Resturant in the Park OR eat outside the park?

[sara969]

Hello again everyone,

It will be our 1st trip to WDW and i dont know much at all.
I was wondering if there is a BIG price difference between the resturants in the park to the resturants outside the park?

Is it worth having our evening meal outside the park to save on the pennys?

What sort of resturants can you find outside the park and are they near WDW a few minutes drive away??

I am just worrying because i am not sure what time WDW parks close in May but if its quite late say 9ish then by the time we do rides, watch shows/ parades see the fireworks and then leave and drive to a resturant outside the park, then we might not be eating our evening meal til 10-10:30ish, we will all be STARVING!

What would you do? Are there any special offers / Vouchers or meal deals that we can pre pay for , that we can get hold of before we travel, so eating in the park wont be too much of a expense.

See i am not sure how far resturants and shops in Florida are from WDW cus if there is a place that we can go too thats near we can set a time in the late afternoon to leave the park and have our meal and then return to the park for the early evening.

 

[Claire L]

There are loads of restaurants just off WDW property either by the DTD end or near AK. The choices are good and as you say if you go back for an afternoon break can get dinner on the way back into the park for the evening.

Claire

 

[tinks86]

We enjoyed the restaurants in the resorts more than the ones in the parks. There are some great ones around with different theming/ characters etc and you can always go back into the park later. In terms of non-disney places to eat if you are self catering it will save you loads to try and eat in some nights. Maybe try and leave about half 3 head back have an early meal and then head back for the fireworks!

 

[sara969]

We enjoyed the restaurants in the resorts more than the ones in the parks. There are some great ones around with different theming/ characters etc and you can always go back into the park later. In terms of non-disney places to eat if you are self catering it will save you loads to try and eat in some nights. Maybe try and leave about half 3 head back have an early meal and then head back for the fireworks!

Thats a good idea... we can leave to have a meal and then return for the fireworks.
Thank you

 

[jen_uk]

I really wouldn't plan to spend all day and eve in the parks because within a few days you will be totally parked out. If you can go back to your hotel for a break, swim etc then go back in the eve its much better

 

[Elise79]

I would eat offsite if staying offsite. We haven stayed onsite and eaten offsite (before we found the dining plan)

Offsite there are some really good cheap buffet type places and some more expensive but better quality restaurants.

You deffinatly get more bank for your buck offsite.

However we have always had a counter service lunch in the park before taking our afternoon break for swim & nap!

 

[team harris]

We tend to eat onsite. It is more expensive (altho up & coming trip and last trip we were on free DDP). We eat offsite if we are not at WDW for the day. International Drive has loads of places at all different prices, as too Market Place

 

[anthony2k7]

I gather that eating off site can save a lot of money but I'd imagine you need to be careful about losing a lot of your day that way as well.

We eat in the parks for all the parks except MK (because none of the restaurants there appealed much). I can imagine that leaving a park, packing the car, driving to restaurant, ordering, eating, driving back, getting from carpark to park, possibly re-queuing to enter could easily waste 2 hours of your day if you're not careful.

 

[WiganTony]

What sort of resturants can you find outside the park and are they near WDW a few minutes drive away??.

Just outside the WDW area is Crossroads in the Lake Buena Vista area which has a number of restaurants - this is just past DTD along Hotel Plaza Boulevard and straight across at the lights at the junction with the 535.

If you turn left onto the 535, there is an Olive Garden to the right.

If you turn right at the 535, go under the I-4 then left at the first lights, there is a Bahama Breeze and Golden Corral on Vineland Avenue.

However, don't forget that the WDW area is vast, and it will probably take around 15-20 minutes driving from MK to those restaurants I have mentioned.

 

[sara969]

Thanks for the idea's everyone
After looking at the Park resturant Menu's i think we have decided to eat in the parks as there are some resturants where u can grab a cheap burger and chips and other resturants like Rainforest Cafe for a treat on the odd day, which i dont think the prices are that bad compared to Disneyland Paris, where food is a complete rip off.
If we eat outside the park we will loose alot of park time.

However on our rest days we will eat in Florida, shopping malls etc..
I want to try Applebee's while we are there.
TGI Fridays is one of our favourite also Chili's Yummmmmy!

 

[Pegasus928]

Sounds like you have a good idea as to the sort of places you want to eat in.
We tend to do an almost 50/50 split between eating at the parks and eating off site. We always stay in a villa so make sure we have plenty in, so if we do have a late night at the park and don't feel like stopping on the way home we can make something quick to eat by the pool and listen to the night life.
Places like the Rainforest Cafe and T-rex are probably a little more expensive than some of the places on I-Drive, but are comparable to the parks I would say.
Carry on doing what you are doing by looking at as many menus and prices on line as you can to give yourself a good indication of prices before you travel.

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

We do both (including character dining).
However we stay onsite,and if your not on the dining plan we found this time to soon mount up when buying 4 meals (2 childrens)..plus deserts etc.
Offsite is cheaper (depending on where and what you want).

T-rex cost us nearly $200 (giving you an example) but we did the build a dino's. Character meal Crystal palace (another example) cost us $120 (evening meal). Based on 2 adults and 2 children.

There is so many great restaurants offsite,and onsite your spoilt for choice.