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[ewormas]

Lol ( take the Mickey!) We should write a Disney fans guide to budgeting on here!

[DisneyDonna]

I really despise people taking food for later in the day. We've been over thirty times and I've never once taken any food for later.  All that will happen is that breakfast will be removed from the holiday package. And in case you are wondering we certainly aren't well off ( I'm a single parent) but I know how to save the money for food on holiday, and if I couldn't afford to buy food later on in the day I wouldn't go on holiday at that time.

I absolutely agree with you. I hate it when people do this. You pay for breakfast, not breakfast and lunch. It also causes the breakfast buffet to empty up much quicker due all the people taking all the food for later. I totally agree with ewormas, if you don't have the money to pay for lunch - save up a little more money and go a few months later.

[Fluffymilly]

I'm not a massive breakfast person at home but the minute I get onto Disney soil I seem to be able to consume a vast amount for breakfast! I love it so much, eat as much as possible, but never take a pack up for lunch. We always take loads of drinks and muesli bars etc from home to keep us going until a proper meal later in the day.

[littlebitofpixiedust]

Lol ( take the Mickey!) We should write a Disney fans guide to budgeting on here!

That's not a bad idea! 
I also have to dispute that Disneyland Paris is overly expensive in general, Its not different to uk theme parks. People are well aware that tourist attractions are all higher prices for drinks/food. But there are cheaper options like mcds and earl of sandwich.
But being a lone parent and visiting 2-3 times a year I always have the "how do you afford it" from various friends ect. I'm not rich, I'm careful, I plan wisely and know roughly what I'm going to spend on meals prior to going so ensure I've got enough money for meals and some of course for any extras.
I usually 9/10 times come back with money too

[littlebitofpixiedust]

I'm not a massive breakfast person at home but the minute I get onto Disney soil I seem to be able to consume a vast amount for breakfast! I love it so much, eat as much as possible, but never take a pack up for lunch. We always take loads of drinks and muesli bars etc from home to keep us going until a proper meal later in the day.

That's what we do 
It doesn't just save money but time also instead of waiting in line for drinks all day and stopping for any length of time. We much prefer to have breakfast, snacks and drinks on the go and look forward to a nice table service or buffet in inventions later that evening.

[Zee79]

Fair enough sometimes filling kids bottles up with milk or juice as a started- I often take a bottle from home and do it that way or if cold weather bring hot choc with me but I don't like taking the food. My husband did it one time and I went mad, he was being a cheap skate though. Also I thought the buns went hard. I plan my money working on roughly 8 euro a child and 13 euro an adult per meal, obviously more if you are eating in restaurants constantly or all you can eat buffets. The years we have struggled I've eaten a kids meal to reduce cost- sometimes their meals are just better or gone without for lunch, besides often waiting for the bigger rides mean we miss lunch so just buy a drink. If Disney do take away the breakfast option then I wouldn't be able to afford to go. But each to their own because I do see a lot of people do this and the cm don't seem to bother much now in some hotels however I did feel people were being closely watched in the Sequoia when we went in may 2013.

[stifle]

This is a hot button topic. I personally wouldn't do it because I think it's naughty. You're paying for one meal, not two. My in-laws thought nothing of proudly bringing down cooler bags to breakfast and making stacks of ham and cheese sandwiches (all the while complaining about the square bread being hard and the butter being unspreadable). They also filled the kids' juice bottles from the dispensers and refused to let them buy juice during the day once it ran out. My wife found it really embarrassing.

The CMs don't say anything about it even if you do go to extremes, but if as mentioned above they are now rationing certain items at the HSF (a lower-end hotel) it would not surprise me. Even in the HNY some items were presented in such a way as to be difficult to use for lunch, such as cheese in long narrow cuboids.

[Disney Matt]

I have done this in 2012 but it was on a small scale compared to the extremes some people on here have done it. On my trip I made a couple of ham & cheese rolls & that was it. Others were doing it too & nobody batted an eye.
I did see some filling bottles with milk for children & other using the fruit juices too (with disgruntled people behind them).

[vals]

We were at Cheyenne a few weeks ago. I was shocked at how blatant people were about taking food, In one morning I saw several people with what looked like a whole loaf of bread or even more,just piled up, and they sat and made sandwiches,wrapped them up then put the in their bags. Of course once a few people do it,others start to join in. We were lucky enough to have a meal plan for free as part of our booking which included the afternoon snack. We found that eating a big breakfast, having the afternoon donut and drink, sometimes adding a portion of chips or sharing a pizza, then knowing we had a decent buffet meal to end the day, was more than enough food.

[sarahmumof4]

I have to add that although we have done it we only take a crossiant or pain au chocolate .

I always take food for lunch as in crisps , fruit , chewy bars and always take drinks as well .

I also buy them food ( snacks etc ) whilst in the park .

It's not a full on picnic that I take from the hotel .

I'm a single parent of 4 and I get the ' how can you afford it ' . It's because I budget well so I can take my kids .

It's also not every day as some days we might get chips etc to go with our packed lunch .

[daddyof2]

I'm not going to get into an argument on here by saying any particular breakfast snaffling is wrong. However, I don't have an issue with taking an apple or banana and carrying it out - I've done that in hotels in the UK too. I know the prices of food and drink in the parks can seem a bit high (like they also are at, say, Chessington or Alton Towers) but I like to think of the eateries as part of the experience and I'm glad to read of people like Sarah who can take their kids, budget sensibly and probably have an amazing time.

[littlebitofpixiedust]

It is all about planning ahead and of course being careful I really was astonished in our last trip (feb half term s/f hotel) when you had to que for cheese or ham it was ridiculous, but I suppose if people carry on this way they'll have to act somehow.
And I think it's clear the majority on here have only took a small item rather than take it to the extremes and fill up bags full of fruit/rolls ect. And I'm sure DLP wouldn't probably mind if it was just a snack rather than to feed a whole family for lunch.
What really got to me in the studio 1 we had qued for ages got our food but there was hardly anywhere to sit and many tables were families munching away on breakfast foods from the hotels  so we pay for a meal expect to sit and couldn't...
However I did notice the next day a cm standing with a rope stopping people going to the seating area without food wich I think they've probably had to do to try and stop this. So they are putting measures in place wich I've never seen been done on previous visits. And we've been so many times I've lost count! So this problem must be getting worse im looking forward to HNY stay and I'll be intrigued to see what happens at breakfast there compared to Santafe

[stifle]

People taking seats without purchasing food is a perennial problem at several of the counter service restaurants. Restaurant en Coulisse (as you've discovered), most of Frontierland, plus Toad Hall regularly suffer from this – and it's awful for the people prowling around with trays of hot food watching people camp on tables for their friends who just joined the queue, or who are picknicking. In the Studios there is always the Blockbuster Café (over by Rock n Roller Coaster avec Aerosmith) which for some reason is never quite as busy despite having fewer seats.

[HildeKitten]

Mind you, not everyone "holding a seat" for people who just joined the queue at a restaurant does that out of malice or selfish reasons. People may have health issues forcing them to sit down.
A lot of people have serious health issues even though they don't look it.
That's what I like about Tokyo Disney, they'll give you a little card that you can put on your table, letting people know you're holding that table for justified reasons (a friend of mine told me about that, I wish DLP would do it too).

For people sitting down to picnic, I think that's only excusable when its total low season and there's room to spare. Otherwise they should make use of the many, many benches and quiet areas to sit down and eat.
Or even better: the actual picnic area, which is admittedly outside the parks, but it's there for a reason.

[cazspence]

Yup we take a Croissant with ham and cheese each, and a couple of little yogurts and banana/Apple for my son as he rarely eats anything that early in the morning.