Florida Guide > Dining
Eating Out withour Breaking the Budget
Many families find the cheapest way to eat out in Orlando is by going to one of the many All You Can Eat restaurants. These can be great as on the way to the Parks you can stop off for breakfast and there is such a vast selection of food the whole family can have as much food of their choice and then usually only a snack is needed during the day.
Similarly on the way home from the Parks families also go to these restaurants for dinner. We usually have dinner at these during the first few days of the holidays as everyone is tired and wants to eat rather than choose and wait for their food.
However there are also other economical options open to you. You will not have been in Orlando for very long before you discover that many of the entrees and combo meals served at restaurants include a large amount of food! We find on the occasions we have an appetizer and an entrée we end up with too much food. Instead we tend to just order an entrée and then have a dessert if we are not too full up.
Some visitors may not be big eaters so consider sharing an entree or combo meal between two people. The restaurants are quite happy for you to do this and often bring your entrée on two separate plates.
Another good idea for light eaters at table service restaurants, and also one you can use if dining alone is to substitute an appetizer for your entree. Probably best to check with your server first that the appetizer is a reasonable size.
If you are an adult with a small appetite at counter-service restaurants you should not hesitate to order from the kids' menu. No one ever queries this as they do not know if it is for an adult or a child. However I do not think this would be allowed at full service restaurants.
You may well have heard people asking and paying for “an extra bun” at counter service restaurants. They will usually have had something like a double cheeseburger which they then proceed to spilt into two single cheeseburgers. The extra bun used to only cost a few cents but I believe recently the price may have increased so ask before you buy.
In the parks, the counter-service menus often list only complete meals, such as a sandwich with fries or fruit, entree with corn on the cob, etc. Friends have told me even though they are not listed you can order individual items and if you just want a sandwich but not the side that accompanies it just ask. They say they have done this several times.
Also apparently the Kids Meals in the Disney Parks that come in their own little Disney container do not need to be purchased like this; you can just request the meal without the container giving you another saving.
I hope you find some of these tips useful and I am sure you will learn plenty more.
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