Disney restaurants can be expensive, but there are ways to keep the cost down and still be able to enjoy a meal out at a nice table service restaurant. Whether you have a dining budget for your Disney trip or not, most people like to save money where they can. It feels good to know you saved some money, especially since Disney vacations are far from cheap!
So instead of having lots of dinners in restaurants, try to limit to breakfasts and lunches, especially if you are eating at the buffets. The reason is the price goes up with every meal, unless we are talking about some of the special dining experiences like Cinderella’s Royal Table (that’s going to be a jaw-dropping price no matter what time of day you go).
If a restaurant serves both lunch and dinner, chances are the lunch is just a scaled down version of dinner. They usually offer most of the same items in a smaller portion size and for a reduced price; we do this for most of our trips. We either have a big breakfast or a big lunch and only dine out for dinner a couple of times. When we do have dinner out it was more of a splurge and well worth the price, and most of the time it was just adults since the kids were exhausted from the busy day. For instance, my husband and I had one of our date night dinners at Yachtsman Steakhouse. Totally worth it!
As an example you can see the Biergarten’s lunch and dinner menus on Disney’s website. There really is not much of a difference in the food offered, just the price of the buffet changes. The Biergarten also offers entertainment while you dine. Check out the video below.
Another good buffet is 1900 Park Fare, but they only offer breakfast and dinner. If you are looking to save money and want to dine at 1900 Park Fare I would recommend doing breakfast. As of writing this, the difference between breakfast and dinner is about $20 per person. At breakfast you will see characters like Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Tigger, and Winnie the Pooh. At dinner you will see Cinderella and Prince Charming, along with rotating visiting guests like Lady Tremaine, the stepsisters, and other princesses.
If you want to see the jaw-dropping prices I was talking about for Cinderella’s Royal Table, just click here. Granted, you get a lot of extras with this meal and the character interaction is pretty great, but it is definitely not inexpensive. I don’t think the table service restaurants, like 50’s Prime Time Cafe, change the menu prices for lunch and dinner quite as much as the buffet restaurants.
So, there you go! If you like dining at the buffets (and they are really good!), I would recommend having breakfast or lunch there to keep the cost down. With the money you save on the meals you can buy fun souvenirs or put it towards your next Disney trip!
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*
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Liz
I love all things Disney, but my main love is for Disney World and I'm always planning for the next trip. Before becoming a Disney blogger, I was a radio DJ, so I guess I'm just continuing in the communication industry, just in a different form. I love talking Disney and I could talk about Disney all day. That's why I started blogging and created the Facebook group. The Disney community is full of friendly, helpful, and happy people...and I love being a part of it! If there is any Disney subject you would like to see covered just let me know! Need help planning your Disney vacation. Feel free to contact myself or Melissa at Never Stop Dreaming Travel Co. We love helping people plan their trips! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to check out our Countdown to Disney app! Feel free to email me with suggestions of things you would like to see in the app :-)