My family and I are not foodies by any means. On our previous trip we were content to snack on granola bars and bottled water while we were in the parks and ate cooked meals at our condo to keep costs down. However, on our next trip I am budgeting money to buy a special snack in each park. Remember, we are cheapskates so eating several full meals is not in the cards for us, so we are looking for the best snacks each park has to offer. Will be taking myself, wife, and 9 year old daughter.
This is what I’ve come up with so far:
Magic Kingdom: Eat lunch at Be Our Guest. Likely our one and only full meal inside a park. I know its going to be a tough reservation to get as we are staying offsite and won’t have 180+10 days to get the reservation, but going to give it a shot anyway.
EPCOT: My wife grew up in Germany, so a bratwurst at Sommerfest is sounding good. Also, I want to buy a memory at Beaches & Cream (it’s within walking distance of EPCOT’s international gateway, isn’t it?) and surprise my daughter with the kitchen sink!
Animal Kingdom: Sharing cheeseburger pods and blueberry cream cheese mousse at Satuli Canteen. Also want it to be the day we try dole whip for the first time as they are available at Tamu Tamu.
Hollywood Studios: This one seems to be a tough one. I can’t see much unique for snack food in this park. The PB& J shake at 50’s Prime Time Cafe won’t interest anyone except me, and like I said we will be avoiding full restaurants for most of the trip other than BOG, so Sci-Fi Diner is out, too. So this day may just be a Mickey ice cream bar day as they are available at Dinosaur Gertie’s.
And while this isn’t the Universal message board, that area is nearly dead, so I’ll just go ahead and post that frozen butterbeer at IoA and the Big Pink at Lard Lad in Springfield at Universal are showing the most promise.
So, critique, add, subtract…whatever you think will help make this a great vacation (for our budget, anyway!)
So this is a great question! I think you could eat really well and never sit down at a restaurant. How many days are you spending at each park? Everything good to eat that I can think of is at Epcot except for the waffles at Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom. We line up for these when the window opens. Yum! Also, I don’t think BOG reservations will be too hard to get at 180 days. And if you really just want the experience, you don’t have to all order full meals.
I’m going to throw out a suggestion that does counter your strategy, but if you do like German food, mayyyybe consider doing the Biergarten buffet. It is one of the more reasonably priced buffets and it has a very fun show. Plus (I speak from personal experience) you can definitely count it as two meals if you time it right.
Beaches & Cream is a pretty short walk - do note it’s a very tough reservation as it is tiny. Although you may be able to get a Kitchen Sink to go - not sure. Do note they also offer a Chocolate Kitchen Sink if you are chocolate lovers & want to avoid some of the flavors in the regular - one of the Touring Plans Blogs (probably one of the 6’s) had a note on it recently…
Good luck - sounds like a fun plan to hit some of the best snacks. Our faves are the default Mickey Ice Cream bar and we’ve had some great cupcakes at the quick service places at many resorts (GF & Poly come to mind). Beignets at POFQ are also great if you happen to be there…
I’d add carrot cake cookie in HS from Sweet Spells and fruit and Nutella waffle from Sleepy Hollow in MK. I like the QS German food but there is hardly any seating and it’s all outdoor. We thought the pretzel is just ok but the rest was good. If you have another meal at MK, Pecos Bills has big portions (shareable). There are so many treats you could try in Epcot. The ice cream in France and Karamell Kuche treats in Germany are universally well loved.
Tho I only have one Dole Whip at Tamu Tamu, and I can guarantee you that I’ll get one there next time I’m at AK, the Dole Whips I’ve had at Aloha Aisle were smoother and creamier. I’d suggest you try both. IIRC, Tamu Tamu can’t do the floats, either. If you catch the Dole Whip bug, you’ll want to try both places anyway.
Those are some of our favorites as well! My daughter had the Nutella and fruit filled waffle (MK) for a special dinner treat and LOVED it! Kind of like dinner and dessert in one! The carrot cake cookie (HS) is more like a big carrot cake whoopie pie. Delish! We love popping into Karamell Kuche (E) to grab a treat for Illuminations! They will offer to slice the caramel apples if you wish. Great to share. Wish I had one now!!! I am also a fan of the jalapeno cheese stuffed pretzel (AK), but I hear they are hard to find these days.
Thanks for all the replies. I posed this question two other places, and by far the #1 response for a snack I hadn’t listed was the carrot cake cookie from Sweet Spells at HS. It would be perfect to fill the gap I have at HS right now as it comes highly recommended, is big enough to share, and not overly expensive.
