Staying onsite, eating affordably?

[CrazyDuck]

Maybe walk out to Harbor and check out the restaurants. They'll be cheaper than on-site.

Except for iHop.... Avoid iHop if you are trying to save money.... For what I paid for breakfast for 4 people I could have done a Character Breakfast... $140 later and no pictures with princesses...

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Agree with the pp about Paradise Garden Grill. Love the Greek Salad and the chicken skewers. Also, there is a burrito place next to Tortilla Jo's in DtD. They make the burrito in front of you while you choose the fillings. If you leave out or cut down on the fatty items, the burritos can be pretty healthy. The same goes for meals at Rancho del Zocalo in DL. We share the entrees (very generous portions) and ask for less or no sour cream, cheese, etc. There is a water fountain there with cold, filtered water, so you can refill your water bottles there.

 

[Mary09]

Except for iHop.... Avoid iHop if you are trying to save money.... For what I paid for breakfast for 4 people I could have done a Character Breakfast... $140 later and no pictures with princesses...

Wow! I would've figured it was impossible to spend that much at iHop! $30/person? Was there wine? Are you sure they didn't put a few other tables' tab on yours? I've had that happen before (elsewhere).

 

[tomgreen41]

Do you know what amenities your room will have? Fridge, microwave?

We got stuck in a lower end hotel about 15 years ago and got really creative. We used one of those styrofoam coolers to keep our stuff cool (milk, etc) and got really creative with our coffee maker:

1. Used the coffee maker to boil water (just don't put coffee in it), then used this for ramen noodles (like I said, we were on a budget).

2. We cooked weiners in the coffee maker and had hot dogs ;-)

There's some tips for ya if you get really desperate like we were! Cheers.

 

[tanyaegangibson]

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.

I put in our Vons order a couple of days ago, and we're not going until 10/17-10/22. (You can check out the delivery windows several weeks ahead, and there's a code for FREE delivery right on the page that you can use if this is your first time ordering for delivery.)

By the way, if you're flying and you don't think the mini-fridge will hold enough perishables for your family, I'd suggest buying a collapsible, soft-sided cooler (they're on sale right now at places like Big 5) and putting it into your suitcase. Ours is fairly large--the last couple of times we've gone we've filled it with ice every day from the hotel (we're staying at GCH) and put larger items (like gallons of milk or OJ) in it so that we can use the mini-fridge for things like cheese, yogurt, etc. We eat all of our breakfasts and lunches in the hotel, then splurge on dinners out.

The kids love sitting eating their breakfasts downstairs in the lobby in front of the fireplace. We go to the parks early and come back to the hotel around lunch when it's getting crowded, eat lunch in the room, spend some hours at the pool, and then return to the parks when other people might be getting ready for early dinner. (We eat late.) Honestly, the Cheerios, fruit, PBJs and turkey sandwiches make me feel better about otherwise letting the kids indulge in the Disney yummies, and it definitely helps wallet-wise!

Have a great time! (By the way, I've been checking out this forum for a while, but this is the first time I've dived in to post.)

 

[KalamityJane]

Nice! I had no idea you could get the delivery scheduled so far ahead. How does that affect pricing? I know somethings on Vons were coming up as say, 2 for $5 but only until 10/2, for instance.

 

[tanyaegangibson]

Nice! I had no idea you could get the delivery scheduled so far ahead. How does that affect pricing? I know somethings on Vons were coming up as say, 2 for $5 but only until 10/2, for instance.

Unfortunately, a lot of what is on sale until, say, 10/2 or 10/9 won't necessarily be on sale by then, but other items may go on sale (and a lot of our items are staples that we'd probably buy one way or another--milk, fruit, snack veggies, etc.). You can change your order up until the night before, I believe, so it was worth it to me time-wise to just do it now and recheck a few days before to make any changes. There are online promotion codes on the site for price savings on certain products and also online club card specials (we have a club card for Safeway, which is the same company).

The latest time slot on a Wednesday, the day we're arriving, was 2-3 pm, so I wanted to lock it in in case it somehow filled up. (I know the GCH would accept the groceries for us, but because the order contains wine, I wanted to schedule to order for when we'd be there.)

 

[KalamityJane]

That is good to know you can change your order, I will submit mine then! Thanks!

 

[BensDaddy]

Thanks everyone (especially Tany!) great info. I think the studios just have a mini fridge so we will be space limited. Breakfasts and snacks alone will save us money and time!

 

[KalamityJane]

The villa studios have a mini fridge and a microwave.

 

[scoker]

What transportation do you plan on from the airport to hotel. I've heard people say that DK livery will make a grocery stop. I'm thinking we might do this for our next trip.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Thanks for the advise on ordering from Vons. We are staying in a 1 bedroom villa in December and plan to eat our breakfast and some lunches in the room and make use of the full kitchen we will have. We are not renting a car so it's nice to have delivery directly to the hotel!

 

[BensDaddy]

What transportation do you plan on from the airport to hotel. I've heard people say that DK livery will make a grocery stop. I'm thinking we might do this for our next trip.

Planning on Disney Resort Express. Didn't want to have to bring a booster seat either.

 

[KateDrake]

The biggest saver on our last trip was skipping kids meals. It ended up saving us about $75, which is of course not a ton, but still. Instead, we'd just order two adult meals and share. The portions at DLR are huge, and even with sharing, we still ended up throwing food away. It also kept my DD3 from eating nothing but chicken nuggets and pizza for the entire trip.

The other thing I'd suggest is bringing some small snacks into the park with you, so if your child gets hungry, you can whip out some trail mix, an apple sauce or some string cheese. I like to do this because then I don't end up buying a Mickey pretzel or a Dole whip every time my daughter says she is hungry. I'm assuming my kid isn't the only one who doesn't eat at meal times, but then says they are starving 20 minutes later? At least I HOPE I'm not...

Here is a list of some of our favorite meals to share:

DLR
Rancho del Zocalo (citrus chicken, carne asada and enchilada platter)
Red Rockett's Pizza Port (pastas and salads are great for sharing)
Hungry Bear (Turkey provolone sandwich is HUGE)
Plaza Inn (Fried chicken could seriously feed an entire family)
Cafe Orleans (Pommes Frites and a Monte Cristo feeds us all!)
French Market (not our fav, but does have plenty of food)

DCA
Pacific Warf Cafe (salads and soups in bread bowls)
Paradise Garden Grill (any of the skewers are very good, and have yummy sides)
Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta (pastas are great for sharing, flatbreads are good if you kid isn't a huge eater)
Flo's V8 Cafe (I haven't actually tried this, but everything I've read suggests there is plenty of food for 3 in two meals)

 

[Zbugz]

I bring non-refrigerated items from home in my suitcase, which leaves room for souvenirs on the return trip.

Items I've brought are crackers, granola, cold cereal, instant oatmeal, dried fruit, tuna pouches, mayo & relish packets, jerky, trail mix, english muffins, jam, peanut butter, plastic utensils, paper bowls and more. Then I only need to get fresh fruit, milk and yogurt when I arrive.

 

[BensDaddy]

Still not planning on renting a car, but did buy an inflatable booster seat on Amazon to bring just in case. 3 weeks to go..

 

[Malcon10t]

Wow! I would've figured it was impossible to spend that much at iHop! $30/person? Was there wine? Are you sure they didn't put a few other tables' tab on yours? I've had that happen before (elsewhere).

That IHOP is usually referred to as the most expensive IHOP in the nation. You go in thinking "cheap", and it is far from it. I prefer to head down to Mimi's.

 

[mouseymommy]

That IHOP is usually referred to as the most expensive IHOP in the nation. You go in thinking "cheap", and it is far from it. I prefer to head down to Mimi's.

That IHOP is ridiculous!! The o.j is over $8 a glass. We have made the mistake of eating there twice, and regretted it both times. The food was fine but it's cheaper and more fun to eat in the park!

 

[mouseymommy]

We always bring in water bottles and snacks for the kids. We freeze our Capri Suns so they are cold for the kids. Our favorite snacks are string cheese (kept cold with the frozen Capri Suns) fruit snacks, Cheeze It snack mix, and pretzels. We usually buy soda for my DH, but this time we will be bringing that with us as well. We also have a meal delivered to our room, and eat the leftovers for lunch one day. Our favorite place is El Pollo Nortenno. They have great carnitas, chicken, and carne asada. It comes with tortillas, salsa, pickled onions and peppers. It's gooood! There are a bunches of places listed with menus in a magazine that is left in hotel rooms.

 

[Rebekkap]

Do you know what amenities your room will have? Fridge, microwave?

We got stuck in a lower end hotel about 15 years ago and got really creative. We used one of those styrofoam coolers to keep our stuff cool (milk, etc) and got really creative with our coffee maker:

1. Used the coffee maker to boil water (just don't put coffee in it), then used this for ramen noodles (like I said, we were on a budget).

2. We cooked weiners in the coffee maker and had hot dogs ;-)

There's some tips for ya if you get really desperate like we were! Cheers.

You can also make a decent grilled cheese sandwich by wrapping the sandwich in baking paper and ironing it!