This obviously takes planning and preparation prior to the
trip and a little extra work at the park – but was it worth it… YES!! We stuck
to our diet and overall we saved money.
This was our first time bringing our own food into a Disney
Park and it was our first time eating our own food on a 14 hour drive down and
back. So it was a complete live and learn experience…
This is how I did it:
First thing I did was research the storage lockers via the
Disney website. The website says there are two locker sizes available. However,
at the park we found only one size. The large locker was 17.5”x12”x16”. It was
$10.00 per day plus a $5.00 key deposit, which is refunded when the key is
returned with the receipt (keep the receipt with your cooler in your locker so
you don’t lose it during the day).
Next, I went to Amazon and purchased a soft sided cooler
meeting the size of the locker… when we got to the park my cooler was a tight
squeeze but it fit and we found out later that if it hadn’t fit that they would
have stored it in a back room for us J. I also purchased a set of Bento Meal Prep
Containers.
Now, I was ready to plan out my meals. To make it a little
more Disney FUN I cut out little mickey tags in 3 colors: Pink for me, Blue for
Jeff and Green for Wilde. I put our name on one ear, the day on the other ear
and breakfast, lunch or dinner on the face and labeled each container… in
pencil I listed the food on the back (as we don’t all eat the same food J)… Then, I made my
grocery list accordingly. The purpose of
these little tags was to make it super easy for me to find what I need quickly
on the drive down and when putting food in the cooler early in the morning as
we headed out to the park. It worked great!!
The overall plan was: fruit and oatmeal in the morning for
breakfast; Veggie bags, Nut bags and fruit for snacks; A large salad with
asparagus and other vegetables for lunch; And dinner in the park.
I put our nuts and fruit in zip lock baggies and drew little
Mickey heads on them and wrote fun Disney quotes to keep it feeling fun and
magical.
We kept our snacks in our backpack so that we could eat them
easily when hungry in the park and visited our cooler in the middle of the day
to eat our lunch. Everything stayed cold and it was quick, easy and didn’t cost
anything.
We also took our own water bottles into the park. This was
another huge money savior. Anyone that has visited a Disney Park knows you
drink a ton and drinks are very expensive, even water…. Did you know that you
can ask for a cup of ice water at anywhere they serve food and get it for free J…. We saved so much
money drinking ice water from our own water bottles and water is so much
healthier… Wilde and I add some fresh lemon slices to our water so we had a
little flavor. It was great.
That takes us to dinner in the park. We ate at two
restaurants. The first night we had the
vegetarian chili at The Columbia Harbor House in Liberty Square. It was
delicious. The next night we had the vegetarian burger at the Plaza Restaurant
just off Main Street. The Plaza Restaurant was a little more expensive and
reservations were needed. We made our reservations the night before when we
were reserving our fast past tickets. The food was great and the atmosphere was
beautiful –worth the extra money.
Overall our plan worked!! We stayed on course and saved
money. I wont lie the smells were killing us and it wasn’t easy, but we did it
and having the Disney Meal in the evening made it feel like we weren’t missing
out J.
The only thing I will look into doing differently for next
time is our travel food for down and back. We had made salads and they just
were not convenient to eat in the car. So I will be looking into lettuce wraps
and different foods that are a little easier to eat while you drive. I think I
will also include a few more snacks, you burn through the calories when you are
on the go in the heat all day.
I am really looking forward to our next trip and preparing
the food that keeps my family healthy and happy, while saving money.
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