By Unless you’re a cyborg, you will eat during your Walt Disney World vacation. Also, we’re admittedly not that clear on how cyborgs work. So, they may require sustenance, too.
Anyway, the point is that you must determine your food budget before you go. We’ll discuss budgeting in another section, but for right now, let’s focus on ways to shave that budget.
Here’s how to save money on food at Disney World. As a preface, we don’t necessarily recommend any of these strategies, as we believe you should splurge while on vacation. And Disney’s theme park food is probably better than anything you’ve eaten this month.
Still, we understand that you want to save money somewhere. That’s definitely possible by eating more economically at Disney World. Here are a few tips for doing that.
Money-Saving Tips
One of the oldest money-saving tips at Disney World has grown easier and less awkward due to the invention of Mobile Ordering. Historically, adults would order from the kid’s menu.
Cast Members would glance warily at grown-ups who pretended to have conversations with children who clearly weren’t there…or maybe even real. Adults put up this façade to eat from the cheaper menu, as kids’ meals cost substantially less.
Then, we have the other consideration, which is that Disney portions are too big for many adults. We confess that we’ve sometimes guiltily stared at our plates after a meal has ended. It can feel a bit wasteful ordering from the adult menu.
Nowadays, Mobile Ordering removes the social awkwardness of this move. You can load the app, choose your cheap meal, and retrieve it at a designated location. There’s a real chance you won’t even interact with a Cast Member. If you do, they won’t know what you ordered. So, you choose kids’ menu foods without any potential embarrassment.
This idea works for a second reason as well. Some entrees are often unavailable on the adult menu. However, you’ll find them on the kids’ menu, which is great when you want chicken nuggets or pizza. So, you’re saving money while ordering some comfort food.
That’s only one cheap trick at Disney. You can also bring your own food to the parks. Remarkably, Disney has no problem with this, as it wants guests to be happy.
While bringing food with you on your vacation isn’t ideal, it’s definitely something you can do, and it works well with snacks that don’t require refrigeration. Our one word of caution would be to avoid anything that may spoil in extreme heat or by getting soggy. Plastic baggies are a must for such foods, but even they’re susceptible to heat.
Another approach you could take, rather than bringing your own food, would be to order some for delivery to your home resort. Disney won’t allow delivery services to bring your food to your room. It must go through Bell Services, or you can meet the delivery person at the main lobby.
When you order food delivery, you can save a fortune on some items such as bottled water and other beverages. The drawback is that you’ll lug them around the parks, which isn’t ideal. You’ll need a spillproof container to avoid unpleasantness.
Still, the financial savings are tremendous. We regularly order bottled water deliveries. Even after the Bell Services tip, we come out way ahead.
In fact, you could easily order delivery for every meal if so inclined. Again, it’s not something we would do, but most local restaurants offer cheaper prices than Disney. The catch is that their food isn’t as good as Disney’s, but you can live with that.
Should you prefer a compromise between the two extremes, we’d suggest that you order breakfast food items. You can even refrigerate those since your room will come with at least a mini-fridge.
Breakfast at Disney can prove quite costly, so we advise this strategy to our friends anyway. Plus, we think it’s a good idea to eat breakfast in the room just in case something doesn’t sit well.
The logical extreme version of this strategy would be to pick a villa, as these rooms include full-sized kitchens. You can easily cook whatever you want in your hotel room.
We don’t love this idea because we barely cook at home and would NEVER do it on vacation. Everyone feels differently about this topic, though. Anyone who prefers home-cooked meals will love this idea.
Another thing that couples and larger groups can do is share meals. Since the Disney portions are so big, it’s a perfectly reasonable choice for guests to save money this way.
We’ll note that this tactic is even possible at many Table Service restaurants, as the servers don’t care. However, character meals and other buffets charge per guest. So, this tactic won’t work at those establishments. It’s fine everywhere else at Disney, though.
Another option is the Disney Dining Plan, especially if you book a vacation package that includes the free version. No other tip we offer here could possibly compete with free.
Even when you pay out of pocket for the Disney Dining Plan, you’re likely to save money, presuming you understand the best places to eat. Character meals prove especially savvy through the dining plan since many of them cost nearly as much as the dining plan itself on a given day.
Our next suggestion is one you’ll do no matter what. When EPCOT hosts food festivals, you’ll hear the siren song of kiosks and want to grab a bite. Don’t think small here.
The festival booths offer the cheapest food at Disney World, and they definitely work as full meals in many instances. As such, you can load up on food here and save a fortune. The catch is that you have to be at EPCOT to take this approach.
So, we’ll point out the fact that all four Disney theme parks offer walk-up kiosks, and the food at these places is typically cheaper than the restaurants with four walls and a roof. Target these places to save a quick buck at the various theme parks.
Finally, a surprising dining option would require you to travel to Disney Springs frequently. Presuming you plan to do that anyway, you’ll quickly discover the value of competition.
Most of the Disney Springs eateries aren’t Disney establishments; they’re third-party owned and operated…and the rent’s not cheap here. They need a steady amount of foot traffic to turn a profit.
For this reason, many of the restaurants here offer competitive pricing, the kind you won’t find at the various theme parks. Disney owns a virtual monopoly there, with only a handful of third-party restaurants in operation. So, the pricing is just plain better at Disney Springs.
Also, when you really want to save money, you’ll find a food truck court that features plenty of dining options. Other than the EPCOT festivals, it’s arguably the most affordable place to eat at Disney World. Oh, and we’re obligated to mention Earl of Sandwich. It’s been a penny-pincher’s icon for many years now. What’s better than cheap sandwiches?