Tips about Food & Beverage, Kids, Magic Kingdom and Rewards

My #1 tip is to bring a small soft-sided cooler with you into the parks holding several ice packs, drinks and snacks. No alcohol or glass is permitted (except for prescription medicines and baby bottles/food.) All coolers will be inspected when you enter the parks, but they are allowed in as long as they are soft-sided. Once you have used up the contents of the cooler, you will have room to pick up a few pastries from one of the bakeries to have for breakfast the next day if you want. If you have access to a refrigerator, you can "recharge" your ice packs there. Otherwise, you'll have to rely on your ice bucket to recharge them or to bring ice. And of course, you'll need more ice/ice packs in summer than in winter. - Terri Jensen

On the shoestring plan, we have tried many things over the years and these are some that work: Eat a hearty breakfast at your condo or room before going to the parks. It's a long day and food is your biggest expense. Also, if you are staying at a condo or somewhere you have access to a kitchen, utilize it. Keep sandwich material and cook some frozen pizzas and put them in plastic sealer bags in the refrigerator. When you get back from the parks in the evenings, use the trusty old microwave. Instead of eating dinner in the park get a snack and eat back at the condo. This way you save some money and no one has to be burdened with heavy cleanup at the house or condo. - Tom Galloway

Being a Disney Vacation Club member has allowed us to stay in a one- or two-bedroom villa when we visit. We plan our meals ahead of time and purchase groceries for our stay. We ALWAYS eat breakfast in our room and then plan lunches/dinners/snacks based on our itineraries. If we have a car for our trip, we shop at a discount retailer a short distance south of Walt Disney World. If we don't have a car we use a grocery delivery service. Even with the delivery surcharge, it's considerably cheaper than paying for all our meals on the property. - Donna Wisely

Perhaps this money-saving tip is too obvious and/or means only minimal cost savings, but we think it is the greatest. We order food delivered to our condo from Garden Grocer. This helps us save money, in addition to the great convenience. We eat all of our breakfast meals before we go to the parks. By selecting the items online prior to our arrival we are able to carefully select the correct amount of food for the week. We don't forget items at the grocery store, or end up buying too much, or expensive "impulse items" because we are in the "vacation mode." We select breakfast items that are very similar to our meals at home and save our special selections for our dinners at the parks. We love having all of our food items selected before we arrive and delivered right to our condo. - Ross

We split all of our counter service meals. Disney is so generous with portion sizes, that we often find that one meal shared between two is plenty -- and it leaves room for fun snacks between meals. Also, it's not illegal or against the rules to order more food! If, while eating, we think we're going to need more, we just get it (providing the line is short enough). - John and Cassandra Pinheiro

We always bring breakfast items (granola bars, fruit cups) and juice boxes to eat for breakfast as we are getting ready for the day. The night before, we put what we will need for the next day in a bucket of ice or our small cooler so it's cold for morning. This means one fewer meal we have to buy in the parks, but it's also a time-saver, as we are early people and like to be heading for the buses early for park opening. And since it's a light breakfast we are usually ready for lunch around 11 a.m. and beat the big lunch crowds! Bonus! We still usually treat ourselves to one or two special breakfasts during our stay (Tonga toast!) but it's a great way to keep the food budget in check. - Kate

Since milk is not included in the Disney refillable mug program we always purchase the largest container of milk from the resort store. Price is much cheaper than food court. Saves time in the morning since the kids can have some milk and cereal in the room. - Steve

Whatever you do don't spend money on bottled water. It is so expensive and there are water fountains everywhere. This goes for the theme parks and the airport. Simply bring an empty bottle and fill it up as you need it. If you are really hardcore about it you can drink water the whole trip and skip buying drinks at the quick serves entirely. Also think about bringing lots of snacks from home such as granola bars and peanut butter cracker packs that you can eat instead of buying snacks and treats in the parks. You'll save a bunch of money this way. - Chris Kulp

I think it is important to know that you do not have to order a "meal" at a quick service restaurant. If you just want pizza without a salad, or a hamburger without fries, you can have it! And it costs less! - Kathy Jo Horan

Put money you would spend on food onto American Express gift cards, especially if they can be purchased as part of a school fundraiser (http://www.shopwithscrip.com)!. - Cindy

We have learned how to do "Disney on a Dime". All my husband's business expenses go on our Disney Visa Card so that we can get about $1000 a year in reward dollars to put toward our trip (you could also do this with personal expenses). We pay the entire balance every month so there are no charges. - Tammy Wilczek

A way my family saves money is by using Mypoints and cashing in our points for gift cards. I have been able to redeem my points for $50 gift cards to BP and Shell gas, $50 Visa gift cards and gift cards to restaurants, i.e. Rainforest Cafe, Subway, etc. All you have to do is click on emails, take surveys and buy through Mypoints from your favorite retailers to earn points on purchases. For our trip this March, my mom and I cashed in points between the two of us for $200 worth of Visa gift cards that we are using for food, gas and souvenirs in Disney World! - Shannon Mason

We rack up Disney Reward Dollars on the Disney Visa like mad for the time between trips. We recently upgraded to the new premier version of the card, and that has helped immensely! Two percent back on groceries and gas? DONE! We use it like a debit card and just pay it off each month. That really helps! Then we cash it in right before the trip and use it for food, souvenirs, park tickets, etc. - Faith

The best thing we ever did was to get a Starwood American Express card. Starwood Hotels runs the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. You accumulate points through purchases. We haven't paid for lodging on our last two Disney trips. And I think we found out about it on AllEars.Net! - Julie Maguire

Many attractions at WDW are tied to amazing stories, but some of the stories are not as popular as they once were. We recommend watching classic movies like "Swiss Family Robinson" and "Tom Sawyer" so young children can understand, appreciate and experience the attractions. Otherwise, climbing a tree house or rafting to an island may not have the same "magic" as it could. Also, as a mother of boys who are not as familiar with princesses, we watched "Snow White," "Cinderella" and "Little Mermaid" so they are familiar with the stories and could recognize the princesses more easily. - Sandy