Cheap Disney Dining?

[Terk24]

If there are any LOL....What are the best least expesive meals anywhere on property. Counter and sit down? Going on a bit of a budget for this 'extra' trip this summer. thanks!

[DVC2004]

Try the sit down places for lunch for cheaper prices- you'll still pay $15 and up an entree however. As for counter service, I love Cantina De San Angel (Mexico/Epcot). The nachos are great and if you have kids with you they have a great chicken quesadilla kids meal that I think is around $3.99.

[eam]

The Earl of Sandwich is a great bargain, and, if you are staying on property, the pizzas at the food courts (POP, POFQ, etc) are not expensive at all for families.
Have a great time!!

[Mickey'sGirl]

Share a meal at the Tangierine Cafe in Morocco (at Epcot) -- large portion and very tasty food.

You can purchase any combo sandwich a la carte (without sides and drinks) at any of the counter service restaurants.... so you can split sides and drinks.
:thumbsup:

[countrycharmer]

I second "EAM"...Earl of Sandwich is actually a better meal and cheaper than McDonalds!! My entire family loves to go there when at WDW.

[crazeedizneefinatic]

My husband and I have found in the past that splitting a CS meal and large drink has been enough to eat and only runs about $9 or so, not bad for 2 to eat. I don't know how many days you are going but by the end of the vacation you may never want to see another chicken finger, fry, pizza or burger, lol! We don't really eat sit down meals while in Disney, although we do a few character meals for our son. This September we were fortunate enough to get in on the free dining plan so that may spoil us and my husbands wallet when we return. Bring some snacks of your own to the park as well as some bottled water. That also cuts down on costs. Have fun!:mickey:

[Momof2boys]

We eat breakfast in the room & depending on our schedule, we've eaten a later breakfast & then had a small snack instead of a lunch. This wasn't so much to save money, but because the boys slept late & sometimes I just can't bear to wake them.

[Crow]

Cookes of Dublin is good at DD
Lotus Blossom cafe in China at Epcot
Pecos Bills at MK
buffetwise-Trails End at FW is only $12.99 for lunch and its good
also around the same price for dinner is the buffet at Shades of Green, which is a short walk from the Poly. anyone can eat there, you dont have to be military

[Clotho]

We find that rather than eating one big lunch, eating a small shared meal and a snack later not only comes out cheaper, but keeps us from feeling weighted down by food in the heat, and gives us the opportunity to sample more treats! Some of our fave light-bites:

Plan A:
Share a turkey-leg: $5.49
Share a Large Coke: $2.39
Follow in an hour or so with a Mickey-head ice cream bar: $2.50
Benefits: turkey is a great protein source for long-term energy, and the soda and ice cream have sugars for immediate short-term energy. And the ice cream cools us off in hot later afternoon.
Total:$9.33

Plan B:
Share a fish n' chips, w/ fries: $7.99
Light Lemonade: $2.09
Follow in an hour or so with a funnel cake w/ fruit: $5.50

Benefits: we both love fish n' chips, but the fried food can feel very weighty in the tummy in the heat. Also, given a full portion we would eat far more than we really need. Sharing limits us in a healthy way. Again, fish is great protein, lemonade is refreshingly light.

You get the idea!

[mickey-mouse35]

also around the same price for dinner is the buffet at Shades of Green, which is a short walk from the Poly. anyone can eat there, you dont have to be military


I didn't realize anyone could go. Do you know what's on the buffet and do you need ADR?

[DessertDivaFL]

I am always trying to stretch my dollars so my trick is to make sure there is a mini fridge wherever I stay and take along milk, cereal and fresh fruit so we eat breakfast in the room and save on that expense. We make lunch the main meal and then basically eat light for dinner (appetizer or pizza). This saves money especially if you are not on the DDP (like me!) :pizza:

[jrpersinger]

Caseys Corner at MK! Corn Dog Nuggets... I could live on them!!!! Never tried their HotDogs but I hear they are just as good. And its definatly one of the cheaper places to eat at WDW!

[crazypoohbear]

bring a cooler down loaded with snacks/cereals / plastic cereal bowls, silver ware etc. We usually bring the prepackaged snacks, ie. granola bars, gold fish, 100 calorie cookies, fruit snacks. the small variety boxes of cereals
I use a hard sided wheeled cooler that I strap shut with a luggage strap or have the TSA tape it shut after they inspect it curb side.
This is one piece of luggage for us
When you arrive empty the snacks/cereal into a designated snack drawer.
Fill cooler with ice.
IF you don't have a car to go to the grocery store yourself then,
Have Garden grocer deliver milk, water, soda muffins, fresh fruit. (beer and wine for when you unwind in the room at the end of the day)
This way you have breakfast in the room every morning.
Bring your own water/soda to the park with you for the day.
Next, check out info central here for the menus, it lists Counter service meals.
IF you want to sit down to a buffet do a LATE lunch, the last seating you can get. This will cover you for lunch and dinner.
We have done like a 3:30pm lunch buffet then just had ice cream much later for dinner :blush:

[Crow]

I didn't realize anyone could go. Do you know what's on the buffet and do you need ADR?
they have diff features each night, such as seafood, barbecue etc.
usually soups, salads, meats, potatoes etc
few diff desserts. its a pretty good deal for dinner. they arent disney so no ADRs. not sure if you can make res at SOG.

[SgtTigger]

Trails End Buffet......... At Fort Wilderness..


Earl of Sandwich.... Very good for the price....


That is the best 2 I can come up with.....





:cop: :tigger:

[Ms.Disney]

For a sit down meal I would say the Plaza in the MK . They have great sandwiches and the price is right. I know its been the cheapest sit down meal we have at Disney.:mickey:

[McGoofy]

At EPCOT, the quiches at the pastry shop in France are not too expensive and they are very filling as they are fairly big. You get a lot for your money. I've had the ham and cheese one as my dinner a couple of times.YUM!

[Magic Smiles]

We always stay at the POFQ and the three of us can eat dinner there for $30.00 We buy the refillable mugs at the start of our trip so we don't need to buy drinks at dinner time. We also don't do dessert after dinner as we are always very full after our meal.

[snifflesmcg]

Here are the places I think are the least expensive (there's no way I'd say inexpensive, lol)

TS Meals

The Plaza-MK
Sci-Fi-MGM
50's Prime Time cafe-MGM
Rose and Crown-Epcot in UK


As far as the CS meals, most of them run around $6 give or take no matter which one you choose. What I would suggest is eating breakfast in the room, eat at a cheaper TS restaurants and then grab some snacks. I know they have, for instance, the Egg Roll cart in Mk and other places to grab sides and such.

[poohbearkris]

I think O'Hana's is one of the best values for dinner, only because it is all you can eat and the food is wonderful. I don't know what time they start taking dinner reservations, but if you made it earlier, you could have a light lunch. Also, I know they don't promote, but I have never heard of anybdoy being turned away at the parks entrance for bringing in food. I think I read last year on one of the posts, the they do not disallow food from being brought in because they want to make it affordable to everybody. I have seen people eating sandwiches off to the side, pb&j works well. I have been on the dining plan the last few times and can honestly say that the counter services in all of the parks hasn't been anything to speak of with the exception of Flame Tree BBQ at AK. Hope this helps.
Kris

[TikiGoddess]

Always remember that you can order items separate -- you don't have to get the combo meal.

Cheap meal -- get a double cheeseburger, order an extra bun (yes, you can do this! I've done it before). Share it!

Ask for large cups of ice water at any counter service restaurant. Free, and it really doesn't taste bad -- filtered!

Cosmic Ray's has a "1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - with Mashed Potatoes and a seasonal vegetable" for only $7.99. They also offer the same deal with 1/2 rack of ribs instead of chicken. Great meal to share.

At CS restaurants anyone can order the kids meal. Some of them are actually rather tasty.

At the resorts, you can order pizza from offsite companies such as Domino's or Papa John's. Go to the company website and check to see if they deliver to the resort (or ask at the front desk).

Have a great trip!
TikiG

[tinkerbell04]

Cheap meal -- get a double cheeseburger, order an extra bun (yes, you can do this! I've done it before). Share it!


We have done this a MANY places! The double cheeseburgers are huge and the extra bun is only like 35 cents or something like that! We usually share a soda, the electric umbrella even has self serve so you can have free refills now.:mickey:

[Terk24]

Thanks for the great tips. We just like to see what everyone else does. I htink this thread has been very helpful (at least for us). We extended our trip to have two days in Detroit (in-laws:party:) and two extra days at Disney, so these meal tips arte helpful.

[DisneyDudet]

We usually go to Wal Mart right off property and get cheap water bottles and drinks, plus breakfast items and snacks. We eat our breakfast items and take our drinks with us. We use our Dr Peppers and Diet Pepsi.. the drinks our family lives off of... and we get cups of ice at the restaurants and fill those.. instead of getting two drinks between the three of us for $5 or so.

We usually do breakfast TS's... thats when we're the most hungry... if we do TS's at all.

We also share most CS meals between the three of us, or I get a kids meal and mom and dad share.