Some good food tips for saving at Disney World?

[jemswillam]

Hey
What are some good small food snacks/drinks to bring for the whole time just to save some money? What are some good food/drink saving tips at Disney World?

Also, whats just money saving tips?

I usually just eat at cheap restaurants at the parks, but this time i really want to save, considering the economy.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Cattail79]

BOTTLED WATER! (or a drinking bottle with a filter). Also some of the flavors for bottled water (you can get them anywhere from teas to koolaids). And some granola.

 

[minnierocks]

Here are some of the ways that we cut down on our food costs...
-We always bring breakfast foods and eat them in our room before going to the parks. Pop-tarts, doughnuts (junkie things that we don't normally buy at home), also oatmeal packets. We bring a hot shot that instantly heats water and make oatmeal. That is also good for making coffee/tea in the morning. We bring cereal and buy milk at the resort and just fill the cooler with ice in the morning and evening and it keeps just fine.
-We bring snack items and everyone fills their own bag in the morning. Peanut butter crackers, breakfast bars, granola bars, small candies, small bags of cookies are some of the things that we take. We also put bottled water in the bags along with the drink mix packets. This was a lifesaver when the kids were little and waiting in line, they had their own snacks to munch on while waiting.
-We share lunches. Some of the CS places have really large portions, so we would buy two and split them. Flame BBQ is one of our favorites!
-Buy kids meals for everyone. No one will ask you if the meal if really for a child. Kid's meals have the drink included.
-We would have a sit down meal every day, but I researched the menus online before going so I would know exactly what I was spending. Some of the restaurants were reasonably priced. We loved The Plaza! The kids knew that they weren't ordering the most expensive thing on the menu and we did some buffets so they could eat all they wanted. If you order water to drink (take some drink packets for your water glass), you can save $10-12 on your final bill.
-Eat your biggest meal for lunch! The entree prices are much less for lunch and the portion sizes are the same.
-We didn't buy many snacks in the park. At $5 per ice cream sandwich, it could get costly. Both kids knew that we would buy one during our stay and they always chose to buy it the day we were at AK. So it was a special treat when we would get to AK. The rest of the week, they snacked out of their bags.
-Don't spend too much time shopping...that can send your budget over the edge. Our kids knew that we would buy them one souvenir while we were there, so they would wait and purchase what they really wanted instead of wanting every little thing.

Have we always had to do this? No... But it is possible to cut some corners when you need to do so. I know that many people might think some of this stuff is a little extreme, but if it is the only way that we can afford to go to WDW, then I would much rather be there and have to eat frugally...then not go at all!

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

In addition to the PP, we bring goldfish crackers, prune ones, almonds. I buy regular size containers then just pack them in small ziplocks for the daypack. We fly down so I have to have snacks that pack easily. I like a mixture of healthy snacks and some things that we don't eat at home so it's special without having to shell out big bucks frequently. We still will buy a Mickey Bar once in awhile though.

 

[aboveH20]

I like to make a gorp mixture of Cheerios, raisins, and walnuts. You can alter the ingredients to suit your needs. It's relatively healthy and packs well.

We also do the breakfast in the room thing, and refill water bottles at drinking fountains throughout the parks.

 

[Robin K]

We bring breakfast bars like Special K bars or Chewy granola bars. We have also packed Ritz cracker type things. We also found that buying a liter water helped more than continuing to buy several small ones. Good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[growinupdisney]

As soon as my trip is booked ( usually 2 -3 months before we go) I go to grocery store, dollar store and once a week pick up snacks that are on sale We eat breakfast in our room: cereal, muffins,poptarts,cereal bars,croissants(whatever I picked up on sale) We are not big breakfast eaters so this works out great for us! Each of my older children have a small back to keep their stuff in so that will put snacks to cover them when they are standing in line or to hold them over thru. lunch. I care a small cooler that I put water and juice in. We saved last year $30 a day just bringing in water. I also buy the flavored packetsbut my children love water so its just to help change it up alittle. I always go on and look and the menus and pretty much no what everyone will eat at the restaurant so I can determine what we pay for each meal. We do like to buy one icecream a day when in the parks I average this in because this my children's favoritething to do. We usually average anywhere from $70-$100 a day on food and snacks and have never gone over! Sometimes we split meals just depends on where we eat!

Snack we bring into the parks are usually gummies, trailmix,granola bars, cookies, slim jims, goldfish, and nabs.

 

[3"Mouse"keteers]

If you're flying down, or just driving without alot of luggage room, you can order a case of bottled water from Costco for around $6 and they will deliver it to your resort so that it's waiting there for you when you get there.

 

[ZoZo]

Great ideas listed above!

You should also hop over to the Budget Board - it's all about how to save money at WDW (and elsewhere!).

I like to eat at "off" times - say, the latest seating at a breakfast buffet like Crystal Palace. That way, you can turn your meal into "brunch" and then have an early dinner.

I eat mostly counter-service, and only splurge on table service meals a couple of times during my trip. When doing table service, go at lunch instead of dinner - prices are significantly cheaper.

Don't buy bottled water - just ask for cups of water (free!) at any counter service restaurant. The cost of bottled water addds up fast!

And I almost always do breakfast in my hotel room - cereal, breakfast bars, etc. Saves both time and money!

 

[BebopBaloo]

A lot of what I would suggest has already been mentioned. The great thing about Disney parks is that you are allowed to bring food into the park. We usually go to Busch Gardens a couple times a year and they don't allow food (perhaps this will change w/ new management).
So really, if you wanted, you could pack pb&j, or some type of sandwiches, carrot sticks/chips/whatever and find a quiet spot to picnic in the park. The rose garden near the entrance to Tomorrowland from Main St. is a great spot, with a covered area that has tables and chairs. Of course, the ducks may want to share I've seen folks bring in coolers, so you could do something like chicken salad, cold pasta, etc. Have fun!

 

[DisGirl23]

• Nature Valley Granola Bars
• Dried Fruit (DBF and I LOVE Archer Farms Pineapple from Target)
• Goldfish
• Rice Krispy Treats
• Microwave Popcorn (to pop in the resort food court. Makes a nice evening snack with our refillable mugs)
• Peanut Butter Crackers
• Crystal Light single serve mixes

 

[BradyBz12]

I've seen folks bring in coolers, so you could do something like chicken salad, cold pasta, etc. Have fun!

Small coolers are fine (no wheels) and you can bring in pretty much anything you like - just no glass bottles or alcohol.

 

[GMS]

Our kids know to just order cups of ice water with their meals (unless included with kids meal) They also know we buy them 1 souvenir (T-shirt, etc.) and all other snacks and shopping come from their own money. They learn to choose carefully and really have fun choosing. We can browse the stores but when their $$ are gone...that's it! They save for months ahead of time for this!
We also save money by bringing our own breakfast and snacks, but this year with the price of luggage to fly...we are trying to only do carry-on and buying some cereal and milk at the resorts or DD. A lot of the DVC resorts have a large selection of groceries, so we thought we would "Visit". Fun to see a different resort too. We'll see how it goes in March! Have fun!

 

[noahdove]

Any counter service restaurant will gladly give you ice in a cup, in fact, at one place in AK they asked me if I wanted sm or lg I did carry propel and crystal light packets with me...I try to stay away from the high sugar snacks, not only do they make the kids hyper, but, they are worthless snacks..granola bars, gorp, fruit from breakfast...

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

As suggested in lots of posts on this (wonderful) forum, we had the kids pack their own snacks each morning - had a variety of healthy or reasonabley healthy options for them, and one or two more junky options. The favorite? The one that they would ask each other if they still have and can they have some? The mini-baggies of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes! Next time (Please let it be soon) I'll make up LOTS of those baggies! Also a big hit were the little bags of almonds mixed with dried cranberries that we made up in advance. Water? We refilled our own bottles at the drinking fountains. Cheapest method.
Having those snacks available to the kids saved us from quite a few melt downs.