In my first installment on traveling to Walt Disney World with larger families, I discussed ways of housing a large family while in Walt Disney World. This time I’d like to talk about my favorite topic…food! Anyone who has a large family knows that it can cost a small fortune to feed a large family if you’re not budget conscious. So what are you supposed to do when you are in the Walt Disney World® Resort? Put the family on a diet? I don’t think so! There are several ways your family can eat well without breaking the bank.
My number one recommendation is to take advantage of “free dining” if or when it is offered as a promotion through Disney. If you have flexibility in your dates and can go when it is offered, free dining is a great deal. Depending on the resort level, your family will receive at least two meals, one snack and a refillable mug (good at Disney resorts for the length of your stay) per person per day. Your family won’t be able to take advantage of any room promotions or other special offers, but most of the time for a larger family, free dining is a much better deal. It’s is really important that you keep in touch with your Wishing Well Travel agent if this is the kind of offer of which you would like to take advantage. These types of packages can sell out rather quickly and if your agent knows this is what you are looking for, she can contact you right away and get the ball in motion for getting you this amazing deal. If you are already booked, your agent can modify your reservation for you to save you money. This is one of the best perks of booking with Wishing Well Travel.
But what if you don’t have flexibility to take advantage of the free dining offer? No worries. There are definitely still ways to keep your budget down. If you are staying in one of Disney’s family suites, you will have a microwave, a refrigerator, and a coffee maker. You could have breakfast in your room and pack a lunch for the parks. Garden Grocer is a local grocery delivery service that can deliver food right to your resort. If you are traveling by car, you can pack many of your groceries from home and keep your budget down even further. What if you’re staying in connecting value or moderate resort rooms? Each room does have a small refrigerator as well and your family can definitely take advantage of that to have some of your meals in your rooms.
Cars Suite Kitchenette at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
But Erika, my little Prince or Princess wants to have breakfast with Cinderella and I want to eat at some of the finer restaurants that Disney has to offer. Can we still keep our food budget down? In a word, yes! Disney does offer the Disney Dining Plan as part of it’s Magic Your Way package and it can keep your food budget down if you are definitely planning on taking advantage of character meals and “sit down” meals daily with your family. With this package, your family receives 1 sit down meal(which includes character meals), 1 quick service meal, and 1 snack per person per day. You also receive 1 refillable mug per person good for the duration of your stay(mug can only be used in the resorts, not the parks).
Cinderella’s Royal Table is a great way for your prince or princess to meet their favorite princesses!
If you have taken advantage of one of Disney’s villas, you will have a full kitchen and can prepare meals for your family as often as you would like, which can definitely bring your food budget down. Again, you can either bring some of your groceries from home or order your groceries from Garden Grocer.
Villa kitchen inside Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
As you can see there are definitely ways of keeping your food budget down with your large family while staying at the Happiest Place on Earth. No dieting necessary! Contact your Wishing Well Travel agent for more information on dining in the Walt Disney World® Resort.
Erika has been a Travel Specialist with Wishing Well Travel since 2013, you can email her at Erika at wishingwelltravel.com, find her on Facebook or Request a Quote from her online.
