Don't Eat in the parks/Take your own water

[Mark_E]

I must say the Popcorn is DIVINE!!! I ate so much. One day at Universal we bought the bucket where you got 70cent refills and it was all we ate all day (SOO unhealthy but so so so so beautifully good, we don't get popcorn like that ANYWHERE in the UK.)

 

[progroupie]

It really depends on budget and what your priorities are.
My family never ate in the park. We packed sandwiches and snacks and would go to IHOP or Waffle House on the way back to the hotel. Things like churros and ice cream or those "special" Disney treats were the exception. It just wasn't worth it to us and we didn't have the extra money to spend some years. The cost of food at Disney adds up quickly. Really just cutting out soft drinks at QSR meals would save a family of 5 over $100 during their trip. Which for some people isn't a big enough deal to worry about it but for others it is.
I enjoy character meals and certain treats in the park but other than that I still don't find much appeal in eating at Disney.

It isn't terribly inconvienant for some people to leave the park during the day. A lot of times families with young children return to the hotel for breaks and naps which would be a perfect time to grab a meal off property.

 

[sueuk]

We wouldn't ever go off site just for lunch - too much hassle - if you really didn't like the food at HS a quick ride to DTD would have been better. We always enjoy the food - either quick service or table service - in the parks and resorts. We DO go and buy cold drinks at Publix at the start of our holiday and take a couple of these with us each day. I'd rather have a pulled pork sandwich, fries and fixins bar at Pecos Bills sitting in the middle of MK than a steak at Ponderosa.

 

[WDWmazprty]

Right, we would never waste time leaving the park just to eat. We get the DDP and have no worries.

Water, we ask for ice from any of the vendors then fill them at the fountains. We may bring a couple water bottles also and fill them up throughout the day.

 

[njDizFan]

I definately understand trying to save some money, but half of my disney experience is the dining. I always have at least 1-2 table service meals per day at the parks/resorts. It's the third meal/snack/or beverage I will usually try to save money on. Whether that's packing a snack or a sandwhich lunch, or eating breakfast at a place like Ponderosa. I totally agree on bring frozen water though, that is a great way to save.

But totally giving up on Disney dining would completley ruin my trip.

 

[Lucky]

I agree with Ericka (everyone is different) and Monty (an hour and a half outside the park isn't worth it).

Averaged over the week-long vacation we're spending about $7 per hour per person for park tickets. We're not giving up $60 of park time to save a few bucks eating at Cracker Barrel or some other place we can go to anytime we want.

And the theme park food is part of the experience, like going to a baseball game. I wouldn't leave a baseball game for an hour to eat somewhere else. And the price and quality of counter service at WDW is better than at a ballpark.

But everyone is different, and every family that leaves to go to Cracker Barrel means shorter lines for the rest of us.

 

[DisneyGator]

We are AP holders and we go to WDW often (probably an average of once a month). There are some good meals for decent prices in the parks, but you have to know where to find them. One of our favorites is the counter service in Japan (the name of the place is slipping from my mind at the moment). For $10, you get a pretty good meal! We do that for dinner when we are in Epcot a lot. To be honest though, after a while of regular WDW visits, we realized how much money we were spending on food--lunch and dinner were usually $20-30 per meal, for counter service for 2 people. We started packing lunches a few months ago, and it has been a really good thing. We will get a sub from Wal Mart or Publix and bring it, along with some chips, and there is our lunch for around $5 for both of us! As a previous poster said, we get ice water for free at one of the counter service places and we just sit down there and eat our subs. We save a ton of money, and to tell you the truth, we are happier with that than what we could have gotten in the park. We get to eat healthy food that tastes good AND save about $20! You can't argue with that! That being said, we don't do it every single time, and there are still things that we like to eat at WDW. Cutting back has helped us though--that way we have a little more money to spend on other things at the parks and we don't feel so bad about it!!!

 

[loveofamouse]

I'm not a crackel barrel fan. In fact, IMO Denny's taste better and is cheaper and, often, kids eat free. Also, there's a restaurant called O'Charley's. They've got fall of the bone ribs and, at least in Jacksonville Fl, kids eat free every night.

As a kid, my parents made us leave the park for meals. Until, I kid you not, my brother and I sat them down and actually broke down the math for them for the money lost for the time to leave the parks. Now, we all eat in the parks. We find the cheaper places to eat and have ways of saving costs i.e. buying only 2 kids meals instead of 3 or 1 adult plate and splitting for the 3 kids (my 3 and 5yr olds are VERY light eaters). We do bring our own water and snacks, especially since we have the strollers to carry the heavier bags.

 

[minniemickeyfan]

We only did the pack lunches that one day, but next time (won't be for a few years) we will be doing it every day.

I can understand not wanting to leave the parks. I guess at Hollywood Studios it was partly because we wanted a good meal and since it was our last day we didn't want to have a big meal too late on the night. And at EPCOT a big storm was approaching so we decided it was better to have some time out.

Pack lunches are the way forward! American bread tastes so good!

Animal Kingdom I understand bringing your own lunch, there's not many good choices. Great places to picnic!
Extra tip: bring drink mixes-lemonade, iced tea, etc. made for bottle sizes. We add them to the ice water we ask for at the quick service places.

 

[Susan Savia]

We often eat lunch in the parks and even for the 3 of us it can cost $35 and thats just for some burgers and drinks. We rarely eat dinner in the parks. There are many nice places for much less outside. We don't need fancy meals, just good meals and so we like Olive Garden, Denny's, Ponderosa, etc. We don't leave the parks at all during the day to go eat. If we're hungry and we skipped lunch we might grab a snack some place mid day and then once we leave the park in the evening pick a place to go for dinner. Big savings.

 

[SCDisneyfanatic]

Personally, I've never worried about it. I'm in WDW, there are good food options available and the cost doesn't bother me. An hour and a half outside the parks isn't worth the savings to me. :shrug:

Well said...part of budgeting for the trip is food and beverage costs without the inconvenience of going outside the parks. We usually bring a back pack with homemade beef jerky, homemade trail mix, and a few bottles of water...eat a good breakfast before hitting the parks, munch on your snack food and then hit a nice restaurant (all the aprks have plenty of options) for dinner.

 

[ddbowdoin]

My biggest problem with WDW (in terms of food) is not the actual price, but the quality. People here have mentioned that when they are on vacation they don't want to cook or eat homemade snacks... I can understand that but at the same time I do not want to supplement this task with overpriced, poor quality food options.

I don't mind the random snack here and there... in fact, I love a fresh popped popcorn on Main Street, thats my thing. But to rely on WDW for a week of food... thats rough.

My last trip was spent off site, I know... shame shame. We rented a car and made it a #1 priority to get to the local Publix. We picked up a number of snacks, fresh bread and deli meats. My handmade (boars head) sandwich is better than any wrap at WDW... period.

I totally under having some ADR's for dinner... in fact I have my whole trip booked up for dinner but when it comes to snacks and drinks, bring them from home and save!

 

[Chef Mickey]

Honestly, I don't think all Disney's food is great, but I do think they have a huge variety for a decent price. Yes, it's expensive for what you get. However, limiting snacks, drinks, and frivolous stuff really cuts down the expense.

Cracker Barrel is utter crap, IMO. I'd rather eat at Cosmic Ray's. $20 for 2 people. I mean, it's just fries, chicken noodle soup, wraps, burgers, and maybe the baked chicken...but it's not bad. I like they at least have some options (wraps, baked chicken) that aren't pure grease and fried.

Disney has to move so much food that quality can't be the greatest at the quick service places, but they do a solid job. The sit down restaurants are generally very good from my experience. Sometimes, you're paying for character interaction, not food. To me, it's worth it.

Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine are good buffets.

 

[htfdwlfpack]

Do people realize how bad it it is for oyu to go out side the park to get a sandwhich before getting to WDW and carrying it around even in 80 degree weather for 4 hours. Unless people have a way of keeping it OUT of the danger temperature zone,by keeping it cool, your even in a small way making yourself sick.

That old expression" WOW XYZ ran right through me tonight" doesnt hold water. You had food poisoning simple as that.

Snack are one thing but sandwiches? I wouldnt risk it.

 

[todaytourism]

Personally, I've never worried about it. I'm in WDW, there are good food options available and the cost doesn't bother me. An hour and a half outside the parks isn't worth the savings to me. :shrug:

Me too, I don't worry about that...Maybe buying there is a part of my budget so no worries about that...Anyway, I didn't eat too much...

 

[Mikester71]

<snip>My personal favorite is a place called Sweet Tomatoes. It's a soup/salad buffet (better than it sounds) at the Crossroads plaza, which is at the end of Hotel Plaza Boulevard. Prices are very reasonable (less than $10/adult for dinner, less for lunch), and if you register on their web site they'll email you coupons, generally for BOGOF. <snip>

Very cool tip and suggestion...thanks for sharing! :wave:

EDIT: Just registered on their website and checked out their menu and this is a DEFINITE visit for us in March when we are down there! Thanks again!!

 

[sueuk]

My thoughts exactly....but I guess if you are from overseas, the most mundane U.S. restaurants are still kinda exotic. :shrug:

Exotic - no ... but interesting - yes, and when we're offsite we enjoy trying new restaurants; this year we want to try the Cheesecake Factory and Texas de Brazil (we've had them recommended).
However, we wouldn't leave the parks to go offsite for a meal; we've stayed onsite 4 times now and have rarely had a poor meal anywhere on WDW, especially signature dining. There's plenty of choice for even CS meals and the prices are no different to eating at tourist attractions in the UK. I'm already sorting my ADRs out for September .

 

[epcotWSC]

Unfortunately bringing water in the parks in the summer is a waste of time and effort. It gets hot so quickly that it just tastes gross.

I normally eat breakfast in the room on most days. Lunch and dinner I eat in the parks or resorts, I don't mind spending the money when I'm on vacation. Non-park days I'll eat lunch in the room sometimes. We normally go to Publix and get some cold cuts or something to eat in the room.

 

[tizzo]

Very cool tip and suggestion...thanks for sharing! :wave:

EDIT: Just registered on their website and checked out their menu and this is a DEFINITE visit for us in March when we are down there! Thanks again!!

Unfortunately the coupons have dried up a bit since I posted, maybe because the economy is picking up. Still you can usually get something off, and IMHO it's a good value even at full price.

Also, one nice thing about the store near WDW that I haven't seen elsewhere is that the drink cups are disposable, with lids available, so you can fill it up and take it with you when your done. (Drinks come with unlimited refills at every Sweet Tomatoes I've ever seen, but usually in plastic glasses that you can't take with you).

 

[tizzo]

Do people realize how bad it it is for oyu to go out side the park to get a sandwhich before getting to WDW and carrying it around even in 80 degree weather for 4 hours. Unless people have a way of keeping it OUT of the danger temperature zone,by keeping it cool, your even in a small way making yourself sick.

That old expression" WOW XYZ ran right through me tonight" doesnt hold water. You had food poisoning simple as that.

Snack are one thing but sandwiches? I wouldnt risk it.

...

Unfortunately bringing water in the parks in the summer is a waste of time and effort. It gets hot so quickly that it just tastes gross.

Check this out:

http://amzn.com/B000O8CWNG

This is just one example ("there are many like it, but this one is mine"), search "insulated backpack" for more. I didn't even realize such a thing existed until a couple of years ago when it occurred to me what a great idea it would be. I mentioned it to my wife and next thing I knew she had found it online and bought it for me for my birthday. I just got a new one as a Christmas gift, having used the first one until it was pretty well worn through.