Trying to eat as cheaply as possible

[Twilight Sparkle]

We have never stayed at the Poly, but if their QS is anything like the Mara at AKL, then the meals are huge. Even if your son needs to eat all of his, you could eat half of yours and pack up the other half to go and store in the fridge in your room. That way you get another meal later, or your son gets a snack. Either way, the money stretches a little.

Epcot is a great place for sharing quick services. Yorkshire County Fish Shop serves nice, thick, large pieces of fish and a crazy large amount of fries. Both the fish and fries (I mean, chips) are really tasty. Tangierine Cafe has gi-normous platters of food, and it's really, really good. La Cantina de San Angel serves large meals, too. My husband had to help both me and our daughter finish ours. He was a stuffed, happy camper that day. So, even if you did buy two meals there, you might be fine with only part of yours, and your hungry boy could eat his and finish yours. Look around at what others have before you order since it's more difficult to take food home from the parks than it is from the resort QS. The bakery in France would be a fairly cheap option, too. They have a quiche that is large enough to share for two moderate eaters or one is large enough to stuff a growing boy, hopefully. You could also each get a soup and then split a full baguette. The soups are in the $4 range, and the baguette is about $2.50. Their sandwiches looked pretty big, too.

We still haven't tried QS at HS, so I can't help with that.

Flame Tree or Pizzafari at AK are good choices for lots of food at okay prices. The giant plate of BBQ at Flame Tree is about $20 but might be enough food to split. Depending on how much you eat, Eight Spoons or the cart with the falafels and hummus might be all you need. Their options are all snack priced items, but are pretty hearty snacks that work well for a light lunch.

The best bang for the buck in Magic Kingdom is probably the salmon plate at Columbia Harbour House. That is a seriously large amount of food, and it's good, filling, and relatively healthy. Should be enough to share. You could also do the QS BOG lunch, and you might be able to get away with one of the soups for your meal while your son eats an entree. Both soups are pretty filling. It would be nice if they were served with bread, but they are not.

We drive, so we usually pack snacks and breakfast items for the hotel room. We were so full from our meals this trip, though, that we barely touched that stuff. That should be good news for you guys because it means Disney portions are pretty huge. My DH is always hungry at home (hmmm . . . maybe I should ponder the why of that), but he stayed overly full all week at WDW. I did usually book either a late breakfast or early lunch that could cover us for the first two meals of the day, though, and then a dinner later on.

 

[jo-jo]

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.

Good list. I don't bring bread but do bring english muffins. We also bring about 1/2 of your list.

We have packed in suitcase a flat cooler bag like for a casserole. In the cooler I have a box with cheese, pepperoni, breakfast sandwiches ( like jimmy dean) brown and serve type sausage, butter and several water bottles, everything is frozen solid. At the last min, I throw in cream cheese ( I don't like that frozen). The extra clothes (or in my case a bathrobe) adds insulation for the cooler.

This is just for DH and I. I think I'd have to do an outside source if we had family with us.

 

[lauritagoddess]

So far this is what I was thinking of packing -

Granola bars
Cereal
Trail mix
Microwave popcorn
Miscellaneous snacks (will go shopping and see whatever is on sale and easy to pack)

My question is with items like bread, bagels, donuts. Would those get squished or messed up in luggage? Would a jar of peanut butter in carry on luggage be an issue in terms of TSA?

 

[joannamet]

For 2 adults and 1 child our total OOP spending is $100 per day and I consider that to be generous. That includes food, drinks and shopping. Most days we spend less so the extra carries over to days when we spend more for a couple of TS meals. You should start by deciding what you can afford for a daily budget and work backwards from there. You'll spend roughly $10-15 for a CS meal or $7 for a kid's meal so you could eat well at lunch and dinner for $40 - $60 per day.

I disagree with the folks who suggest the buffets. They're really expensive. You could get 2 or 3 CS meals for less than 1 buffet.

I suggest that you keep it simple. Pack simple things that you'll eat for breakfast and snacks. We take instant oatmeal and breakfast bars. Buy juice and milk at the resort if you like. Carry snacks into the parks. I take crackers and power bars along with refillable water bottles. Mio or other squirty flavorings are easy to carry and help with the taste of FL water. For my daughter and I we get 1 kid's meal and 1 adult meal and share them. Some CS locations have much better kids options than others so checking the menus in advance is a good idea.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

So far this is what I was thinking of packing -

Granola bars
Cereal
Trail mix
Microwave popcorn
Miscellaneous snacks (will go shopping and see whatever is on sale and easy to pack)

My question is with items like bread, bagels, donuts. Would those get squished or messed up in luggage? Would a jar of peanut butter in carry on luggage be an issue in terms of TSA?

Put the bread inside a shoe box.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Would a jar of peanut butter in carry on luggage be an issue in terms of TSA?

Oops. I meant checked luggage, not carry on.

 

[lauritagoddess]

Put the bread inside a shoe box.

Great idea!!

 

[TwoMisfits]

Is there a microwave in the room at the Poly (I know it has a minifridge) - that would open up a lot of extra packable meal options like soups, chilis, microwavable pastas, etc...

 

[tigergrad]

We always share meals. We have found that we spend more money "trying to save money" at less expensive table service places. We do not do any buffets. Most of the table service places have pretty large portions.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Is there a microwave in the room at the Poly (I know it has a minifridge) - that would open up a lot of extra packable meal options like soups, chilis, microwavable pastas, etc...

They are DVC, they all have microwaves.

 

[TwoMisfits]

They are DVC, they all have microwaves.

Ahh, somehow thought they were staying in a regular room - heck, then it's REALLY easy to eat no meals in the parks all week and not feel like you're "slumming"...and easier to "pack" most of it and then just pick up the milk/juice on site...

 

[china mom]

I have a plastic breadbox that holds about a loaf and a quarter or a loaf and a few pop-tarts so my bread does not get squished at all.

Peanut butter in your checked bag will almost guarantee a TSA search. It happens to me every time. But, I don't care. I pack it near the top so they can find it easily and identify it. They have never actually opened the jar but I do take a new/sealed jar each time so I would know if they did open it. Canned tuna has the same effect (don't forget can opener) but the tuna pouches seem to be fine.

Sorry, forgot to quote. This is in answer to earlier question from Lauritagoddess

 

[LSLS]

Depending on how long you are there, might be worth taking an Uber to a grocery store.

As far as best deals if you want to eat at the parks, I think Casey's Corner is a very good deal. Earl of Sandwich is usually a pretty darn good deal as well. The cinnamon rolls at the boardwalk bakery are huge, and usually a couple pizza slices there are huge for not too much. If I remember, the pork nachos at Capt. Cook's was a ton of food for not too much. Good luck, I know that can be tough.

 

[amberpi]

First, I do carry some food in my carry-on now or my purse to avoid hangriness, but otherwise, I know nothing about obtaining outside food at WDW. I have picked up Pop Chips at the airport on the way to WDW though due to a slight problem I had with them. It wasn't cheap and thankfully, I got help for the POP chip problem!

I find pretty much every restaurant to be an insane amount of food for a single meal, considering caloric consumption should, on average for an adult, be 2,000 calories, but a growing teenage I'm sure changes that paradigm pretty ding dang fast. Here are some places were the servings aren't just the usual huge, but off the charts insanely huge, which sounds like it'd help ya'll out.

Plaza - meals are very good, and absolutely huge.
Y&Y - the chicken fried rice has been mentioned; its a giant meal on its own.
Tangerine Cafe - huge portions in the platters, and you augment that if you wanted with an order of their french fries, which are also quite good.
Dole Whips are delicious and certainly shareable size wise.
Gaston's - cinnamon rolls, just sayin'.

Those refillable popcorn buckets would probably be a good deal if ya'll enjoy Disney popcorn.

 

[amberpi]

Oh - and Via Napoli! I can't believe I forgot that.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

If you have a fridge and microwave, just get groceries delivered to your room and you're all set. A teenager probably loves pizza pockets, easy mac, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc. You you even make quesadillas, canned soups, fish, baked poataoes, etc. in a microwave . I suggest maybe researching some microwave recipes that sound good and then try them out before your trip. Then just preorded and have the food delivered to your room.

Bring some snacks and waters into the park. Budget $10/day for snacks while in park.

Just make sure nobody's hungry. I would think a trip where you were constantly hungry would be miserable.

 

[robinb]

You're renting a DVC studio? You'll have a microwave and a toaster in addition to a coffeemaker and a fridge. I know you don't want to use Garden Grocer, but I think it's the key to eating as cheaply as possible. You can buy plenty of microwavable meals. Also, the Polynesian has gas BBQ grills available to people who are staying in the villas. You can make your own burgers and/or hot dogs. Heck, make more on the grill one night and refrigerate the the left overs to use in a meal the next day.

other ideas:
instant oatmeal
english muffins
cereal
instant mac n cheese
ziplock/glad 'disposable' bowls -- better for eating cereal and can be used to heat items in the microwave.
ziplock/glad quart and snack size bags to make your own snacks from bigger bags.
microwave popcorn

I've also heard of people freezing lunch meat and putting it in their bag frozen so it'll keep on the trip to Florida.

Remember, the Polynesian's Moana Mercantile will have more "real" food than a normal gift shop because of the villas so you may be able to pick up things there. Also, there are Speedway gas stations near Disney Springs and the Boardwalk that have beer and snacks.

 

[MrsHammer]

Something to remember in the parks is at quick service locations, water is free, so you can save some by not ordering a soft drink and get water instead. Also, most places will allow you to leave off a side item and only pay for the main entree. For example, if a burger comes with fries and is $10.00, you can just order the burger for around $8.00 and save $2 (my numbers are just examples). Also, at quick service locations, an adult can order kid's meals, which are typically cheaper.

 

[Lvsdisney]

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.

You can always purchase an Amazon GC with cash and then use it towards your Prime Pantry purchase. Just an idea! I usually see them at grocery and drug stores.

 

[Lvsdisney]

Another suggestion to add is check out the budget board. They have a few forums that discuss ways to earn money and save money for disney.
Easiest thing to do is get a Target Red Card (they have a debit card), and use it to purchase Disney GCs at 5% off.