One Hundred Dollars a Month reader Mary sent me an email recently that I thought a few of my readers might be interested in:
“Mavis, I have a question for those in-the-know! Disney World – Florida, where can you get good, reasonable meals in the park?”
I feel like I have to start off by saying the honest truth is that eating meals in the park is just not going to be all of that cost-effective. There are ways to “do Disneyworld” on a tight budget, but they include bringing in your own food {which is so graciously allowed}, and eating at restaurants outside of the park BEFORE you head in.
In fact, I strongly recommend breakfast before you head into the park, no matter what. You will be able to get more food for half the price at ANY of the surrounding restaurants {places like Denny’s, etc., which are not exactly top notch cuisine, but they can certainly make a pancake}. I know that wasn’t really the question, so if you are really hoping to keep things simple and eat inside the park, here’s your best bets: 
At many of the cafe’s and restaurants throughout Disneyland, you can order slices of bread. Yep, just plain old slices of bread. You can also order peanut butter packets {at the buffet style restaurants, peanut butter packets are included in the free condiments section. Jelly is always included in the free condiments, so for under a dollar, you can easily make the kiddos a PB&J sandwich. This is a great lunch option, that will keep costs super low. 
If you decide that you want to try some of the theme restaurants, but don’t want to pay for a child’s meal that your kids won’t eat {this might be especially true for little ones who are wary of ethnic cuisine in Epcot, remember that Disney World is crazy family friendly.
They will bring in food from any of their restaurants–which means if you want a smucker’s pre-made PB&J {sidenote: these are awesome to bring into the park if you can manage a grocery store, because you won’t need a cooler or any prep, and they will be perfectly thawed by lunchtime} they will send a cute little “runner” out into the park to retrieve your child’s food. That way, you can enjoy Italian, while they enjoy–well, whatever. It might not save you any money on the bottom line, but it will save you wasted food. 
Everyone in my family is a big on snacking. So ordering a la carte items are a great way to save a little more.
If you have smaller appetites, an order or two of fries for the family to share can really add up in savings. Because prices within the park fluctuate, I am hesitant to give you any restaurant names and have you plan your whole trip around it.
If any of you readers have been recently and want to chime in in the comments sections of cheap{er} restaurants you found on a RECENT trip, that would be awesome.
Hope you have an uh-mazing time in Disney World, Mary!
~Mavis
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Veronica Vatter says
If taking a stroller, take a full case of water! A 2.99 Case of water = like 29 buck in the park.
Melanie says
I won’t recommend specific restaurants either, but we were there last summer and it wasn’t so bad. We brought with us a lot or water, but if you don’t bring a stroller, refillable bottles are good since there are several places where you can fill them up. Also, we brought nuts and granola bars. We did eat at restaurants, but the portions were so big that we often bought 2 meals and had enough for 3 (our daughter is 6).
Michelle says
We live in Florida and go to Disney a few times each year. We always eat a good breakfast before going into the parks. We also carry in water bottles and refill them. If you don’t live in Florida, though, you will likely find that the water tastes weird (before we moved here, we thought FL tap water was off-tasting, but now we’re just used to it).
Some places serve up huge amounts of food and you can share easily, especially if you have smallish kids. For example, in Animal Kingdom, our family of five (two adults, two teens and a 10-year-old) shared three Asian entrees and extra rice at… I can’t think of the name of it, but it’s a counter service restaurant with things like sweet-and-sour chicken. We have also shared meal at Cosmic Ray’s, which is in Magic Kingdom.
When the kids were younger, we would carry in snacks, like granola bars, apples, raisins, crackers, etc. Then when they would complain at 10:00 that they were starving, they could have those items to tide them over until lunch. The same when they were hungry again at 2:00 in the afternoon. For dinner, particularly in EPCOT, we would walk around and share snacks and graze. Especially when they were younger, we could give them each a snack at 6:00 or 7:00, then have ice cream sundaes for dinner while watching the nighttime show. Not the healthiest dinner, but hey, it’s Disney World, so calories don’t count!
nishchick says
At Canada’s Wonderland the public is not allowed to bring in any food or drink. And they check bags, purses etc. at the gate and it will be confiscated! They discovered 2 juice bottles in my purse but hesitantly let it thru only because of diabetes.
KAte says
Mavis,
I know that typos happen. I know that you’ve told people not to get up in arms because you’re not totally consumed with them, and I agree with you. However, irregardless is not a word. If you don’t care, then you don’t care and that’s fine. I just felt like I should point it out. Feel free to ignore me all you like.
Cheers,
KAte
Mavis Butterfield says
I’m so glad you did not freak out on me. Ha! Being a human being is hard, so hard sometimes, especially when I stay up late at night to type things up. I fixed the typo. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know. Peace out Girl Scout.
patti schumacher says
check out mousesavers.com for more ideas
Norma Neeson says
sorry the irregardless was bugging me to ..it is regardless. thanks for the other tips
athena says
Irregardless actually is a word according to the Mariam Webster dictionary websitehttp://i.word.com/idictionary/irregardless
Susie says
We live near Disney & are annual passholders. I also used to work there as a teen. Anyway, one of our fave places to go in Epcot, especially if it’s hot, is the Coke Corner. (I think that’s what it’s called) It’s on the right side a little way after you come in through the front entrance, next to Starbuck’s. They have machines there that dispense free samples of sodas from all over the world. It’s fun to try drinks from Italy, Africa, Japan, etc. And it’s cold & FREE!
Marg Tuinstra says
Just picked up my Zaycon chicken in Bremerton this morning. Beautiful hour drive from my house, well worth it. Talk about lots of chicken! I wrapped the breasts individually since they were so huge! I ground some to have pre-formed patties. All sealed and in freezer!!!! Many thanks for turning me onto a great deal!!
Shirley says
Hi Mavis,
I asked the other day about your food purchases and you answered me right away. Thank you for that. However, I can’t find it today – do I have to subscribe to it separately?
Thanks, Shirley
Peggy Ann says
This post came at the perfect time. We are planning a trip to Disney in May. I am a little (okay, a lot) freaked out about the cost of everything. But my husband is insistant that our girls (ages 10 & 6) get to experience Disney while it is still “magical” for them. We are flying from Connecticut and will not be renting a car so eating off property is not an option. I have already started to squirrel away snack bars, Squishems (ugh, but portable and a healthier option), etc that I am getting on sale and with coupons. I may wind up wearing the same shirt everyday so I can pack more snacks. I think that we will get some sort of meal plan and do some sharing of portions. Someone told me you could order a case of water from Staples or wherever and have it delivered to your hotel room. Anyone else hear something like that? Thanks for the PB&J tip. That might be good for hubby and me but the girls have nut allergies. And those fries look so yummy!
Thanks again Mavis for this post. Your blog is informative, entertaining and something that I look forward to every day.
Jessie says
We go every other year and fly from Massachusetts and stay on property without a car. In the past I have backed a box full of cereal, granola bars crackers and whatever else that my kids will eat and shipped it to myself at our hotel. There are also a few places that you can shop online for groceries and they will deliver them to your hotel the day you arrive ( or whenever) just make sure that the hotel will put the cold stuff in the fridge or freezer if needed) or don’t get it delivered until you are certain you will be there. We always order water and have it shipped or delivered. Mousesavers.com is a great resource. Also search things like restaurant.com for gift certs last time we went they had one for house of blues at downtown Disney. We were able to use our build a bear gift cards at the Trex build a dino too. Also rainforest café had some certificate thing for free kids meals for things like losing a tooth or reading books or something. ( I think Trex did this too. ) ALso check out couponing to Disney she has some great ideas.
Peggy Ann says
Thanks for the tips Jessie!
Julie says
Ummmm seriously!!!???? Mavis has opened her world full of sustainable living AND blogs about it, posting helpful tips and links to deals and YOU want to call her out on a friggin TYPO?? Oh hey, “friggin” isn’t in the dictionary, there, I saved you a post….
Would you all like her to post less because she is busy double checking her grammar? Or would you like her to charge a membership fee so she can pay a web editor to keep track of her misspelled words?
SJ says
^^^^^^^ This! Thumbs up. I felt the same way.
Dawn says
Any counter service that has provides fountain drinks will give you ice water for free. We did this several times when we were there last year. We carried in a bag with snacks and drink packets. We just added the drink packets to the water and saved a ton!
Mrs. Ripples says
We just spent 2 days at Disneyland in California. We stayed at a hotel about 15 minutes away and it provided a free hot breakfast each morning. I packed lots of snacks – peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into 4 squares, dried cherries, fruit snacks, crackers, etc. Also we had a small cooler bag with ice pack for cold stuff like cheese slices, pop and water. Having two children, ages 3 and 6 helped because we have a double stroller and were able to stow everything. We still did spend a lot of food and snacks but some deals were definitely better than others. We ate a meal at a sit down restaurant at Disneyland for dinner and the prices were around $12 – $16 per meal. Mr. R and I each ordered a meal and shared with the girls. They never eat a lot at restaurants anyways.
At one point the girls wanted a hot dog so I bought 1 for them to share that came with a small bag of plain potato chips (i wasn’t even allowed to a sub the chips for a flavored kind) and it was $6.95! I still can’t believe I paid that. If I hadn’t been distracted at the moment, I would have thought it through and went somewhere else. I bought a large turkey leg for $9.95. Expensive, but yummy and there was so much meat on it. I ate it for lunch and shared it with the girls.
We tried to only eat 1 meal in the parks because it is fun to try some of the food there. But ate breakfast before going and packed drinks and snacks to keep the costs down. Oh, and pack fun snacks that we don’t normally keep on hand. It helps to keep it fun for everyone.
LaToya says
We are going to Disneyland next month, and I looked up bringing food in, and read here – https://disneyland.disney.go.com/faq/dining/ – that you are not allowed to bring food in. Are they going to search us if we “sneak” food in?
Chelsea Klebba says
My family LOVES Disney! I have been to both World several times & Land on my honeymoon 2 years ago. We found out very early on NOT to pay for water in the park! Go to any place that sells fountain drinks and ask for a cup of ice water. They have to give it to you for FREE! No other purchase required 🙂 Also portions tend to run large so we usually plan on sharing a few meals between us.