5 Things to Skip at WDW

[amg35]

Skip the food at all the parks??

Geez...Yes, Magic Kingdom is not the best, but we do like Columbia Harbor House (mmm fried shrimp), BOG - lunch and Sleepy Hollow (?), plus some snacks.

But we loooove the food at Epcot and AK. I still talk about the beef flatbread sandwich we had at Tamu Tamu in AK, soooooo good. So good. And the fried rice at Yak and Yeti is also good.
And the World Showcase is awesome counter service, all of it. We didn't have one bad experience with counter service there. Not just "not bad", but it was all good.

DHS - eh, skip it jump on the boat and go to Epcot to eat. (but you'll need a hopper )

 

[Figmentmommy]

We've had 2 replaced without having a receipt.

That's what I thought!

 

[mom2rtk]

The OP must have eaten at Backlot Express.

 

[WillAustin]

That's what I thought!

I think it just depends on who you get and how you ask. I've been lucky enough to have Disney do several things for us that supposedly aren't possible.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

1. Skip the food. - Aw, boo. Dining at Disney is fun! All part of the experience, plus I honestly don't like to leave Disney once I'm there. Ruins the magic.

2. Limit your Disney memorabilia. - Agree with this one, but I always like to buy at least a few things when I travel there. Something that will remind me of the memories I've made during my trip.

3. Take disposable ponchos with you. - Best advice ever. You can get them in wall mart for like a dollar.

4. Will you really use the park hopper option? - Not much of a park hopper. I like to designate a day to a particular park, and stay there from open to close (Except AK in the summer... my god. I'll die there in the heat!) Sometimes it's nice to randomly go to HS and catch Fantasmic or something. I'm an AP, though, so I can hop as I please. I wouldn't pay for the hopper unless I was absolutely sure that I was planning on hopping.

5. Save yourself the $17 in Disney parking. - I love staying onsite, so this never applies to me, plus I get free parking anyhow from my AP

i agree !!! epically about the food !! I love eating in Disney ! So much to choose from and i cant wait to go back this year and try Ohana !

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Most people I know that go to Disney do not eat in the parks. They take food in or take breaks back at their off site house or condo and eat there.

They say the food isn't good and too expensive.

I actually talked to my brother about going with him one year and he's adamant about staying offsite and packing all foods. Ummmm never mind.

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

i agree !!! epically about the food !! I love eating in Disney ! So much to choose from and i cant wait to go back this year and try Ohana !

Let me tell you: you're going to love Ohana!! Such a great place

 

[MataHari22]

Where are you seeing Gilligan's Island reruns?!?! I could make a vacation out of these and the Three Stooges.

TV Land shows Gilligan's Island every weekday, I think.

 

[LuvGoofy6]

How to save money at Disney

1. Skip the parks - tickets cost money
2. Skip the food - food costs money
3. Skip the merchandise costs money
4. Skip the parking - parking costs money
5. Skip the lodging - lodging costs money

Net-net of article - STAY HOME!!!!

SERIOUSLY, it's a vacation and that's what I WANT to spend money on because it's FUN! I don't have to throw money away for no reason but I enjoy the money I spend at WDW more than I do other places. I get being on a budget but this article is too much to me. JMHO.

1. Skip the food -- One of the things my family enjoys is the food. We look forward to returning to our favorite sit down restaurants and even counter
service. However, if we lived near Disney World I would pack a lunch or eat big before we left and maybe get a "favorite snack."

2. Disney memorabilia -- I may buy a small thing to take home (ornament) or a novelty t-shirt but my family is older and would agree that this is an area
to save money. When my kids were younger they HAD to have a stuffed Mickey. We bought them and 2 years later I was
donating them to our local Salvation Army.

3. Disposable ponchos -- We've done this.

4. Park hopper -- I was all set to pass on park hopper but then chose that when it was required (park hopper or water park) to get free dining.

5. Parking -- Never stayed off property or taken a car.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Skip the food? Aw, come on, if you doing a day at a park are you supposed to carry around a cooler with you loaded with sandwiches? Was this article written by my dad circa 1983?

Skip the hopping. OK, if you really need to cut costs somewhere this could make sense. In fact, we specifically decided to not get the hopping option this year to save a few dollars….until we realized how little savings it actually was. So we kept the hopping option in, because who knows if we would all be in the mood to go an evening show at one of the parks? At least the hopping option gives you some degree of spontaneity which has been lost with the new FP system.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

When I go and stay on site I stay at All-Stars which means no refrigerator. So needless to say bring food not an option for me

 

[MataHari22]

To each his or her own when it comes to saving money on a WDW vacation.

I do bring disposable ponchos.
I don't drive because I stay on site and use WDW transportation.
I am trying this trip sans park hopper.
I try and set a budget for souvenirs and try to not get carried away but if I see something I adore and can afford I am getting it.

Where I draw the line, is skipping the park's food and bringing in my own food. One of the things I really miss now that I have problems swallowing because of having had cancer, is all the restaurants and new dishes I used to be able to try. No way I would be schlepping sandwiches and my own food in, but that's just me.

 

[WillAustin]

When I go and stay on site I stay at All-Stars which means no refrigerator. So needless to say bring food not an option for me

Canned corn?

http://www.disboards.com/threads/canned-corn-people-on-main-street.888944/

I'm kidding...

 

[kiford]

1. Skip the food. I agree that a lot of the QS or CS food can be really horrible and overpriced but we generally eat at TS and I think that most of it is quite good. A little higher priced than off-site but not terribly so. The author must have been eating at a QS/CS place to have called it cafeteria food and to be horrified at the price tag of $70 for three adults and two children. I also have to wonder where she lives. DH and I eat breakfast every Saturday at a nice restaurant and we easily spend $70 for the two of us. Even some of the delivery food we get is at least $50 for the two of us.

To get premade food from a grocery store, I'd have to have a car so we'd have to rent which would be an extra expense and then what would be the point of having it since she then suggested leaving it at the resort and not parking it at WDW. That's a lot of extra expense for picking up the occasional groceries.

2. Limit the Memorabilia. Well, this is a purely personal choice and I realize that it can be difficult to say no when there are children but when I was a kid and we went to Disneyland, there was no memorabilia purchased. It was assumed that the trip itself was enough. However, what we do now is to leave home with just spring jackets (we usually go in early December) and then buy a fleece jacket while we're there. Then we wear it back under our spring jackets so we: (a) don't have to pack anything bulky and warm which we'll need when we return home because it will be much colder; and (b) get our memorabilia which is also very practical and useful later.

3. Disposable ponchos. Can't really comment. We've never really had much issue with rain when we've been there. The few times it has rained a bit, our spring jackets do just fine.

4. No park hopper. It may well be true for first timers, and she does mention this, but we always buy PHs. We love to be able to be completely flexible about where we eat versus where we spend the bulk of our day. We like to be able to spontaneously decide to go to another park.

5. Don't pay the parking. Well, we stay on property and use DME so we don't have to park. But $17/day for parking is on the low end of what I'm used to paying for parking for a day at home so it doesn't particularly shock me.

I thought that there were plenty of other ways she could have suggested for saving money while going to WDW; I didn't find what she said as particularly useful for most first timers other than perhaps to wait until you've been more times to get PHs. You'll get many more useful and practical tips re saving money from the average book about planning WDW trips.

 

[eyehartdisney]

When I go and stay on site I stay at All-Stars which means no refrigerator. So needless to say bring food not an option for me

Don't all resorts have refrigerators in the rooms now?

 

[ArwenMarie]

Skip the food? Aw, come on, if you doing a day at a park are you supposed to carry around a cooler with you loaded with sandwiches? Was this article written by my dad circa 1983?

LOL

 

[GoofyinBuffalo]

Maybe it's just me but if I'm going on vacation, especially Disney World, I do the skimping at home before the trip so that when I'm finally there, on a hard-earned, well-deserved vacation, I don't have to worry about how much I'll be spending on food or souvenirs. Yes, I bring ponchos that I purchased at Dollar General and yes we will hit some of the off-site souvenir shops because some items will be cheaper. But I didn't go all the way there so that I could eat a peanut butter & jelly sandwich that I made in my hotel room that morning or walk by all the wonderful shops on Main Street or Downtown Disney because I can get a Mickey t-shirt at Wal-Mart back home cheaper. Being there is all about the experience and you are fully immersed in it in the restaurants and shops because of the fantastic theming. I understand that some people may not be able to financially swing it if they have a large family. But for this family of 4, I'll tell the kids that we can't order pizza at home for a couple months before a trip to save that money for pizza at Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom or Via Napoli in Epcot.

 

[GoofyinBuffalo]

from reading the article two other takeaways:

1. Here we go again with the Disney is for little kids only nonsense.

2. I don't think this person is that much of a Disney fan. Just from the tone of the article. Could be wrong but that was my impression.

Totally with you on #2. I got that impression too. "Save money and go someplace else or do a staycation"?? Seems like someone who doesn't like to have fun in her life if it isn't free. And seems like she didn't really plan all that well to have purchased a PH and then not use it. If the day is planned ahead of time, you work in the hopping. So if you don't plan, then you're wasting your day in long lines and relegated to counter service for food because you don't have ADRs. And $70 for 5 people to me, is not a lot. Dinner for this family of 4 can sometimes get close to $100. You are eating in a theme park; not a 5 star restaurant in NYC. Is food that much better in Cedar Point, Universal or Six Flags? I can guarantee you the experience and theming is not.

 

[GoofyinBuffalo]

I'm I the only one who things she completely missed the mark on #5? She seems to think that you have to pay for parking even if you're staying on site. "Save money by waiting for the shuttle, even on on-site resorts"?!?

Agree. Don't think she was very informed about WDW before her visit. And perhaps if she planned better she would have utilized the PH and hit better restaurants.

 

[Tardisblue]

Most people I know that go to Disney do not eat in the parks. They take food in or take breaks back at their off site house or condo and eat there.

They say the food isn't good and too expensive.

I actually talked to my brother about going with him one year and he's adamant about staying offsite and packing all foods. Ummmm never mind.

He sounds like one of those guys that isn't going to let Disney get the best of him and will brag for years about how he stuck it to them by not playing by their rules!