Eating on a budget

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

As embarrassing as it is to admit I am a little worried about the cost of eating out at Disney and am looking for some tips. I have paid for 14 days at art of animation and my two daughters (11 and 8) are really looking forward to it and I don't want to ruin the holiday by letting them go hungry

I have read tips such as making the most of breakfast as it's cheaper, eating at QS rather than table service and asking for iced water for drinks, is this the best advice for us? Also if it's the case that we may need to eat all meals at QS does that mean that I don't need to worry about making any reservations at restaurants (just had an email saying I can now book as it is 60 days before we go)?

If it helps I was looking to take £1500 for 14 days for 2 adults and 2 children which would normally be enough for us for most holidays but I was looking at some food prices last night and it has scared me!

[Smilesonfaces]

Will you have a car ? If not you could maybe take an uber to Walmart to stock up on water, snacks, wine/beer if wanted. You could buy breakfast items for your room as this would be not only cheaper but will get you out on the parks quicker without wasting time eating. Would your daughters share a meal ? I have to admit we don't really share but I know a lot of others do. There are trip reports on eating for $100 a day but that is mainly off site. If you have a car you could go offsite to eat some days which is much cheaper.

Hope you have a fantastic time !
Last year as 3 adults and a 12 year old we had $150 a day for everything but we were in a villa we had a good mix of Disney table service and off site meals and we had more than enough.

[Guest]

No car no as we are staying on site but yes the girls would happily share and even my wife and I are used to sharing when it's a large meal, we prefer to eat several small meals a day rather than anything too big. Also we don't tend to drink alcohol so wouldn't be buying any wine or beer.

[Rosiew]

Don't be embarrassed our holiday for six is costing a small fortune. I don't want to be spending loads more on food. Advice I have seen is eat breakfast in room and try to avoid parks for meals. Eat in restaurants outside parks. Great advice on drinks I am trying to limit drinks to water in parks which is free and buying drinks with meals. Don't feel guilty about not having meals with characters think they are so expensive. You can meet them for free in the park. Stick to your guns you will have a great time.

[Nicki G]

I'm the same, not wanting to spend a fortune on food its expensive enough. I would definitely try and get to Walmart and stock up on snack type foods and even bottled water. I buy the large bottles and fill the girls water bottles from home as well as using the water fountains. Mine would prefer to eat large breakfast then small amounts through the day and a decent evening meal so hopefully will be OK. I am sure that your children will be fine and you will have a great time

[Bee happy]

I took plastic bowls/spoons for the room and kids had cereal before parks some mornings. You can buy lots of snacks in Walmart, bags of mini muffins,gold fish,pringles,pastries this should keep you going through most of day. Take an Uber and eat outside the parks, Bob Evans is one of our favourite places to eat and it's very cheap.

[Guest]

Absolutely no need to feel embarrassed about the cost of eating meals at Disney. It's a very harsh reality that food and drink prices are anything but cheap!

There's a lot of sites you can google about ' cheap eats at Disney ' ' best value food at Disney ' and similar headers...

As others have said ... maybe get an Uber to take you off site to stock up on drinks,snacks, cereals etc Have pizzas delivered to your room. Not sure which off site eateries are accessible easily by Uber? You'll eat at some places off site for about the same as a 20% tip would cost you in some Disney restaurants!


I'm sure you'll get lots of great tips, but don't stress about it... you're going there to enjoy yourselves!

[Lilyrose]

Eating is expensive, but there are plenty of ways to cut the costs. Take some cereals with you, the mini boxes are great for this. Cereal bars, your own tea an coffee and those mini squash bottles all travel well too.

Look into a trip to Walmart, maybe just you or the wife take one of the kids? Or else a garden grocer delivery is a good option, this is what we're using, the prices are inflated but we don't have a car so just appreciate it being delivered to the resort. We've used this for bottled water, some snack, fruit and beers (if you drink alcohol is expensive in Disney!). There is also a garage near by Disney Springs with food/snack options.

You could grab an UBER to crossroads at lake buena vista, there are a few cheaper restaurants there and the cost of an uber wouldn't be too much - sign up for some discount vouchers, I often get promos for sweet tomatoes which would feed a family for $30 in drinks in a buffet restaurant.

Order in, places like Dominoes will deliver to the resort, nice cheap easy meal (this is cheaper than ordering pizza in the UK!

Sharing meals, getting one or 2 meals and a few sides will easily feed the 4 of you. Also look at some of the snack options, there are a few that would easily be a meal for most, such as the fried rice or loaded fries in animal Kingdom or the jacket potatoes in MK.

It's also worth investing in a resort refillable mug, even if it's just for the girls, I think they are around $18 plus tax, but they can refill for the entire stay at any of the resort hotels (not the parks).

[duchy]

What do you eat for breakfast at home ? If it's cereal then pack a couple of boxes and get throwaway bowls and spoons from Poundland etc and get milk from the hotel shop. Instant saving and more budget freed up. You can use the "free breakfast" for lunch or dinner at a QS eating place either in the parks or resorts leaving one meal a day to be paid out of your budget.

For that one paid for meal and the QS have a plan for where in each park (or resort or Disney Springs) has the kind of food you like , also remember that for some using the QS credit for adult meals and paying for child meals for the kids frees up QS credits for another meal another day suits.

Drinks are a budget buster as if it's hot you need to stay hydrated but all the QS places will give you ice water even when not eating there. You can liven it up with squash concentrate bought before you go in squeezey bottles.

If you are more bottled water people it's worth jumping in an uber to a nearby supermarket for a slab of water bottles and maybe add fruit and snacks as of course they are much much cheaper than at Disney. You can get your first uber journey free with a code so the supermarket trip won't be expensive. (Obviously you could both have a code one to Walmart and one back but leaving the kids with one parent might save money if they don't see what goodies Walmart has to offer )

[Guest]

Stock up at Walmart when you arrive, have breakfast in your room and take a packed lunch in an insulated lunchbox with a frozen bottle of water in it (too keep the food cool) to the park and then go out for a cheapish dinner or order food in when you're finished for the day

We did this while we were away, as we found that we didn't get too hungry during the day because of how hot it was, and it allowed us choose whether to sit down and eat or to eat while queuing depending on how we were feeling.

We picked up the occassional pretzel/churro etc from the food stalls but would struggle to finish them because of the heat.

As for drinks, we stocked up on water and took a few bottles into the park each, we used the refillable cups at universal but I found myself filling it up with iced water so next time I will just be taking a 1L bubba keg to fill up throughout the day.