Eating in the parks on a budget

[AustinTink]

Does your family like bread? We are a family of 6 and one of our favorite snacks is a large loaf of sourdough bread from the bread factory at DCA - usually shaped like a Mickey head. Go inside and you can get butter to go with it. We all get pretty full for less than $10. It works great if you want to eat an early breakfast and a late lunch.

That's a favorite of ours, too. If you go next door to Ghiradelli and get some of their free samples of chocolate caramel squares, they go divinely on a piece of sourdough bread. That's my pro tip for the day.

 

[sjmac42]

Another thing is to have a BIG breakfast before you get to the parks. It is the most important meal of the day of course
Bringing your own snacks is probably one of the best tips mentioned in the thread, those $5 plus snacks really add up during the day. Sharing meals or ordering an appetiser instead of an entree for everyone is another great tip mentioned in the thread.
if you have a few days in the parks, leaving after lunch and doing something else for dinner helps as well. Or if it’s not a crazy busy time, a day or 2 arriving after lunch. Maybe getting an extra day or 2 on your ticket will be paid for by the money you save doing a couple of partial days at DL along with any full days you had planned.
All the best.

 

[JB203]

Is there anywhere that serves clam chowder that is not served in a bread bowl? We prefer just the chowder, so don’t feel the added expense of the bread bowl is necessary.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

That's a favorite of ours, too. If you go next door to Ghiradelli and get some of their free samples of chocolate caramel squares, they go divinely on a piece of sourdough bread. That's my pro tip for the day.

Does Ghirardelli still give the samples for free? Someone posted recently that the samples are now at the registers and you are required to purchase something first to receive one.

 

[starry_solo]

Is there anywhere that serves clam chowder that is not served in a bread bowl? We prefer just the chowder, so don’t feel the added expense of the bread bowl is necessary.

I think French Market? It's been so long that I've had chowder without a bread bowl that I've forgotten

 

[Paigesmom2013]

Yes, definitely going to have to drink water at meals. We are pop fiends but it's not worth the price. But does the water taste weird like it does at wdw?

 

[disneychrista]

Yes, definitely going to have to drink water at meals. We are pop fiends but it's not worth the price. But does the water taste weird like it does at wdw?

Better than WDW for sure. But it is best ICE COLD.

 

[dieumeye]

Does Ghirardelli still give the samples for free? Someone posted recently that the samples are now at the registers and you are required to purchase something first to receive one.

I rarely see anyone handing out samples at the door anymore, but I’ve been to the Ghirardelli many times this year and have always been able to get a sample from the people at the register. Sometimes they offer it, sometimes I’ve had to ask, and I have not always purchased something. Although, with Halloweentime and the Festival of Holidays, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been in there to get one.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I rarely see anyone handing out samples at the door anymore, but I’ve been to the Ghirardelli many times this year and have always been able to get a sample from the people at the register. Sometimes they offer it, sometimes I’ve had to ask, and I have not always purchased something. Although, with Halloweentime and the Festival of Holidays, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been in there to get one.

I remember reading that post -- maybe right before or at the start of Halloween Time? -- but haven't been able to test it out in person, and no one else has corroborated yet. We did ask for samples when Holiday Time started, but we had purchased something, too, so I don't know if we would have received the samples anyway.

 

[AustinTink]

Does Ghirardelli still give the samples for free? Someone posted recently that the samples are now at the registers and you are required to purchase something first to receive one.

Well that makes me sad. We skipped going to Disney last summer and went to Europe instead. So, it's been a year and a half since our last trip. I had no idea.

 

[felice]

When we're visiting DLR / DCA and staying offsite as we usually do, in terms of evening meals we tend to rely on what we can order in to the hotel as a delivery to our room. Although in more recent years we have been able to sample the food available at the parks and it is decent, for the price you pay.

Have also heard good things about Earl of Sandwich but have not eaten there as of yet. Must change that during our upcoming trip from the UK in a few weeks

In Downtown Disney, Catal Restaurant have good lunch deals available but the prices may be a little bit high for some. Quality though is very good in general and service is superb. Yep the evening meals there are pricey but worth it; the service levels are topnotch and the food quality is awesome.

 

[peachdragon]

Does Ghirardelli still give the samples for free? Someone posted recently that the samples are now at the registers and you are required to purchase something first to receive one.

Last weekend there was someone at the door handing our samples, but it was the Christmas peppermint ones, so maybe that’s why.

 

[Colleen27]

Compared to WDW, which is our usual park, we thought the food at DLR was quite affordable and quite tasty. It is also MUCH better suited to snacking your way around, with the more compact park layouts, the ease of the mobile ordering at so many places, and a ton of really good QS selections.

A lot of the QS menu items we tried were large enough to share. The clam chowder in a bread bowl from Pacific Wharf in DCA and the jambalaya from French Market in DL ($15) were both easily enough for two and, with a side dish, plenty for three (myself, DD18 and DD11, so no tiny kids with tiny appetites). I really liked the food court type setup where Pacific Wharf is - we got the clam chowder from PW ($12) and an order of pot stickers from Lucky Fortune Cookery ($7) Bengal BBQ was pretty good too - we each ordered a skewer and split the hummus trio, and that made for a nice lunch for around $25. We also shared snacks at quite a few places - that raspberry Mickey macaron at Jolly Holiday Bakery actually tastes even better than it looks! - and generally spent under $10 on those stops.

Looking back on my notes, we spent $65 on food in the parks on our DCA day (for lunch, dinner and a snack - we had breakfast in our room) and $82 on our DLR day (lunch, dinner and bakery & Dole Whip treats). We might have been able to do a bit better outside the parks, but the in-park mark-up didn't feel anything like as bad as WDW (and the food was better!) so in the end we didn't bother leaving.

The biggest money-saver for us was sticking to free ice water, since we were there in August and are really not accustomed to the dehydrating power of "dry heat". Sodas would have added $10-15 to every meal!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Yes, definitely going to have to drink water at meals. We are pop fiends but it's not worth the price. But does the water taste weird like it does at wdw?

Any of the CS places which use a soda fountain for the cups of ice water will be giving you filtered water. It should taste fine. The water fountains outside? Not so fine. You can refill water bottles using the free cups of filtered ice water or use the filtered spigots located at certain CS locations, e.g. RDZ, Mint Julep Bar, Galactic Grill, etc.
Some people bring the little packets of Crystal Light (or equivalent flavoring) to put in their water bottles because they like that taste better.

Last weekend there was someone at the door handing our samples, but it was the Christmas peppermint ones, so maybe that’s why.

The last time we saw a CM handing out free samples was during the OBB, so we weren't sure if it was party specific.

 

[Whistlebee]

1. Share meals
2. Share snacks
3. Drink water
4. Bring in some of your own snacks. We always bring in our own trail mix.
5. If you have a big group I find the Family size pizza at Naples to be an amazing deal. Add on their family size salad (order 1 salad less than you’ll need, portions are large). I think this is one of the best deals at Disney!

 

[Colleen27]

Yes, definitely going to have to drink water at meals. We are pop fiends but it's not worth the price. But does the water taste weird like it does at wdw?

Not at all. The tap water in Anaheim just tastes like generic municipal tap water, not bad and better iced than straight from the sink or an uncooled water fountain, but drinkable either way. It doesn't have that gross taste that Orlando-area water does.

 

[dieumeye]

I remember reading that post -- maybe right before or at the start of Halloween Time? -- but haven't been able to test it out in person, and no one else has corroborated yet. We did ask for samples when Holiday Time started, but we had purchased something, too, so I don't know if we would have received the samples anyway.

FYI I just walked into Ghirardelli (late morning, Black Friday) and was immediately offered a free sample by the person at the register - Peppermint Bark - and I didn’t ask for it and I didn’t buy anything.

 

[Creen14]

We went to the Walgreens and picked up a few things to keep in our room for breakfast. Yogurt, cheese strings, hard boiled eggs, snacks, etc. For lunch we usually got one adult meal and one kid meal and just split it among the three of us (two adults and one four year old). We always ate dinner out of the park at either the Garden Walk, Downtown Disney or Panera Bread.

 

[mouschievous]

We didn't go, but when we were there last year the rest of our family (4 adults, 4 kids) went to the Denny's that's right outside the park and said the prices were way cheaper and the service was relatively speedy.

We did an Amazon Prime grocery delivery and that worked really well for us. We packed lunches and snacks and just ate when we felt like it in the parks. The only meal we purchased was dinner each night.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

FYI I just walked into Ghirardelli (late morning, Black Friday) and was immediately offered a free sample by the person at the register - Peppermint Bark - and I didn’t ask for it and I didn’t buy anything.

We will have to ask about this the next time we stop by. I hope that this is a general policy change, not just something for the holiday season. The original change to stop giving out the free samples was a decision that affected other locations because the shop by the El Capitan also stopped giving out the samples. Maybe there were enough complaints to reverse that decision?