Affordable eating tips?

[jswoodard]

We'll be at DLP March 16 - 18. We're from Oklahoma, USA and with the value of the US dollar to the Euro, we're really worrying about how to eat at DLP without spending a fortune. Any specific restaurants or tips of how to eat affordably would be GREATLY appreciated.

THANK YOU!

 

[Happy Tappy]

A few tips:

McDonalds in Disney Village is cheap. Although you probably don't want to travel all that way and eat McDonalds, it is nice to get it and go and sit by the lake, especially at night when all the hotels are lit up.

The Pizza meals are good value (at the fast food restaurants). Sometimes me and my girlfriend split one between us and get a side of fries.

There are lots of drinking fountains in the parks so you can save money on drinks.

For an evening Meal, Annetes Diner have a good offer. For €18 you get a large drink, a burger meal and a dessert. They also sell the nicest burgers in the resort.

If you're staying in a Disney hotel, you'll have breakfast included. It's a buffet style breakfast so you can eat as much as you want. The bigger breakfast you enjoy, the less likely you'll want a big lunch. Also, many people have been known to take extra croissants and 'pan au chocolat' and take them away in a bag to enjoy in the parks. Although I'm sure Disney would frown on this, I've seen lots of people do it.

Some of the restaurant offer cheaper lunchtime menus. So you could do your 'big meal' for lunch and have a take away in the evening. This way, you'll still get to enjoy the restaurants but will save some money.

For prices, check out www.dlpfoodguide.com

 

[giuly09]

we're really worrying about how to eat at DLP without spending a fortune.
THANK YOU!

I am from Italy and we already have the Euro but we are worried to eat at DLRP too
Anyway we had a full meal for 4 at Annette's Diner (Disney Village) for about 100 euros who is 25 euros each and it is the less you can find for a full meal in Italy too.

 

[TDERadulski]

We are Americans living in Belgium, so I can tell you first hand it is hard with the dollar being so weak. Where are you staying when you come to DLP? We alsways stay at the Marriot Village d'ile de France becasue they are fully furnished townhouses with full kitchens. We are able to prepare breakfast and dinner in our townhouse and that saves us $$$. We will also bring snacks and drinks for the kids into the parks, and will sometimes bring sandwiches for lunch. There are many more places to eat at DLP that at WDW's Magic Kingdom, which is wonderful! We do enjoy eating at the parks, but for us with a famliy of 4 it can get expensive. I don't mind preparing breakfast and a light dinner while we re on "vacation"...it is much easier with the children to eat in a "home" environment than in a restaurant...and we WILL NOT do McDonalds every day (although my 5 year will try to convince us otherwise!)

Enjoy your trip to DLP! You will love it. It looks as though you are only here for a few days, so I wouldn't worry too much. You can even take the train line that is right outside the DLP gates and head out of the Disney priced area to get a great meal in France. Have fun!

- Tara

 

[NULAH]

Hi. I am not sure if it is too late for this, but you could contact your tour operator and ask of they offer the half board/half board plus option. We recently used this and it covered all our evening meals and allowed us to budget easily. The vouchers are accepted in numerous restaurants and can be topped up if you prefer.

 

[BRobson]

The train station at Disney sell baguettes and are lovely at lunch time. If you take a trip to the supermarket you can buy your water and drinks for the park.

I am not a massive eater and sometimes go for the kids meal option at counter service.This is a typcal menu

Choose one main dish

Penne pasta with Bolognese or Napolitane sauce

Mickey pizza with tomato sauce and cheese

Choose one dessert:

Ice cream - vanilla and raspberry
spacerDrink yoghurt
spacerFresh fruit

Choose one drink:

Minute Maid orange juice (20cl
Mineral water (33cl)

and all for 6 euros - you can find all the menus awww.dlpfoodguide.com

This may help you plan a little
spacerMilk (20cl)

 

[margaret2]

we bought the half board vouchers and they were great and found the best place to eat for us was in our hotel restaurant, the food was buffet style and there was plenty of choices to be had. i would use these every time i go from now on
margy

 

[Jazzman67]

I just paid off my trip for Disneyland! Thank goodness I made it before the
dollar went under 6 kronor (I live in Sweden). I'm also an American living
in Sweden. And the dollar's gone down a great deal for us here, too. It's
great for the Swedish people travelling to the US, thiough.

Annettes Diner has some good meals that have reasonable prices. I've
also had a sandwich at the mall, which is just one stop away from Dis-
neyland. There the sandwiches are cheap and good to eat. I enjoyed
eating a salmon sandwich on my birthday there.

There are plenty of fast food places around the parks, so I wouldn't
be too fussy about food since you're on a holiday anyways.

I think you'll enjoy Annette's Diner's theme of the 1950's, too. If you'e
lucky, you'll see some dancing by the waiters and waitresses.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Stock up with food from breakfast to take to the parks for lunch.
Thats what i did saved me a fortune

 

[jillrobinson]

I have to say I don't agree that people should take food from the breakfast table for lunch. I will admit to having removed left over bread rolls from the table which we've fed to the ducks on Disney Lake on our way to the parks, but to actually make up your lunch is a "no no" in my book
The reason we're served cubed cheese and not slices anymore is an attempt to stop people doing this, sorry but if all guests did it, we'd be facing a far smaller selection at the breakfast table or much higher prices at the resort. IMHO.
OK Rant Over

My tip would be eat a really good breakfast, there's a fabulous selection, make the most of it, I do normally take some snacks with us, cereal bars, fruit etc., which probably won't be an option for you, but you can buy these things at the train station and I'd vouch for the baguettes there too.
We find that breakfast, a snack midday and then a table service meal in the evening is enough for us.
I'd also suggest the Plaza Gardens Buffet, superb food selection and very reasonable, or if you'd like to see characters the Lucky Nugget Buffet, a little more expensive but worth every penny again the selection is very good.
I've always found Annette's in the Village to be very good value for money with big portions and the meals in Planet Hollywood were huge, I had Fajitas for instance, when it arrived there were 8 wraps and more than enough fillings for them, something like that could be shared between 2 perhaps.

Hope you have a wonderful trip and you will be there for the St. Patricks Day celebrations, so you'll have fireworks too - Wonderful

 

[di$neyf@n]

I am also an American living in Germany and I am not a hamburger fan so the 1/2 rotisserie chicken in the Chalet Du Marionett (Fantasyland) is about 8 Euro but I get the menu price of 11 Euro where the chicken comes with your choice of soda or water (in a bottle which you can refill throughout the day) fries and a pretty yummy chocolate cake. I give the fries to one of my kids and split the cake with all 6 of us. I find it is a good value and half a chicken is filling! They also have a similar menu in Frontierland at the Cowboy Cookout Bar-be Que. There the chicken is of course BBQ and pretty tasty. If you go the voucher route and pay for it now you should be locked in to that price before the rate drops even lower...I hate carrying extra stuff so we never bring any food except for small snacks (peanuts,crackers,granola bars) so for the 6 of us it gets pretty pricey.

 

[hildasmuriel]

Somebody posted recently (think it was Wendybird7) that they went one stop along on the train to Val d'Europe and had a fantastic Italian meal including wine for a few Euros more than a burger meal would have cost in the Park. It has certainly made me think of that for future visits.

 

[Disney D]

I have to say I don't agree that people should take food from the breakfast table for lunch. I will admit to having removed left over bread rolls from the table which we've fed to the ducks on Disney Lake on our way to the parks, but to actually make up your lunch is a "no no" in my book
The reason we're served cubed cheese and not slices anymore is an attempt to stop people doing this, sorry but if all guests did it, we'd be facing a far smaller selection at the breakfast table or much higher prices at the resort. IMHO.
OK Rant Over

I agree and I've never taken anything from the buffet to have later on..... I would do it if I was on a VERY tight budget, but I'm the sort of person who hates to carry anything, so stuffing my bag with rolls would be the last thing I would do.

There is soooooooo much food left over though, I wonder what they do with it. I guess it's better if people take it rather than it goes to waste! Isn't it amazing watching some people stuff their back packs, some of them really over do it.

 

[SandraVB79]

When we stayed at a Disney hotel, we stuffed ourselves with breakfast (taking breakfast foods with us for lunch was/ is a big NO NO in our book too), had some light snack in the afternoon (ice cream, a waffle) and then a dinner at night at a TS restaurant.
Our "cheap" favourite is Cape Cod (buffet) at the Newport Bay Club. Or we go to Cafe Mickey and only have a main course (I usually eat a LOT, but can't even manage to eat the pasta at Cafe Mickey!)

If you go to the shopping center by train, there is a whole range of restaurants there. IMO, it's not worth it to save some euros, but to eac their own and I just love Disney food

 

[Mike Jones]

Let's be honest, much of the food on offer around DLRP is of average, burger-bar quality, but some of it is packaged up and priced excessively high. As mentioned above, the sandwich bar at the RER station is very good value, (and the sarnies are FAR nicer than the sandwich place in the Village!)..

Taking the train one stop to Val d' Europe is an excellent idea, both to eat at the restaurants there for much lower cost than Disney, and to stock up on sandwich fillers, fruit etc at the Auchan.

Basically, if you eat at the parks or the Village, you'll pay a hefty premium for pretty average food (with odd exceptions). Personally I don't think DLRP is the right venue for a gastronomic vacation... it's for rides n' stuff! If you want superb food, stay in Paris itself.

 

[Happy Tappy]

Let's be honest, much of the food on offer around DLRP is of average, burger-bar quality, but some of it is packaged up and priced excessively high. As mentioned above, the sandwich bar at the RER station is very good value, (and the sarnies are FAR nicer than the sandwich place in the Village!)..

Taking the train one stop to Val d' Europe is an excellent idea, both to eat at the restaurants there for much lower cost than Disney, and to stock up on sandwich fillers, fruit etc at the Auchan.

Basically, if you eat at the parks or the Village, you'll pay a hefty premium for pretty average food (with odd exceptions). Personally I don't think DLRP is the right venue for a gastronomic vacation... it's for rides n' stuff! If you want superb food, stay in Paris itself.

Whilst all your points are true, the object of this thread is to try and help point out the places that are the best value in order to save someone money. It's not a review of the quality or fare offered at the resort. That can be found in the restaurant review threads.

And if you've ever eaten in Walts or the Manhatten restaurant you'd be pleasently suprised at how good some of the food is in the resort, though obviously not on a budget!

 

[Jazzman67]

One might as well enjoy the fact that you can enjoy a good breakfast
at the hotel. One should be able to get a good meal in the morning if the
hotel provides them. In the US, it's not always a guarantee you'll get a
morning meal included in the overnight payments. One usually pays for
breakfast in the USA.

Just eat good food in the morning, and have lighter meals during the day. I
certainly disregard the idea of taking food from the tables of the restaurant,
especially since we're in Paris. Good heavens, no. I wonder what Remy would
say at Rattatouille restaurant? LOL

Nonetheless, when I'm on a holiday, I'm prepared to spend more than at
home. I am aware that some people here have families to feed, too. Try
ordeing food from the more expensive places. You could end up with
actually saving money, since you'll be able to divide the food if the portions,
than a lot of smaller dishes,that look to be cheaper, but end up being more.
I think some restaurants should allow that, since the children are there and
most likely eat in smaller portions. You'd be surprise how much you save
that way.

 

[SandraVB79]

I have said it before and have said it again: In Brussels (and Antwerp and Ghent and many other cities/ towns in Belgium) it is not easy to eat as good as at DLP for that price. We always say that the food is reasonably priced (Speaking about table service restaurants). I also think it's good food, and this comes from someone who is taking classes to become a chef.

 

[Jazzman67]

Sandra!

I take it you'll be as good a chef as the people in France at
Rattatouille restaurant?

It's good to know you have taken time to learn good cooking! I'll
be sure to visit you at DLP when you're at Rattatouille restaurant!



Hope the lessons are going well for you!

 

[Ware Bears]

We also find we can easily manage on two meals a day ~ a good breakfast and then either a snack mid-day with a table-service evening meal or a table-service lunch with a snack in the evening. Last trip we had chosen to eat mostly in the Village at restaurants that couldn't be pre-booked so we ate at around 3 o'clock and found that this was enough for us and we didn't even need to buy a snack in the evening.

I also think the buffet table service meals are extremely good value. There is The Lucky Nugget with characters which costs €30 adults and €15 children age 3-11. There are also excellent value buffets at Plaza Gardens in the park (€20 and €10) and La Grange at Billy Bob's in the Village (€25 and €12).

Like Sandra, I find DLRP restaurant prices are on a par (or even cheaper) than where I live in the UK but even we are starting to notice an unfavourable exchange rate, although it's nowhere near as bad as the $ against the €. You have my sympathy but I'm sure you'll have a marvellous time nonetheless.