Disney’s Hollywood Studios Meals On Just $20 A Day
Today is the third in our series of meal plans to survive on just $20 a day in a Walt Disney World park. Disney’s Hollywood Studios proved challenging and I learned a lot to share with you today! But before we get started have you read the first two installments? If not here is where you can find them:
- Magic Kingdom Meals on Just $20 a Day
- Epcot Meals on Just $20 a Day
- Animal Kingdom Meals on Just $20 a Day
Now that we’ve taken care of business, let’s get this show on the road! I did some hunting around DHS trying to find something unique and affordable for breakfast. Unfortunately, I came up pretty empty. So rather I’m recommending one of my favorite breakfast spots: The Writer’s Stop. This is a cozy nook situated next to Sci-Fi Dine-in and offers a huge spread of baked goods (see Writer’s Stop menu) and quiet, intimate – but limited! – seating. I know I’ve already featured a muffin, but these muffins are worlds better than the packaged ones from Magic Kingdom. The strawberry one is my personal favorite, and they cost an affordable $2.98 after tax. Remember that to maintain your $20-a-day budget, you’ll be drinking free iced water with all your meals. Balance after breakfast $17.02
For lunch I knew what I wanted before I got to the park. If it’s going to be a while before your next trip, you may want to skip this part, because it is about to get much more delicious up in here. That’s right, I’m talking about the Macaroni and Cheese and Truffle Oil Gourmet Hot Dog from Fairfax Fare (menu)! It is expensive at $9.15 after tax, but it is hard to put a price on such perfection! This dish features a thick hoagie bun with an all beef hot dog covered in mac ‘n cheese and then sprinkled with bacon and drizzled with truffle oil. It is the ultimate in junk food and certainly not something you could eat often but worth the splurge when on vacation (or blogging!). Balance after lunch: $7.87
Heading into the dinner hours I was confident I could find something within my budget, but that proved to be challenging. After 6 p.m. many of the restaurants I’d printed menus for had already closed! I didn’t realize that food outlets kept different hours than the park. If you have your heart set on trying specific menu items, make sure you verify the restaurant hours on the My Disney Experience website or the Times Guide. That’s what I did while I hunted for dinner. I ended up heading over to the ABC Commissary for an Asian Salad. The total for this dish was $7.66 after tax. This wasn’t something I had tried before, but I would order it again. For a higher price the salad is available with chicken or salmon, but I found the edamame and other toppings filling even without the meat. Balance after dinner: $.21
So there you have it – you can absolutely survive on $20 a day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! However, after you’ve been so frugal all day, if you’d like to splurge a bit I wanted to let you know about a great way to do that.. the strawberry cream cupcake! It is a budget buster at $5.32 after tax, but it is also excellent and available at many counter service locations around the park! It tasted even better than it looked, but that mountain of icing was quite rich – it’s a better dessert to share.
Remember if you’d like to plan your meals check out our Touring Plans Menus. Do you have any advice for me as I head out to explore Animal Kingdom on $20 a day? What would you have done differently at the Studios? Please let us know in the comments below.
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This series reminds me of when my friends and I were CMs and were on very limited budgets when visiting the parks. Most of my go-to inexpensive favorites have been removed from the menus in recent years, so it’s nice to get an idea of budget-friendly meals from today’s menu offerings. Animal Kingdom is the part I have dined in the least, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose there!
Hey Leah! AK is where we eat the least too. I just got back from a morning of research and had a lot of fun! Should have the final installment in this series ready in a couple days! Thank you so much for reading.
An interesting version of this might be how to either feed a family for a specific price or a couple. There seem to be many things that make for nice shared meal (maybe at TS). It always seems like TS meals are so much food.
Just an idea…
Hey Tina – I think that is a great idea. I have to admit I’ve been sharing a lot even writing these articles. We don’t have kids so I’m not sure I’m the best one to give advice on that topic!! 😉
I’ve really been enjoying these articles and am inspired to try it for myself. I wonder if Donald Duck would come out an quack angrily at you if you’d ordered a kid’s meal for dinner instead of the salad. For example, Studios Catering Company has half a vegetable sandwich, carrot sticks and choice of small milk or small bottled water for $5.99.
I would totally order a kids meal if I could see Donald without a wait!! 🙂 That kids meal sounds like a good option. I’ll have to check it out for the healthier options article. Glad you’re enjoying and thanks for reading! 🙂
@Correen, you might want to check out DisneyFoodBlog for healthy options. They do all things food so they have lots of lists and ideas. It’s a great read.
I’m enjoying this series as well. It’s a lot of fun.
I think that many of us eat breakfast in the room, so lunch, dinner and a snack would be more helpful for me and others who do that. I LOVE the idea of healthier options, I find that my energy suffers if I don’t get fruit, veggies and protein, especially if I eat junk over several days.
Hi! Great posts! Will you also be doing this series for Universal Studios as well?
Hey Greta! What a great idea! I personally decided to get an annual pass to Disney and SeaWorld this year but I bet one of our other bloggers will help make that happen. Thanks for sharing your idea!
Haha that hot dog sounds…interesting. I am pretty sure I’d need to drink several cups of free ice water to wash down that salt, but when in Rome, right??! 😉
I second Dan, looking for healthy options might be a fun way to approach it too! OR…how about see how MUCH you can spend in a day, lol! I’d have a lot of fun with that one 😉
Oooh!!! That would be fun Kristina!!! Obviously Victoria and Albert’s would be on the menu!
Haha- I’m pretty sure I could bust any budget at Disney!! It would be fabulous, though!!
I love the series. What about trying to eat healthier options on $20 a day? I’d to see that as a series on the blog. Thank you!
I was thinking the same thing Dan!! These are so fun! I find myself thinking about what I would choose for each meal and if it is possible to pick healthier choices like and still stick to the budget. I think breakfast would be the toughest!
Daisy, we have your next series: Healthy Dining on a Budget!
Hi Guys! I love the idea of a healthy food series! After eating all this not so healthy food for the articles I could use it! (I have to admit I did have help with that hot dog and cupcake, LOL!)
I will get it on my “to do” list. Keep the suggestions coming and thanks for reading! 🙂
What a wonderful idea for a series! Though we’d all love to eat at The Brown Derby, sometimes it’s just not in the budget, so it’s nice to see how far we can make our food dollars stretch!