The Best Disney World Lunch “Snacks”

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I recently shared my favorite Disney Dining Plan Hacks and one of my favorite dining plan hacks is using snack credits for light lunches in between larger meals.

Today, I’m sharing with you all of the lunch options you can purchase at the Walt Disney World parks with DDP Snack Credits!

The BEST Disney Dining Plan Tip: how to use your Disney snack credits for full meals! Get the most out of your dining plan snack credits with our list of all meal-sized snacks (and where to find them)

Best Alternative Uses for Your Snack Credits

Two of my favorite ways to use Disney Snack Credits is to either:

  • a) use them for a small meal – perfect if you have a large or buffet-style meal coming up in a few hours
  • b) use them for souvenirs by picking up treats in bakeries or shops

Option B is by far my favorite use – with those “snack credits” you can buy chocolate-covered rice krispie treats, 8 oz bags of candy, 8 oz bags of popcorn, small packages of cookies, decorated sugar cookies, etc. (The only option I wouldn’t advise is the cotton candy which might melt before you get it home.)

We also like splitting an adult-sized quick service meal and then putting her quick service credits towards take-home snacks (you can redeem 1 quick service meal for 3 snacks, as long as it’s in one transaction).

These take-home snacks are a fun treat for family movie nights or as a lunch box snack for the kids, and are a fun way to bring a little taste of Disney home with you.

Stretch Your Disney Dining Plan Snack Credits with this list of all of the lunch options you can purchase at the Walt Disney World parks with DDP Snack Credits!

PS – lots of people have asked where we got our shirts. The kids ones are still available from ShopDisney, and you can order similar shirts from Etsy in sizes for the whole family. Other people have asked about Ella’s facial expression… she’s just got a funny sense of humor and likes making silly faces when getting her picture taken LOL

Use Your Snack Credits for Small Meals

Disney is known for their generous portion sizes and they have some amazing buffets, so if you have a large breakfast or supper planned and just want something small for lunch, using your snack credit or splitting a quick service meal amongst a few people is a great way to save your dining credits and still catch a bite to eat.

(Using snack credits for lunch is also a great way to free up table service credits for double-credit meals like Cinderella’s Royal Table.)

Below I’m sharing some of the BEST “snack options” that you can purchase as a light and healthy lunch or supper substitute. You can also use a single quick service credit to purchase three snacks! This is a great way to get a light meal for a family.

If you want to use your snack credits for small meals look for the  symbol on the menu. Anything with that symbol will be charged as a snack.

Breakfast “snack” options are mostly found at your resort – you can usually grab oatmeal cups, grits, smoothies, 2 biscuits with sausage gravy, Mickey waffles, etc. You can also get smoothies or muffins easily in the parks for a snack credit.

Most muffins, croissants, cinnamon buns, funnel cakes, churros, pretzels or similar snacks count be included in this list as a filling “dessert for lunch” substitute but I tried to go for healthier, lunch-style items like soups and salads for the below lists.

The soup portions tend to be a 8-10oz portion and the salads are about 2 cups worth of greens and veggies. You can ask to see the portion size before purchasing to ensure it’s the right choice for you.

Epcot and Animal Kingdom are definitely the best places to use snack credits for light lunches with large portion sizes and a variety of tempting options.

Here are your best meal substitutions for snack credit options by park:

Magic Kingdom Snack-sized Meals

  • Tomato Basil Soup or Caesar Side Salad at Pinocchio’s Haus
  • Baked Potato at Liberty Square
  • Side Chili at Casey’s Corner
  • Vegetarian Chili or New England Clam Chowder at Colombia Harbour House
  • Cheeseburger Spring Rolls (2) at the Egg Roll Wagon (seasonally open in Adventureland)
  • Hummus and Chips or Mixed Vegetable Cup with Dip at Prince Eric Village Market

Hollywood Studios Snack-Sized Meals

Other than smoothies, muffins, cinnamon buns, and similar snacks (or a small serving of fruit or vegetable sticks) you won’t find any filling “snack for lunch” options at Hollywood Studios so either splurge with a quick service or table service or bring something with you from your resort or another park.

Epcot Snack-Sized Meals

If you go to Epcot during the fall Food & Wine show, you can absolutely must use those snack credits to pick up samples at most kiosks. During the rest of the year, here are your best bets for a filling lunch snack credit:

  • Lobster bisque, tomato and cheese baguette, ham and cheese croissant sandwich at Boulangerie Patisserie les Halles
  • Caprese Salad, Chicken Corn Chowder, Maryland Style Crab Soup, Roasted Tomato Soup, Side Salad, Tomato Cucumber Salad, Tuna Side Salad, Beef Chili or Pumpkin Soup at Sunshine Seasons
  • Side salad or miso soup at Katsura Grill
  • Clam Chowder at the Liberty Inn
  • Pork and Vegetable Egg Rolls (I think we got 2) at Lotus Blossom Cafe
  • Chilled shrimp with quinoa, layered vegetables, spiced yogurt and red pepper coulis at Refreshment Coolpost
  • Hummus with pretzels or fruit and cheese plate at Ice Cream Carts
  • Curry chicken pocket or Pork and Vegetable Egg Rolls at Joy of Tea kiosk
  • Various sushi options at Kabuki Cafe
  • Cold Potato Salad with Eggs or Baked Macaroni with Cheese Custard at Sommerfest
Animal Kingdom Snack-Sized Meals
  • Chicken Fried Rice from the Yak and Yeti kiosk (not in the restaurant)
  • French Fries with Pulled Pork and Cheese at Flame Tree BBQ
  • Tomato Basil soup at Pizzafari
  • Chili Cheese Fries or New England Clam Chowder at Restaurantosaurus
  • Teriyaki Beef Slider or Asian Noodle Salad at Caravan Road
  • Falafet or Hummus with vegetables and mini pita at Mr. Kamel’s
  • Smoky Cheddar Grits served with pulled pork and pickles or Chicken Drumstick served with potato salad and pickles at Smiling Crocodile
  • Buffalo Chicken wings or Hummus with vegetables at Terra Treats
  • Asian Noodle Salad or Hummus with vegetables at Thirsty River Bar

I’ve also put together a FULL LIST of ALL of the Disney snack credits available as of 2020 here, along with current prices.

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share an awesome resource with you that I use when booking my Disney World or Universal Studios vacations.

Undercover Tourist is a family-oriented travel agency that offers authorized, discounted park tickets for Disney World, Universal Studios, and over 40 other attractions in the Orlando area.

You can book your park tickets, hotels (Disney and off-property), transportation and more activities to fill up your vacation through them – and it doesn’t cost you anything extra. (You actually usually end up saving a ton more than if you were to try to book all of these things on your own.) They are fully accredited by Disney and I have also had the pleasure of meeting the owners while on vacation and they were just awesome, Disney-obsessed people dedicated to amazing customer service.

You will save way more money booking through them than booking directly withe Disney. The tickets also have a 90-day flexible return window, so if your plans change, you can get your money back.

See all the current sales here! 

 

Be sure to pin this collection of healthy, light lunches that cost just a snack credit to help you make the most of your Disney Dining:

Disney Dining Plan hack for your Disney vacation that helps you use your snack credits for meals - this is the best way to make those credits stretch, or have the freedom to visit double-credit restaurants like Cinderella's Royal Table

A huge shout-out to AllEars.net for compiling comprehensive menus and pricing for all DisneyWorld restaurants that I used to double-check my information listed above.

I’m sure though that we’ve missed a few options – so if you know of any snack-redeemable lunch options that we missed please leave me a comment so I can update this list!

For more awesome tips for planning your Walt Disney World vacation, check out our 10 BEST Disney Resorts or our Wyndham Gardens Review.

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4 Comments

  1. This was a great post – I’m going to take this list with me on our upcoming trip to Disney World this winter so we can get the most out of our Snack credits. I think it is especially useful for families like us that are on the quick-serve dining plan.

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  3. I am so bummed Disney took away the dining plan… Lets hope it comes back soon, I seriously love how eassy it is to use. I really enjoys just snacking and eating whatever wherever! Crossing my fingers it returns soon!

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