Save a little on your Disney vacation budget with these snacks to pack for Disney World. By taking your own snacks, stretch the budget to include more fun than you could ever imagine.
We are only a few days out and the kids still don’t know we are going to Disney World. Like they seriously have no idea. I think it’s kind of comical actually. I’ve been making these Mickey Mouse shirts, we’ve been enjoying Mickey Mouse Candy Bark and Mickey Mouse Oreo Pops, and it still hasn’t clicked with them yet.
Anyone that has been to Disney World knows that upon return to the real world, the wallet is just a tad bit lighter. And rightly so. It’s a vacation that your children (and you) will remember and cherish forever.
But there are ways to save a little cash while at Disney World.
Snack Ideas for Disney World
One of the easiest ways is — to bring your own snacks for the parks so I thought it would be informative to share some snacks to pack for Disney World. This, of course, isn’t an all inclusive list, just some items we find are easy to pack and easy to carry around the park in a backpack.
Speaking of backpacks for Disney World, here are some great options perfect for a Disney vacation.
Disney’s Lilo & Stitch Printed Backpack
Mickey Mouse Drawstring BackpacksDisney World Exclusive Mickey Mouse BackpackMinnie Mouse Dots Small BackpackLoungefly Little Mermaid Floral BackpackVera Bradley Mickey Perfect Petals BackpackDisney Mickey Mouse Friends BackpackJanSport Disney Superbreak BackpackLoungefly Mickey All Over Mini BackpackDisney Princess Little Mermaid Allover Print
Also, if bringing foods, like nuts, which some have a life-threatening allergy to, be mindful of where you consume these products. And make sure to wash your hands before touching anything to ensure those with those kinds of allergies are not at risk.
Snacks to Pack for Disney World
Nuts. We usually bring several bags of different varieties of nuts that easily fit into our backpack. The resealable bags are perfect so that they don’t spill at the bottom of the bag. We bring several nut varieties because they hold up well in the bag and they are a good boost of protein throughout the day. When walking around the park for hours, it’s so important that you stay hydrated and eat plenty of protein. Nuts are perfect snacks to pack for Disney World.
Trail Mix. My kids love a good trail mix. Again, we buy these in resealable bags so that we can just throw them into the backpack without worrying about it. Trail mix also holds up well being tossed around in the backpack. And with the mixture of sweet and savory, it should delight all the taste buds.
Beef Jerky. Jerky is great because it gives you an extra boost of protein. Like the previous snacks mentioned, it also holds up really well in the backpack. I don’t have to worry about it getting smashed underneath all the other snacks and drinks. Therefore, I think it’s one of the best snacks to pack for Disney World.
Gum. You can not buy gum in the parks. If you want to chew gum in the parks, you have to carry it in with you. We like to chew gum between snacks. Sometimes when my mouth is busy chewing gum I’m not craving other high-calorie snacks. Please note: if you decide to chew gum in the park, be a respectful human being and throw it away in a trash receptacle instead of on the ground.
Fruit Snacks. If you can find the Disney-themed fruit snacks, bring those. If not, just adorn the bags with Disney stickers. We love fruit snacks because when the sugar cravings strike, it’s nice to have an easy to grab snack in a portion-controlled serving size.
Fresh Fruit. If you plan on carrying your snacks around in a backpack, be selective in the fresh fruit you bring. Firmer fruits obviously make better options. My kids love apples and oranges. If you want to bring softer fruits, bring a plastic container to place them inside so that they stay safe inside the backpack.
Dried Fruit. If fresh fruit isn’t an option, bring a few bags of dried fruit. Dried fruit is much lighter than fresh fruit anyway making the load less to carry around the park. Buy dried fruit in resealable bags so that you don’t have to worry about them spilling in the backpack.
Pringles/Chips. The small cans of Pringles work great for toting around inside of a backpack. Two or three kids can easily share one small can of Pringles as a snack. You could also bring a larger can if room in the backpack allows. If you plan on bringing small bags of chips, it’s best if you bring something hard to put them in before putting them into the backpack. If not, they are likely to get smashed. Little boxes of Goldfish are also a great option.
Granola Bars. Bring a variety of granola bars for those times when you want something crunchy. With all the flavor options available, we always bring a selection of both savory and sweet options.
Water Flavors. Whether or not you bring your own water bottles into the park, bring an assortment of water flavorings. We don’t bring disposable bottles of water because it can get really heavy to carry around, instead we bring reusable water bottles. We get free ice water at the restaurants or quick service stands and then we pour the water into our reusable water bottles and mix in the flavor. This makes it easier for us because we don’t have to carry around cups of water. We can put the lid on the bottles and place them inside the backpack.
Don’t forget to save this pin to your Disney planning board. And if we’re not friends already, I’d love to connect on Pinterest.
Snacks for Disney
You can easily save a couple hundred bucks during a week-long vacation at Disney World by bringing your own snacks. I know my kids are always hungry, so I bring extra in to the park so that anytime they need something, we can pull it out of the backpack.
Because we bring a large portion of our snacks with us, I don’t feel so bad when I shell out some cash on the overpriced snacks at the parks. I mean, Mickey Mouse treats just taste so much better. Buying one round of Disney World snacks a day is much cheaper than buying two or three rounds.
When deciding what snacks to pack for Disney World, I try to choose options that offer some nutritional value. Of course not every thing does, but I try to teach my children that it’s okay to treat yourself every once in a while as long as you make sound choices the every other time.
These options are perfect snacks to pack for Disney World. And when you try the free 30-day Amazon Prime Trial you can have these snacks delivered right to your door in two days! Save a trip to the store to save yourself even more money! Better yet, have your snacks delivered right to your Disney resort.
Cookies, Chips & Candies Snacks Variety Sampler AssortmentMott’s Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks (40 count)Planters Nut Variety Box (24 count)Healthy Snacks Gift Care Package Variety Pack (50 count)Sahale Snacks All Natural Nut Blends Grab & Go Variety Pack (12 pack)Slim Jim Original Snack Sticks (14 count)Pringles 2 Flavor Snack Stacks (18 count)Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Bold Mix (30 count)Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks (24 pouches)
Best Snacks for Disney World
Since we do a lot of shopping at CVS, I’ve become very familiar with their store brand snack options. In the last couple of years, CVS is including more healthier options from national brands and their own store brand Gold Emblem abound. In addition to it just being a better-for-you option, the resealable bags just make them easier to travel with. When you’re carrying around snacks for five around the parks for 10-12 hours each day, ease is a big thing.
I know it seems like a lot to think about and a lot to pack, but really it isn’t all that bad. Almost all of the snacks I pack hold up really well in a suitcase or backpack and don’t take up a lot of room. And since you’ll be traveling lighter without snacks on the way home, you’ll be able to sneak in a couple of souvenirs.
Share your favorite snacks to pack for Disney World below!
Planning for your Disney vacation? Check out these posts for more ideas:
DIY Bleached Mickey Mouse Shirt
Mickey Mouse Clothespin Magnets
Tammilee Tips says
How exciting to have kept it a secret I don’t think I would have been as successful at keeping the secret! I love that you can take snacks in Disney great way to save money.
Melissa Lawler says
I am a huge fan of jerky, dried fruit and nuts. They really are the perfect snacks fora nywhere you want to go!
Roxanne Morrison says
Great snack ideas! Love seeing that others focus on the quality of the time together without all the pricey park snacks being a distraction.
Brandy says
These are fantastic snack ideas! Glad you shared this post, it actually gave me some ideas on snacks for my kids even not traveling to Disney World 😉
Jeannette says
Trail mix is a must! It travels so well and is easy to carry! Last time we went to Disney we forgot to pack snacks and ended up spending tons of money on things the kids took two bites of. I’ll be more prepared next time.
Robin Rue (@massholemommy) says
We always bring our own snacks when we go. We are going back in August & I will start stocking up in July!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
These are great snack ideas. I think anytime you go to a big park like that, you need to bring along snack that are easy to transport.
MELISASource says
I always bring snacks when we go somewhere like Disney where we’ll be walking a lot and snacks cost a ton of money. Good call on bringing snacks that have packaging for easy travel.
Jeanine says
great to know! I plan to take my family there at some point hopefully soon so this will be good to know. I doubt I’d want to buy every single snack item there!
Catherine S says
These are all great snack ideas for Disney. I will have to stop at CVS on my drive to Disney later this week. I need to get some protein bars and trail mix.
Pam W says
These all look like great snacks for Disney! I always pack my own snacks.
Aimee Smith says
I love Disney! I always pack some pb sandwiches for my kids, otherwise we eat all day! Plus I gotta save my park food money for churros!
Kristin says
Those are great ideas! I like to make chicken salad, put it in tupperware and bring crackers to eat with it.
Liz Mays says
These are really good ideas. We always tended to pack snacks with plenty of protein and carbs!
Toni | Boulder Locavore says
What great ideas! These would be great for any road trip. I have had those Fuji Apple Crisps before and they are really good.
Valerie Grey says
I love these snack ideas. During the summer I can have two to six kids at my house and I am always looking for fun snack ideas.
Nickida says
I really love the idea of packing nuts and other snacks to take with you to the park. I always try to keep gum with me but nuts are a great snack option as well.
Cinny says
I didn’t know you could’t buy gum at the parks! That’s just such a neat fact.
mary says
I love your list. We definitely take waters. lots of waters. Plus trail mix and beef jerky. We don’t do the sweets at all.
Ann Bacciaglia says
These are great snacks to pack for a day at Disney. We are hoping to go in the next year.
Rosey says
These are all great ideas. I’d like that snack mix for me, and I love the CVS line of treats! Those are really good. 🙂
Shell says
Great ideas for snacks! We pack snacks when we go to amusement parks, too.
Ryan Escat says
Thats exciting, having to disney is really fun. So glad you shared some smacks ideas.
Amy Desrosiers says
I love CVS snacks too! They have the best store brands at great prices.
Raijean S says
Love this! I’ll have to stock up the next time the boychild and I go. He loves their snacks.
Tracey says
Love this post! We are heading out on a trip soon and I need to stock up snacks. Trail mix is my go to!
Tara says
Packing snacks are a must for the in between meal times at the parks. We like to bring apple sauce pouches
Christine says
I give you credit for being able to keep a secret. I am horrible, I didn’t last a couple weeks. This is such a great list of snack ideas. We’re heading to Disneyland so this is so perfect!
Catherine says
These are awesome ideas. My kids love Fringles so much, I usually pack them with some fresh fruits when we go to Disneyland too.
Wendy says
Having three kids and the cost of Disney being so high I will tell you what we always do. We bring or buy a cheap back back. We visit the grocery store and buy a loaf of bread, sand which meat, water, pop and snacks, small containers and plastic cups if not supplied by the hotel., We make two sandwiches for each person and put them inside bread bag. We put fruit into a container, as well as snacks. Then some cups and a 2 L drink. Also suntan spray and dollar store plastic shawls. Now you are set for the day. We have never been stopped at either Disney or universal, or sea world Lots of people have commented how they couldn’t believe what we were pulling out of our bag. We have never been hungry or stuck paying high prices. We often eat while waiting in a line or in an outdoor show. I would however be cautious with nut products and make sure you wash your hands after eating them
CRYSTAL says
We love the frozen pb&j sandwiches, throw them in the bag, thawed by lunchtime! And the kids eat them for lunch saving us money from not having to buy a pb&j at the park, since they love them So much!
Crystal says
Hi Crystal – that’s a really great idea!!
julie garceau says
planning a trip to disney in August – last time I was there was 30 years ago! taking the grandkids. Question on the water quality in the park – last time we were there we could not drink or cook with the water because of all the chemical tastes. We live in new england and are used to well water – anyone else have any problems with the water?
Crystal says
Hi Julie – I’m used to city water so I don’t notice anything different about the taste. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.