Any way to cut costs on meals @ WDW

[akayek31]

Oh I forgot one. I have been doing surveys through e-rewards and I get Best Buy gift cards there too. Also change in the jug for tolls and if I stay long enough to have to wash clothes.

 

[kathy884]

I'm a big fan of brown bagging it in the parks. I know it's not for everyone but it suits the way I prefer to eat and the savings are huge.

This if you are serious about saving money is IMHO the way to go. Stop at the grocery store and bring in your own sandwiches, fruit, and drink (juice boxes, tap water in hiking water bottles). I have a cooler back pack that makes it easy to carry this stuff around. And if anyone in your party is in a stroller or an ECV, a soft sided cooler can be used and stored in the carrying compartments. We did a budget trip with a party of 10 and had a soft sided cooler in an ECV and my cooler backpack. We made 15 sandwiches, brought in blueberries, granola bars, cheese crackers, juice boxes, two can of diet coke, and some water bottles, and saved a lot on the day we did the Magic Kingdom for example. We always too have a big breakfast at our condo that includes some protein before hitting rope drop. // Some people get lockers, but we prefer to have our food with us.

Do note, that for most of my trips these days it's just me and DS. And on these little mini trips I'm not on a tight budget or trying to save $s, so I don't bother with this. Also, both of us are not big eaters either -- we sometimes split a kids meal, etc. In these circumstances, I don't bother with the brown bagging.

 

[RangerPooh]

We are a family of 6 and instead of buying 4 kids meals, we buy 2 adult meals for 4 kids to share. Then DH and I also share a meal. Toppings bars are great if you have kiddos that like things like pickles and tomatoes. My boys get excited over those, lol. I also ask for water instead of soda. If we bring a bag into the park I'll out things like fruit snacks or granola bars inside. We eat breakfast in the room, usually cereal or oatmeal, occasionally pop tarts (something we don't eat at home). Some nights we have dinner in the room, but we stay off site in a villa.

 

[BLAZEY]

DH & I shared almost all our meals. We would order a counter service meal and a Kids meal for dd. The adult meals are huge! Actually its not just Disney, but almost all the meals in the US the portion sizes were too big to eat in one sitting. We also ate breakfast in the room. Cereal and muffins from home, or an Airmiles reward starbuck card was used to buy something the night before on our way out for breakfast the next morning.

 

[Coonhound]

Whatever you do do not abandon filtered water. Drinking the local water is not good. Many people cannot drink local water and end up with diarrhea. Not Florida water specifically, but rather any water in a different locality your body hasn't become accustomed to.

 

[sherry7]

I made my kids carry a bag with their water. The only one that complained was my 7 yo so my dh carried hers most of the time. I need to find a lanyard so they can carry their water that way/cross cross a toss their body.

They sell super cute water bottle lanyards at many of the drink kiosks at Disney World for about $4 or so. We still have ours from our first trip in 2001 but I saw them there last winter as well.

 

[monorailsilver]

They sell super cute water bottle lanyards at many of the drink kiosks at Disney World for about $4 or so. We still have ours from our first trip in 2001 but I saw them there last winter as well.

I will have to look around. My girls and myself will carry a bag and my dh a back pack and my son has a bag too but I was thinking of no bags but I have a camera and we all will have a phone and portable chargers.

And we have the double insulated aka heavy thermos containers since they keep the water cold.

 

[sherry7]

I will have to look around. My girls and myself will carry a bag and my dh a back pack and my son has a bag too but I was thinking of no bags but I have a camera and we all will have a phone and portable chargers.

And we have the double insulated aka heavy thermos containers since they keep the water cold.

Here's a pic of the lanyards they sell. Each park has a different design I believe. We have Thermos bottles too, and keep them in the stroller most of the time.

 

[sherry7]

Oh good grief...the pic won't work. If you google Disney World water bottle holder, you can see them though.

 

[monorailsilver]

Screen shot it and then insert it.

I did a search. There were a few that came up.

I saw the neoprene ones on a,axon a few years ago and almost bought them but someone said they stretched out after a while and I can't recall if they would,hold our bottles.

My kids have these:



DH and I have this:


They are both 24 oz bottles and kept our water ice cold even in FL summer temps.

 

[havaneselover]

Screen shot it and then insert it.

I did a search. There were a few that came up.

I saw the neoprene ones on a,axon a few years ago and almost bought them but someone said they stretched out after a while and I can't recall if they would,hold our bottles.

My kids have these:

View attachment 181578

DH and I have this:
View attachment 181579

They are both 24 oz bottles and kept our water ice cold even in FL summer temps.

I use the 18 oz thermos water bottles. They are great and last forever. Stays cold for a very long time.

 

[monorailsilver]

I use the 18 oz thermos water bottles. They are great and last forever. Stays cold for a very long time.

My kids have dents galore, each one. Different spot and boy do they let me know if they got the wrong water bottle for the day.

I bought extra rubber things for them too.

 

[rosiebean]

As everyone has said, we bring our own food (or have it delivered) so that we can have breakfast, snack, and light meal (sandwich) makings in our room. We split restaurant and QS meals frequently, or buy a kid's meal. Often, when eating TS, instead of an entree, I'll have an appetizer and salad, or share an appetizer/entree with a family member. We carry water into the parks and don't get sodas (though an occasional beer isn't out of the question). We carry snacks into the parks as well. We usually have one 'big' meal planned per day, either a TS or QS meal...otherwise, we eat in our room, eat snacks we carry with us, or split a QS meal or snack among several of us if we get peckish before our 'big' meal is scheduled to begin.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

For all of the Starbucks fans who chimed in; the Disney Springs Starbucks location sells light meals beginning late afternoon/early evening. Items like flatbreads, salads, etc. They're also selling wine & beer during that time frame. Makes for an inexpensive dinner for sure!

 

[book_junkie]

Just an FYI, it's not just CS that will give you free water. Any kiosk place that sells fountain drinks will give you cups of ice water. Look for the pastry stands or popcorn stands without bottled soda signs, or permanent food places that sell unique things like Sunshine Tree Terace. Ice water galore and less wait than a big CS a lot of times.

 

[ehlander]

We had an Amazon Prime Pantry box shipped to our room ahead of time with breakfast items, drinks and snacks. You could get more elaborate than we did and even have peanut butter, jelly, microwavable mac and cheese and other meal items delivered. This would save a lot of money over eating in the parks.

When did you send the pkg down exactly? Do you just get it when you check in? Also, did you look at that Garden Grocer, and if so, what made you pick Amazon instead? Thanks!

 

[ehlander]

Kids meals

Skip the sides

Don't get soda, it will dehydrate you anyways.

Plan ahead. You can find menus with prices online and plot them out on the maps.

Bring snacks into the parks to cut down on any impulse buys/can't wait a minute longer starvation situations.

If practical, bring/get food delivered to your room. IE I packed microwave meals like easy mac and barilla meals and nuked em in the food court when I got back to the resort at night. I flew southwest and didn't even bring my free second suitcase, so it saved a lot. Buying in MI where prices and tax are lower too helped as opposed to picking up in Orlando (not that I had a car). I supplemented throughout the day with extra snacking (fruit snacks, wheat thins) to stretch out the time between meals.

I love breakfast sandwiches, and have had a starbucks card for *mumble* years, and never have "fancy" breakfasts at home, so that was the big treat for me. There are easy ways to earn giftcards online, check out the swagbucks thread on this board. Essentially free food.

Do all resorts have a microwave for people to use?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

When did you send the pkg down exactly? Do you just get it when you check in? Also, did you look at that Garden Grocer, and if so, what made you pick Amazon instead? Thanks!

We had it sent down via Amazon Pantry about 1 week ahead (Friday, maybe), to make sure that it arrived on time. It got there on a Tuesday and we checked in on Thursday. They brought the box right to our room for us after checking in, which I didn't expect, but was so nice. Something to note, some of the hotels that have convention centers charge an extra fee for receiving guest packages. We stayed at Polynesian and did not get charged anything extra.

I looked at the Garden Grocer, but decided that it was cheaper and more convenient to get items through Amazon. We didn't really need any fresh or refrigerated items. We got lots of drinks (water, orange juice, coconut water, coffee beans and tea bags), breakfast bars and snacks (pretzels, mini pringle boxes). We ate breakfast in the room and took snacks into the parks with us. We ate lunch and dinner in the parks.

 

[jenniy122]

Do all resorts have a microwave for people to use?

Not sure, but if you look on the resorts board, every hotel has a thread, and in the first few posts someone will have mentioned if/where it is.

 

[TexasPrincess1]

My advice is to read the menus for the restaurants you are interested in ahead of time to get a feel for what you will order and the prices of the food.

Also, I found Beaches and Cream yum, cute, and relatively inexpensive compared to some of the other sit down restaurants.