The Easy Way we Save Hundreds on Meals at Disney

A huge part of doing Disney on a budget is controlling how much we spend on food. As parents of two, we are well aware that kids are not the most adventurous eaters. We’ve found ourselves paying the bill on multiple occasions with mostly-full plates still in front of the kids. 

It hurts your soul a little bit, right? 

As we’re heading back into the park, we understand that we’re not in the position to carry around leftovers safely. So, another meal bites the dust. 

Over the years, we’ve refined our list of restaurants we frequent, and we’ve also started a sneaky habit: ordering groceries for the hotel room. It’s perfectly Disney-legal, and the family is better fed and happier for it. The coolers in the rooms are smaller than a typical dorm fridge, so picking the right items can be tricky! Here are some of the things that we like to order during our stay at Disney World and how we get them!

How to Order

Our go-to grocery delivery service is Shipt. If you don’t already have Shipt for delivery at home, they have recently started offering different quantities of deliveries for a flat fee as a package. This is great for Disney goers because the smaller packages of deliveries are cheaper than the typical yearly rate ($99 yearly, at the time of writing). It also allows you to place several smaller orders since your refrigerator space is tiny! Even if you have leftover deliveries, you can redeem them once you return home on a day you don’t feel like venturing out of the house. You can even place a one-time delivery for only $10. If you use my link, you will actually receive $10 off your first Shipt order, so you really have nothing to lose!

When you have your list of items compiled, log into your Shipt shopping app. You’ll be prompted to select a delivery address, where you can add your resort’s address. I also add a note about where I will meet the shopper to collect our items. For Pop Century Resort, I request to meet them at the bell services area. Because the shopper can’t leave their car and deliver to the room, be sure to indicate an area that is easy for both of you to find and is out of the way of buses. 

Search for and add your items to your cart. You can leave notes for your shopper, including preferred substitutions for things that may not be in stock. Once you’ve reviewed your order, you will be prompted to select a delivery window, usually an hour-long window. I like to add notes about where I will meet them to collect the groceries. My favorite spot is the awning by bell services. It’s covered, easy to find, and the driver won’t be in the way of the busses. 

Delivery windows do fill up quickly throughout the day, so I try to place my order the night before or first thing in the morning. Deliveries from Publix, a local grocery store, are offered as early as 8:00am and as late as 9:00pm. Hours are different for various businesses, especially for liquor stores. We’ve been enjoying deliveries from Target since Publix hasn’t been offering many travel-sized items on the app.

How to Get it Back to the Room

You can easily have your group ready to carry groceries back to the room, BUT I prefer to go solo. It keeps the kids out of the bags and discourages snacking on the way back to the room. How, you may ask? I take the stroller. I’ve used a single and a double stroller to do this. I also keep a giant carabiner on the handlebars of my stroller to hold our park bags during the day, which comes in clutch for hanging grocery bags!

You wouldn’t believe the dropped jaws, head nods, and “Whoa, that’s smart!” comments I get. Because it is smart. The retail park value of my haul is well over $100, all without standing in line! Just think, one, 10-count box of croissants at $5.99 would retail at $34.90 (10 x $3.49 each)! One bottle of water costs $5.50, with a delivered case costing nearly the same! Just saying- not all heroes wear capes.

What would you do without a stroller? If my family wasn’t there to help me schlep it back to the room, then I’d ask for help from bell services. They have wheeled carts usually used for luggage available, but please, please, please, be sure to have cash available to tip the individual that helps you. Furthermore, if they let you take the cart unsupervised (they probably won’t), then be prepared to wheel it all the way back. It is, after all, the equipment they need to do their job!

This is just one small part of how we save on our trips to Disney! If you’re looking for even more ways to take a vacation on a budget, be sure to check out our post about more brilliant ways to save! I hope this gives you a little more hope that your trip is totally doable without breaking the bank. Groceries are just a little comfort from home that will help streamline your days. What are your hacks for eating on the cheap at Disney? Do you pack it in from home? Do you like to split meals? Let us know in the comments below!

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*The WDW Lists is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with The Walt Disney Company.

A huge part of doing Disney on a budget is controlling how much we spend on food. As parents of two, we are well aware that kids are not the most adventurous eaters. We’ve found ourselves paying the bill on multiple occasions with mostly-full plates still in front of the kids.  It hurts your soul…