Earlier this month, hundreds of price increases hit Disney World menus, driving up the cost for popular drinks and snacks.
Now, Mickey Pretzels, DOLE Whips, cocktails, and more are going to cost you a little extra during your next vacation. So how can you avoid letting those price increases ruin your budget? We’ve got some tips to help you out!
First of all, you’ll need to know which food items increased in price recently. We’ve got a LONG post that shows the price increases and where they happened.
Click Here to See the Hundreds of Price Increases in Disney World
As a quick recap, some of the most major price increases happened at pool bars and lounges around the Disney World parks and resorts. A lot of alcoholic drinks went up by $1 or $2.Â
Fan-favorite snacks were also affected, such as Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars, DOLE Whips, Churros, and Mickey Pretzels.
A few restaurants saw major price increases across their entire menus, like 50’s Prime Time Café, Backlot Express, and Tony’s Town Square Restaurant.
Now that you know what happened with those increases, let’s get into how you can avoid them in Disney World.
Do Some Menu Research
Although many snack stands, bars, and restaurants were affected by the price increases, a few did escape with no changes to their menus. If you’re looking for your favorite snack in Disney World, check out a few different locations to see if the price is lower anywhere else.
For example, at Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom, DOLE Whips went up from $4.99 to $5.99, and DOLE Whip Floats increased from $5.99 to $6.99.
But hop on the Monorail at Magic Kingdom for a short ride over to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and you’ll find DOLE Whips and DOLE Whip Floats for their original price of $4.99 and $5.99, respectively, at Pineapple Lanai.
If you’ve got a hankering for a Mickey Pretzel with Cheese Sauce, head to Anaheim Produce in Disney’s Hollywood Studios instead of The Land Cart in EPCOT. The pretzel will cost you $7.50 at The Land but it’ll be $7.19 at Anaheim Produce.
An easy way to find out if your favorite snack is cheaper somewhere else is to search for it in the My Disney Experience app. Hit the little magnifying glass and type in the name of a popular snack. Then, click on some of the restaurants or stands that pop up and check the menu at those locations to see if the prices are different. (That’s how we found out about the different DOLE Whip and Mickey Pretzel prices.)
This might not work for all snacks (it’s probably most useful for the popular ones), but it’s at least worth a shot if it could save you some money.
And if you want to see all of the Disney World restaurant menus in one place, head to our Restaurant Menu Page!
Click Here to See All of the Disney World Restaurant Menus
Share Meals With Larger Portions
A lot of the restaurants in Disney World serve meals with big portion sizes, and we often have to take leftovers home because we can’t finish everything on the plate.
So if you’re heading into a table-service restaurant, do a little bit of research to find out which plates might be shareable portions. We have pictures of food items on each AllEars restaurant’s page, so you can see how big much food you get with certain dishes.
Some menus are even designed for sharing, like the small plates menu at Spice Road Table or the Shareables section at Yak & Yeti Restaurant. Pro Tip: The Ahi Tuna Nachos at Yak & Yeti will feed more than two people. They could probably sustain a small army.
Whether you’re ordering a full meal or just grabbing snacks, a lot of items can be easily shared between two or more people.
And if you’re sharing, that means you’ll get to try a wider variety of things instead of just eating more of one thing.
Click Here to See Some of the Best Shareable Snacks in Disney World
Get Larger Snacks as a Meal
One of our favorite tips for saving money on dining in Disney World is to get large snacks instead of a full meal. We already mentioned that portion sizes are pretty big at most Disney World restaurants, so what is considered a snack might actually be a decent-sized lunch.
For example, we love to have Corn Dog Nuggets from Casey’s Corner in the Magic Kingdom. Since they come with a side of fries, it’s plenty of food for a small lunch.
Other snacks that can work as a meal on their own are the Fresh Fruit Waffle from Sleepy Hollow, Totchos from Woody’s Lunch Box, and a Colossal Pretzel from Pongu Pongu.
Click Here to See Some Quick and Filling Disney World Snacks
Try Some New Snacks
Many of the snacks that got price increases recently were the most popular items, like Mickey Bars and Mickey Pretzels.
So if you venture from the beaten path and try some different snacks in the parks, you might discover some tasty options that aren’t quite as expensive as the main offerings.
We’re not suggesting you completely abandon Mickey bars forever — that would be chaos. But maybe look for some equally tasty treats that didn’t get a price increase recently.
For example, at The Lunching Pad in Magic Kingdom, you can find a Mickey Pretzel with Cheese for the new price of $7.19, but you can also find a Cream Cheese Warm Stuffed Pretzel for $6.79.
This sweet pretzel is one of our favorites in the parks, and it’s cheaper than the normal option (fair warning: it’s not Mickey-shaped).
Click Here to See the Most Underrated Snack in Every Disney World Park
Get Groceries Delivered to Your Hotel Room
We’re ending on one of our best tips for avoiding paying extra for Disney World food: Don’t buy as much Disney World food! It sounds obvious and maybe a little dumb, but hear us out.
We love to eat in Disney World, and we think a lot of guests feel the same way. But if you’re trying to save some money during your vacation, we would suggest bringing some of your own food and saving your cash for your very favorite restaurants and snacks.
You can order groceries from several different locations, such as Amazon Fresh and Walmart, and have them delivered to your Disney World hotel.
For example, you could order breakfast food and dine in the hotel room instead of going to a restaurant for breakfast. Then, you’ll have more money in the budget to spend on other meals or treats (and more time in the parks, if you’re skipping that morning reservation).
If you have your own snacks with you, you’ll be less tempted to buy Disney World snacks just because you’re hungry. You can munch on granola bars between meals instead of buying another Mickey Bar, and then you’ll have more money to spend on your top-priority foods.
And if you love soda, we definitely recommend bringing your own or having it delivered to your hotel room from a grocery store. Soda is pretty cheap at most grocery stores, but one bottle of Coke will cost you about $4.49 at most snack stands in Disney World.
Click Here to Learn How to Get Groceries Delivered to Your Disney World Hotel
We hope that helps you dodge some of those recent price increases in Disney World! Keep following AllEars for more money-saving tips as you plan your upcoming vacation.
Click Here to See 6 Common Disney World Tips You Should Ignore
What’s your favorite snack in Disney World? Let us know in the comments.
Skip all alcoholic drinks at WDW, way too expensive.
Do the parks allow visitors to bring in canned soda?
Hi JHL, you are allowed to bring in canned soda. You are also allowed to bring in snacks. You can not, however, put loose ice in a cooler for your canned soda. Loose ice is on the restricted list.
Thanks, AllEars, Georgia. I knew we could bring in plastic bottles, but I wasn’t sure about cans. Other than Dole Whip and ice cream at L’Artisan des Glaces, we tend to avoid snacks. Not only are they overpriced, but I can never get through the food at meals, must less pile snacks on top.