Tips for budget Dining at WDW-no dining plan

[Sandy321]

Honestly - I think Disney has closen up a lot of the "loopholes" we used to find to really share, and save - as a pp poster said about the chicken rib combo - when we went in 2008 it was a HUGE portion of ribs and chicken!

we'll get a dbl cheeseburger and cut it in half - share the fries, and we'll also get a large soda no ice, and share that. (you could get a glass of ice free - but the soda is cold, so if I need a caffeine fix - this is what we do)

or stick to water - at the CS places it is filtered water.

With the heat and humidity, sometimes, its just too hot to be that hungry, but we'll also get a snack, maybe popcorn and split that as well.

as PP state, Epcot is the best for CS places - start at Sunshine Seasonings, they have good sides, and hot mains that for us, we split... but splurge on the desserts there! Someone posted on the Restaurant board that at the Italian sit down they split an individual pizza and ordered a side salad, had water and it came to $36 and they posted pictures showing it was a large pizza, but in the Italian style (not much cheese or sauce)

Changes are happening, reading on the restaurant board I saw the new menu for the CS place in Japan, I think the prices are around $10 - $13, sodas are $2.59 or $2.89 The Dining Plan also will change Jan 2012 - $54 a day, for the 1 CS, 1TS a day - the QD plan is only 1 snack in 2012 - so we're going OOP this time!

I'm also ordering from Wegoshop - they will shop from a store of my choosing (I go with Publix, and check out their weekly ad to start my list - and email it in, and then I update it a week before we leave) There is a charge for delivery, as well as a tip - but we get adult beverages this way - cant ship those. The price of beer is about $7 - so ordering a 12 pak (1 a day) is a huge savings. I'll also order water too this way. I'll probably bring my breakfast items, but since we'll be in a studio with a microwave, I may order some frozen breakfast sandwiches!

 

[walkdmc]

We usually have a car at WDW and like to go to DTD for many meals. We really like Earl of Sandwich or Wolg Gang Puck Express and spend less than $50 for 4 of us at those places.

In the parks, I'd just look for quick service places
AK: Flame Tree BBQ
MK: Pecos Bill or Columbia Harbor House
DHS: We've eaten at open cafeteria area near the Backlot Tour and it was the usual chicken nugget fare. There are other places to grab a quick bite on Sunset Blvd. and Starring Rolls has some quick foods.
Epcot: This is probably the easiest since there are several quick service places here. England, France, Mexico and America have good quick/cheap(er) places to eat. I recently read Japan has one or is planning on opening one soon. My all-time favorite is the French Bistro in France, LOL. OMG, they have quiche, ham and cheese croissants, a Napoleon dessert to-die-for....it's the best quick service food I've ever eaten.

 

[lovehoney]

Great suggestions. Thanks!

 

[bas71873]

For those of you that eat breakfast in your rooms and do NOT have a car (we are flying), do you order from garden grocer or some place like that. I'm kinda leaning toward ordering some milk, cereal & pop tarts for our trip next August and then just winging the rest of our meals.

 

[tinkmom2]

Our first trip to WDW we didn't have the dining plan but did buy a few vouchers for meals on ebay. We spent about $1000.00 on food that trip. Since then we haven't gone with without the dining plan. Now I try to schedule our trips during free dining.

Our trip in October we did order from Garden Grocer so we did eat some breakfasts and had PB and J's and sodas in our room and some water which we also took on the Dream. We didn't have free dining on this trip and had one QS and one TS a day. We like to try new restaurants every time we go and our meals were $150-$200.00 for dinners. We had Cape May, CRT, Sci-Fy, and a bunch of others. Even WPE would have cost us $75 OOP.

Character meals are what can really break you if you are paying out of pocket. If you have younger ones I can see sharing a meal. My oldest is 12 she pays adult prices and is a vegetarian and therefore doesn't share.

So if you want to plan out everything you are going to eat you can do it on a budget but we go to not have to worry about money and to get away.

 

[tinkmom2]

For those of you that eat breakfast in your rooms and do NOT have a car (we are flying), do you order from garden grocer or some place like that. I'm kinda leaning toward ordering some milk, cereal & pop tarts for our trip next August and then just winging the rest of our meals.

Garden Grocer was great. I purchased Pop tarts, Oat meal(I made in the coffee cups and with water from the coffee pot), soda, juice, cereal, some chips, PB and J, and some Smirnoff Ice. (They wanted $15.00 for a 6 pk of beer at the resort) There was milk at our resort and that was economically priced. Gardern Grocer even offered to deliver 10 more items for free if we needed it.

 

[bas71873]

Garden Grocer was great. I purchased Pop tarts, Oat meal(I made in the coffee cups and with water from the coffee pot), soda, juice, cereal, some chips, PB and J, and some Smirnoff Ice. (They wanted $15.00 for a 6 pk of beer at the resort) There was milk at our resort and that was economically priced. Gardern Grocer even offered to deliver 10 more items for free if we needed it.

Thanks. I might do some breakfast items. We've done the dining plan, both the regular and the QS and it's just too much food and WAY too many drinks. DD isn't in to the characters anymore, so doing those meals is not a priority anymore and going in late August and knowing my familly, we just aren't big eaters when it's that hot. For us, 2 adults and 1 child, we are better off with the great rooom discount over free dining and while we will plan a TS meal or two, we like to just wing it and eat when we want to eat and not be tied to reservations. Thanks for the tips on garden grocer (and knowing I don't need to get my milk from there is a plus too. Can I get 1% at the resort or do they only stock whole?)

 

[Marionnette]

A lot of people have mentioned sharing meals but lately it seems as if the generous portions are no longer quite enough for two adults. It might be possible for two kids to share an adult meal or for an adult and a child to split a platter but even then, it can be a stretch. And who wants to eat out for an entire week but have their dining choice dictated by what someone else wants?

My advice is that everything that is part of a platter or combo meal can also be ordered just by itself. So if you want the veggie burger but not the fries or chips, just ask to order the burger.

Bring a filtered water bottle like the Brita bottle and use that instead of standing in line at the counter service place just to get water. You can fill it with ice from the machine at your hotel before you leave for the day and just let it melt or add water from the drinking fountain as you go.

Granola bars can be a great snack to keep you going between meals and they pack in your bag quite well. Just avoid the chocolate chip ones or any that are coated. They melt easily.

If you really want to go for the super-cheap dining, pack a soft sided cooler with sandwiches and fruit. Stow it in your stroller or rent a locker at the front of the park to keep it in. Wegoshop and GardenGrocer both shop and deliver to the Disney resorts and they can pick up all the fixings you need. Although to be honest, I would be very tempted to ditch the sandwich once I smelled the BBQ at Flame Tree!

 

[Pembo]

We've always found meals at WDW to be big enough to share. I'd rather buy one meal to split and need to get more food than to buy 2 and throw some away.

We eat breakfast in the room. (We are cereal people). I usually buy bread and jelly too for occasional lunches or snacks in the room too. We carry snacks with us in our bag for the park..granola bars, poptarts, tootsie pops
We always bring in our own water bottles too.

On our last trip I carried a Disney gc to use for meals. It was very convenient, no cash to worry about and no bill at the end of the trip.

I have spent a lot of time reading menus online so I have a good idea of where to go, what my family will eat, and how much to budget. I've used colored index cards to list the location and name of different places. I typically use one color per park. Now we've been there so much that I don't need to do that anymore but it came in handy in the early years.

 

[MapleGirl]

Here are my suggestions:

Have something for breakfast that has a mix of fat, protein and carbohydrates. An egg sandwich is great. This will give you energy and keep you full for longer than pure carbs.

You can get Restaurant.com vouchers for the Swan and Dolphin restaurants online. Wait until they are on sale and you can get them 80% off.

I heard (a while ago - not sure if it is still true) that the Yak and Yeti in AK serves a side of fried rice a la carte that is big enough for a meal.

 

[rvchat]

Here are my suggestions:

Have something for breakfast that has a mix of fat, protein and carbohydrates. An egg sandwich is great. This will give you energy and keep you full for longer than pure carbs.

You can get Restaurant.com vouchers for the Swan and Dolphin restaurants online. Wait until they are on sale and you can get them 80% off.

I heard (a while ago - not sure if it is still true) that the Yak and Yeti in AK serves a side of fried rice a la carte that is big enough for a meal.

Buy entenmann's or another type of baked muffins. Even bagels with jam. Butter if you have fridge.