Taking own lunch into park

[mommy2emmersNmo]

I am wondering if you are allowed coolers inside the park and what if any restrictions as far as items that you can bring in. I am looking to take lunch with us for the 5 days we will be there. I was thinking that we could just leave lunch in the car and going out to the parking lot to eat. I am travelling with my mom, dad, dh, sister, my 2 dd's (5 & 18mos) and neice (5). The girls do well with sandwiches and fruit and veggies. Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[prestonsmomma]

I was just about to post this same question.

 

[CarolA]

Technically you are not allowed to bring food in. Now, that said, folks do it all the time and rent lockers at the front to store it in.

I don't think they let you bring in rolling coolers and I know they take away any glass or beer. LOL!

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

You can take pb&j, small bags of chips and soda in your backpack. They won't stop you. Just don't take up tables at resturants while you eat. Find a bench to sit on. You can also get free cups of water at most of the restaurants.

 

[brymolmom]

The most recent time was a year ago, so if anything's changed since then, I'm not aware. We have always brought a soft-sided cooler, not too big so that it's not a problem getting it into the lockers. If we bring our own stroller, we've just left it in the underneath basket. But we have also just rented a locker and thrown it in there, IMO this is a LOT easier than leaving it in your car. We bring water and drinks (some of the water frozen to carry with us after we are done with lunch), sandwiches and some snacks. THe security checkers have seen it all and let it through without any comments. So I would think if it's really not allowed, they're the ones to let us know.

We have brought cans but no bottles and never any alcohol. WHo needs it - we're on a Disney high!

The only reason we didn't do it again was because we got free dining on our most recent trip. But, we'll be bringing in our lunch next time for sure. No lines to wait in to get your food - you get your favorites - it's less expensive - you can find a nice shady spot near the lockers to sit and rest. We've always had great experiences bringing in our lunch. ANd then you can splurge a little more for dinner!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

We take our lunch. We got a "cooler" backpack. It worked great! The security check people never said a word about not taking in lunch. WE SAW a family with a big cooler on wheels. For me......that's just too much trouble! But we saw them with it so it must be allowed. We took in sandwiches and went over to Tom Sawyer's Island and ate. It was a perfect break to an eventful day!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

and I forgot to say -- that way, we got to have totally healthy lunches and avoided all things fried.

 

[we3disneygo]

we did this one time and then decided it wasn't worth the hassle, we just carried sandwiches frozen in our back pack.I have considered the cooler in the car when hopping from park to park you could eat on the way

 

[2angelsinheaven]

We always packed our own lunch/snacks/juice boxes when we went with little ones. Much easier. No one every asked, infact some of the guards said how smart we were, or can they have some...lol! It worked good, but a bit hassle to carry. I would never bring a large cooler, a soft sided one would be great though. Or just an insulated backpack or cheaper one you don't mind getting damp... BTW Target has their backpacks on sale 75 to 90% off... buy a few of those and use them to pack food in. Nothing is as nasty as when something spills, ewww...

 

[Trena]

It really is a big pain to go back out to the car. It takes longer than you think. Depending on the time of year, lunch time is HOT and the car will be too hot to sit in. Its not worth it unless you are planning to drive to another park at that time. If you want to pack a lunch, bring it into the park with you. Officially you are not allowed, but they let you anyway.

Trena

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My FIL used to do this with his family...leave the big ice chest in the car and go out and take a midday break. It really was no trouble at all (even though at the time I thought it was soooo lame ).

You can't bring big coolers in (like the ones that require technically two people to cary ).

But the wearable or portable ones you can.

 

[Princess Nancy]

As a side note....my kids never eat all their food and get sick of the nuggets etc. LAst time we went we took lunchables. Since they never have them at home, they thought it was a big treat. I froze them the night before, threw them in the backpack with little snacks and water and we were good by lunch!

 

[tammy/mom of two]

Snacks, drinks particullarlly(sp) water is great. Take some p&j, appples things that are easy to carry and hold up well. Freeze your water and it will keep your food cool longer. Please don't carry around a huge cooler, it would be miserable and someone would miss alot of the fun of walkin,talking and gaping at everything trying to haul a larger cooler. An idea for older kids, liet them be in charge of their own lunch,(carrying it). Also realize the more you bring into the parks the more security is going to have to check and some will hold you up once in a while.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

There are two different sets of rules.

In the four major parks you can bring in a "small, soft-side" cooler. You are not permitted to bring in any alcoholic beverages.

In the water parks any size and type of cooler is permitted. I work as a greeter at TL and we will allow in even the very large (about 2ft x 2ft x 4 ft on wheels). There are two prohibitions -- No alcoholic beverages and nothing in a glass container.

(In the last week at TL I personnaly had problems with three coolers. One the person had a Starbucks Frappachino (Sp?) which was in a glass bottle; they drank it on the spot and put the bottle in the trash at the entrance. Second was a large group with three roll-in coolers; they had sandwich making items including a large jar of pickle spears which one person took back out to the car. Thirs was a family with snacks which included a jar of salsa, which they chose to just throw away.)

 

[rayelias]

Technically you are not allowed to bring food in.

I had no idea! We do it all the time. Saves a BOAT-LOAD of money! Basically, we pack some sandwiches, small snacks (granola bars, etc.), fruit and several bottles of water & iced tea. No one's EVER said anything about it, so I had no idea it was not allowed!

 

[Rhonda]

They took down the signs that used to say no outside food allowed. They will allow you to bring in outside food now in small coolers. As others have said though, no huge coolers.

 

[MomOfMonkeys]

We went in May, to MGM and Magic Kingdom. We brought a soft-sided cooler and a backpack cooler. The guards even commented on the PB&J's. They said, "YUMMY, PB&J today!". We had plastic bottles with the individual drink mixes (I think they were Crystal Light). Needless to say, no one in the cafe's said anything about us sitting at tables, and we always rented a stroller, so no lugging a cooler. A good friend was with us too when we went, but they paid for all their meals, they paid a TON! We pack our tomatoes (sliced) and lettuce in small separate containers, so we can have them on sandwiches and not make them soggy before lunch. The kids never complain about our "sack lunches", and besides, you're having so much "DISNEY" fun, you never build your day around meals, you just eat along they way, HA HA.

We have been taking our meals in the parks for several years now, and I highly recommend it!

Julie in GA

 

[mrzrich]

Outside fodd IS allowed! So many people have food allergies and diet restrictions, that disney has pretty much stopped limiting what you can bring in (with the exception of glass bottles and alcohol)

We always pack a softsided cooler. We make home made "lunchables". I cut up lunch meat into square and pack some spreadable cheese (the kind in the dairy case in the plastic tub) I through a sleeve or two of crakers in my bag and we're all set. I freeze a few waters the night before and pack them in the cooler.

First thing we do at the park is get a locker the softsided coolers fit right in. There are plenty of counter service places to snag a table. But we are respectful, if the place is packed, we let the paying customers sit. We usually don't have a problem finding a spot. (MK-Upstairs at CHH, Epcot in the Land by Soarin', MGM-by RnR or the backlot)

 

[DawnM]

We have been taking food into the parks for a few years. Our kids are too big for strollers now, but I take a small umbrella stroller just to stick our backpack with food in it instead of renting the lockers! We leave it in a stroller parking area and noone ever touches it.

Anyone actually have any stories of backpacks being stolen from strollers? I would be curious to know.

Dawn