How to Dine in Walt Disney World When on a Budget

So, your travelling on a budget and want to save money on food at Disney World. Follow these
tips to get the most out of your food dollar.

When you are in Disney World on a budget the one flexible thing you can spend on is food.
Park tickets are non negotiable and with hotels, you know more or less what you are getting into when you book. Now you have a budget for food and you need to stick to it. Here is how to save on food while vacationing on a budget.

Do Not Purchase the Dining Plan
The Disney Dining Plan is not a good for a budget. At best you will break even and that Is only after trying really hard to get your value. Even if the Dining Plan is available for free, it will most likely come at the expense of another discount that will be better. Many people don’t realize this, but the dining plan doesn’t even cover all meals, so you will still be having to pay some out of pocket anyway.

Eat at Quick Service and Lounges
The best way to stick to your budget is to eliminate extra costs like tipping your server. Im not arguing that they don’t deserve their tips, mind you. Just that at a counter service restaurant you pay the price on the menu without concerning yourself with gratuity. Lounges are different of course, but you can often get the food in the lounge for less than what it costs in the neighbouring restaurant.

Back to Quick Service– It’s a lot easier to order an entree to share at Quick Service than it is at a Table Service restaurant. An adult can even order off the Kid’s Menu and nobody bats an eye.

Bring Your Own Snacks
Snacks here and there are a budget killer. While some snacks, just can’t be duplicated, you can save yourself a few dollars here and there by packing your own go-to treats. That goes for bottled water, too. If you plan ahead you can pack a lot of water for your trip and save a lot of money in the long run.

Have your Table Service Meals at Lunch
You might have room in your budget for a splurge or two. You can get the most out of the little extra room by making your reservations for lunch instead of dinner. Lunch is customarily cheaper than Dinner. Plus, if you time it right, you will be inside enjoying a meal for an hour or two while the park is at its busiest.

Take Advantage of Freebies
Places everywhere offer samples. Ghirardelli at Disney Springs, the confectionaries often have a sample to try, Club Cool at Epcot is a great place to suck down carbonated beverage while educating yourself on popular flavors of the world. There are a lot of freebies to take advantage of, like free ice water, or campfire s’mores at your resort.

Read These Next

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?