Tips about Epcot, Food & Beverage and Walt Disney World

Trail's End Buffet at Fort Wilderness was fabulous! My son is a picky breakfast eater, but they had donuts with sprinkles, which he loves. They only charged us $0.60 per donut he ate and for his drink, instead of charging us for the whole buffet. It is a big difference in price, and nice for people with little money. - Jennifer Smith

My wife and I took our nephews to WDW in September for seven days. We stayed at the All Star Movies. To save money on food we brought down individual boxes of cereal from Michigan to eat for breakfast and then just bought milk every morning. That was like saving almost an entire meal a day. We also brought a backpack that was insulated like a cooler. We filled it every day with combos and fruit snacks. That way during the day if they weren't starving, but just needed a quick snack they would eat combos or a fruit snack instead of spending two to three dollars per person every couple hours for a snack. This also cut down on the number of meals we had to eat because they weren't as hungry. Typically we would end up eating breakfast in the morning with our already paid for cereal, eat a couple of snacks, have a late lunch between 2-3PM, have some more snacks, and then eat a late dinner at our hotel when we would return from the parks. We also bought the all you can drink cups at the hotel which made dinner about $2.00 cheaper per person every night. That adds up over seven days. With the savings it afforded us to be able to do a couple of extra things like a character breakfast and eating at the sci-fi drive-in restaurant. - Rocky Barra II

Here is our tip for saving money on trips to Walt Disney World and any other hotel for that matter. First of all, we bought a Coleman about the size of a six-pack. It cost about $7 at Wal-Mart. Next we bought a small coffee maker, big enough to make two cups. I think this cost about $12. We buy a pint of milk a day and keep it in the Coleman with ice to keep it cool. We take coffee with us, and sugar for that matter, and not forgetting some plastic cups and we are able to make coffee in the hotel room and use fresh milk. What a treat. And guess what? The coffee maker fits inside the Coleman for transportation, couldn't be better! With coffee at about a dollar a cup at least, you can see how much can be saved on a vacation of a week or two if people have 4-6cups a day in your room. The cost savings will easily pay for the Coleman and the coffee maker just on your first trip. Needless to say, we take plastic bowls and breakfast cereal with us to have our breakfast before setting out to the parks. - Dave and Jane Young

If you are a Florida resident we have a great deal for you. My family and I are annual passholders and frequently visit WDW. We have the Tables in Wonderland and it save's us 20% at most sit down restaurants. This card is $125.00 for the year. We saved that in one weekend. - The Hill's

EDITOR'S NOTE: Tables in Wonderland is now available to all annual passholders as well as to all Florida Residents.

We just returned from WDW, and wanted to tell everyone interested in character dining to not give up, thinking it is too late to get reservation for a meal. My girlfriend called at 6 p.m. and got us a reservation for 7:30 p.m. at the Liberty Tree Tavern. So even on the day of, and just hours before, it is still possible. Never assume that it is too late. - Dustin Wilson

Did you know you could order from any of the restaurants on the Boardwalk by just walking in and asking to place a to-go order. We did this our first night and it worked great. Took just 15 minutes for wings and two chicken Caesar salads. - Jennifer Lukoff

If you're a vegan or on a strict low-fat diet--or would simply like an extra-special vegetarian meal--call the Walt Disney World main switchboard (407) 824-2222 and ask to be transferred to the restaurant of your choice. Once connected, ask to speak directly with a chef, and explain your dietary needs. Have fun brainstorming with the chefs about your special meal. If you give them enough advance notice (usually a week will do), most Disney chefs are more than happy to purchase special items like rice milk, kamut or seitan to make your meal memorable. Remember to get your chef's full name and to let him or her know the date and time of your visit.

Go to Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe for early dinners - have a good size breakfast - no or light lunch - arrive at either at about 3:30-4pm. Seating is faster - for even faster service sit at the bar. The scenery at both is just as nice to experience there and you don't have to wait for a table. - A. Halton

Please continue to encourage people that eating within the parks can be affordable. (Granted, it is just the 2 of us w/o children, and we do not drink alcohol.) We went on a Sunshine Getaway package [no longer offered] which included a BIG all-you-could-eat breakfast each day, which we scheduled at the earliest time available. Using The Unofficial Guide to WDW (book) we planned to eat as late a lunch as possible at specific restaurants, usually around 2-3. We found full menus and very generous portions, but for a considerably lower price than the dinner meals. Finally, we would stop by the food court at the Caribbean Beach Resort for a snack before bed time. Next time, I'll bring along the Poptarts, etc., and eliminate the need to pay for such. - Jenny Drake

We just returned from a stay at the Coronado Springs Resort. We crammed so much into the evening at the Magic Kingdom, that we decided to have a light snack, and eat once we got back to Coronado Springs. It was close to 11 pm when our bus got us back to the resort. Much to our displeasure, ALL restaurants close at 11pm and room service is even closed after 11 pm as well. Thank heavens for being in the lobby, by the fountain, when we saw a Domino's pizza delivery guy. We ended up ordering pizza and eating about 12:30! We could understand the restaurants closing, but room service as well? During the summer they should at least keep room service running until 1:00 am!!! So heads up if you try to eat a late dinner! - Debi T.

ALL PARKS - I found that if you get tired of waiting in long lines, and you don't mind splitting up your party ( maybe to 1, 2,or even 3) some attractions offer singles lines. These lines help fill up unused space. I tried this at Test Track and the normal wait time was 70 minutes. It took me 5 minutes on the singles line and I still got a seat with my parents. - Matthew

With four children, we are always looking for a way to help smooth over areas that might turn into calamities. The very best thing that we found was to bring hip pouches with water bottles attached, and every night, we fill them up about halfway with water or juice. Then we freeze them overnight. (This even works if you do not have a freezer...get an ice chest, fill it with ice, and you are good to go!) Then in the morning, finish filling it up with your choice of beverage, and you will have a cool drink until early afternoon. At that point, you can refill from a water fountain or head to the room for a refill. We did this in May, and it really helped keep the costs down on those $2 and $3 drinks! - Modesta

When visiting WDW we like to bring our own bottles and fill them at the parks. Trouble is, we don't enjoy the sulfur taste of the water. Last year, we bought Brita Fill and Go water bottles at Target for about $7 each. Each filter lasts for 15 gallons and really helps get rid of the unpleasant taste. The bottles come with a filter and replacements are a couple dollars each. This is much more convenient than having to stop and buy bottled water and is very economical, too. I've also noticed that the cold water from the faucets in the Disney resorts is not too cold, so we fill the bottles with half water and half ice, which helps keep it cool for a couple of hours at least. - Terri Padavona

EPCOT & DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS - It is possible to see Fantasmic at the Hollywood Studios and IllumiNations at Epcot in the same night! The way to accomplish this is to watch Fantasmic sitting near an exit (or semi-close to one), go straight out of the park and when you get to the bus stops outside the park take the bus to the TTC (usually not very crowded at this time). When you get to the TTC take the monorail to Epcot. The night we did this we even wasted time waiting at the boat dock at the Studios and then decided to then try the TTC/Monorail approach. We made it to Epcot by 8:45 PM, in plenty of time to catch IllumiNations. - Christine

EPCOT & DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS - It is possible to see Fantasmic at the Hollywood Studios and IllumiNations at Epcot in the same night! The way to accomplish this is to watch Fantasmic sitting near an exit (or semi-close to one), go straight out of the park and when you get to the bus stops outside the park take the bus to the TTC (usually not very crowded at this time). When you get to the TTC take the monorail to Epcot. The night we did this we even wasted time waiting at the boat dock at the Studios and then decided to then try the TTC/Monorail approach. We made it to Epcot by 8:45 PM, in plenty of time to catch IllumiNations. - Christine