BargainSwag: What I Learned: Magic Kingdom Dining Day 1

With any vacation food can be a huge expense, but if you plan accordingly you can eat well while staying within your budget. Disney World has something for everyone when it comes to dining. They offer both sit-down and quick service dining options, and both have their pros and cons. Most sit-down restaurants are more expensive and require reservations verses quick-service restaurants, which usually consist of fun amusement park favorites such as pizza, burgers, hotdogs and more.

Disney Dining Mistake

I have always heard that it's best to book dining reservations 120 days in advance, but this was the first time I really wished I had actually done it. This was an epic fail on my part, so please learn from my mistake and make dining reservations ASAP when planning a Disney World vacation. I couldn't make reservations because everything was booked. I tried to book about two months in advance and nothing was available. We were visiting during Disney's Free Dining Promotion period and I think that affected our ability to acquire reservations. In the past, we've been able to book restaurants at the parks as late as the night before, but I found out the hard way, that was the exception, not the rule.

Money Saving Tip

We chose to save money by eating breakfast in our room before going to the park. We had a refrigerator and microwave in our hotel room and bought food at a local grocery store. We bought the basics: fruit, veggies, snacks, cereal, milk, water and juice. We also took snacks, water and juice to the parks most days. Having the microwave was great as well because we could warm up leftovers when we returned from the parks or make a small midnight snack.

Dining Fail Day One

Unfortunately, since we had no reservations, we had to go the quick-service route for day one.We checked repeatedly for cancellations at Be Our Guest, but had no luck, so we headed to nearby Pinocchio Village Haus. Everybody found something they could eat and the price was right, but I knew in that moment I had to get reservations for the rest of our trip.

Dinner

Pinocchio Village Haus - Fantasyland
Unfortunately, I didn't take any food pictures because we were eating on the fly most of the time or huddled under a picnic table umbrella trying to stay dry and out of the rain.This is a prime example of why you want to book dining in advance.

What We Ate:
Kids chicken fingers meals; which came with apple slices and Dannon Danimal smoothie - $6.99 Kids flatbread pepperoni pizza, apple slices and Dannon Danimals smoothie - $6.49
Adult Cesar salad with romaine, Parmesan cheese and (very cold) chicken - $9.99
Adult flatbread pepperoni and sausage pizza - $10.99

Treats

Sleepy Hollow Inn - Liberty Square
I messed up royally with dining on day one, so I tried to make-up for it with an awesome treat at the end of the night. I just couldn't leave without my funnel cake! Sleepy Hallow Inn, quick-service at it's finest. I love their funnel cakes and you can get them any way you like, topped with strawberries or whipped cream. Funnel Cakes for Everyone!

Best Funnel Cakes Ever!

You can watch while they make your funnel cake.

So cool!

It's ready!

He was posing for us.

Yum!

Thankfully, the next morning we were able to make dining reservations for the duration of the trip! Next up, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

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