Staying onsite, eating affordably?

[BensDaddy]

So we will be spending Sunday through Friday after Thanksgiving at the Grand Californian. We will not be renting a car. I am concerned about the cost associated with meals for 3 people for 5 days. Does anyone have any suggestions for eating healthfully, but still saving money where possible during our visit?

We are AAA members and have a Disney Visa if that helps.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dizneekrazee]

You can try White Water Snacks inside the GCH. Their prices aren't bad, and neither is the food. We have only been for breakfast, however. Tangaroa Terrace at DLH doesn't look bad either.

 

[KalamityJane]

Order a grocery delivery through vons.com, you can have breakfasts and lnches covered that way!

 

[scoker]

I would definitely get grocery delivery. We stayed at GCH for 5 days and had many breakfasts and evening snacks in the room. We stocked the fridge with fruit, drinks and yogurt. We also had snacks, muffins, cereal and PB&J. There is also a microwave at White Water snacks that I've heard many people use for heating up soup bowls, popcorn and other stuff. We basically ate breakfast in the room, a big meal mid day and something light for dinner. A couple of nights we got dinner salads from White water snacks and brought it up to the room. My daughter was very happy to eat sandwiches that we made in the room too.

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[BensDaddy]

How far in advance should we order? We are staying in the Villas and won't know the room until check-in. Even if we did this would probably just be breakfasts and snacks.

 

[sonnyjane]

How far in advance should we order? We are staying in the Villas and won't know the room until check-in. Even if we did this would probably just be breakfasts and snacks.

They just deliver to the hotel, you won't have to know the exact room number. If you're not there at the time when it's delivered, they can leave it with the front desk (they have a fridge to hold it) as long as there isn't alcohol in the order.

 

[sechelt]

Whitewater Snacks also sells basics like bread, eggs, etc.

 

[CrazyDuck]

We are staying in the Villas and won't know the room until check-in.

What kind of villa are you in? Studio, or 1 or 2bedroom? if you are in a 1 or 2 bedroom that opens up an entire new realm of cooking possibilities since you have a full sized fridge, stovetop, oven, as well as the microwave which you are limited to in the studio. Also don't forget about the BBQ grills available outside.

 

[Cagirl767]

I think www.vons.com is the only one that has grocery delivery there now?
You can look on their website or call them, but usually just a few days prior for ordering has been good in the past.

We always stop at a grocery store to get fruit, milk, microwave steamer veggies, breakfast items, a case of water, a rotisserie chicken, hard boiled eggs, muffins. There are a lot of convenience foods you can buy to make a quick meal, even just in the microwave.

Bringing in your own water into the park or a refillable bottle will save a lot too. You can bring flavor packets for the water. You can get free water at any walk up counter.

 

[BensDaddy]

Flavor packets are a great idea. Unfortunately we are in a studio so we won't have the full kitchen. How many days prior to arrival do most people order from Von's?

Any suggestions for dining out? Really appreciate all of the responses so far!!

 

[KalamityJane]

Pacific wharf has cheap good soups in bread bowls and sammies!

 

[CrazyDuck]

If you have a car and plan to be out and about anyway, you may as well just hit the store yourself... that way you can pick your own food. I don't trust someone else to shop for me. BTW there is a Vons on Chapman just south of Disneyland... In that same parking lot there is also an Angelos burger place (awesome), as well as a Winchels Donught shop ... You can kill 3 birds with 1 stone!

 

[Disney4us2]

We are staying in a studio starting tomorrow. I went to Fresh and Easy. They have pre cooked items already to pop into the microwave. We are just an hour drive away so for us it is easy. Don't know if there are any F & E's near Disneyland.

 

[BensDaddy]

If you have a car and plan to be out and about anyway

No plans to rent a car this time around.

 

[Escape2Disney]

Pacific wharf has cheap good soups in bread bowls and sammies!

If you order a soup or salad here, you can ask for it to be prepared on the side so you can use the bread later. We've done this -- it's plenty of bread for a few small sandwiches.

We also like the gumbo at the stand near Cafe Orleans (I forgot the name of it).

Another suggestion is to split meals when you eat in the parks. The serving sizes are HUGE at most locations.

We save quite a bit of money by having water, snacks, and breakfast foods delivered to the room. We then eat one sit-down meal in the parks. On average, we spend $10-15/person at a counter service place or $15-20/person at a sit-down restaurant when not splitting meals.

You can find menus at: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/dining/menus.cfm

By reviewing the menus, you can get a better idea of what your family would pay at each restaurant.

 

[jen541]

We just went shopping to get ready for our 7 night visit starting tomorrow. We plan to only have one meal a day in the parks and a few favorite snacks.

At trader joes we bought fruit, yogurt, string cheese, water, chips, nuts and dry fruit, cereal bars, bread, sandwich meats and cheeses, veggies for our sandwiches, bagels and cream cheese.

We want to be there by park opening and I'm sure our room won't be ready by then so we plan to leave our bags and groceries at the front desk, they will hold them and even refrigerate our cold stuff while we play.

I will reassess where we are at on Wednesday/thursday and if we need at least $50 worth of more items, i will order more food from vons.com, its 50 minimum for free delivery... but I think we'll have enough

Helpful note. I brought a knife to cut fruit and baggies to pack our sandwiches and other snacks in. Also brought a few larger ziplocks, gallon size to store bread nd other foods.

 

[Mary09]

Maybe walk out to Harbor and check out the restaurants. They'll be cheaper than on-site. It's not particularly healthy but we get Pizza Hut often when there.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

pizza hut is my fav lol 10 bucks feeds three for three meals or snacks at night

 

[CheshireGato]

I agree with the flavor packets for water. When I went last summer I would ask for a free water cup when I would buy food (sometimes they gave me two!) and I would mix in a crystal light singles packet with my straw. It was great!
I plan on doing it again this next trip.

 

[DisneyDuchess]

I would reccomend Paradise Garden Grill at CA Adventure because it gives you a lot of food for what you pay and is also healthy too!

You pick out your choice of meat skewer, a special sauce which can be placed separately or on top on the meat skewer, and you will get pita bread, grilled Greek veggies and rice along with your meal. The cost was around $10-12 and with a free cup of water, it's a very filling lunch or dinner! It's a lot of food for a decent price and I'm looking forward to returning to here again.

Here's a photo of my plate from my latest visit in last month:

(Sorry for the large pic, I'm not sure how to resize photos on here)