Thursday's Tip

We all know that food at Walt Disney World can eat up (pardon the pun) a huge portion of your vacation budget. And character meals can get especially pricey. Want to stretch your food dollars as far as possible? Thursday's Tip: strategically plan your dining. Even if you have the meal plan, and aren't paying out of pocket for each meal, you'll want to maximize what you get for your dining dollars. Here are a few of my favorite ways to make the most of your meals:

• Plan character breakfast inside the Parks for first thing in the morning--before the Parks open. You'll get to enter the Park before other guests--allowing you to take some awesome photos!--and you'll likely finish eating before the Park opens, which puts you first in line for the rope drop. In addition, you'll start your day with a full tummy and won't likely need to eat again until afternoon. Win all around!


• If you plan to attend a character breakfast at one of the resorts, try to do it on a day you won't be entering the Parks. This keeps you from using precious touring time for travel. If you must do a resort meal on a Park touring day, try to visit the Park closest to that resort (for monorail resorts, the obvious choice is the Magic Kingdom).


• For non-Park days, plan to eat a character breakfast at the last seating of the morning--around 11:00 a.m. If you're early risers, you can have a small snack in your room for breakfast, and your character meal will essentially serve as lunch. An added benefit at buffet meals such as Chef Mickey's is that you'll likely have the characters to yourselves as the restaurant empties out from earlier diners (there is a bit of a lull as they switch the buffet from breakfast to lunch items).


• If you have the Disney Dining Plan, be sure to order all the food you're entitled to at each meal or you'll "lose it"--you cannot save partial dining credits. If you're too full for dessert, try to choose something that is relatively non-perishable and can be taken back to your room and stored in a refrigerator or cooler for later snacking.


• If you have leftover dining snack credits at the end of your trip, visit any Disney gift shop and spend the credits on packaged snacks. Qualifying snacks may vary from store to store, but most packaged candy, pretzels, chips, etc. are included.


• Take advantage of your Disney Dining Plan and order something you might never try otherwise! Who cares how expensive it is, right? You're not paying (except for the tip, of course). Pre-paid meals are a great time to think outside the box and try something new. Besides, with appetizer, entree, and dessert, you're bound to order at least one thing that you'll like.

With these tips, you're well on your way to saving time and money, and getting the most out of your dining dollars at Walt Disney World.