Tips about Food & Beverage and Port Orleans French Quarter

My wife and I have found a great way to save money on food if you have a car or the car service will make a grocery stop. We drive out to the Publix supermarket on Rte 192. The way we save on water is we buy several gallon jugs of Publix water and then a 50 oz bottle of the same water. We continue to refill the smaller bottle from the gallon jugs. Using the 50 oz bottle gives you a good supply of water for a good part of the day and saves a fortune by not having to pay the high theme park prices for a small bottle of water. The water may not be ice cold but it is very cheap. - Andy & Denise

If you are making your own drinks adding sugar or Kool-Aid powder to gallon water jugs, be sure to pack a funnel from home. I did this on the last trip and it made adding the powder and sugar to the containers a cinch! - Wendy Wilson

When we went to WDW on vacation last year, I packed one suitcase full of snacks and non-perishable food (i.e. mini cereal boxes, cereal bars, various pre-packaged snack packs, juice boxes). Our entire family was able to eat a quick breakfast before going to the parks, have mid-day park munchies, and late evening snacks. The suitcase was then used to bring home dirty laundry at the end of the trip. - Julie Duffy

My wife and I like to do a "monorail meal" when we visit: We get a salad at the Polynesian, get on the monorail, then stop at Grand Floridian for the main course. Then we get back on the monorail, and stop at the Contemporary for dessert. This is for people who have visited often, want to spend time out of the parks, spend a little shopping time in each hotel and just take your time. Start early! - Ford Adam

ANIMAL KINGDOM - A lot of people just run right by Pizzafari on the way to the Safari. My friends had been there 3 times and never knew what Pizzafari even was. The building blends in with the tropical plants and trees. It is awesome inside. The most themed quick food restaurant I have seen in Disney World. When you finally take your eyes off the ceiling, floors and walls (I love the snails and frogs!) you will notice they have great food for sale. - Elaine Taddeo

On www.mcdonalds.com, there is a trip planning feature that will map your route and give you the locations of all McDonald's within even .5 miles. It also tells you if there is a PlayPlace and Drive-Thru. This is invaluable for those of us driving two 4-year-olds for 24+ hours. Go to the restaurant locator and scroll down to Trip Planner. - Laurie

I think a lot of times people forget (or do not know) that there is a Wal-Mart pretty close to WDW, in Kissimmee. We have been there on many of our trips, and they have a lot of great Disney T-shirts and souvenirs, not to mention that they're one of the cheapest places to buy food and sunscreen. - Christy R. Tripp

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you're driving from the airport and want a grocery stop, be sure to check out our directions page, which includes area stores: http://allears.net/pl/directions.php

Food & BeverageSouvenirs

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The portions at full service restaurants are typically very large. We order 1 or 2 appetizers and a dessert, or one entree and one appetizer and share. We get plenty to eat and save quite a bit on the food budget. In addition, there are no leftovers to tote around the park! - Timeless Tip o' the Week brought to you bywww.themouseforless.com and Mickey Birt

If you like a big breakfast, the best deal in the parks is at the Trail's End Buffeteria at Fort Wilderness. It has the same general menu as many of the other buffets, but no characters, plus the price is only $15.99 per adult! Also, if you want the food at Hoop-De-Doo and don't want to pay $50+ per person to go, the supper menu at Trail's End is EXACTLY the same food for about $23 per adult. - Timeless Tip o' the Week brought to you by www.themouseforless.com and Mickey Birt

Save money by ordering water instead of sodas when you dine. It's better for you, and the savings can allow you to purchase one or more desserts to split. Everyone knows Disney has great desserts! - Jane

Bring a soft-sided cooler for your room and fill it with ice from the ice machines to keep beverages and food cold. If you use large zip-top bags to hold the ice, you will keep the contents dry and make it easier to change the ice. This is a way you can keep the fixings for a quick, inexpensive breakfast in the room, and beer or wine for the evening. - Daisimae

We like to do the character meals not only for the characters, but for the food as well. Many of the meals are buffet style, and that's great for children (and hungry men!). You know up front what it's going to cost. You're not limited to choosing one entree, and you don't need to wait to be served. The entertainment is just the "icing on the cake"! To me, these are plenty of reasons to do more than one character meal. It really makes you feel like you're in Disney!- Angela

We like to order snacks from www.netgrocer.com and have them delivered. It's cheaper than buying them there, and as we are not big breakfast eaters, a cereal bar works for us and saves us money. - Jess

Trail's End Buffet at Fort Wilderness was fabulous! My son is a picky breakfast eater, but they had donuts with sprinkles, which he loves. They only charged us $0.60 per donut he ate and for his drink, instead of charging us for the whole buffet. It is a big difference in price, and nice for people with little money. - Jennifer Smith

My wife and I took our nephews to WDW in September for seven days. We stayed at the All Star Movies. To save money on food we brought down individual boxes of cereal from Michigan to eat for breakfast and then just bought milk every morning. That was like saving almost an entire meal a day. We also brought a backpack that was insulated like a cooler. We filled it every day with combos and fruit snacks. That way during the day if they weren't starving, but just needed a quick snack they would eat combos or a fruit snack instead of spending two to three dollars per person every couple hours for a snack. This also cut down on the number of meals we had to eat because they weren't as hungry. Typically we would end up eating breakfast in the morning with our already paid for cereal, eat a couple of snacks, have a late lunch between 2-3PM, have some more snacks, and then eat a late dinner at our hotel when we would return from the parks. We also bought the all you can drink cups at the hotel which made dinner about $2.00 cheaper per person every night. That adds up over seven days. With the savings it afforded us to be able to do a couple of extra things like a character breakfast and eating at the sci-fi drive-in restaurant. - Rocky Barra II