How to Save Money Eating at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

I recently took my family of six to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. My family consists of my husband and me, plus our four boys (including teens and preteens). We saved money on food by researching before arriving at Disney World, creating a plan, and sticking with our plan.

We’ve been on Disney vacations where we splurged and spent hundreds of dollars a day on food for our family, but this was a last-minute trip, and we needed to be conservative with our spending. Eating at Disney can be fun and the focus of your day, but for this trip, we decided to focus on family fun. Our goal was to see and do as much as possible without spending much time or money on food.

Plan to Save Money at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

For our trip, we decided to spend less than $100 on food for the day. Because Animal Kingdom closes early, I thought this was a reasonable budget for our family. I knew we would be limited to eating at quick-service restaurants or food kiosks to stick to our budget. Table-service meals were not even an option for this plan. We also knew bringing our food into the park would save us money. Disney allows you to bring in outside food as long as it meets their guidelines.

I carefully reviewed the quick service menus via the My Disney Experience app and even ran a few sample mobile orders to obtain accurate pricing and meal options. I also factored in the preferred types of food my family likes to eat. While my husband and I are more adventurous eaters, our kids aren’t, so I wanted to make sure where we ate had something everyone would enjoy.

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Opt for Kids Meals

I fully believe ordering kids’ meals is one of the best ways to save money when eating out. Anyone can order off the kid’s menu at Disney’s Quick Service restaurants. (Note this is not the case at Disney’s Table Service restaurants.) However, not all Disney kid’s meals are created equally. There are some restaurants where the amount of food for the price is not a good value.

We opted to eat lunch in Pandora at Satu’li Canteen. The kid’s meals are all priced under $9 and come with a refillable drink. One of the perks of ordering kids’ meals is they all come with a drink. Some dining locations have self-serve drink refill stations, while others do not. Satu’li Canteen has several self-serve drink refill stations inside the restaurant.

My husband and I ordered the kid’s bowls, mini versions of the adult customizable bowls. These bowls were fairly small and had fewer options for customization, but they were satisfying. The kids opted for the Teylu-wrapped hotdogs or quesadillas. Each of their meals came with a side of chips and mandarin orange. I think they got more food for the price. Next time, I will order the cheeseburger steampod as it also comes with chips and an orange. The total for our meal at Satu’li Canteen was $50.40.

Buy Sharable Snacks

It was a rather hot mid-August day, so a cold snack was necessary. We opted for the Kakigori shaved ice from Caravan Road. We ordered three shaved ices: watermelon, mango/passion fruit, and kakigori. My husband and I shared the kakigori, and the kids shared the other two shaved ices. The portion sizes of the kakigori and shaved ice were rather large, making them perfect for sharing. Our total at Caravan Road was $17.54.

My husband also purchased a cold brew coffee drink mid-afternoon. No one else wanted anything from the coffee cart, so we grabbed snacks from our backpacks and refilled our water bottles for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. The total for the coffee was $5.10.

Packing Snacks

We brought two backpacks filled with snacks and refillable water bottles to the parks. Disney World allows guests to bring their own food. We packed crackers, cookies, cereal bars, and more. Packing snacks saves you money on food in the packs and helps prevent hunger meltdowns. Bringing plenty of water into the parks is essential to stay hydrated in the Florida heat.

Eat Outside of the Park

Because Animal Kingdom closed so early, we opted to eat dinner after we left the park. The park typically closes around 6 p.m., so it’s easy to spend less money on food when you leave the park so early. We were staying at an off-property hotel with a kitchenette, so we cooked a small meal back at our hotel with groceries we purchased upon arrival. This saved us money and let us have a relaxing evening before getting up early the next day to head to Hollywood Studios.

Our Total Expenses

We spent $72.04 on our food and beverage purchases in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. My goal was to spend less than $100 for the day on food in the park, and we stayed within budget. It is easy to overspend on any vacation, but especially at Disney. However, if you research and plan accordingly, you can easily stick to your budget.