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 bring refillable bottles for water into the parks.
We bring snacks, like peanut butter crackers, dried fruits, etc, to help combat the hangry grumpies.
We bring Starbucks bottled drinks and sodas to the hotel room, and drink them in the morning/at night. During the day, at the parks, it's usually just water.
We'll split the stuff we get at Food & Wine, etc. We can try more things that way, without getting too full or spending too much.
We also split meals sometimes, especially at lunch. In the heat, we tend to eat less, so why waste some of two meals, when one + dessert will fill 2 of us up.
We do drive, and go off site to eat a couple of dinners. Usually at Sweet Tomatoes, to help get those veggies in, or at places we don't have close to home, like Del Taco.
We do still eat in the parks, and get snacks.
ETA: we bring fruit and breakfast pastries, and do those a few times for breakfast on the way to the parks, then eat an early lunch. Sometimes those are for lunch, as we've done a late big breakfast. In those cases, we do an early dinner. We tend to only eat 2 meals a day when at the parks, whether at the park or offsite.