Trying to eat as cheaply as possible

[lauritagoddess]

I've had some unexpected financial problems and have gone on a huge fiscal fast. We already had a trip to WDW planned for this month and with everything already paid for it made no sense to cancel, I'd only lose money that way. So we're going, and will try to enjoy it to the fullest since it will be the last trip for quite awhile. The only major OOP expense I can see for the trip is going to be food. We're taking DME straight to WDW and won't have a car, so there's no opportunity to stop and pick up supplies. I'm going to try and pack in our suitcases some stuff like granola bars, and I'll probably pick up Entenmann's donuts from the resort store for breakfast in the room. We'll also have refillable water bottles and in the parks we'll get cups of ice water. But it's the lunch and dinner costs that I'm trying to keep down. I cancelled all of our ADRs except for Beaches and Cream where we'll just get sundaes anyway so that keeps costs down there. I've been trolling the menus on Allears to try and figure out the cheapest meals. Even if it's unhealthy, I could probably subsist on snacks in the parks, but I have a 14 year old son who's still growing and who can eat like a horse and he's going to need more than that.

What food/meals do you recommend to 1) eat cheaply, 2) get the best value, and 3) if possible largest amount of food for the money (see always hungry 14 year old above). This will be our 14th trip to WDW, but I've never really paid attention to costs before and was hoping to get some good advice.

TIA!

 

[china mom]

I can (as I say it proudly) do Disney with two kids for less than $30/day on food. And that is with a teen aged son who is a big eater. But, you have to plan it like a military operation.

We fly Southwest so bags are free. one of our suitcases is exclusively food and one of our carry on bags is a soft sided rolling cooler.

Packed bag: Loaf of bread, boxes of cereal, plastic bowls, peanut butter and jelly, tuna packets, mini donuts, poptarts, cans of pringles, apples, apple slicer or knife, ziplock bags, granola bars, nuts, cookies, random snacks. Mio water flavoring. I also take a small empty soft sided cooler.

Purchase half gallons of milk at resort.

Carry on: Lunch meat and slice cheese, yogurt sticks, cream cheese if I brought bagels in checked bag. Empty Quart sized ziplock bags.

After I go through airport security
I ask a food vendor to please fill two ziplock bags with ice and I put that in the cooler with the food.

Breakfast: Cereal, poptarts, donuts or bagels - in the room

Lunch: sandwhiches with pringles and cookies brought to the park in my little cooler - free Ice water with Mio flavoring.

Dinner: Alternate between $16 pizza at resort and approx. $45 CS meals.

I do splurge on refillable mugs for trips a week or longer but I only buy two (for the kids) and I drink water.

Now, with so many grocery options, I have given up my lunch meat cooler in favor of Amazon Prime delivery but I still pack dry goods because who wants to pay $4.50 for a box of cereal when I can get the same box on sale for $1.50.

 

[1983DisneyFanatic]

Are there 3 Disney adults or just you and the 14 year old? There are plenty of large quick service meals that you could share. We usually do the dining plan, but on our first visit to the food court, we realized it's too much food not to split quick service meals. If you are looking for ts recommendations, 2 adults can easily split the sampler at 50's prime time. The Plaza has some meals that are relatively inexpensive. Pack some bagels and/or pop tarts and use them to supplement one bounty platter to split. Sandwiches at Earl of Sanwich are delicious and reasonably priced if you are going to Disney Springs.

 

[lauritagoddess]

We fly Southwest so bags are free. one of our suitcases is exclusively food and one of our carry on bags is a soft sided rolling cooler.

Packed bag: Loaf of bread, boxes of cereal, plastic bowls, peanut butter and jelly, tuna packets, mini donuts, poptarts, cans of pringles, apples, apple slicer or knife, ziplock bags, granola bars, nuts, cookies, random snacks. Mio water flavoring. I also take a small empty soft sided cooler.

Purchase half gallons of milk at resort.

Carry on: Lunch meat and slice cheese, yogurt sticks, cream cheese if I brought bagels in checked bag. Empty Quart sized ziplock bags.

I hadn't planned on packing so much food, but I think I'll try and see if we can get as much snack/breakfast food packed as possible before we go. I can definitely find the space in one of our bags for it.

Are there 3 Disney adults or just you and the 14 year old? There are plenty of large quick service meals that you could share. We usually do the dining plan, but on our first visit to the food court, we realized it's too much food not to split quick service meals. If you are looking for ts recommendations, 2 adults can easily split the sampler at 50's prime time. The Plaza has some meals that are relatively inexpensive. Pack some bagels and/or pop tarts and use them to supplement one bounty platter to split. Sandwiches at Earl of Sanwich are delicious and reasonably priced if you are going to Disney Springs.

It's just my son and I. I don't think I'd have problem splitting a CS meal, but my son can easily eat a full one. Maybe though we could have some of the snacks I packed with us before the CS meal and then would be full enough to share a CS.

 

[Parker Clan]

Trails End buffet -- I believe you get bang for your buck here

 

[CraigInPA]

If you don't want to pack bread and peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches, you can buy these on-site at the larger stores in the DVC resorts (BLT, Ak, WL, BC, and the dedicated resorts like OKW, SSR, etc...). You might also find them in some of the regular Disney resorts. If you want to go further than that, you can order food for delivery to your hotel via Amazon.

 

[piccolopat]

It looks like you will be staying at the Poly this trip. Could you change your resort to one of the mods or values? If so, you might not have to worry so much about food and might even save some cash.

 

[smiths02]

Trails End buffet -- I believe you get bang for your buck here

If you do a buffet, make sure it has different pricing for breakfast, lunch, dinner and then choose the latest seating of breakfast or lunch so you are charged that price but you can really stretch it out a few meals. (We would do a snack for breakfast, park time, 10:30 breakfast seating and not be hungry at all until dinner)

Amazon Prime and Garden Grocer as others have mentioned are ways to have food delivered if you can't pack everything. If you are not picky or worried about health...things like Easy Mac, cup of noodles, etc. are easy to cook in a microwave and easy to travel with.

You could order pizza from offsite one night for dinner (leftovers could be breakfast/lunch the next day). You have to be careful and use the reputable places recommended on this board (don't use a flyer).

 

[lauritagoddess]

It looks like you will be staying at the Poly this trip. Could you change your resort to one of the mods or values? If so, you might not have to worry so much about food and might even save some cash.

We're actually staying on a rented DVC reservation that's already been paid for. If I changed it now, we'd just lose all the money that was already paid for the reservation. So unfortunately, no savings there.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Amazon Prime and Garden Grocer as others have mentioned are ways to have food delivered if you can't pack everything. If you are not picky or worried about health...things like Easy Mac, cup of noodles, etc. are easy to cook in a microwave and easy to travel with.

I used to always do a Garden Grocer order just for water and other beverages, but decided against that or an Amazon order because of trying not use any credit cards. I guess I could pay by debit card, but I'm not really comfortable with using the debit card online. I'm trying to pay cash for everything I can at this point.

 

[riddlemethis]

I've had some unexpected financial problems and have gone on a huge fiscal fast. We already had a trip to WDW planned for this month and with everything already paid for it made no sense to cancel, I'd only lose money that way. So we're going, and will try to enjoy it to the fullest since it will be the last trip for quite awhile. The only major OOP expense I can see for the trip is going to be food. We're taking DME straight to WDW and won't have a car, so there's no opportunity to stop and pick up supplies. I'm going to try and pack in our suitcases some stuff like granola bars, and I'll probably pick up Entenmann's donuts from the resort store for breakfast in the room. We'll also have refillable water bottles and in the parks we'll get cups of ice water. But it's the lunch and dinner costs that I'm trying to keep down. I cancelled all of our ADRs except for Beaches and Cream where we'll just get sundaes anyway so that keeps costs down there. I've been trolling the menus on Allears to try and figure out the cheapest meals. Even if it's unhealthy, I could probably subsist on snacks in the parks, but I have a 14 year old son who's still growing and who can eat like a horse and he's going to need more than that.

What food/meals do you recommend to 1) eat cheaply, 2) get the best value, and 3) if possible largest amount of food for the money (see always hungry 14 year old above). This will be our 14th trip to WDW, but I've never really paid attention to costs before and was hoping to get some good advice.

TIA!

Amazon has food delivery!! If you have a prime or pantry account you're good to go, and it's much cheaper than garden grocer!

 

[loves to dive]

Pack pop tarts and easy to pack breakfast foods, instant oatmeal is good because it's flat and you have a coffee maker in your room for hot water. For lunch even if he can eat a whole QS meal by himself, get both of you kid's meals, you can get yours without a side and that will save some money. Just about every TS meal I've ever had on site was shareable, my son is a big ole grown adult and we still share some. I've always traveled just me and my son, we drive down but it shouldn't be too hard to pack breakfast stuff. Take a big ole bag of trail mix in your carry on, that is your snacks in the parks and it's healthy. Freeze dried fruit travels well, it's not cheap but it is light weight and easy to pack and doesn't go bad. There is a gas station across from BW, easy walk and it has a lot of grocery stuff that is a little less than the DVC stores, getting it back to Poly might be a challenge but it can be done. Lots of the snack items can easily be a meal, chicken fried rice at Yak and Yeti QS at AK comes to mind, I can't even finish one and it's not expensive. Nachos at Mexico at Epcot is a pretty big serving, fish and chips at UK at Epcot is way too much for one person and easy to share. Pecos Bills at MK has a topping bar, get an order of nachos or a burrito and load it up with toppings and share. Flame tree at AK is also a good place for sharing.

 

[sharonabe]

Look for the QS that have a fixings bar to supplement whatever you order. I think Pecos Bill and Cosmic Rays in MK both have one. Restaurantasaurus in AK has one. EP and HS do not, that I can recall. At EP, Sunshine Seasons and Tangeriene Cafe have the largest meals, but I'm not sure they are shareable with a 14 yr old boy (I have one of those too). I would probably concentrate on finding things he likes that will fill him up and then choose cheaper options for myself. You should be able to eat two meals/day for $40 or less/day.

It's really none of our business, but if your DS knows the financial constraints and can focus on "who cares, we're at Disney!" then I think he will be able to help you spend less and still have a great time.

Edited to add: While there are several TS places where you can eat cheaply, don't forget to add in the tip to the total to be sure it really is as cheap as a QS.

 

[1983DisneyFanatic]

Maybe buy one adult and one child meal or one adult meal and a side like a soup and split that. The chicken nuggets kids meal is usually enough for me. Explain to your son that with your food budget, you will be sharing. Use it as a learning experience for your son to help you budget. Tell him to pick a meal for under a set amount. Pack snacks to supplement.

 

[piccolopat]

Turkey legs are huge and can be shared. Flame Tree BBQ in AK has very large combo plates. We also like Tangerine Café in Epcot (Morocco) and Columbia Harbor House (MK) and can often split a meal there especially if we add an extra side or desert. You might also consider bulking up your breakfast in the room with some string cheese, fruit and some of that Oscar Meyer microwavable bacon that doesn't need to be refrigerated.

 

[ErinsMommy]

You can always Uber to a Walmart or local grocery store to get supplies on the cheap.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Lots of the snack items can easily be a meal, chicken fried rice at Yak and Yeti QS at AK comes to mind, I can't even finish one and it's not expensive. Nachos at Mexico at Epcot is a pretty big serving, fish and chips at UK at Epcot is way too much for one person and easy to share. Pecos Bills at MK has a topping bar, get an order of nachos or a burrito and load it up with toppings and share. Flame tree at AK is also a good place for sharing.

Look for the QS that have a fixings bar to supplement whatever you order. I think Pecos Bill and Cosmic Rays in MK both have one. Restaurantasaurus in AK has one. EP and HS do not, that I can recall. At EP, Sunshine Seasons and Tangeriene Cafe have the largest meals, but I'm not sure they are shareable with a 14 yr old boy (I have one of those too). I would probably concentrate on finding things he likes that will fill him up and then choose cheaper options for myself. You should be able to eat two meals/day for $40 or less/day.

It's really none of our business, but if your DS knows the financial constraints and can focus on "who cares, we're at Disney!" then I think he will be able to help you spend less and still have a great time.

Places with fixings bars, good advice, we could definitely bulk up our meals there. And yes, my son does know about the financial constraints and I think will try and help as much as possible. He's really good with math too and can probably help me calculate the best deals.

Maybe buy one adult and one child meal or one adult meal and a side like a soup and split that. The chicken nuggets kids meal is usually enough for me. Explain to your son that with your food budget, you will be sharing. Use it as a learning experience for your son to help you budget. Tell him to pick a meal for under a set amount. Pack snacks to supplement.

I think I'd be fine with kids meals for myself. I don't think it would be enough food for him, but maybe if he also has snacks that we bring with us.

You can always Uber to a Walmart or local grocery store to get supplies on the cheap.

I didn't think of that, but good idea.

 

[BigThunderFamily]

We always pack or buy breakfast items like poptarts, cereal bars, bananas. For one thing, it's cost effective & for another it's a time saver! I hate wasting morning hours on trying to get food at a food court. I liked the idea of getting an Uber to got to a Walmart. The cost of food at the Disney Resorts can be pretty high.
We have also had trips in the past on a budget & have bought items for lunch and/or dinner. We had one meal out & the other meal in the room.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Blaze is good. And very cheap compared to the normal Disney food.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If the plan is to eat as cheaply as possible (like REALLY cheap), I wouldn't eat any meals out. I would both pack groceries and then buy a few perishable things and beverages when I got to Orlando (either Garden Grocer or Uber to Walmart). Since there are only 2 of you, you can make better use of the fridge to have enough food to last you your planned 6 days. I would pack (in my luggage) a small flexible cooler bag, paper plates, paper bowls, ziplocs, and plastic silverware (plus a real paring knife and plastic board). I would plan a "menu" for the week with extra snackage of proteins, fruits, and fats for your son. It would probably be repetitive (alternating days so you don't get sick of the foods), but you'd use everything up and not buy what you don't need. I'd plan something like...

Breakfast Day #1, #3, #5 - (Since you mentioned donuts) - Single donut, milk, piece of fruit, coffee
Breakfast Day #2, #4, #6 - Cheerios with sliced bananas and milk, juice, coffee
Lunch Day #1, #3, #5 (Taken to parks) - Peanut Butter and Apple Sandwich (or 2), Rice Krispie Treat, Bag of baby carrots, juice
Lunch Day #2, #4, #6 (Taken to parks) - Sliced Cheese and Crackers with pepperoni, Bag of Nuts, Piece of Fruit, ice water
Dinner Day #1, #3, #5 (Back in room late) - Chicken Salad Sandwich with Lettuce/Tomato, Chips and Salsa, Piece of Fruit
Dinner Day #2, #4, #6 (Back in room late) - Tuna Salad Sandwich with Lettuce/Tomato, Bag of baby carrots with hummus, Dessert

Once there, I would pick up everything needed - shelf-stable fruits - apples, bananas, clementines (whatever you like), lettuce/tomatoes (if you like them on sandwiches), 2 bags of baby carrots, a block of cheese with crackers, shelf-stable pepperoni, peanut butter, 2 loaves of bread (expecting son to eat 2 sandwiches of everything), a box or 2 of Cheerios, a box or 2 of Donuts, 2-3 pints of milk (so they fit in the fridge), sugar cubes (if you need it for coffee), coffee if you need it, a large container of nuts, a large bag of chips, a jar of salsa, a container of hummus, a box or 2 of rice krispie treats, juice boxes, chicken salad kits, and tuna salad kits and then your son's favorite shelf-stable snacks (jerky, chips, candy, etc)...

I wouldn't spend more than $10/day in the parks, enough to get each of you a substantive snack to tide you over to dinner...That would be $60 for the week and probably another $100 in groceries (or $150 or so if you need to get 2 of many things)...