Eating on a Budget

[Ali'sAngel]

Hi there,

Next week my DH and I will be at Disney - as we are staying for 16 days we are going to have to eat on a budget at least some of the time.

As I'm from the UK I'm not an AP holder and I don't have a Disney Visa so can't get any discounts that are available that way.

Having been to Florida before we know all about Dennys and Perkins for cheap meals, but I wondered whether you could suggest the cheaper options for dining in the Parks and at the Resorts.

Thanks for your help!

Angel x ;)

[Jellyrolls]

The Plaza Restaurant was surprisingly affordable for a sit down meal. They have great sandwiches there.

Fort Wilderness has a pretty good breakfast/lunch/dinner buffet at Trail's End that is reasonably priced with good food.

Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney has really great sandwiches for about $5, and sides of tomato soup, salad, or potato salad for $1 more. I think this is one of the best bargains on Disney property.

[Snickerdoodlesmommy]

Earl of Sandwich is a great deal. If you are wanting to go to places on property that are reasonable, the American Pavillion over at EPCOT has reasonable prices for meals.
Really and walk up place at the parks are fairly reasonable. Of course, you will find the best deals at restaurants off property.
Right outside of Downtown Disney on SR535 there are several chain restaurants like Chilis and Fridays as well as Chik Filet and Wendys that you can find good food at a decent price.

[Mickey4Us]

Not that any food inside the parks is cheap but we always like Cosmic Rays in the Magic Kingdom (some of their chicken/rib meals are large enough to share) and The Land in Epcot. As for the resorts, I am not sure where you are staying but most of the moderate resorts have food courts which are usually a little cheaper. The deluxe hotels don't have these (major bummer) but the Dolphin has Tubbi's (currently being refurbished) and the Beach club now has a small snack shop in the gift store. You could also stop at a grocery store and purchase some items for breakfast in your room or to bring into the park for snacks. During our last visit, we saw a family having a picnic lunch from home in the Animal Kingdom. Lockers are available if you don't want to carry things around all day. Another idea, try a late morning or early evening buffet and have it serve as 2 meals.

[Linda S]

When we went a few years ago one day that actually ended up being one of our least expensive was a big breakfast around 9:30 - then just a snack at lunch time, and then a counter service at dinner time.

The other thing is to eat dinner before the actual dinner hour - late lunches are usually less expensive.

We saved a lot by doing a grocery stop and picking up a case of bottled water and some snacks to have in the park.

[LuvmeDisney]

Our family always saves a lot by eating the late lunches as well, then just whipping up a few sandwiches or whatever later in the day. The lunch prices are good, and it fills you up quite nicely.

[Rosebud]

Earl of Sandwich - good sized sandwhices for $4.95

Late lunch at sit down places.

Eat breakfast in our room that we brought.

Bring in snacks and sometimes meals into the parks.

When I get a burger (which isn't often), I order without the fries. They are all listed with fries but you can get without and it is a little cheaper. I really don't care for the fries and would rather save that money to put towards a treat later.

Also, the burgers at many of the places (at least MK) have a fixings bar and many people actually make small side salads - not what it is meant for, but people do it.

You can also order a double burger with an extra bun - saves on the price of two burgers.

Many of the sit down meals are also quite large, so we often split a meal. We leave pleasantly satisfied and a few hours later have room for a dessert. Cost less than two meals and is more satisfying.

At Cosmic Rays they have a rotisserie chicken meal (or they did) - it is meant for more than 2, but even just 2 sharing it is a good deal.

[Robin]

Keep an eye out as to what time the restaurants start serving dinner. I believe the last time I checked, many (in the MK) were closed at 3pm as they switched over to dinner starting at 4pm.

I find any counter service restaurant (Tuskers - AK, food courts) that serve the 1/2 roast chicken, gives you an 'sit down' size portion. The only place I haven't ordered it is Cosmic Ray's because I don't like the carrots they serve as the vege. Blech!

Don't forget to sign up for the Ghirardelli discount coupon!
http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/ghrdl/lp/join/join.htm
(Say you live close, we won't tell!) :peri:

Will you have a car? If so, be sure to pick up water, snacks off site, that you can bring into the parks.

For me one of the biggest wastes of money, is getting a 'cup' of soda with my meal. I rarely finish it and end up throwing away whatever I haven't finished, because you can't take an open cup into an attraction. With bottled soda or water, you can close the top and bring it in with you.

[Carrie]

This isn't meal related, but I noticed you were at WDW for 16 days and don't have an AP. Did you buy your park tickets yet? If you were going into the park that many days, an AP would surely be cheaper than regular park tickets.

[Ali'sAngel]

Thanks for all of your suggestions - much appreciated. Will definitely be trying out the Earl of Sandwich.

In answer to Carrie's query on ticket cost. As we are from the UK we are able to buy a special 14 or 21 day ticket if you are staying at a Disney property which gives you unlimited access to all the Parks for your stay and expires at the end of the period it covers from your first day of use. This ticket for 21 days came to £170 (about $300) so still works out cheaper than an AP, which we don't seem to be able to purchase here in the UK anyway!

[Bookwood]

Meal sharing is the biggest saver for us! I always try to share at a sitdown meal with someone- they serve more food than is healthy and I sure don't need it!

[Stinkerbelle]

If you have a car and your hotel has a fridge, take advantage of that. Last trip I was able to stop at the grocery and get fruit, cheese, crackers, bottled water and some beer to keep in the fridge. I bought them primarily for snacking after the park closed, but ended up having cheese and fruit for breakfast a few times and it held me until it was time for a late lunch. Anytime you can save $$ on having breakfast in the room that leaves more $$ for other meals.

Take advantage of the double hamburger with an extra bun feature. We've done it before and with the add ons from the fixin's bar it was more than enough for both of us.

If you like them, the giant turkey legs are reasonable in price. I can't eat a whole one so I eat 1/2 of one and my BF eats his + the other half of mine. There are carts that sell whole pieces and slices of fruit or cups of grapes. A turkey leg and some fruit makes a pretty decent and protien packed lunch.

As everyone else has said, the best dining bargain has to be Earl Of Sandwhich. Not only are the prices reasonable, the food is very tasty too. If you are not a sandwhich eater, they also have soups and salads. Yum!

I am not sure of the prices, but often when we are in Epcot my boyfried will get 2 sausages from the outdoor cart in Germany and eat those with a cold beer for lunch if we know we are going to have a big dinner.

[SusanP]

Have you checked out the menus here? http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

We rarely do sit-downs (usually only when Gramps is paying!) so always choose counter service. Perhaps if you scoped out the choices you can find something interesting that fits your budget. There is certainly more choice than a burger and fries!

An easy, but BIG savings is to not order drinks in the parks. We carry our water bottles. Just a round of pop for the four of us is close to $10 per meal so that savings really adds up. The kids know not to even ask. No need for all that sugar anyhow!

[Carrie]

I quit drinking pop a little over 2 years ago. Now I drink mostly water and unsweetened iced tea. So when I'm at WDW, I take water into the parks and that cuts a lot of $ out. I've done Chef Mickeys on every visit so that's my big splurge. The rest of the meals are usually counter service, or I order kids meals or split something big.

[smallworld0]

Just my .02 cents worth. We've found through the years that a lot of the counter meals give you, well, a lot of food. Now DH and I just share a meal, sometimes enabling us to add - YUM! - dessert. Or, we save with the meal and add dessert somewhere else as our snack later on.

Nancy :mickeyXmas:

[Lady]

Head over to the Eats and Treats room - there's a post in there about dining at Disney for $25.00 and under per day - you can get a few good tips from that thread I'm sure : )

Enjoy - Shell