Best money saving tips for food and drink.

[disneydoug]

Food and drinks can be very expensive at WDW.
What are your best money saving tips to get around the expense?


We buy the $6.99 toaster at Walmart, take it in our luggage. WE buy bread, butter, frozen waffles at WDW and eat breakfast in the room--CHEAP.

We leave the toaster in the WDW trash can at the end of each trip and we have that much more space in our suitcase from where the toaster was stored on the trip down.

Doug

[NJ Camper]

We stay in FW so we usually eat breakfast in camp thats a big savings we will bring a backpack we bring water and refill the bottle for drinks and we bring snacks candy for the sugar rush and those little bags of crackers or mini oreo's then if needed we will just stop for fries or something small and sometimes we go back to camper for dinner plus we don't eat a lot of sit down type meals we will do some counter service but thats only a few
this probably doesn't help much unless you camp also well guess you could bring the backpack with snacks and drinks
good luck have fun and enjoy the magic :mickey:

[TheMartellFamily]

DH is a Dt Mt Dew drinker and so we bring that along. We also buy water and have in our backpacks too in the parks. Due to the smell of the water I will not drink from the water foutains. We will also have our breakfast in the room. WIth that we have pop tarts, granola bars and maybe some apples in the room for the kids.

[Kairi_7378]

We bring our own water bottles and breakfast things (usually pop tarts and granola bars.) We refill the water bottles in the parks. The taste/smell of the water doesn't bother us.

We have found that there are several places where we can split 1 CS meal between 2 adults. The best places to do this are Flame Tree BBQ and Tangerine Cafe (for us) but I am sure that there are more.

[disneydeb]

We bring peanut butter, crackers, breakfast bars, apples, raisins and nuts.
I ask for a cup of ice water at snack carts. (its free :secret:)

[MsMin]

I used to break the $$ up between the kids and let them spend the left over on souvenirs. They learned to share drinks and burgers real fast. Since we drive there is always room in the car for drinks and breakfast items. We use a refillable mug for coffee and a souvenir:blush:
I think that snacking keeps us tied over and usually eat only once a day. We bring water, we would hopefully freeze, in the parks and maybe some other light snacks (they are older now). When they were little I used to bring PB&J sandwiches and trail mix.
We had no problem staying in a value b/c we are in the park from morning until they throw us out.
Set your limits early according to your budget. We did that and then tried to spend less than that budget and splurge near the end :fworks:

[jonahbear2006]

We get the dining plan. It is expensive but it is worth it cause you see a different side of Disney that you don't see if you don't eat. The first time we went we camped and didn't get D.p. We brought bisquik, already cooked rolls, sausage and a heated skilled and made sausage gravy and pancakes. Brought frozen orange juice and made juice at camp as well. Then we took lots of snacks, granola, rice krispy treats, baked cookies, meat sticks, and made sandwiches to take into the parks in our bag. Then we took hot dogs and smores to the campfire roast and made them for dinner. If you want to eat in the park, why not order an adult meal and split it, their hamburgers are so big, there is no reason you can't split it. I could barely eat a counter service by myself and we ended up with last minute breakfast we got to eat on our day out. Pecos bills makes a pretty tall burger, just grab some extra napkins and a knife and then you are down to regular fast food prices. Starlight ray's, is the only place you can get away with refilling your drink and only if you are sly about it, so if you are sharing a drink, do it here.

[ElenitaB]

We will do breakfast in the room (we belong to DVC so it's pretty easy for us), and I'll bring down packets of oatmeal for my breakfast. I also bring along coffee and tea. Milk and juice come from the resort gift shop (still haven't figured out how to get DME to make a grocery store stop ;) ).

If we're not on the dining plan, we don't have TS dinners but rather breakfasts or lunches as costs are lower for those meal times.

BTW, Cosmic Ray's no longer has refillable drinks as far as I recall.

[princessgirls]

I always try and look for the deal. We have been lucky and traveled during the "Free Dining" promo for two of our trips. This has been a homerun for us. We ate very well and didn't mind spending money on some extra drinks during the day.
Also, I always packed some easy to eat breakfast items and purchased milk in the gift shop, it saves time and money just to eat in your room and go. I packed water bottles and juice boxes in everyone's suitcase so we could have a few during the day.
It's hard to save when I'm in Disney because I get so caught up in all of the MAGIC!!!
Julie:mickey:

[AirlineGuy07]

Since we rent a car at MCO we usually stop at Wal-Mart on the way to pick up things for breakfast and various snack items. Since we are DVC members we will already have a little kichenette in our rooms. In Dec when we go down we will get the Dinning Plan because we like to eat at places like Cape May Cafe, Garden Grill, Boma that are expensive.

[laughingplace<3]

My favorite counter service is Sunshine Seasons in Epcot, however it is REALLY expensive. You think you are saving by eating counter service sometimes, but at Sunshine Seasons I wind up spending the same amount for Garden Grill or Crystal Palace.

That said, it is sometimes wiser to eat buffet. We eat buffet sit down (or other sit downs) every night, and counter service for lunch- sometimes just snacks for lunch. Drinks is where we spend the most money, so we try to get water whenever we do purchase drinks and not throw away the bottles when there is still water in them. We don't bring breakfast with us, we buy it at our resort, which is probably not a good idea. If I had enough willpower to go and buy breakfast items and bring them down with me, then I definitely would and save a ton of money.

[elmjimmlm]

We take Pop Tarts, Slim Jims, water, soft drinks, cereal with bowls and spoons...
We take some items into the parks with us that way when someone wants a snack we have it on hand...

[MickeyandTink]

I always try and look for the deal. We have been lucky and traveled during the "Free Dining" promo for two of our trips. This has been a homerun for us.

:ditto:
Free dining is how we've been able to justify last year and this year's trip. However, it still doesn't cover everything. We brought several individual cereal boxes and granola bars for breakfasts in the room. Some water bottles and individual drink mixes for the parks, and purchased the resort mugs for coffee and icees in the morning and sodas and icees at night.

I also brought down a small bottle of liquor for the evenings for us grownups to sit and enjoy a drink or two by the pool. We still bought a couple of "special" drinks, but it did really cut down the bar tab.

[Scott C]

Splitting a large Pizza at the food court at the hotel is a big money saver for us -- when you compare it to 4 other meals..............

Thanks
Scott

[Queen Stephanie]

We are DVC members and since we have a kitchen, we stock up on breakfast items such as cereal, milk, poptarts, breakfast bars, as well as lunch items like sandwich fixins and chips, frozen pizzas, etc. We try to eat breakfast and lunch in the room, which saves a great deal. However, we enjoy eating out dinner each night at our favs: O'Hana, Rainforest, California Grill, Liberty Tree, Brown Derby and 1900 Park Fare!:thumbsup:

[mudpuppysmom]

We rent a car too and stop at WalMart for "supplies" (water, pop tarts, granola bars, fruit, etc). If DS wants his apple peeled in the morning I always have a knife in our checked luggage wrapped up and marked "knife", but TSA always unwraps it and leaves it in the zipper plastic portion of our luggage (they've never taken one yet knock on wood). We also will order a pizza at SOG (where we usually stay) for under $15 one night while we swim.

In the parks we take water bottles that hopefully have frozen the night before along with our snacks and I've also been known to take a square container and make PBJ's and take those to the parks with us for a really cheap lunch.....which we supplement with cold fruit from a cart.

I still find that we spend a lot of $$ on food though!

[brownie]

We get the refillable mugs at our resort. Breakfast is usually a simple affair from the food court, aside from a character breakfast or two.

[DisneyFan1979]

We generally either rent a car or use a town car service that includes a free grocery store stop. We purchase bottled water, snacks, and cereal at the supermarket. (We pack snacks, tea, cups, and bowls in our suitcases.) Sometimes we'll purchase milk and juice at the supermarket too, depending on when we stop and if we're headed straight to the room to avoid the milk spoiling. Otherwise we'll buy milk and juice at the resorts. (If you're staying in the Epcot resort area, take advantage of Picabu at the Dolphin - they have full-size milks and juices and they're a touch cheaper than the convenience store at the Boardwalk).

So we generally eat breakfast in our room most days of the trip. Except we usually eat at a character breakfast once or twice.

Another money-saving idea I suggest is if you have light eaters in your traveling to party to split counter-service meals. Also, remember that you can order, for example, a hamburger only and leave out the fries - they won't charge you for them.

We'll also frequently eat lunch for sit-down meals rather than dinner, since it's less expensive.

We're going during free dining next time, so our whole strategy will be changing. It will be a new experience!

[big blue and hairy]

(Say in your head with an Irish brogue) A bolagna sandwich in yer pants.

I have no idea why, it just struck me as funny...sorry..:D

:sulley:

[disneymom15]

We share CS meals at times and always order a cup of ice water instead of bottled water (it's free compared to $2 per bottle)

[dolphinmickey9170]

This may sound expensive, but when you compare the renting of a car, the fuel you have to put in it and so on, we just prefer this way.....

We use garden grocer for our delivery and it still saves us money in the long run.

We order a gallon of milk and juice, several single serve cereal cups, diet pepsi, bottled water, creamer for coffee, sunny D bottles, cereal bars, snack bars etc and have them delivered to our resort. We save money this way. It works great for us as DVC members. We bring our own coffee in premeasured coffee pods by maxwell house, and I also bring a ziploc bag full of splenda packets and sugar. I also pack a package of disposable coffee cups with covers that you can purchase at walmart, they only take up a small space in your suitcase. Also, oatmeal comes in individual cups now too, so I put the water in the coffee pot, no coffee of course, and heat that up so we can have oatmeal.

We freeze several bottles of water at night, my DH carries a camelbak that has a 2 liter capacity for water so he fills the bladder with ice and then poors in one bottle of water, packs the couple of frozen waters around the bladder and adds a bottle of diet pepsi for us and some sunny D bottles for the DGD. Works great and saves money.

[Nurse Kim]

My kids and I went this past March and towards the end of the trip we took our soda bottles and sandwiches to the parks with us. It was expensive for the 4 of us mainly drinks as others have said.

We are planning a trip in March 2009 my DH is going with us and we are planning to use the Dining Plan. I really want to experience using the Dining Plan and we are going for 10 days so hopefully it's worth it for us.

[tinksmom02]

Our trip last Sept and upcoming Sept are during/because of Free Dining, which has saved us a great deal of $$. In addition, it was so HOT in Sept that we didn't really feel like eating all that much, anyway. We like to have a nice breakfast at the food court before we head out, and that will generally hold us over until dinner (we typically eat rather early--5-6pm). We'll have a snack or two while at the parks.

We split counter service meals when we can, which helps stretch $$.

I generally bring a box of pop-tarts and some single serve cereal boxes, but for DD and DH's late night snack cravings.

[jsdt]

We rotate trips - sometimes splurging and getting the dining plan and sometimes going cheap on food. When we go on the cheap, here are the keys for us:
1) Always eat breakfast in the room
2) We have a smallish softsided cooler that fits under the seat in our stroller - pack that with snacks, water & drinks every day
3) split counter service meals. i find if we eat breakfast and snacks we can normally cut out at least one of the counter service meals for our group.
4) dinners - counter service, eat off-site or go get some cheap pizzas (when at a dvc resort we will cook some of the dinners)
5) get snacks for the room at night.

If we do splurge, I find that a big buffet breakfast around 9 or 9:30 always causes us to skip a meal.

[Disney Lynn]

We usually rent a car (rentals in Orlando are reasonable, compared to many big cities), so we visit a Target or Walmart to stock up. DH & I are coffee drinkers, so we buy a cheap coffee maker (always under $10) if the resort doesn't supply one. We use a cooler for our carry-on (on the plane) and store our breakfast items (milk, OJ) plus snack foods (fruit, cheese and beer & wine). We bring plastic bowls, spoons, etc for cereal. And water bottles & small zip-style bags for nuts or pretzels for snacking in the parks.

Also, try eating your main meal at lunch time. Most of WDW's restaurants are cheaper at lunch for the same amount of food. At a buffet, your selections may not include quite as many items, but there's certainly a good selection anyway. In the evening, we snack or share a meal.

For my family, breakfast in the room saves money and time. We usually stay at a Value resorts, and their food courts can be crazy in the AM.