Affordable Disney: Save on Dining by Sharing!

Going to Walt Disney World can be quite expensive between the passes and the hotel, to say nothing of transportation there and back. And of course, you have to feed everyone. Happily there are ways to save on your food, and one of them is by sharing! I have found that most meals can be split easily. Quick service locations especially provide plenty of food that can be shared between an adult and a child and even 2 adults in many cases.

On a recent trip with just my husband and me, we decided to see what all we could try and still be sensible with the food budget. This turned out to be easy, much easier then we even thought it would be.

Breakfast was eaten at the food court at Art of Animation each morning. We would walk down, fill our purchased mugs with coffee and we each would grab something easy for breakfast. I found toast for .79 for whole wheat or a bagel for slightly more. Peanut butter or cream cheese was available at the drink station and they even have toasters for your bread! My husband would grab a bowl of cereal and milk or sweet Danish. On a past trip we even brought pop tarts for the kids from home. Hot water is available at no charge on the drink station. Just bring a bowl or use disposable coffee cups and some instant oatmeal. The food courts have microwaves and toasters available so use your imagination on things you can bring from home! Money saved!

Because of the smaller breakfast, we would stop and split something else small about mid morning, usually around 11 when most things were opening for lunch. For example, in Animal Kingdom we found a counter service where we could get 2 egg rolls. Those and a drink was plenty to split. If you want to take that a step further – water is available in a cup with ice, free of charge at all counter service or restaurants. Doesn’t get simpler than that! Eating before lunch, we avoided the lunch crowd and we were fine until mid afternoon.

Mid-afternoon we would split an entrée and order water. Again, we missed the lunch crowd and we were before the dinner crowd. Win-Win!

Our dinners were usually something at the food court that we split. I did get 2 pieces of Italian bread with pesto and cheese one evening, which was less than $6 and was really good. It wasn’t so much that I felt miserable before bed either.

I am sure most people have heard that you need to work up to walking like you will in Walt Disney World. But I also think you need to really think about how to handle meals and get used to a different meal time while in Disney also. If you are more used to large meals 3 times a day, then make sure you plan for that, since those will definitely cost more than snacks during the day. One thing you don’t want to do, is to starve yourself or eat too much. Neither will make for a good time!

How do you handle meals while at Walt Disney World?

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Debbie and her husband live in Collegedale, TN where her youngest son is going to college. She is a huge Disney fan who dreams of someday retiring and working as a tour guide at Walt Disney World. She has enjoyed many trips to WDW with children, grandchildren and sometimes adults only. It is her ultimate goal to make sure everyone who visits WDW has the same magical time that she enjoys every time she visits.

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