Save money on food

[osopecoso]

at what length would you save money on food in the parks.

The only thing we bring in is a couple bottles of smart water/vitamin water and something to drink for my daughter along with maybe some trail mix. Other than that we eat our meals at counter service or restaurants.

I bring this up because this past weekend we were sitting at our pecos bill for something to eat. The family in front of me ordered a plate of ground beef, nothing else. Their total was like $7. We sat a few tables away from them. The wife opens up her backpack and takes out a taco kit box. They assemble their tacos and bring them to the fixings bar where they load them up with whatever is at the bar. This is where is got funny. They opened up these 2 large yeti types of cups and pour in 2 beers from their cooler for the parents to drink while the kids drank some juice boxes. I thought the beers were a great idea but no idea how they got through security unless he had them hidden in his pockets.

 

[kymom99]

Oh my word!!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

at what length would you save money on food in the parks.

The only thing we bring in is a couple bottles of smart water/vitamin water and something to drink for my daughter along with maybe some trail mix. Other than that we eat our meals at counter service or restaurants.

I bring this up because this past weekend we were sitting at our pecos bill for something to eat. The family in front of me ordered a plate of ground beef, nothing else. Their total was like $7. We sat a few tables away from them. The wife opens up her backpack and takes out a taco kit box. They assemble their tacos and bring them to the fixings bar where they load them up with whatever is at the bar. This is where is got funny. They opened up these 2 large yeti types of cups and pour in 2 beers from their cooler for the parents to drink while the kids drank some juice boxes. I thought the beers were a great idea but no idea how they got through security unless he had them hidden in his pockets.

We eat breakfast in the room and have drinks/snacks for the room and for the park. Otherwise, we eat CS and TS meals for lunch and dinner in the parks. When I am on vacation, I don't want to scrimp. I want to feel pampered and enjoy myself. We budget for all of our expenses ahead of time, so nothing is a surprise for us.

But I also do not judge others that make different choices than we do. Except maybe a post I read once about someone who planned to bring a crockpot, hot plate and a large Yeti cooler filled with meats to cook all of their meals in their studio room. That seemed not only rude to surrounding guest rooms, but dangerous.

 

[tasha99]

Lol. That's pretty funny and a bit overboard, but to each their own. (the taco making in the OP)

We put a lot of our vacation dollar into the room (2 BR DVC) then save on food by having breakfast in the room most days and sandwich fixings/ snacks for anyone who wants them. My group is older, so lately most meals are "buy or make your own" with one or two big family dinners out. On longer vacations, I cook maybe half our dinners.

 

[osopecoso]

We eat breakfast in the room and have drinks/snacks for the room and for the park. Otherwise, we eat CS and TS meals for lunch and dinner in the parks. When I am on vacation, I don't want to scrimp. I want to feel pampered and enjoy myself. We budget for all of our expenses ahead of time, so nothing is a surprise for us.

But I also do not judge others that make different choices than we do. Except maybe a post I read once about someone who planned to bring a crockpot, hot plate and a large Yeti cooler filled with meats to cook all of their meals in their studio room. That seemed not only rude to surrounding guest rooms, but dangerous.

The crockpot happened to us. The room next to us had one on and stunk up all surrounding rooms and the hallways. I am sure the Cleaning bill exceeded their savings in food.

We feel the same. We want to enjoy ourselves and not have to haul coolers full of food into the park. We do eat something in our room or at the food court for breakfast.

 

[Marionnette]

at what length would you save money on food in the parks.

The only thing we bring in is a couple bottles of smart water/vitamin water and something to drink for my daughter along with maybe some trail mix. Other than that we eat our meals at counter service or restaurants.

I bring this up because this past weekend we were sitting at our pecos bill for something to eat. The family in front of me ordered a plate of ground beef, nothing else. Their total was like $7. We sat a few tables away from them. The wife opens up her backpack and takes out a taco kit box. They assemble their tacos and bring them to the fixings bar where they load them up with whatever is at the bar. This is where is got funny. They opened up these 2 large yeti types of cups and pour in 2 beers from their cooler for the parents to drink while the kids drank some juice boxes. I thought the beers were a great idea but no idea how they got through security unless he had them hidden in his pockets.

Bringing my own water in a Brita bottle? Yes!
A stash of energy snacks in my cross-body bag? Absolutely!
Hauling cooler full of food on my back (or in a stroller when I don't even have small kids) to save a couple of bucks? No freakin' way!

I suppose that if it was the only way that I could afford to take my family to Disney, then I might try bringing sack lunches for everyone. But there's no way that I would use the fixins bar at a restaurant to create makeshift tacos or any other concoction no matter how much money it saved me.

And the beers concealed in the Yeti cups is just plain funny. I just can't imagine going to that length to have a brew.

 

[osopecoso]

Bringing my own water in a Brita bottle? Yes!
A stash of energy snacks in my cross-body bag? Absolutely!
Hauling cooler full of food on my back to save a couple of bucks? No freakin' way!

I suppose that if it was the only way that I could afford to take my family to Disney, then I might try bringing sack lunches for everyone. But there's no way that I would use the fixins bar at a restaurant to create makeshift tacos or any other concoction no matter how much money it saved me.

And the beers concealed in the Yeti cups is just plain funny. I just can't imagine going to that length to have a brew.

Locker costs $10 day. One of those soft side coolers costs maybe another $10-$20. How much $$ are they actually saving. Just the aggravation of putting everything together and dragging it to the parks makes it not worth it. I also enjoy a hot lunch, not cold cuts.

 

[Klayfish]

We don't conceal beers in Yeti cups (we don't drink alcohol), nor do we completely pillage the fixins bar at Pecos', but we bring literally 95%+ of our own food into the parks. We're a family of 5, so if we're in the parks for dinner, that's quite a lot of food we bring in. We always stay offsite, so we have a full kitchen like you'd have at home. A typical dinner we bring in will be something like this:

DW - salad with boneless skinless chicken breast, a very measured amount of almonds: all packed in a square Tupperware container

Me - same boneless skinless chicken maybe with bbq sauce on it, put in a soup size Thermos. Peas, again in a soup size Thermos

Our 3 kids - this can really vary. We have them eat healthy in general, but on vacation we certainly let them eat more "junk". So if they had a healthy breakfast and lunch, they'll have a junk dinner. If they had a junk lunch, then dinner is healthy. So it could be boneless skinless chicken, or it could be Hot Pockets or chicken nuggets. 3 servings of peas/carrots/corn/whatever veggie. 3 servings of a dessert...a few cookies, etc...

We also will drink caffeine free diet soda (again, a vacation type treat...we usually only drink it on weekends at home), so we'll probably pack 7 cans of that...1 for each kid, and 2 each for DW and I.

We will usually throw a few snacks in there if we're going to be in the park for long hours...say 2pm to 10pm, or 9am to 4pm.

If we eat lunch in the parks instead of dinner, it's easier...it's sandwiches, salad for DW, fruit and some chips or healthy option (again depending on their other meals) for the kids. We don't drink sodas at lunch, just water, which we get from QS places.

When we're eating in a QS place, we have used their fixings bar, but honestly only for a small bit of mustard or ketchup.

We do buy the kids some treats in the park once in a while...a Mickey bar one day, then let them pick something from Goofy's Candy shop a few days later, etc...but that's about it. DW and I may eat out once by ourselves.

We do this for a lot of reasons. One is nutrition. DW and I couldn't and wouldn't eat WDW food all day, every day. We'd get sick. Second is money. I didn't keep all the receipts, but for our recent 17 day long trip, our food bill was right around $700-$750, including the treats we bought. That's to feed our entire family of 5. I hear of people spending $75/person/day...which for us would be $375 per day. For a 17 day trip, that would be $6375 just for food. Even if you spend "just" $50/person/day that's $4250 for food. I can't even fathom spending that, no way, no how. Each to their own and I don't have anything against anyone who does it, but no way would we do it.

EDIT: I will add that putting the stuff together is nowhere near as much work as people probably think it is. DW and I have done it so many times we have it down to a science. The kids pitch in too. Honestly, we spend maybe 20 minutes per day getting ready, if that. The only place we have to carry/lug it is from our car to the tram in the parking lot. After that, it goes in a small umbrella stroller. We park the stroller in a shaded stroller parking space somewhere and leave it. When we're hungry, we come back and grab it and go eat.

 

[Realfoodfans]

When my two were small I would save money by doing breakfast and taking some room snacks - but during the day while out and about we would enjoy our meals. Wouldn't want to carry food around with us.
My DGS is very specific about what he drinks and eats so we always have something of his with us when we go out for the day.

 

[quandrea]

We eat breakfast in the room. We bring snacks and water to the parks. Lunch is usually out, either counter service or a lower priced table service, like The Plaza. I cook most dinners in the villa and I also bake. Dd has a peanut allergy, so baking allows her to have some treats. Like the above poster, eating out for 12 nights would get old fast and would just be too pricey. Eating out on a long weekend is one thing, nearly two weeks, a whole other matter.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We eat breakfast in the room. We bring snacks and water to the parks. Lunch is usually out, either counter service or a lower priced table service, like The Plaza. I cook most dinners in the villa and I also bake. Dd has a peanut allergy, so baking allows her to have some treats. Like the above poster, eating out for 12 nights would get old fast and would just be too pricey. Eating out on a long weekend is one thing, nearly two weeks, a whole other matter.

I agree that the length of a trip would really change the dynamic. For us, we usually go for 5-7 days. I have never been to WDW for more than one week at a time. I do think it is possible to eat healthy meals if you choose the right places and there is a ton of variety between all of the parks and Disney Springs, so for just one week, we never get bored. But a 17 day trip would be another matter entirely.

 

[Klayfish]

I agree that the length of a trip would really change the dynamic. For us, we usually go for 5-7 days. I have never been to WDW for more than one week at a time. I do think it is possible to eat healthy meals if you choose the right places and there is a ton of variety between all of the parks and Disney Springs, so for just one week, we never get bored. But a 17 day trip would be another matter entirely.

Yes, I will give WDW a lot of credit in that they have done a great job over the past several years of offering healthy food choices. No doubt about it. But they're still very expensive. Plus, we're on the very extreme end of the nutrition side of things, especially DW. We're both into weightlifting and nutrition. DW is really into it and is all but ready to compete in a bodybuilding competition. She's very strict on her nutrition, and it's stuff WDW wouldn't offer. I eat a similar style too, but am a bit more flexible.

 

[loves to dive]

The few times I've stayed in a DVC with a full kitchen it sat unused except for making coffee in the morning. I don't cook or do laundry on vacation, I just don't. When my son was younger I would take donuts or muffins for breakfast in the room but just because I was a single mom and money was tight. Some days he would eat it, some days not. Now, nope, we don't eat breakfast in the room. My son rarely eats breakfast so I'll either get a kids meal at the resort or I'll grab a muffin in the park. If I grab a muffin, he might eat half of it because they are way too big for me. If we eat QS, I normally get a kid's meal, but it's not to save money, it's because I don't eat huge meals. When walking around I just get free water from the QS, we don't drink soft drinks or snack between meals very often. If we are eating at a TS, 9 out 10 times I'll get one or two appetizers for my meal, again not to save money but because they are smaller portions and if we eat dessert, we will share one since neither or us are big dessert fans. I go bagless to the parks if what I'm wearing has any pockets so I'm certainly not carrying around food. Heck, we drove 2 1/2 hours to watch the eclipse yesterday and packed a cooler with sandwich stuff, chips, soft drinks, water and apples. We ate at Chick fil A instead but my son did snack on some apples. We are far from rich, as a matter of fact my job just got cut from full time to about 1/4 time but when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation.

 

[osopecoso]

We don't conceal beers in Yeti cups (we don't drink alcohol), nor do we completely pillage the fixins bar at Pecos', but we bring literally 95%+ of our own food into the parks. We're a family of 5, so if we're in the parks for dinner, that's quite a lot of food we bring in. We always stay offsite, so we have a full kitchen like you'd have at home. A typical dinner we bring in will be something like this:

DW - salad with boneless skinless chicken breast, a very measured amount of almonds: all packed in a square Tupperware container

Me - same boneless skinless chicken maybe with bbq sauce on it, put in a soup size Thermos. Peas, again in a soup size Thermos

Our 3 kids - this can really vary. We have them eat healthy in general, but on vacation we certainly let them eat more "junk". So if they had a healthy breakfast and lunch, they'll have a junk dinner. If they had a junk lunch, then dinner is healthy. So it could be boneless skinless chicken, or it could be Hot Pockets or chicken nuggets. 3 servings of peas/carrots/corn/whatever veggie. 3 servings of a dessert...a few cookies, etc...

We also will drink caffeine free diet soda (again, a vacation type treat...we usually only drink it on weekends at home), so we'll probably pack 7 cans of that...1 for each kid, and 2 each for DW and I.

We will usually throw a few snacks in there if we're going to be in the park for long hours...say 2pm to 10pm, or 9am to 4pm.

If we eat lunch in the parks instead of dinner, it's easier...it's sandwiches, salad for DW, fruit and some chips or healthy option (again depending on their other meals) for the kids. We don't drink sodas at lunch, just water, which we get from QS places.

When we're eating in a QS place, we have used their fixings bar, but honestly only for a small bit of mustard or ketchup.

We do buy the kids some treats in the park once in a while...a Mickey bar one day, then let them pick something from Goofy's Candy shop a few days later, etc...but that's about it. DW and I may eat out once by ourselves.

We do this for a lot of reasons. One is nutrition. DW and I couldn't and wouldn't eat WDW food all day, every day. We'd get sick. Second is money. I didn't keep all the receipts, but for our recent 17 day long trip, our food bill was right around $700-$750, including the treats we bought. That's to feed our entire family of 5. I hear of people spending $75/person/day...which for us would be $375 per day. For a 17 day trip, that would be $6375 just for food. Even if you spend "just" $50/person/day that's $4250 for food. I can't even fathom spending that, no way, no how. Each to their own and I don't have anything against anyone who does it, but no way would we do it.

EDIT: I will add that putting the stuff together is nowhere near as much work as people probably think it is. DW and I have done it so many times we have it down to a science. The kids pitch in too. Honestly, we spend maybe 20 minutes per day getting ready, if that. The only place we have to carry/lug it is from our car to the tram in the parking lot. After that, it goes in a small umbrella stroller. We park the stroller in a shaded stroller parking space somewhere and leave it. When we're hungry, we come back and grab it and go eat.

We would never spend 17 days at Disney. 4-5 days at the most. I can see eating breakfast at your place, especially staying offsite.

 

[osopecoso]

I agree that the length of a trip would really change the dynamic. For us, we usually go for 5-7 days. I have never been to WDW for more than one week at a time. I do think it is possible to eat healthy meals if you choose the right places and there is a ton of variety between all of the parks and Disney Springs, so for just one week, we never get bored. But a 17 day trip would be another matter entirely.

There are plenty of healthy options in Disney. I also have never spent an entire week there. I would be bored out of my mind. There are a lot of great options in the general Disney area where you can eat.

 

[osopecoso]

The few times I've stayed in a DVC with a full kitchen it sat unused except for making coffee in the morning. I don't cook or do laundry on vacation, I just don't. When my son was younger I would take donuts or muffins for breakfast in the room but just because I was a single mom and money was tight. Some days he would eat it, some days not. Now, nope, we don't eat breakfast in the room. My son rarely eats breakfast so I'll either get a kids meal at the resort or I'll grab a muffin in the park. If I grab a muffin, he might eat half of it because they are way too big for me. If we eat QS, I normally get a kid's meal, but it's not to save money, it's because I don't eat huge meals. When walking around I just get free water from the QS, we don't drink soft drinks or snack between meals very often. If we are eating at a TS, 9 out 10 times I'll get one or two appetizers for my meal, again not to save money but because they are smaller portions and if we eat dessert, we will share one since neither or us are big dessert fans. I go bagless to the parks if what I'm wearing has any pockets so I'm certainly not carrying around food. Heck, we drove 2 1/2 hours to watch the eclipse yesterday and packed a cooler with sandwich stuff, chips, soft drinks, water and apples. We ate at Chick fil A instead but my son did snack on some apples. We are far from rich, as a matter of fact my job just got cut from full time to about 1/4 time but when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation.

Sounds like us. We drove down to the keys about a month ago. We packed a cooler full of food and was planning on stopping at one of the beaches on the way down to eat. Instead we ate at an awesome seafood restaurant in islamorada. Vacation means relaxation. We don't drink sodas though. Will just buy bottled water (don't like taste of free water there). My wife does not eat a lot so she always shared with my daughter.

 

[danielocha30]

we share when we eat at counter services, order only free cup of water, only one meal will have the fries as a side and we will all share is always plenty, always bring my britta water bottle and snacks for the kids to keep them entertained, we do breakfast and sometimes late dinners at the room, always a light meal consisting in cereal yogurt fruit and sandwiches, we drive to disney and is easy to bring those, I always carry a bag with me to the parks, for medical reasons I need to, and packing a few snacks don't bother me, BUT I'm on vacation if I feel like eating something I do! we try differents snacks also I budget for it but just because we can it doesn't mean we eat all 3 meals out at Disney.
We are a family of 5

 

[DisneyHardin]

I hate to cook and hate to meal plan, so for me, the idea of planning what food I needed to order from a Grocery delivery service and then fixing up sandwiches and stuff each morning to carry in the park sounds like a terrible way to spend my vacation. Even when we are at the beach in the summers with a full kitchen we still eat out most dinners.

When we are at Disney all we generally bring into the park with us is a bottle of water and pre-packaged snacks like 100-cal packs of almonds or little bags of pretzels.

 

[stsomewhere]

I brought cereal from home and just bought milk from the gift shop. We are not big breakfast eaters bu cereal was quick if someone was hungry or as an evening snack.

 

[quandrea]

I hate to cook and hate to meal plan, so for me, the idea of planning what food I needed to order from a Grocery delivery service and then fixing up sandwiches and stuff each morning to carry in the park sounds like a terrible way to spend my vacation. Even when we are at the beach in the summers with a full kitchen we still eat out most dinners.

When we are at Disney all we generally bring into the park with us is a bottle of water and pre-packaged snacks like 100-cal packs of almonds or little bags of pretzels.

See, we are all different. I absolutely love the meal planning and grocery order prior to vacation. It's as much fun as ADRs and fast passes for me. I do acknowledge that I'm a bit strange though.