Save $$ on food?

[keekfemom]

Going to disney in October for dd birthday. We were hoping for a free dining plan (staying at pop) but our week is blacked out. Any advice on how to save some $? Is it true the rooms will have a mini fridge? Hoping we can at least do breakfast in the room. Already booked dinner at the castle for her birthday and the princess breakfast in Epcot. TIA!

 

[mm1971]

Going to disney in October for dd birthday. We were hoping for a free dining plan (staying at pop) but our week is blacked out. Any advice on how to save some $? Is it true the rooms will have a mini fridge? Hoping we can at least do breakfast in the room. Already booked dinner at the castle for her birthday and the princess breakfast in Epcot. TIA!

First, normally the rooms would have a mini fridge. However, there was a manufacturer's issue with a good number of them so they are being replaced over time. As a result, you may or may not have a working fridge in the room.

Tip #1 - Eat breakfast in your room (a little more difficult without a fridge). We usually have bagels, cereal bars, cereal boxes and fruit in the room so everyone can eat before we go.

Tip #2 - This really depends on your family. We usually only eat 2 meals between 4 of us for lunch as we are usually not that hungry. 2 CS meals are plenty and we bring granola bars as a snack just in case someone gets hungry.

Tip #3 - You can bring a lunch to the park with you. Something like PB&J can be brought into the parks and saves $$ on buying lunch. Just make sure it is something that will hold up in the heat.

Tip #4 - We bring a filter water bottle we got at REI for water. Any CS will give you a glass of ice water for free. We get a couple and dump it into the water bottle. Free cold water all day instead of $3-4 to buy bottled water.

We have never done it, but others have groceries delivered to the rooms and eat there instead of at the parks. We don't usually like to go back to the room for lunch or dinner.

 

[keekfemom]

Wow! Thanks so much for the info! This is our 1st time going to Disney!

 

[HiMagicFan]

When we don't purchase the DDP we usually will buy the kids meals ($6 for a main dish, side dish and drink but kids sized) even for the adults. You get a pretty decent meal with a drink. We don't get too much food therefore don't waste (cuz we can usually finish the kids meal) and we have room for an afternoon snack

 

[Burnedout]

When we don't purchase the DDP we usually will buy the kids meals ($6 for a main dish, side dish and drink but kids sized) even for the adults. You get a pretty decent meal with a drink. We don't get too much food therefore don't waste (cuz we can usually finish the kids meal) and we have room for an afternoon snack

But those are pretty gnarly if you like real food my kids weren't even fond of the kid meals. (Think McDonald's kids meal quality )

We just order a main entree without fries or sides and share when we aren't too hungry. Half a salad or burger had about the same amt but more varied grown up food.

We like to snack in some of be parks. Nibbling around Epcot = yum. Dhs food is wretched.

 

[DanaAustinChelsea]

Going to disney in October for dd birthday. We were hoping for a free dining plan (staying at pop) but our week is blacked out. Any advice on how to save some $?

1. Sign DD up for the Earl of Sandwich eClub a few weeks before your trip. You will receive a coupon for a free brownie and another coupon for a free sandwich! http://www.earlofsandwichusa.com/the-eclub/

2. Check restaurant.com for Disney area restaurant certificates {especially if renting a car!} and use a promo code to save 40% - 90% Off the certificate.

3. Sign up for Ebates and earn 15% of your restaurant.com certificate purchase as a cash back rebate. **New Ebates members also are eligible for a FREE $10 Gift Card!

4. If dining at a table service restaurant, try getting ADRs for breakfast or lunch--cheaper than dinner prices!

5. Pack travel-friendly snacks like Disney Fruit Crisps, granola bars, pop tarts, fruit snacks etc...

6. Visit http://orlandocoupons.com/print-coupons/1509 for 20% Off Todd English Blue Zoo & Il Mulino, 15% Off Planet Hollywood and others

 

[powellrj]

Have you checked out the restaurant board for the food porn thread to get an idea of what the meals look like and allears for the menus? That always helps us!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2284684

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[honeybunches]

we did little things like get a double cheeseburger, gave one patty and the bun to DS and I ate the other patty.....or order an entree with 2 sides, each person gets 1 side and 1/2 the entree. We weren't doing it to save money, just to eat less because I didn't want to gain a lot of weight while at Disney. It's really easy to share because the portions are so big.

 

[tzolkin]

Many great suggestions already.

Just wondering if you are driving or flying
We drive so we always bring a cooler with us and go grocery shopping our first day. Even if there is a fridge it's never cold enough for drinks for us.

This saves a ton of money because we always eat breakfast in the room (or on the way to catch a bus to the parks) and we will eat when we return for an afternoon break and late at night. We also throw some snacks in our bags for the parks. We usually wind up only buying about one CS meal per person per day. Most times we will get 2 or 3 meals to share at one place and then get a few more somewhere else later. This works for us because we prefer to snack at Disney (especially when it's hot) than eat large meals.

Probably the biggest money saver is to drink water. We use a hydration backpack that we fill with ice and water in the morning and then refill with free ice throughout the day. We have soda, milk,beer,etc I'm the cooler in our room so we do have some variety but I'd rather not pay $20 every time the family gets thirsty in the parks.

 

[Mad4Dizne]

Having breakfast in your room and/or at CS at resort can save $$$. We order juice boxes, water, soda and snacks for the room, this alone saves a bundle. We love Disney CS, easy to get a quick meal and go, there are many healthy, fresh alternatives to the usual "fast foods". We split meals if we are not too hungry and/or if we want to save room for snacks.

 

[casjen]

I agree with the suggestions to eat breakfast in your room and carry in lunch. We save so much $ doing this. We'd either order or bring cereal (out of the box) with is. Just remember that if you want cereal in the room you need to be sure you have disposable bowls (or a plastic one you bring) to eat out of. We always ordered at Garden Grocer and had it delivered to the room. We fly so suitcase weight is an issue. For less than $100 we eat breakfast and most lunches from the room for the week. For our family of four we can spend that in a day of 3 meals. My boys will happily eat pb and j for lunch every day. I usually bring in hummus or slices of turkey and bags of apples. we always order grapes or berries for fruit in the room as well. the best $saver is brining in your own water. I have even thrown a jar of peanut butter into my suitcase if I had the extra weight. I always throw in plastic spoons and knives, and paper bowls instead of ordering them. Don't forget you'll probably want some paper towels or plates as well for food prep. Just think about what you'll eat, what you need to eat it, and then make a list of what you'll bring from home and what you need to order. If you're driving you'll have more flexibility with what you can bring. Oh, don't forget if you want to keep food cold to bring a small ice pack. It always froze in the fridge. We bring a small lunchbox with us (soft sided) and put it into our backpack and we are all set.

We find we eat less, feel healthier, and save time we would have spent in line when we bring our own food with us.

Enjoy!

 

[ninecrayons]

Before moving to the area, I definitely did several trips to the world on the cheap. Recently, on a trip to CA we were gifted with a stash of bagels from a local artisan place and didn't have a fridge. I can offer the following suggestions.

1) Definitely eat breakfast in the room. I've done cereal and UHT/Parmalat milk and sometimes granola bars.

2) If you want to do something like bagels and cream cheese, I have discovered that putting cream cheese in your ice bucket and then putting ice on top of it, definitely functions as a fridge replacement. We replaced the ice in the morning and in the evening and it stayed cold and fresh with no problem.

3) If you're really into saving money, you can bring items that don't need refrigerating with you into the park to make sandwiches. We did those premade tuna cans when we went to Muir Woods in CA. You could even bring tuna pouches and get mayo at quick serve places. You could also bring Jif on the Go's, which are single serve peanut butters. You can get those at the Dollar Tree or even CVS.

4) If you're a little less frugal, I suggest eating at CS place like Pecos Bill. They have an awesome toppings bar that can really help bulk up your meal. I usually add a scoop of mushroom and onion to my burgers there. They also offer lettuce, tomatoes and dressing, so you could potentially even make a mini salad.

5) I find the kid's meal quality to be pretty comparable to adult meal quality - it's just the portion sizes that are different. If you're not big eaters, I definitely suggest getting the kids meals. They're a nice lunch time option.

6) Definitely bring portable snacks into the park with you! Maybe DD can choose something she likes on a supermarket trip?

All of that said, don't forget to have fun! If you go super frugal style, think about building in a few treats here and there - maybe afternoon ice cream or whatnot. Totally a treat in the hot FL sun!

 

[texasroni75]

I'm frugal but I'm also on vacation, so I want to eat something other than granola bars and poptarts all day long. I think we've found a happy medium.

Like PP mentioned, try Counter Service meals and split them. It's a good way to get a variety of items and everyone gets to try a little bit of everything. There are some CS places that have kids meals that are something other than chicken nuggets or burgers....so we will occasionally buy a few of the "different" child meals to share. And we sometimes supplement our breakfasts with english muffins, bagels and other snacks brought from home. TS meals really kill our budget so we limit them to one or two a trip. And we don't do Character buffets. While it was fun the one time we did (when oldest DD was still an only child), I simply cannot justify the cost for our family right now.