VERY poor DS and college buddies took a trip last year to WDW & Universal last year. They had a choice of economizing on food or staying off-site (at WDW) and they chose to cut back on food. These are big guys, serious eaters. They stayed at the All Star Music and did not have a car. Here's their successful eating strategy.
Pack one (they had 2 for 4 boys) checked piece of luggage with non-perishables. This included peanut butter, jelly, vaccum packed tuna, bread (a loaf of bread will fit into an empty soda fridge pack and not get crushed), cookies, trail mix, pretzels, crackers, pop-tarts, dried cereal, mayo & mustard packets, microwave popcorn, cocoa and kool-aid mix, juice boxes, Zip-loc bags, plastic plates, cups and utensils.
Pack one carry-on soft-sided ice chest with cooler stuff. This included fozen bottled water, vaccum-sealed packages of deli-ham and cheese, frozen containers of yoghurt and tangerines (I made them take those
). If you don't have a fridge you can keep stuff cool by filling up Zip-locs with ice (double bag) from the hotel ice machine. Several small packages of deli stuff works better than one large one.
They supplemented this with fruit and milk purchased at the food court or resort shop.
They ate in the room, drank water and brought snacks into the park. I don't reccomend this diet for most people. It would definately get to me but they LIVE on junk like this in the dorm and they were only at WDW for 3 1/2 days.
DH and I save $$$ by sharing meals in the parks. Although this wouldn't work for DS and friends, we find the portions at most of the counter service places plenty enough for the two of us. In the MK we like Pecos Bill's and Cosmic Ray's. (You can split the double cheeseburger meal by paying <$1 for a second bun and both places have great toppings bars.). At Epcot we like sharing meals at the Cantina San Angel and Tangerine Cafe. For a splurge we will split the French Menu (lunch only) at Chefs de France (maybe ordering a second cup of the soup.) You can also do the burger thing at the counter service in Innoventions. Like others have said, the chicken dinner at Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom is good and enough for the two of us. Also, Earl of Sandwich in DTD has huge sandwiches for around $5. With chips added we can both make a meal out of one of these. We don't usually eat in the park at MGM. For the most part, we eat breakfast and dinner in the room and save our dining dollars for lunch when the prices are lower in the sit-downs (We like splitting meals at Chefs and Le Cellier.)
Eating out is definately fun at WDW but you don't have to do so in order to have fun. I'd rather eat PB&J at Disney than steak at home!
HTH,
Jennifer
Who remembers what it was like to be 20 and broke. It was GREAT!
ps You CAN bring a cooler packed with a full lunch (no glass) into the water parks. This can save you lots if you're like us and are always hungry and thirsty when swimming.