How do you save on dining in WDW?

[VirataMama4]

We do many of the things listed by PP. We also buy the McCormick and Schmick gift cards from Costco online. You can get a $100 gc for around $80 and they are good at any Landry's owned restaurant including Rainforest, T-Rex and Yak & Yeti.

 

[maxiesmom]

I have another friend that gets a double cheese burger meal and a extra bun and splits it up patty so that each kid gets a whole burger, they choose some where were a toppings bar is, so that each kid can put what they want on their burger, then she puts all the fries together so that no-one can say he got more..

Have a wonderful time.

Disney has done away with the double burgers. They are now larger, single patties. Most likely to discourage what your friend and a lot of other people were doing.

 

[TravelMommy]

Eating breakfast in the room is always a winner with us. You can have things shipped to your resort or you can use one of the shopping/grocery delivery services (very economical, we have used WeGoShop and GardenGrocer; you can go right to the GardenGrocer website to see what they offer,I have used them the past 5 trips). We have split some meals, but others are not so large as to be splittable(is that a word?). We often order 1 meal with fries and 1 sandwich and split the fries. I don't really even order kids meals for the kids anymore, most places they are blah! You can easily take in your own snacks and drinks. We save a bundle taking in our own water, iced tea and soda, really adds up. In the US we can buy from Target Disney gift cards with a 5% discount using the cc from Target. I don't know if you can do the same?? We do this as well as the savings can add up. Have a great trip!!!

 

[Jess4WDW]

Thanks everyone! I will be looking for the gift cards at Costco and Target. If only they would expand the list of restaurants that receive a discount when using the disney visa.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I really don't try to save money while eating at WDW because it's vacation and we do splurge. But I hate being wasteful with food and time.

We get garden grocer delivery or breakfast items, water, lunch meat and bread.

One way we save tons of time and money is we eat breakfast in the room. My family can't eat right when they wake up. So they will eat maybe some fruit, granola bar, PB and bread, cereal. Nothing heavy. By the time we hit the park they want a snack.

My stomach does get tired of the heavy food so I like to do sandwiches and fruit pool side.

Bottled water saves a lot of money.

 

[fairy8i8]

Got 18% savings on gift cards to spend on dining from Giant Eagle. We drink water, which makes the dining plan a bad deal for us. We ate what we wanted and at fabulous places because food is a big part of travel for me. Spent more on food than our villa rental at Beach Club or on park tickets (though I got amazing deals on both thanks to the people here on the Budget Boards.) I had $1000 in gift cards, so spent about $820.

Honestly, unless you are doing character meals or Boma, save on breakfast and eat it in your room. The hot breakfast we got at the Beach Club quick service was not good. I would have preferred cold cereal. We did a bunch of character meals for the characters. Food was ok, but if your family doesn't care about characters, then save your money for something else.

If you opt for making your own meals, then splurge on special snacks in the parks. You may not remember or crave the burgers and fries, but you will remember Dole Whips, Mickey Bars, and Karamel Kuche. $10/person for snacks a day would get you about 3 memorable treats each. Kids feel spoiled when you say yes to something they spot and want, and it's fun for about the same cost as a boring quick service meal, only you get to eat 3 times.

Decide what is important to you and then figure out how to minimize the cost. I wanted a luxury vacation at a deluxe resort eating at character and fancy restaurants, so we shortened the trip to 5 days/ 4 nights and arrived at 8:30am the first day and left at 9pm the last day. This saved not only the cost of another hotel night or two but also saved a vacation day from work. We left Saturday night so we had Sunday to recover from our trip before work. Don't be fooled. Regardless of the length of trip, Disney will almost always be high energy. You will probably be tired at the end. Anyway, shorter trip also meant fewer meals to buy, so I could go to expensive places and spend about the same as eating at more quick service on a longer vacation.

For our first trip when we were poor students, we bought canned soups with the pop off lids, PB & J and cheap bread, cereal and milk, bananas, and a few pastaronis. Spent $10-15 for 4 days on food for the 2 of us. We did splurge on a $10 turkey leg that DH saw people eating everywhere and really wanted (costs more now).

So $820 or $25. Both are savings- the first is 18% savings off of expensive meals, the second is downright cheap, but it was all we could afford at the time. We even slept our last night in the airport for an early flight the next day because we couldn't afford another hotel night (bought buddy tickets to Orlando 6months prior for $180 total, so we had the flights before we knew we would have other expenses that used up our savings). Again, what you end up spending is really about your personal priorities.

 

[MomToOne]

We use Bobble water bottles with filters - they work great. No need to buy any water, or have it shipped, or order a grocery delivery. There are lots of water fountains where you can fill them up through the day, some of them even chilled. In the parks we drink only water from our bottles, or cups of free water at counter service restaurants, saving money on sodas (I can't believe how much places try to charge for those!) We have soda only at our resort using the refillable mugs - those are worth the cost to us because we also consider them a souvenir. I love having my morning coffee in them everyday at home!

Like others, we also pack items for breakfast in the room, and a few snacks for throughout the day. We like to have some Disney treats as well, so I don't overdo the snacks but I do like bringing some along. That leaves us free to have just the Disney snacks we really want, and not buying expensive junk that we don't really want just because we are a bit peckish.

Since I have a teenage daughter that can give a teenage boy a run for their money in the eating department some days, splitting meals isn't an option for us. But we do sometimes split sides, like fries, or snacks, like ice cream sundaes.

Finally, we stick mainly to counter service, esp. making use of the hotel food court (we always stay at values). The hotel food courts I think provide a decent variety, and often meals that are close to the same quality as you get at the table service restaurants for a much cheaper cost. So we often have dinner there (we go to the parks in the morning/early afternoon, come back for a rest and dinner, then go back to the parks). We will only do one or two table service meals at a few places that we like most trips now. Most of the table service restaurants I don't find worth the cost these days.

 

[DisneyEater]

In addition to discount Disney gift cards, you can try to get discount Starbucks, Landry's, Ghiradelli's, ect gift cards.

 

[Happyjen27]

We pack cereal, granola bars, pop tarts, crackers, goldfish, individual cookie packs, frozen yogurt tubes (which thaws en route, but stays chilly), shelf stable milk (or buy milk at the resort like we did this last time), box of wine in a suitcase, with our reusable cereal bowls. That covers breakfast and snacks in the room.

For water we bring our stainless steel water bottles and buy gallons of spring water at the resort. I can't stand the taste of any hotel's water, and I prefer to drink water (or wine ) rather than flavored drinks.

We share meals very often, or, I'll get a salad and share an appetizer. We also often skip meals for the adults, and get a QS for the kids, since chances are the adults ate too much last meal and probably aren't even hungry. So, always check in with your belly to see if you're truly hungry, or, you might just need an overpriced and delicious snack to tide you over. More than a couple of times I've subbed in a yummy treat instead of a meal. (so naughty I know, but Disney is the place for naughty indulgences)

 

[crisi]

I will note one thing....

We've done Garden Grocer orders and we've brought down food - and it only saves you money if you use it. If you don't, and can't pack it back because it won't fit or is perishable, you've wasted the money spent trying to save money. So be realistic and know yourself - will you really get back to the resort at dinner time to pick up meals, get them to the food court, and microwave them - or will you be having such a good time in the Magic Kingdom that you end up buying burgers at Peco's Bills? Also, at Disney, time is money. For that reason, we always have breakfast in the room - even if its pop tarts or cereal bars and juice boxes. It isn't that its cheaper (it is), its that its faster. And we haul snacks in for the same reason - some snacks you can go out of your way for (for instance, if you are a Dole Whip fan) - but having to stand in line every time someone gets a little peckish takes TIME. But for us, it isn't worth the time to leave Disney property for lunch or dinner - its an expensive vacation per day, we want to get the most out of it. We tend to look for dining experiences that extend the vacation a little - so we prefer Cosmic Rays over Peco's Bills. Feels more "Disney."

 

[LovesTimone]

Disney has done away with the double burgers. They are now larger, single patties. Most likely to discourage what your friend and a lot of other people were doing.

Thanks for the heads up they are heading there for Labor day weekend. I will let her know. Her boys are 6 & 8 and are like little eating machines...