How to Save Money on Food at Disney’s Epcot

When we planned a last-minute trip to Disney World, I knew we needed to keep a tight budget. To save money, we stayed off-property and bought special-offer Disney tickets. With accommodations and tickets purchased, I looked for additional ways to save money. Food is a huge expense when traveling, especially with four growing boys.

After a bit of research, I created a plan for our family that saved us hundreds of dollars. It took a little bit of research to find the best restaurants and meals but it was totally worth the effort.

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Set a Budget

Theme park food is always pricey, but there are ways to save money on food at Disney World. First, it’s important to know that Disney World allows guests to bring food into the parks. Many theme parks have restrictions on bringing in outside food, forcing guests to buy their overpriced food. Thankfully, Disney has a very lenient policy on outside food. This is important because packing your food could save you hundreds of dollars, even if you bring snacks.

My goal was to spend less than $200 per day. To achieve this goal, I set a budget of $60 per meal for our entire family and $30 for snacks per day. This would bring our total to $150 per day. But I know prices fluctuate based on dining location, so this budget gave us a $50 buffer. We went over budget at Hollywood Studios and were drastically under budget at Animal Kingdom. We came in under budget at Epcot.

Create a Plan

The key to creating a realistic plan is to do your research. Because Disney allows guests to bring in outside food, we packed plenty of snacks to munch on throughout the day. We could have brought packed lunches for everyone, but meals for 6 people take up space, and we prefer to pack light. Additionally, we could have rented a locker, but the time and effort to stop what we were doing and trek back to the park entrance to get our food wasn’t worth it.

We opted to dine at quick-service restaurants and ordered off the kids’ meals. Many of the quick-service locations throughout Disney World offer substantial kids’ meals, and anyone can order a kid’s meal, not just kids. One of the great things about kids’ meals is that they all come with a drink. However, not all kid’s meals are created equally. I used the My Disney Experience app to make practice mobile orders to see which meals offer the most food for the lowest price.

Our Plan for Dining at Epcot

I had a plan for all of our meals before we even got to the park. I let everyone know our plan and that our goal is to save money and have as much fun as possible during this trip. I think teaching kids how to create balance in life is helpful. We can do fun activities but don’t have to overextend our budget. Including the kids in the process prevented meltdowns and complaining and helped them learn to value what matters.

Breakfast

For this trip, we stayed off-property and ate the complimentary breakfast served at our hotel. Even when we stay on-property, we find it’s quicker and cheaper to eat breakfast in our room. We usually place a grocery order to be delivered to our room on arrival. This way, we can have quick grab-and-go breakfast items like muffins, cereal bars, fruit, and even cereal available.

Lunch at Epcot

For lunch, we ate at Connections Eatery. We set a budget of $12 per person for lunch at Connections Eatery. Most of us ordered the kid’s pizza meal with a large slice of cheese pizza, a choice of 2 sides, and a refillable drink. For sides, everyone opted for french fries and a mandarin orange. One of our kids opted for the 2 slices of pepperoni pizza, which was about the same price as the kid’s meal but didn’t come with sides or a drink.

Our total for lunch was $54.06.

Maple Popcorn in Canada

We purchased the refillable popcorn bucket at Hollywood Studios and brought it to Epcot. For a small fee, the buckets can be refilled at all four Disney parks and Disney Springs.

While most specialty-flavored popcorn isn’t included in the popcorn refills, you can refill your bucket with maple popcorn at the Canada pavilion at Epcot.

It costs $2.25 for maple popcorn in Canada.

Beer in Germany

My husband enjoys trying new beers when we travel so we opted to try the Warsteiner Dunkel from Sommerfest in the Germany pavilion.

The total for his beer was $12.78

Dinner at Epcot

We ate dinner at Regal Eagle Smokehouse in the American Adventure pavilion. Everyone ordered from the kid’s menu. The kid’s meals at Regal Eagle are by far the best bang for your buck in all of Disney World. There are several main entrees and many sides to choose from, all with large portions. (How very American!). My husband and I ordered the kid’s salad topped with smoked chicken, which came with 2 sides and a drink. I opted for macaroni and cheese and baked beans. My husband choose the onion rings and baked beans. The kids ordered cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, and macaroni and cheese for the main meals with sides of French friends, macaroni and cheese, and watermelon.

The total for dinner was $51.16

Additional Snacks

We also carried a backpack with us that contained plenty of snacks and water bottles, so we weren’t tempted to overspend. Our bag contained crackers, cookies, cereal bars, and fruit snacks.

Total Spent on Food at Disney’s Epcot

Our family of 6 spent $120.25 at Epcot. We stayed under our $150 daily budget. While we went over budget at Hollywood Studios, we also came in under budget at Animal Kingdom, which brought our budget for 6 people spending 3 days at Disney World to $377.07.