Money-Saving Dining Tips for Disney World
Food is one of the biggest expenses of a Walt Disney World vacation, so eating on a budget can be difficult. Here we’ll share money-saving tips on recommended restaurants, what to eat & avoid, hacks for cutting your dining expenses, and ideas for “dining on a dime” at WDW. (Updated February 12, 2024.)
With the ‘Free’ Disney Dining Card Discount at Walt Disney World for 2024, it’s a great time to revisit this list to think of ways to stretch those dining cards even further. These dining cards are not all-inclusive–not that regular Free Dining was, but most people got more food than they could possibly eat with it! You’re likely to have out of pocket dining expenses as a result if you don’t plan accordingly. With the advice here, you can reduce your Walt Disney World dining budget, spending less out of pocket as a result.
Before we begin with the money-saving Walt Disney World dining tips, we have a couple of “rules” that we’ve imposed upon ourselves. The first is no spreadsheets. Budgeting can be done by loosely following common sense strategy and tips. Eating inexpensively does not require advanced analytics or being a master statistician. Walt Disney World planning obsessives will probably consider this heresy, but I hate spreadsheets…
I would not wish spreadsheets upon my worst enemy–let alone people I’m trying to encourage to have “fun” on “vacation.” From my perspective, spreadsheets are antithetical to the core concept of vacationing. Not only that, but visiting Walt Disney World is already complicated and stressful enough without introducing even more ‘rules’ and planning parameters to the mix. I understand others vehemently disagree, so to each their own. If you enjoy making spreadsheets, feel free to go nuts at it.
You can use the principles here to create the same kind of comprehensive lists that Disney Dining Plan diehards used to make when planning where–and what–to eat to maximize their value on that. Thankfully, the new Disney Dining Card promo is much more laid back and straightforward than that.
Second, we seldom dine off-site. Part of this is wanting to remain immersed in the Walt Disney World bubble. Another part is the practical reality that spending time and money to get off-site quickly eats away at any financial savings. Vacation time is valuable, and how much of it are you willing to “spend” to save ~$5 per person on a fast food entree?
Admittedly, ‘no off-site dining’ is one that’s getting more difficult to justify as a hard and fast rule for ourselves, especially with the Orlando area’s burgeoning dining scene. With that in mind, we’d refer you to our List of Great Restaurants Near Walt Disney World if you’re interested in venturing off-property.
The upside is that the restaurants on that list that we’ve tried are superlative–most are better than the best of Walt Disney World. The downside is that almost all are pretty far off-property. (If you are willing to venture off-site, the nearest exceptional option is the Kissimmee location of 4 Rivers Smokehouse; a different twist on 4 Rivers is also available at Disney Springs.)
With that in mind, here are our money-saving tips for dining at Walt Disney World…
EAT: Hype-less Hidden Gems – When a restaurant at Walt Disney World becomes popular, its prices rise and quality generally falls. It’s a tale as old as time that can be witnessed in several restaurants, with Le Cellier being the most foremost example of this classic ‘dining downfall’ arc.
However, the converse is also true. When a restaurant is less popular, there’s less of a reason to raise prices. Not only that, but restaurants that are less popular generally have to try harder to attract and maintain an audience, and the culinary teams are given more freedom to experiment and try new things.
Honestly, the less you hear about a restaurant…the better it probably is. That applies to both the cuisine quality and value for money. No offense to Be Our Guest Restaurant, ‘Ohana, Chef Mickey’s, or California Grill, but I’d take the restaurants on our List of Underrated Restaurants at Walt Disney World or Top 10 Best Value Table Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World over all of the highly-hyped
EAT: Groceries for Breakfast – With a handful of exceptions, breakfast at Walt Disney World leaves a lot to be desired. Most counter service restaurants offer a limited selection of phoned in entrees with staples like powdered eggs and rubbery paper-bacon. Table service restaurants tend to do things better, but breakfast is still overpriced for what you get, time-consuming, and most items aren’t memorable.
Even for those who aren’t on a tight budget, we recommend grocery delivery for breakfast. (See our Tips for Grocery Delivery at Walt Disney World.) We tend to focus on things like fruits and vegetables, since those are overpriced at Walt Disney World and there’s not really anything to do in terms of preparation.
It’s a great opportunity to get healthy, nutrient-dense foods in order to give you energy and start your day on the right foot, save money and time…and make you feel a little less guilty about eating 4 cupcakes and 3 orders of ice cream later in the day. After all, you had carrots and oatmeal at breakfast!
EAT: Disney Springs Restaurants – When it comes to dining at Walt Disney World, your dollar goes much further at most Disney Springs restaurants than in-park ones. This is largely true because Disney Springs is (almost) on a level playing field with real world restaurants. It’s nearly as easy for on-site guests to dine off-site as it is to eat at Disney Springs, and it’s absolutely as convenient for locals (for the latter, Disney Springs is probably less convenient).
The main result of this is restaurants at Disney Springs charging premium pricing…but with significantly less mark-up than in-park dining options. The secondary result is that Disney Springs restaurants must compete on quality. Cuisine-wise, Disney Springs is the epicenter of Walt Disney World’s culinary scene. (Sorry, World Showcase, but it’s not even close.)
Some of our favorite value options on the counter service front include Blaze Pizza, Chicken Guy, and 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck (the last is by far the best). For table service, try Boathouse, Morimoto Asia, Homecomin’, STK (lunch or happy hour), and Raglan Road. Note that every single one of these restaurants has a lengthy menu, with prices that are all over the place. To save money, you’ll (obviously) want to order from the lower end of the price spectrum.
EAT: Hotel Food Courts – Similar idea here as with Disney Springs; hotel guests are less of a captive audience. You’ll find prices that tend to be a few dollars cheaper per entree, and quality that tends to be better.
The difficulty here is making meals at a hotel food court work within the context of your schedule. This either means leaving the park (which wastes time) or doing a late dinner, which may not be feasible. Regardless, it’s something to consider.
Our favorite ‘use case’ of eating at hotel restaurants is taking a midday break from Magic Kingdom and heading to one of the monorail loop resorts (we’re also big fans of the boat to Fort Wilderness/Wilderness Lodge for the same reason). These aren’t technically food courts, but the Grand Floridian and Polynesian (and Contemporary, albeit to a lesser extent) have great meals at fair prices. The food is a lot better than anywhere in the park, and it’s a nice respite from the crowds!
AVOID: Signature Restaurants – Pretty straightforward. Walt Disney World’s most expensive restaurants are its ‘Signature’ options, which are altogether incompatible with dining on a dime. This isn’t to say you can’t scour the menu for good values, but you can do the same at cheaper restaurants with better results.
To that end, consider Sanaa, Sebastian’s Bistro, one of the aforementioned Disney Springs restaurants, or something in Swan & Dolphin if you want to splurge a bit. It’s also worth considering Three Bridges Bar & Grill or Toledo – Tapas, Steak & Seafood, two new restaurants at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
If you really want to enjoy fine dining without breaking the bank, there arguably is no better option than Toledo. It’s not cheap, but the value for money is unparalleled. It’s also one of the few restaurants at Walt Disney World that is Michelin Guide-recognized. We love and highly recommend Toledo for guests wanting a fancy date night splurge without breaking the bank completely.
AVOID: Soda & Sides – We’ve been harping on these two things for a while, so regular readers will probably have their eyes glaze over at this point. I can’t remember the last time I bought soda at Walt Disney World. Ice water is free, and you can get your caffeine fix by packing coffee packets and making your own. (See our Ultimate Packing Guide for Walt Disney World, which offers recommendations for water bottles, caffeine fixes, snacks, and more.)
The other big one is not spending extra on sides, or specifically ordering entrees that don’t come with them (pizza and salads, for example). Sides at counter service restaurants tend to be overpriced, meaning that you might pay an extra $5 for a small side of coleslaw or pickles. (Looking at you, Regal Eagle!)
This is also why we highly recommend doing grocery delivery and eating your daily servings of fruits and vegetables before even leaving your hotel room. Fruits and vegetables are important fuel, but they’re absurdly priced in restaurants and at snack stands throughout Walt Disney World. Also, there’s zero difference between oranges and carrots delivered to you by Walmart+ and those sold at Walt Disney World, save for the price. You’re not missing out on anything ‘fun’ by saving money on those.
AVOID: Overhyped Desserts – This one pains me to write. Snacking is a big part of the Walt Disney World experience for us, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone swear off snacks entirely for the sake of a budget.
However, it is worth noting that most snacks don’t offer commensurate nutritiousness and ‘filling-ness’ for their cost. Basically, be weary of snack costs, target the ones under $5, and be judicious with your snack expenditures–but don’t give them up completely.
A good example here is cupcakes, which are now over $6 at most locations around Walt Disney World. Years ago, Disney cupcakes developed a strong following and have largely rested on their laurels since, increasing in price as they’ve decreased in size and quality. You could totally swear off cupcakes at Walt Disney World in favor of cheaper, better snacks.
HACK: EPCOT Festivals – This used to be in the “avoid” column, and that always pained me since EPCOT festivals are so much fun. However, after enjoying the 2024 EPCOT Festival of the Arts and several events prior to that, I’m now fairly convinced that categorically saying you should avoid EPCOT festival food is, at best, incomplete advice. At worst, it’s suggesting you do something that will make your day in the park worse.
To be sure, there’s still wildly overpriced food at these events (prices haven’t gone down!) and portion sizes can be problematic, causing you to graze all day spending exponentially more than you would on a hearty counter service meal and not getting full. However, inflation in the real world and around Walt Disney World has arguably outpaced some of the menus at these booths.
The bottom line is that you can find filling dishes and desserts at the food booths that around $5 to $7 and taste delicious. It’s entirely plausible that 2-3 of these will be as or more filling than a counter service meal, and offer significantly superior cuisine and a more fun experience for about the same price–maybe a few dollars more. It’s also possible that you could drop $40 and leave hungry. Hence the “hack” recommendation. Be mindful of what you’re spending and portion sizes–but enjoy the food booths to some degree!
AVOID: Disney Dining Plan – Saved the “best” for last, as I know this is a controversial one with which many of you will disagree. Whether the Disney Dining Plan is a good way to budget, saves most people money, or offers good value for money is a series of debates that’ll never be resolved. (If you’re interested in that subject, see When You Should Buy & Skip the 2024 Disney Dining Plan! for scenarios where it makes sense and others where it doesn’t.)
However, none of those are the pertinent question here. We’re asking: is the Disney Dining Plan the least-expensive way to eat at Walt Disney World? Reframing the issue should make it less contentious. Save for Free Dining (and even then, only in some cases), the Disney Dining Plan is undoubtedly not the cheapest way to dine at Walt Disney World. It may offer good value, budgeting, etc., but following the other tips here to “dine on a dime” will produce cheaper results.
With the tips here, you can do two counter service meals per day for $28 (or less). Add $7 to that per day cost for breakfast groceries and snacks. That brings us to $35, which might be a conservative number, but it’s still over $20 per day cheaper than the lowest tier of the Disney Dining Plan.
In a nutshell, that should explain how you can come out ahead by paying out of pocket for food and why it’s not the end of the world that the Disney Dining Plan still isn’t back. Who knows, after doing a vacation to Walt Disney World during which you pay as you go for meals, you may never want to return to the complex and convoluted Disney Dining Plan!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What’s your advice for saving money on food at Walt Disney World? Anything recommended here that you would not do? Anything you’d add to our list? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We have a Disney Visa card and use it for all our credit purchases all year. When it’s time to go to Disney, we transfer all the reward points to a rewards card and use that to eat. My son and I just spent 5 days eating for “free” on reward points and still had points left over for next time! It was easy to use and accepted everywhere.
Hi, my husband and I just returned from Disney World, staying at Port Orleans with the dining gift card offer. We actually loved that more than the dining plan. We were not losing money if we didnt drink and also not having to get desserts with every meal. There were many better things about the card versus the dining plan: the card also could include tips, so no out of pocket cash. You could include other guests as well. No figuring out which meals were “worth it”, we just bought what we liked, could split appetizers and desserts, we even paid for the mugs with the card and could use them in the hotel quick serve area. We were there for 10 nights which gave us $1200, and we ate at nice places every night, including Ohana, Steakhouse 71, and similar places also paying for our adult daughter who met us there. I would love to get this card again rather than the dining plan. Be sure to give it a chance!
We have this card for our holiday in September so glad it’s worth having, we got it with the UK 14 day ultimate park pass. We get $700 for dining and $200 gift card. Are the refillable cups worth it?
Hi Sue, we did use the card for refillable cups. we made use of them at the resort; My husband likes soda once in a while and I filled mine with coffee every chance- I pour it into empty water bottles for iced coffee. They sound wasteful, but we liked having cups in our room, since cover snaps closed. So for us, its worth it. Hope you have a wonderful trip!
Hi Sue, we did use the card for refillable cups. we made use of them at the resort; My husband likes soda once in a while and I filled mine with coffee every chance- I pour it into empty water bottles for iced coffee. They sound wasteful, but we liked having cups in our room, since cover snaps closed. So for us, its worth it. Hope you have a wonderful trip! Nancy V.
As a couple, our approach is out of the ordinary, because we do not even order take out or enjoy going to restaurants at home and prefer healthy minimally processed meals. I offer this not as an argument, but because it could inspire someone. The worst thing about travel for us is being forced to eat foods we do not like. It is amazing that you can bring food into the park. Even the “healthy” Disney food options are not appealing and do not tend to be calorie dense enough. It is amazing for a theme park, but not amazing for us. Food preparation is part of our lives, and we don’t need a vacation from it. We are not vegetarian, but mostly plant based and gluten free. We only visit Disney in colder weather and park-hop most days, we are there for the rides and atmosphere. With Trader Joe’s and Walmart nearby, we purchased very few meals in the park. I have found that even the table-service and “high-end” dining is inferior to what we could get at a quality restaurant at home. When we did buy in parks, it was for novelty snacks and drinks and not out of necessity. We are happy with the way we eat at home and even the whole food options at Disney still feel cafeteria-ish to us. I used a small osprey hydration backpack without the water bladder (katari 3) and filled it with six thick sandwiches or meals, as well as various protein bars and baked goods (Erin McKenna’s at Disney Springs is all (!) vegan and gluten free. I have back issues and it still was not too heavy. We didn’t make a spreadsheet, we did over-order but even what we threw out was negligible compared to what we saved. Some families enjoy going out to eat at home and so part of travel is the opportunity to have many types of food experiences. I could afford to eat every meal at Disney, so this is not about saving money. I hate eating in noisy crowded places. We packed egg wraps or waffles or pancakes for breakfast (in addition to eating and over-hydrating before leaving), then cold cuts or falafel or gyro or chicken or fried fish or turkey dogs or hamburgers almond butter sandwiches with all of the sauces or veggie add-ins we’d like for lunch (700-800 calories each). On days we didn’t want sandwiches, we brought in black bean or chickpea pasta or brown rice or lentils or vegetable dumplings, taquitos, fajitas, hash browns and other easy frozen items pre-cooked. Parchment paper is key or you can keep sandwich fillings separate to avoid mush. For $250 a night we lived in a four bedroom house with a heated pool and a quiet peaceful view of a forest and pond. We had a 15-minute drive to the parks without traffic, a two week rental car for $650 which we could also have used to keep foods heated or cooled. We would rather pay for ILLs, Genie+ and after-hours events than food. Low-crowds and ride times are more important for us in having a relaxing experience. Free ambiance options for low-crowds without paying for add-ons is going to parks with extended evening hours. Even though you can’t go on rides, there is no pressure to exit and there are no wrist bands. We have stayed until even past extended hours closing many times. Empty parks are amazing and magical. Be creative and ask yourself what is most important.
@Scout, I’m bracing myself for the outrage coming your way. Lol! My family is not as regimented about our diets as you describe, but we are avid home cooks and big fans of vegetables. My biggest complaint when vacationing/restaurant eating, in general, is that it’s SO difficult to get our usual fill of fruits and veggies. (There are only so many “large salad, add grilled chicken” meals I can take). Regarding WDW dining, I typically refrain from pointing out how objectively mediocre the food is, in general. During longer stays, it becomes obvious how little diversity there is across menus, too, although there is a small trend toward more global flavors at places like Sanaa and Skipper’s Canteen, as well as new offerings at Disney Springs. I know I speak from a very particular perspective, as someone who has spent most of my adult life in major metropolitan areas, but I have found that very few (as in almost none) high-end WDW restaurants can compete on food quality with equivalent options in major markets, especially at the price points Disney is charging. HOWEVER, I do believe that the best WDW dining offers theming and experience that is hard to come by elsewhere. I take great pleasure in dining out in WDW, especially given that it’s only a few days out of my year. I can always catch up on my veggies at home!