Originally Posted By Tinkerbellmama Hi all! Well our trip is in 33 days and I am trying to save up as much money as we can to spend for our trip. I want to have a good time, but don't want to completely break the bank on food. We are a family of five and my parents are on a limited income. I was hoping I could get some good inexpensive dining tips for some of the trip. Breakfst is included at our hotel thankfully, which helps a lot. I am thinking about packing a few snacks and some water bottles in the diaper bag. I figure we will purchase a snack, lunch and dinner each day. Wondering where the best deals in the park are. Also what is very close outside the park and how worth it is it to leave. Does anyone use the picnic areas? TIA
Originally Posted By SuzieQ At Plaza Inn, 2 people can easily split a meal. The pasta and chicken dishes are huge! Whitewater Snacks at the Grand Californian is very reasonable. I order the kid's meal cheeseburger. The only difference (other than price) is that it doesn't come with the lettuce and tomato. But it does come with a drink instead. I think it's $6.99 for the cheeseburger, fries and a drink. Their chicken strips kid's meal is large, too. Naples in DTD has a deli section with pizza and salads. Wetzel's Pretzels has pretzel dogs at a good price. Off DL property, about the only thing cheaper than eating in the park is McDonalds. And possibly Mimi's depending upon what you order. I don't consider $12.95 for a huge pasta dinner to be outragous (Plaza Inn). It costs that much at Olive Garden or most other restaurants.
Originally Posted By dzy76 We split meals almost everywhere. The portions are usually pretty large everywhere in the park (to us anyway) and we like to feel satisfied but not stuffed when going on attractions. You can always buy a snack later if you get hungry (there are plenty of great snacks there!). We do bring in a water bottle each day and refill it at water fountains if we need it. Works great.
Originally Posted By hlbtimes2 Corn dogs on main street for $6, come with chips. They are HUGE. Chowder in a bread bowl for lunch or light dinner. Its about $8-9. Very good! The kids meal at Pizza port is really good. Its ravioli (I order it with the alfredo sauce), some bread and a drink for $6. Breakfast prices are pretty good in the park. About $6.00-8 per person. Sometimes we'll eat the free hotel breakfast (around 7 am), then have late breakfast at the park (around 10:30 or 11), then a hearty dinner around 5. My kids love breakfast food, and it's a bit cheaper then some of the lunch foods. YOu can see prices and menus at www.dlresortfinfo.com
Originally Posted By hlbtimes2 OOPS! that should be <a href="http://www.dlresortinfo.com/" target="_blank">http://www.dlresortinfo.com/</a> Sorry about that, my fingers got ahead of me and added an extra letter.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss It's skirting the rules, but I have taken complete lunches into the park; sandwich, fruit, munchies, a drink. Does your hotel provide small refrigerators, or can you ask for one? That would help in having food on-hand to make sandwiches and such. I haven't used the picnic area just outside the gates, but I have used the La Brea Bakery area ( I bought some things to go with the food I brought)... and of course I have eaten on benches in the park.
Originally Posted By ploeb909 I would bring a case of water and a case of Gatorade,to your hotel. I always do this, the waters are really expensive! Also the first lunch we have is a "sack lunch" I bring from home, you know.. sandwhich, drink, chips, fruit. This way we atleast save some $$ on the first day. My husband and I also bring a bottle of wine to keep in our room, so we are not paying $7.99 per glass at night, if we feel like haveing a drink. Bring juice boxes and snacks, like pretzels ,oranges, apples. Alot of people frown on doing this because we "should" buy everything in the resort. Its up to you really. You will be buying tickets and other meals.Its all relative. Have a blast!!!
Originally Posted By dlkozy Unless it has already been mentioned in regards to the Plaza Inn and splitting chicken dinner-feel fry to ask for an extra piece of chicken-I believe the cost is $2. Then you really won't need to buy 2 of those dinners!
Originally Posted By Mousekateer Mommy The big problem with bringing fruit with you if you are driving, unless you buy it when you get to California, you have to lie to California state boarder agents (I know that is not what they are called) if they are stopping cars that day.
Originally Posted By Tinkerbellmama Thanks for all the help so far guys and please keep it coming. i LOVE that website hlbtimes2! Half thinking of pringitng it and bringing it with us. It really is such a shame that it is so expensive. I know how difficult it is for our family of 5 one one income. I can't even imagine super large families. Good to see that there are some halfway reasonable things at least for lunch. Glad we aren't super picky. lol Thanks again.
Originally Posted By ploeb909 If you go to a breakfast buffett you can grab a couple of apples or oranges etc. Anaheim has a great little market on the corner of Katella, across from the Portofino Hotel. They sell fruit, milk etc. Another thing my family does(we live an hour from Disney) is bring those cereals in foam boxes(think Top Ramon)and just add milk. I have seen them at Target for .79 each.
Originally Posted By boyumz I'm kind of surprised nobody mentioned the smoked turkey legs. They are huge and I always share one with my son. At $6 each, it's not a bad investment for two. Also I have noticed the pasta meals at Redd Rocket's Pizza Port are of substantial size. I've often shared a plate there, too. And if you have a AAA card I believe you get a 10% discount at Redd Rocket's. Also I think there's dining discounts if you are a Disney Visa card holder.
Originally Posted By dlkozy Tony Roma's across the street has a website that you can sign up for and they email you a free appetizer. Just do it within a week of your trip because the deadline to be able to use the coupon is very short.
Originally Posted By Tinkerbellmama That site that gives all the menu prices has been super helpful. One thing I noticed, though, is that I found no prices, or listings for popcorn or churros, or the cheese filled pretzels everyone has been talking about. Can anyone help me out here. Trying to plan a budget out for snacks and meals and that would be very helpful. TIA
Originally Posted By allygator206 Count on most snacks being about $3. Regular Popcorn is $3, most frozen treats are $3-3.50, Soft Pretzels $3 etc etc.
Originally Posted By practicallyperfect We have found that the portions at DLR are huge! So we always order a couple of orders and split. Best places to split food are Red Rocket, Plaza Inn, White Water Snacks. Also, I have ordered kid's meals a number of times to eat and have had no problem. Especially the kids meals at WWS. My goodness---huge! I split the hamburger with my little one with a fruit salad. I only have two kids but I limit one snack per day at the resort. I tell them at the beginning of the day so when they start whining for a churro I ask them if they want their one snack right now. Most of the time, they only buy what they really want. I supplement the day with dried fruit, nuts, crackers from home.
