. We plan to buy our drinks that way we aren't carrying them and we won't have to rent a locker.

 

[stayhomemom77]

We never packed full on lunches but we would take non perishable snacks with us in the park bag that we stashed under the stroller. We took things like granola bars, juice boxes, water bottles and soda, raisins, dry cereal, chips, crackers, cookies, popcorn, applesauce, canned peaches, and muffins. Not much protein in the mix but it would stay our stomachs until dinner. We usually ate only a fraction of what we packed in the bag each day but it was nice to know it was there should there be rumblies in our tumblies.

 

[Jamie25UGA]

Bumping this.

We may also being taking lunch into the parks.


Wondering where are good places to sit and eat?

DH is not going to sit on a curb and eat lol.
I heard someone say they ate lunch while riding the train. I've never been on it so don't know if that's a good idea or not!

We always bring sandwiches, chips, and other smaller items for lunch...a lot of times we eat on the people mover, last time we even got lucky and went through space mountain when the lights were on! We've also sat on the curb at 2:20ish if we wanted to get great seats for the parade and eaten lunch if we had a big breakfast and weren't that hungry earlier in the day. We snack on animal crackers throughout the day when in lines.

 

[runwad]

We have a back pack cooler and make pb&j, freeze the water bottles for the ice and then bring fruit and a container of chips for the outside pocket. Then things like packets of crackers, granola bars and nuts. We actually go thru more water bottles than food.

 

[bbak3030]

Wraps are a good option and it's a little different. Individual salads may be an option too!

 

[happygirl]

I didn't think about lockers

 

[AJ1983]

We pack sack lunches on every trip. We don't do anything fancy…sandwiches, fruit, veggies, caprisun, etc. We usually buy some cotton candy and use the qt. sized plastic container all week for cut up apples and oranges. (and bring peanut butter to dip the apple slices in-- you know the trick right? Take one quarter orange and squeeze the juice over the apple slices to keep them from turning brown during the day.)

It's really easy and saves time once you are in the park. Then we always do dinner some place fun.

Another tip I read is to hold the apple and slice it ( keeping it together). Then, place an elastic band around it and voila! Ready when you are