S/O of Off-site TIPS thread...Post your off-site meal plans!

[gymbomominNC]

I have enjoyed reading the off-site tips thread, especially the meal prep ideas and great off-site restaurants for those of us on a budget.

My family's first trip to WDW will be in November and I need all the help I can get!

So please post your meal plans, grocery lists, fave off-site restautants, best snacks for the parks or any other juicy bits of info. to help us all feed our famillies without going broke to do it!!

 

[hereforthesun]

I went to Disney in may we went to 192 and there is a Shoneys with buffet at a very reasonable price, also Sizzler and Ponderosa for breakfast buffet at $3.99 or $4.99 each. If you go at a reasonable time frame you can save so you won't be hungry at lunch then do an early dinner. All 3 were very good.
I am going again this coming weekend. Another great way to save is Entertainment book. Also look on line for coupon for your favorite restaurants. There are a lot of buy one get one free coupons out there.

If you really want to save on meals you can do it using these tips. Good luck.

 

[matosfam]

Keep the tips coming, please!
We'd love some ideas too!

 

[twinsplusone]

We went to WDW for the first time in Feb '09. We ate breakfast at home every day or I should say in the car. It took us about 10 mins to get to the parks and then waiting for transportation gave the kids enough time to finish up. They ate PB & J sandwiches, dry cereal, granola bars, muffins, & always some fruit. They each had a mini backpack and they were supervised each evening to get their snacks together. They chose 2-3 pieces of candy, goldfish crackers, pretzel rods, grapes, fruit snacks, etc. They snacked all day long without ever asking us for a "bought" item. It was great! As far as meals, we had tacos, a grocery bought cooked chicken, spaghetti, & sandwiches. A few times we just picked up something from McDonalds because our timing was a little off going back to the house. We ate very little in the parks besides our character meals. My DH would tease he'd have to eat a lot at those meals because he never knew when I was going to feed him again..

Have a great time!

 

[dougsmom98]

We usually have bagels, coffee, and fresh fruit for breakfast. Bagels are sturdy enough so that if the kids don't feel like eating before we leave, we can wrap them in foil or in a zip lock bag and we can take it with us.

For snacks, we usually brings Pringles and put those in the back pack. The kids love them and they don't get them very often. One year I brought cheese and crackers and put that in the soft sided cooler because we had some at the villa that I wanted to use up. That was a nice filling snack. I have found the best snack to bring is candy. We go in February and we don't have to worry too much about melting. I stock up on big bags of M&Ms and Hershey Kisses after Christmas. I buy some Starbursts too because my kids love them. I bring one bag of candy treats each day. Around 11 am, we all seem to hit a wall and we start getting crabby. I pull out a gallon or quart sized zip lock with candy and we all get a small handful and it makes everyone feel better and helps them recharge. Even the grand parents enjoy this. My DH makes fun of me because I pack 5 lbs of candy for each trip, but he appreciates it at those moments. It's not the healthiest snack, but definitely the most helpful when we are all worn out.

We usually can push it until about 2-2:30 before we stop for a counter service lunch. We like to find counter service restaurants with fixings bars. The two I can think of off the top of my head are Pecos Bills Cafe in MK and the American Adventure in Epcot. They have lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms... to put on top of a burger. It helps to make a heartier lunch for us. Some people on the budget board suggest that you split meals to save money. We don't. We all get a nice hearty lunch at this time and that usually holds us over until the night parade/fireworks. During the night shows, we will get ice cream and/or popcorn and that is usually enough food for the day. If we are hungry on the way home, we might hit the McDonalds drive through and get something off the dollar menu, but we often just eat a snack that we have at the villa.

For other meals on non-park days or days we leave early, I keep it simple. We have hot dogs and oven bakes french fries for lunch. I cook up some boneless chicken breasts at the beginning of the week and they can be eaten as sandwiches when someone is hungry. My sister-in-law made a macaroni salad at the beginning of the week and that made a nice side dish and snack throughout the week. For dinners we often get Chinese and pizza take out. We like to go to the Golden Corral for dinner one night too because I have picky eaters and the all the kids will eat something on their buffet. There are coupon booklets in the lobby of the restaurant with coupons for discounts at GC. We usually eat at Applebees while we are down there too because we always get a gift certificate for that restaurant for Christmas so that helps with the cost. I make drop and bake chocolate chip and sugar cookies because they are easy and it is pretty much the only time I ever bake cookies. It has become a vacation tradition.

 

[dyna]

Either onsite or off site we always have breakfast in the room if onsite it's just cereal if offsite I fry up enough sausage to last our stay so that all I got to do is heat it up in microwave, fry us a couple eggs every mornin an toast a couple waffles.

We had buy 1 get one free entree coupons for TGIFridays for our visit last month ate there a few times. Olive garden was right next to us an we ate there once but got 3 meals off the meal with the salad we got at OG we was only able to eat a 3rd of the meal took it back put it in fridge heated it up with a veggie that I'd picked up when I bought the breakfast food an was satisfied both meals we got off that.

Arbys was right next to olive garden another 10 steps or so from our townhouse they had 5 for 5.00 roast beefs that was loaded with roast beef we was able to get 2 meals off that plus a snack so we did that a couple times.

Only ate in the parks a couple of times even then we shared a meal

Our down fall was usually 2 ice creams a day lol as it was I still managed to loose about 4 lbs at disney in 2 weeks not bad.

Our travel days to an from disney we did Wendy's dollar menu their dollar chicken is a good sized chunk of meat for a dollar shared a large fry an large drink. Suppers we spent more money Cracker Barrel once EWWWWWWWWWW never did like that resturant chain but it was handy to where we was staying. Dennys once not my place of choice but it was handy. Cheap too esp since dh an I can order from the senior menu. Davy Crocketts which might only be in KY an northern TN good food an I can't remember where else maybe texas roadhouse. Yeah that was it an got the early bird special.

Our biggest expense on road an while in disney was drinks had no way to haul drinks while traveling an it was HOT HOT harleys only come with natural a/c so lots of bottled water an redbulls for me to stay awake with. At disney we usually got free ice waters but about once a day we'd end up buying a bottled water.

 

[crusoe2]

When we were there last week some of the stuff I bought or brought from home was:

about 3 lbs. of ground beef
spaghetti and jar of sauce
taco kit
deli meat, bread, & sliced cheese
eggs, bacon, biscuits and venison sausage
fresh fruit - grapes, strawberries, bag of apple wedges
peaches & cottage cheese
bagged salad & tomatoes
block of cheddar cheese and shredded cheddar

My plan was to buy as few ingredients/items as possible and make the most use of them so we wouldn't have a ton of food left over at the end of the week. We had breakfast for supper one night and munched on leftover sausage all week and made sandwiches a few times. I browned all the ground beef at one time and used half for spaghetti and half for tacos. We had enough salad to make side salads to go with the spaghetti and the pizza we ordered from Flippers one night, to put lettuce and tomato on our tacos, and to make a chef salad by adding deli meat & shredded cheddar & boiled eggs.

I also made brownies and an orange dreamsicle pie to go along with cookies, chips and salsa, microwave popcorn, Pringles chips, and some of those Townhouse pretzel crackers and hummus for snacks. The pie I made required a tub of Cool Whip so I saved the bowl and we used it to carry nice cold grapes and strawberries in our backpack cooler along with bottled water and the block of cheddar (which I'd sliced up and put in a ziplock). We alternated between the Pringles and the pretzel crackers to have something salty to go with our fruit and cheese.

We ate in the parks about once a day, had the pizza from Flippers, and had breakfast at the Ponderosa buffet on our last day. One thing to know about the Ponderosa breakfast buffet - the $3.99 does not include your drink and it looked like most of the drinks (juices, milks, etc) were only available in individual containers. You get these when you first go in and you pay for everything before you go to your table. It looked like the only drinks you got in cups - and could get free refills for - were soft drinks and tea. So if you're not sure that one bottle of orange juice or milk will be enough, you need to pick up more and pay for them to begin with because it would be difficult and time-consuming to go back thru the line. (Does that make sense?) IIRC, most of the drinks were about $2-$2.20 so if you needed two bottles of juice per person, you could easily spend as much on your drinks as you did for your meal. Our total for 3 adults and a 6yo came to about $24 and that did not include the tip.

On the way to Orlando, we stopped off at Shoney's in Tallahassee and got a really good meal for less than $30. DH and DS had the buffet which was really basic - fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, etc - but filling and good. I had a delicous chicken salad sandwich on a huge croissant. It was a little heavy on the mayo but was also brimming with chicken and grapes and the croissant was stuffed so full I had chicken salad spilling out everywhere. I got a pasta dish for my side and it was really good too. DD wasn't hungry so we just got her a side dish of fruit that was only about a dollar and a half. The service was great and they even brought us full to-go cups of iced tea to take with us. If you're going thru Tallahassee and like your food simple, I highly recommend the place. We've gotten off at that same exit many times and eaten at the Cracker Barrel across the street - the food was good there too but we spent way more time and money. (We can never go in a CB without checking out everything in the little store.)

 

[Meteora]

We usually have quick dinners at Pizzeria Uno or the Olive Garden and keep leftovers for lunch/dinner the next day. We also like to get sandwiches from DTD and take-out from wolfgang puck express--very reasonably priced, and we often stock up on extra and keep it in the fridge for meals later in the week. DTD is a pretty quick drive, even from offsite. We usually buy things like granola bars/pop tarts/muffins from the supermarket for breakfast.

 

[gymbomominNC]

Bumping....compiling my shopping list and meal plans so wanted to see if anyone had anything to add to these great ideas/suggestions!

 

[indimom]

I don't have any interesting meal ideas since we're doing dinner in the parks and have standard breakfast foods at the condo with sandwiches at lunch.
BUT, I do have a couple "snack" ideas to add.
I've found lots of fun treats for the kids to enjoy like "light up" suckers and Disney Pez dispensers usually near the novelty candies at the check-out in Target, WallMart, Meijer. Indivudial sized candy bags with a disney theme (pirates, princesses, etc.) in the Halloween aisle at Dollar Tree. These were similar to sweet tarts, and only had 6-8 candies in a bag so they can't go overboard. I've probably got enough stashed to give them one each day.
We'll also add trail mix, and single serve cookies/crackers/chips or fresh fruit that they can pick each day. Finally we're carrying two water bottles which clip to the bag and flavored water packets so we can make our own drinks as we go by asking for a cup of water/ice at the CS restaurants.
One last idea I'm considering is creating our own "kitchen sink sundae" for one of our quiet nights at the condo. I'm just not sure how to do this without wasting a lot of sundae supplies...

 

[doclegler]

We always do CiCi's Pizza Buffet in Kissimmee. Cheap and quite yummy. And the cinnamon bites are SOOOO good! This is our kids new favorite buffet since we don't have any within a 5 hour drive from home!

 

[gymbomominNC]

We always do CiCi's Pizza Buffet in Kissimmee. Cheap and quite yummy. And the cinnamon bites are SOOOO good! This is our kids new favorite buffet since we don't have any within a 5 hour drive from home!

YUM! I love CiCi's. good to know there's one close by!

 

[reservations4five]

Here are my meal plans for our trip in December.

Pizza- Sunday (AK) Dinner

Monday (MK) Dinner out

tuna pitas - Tuesday (DHS) Lunch ~ relish, tuna, mayo, pitas, swiss cheese
spaghetti - Tuesday (DHS) Dinner~ ground beef, mushrooms, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, garlic toast (crock)

lunchmeat sandwiches Wednesday (Epcot) Lunch ~ bread, MW, lunchmeat, cheese
tacos (chicken) Wednesday (Epcot) Dinner ~ taco season, frozen chicken, black beans, sour cream, cheese, tortillas, salsa (crock)

hotdogs Thursday (Epcot) Lunch ~ buns, hotdogs, ketchup, mustard, onion

BBQ beef sandwiches Friday (MK) Dinner ~ 2 roasts, bbq sauce, rolls, pickels, onions, brown sugar (crock)

broccoli cheese soup Sat (MK) Lunch ~ half and half, flour, 4 chicken boulion, butter, broccoli, cheese, skim milk, french bread, onion (crock)

pancakes and eggs
cereal
bagels






Drinks:
4 boxes juices
2 cases of Diet Coke
48 bottles of water
Gatorade/Powerade Mix-ins


Dairy:
1 gallon skim milk
yogurt
butter
sour cream
cheese
Creamer
swiss cheese X 2 packs
eggs
cream cheese

Cleaning Supplies:
Dishwasher soap
Laundry Detergent
Fabric Softener
Trash bags
crock pot liners



Paper products:
1 pkg Gallon baggies,
1 pkg sandwich baggies
2 big rolls Paper towels
2 rolls TP
foil



Snacks:
2 bags honey wheat pretzels
2 bags chips
1 bag Doritos
1 scoops
rice crispy treats
granola bars



Cereal Aisle:
nurtigrain bars
cereal


Meat:
Hotdogs
chicken (taco)
beef
ground burger
pork chops




Baking Aisle:
Salt & Pepper
Sugar
pancake mix



Candy aisle:
4 things of Hershey’s FunSize


Middle aisles:
Ketchup
Miracle Whip Light
2 boxes of stuffing
Coffee & filters
black beans
salsa
tortillas
pickles
syrup
tomato soup


Bread:
2 loaves wheat bread
2 pkgs hotdog buns
bagels
buns (deli)
pitas
french bread



Frozen:
2 Cheese & 1 Pepperoni pizza
Popsicles
icecream
garlic bread
broccoli


Fresh:
Bag of apples
bananas
Grapes
shredded lettuce
onions



Deli:
Ham
turkey
Cheese: Swiss/Colby



Crock pot
good knife
good spatula
hand mixer
apple cutter

 

[PhotobearSam]

We do regular breakfast at the condo but we also go to Ihop for reakfast on our last day (my fav) and we also like to go to Steak and Shake for one night on the trip. Not expensive but filling.

 

[singnring]

Casting my vote for CiCi's!!

I don't think we've done a trip on property or off, FD or not, without hitting CiCi's at least once!

DH loves it! His record is 22 pieces of pizza with Cinnamon rolls for dessert.
(And he still only weighs 165 lbs!)

Whenever we go to WDW, we always take a small microwave along if our resort doesn't have one.
Makes it easy to heat things up.

I have made casseroles ahead of time to freeze and take along, then heat them up in the MW for suppers.

I have also purchased containers of BBQ pork/beef at Sam's to heat up and make sandwiches for suppers.

MW'able breakfast foods from the grocery are great for a quick hot breakfast without a lot of fuss. Also poptarts, Big Texas Cinnmon Rolls from Sam's, Cereals, MW'able pancakes.

Lunches are usually sandwiches of varying sorts, canned stuff like spaghettios, Ramen noodle soup packs, hot dogs, etc.

Snacks are anything like fruit snacks, granola bars, fruit (though it can get squished), lunchbox cookie packs, crackers, trail mix (DH's fav!), snack cakes, pretzels, chips, etc.

We also have gone to Ponderosa and Golden Corral for breakfast buffets. $3.99 @ Ponderosa is great if you don't get drinks, which we don't. We drink water almost all of the time, so no loss that drinks don't go with the meal.


Speaking of water, we ALWAYS take a case of bottled water for drinks as well as to carry in the parks. We start the parks w/ a bottle each day, then refill w/ water from CS venues.

We occasionally eat a CS meal here and there, but most meals are off-site or in the room.
That is, of course, unless we're on FD!! The it's all Disney all the time!!

 

[TrustedTraveler]

We begin our stay with a quick run to Sams Club and either Publix or WalMart to stock up. I bought a good size crock pot for the house we rent and I use it for Pot Roast, Beef Stew and Chili during the week.
Other menu items depend on who's there: my sister's boys devour chicken strips (Sams Club) and those little Bagel Pizza things.
I'll usually make a large pan of egg mess: potatoes, onion, sausage and eggs, for whomever gets up early.
Lunches are usually in the parks and we do one evenings dinner together at someplace special. Last trip it was the German buffet and show at Epcot.
We take advantage of local citrus fruits and bring snacks and a bottle of water into the parks with us each day.

 

[gymbomominNC]

Thanks for all the ideas! Does anyone know of any printable coupons out right now for any restaurants close by to Disney?

 

[TiffanyK]

You all have some great ideas. We're going to be staying off-site again with just my family of 6 in May. We've travelled with my extended family a few times and my mom has packed up food on dry ice for meals at the house. She pre-cooked things so it was assembly only once we got there. That, combined with an order from We Go Shop and the food was taken care of for breakfast and another meal a day, usually dinner.

You can read how we did it here - Vacation Food, Saving Money

 

[Nee Nee and Biddy]

Tiffany,
I'm looking at your website right now and I love it! I've been debating whether or not to take my crock-pot to Florida with us and now I think I will. Thanks for posting about how your mom got all that food to FL!