I think about Disney vacations every day, and one of the biggest thoughts constantly running through my mind is, “How can I save money?” For what you will spend on your vacation, you could have purchased a big screen TV or a used car. Lots of people are looking for ways to cut those vacation expenses down.
I personally can’t do a lot about accommodations or park tickets. We either stay in a DVC resort or in a cheap hotel. I have annual passes, and I can’t get my per-day price any lower, unless I visited more days (Are you reading this honey?! More days = less money per day on tickets. Hint, hint!) So I work on saving money with my meals. Now if you do the Disney Dining Plan, or eat a lot of table service meals even without the DDP, these tips may not help you a lot. But if you are looking to shave a little $$ off the cost of your vacation, here’s a couple of things that have worked well for my family.
1) Eat Breakfast in your room.
Years ago, while staying at the All Star Music resort, my husband popped over to the food court and picked up breakfast for two adults and three kids. $60. Three meals like that each day with some snacks, and I’ll easily go over $200 a day in food. Ouch!
So we started bringing a cooler and boxes of cereal, picking up some milk, and eating cereal in the room. Lots of resort rooms have mini-fridges, which can make things even easier. 3 boxes of mini-wheats, 2 gallons of milk, and my daily breakfast total each day can be under $7 for a family of five. That leaves more money for snacks.
The snack I want to buy with all that savings?
Lovin’ Some Disney Food: What is the Greatest $3.99 Snack You May Have Missed?
2) Share a snack.
Speaking of snacks…I am a huge Disney snacker. I talk about the snacks I eat like people discuss meals at the California Grill. Snacks are actually some of the more affordable items at Disney. Cupcakes are usually $3.99, some pastries are as low as $2.49, and ice cream is usually less than $5.00. For a family of five, 5 snacks and 3-5 drinks will cost upwards of $35 each time you make a pit stop at the bakery on Main Street.
And that is about what one meal at the California Grill will cost…check out these prices.
Disney’s California Grill at the Contemporary Resort: Is it Worth the Big Buck$?
But do you really need to eat the entire cupcake yourself?
I’ve done it, multiple times, and what starts out as a glorious snacking experience usually turns sour as I am still greedily licking the last of the icing off my fingers.
So share.
My kids and I formulated a plan to split our snacks in thirds, or even fourths, so we could have just a taste. This is not a meal, this is a snack. You’re not eating this to get full – well, some of you are – but to experience the joy of snacking at Disney.
So share. Even if you cut that muffin in half, you can still reduce the cost of your food bill, and with that savings, maybe you can pick up a midnight snack!
Speaking of muffins and snacks, this is the place to get some great snacks, usually without the crazy theme park crowds.
The Sweet Spot You Absolutely Can’t Miss at Downtown Disney
3) When you can, drink water.
Soft drinks come with certain meals, but when you can, choose water. This one is hard for me, because I love an ice-cold Coke with my fast food. But in the summer, when it feels like it’s 107 degrees in the shade, I really need water, and so do my kids. Now, I’ll be the first one to say that Disney water fountain water tastes terrible. Or at least I think so, and so does every other member of my family.
- Last summer, we froze water in water bottles, hauled these in the parks with us, and this made the water fountain re-fills taste a bit better.
- Mio, which you can purchase at most any grocery store, also helps a little bit as well, although at times this just tasted like sweet, yucky water fountain water.
- You can get cups of ice or ice water from many Disney snack stands and restaurants upon request. I wind up turning to the water fountain when these lines are too long to wait in.
Buying fresh bottles of Disney water adds up over time, so maybe that water fountain water will get the job done, if you are out to save money. I can always drink Voss water when I get home, and there it’s half the cost.
Looking to Save Money on Food at Walt Disney World? Here’s Three MORE Simple Tips
I know a lot of people go on vacation and want to take a vacation from what they do every day, what they eat every day. But if you’re cutting corners and saving pennies to get to Orlando in the first place, hopefully these tips will help you out. If you have any money-saving tips that work well for your family, be sure to leave us some comments.
Thanks for coming along for a photographical Disney ride, and we’ll see some of you at the water fountains!
Amanda
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My tip is about drinking water. We have a hydration backpack. It has a water bladder in it. In the morning, we fill it up with ice and a flavoring packet called true lemon. It makes it taste like lemonade. We walk and drink all day out of that. Also, instead of using the water fountains- any vendor will give you a cold cup of ice water just for the asking! We get several cups of ice and use them to refill our backpack bladder. One of the benefits of the backpack is snack storage that you bring from home and all that ice keeps you cool while it’s on your back 🙂
Ohhh, like these!! If I run another follow-up and use these, I will be sure to credit you. Thanks so much for stopping by! Part 2 runs tomorrow.
I have done all these suggestions as we go about once a year and I have 3 hungry teenagers, and a 9 year old. Food costs can add up very fast. Another thing I have done is visit Restaurants.com on a regular basis. There are a number of on property restaurants that participate. Generally, I have found restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin there, as well as House of Blues in Downtown Disney. Gratuity is automatically figured in if you go this route, but it is a great way to get a $100 meal for $40. Restaurant deals come and go, so checking back once a month is what I would recommend. HOB dropped off shortly after I bought it, so if you see that one, I would grab it.
Also, it is good to note that there is nothing wrong with bringing in a cooler! Folks bring in coolers of all sizes, so there no “shame” so to speak. Disney is very accommodating in this regard We did this the last time. We had bfast in the room, and brought sandwiches for lunch. This made meals SO MUCH more affordable. We went at Christmas time and broke the bank on my vacation points so we really wanted to capitalize on savings as much as possible.
For us, on a non-dining plan trip- a small pre-park breakfast works well, then we do our major meal at lunch when it’s a little cheaper then we do grazing/counter service for dinner.
Yup, I hear ya! That’s a good idea. Food just kills us in Orlando. Thanks for stopping by!! A.
If you have a husband like mine he needs to what I call de-Disney for a while each day and since I use a pin code for all our vacations we don’t qualify for free dining anyhow but I.came up with a “layaway” dining plan on my own. If you still want to eat at Disney but have a room discount then I have started buying disney gift cards on a regular basis and usuually can have enough of those on hand. We also go outside of Disney to the strip of restaurants clise to PO resort so i buy gift cards to Chilis, Olive garden, Dennys , Poppa john, etc. Since i book a year in advance I have plenty of time to save up. Hope this helps someone!
I hear that the Value Resorts’ rooms now all have mini refrigerators?
With free ice machines at every resort, we utilize our cooler for more than just breakfast! We pack-in lunches most days, too. Our family of 6 including 4 teenagers just kills the budget on food! We keep the lunches in a separate cold bag in the car, and one person goes back to get it while the others ride something that person is okay to skip. We then picnic lunch and have money for special treats in the afternoon. On the days we don’t pack lunches we pack snacks. Works for us and saves a TON of money!
Although I don’t have a family yet I’m a college kid who does solo trips to disney all the time. Since I’m picky about eating cold food I’ll buy a kids meal for lunch or dinner instead of an adult meal. I pay half price and really don’t lose that much food since I’m always throwing out food when I get an adult meal.
That is great!!!
My 10 year old daughter and I are not huge eaters either, we are grazers. We will get an adult meal and an extra side and share it all. It works well for us. 🙂
This is why I can’t do buffets- a $40 meal is a total waste on me and all my kids. Thanks for reading!
Amanda
To help with the taste of the water, I got Rubbermaid reusable water bottles that have a filter in them. When we went to Magic Kingdom last week, we just stopped at the counter service and got 2 large cups of ice water and filled them up. The water was better tasting this way. I did happen to buy the water bottles at Publix when they were on sale buy one get one free. Since it was about 95 degrees that day, we filled up about 4 or 5 times 🙂
I totlly agree- counter service water tastes great any time. But sometimes I’m too lazy/busy to stand in line to get that free cup, and some places will only give you ice, which still takes me back to the water fountains. I suppose they are an acquired taste…
Thanks for reading!
Amanda
whenever I’ve gone to disney, I’ve stayed at the buena vista hotel. it’s about 100 per night and the rooms have a kitchen, 2 bedrooms and 3 beds. (one master, one kids room with two twin beds). I always bring pre-made meals (muffins, cereal, or frozen pancakes/waffles for breakfast, and nice dinners all packed up in a cooler) from home and whatever i need last minute i pick up at a grocery store (publix) nearby. We bring water bottles into the park along with packed lunches and snacks. It’s never been a problem. I love the snacks at disney, but i limit myself to having maybe 1 or two and sharing with my family. This cuts down on the cost by a TON. I make sure to make my family’s favorites a day or two before our trip so we still get that “vacation from what we normally eat” feeling too :]
We are thinking of staying in a residence inn the next time we go. I also think we are going to drive the 1300 miles to get there. If that is the case, I’m bringing one of my crockpots. my pancake maker, and my sandwich maker.
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