11 Places Where You Can Eat Cheap at Walt Disney World
For most people, vacation budgets have limits. You have a fixed amount of money to spend, and you’d rather spend it on lasting keepsakes than food. At Walt Disney World, you’ll struggle with this, as some meals come at a high price. However, you don’t have to break the bank on your food budget. Here are 11 places where you can eat cheap at Walt Disney World.
Chicken Guy!
Some of the places where you’ll spend time during your vacation sell inexpensive food. You just have to find them.
And Disney Springs should be one of your frequent destinations during your trip. This entertainment district hosts so many restaurants that competition drives down pricing.
Also, you’ll find some chains here. Chicken Guy! currently operates four locations, one of which is at Disney Springs. The menu offers several kinds of chicken dishes, along with plenty of different sauces to give the meals a kick.
Columbia Harbour House
Not every restaurant that I’ll list here easily slots into categories. However, the first two are a chicken place and a fish place.
Magic Kingdom guests have known about Columbia Harbour House since nearly the beginning of the park.
The theme here transports you back to a colonial hotel in a harbor town, and the Lobster Roll has become an institution. For $15.99, it’ll fill your belly and fuel you for the rest of your park visit.
Earl of Sandwich
Orlando citizens know a secret that they sometimes share with out-of-towners. The best sandwiches at Walt Disney World come cheap. Earl of Sandwich at Disney Springs sells such affordable, delicious food that it’s earned awards for its cuisine.
Sites like TripAdvisor regularly rank it above restaurants that cost three times as much…and that’s from reader voting! The last sandwich I ordered here was only $8.
That’s the same price as Subway. In terms of bang for the buck, you can’t beat Earl of Sandwich anywhere in Orlando.
Epcot Festivals
I’ll mention two general strategies here in addition to nine restaurants. One of the tactics isn’t available all the time, though. On more than half the days on the annual calendar, Epcot hosts festivals.
As part of these events, the park operates food kiosks, pop-up kitchens that serve mouth-watering cuisine. Almost everything on the menus costs less than $10!
So, when you visit during a festival, you should hang out at the World Showcase and eat your way around the globe. The festivals provide such substantial value that I advise friends to plan their travel dates around these events.
Flame Tree Barbecue
Disney describes its counter restaurants as Quick Service. Historically, conventional wisdom dismissed them as fast food-quality, which wasn’t entirely true.
In modern times, clever restauranteurs have mimicked Disney by opening fast-casual establishments. And that’s a more accurate description of what to expect at Walt Disney World.
Most of the Quick Service eateries sell high-quality dishes at affordable prices. Some of them like Flame Tree Barbecue deliver enhanced value due to portion sizes. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you and a date can share some of the dishes here. And I swear that neither of you will go hungry.
A giant plate of BBQ can definitely feed two…unless one of you is an offensive lineman. By employing this tactic, the average cost of your meal drops under $10. It’s tough to beat that price anywhere, much less at Walt Disney World.
Food Trucks
Again, this tactic is more of a general strategy. You may not know it, but Disney has dedicated an entire section of Disney Springs to food trucks. At last count, the company operated three of them:
- Cookie Dough and Everything Sweet
- Mac & Cheese
- Springs’ Street Tacos
You should know from the titles whether or not you can find anything of interest here. All three places satisfy hungry guests looking to nosh on comfort foods. Best of all, the prices reflect the low operating costs of food trucks.
Most menu items list for less than $10 at the time of publication. So, you can save a fortune by eating food truck meals a couple of times during your vacation.
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Café
At this restaurant, you head south of the border for some delicious dishes like fajitas and tacos. Anyone who has ever made a split-second decision to hit Taco Bell knows that the ingredients in these dishes are so cheap that you can eat a day’s worth of food for little money.
It’s why college students adore taco joints…well, part of the reason.
Pecos Bill features an Old West theme. So, the Southwestern flavors match well with the spirit of the place. And most of the entrees here cost $12.99 or less! Orlando locals spend a lot of time here since it’s one of the least expensive places at Magic Kingdom. Also, I don’t know about you, but I could always go for a taco.
Pizzafari
I’ve included two pizza joints on this list, one of which surpasses the other in every way. So, when you have the opportunity to pick between them, don’t go to Pizzafari. However, when you’re at Animal Kingdom and want a slice, you’ve only got the one choice. It’s an economical solution, as Pizzafari’s pies cost $10.99 or less.
Satu’li Canteen
Everyone who visits Walt Disney World frequently falls in love with a few places. Although the list is alphabetical, I’m closing it out with three of my favorites.
Since its inception, Satu’li Canteen has become a destination location at Pandora: The World of Avatar in Animal Kingdom.
The theming here cleverly incorporates a premise from the film. You’re dining at a former corporate military mess hall, which explains why it’s so spacious. Now, it’s repurposed as a tourist dining area, and so the food includes a more artistic touch.
The menu here was forward-thinking for 2017, as make-your-own bowls empower guests to pick their proteins. Disney’s since adopted some of these strategies for the plant-based menus across its North American theme parks. You do more than eat well at Satu’li Canteen; you’ll also eat healthily. And the bowls all cost less than $15!
Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
Okay, I’m only listing one Table Service restaurant on this list, and I have a reason for that. Most of these sit-down meals will break your budget, at least unless you have the Disney Dining Plan. However, the Italy pavilion at Epcot operates one place that’s an exception.
At Via Napoli, the large pizzas are big enough that two people can share one of them for about $40. You can top that deal, though! Presuming that you’re traveling with pizza partners who prefer the same toppings, you can order and share a Mezzo Metro.
These half-meter long pies are so large that they may not fit in your home oven. Four people could share one of these babies for less than $50! When you split the bill, it’s no more than other meals on this list. And the pizza at Via Napoli rivals anything outside of New York and Chicago.
Woody’s Lunch Box
Finally, let’s talk about a restaurant with one of the smallest menus at Walt Disney World. Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened Toy Story Land in 2018. Nobody’s been able to get a table at Woody’s Lunch Box since then.
The main reason why is that it’s the only game in town, so to speak. Park guests must walk to other themed lands to dine elsewhere. So, Woody’s Lunch Box remains crowded throughout the park day.
Of course, the other reason is that Disney sells comfort food here for cheap prices. Currently, only one item on the food menu costs more than $9.99. A family of four can eat here for $50, a rarity at Walt Disney World. As a special bonus, the cuisine is divine, too!