10 Tips To Save Money On Food At Disney World

Disney is EXPENSIVE but they are also really great at getting you to spend money. You are walking around all day and that tends to build up an appetite that Disney is ready to satiate with yummy snacks and treats, fancy dining, and more! Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE eating at Disney. Some of the best food we’ve ever had was at Disney, but we also know that breaking the bank isn’t fun either.

These are a few tricks to help you save some money but still enjoy what Disney has to offer.

Share Everything

We especially take advantage of this trick on all of our tricks and it does help quite a bit! The meal portions at Disney (and often times the snacks) are huge. I can definitely finish a full meal by myself, but I usually regret it later from how overly full I get.

Sharing food is a great way to not waste leftovers and it literally cuts your costs in half! This means that you also won’t be going too off track with your diet as well. But in our case, it just means that we have room to try a few more snacks throughout the day!

Eat Snacks as Meals

Speaking of snacks, this is another great way to save some money! As I mentioned before, the portions at Disney are usually pretty big and you can even get away with eating a snack as a meal! Who wouldn’t want a Mickey Pretzel with Cheese for Lunch or even Ice Cream for Dinner!

Of course there are also some more substantial snacks out there like loaded fries or tots and mac and cheese, but the great thing about a Disney Vacation is that it’s vacation and you can do whatever you want!

Limit How Many Sit Down Restaurants You Do

There are so many incredible restaurants on Disney property, but unfortunately many of them come with a hefty price tag. It can be tempting to want to try one every day of your trip, but that means you will be spending anywhere from $30-70 a plate depending on where you eat! That adds up QUICK!

Instead, we recommend picking one or two of these sit down restaurants for a special dinner. That way you still get to experience some nicer dining, but you aren’t spending loads of money every night.

Sit Down Dining does also take a long time, so plan on spending at least an hour, sometimes two at these dining locations. This can eat up into your park time, so the fewer of these you book, the more park time you have! (You can also be crazy people like us and book the latest reservation time after the parks close.)

Bring Your Own Breakfast

Let’s be real, breakfast is pretty much the same wherever you go with a few exceptions. Why not save your money for a meal that you REALLY want instead of eggs and bacon.

We suggest bringing breakfast items like cereal, oatmeal, or granola bars and some fruit that you can enjoy in your room or while waiting in line for rope drop. You can always ship items to your resort or have groceries delivered once you arrive.

This is going to help save you some money and it will let you get to the rides even quicker in the morning!

BONUS: You can even bring some snacks to enjoy in the parks while you are between meals if you don’t want to spend a ton of money on Disney Snacks.

Don’t get the dining plan if you don’t eat alot

People are either die hard Dining Plan Fans or super against it. I say it depends on your family and your needs. If you do not eat a ton of food throughout the day, this simply is not going to be a great deal for you. You will either find yourself overstuffing yourself to try and get your money’s worth or wasting credits on souvenir snacks at the end of your trip because you didn’t use them all.

The convenience of the Dining Plan is really great and we love that we have the flexibility to essentially get whatever we want, but we always find that we spend waaaay less when we just pay out of pocket for our food.

Either way, the best tip is to plan your meals ahead of time so that you know you will stay on track either way.

Eat at the lounges or bars

This is a great hack if you want to try one of those signature dining locations but don’t want to get a reservation or eat a whole meal there. Many signature restaurants have a lounge or bar attached with of course fun drinks, but they also will often have some of the food offerings from the restaurant! Since they share a kitchen, they make it easy to enjoy some of the popular dishes from the restaurant.

Ever heard of the famous Cobb Salad from The Hollywood Brown Derby? Well you can get that SAME salad at the Brown Derby Lounge! This won’t necessarily save you tons of money, but if you want to share a sample from the restaurant and maybe a drink, it’s definitely cheaper than a full blown meal at the restaurant AND you oftentimes don’t need a reservation!

Get a Kid’s Meal

Did you know that you can order off the kids menus even if you are not a child? Now many of the sit down restaurants may have varying rules on this, but you can definitely do this at any Quick Service location!

We tried this out when we had breakfast at Primo Piatto. We wanted to get a little more protein to go with our pancakes, but didn’t want to pay another $10 for it. Instead, we ordered the kid’s version for around $6 and it was just a slightly smaller portion but also included a drink and a choice of fruit or yogurt!

This was perfect if you aren’t crazy hungry and we’ve found that most kids meals come with and extra side and a drink, which makes it a great deal!

Do a breakfast or brunch buffet - bonus if it has characters

If a character meal is a must for you, consider a character breakfast! They are often cheaper and the buffet or all you care to eat style meals will fill you up to keep you going for most of the day!

Having a good large meal in the morning or even late morning means that you might be able to save some money by skipping lunch and then enjoying a less expensive dinner since you already had a sit down meal that day.

I don’t know that I would recommend doing this every day, but if you had a restaurant or two that you wanted to try but the lunch or dinner offering was a little too spendy, breakfast may be a great alternative!

Utilize Free Water

GUYS!!! Ice water is FREE at all Quick Service locations. Don’t buy expensive water bottles or waste your snack credits on them. When you go to get your food, just ask for a few ice waters.

You can always bring your refillable water bottles and refill them at any drink fountain around the park. Plus this is less waste!

PRO TIP: If you go to the Starbucks location at any of the parks, you can ask for a Venti Ice water and you will get a giant cup of refreshing cold water to enjoy! Did I mention, IT’S FREE!!!

Consider eating at Disney Springs

There are tons and tons of amazing restaurants ind Disney Springs, but there are also some really great deals! Blaze and Chicken Guy are really popular and there are even some Food Trucks with great eats and great prices.

You do have to leave the parks, but the great thing is that there’s still tons to explore with all the shops and experiences at the Springs!

Overall, you will often find that the restaurants here are a little cheaper than the parks or resorts, even at the signature dining locations. This means this is a great place to try some amazing food, but also save a few bucks!

The biggest tip is to make sure you think ahead and make a list of the top things you want to eat. This will help you stay on track with your budget and that little bit of research will help you find some of the best things to try on your vacation!