Budget Meals Inside Disneyland for One

So we have briefly addressed meals outside the park, but what about visits where you want to remain in the park?  There are several options depending on your taste, budget, and party size. Starting with Disneyland, lets visit inexpensive meals for individuals. I have limited this list to counter service restaurants, as that helps keep meals budget friendly without having to pay additional costs of tipping for wait staff. Also, all meals will be under 10 dollars to qualify as budget friendly meals. I am only including items we have tried and would recommend to other diners.

Main Street:

Corn Dog Wagon (AKA Little Red Wagon)-Hand-Dipped Corn Dog that comes with apple slices or small bag of chips for $6.19+tax. You get a good sized, hand dipped corn dog. Add the apple slices and you have added a little healthiness back to the meal.Our Favorite Corn Dog Spot.

Plaza Inn-Kids Fried Chicken meal. This comes with a drumstick but usually for a dollar more you can substitute a breast for the drumstick. It also comes with green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, apple slices, a biscuit, and choice of milk, juice or a small water bottle for $6.99+tax plus the additional fee for the upgrade. While the chicken is fried, remove the skin and you will lower the fat content on the meal. I will tell you that this is some darned good broasted chicken and for small meals, one of the best deals in the park. Bonus tip-This is one of only two spots within the resort that you can obtain unlimited refills on soda, even to the point where they will provide you a to go cup to take a refill with you. 


Coke Corner-Everything here hits under the ten dollar park, and most of it is the standard hot dog offerings.Looking for light meal here? Consider the Kids turkey Dog that comes with a small milk, water, or Juice, apple slices or chips, and carrots. This runs $6.49+tax.  Otherwise if you truly want a standard hot dog meal, we suggest going with the Chili Cheese Hot Dog that comes with chips or apple slices. This runs $6.99+tax. Looking for an unusual twist? You could get our daughter's favorite, the Mac & Cheese Hot Dog, where they take your hot dog and top it will Mac & Cheese and Bacon Bits and serve it with chips or apples slices. This runs $6.99+tax. For a more substantial offering you could get the chili in a sourdough bread bowl, but be prepared to eat the bowl to help offset the amount of chili provided. This does come topped with cheddar cheese. This bowl comes in at $9.29+Tax.



Adventureland:

Bengal Barbecue-The best offerings here are the skewers.  It will take more than one skewer to equal a light meal, and for us it takes two.  Our favorite combo is to get the Bengal Beef Skewer ($4.29+tax) and the Outback Vegetable Skewer ($3.79+tax) coming in at $7.99+tax for the pair.  I would not recommend stopping here if you need something substantial, but it is hard to bypass the amazing smell of the cooking skewers when in Adventureland.

New Orleans Square:

Royal Street Veranda-All three of their bowls are good, although as of late we have noticed the clam chowder is light to almost non-existent with the clams.  The best of the bunch we have found is the Vegetarian Gumbo. To make this meal complete, you will need to partake in eating at least some of the sourdough bowl, as the portions of the Gumbo are usually a bit smaller than the bread bowl. All bowls run $9.29+tax.

French Market- We tried both bowls here and found that we preferred the Corn chowder over the Beef Stew, as we would have preferred the stew to have a bit more seasoning. Outside of the that though, the stew was tender and the bread had soaked up the stew, making the sourdough bread a fairly tasty accompaniment. Both bowls run $9.39+tax.

For a smaller meal, you could try one of the kids meals here.  The best is the kids Macaroni and Cheese as the kids chicken breast meal is a little short on chicken, but does come with a good amount of rice. All meals served with seasonal fruit, vegetables, and choice of small Low-Fat milk or small bottled water, or you may request a juice box or small chocolate milk. Each kids meal is $6.99+tax.

Harbor Galley: Everything offered through this small eatery next to Rivers of America is under 10 dollars!  That includes the four sourdough bread bowls with varying fillings. The unanimous favorite bowl was the Vegetarian Chili, which had large chunks of vegetables, and was very filling.  All Bowls are $9.29+tax.

They also offer baked potatoes, moved over from the Fantasyland eatery. They offer Barbecue Chicken, Bacon & Sour Cream (also has shredded cheese and chives) and
Broccoli & Cheese.  We have yet to have the chicken potato, but found we loved the other two as they were filling and tasty.  Each potato is $6.29+tax.

Critter Country:

Hungry Bear Restaurant-While many things hit under our ten dollar mark, our favorite here is the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich served with fries or slaw and runs $8.49+tax. On a side note, a delicious splurge here is the Lemon "Bumblebee" Cupcake, but it does hit in at $4.99+tax.

Frontierland:

Rancho Del Zocolo- We mention this stop as the food is plentiful and very filling, even through all meals hit over the ten dollar mark.  However at the $10.99+tax, we love the Tostada Salad. You can order it with half chicken/half beef and is very tasty and filling.Tip: Although not advertised, we have been able to obtain unlimited soda refills here as well.

Stage Door Cafe-You can get the hand dipped corn dog here served with a side of french fries. This raises the price a buck to $7.19+tax.  That would be the only reason to order this here, as the price is not less if you order the apple slice option- that is included at the Mains Street cart.  On the plus side, there is more seating here.

Fantasyland: 

Edelweiss snacks: If you are looking for just a pure kick of protein as a meal stop, you can stop here for either the Jumbo Turkey Leg or the Barbecue Pork shank. Either will set you back $9.49+tax and both are good for that.

Tomorrowland:

Red Rockett's Pizza Port- The only thing we have enjoyed here is the Count Down Chicken Fusilli. At $9.49+tax it is a large and extremely filling pasta portion.  We always grab extra free Parmesan packs to boost the flavor. We also recommend requesting a side of sauce to give you a bit creamier pasta.  Although not on the menu anymore, we have found that at times we could request a kids meal serving of this same pasta. It comes with apple slices and baby carrots, and choice of small Low-fat milk, or small bottled water, or juice box, or chocolate milk for $6.49+tax. Tip-This is the second spot where we have obtained unlimited soda refills with receipt.