Would I be waisting time

[tinksgilrs251520]

Hello all,
I have told my husband that I am on a mission to eat cheap at Disneyworld and since this is our first time camping and we have the use of a kitchen I was just wondering if I would be wasting time coming back to the campsite and making a quick meal instead of eating at the parks. I figured that I will totally not abandon eating counter service meals but limit them. I found a really neat dual tote bag with the bottom part a cooler big enough to fit wrap sandwich's in them and just bring chips and buy drinks at the park and of course have our Disney water bottles to fill with ice.... Just getting everyone's take. I usually do EMH in the evening so i know the parks stay open late so i am not rushed.

Thanks in advance

 

[bama_ed]

Hello all,
I have told my husband that I am on a mission to eat cheap at Disneyworld and since this is our first time camping and we have the use of a kitchen I was just wondering if I would be wasting time coming back to the campsite and making a quick meal instead of eating at the parks. I figured that I will totally not abandon eating counter service meals but limit them. I found a really neat dual tote bag with the bottom part a cooler big enough to fit wrap sandwich's in them and just bring chips and buy drinks at the park and of course have our Disney water bottles to fill with ice.... Just getting everyone's take. I usually do EMH in the evening so i know the parks stay open late so i am not rushed.

Thanks in advance

tinkgirls,

I am with you on this one. Unless DH is willing to spend BIG bucks for Disney's high end restaurants, most of their table service is average (and not worth the high prices). Counter service is over-priced but has a few bright spots. Food/dining is where a family can make/break the budget.

Tickets? You can save a few pennies but - check!
Room? The Fort is both the most relaxing and affordable option - check!
Food? The big difference maker!

I've never been a fan of the "come-back-to-the-Fort-to-eat-lunch" option. Even from the MK. We only do 2-3 days in the parks so we try to maximize our time in the parks. If we did the 4+ day park tix (and cough up an extra $600) it might not be an issue but we do the Disney trip on about $1500 incremental so that is a high extra proportion.

We pack a picnic meal into the parks (buy park drinks) and rent a locker at the entrance to stash it in then we eat one Counter or Table Service meal. So we might eat it for lunch then get a Counter for supper or eat at a Table for lunch (sometimes cheaper) then pull the packed meal for dinner.

My kids(!) are 15-20 so they eat like adults so with DW and me I am feeding 5 adults and this helps stretch the food budget.

Bama Ed

 

[tinksgilrs251520]

Thanks Bama Ed just wondering do the coolers keep the cool enough if we leave it for dinner? Vice versa for hot foods

 

[bama_ed]

Thanks Bama Ed just wondering do the coolers keep the cool enough if we leave it for dinner? Vice versa for hot foods

I think so.

We have mayo on some sandwiches. The times we have brought in drinks (in plastic bottles) we used the blue gel packs to keep things cool.

Most of our things were room temp items (pb&j) or even things that will last a few hours (meat sandwiches), a big bag of chips, little jello pudding or cinnamon applesauce (with plastic spoons of course), and Little Debbie Cakes.

If it's a lunch meal there's not an issue IMO. If it's a dinner meal I might shy away from anything that needs refridge (other than mayo). Last time the family came to the parks we packed big french loaf sandwiches for dinner with lots of meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes with mayo and mustard. They ate like horses and were full.

I wouldn't bring anthing sensitive to temps (shrimp cocktail for example, ) but by and large it will be good and safe. Of course, the bags/coolers are subject to inspection when entering the parks so no glass bottles (unless it's baby food) and no alchohol and no hard sided coolers. Otherwise it's good to go.

Spend the money you save on food on Fort-specific souvenirs.

Bama Ed

 

[thegoofyfamily]

I have a very strong opinion on counter service meals. They suck. Every single time we eat counter service, we feel horrible. Or get indigestion. Every time we go to MK, we pack sandwiches, a big bag of chips, bottled water and a big ziploc of pickles. We drink our water room temperature.....and I've never brought any of it in a cooler. We put it all in a backpack my husband carries. Turkey, cheese and mayo is perfect heated to a little above room temp.

None of the above applies when we go to Epcot. We bring nothing and eat from Canada to Mexico. And we drink a few too.

 

[sbnewhampshire1]

We also pack a lunch. Sandwiches and snacks. We freeze our bottles of water the night before and by lunch time it is defrosted. We don't use the lockers WE carry a backpack. Everyone TAKES A TURN CARRYING AND THIS WORKS OUT FINE also we pack chips and crackers.I SURE SAVES A LOT OF MONEY! Have fun

 

[2goofycampers]

I also freeze my bottles of water, it acts as the ice to in my cooler bag. 2 birds 1 stone kind of thing.

 

[stpetedisneydad]

We also pack a lunch. Sandwiches and snacks. We freeze our bottles of water the night before and by lunch time it is defrosted. We don't use the lockers WE carry a backpack. Everyone TAKES A TURN CARRYING AND THIS WORKS OUT FINE also we pack chips and crackers.I SURE SAVES A LOT OF MONEY! Have fun

We do the same thing. We're also a fan of the individual powdered drink packets to flavor the water. Several manufacturers make them but we just get the Walmart brand. They have a bunch of flavors to choose from and it saves having to buy sodas in the park which are pricey. Also, any counter service restaurant will give you a free cup of ice water if you ask, even if you don't order food. If by chance we do a counter service meal we will get the free water and add the flavored drink packets. If you don't have to buy 4 or 5 sodas every meal the savings add up quick.

 

[Goofy-dad]

No not a waste of time...although, I say bring drinks too! We bring the Coke bottles with the screw on tops, so you can use it longer than just lunch. Cans don't travel well once opened!

Figure a drink is almost $3.00 in the parks and for us with 5 people that is $15.00 just in soda!! YIKES! After 5 days of parks that $75.00 just for drinks. I can buy a LOT of 6-packs of soda for that price!

Good Luck!

 

[loislane]

This is what we wondered, too, about our upcoming trip, but after polling the kids, they agreed they'd rather go back to the camper to eat or bring sandwiches (we have a backpack cooler) to the parks most days and save money for experience-type things that will build memories. They want to ride in the balloon in DTD. My daughter wants to do a trail ride. We'll probably do pick-a-pearl for her. The youngest wants his hair cut while he's there. And I'd rather spend money on those things because honestly, I can eat a crappy hamburger anywhere. And while I am one to say a bad day of most things at Disney is better than a good day anywhere else, maybe that doesn't apply to the food.

We did free dining last two trips and we are seriously looking forward to having more variety and better food by making our own this trip!

Another thing we are considering - having a more substantial breakfast than normal in the morning at the camper, then just having a light snack mid-day. The kids like to head back around 3 or so for some swimming, so if they swam for an hour or two, we could have dinner on the early side and then head back into the parks.

Again, it's all still a moving target and we'll switch things around as needed while we are there, but we are just trying to stay flexible with it to make it work for us.

 

[N365PA]

We always did a big breakfast (only time my dad cooked.... ). Mosey on down to the dock and head out to the parks. I remember plenty of times we would come back to the Fort for a late dinner. Animal Kingdom day is a good day to do dinner back at the fort. Get up early to see the animals, do the park, back to the fort by 5-6pm, settle in at the campfire or go watch the fireworks over on the beach and back to the camper for some dessert!

Recently my wife and I (expert cheapo travellers as our airfare is usually in the $1000-1200 range pp, that'll eat up a budget!) will bring little koolaid or lemonade packets to mix in with the "disney water" ...I actually look forward to the crappy water, guess it means im at Disney....

 

[arielmomma]

We nearly eat all of our meals at the tent when we camp. We do easy things like sandwiches for lunch and I often make a crock pot meal for dinner. I've never felt like we missed out on anything by going back to the tent for meals. Actually, we tend to have more energy and feel better doing this than when we eat at restaurants every day.

Have a great trip!

 

[Nature Mom]

We do a mix of camp food and park/resort food. Almost always eat breakfast at camp, head to park and then do a decent lunch, usually a table service or a favorite counter service. Late afternoon, we head back to camp to rest, swim, etc. where I will either have stuff in the crockpot or easy stuff to throw on the grill while the kids have some downtime. After that, we are ready to head back to whatever park is open late or has EMH, fully recharged and ready to go. I like doing it this way because we want to eat out, but I don't want to pay the higher dinner prices, so lunch is always perfect for us and it gives me that guaranteed air conditioner break time in the middle of the day that we all need. I take some snack stuff with us in my backpack but since we aren't eating out as much I don't mind them getting a snack at the parks.

 

[sharadoc]

We do a mix of camp food and park/resort food. Almost always eat breakfast at camp, head to park and then do a decent lunch, usually a table service or a favorite counter service. Late afternoon, we head back to camp to rest, swim, etc. where I will either have stuff in the crockpot or easy stuff to throw on the grill while the kids have some downtime. After that, we are ready to head back to whatever park is open late or has EMH, fully recharged and ready to go. I like doing it this way because we want to eat out, but I don't want to pay the higher dinner prices, so lunch is always perfect for us and it gives me that guaranteed air conditioner break time in the middle of the day that we all need. I take some snack stuff with us in my backpack but since we aren't eating out as much I don't mind them getting a snack at the parks.

Yes, this! If you're going in the summer, it's best to go back to the room in the middle of the day when it's hottest. So either bring lunch and then go back, or just get to the parks at opening and go back to the room for lunch, relax, swim, cook dinner then go back out. We will eat all 3 meals at our cabin in the summer, or we'll do some snacks, quick kids meals or split adult meals like a chicken wrap in the parks. Eating full meals in the heat is never good! We'd rather stop and grab a churro, then an ice cream in an hour, or a funnel cake in another hour over an actual meal in a park.

Like a PP, we're more likely to get food at World Showcase over anywhere else. Good choices in lots of countries to split and snack on.