Welcome to planDisney, Rebekah!
You must be counting down the days until you arrive at
The Most Magical Place on Earth. You'll be arriving at a very special time too. As an Englishman residing in the States, I usually take a lot of good-natured flak around this national holiday. My American neighbors like to remind me that they defeated the English all those years ago. However, I'm always happy to celebrate the country's independence with tasty food, great friends, warm weather, and big fireworks. And there's no better place to do that than Walt Disney World Resort. Hopefully you'll be able to experience some of the festivities.
Rebekah, you'll be pleased to know that you can absolutely bring your own sandwiches and non-alcoholic drinks into the theme parks. As a family of four who try to keep to a tight budget, we make sure to load up with plenty of outside food whenever we visit Walt Disney World Resort. Sometimes we bring our own sandwiches. But we always bring our own snacks, such as beef jerky, trail mix, dried fruit, chips, fruit and vegetable pouches for the kids, cheese strings, fresh fruit, etc. We'll bring a small cooler bag, put a sealable bag of ice in it, and load it with food each morning. We also always bring our own water bottles too. Being a family of four, this can save us a lot of money on our trips.
Rebekah, if you do plan on bringing your own outside food and non-alcoholic beverages, you should be aware of the following restrictions:
- They cannot be in glass containers.
- They should not require heating, reheating, processing, refrigerating, or temperature control (although bringing your own cooler bag is fine).
- They should not have pungent odors.
Once you arrive at the security point at the theme park entrance, you'll have to go through security and they may check your bags. So just be prepared for that.
Have you heard of the
Mobile Order service, Rebekah? This is available at many quick-service locations in the theme parks and Disney Resort. Using the
My Disney Experience mobile app, you can order your food ahead in advance and pick it up at a time that's convenient to you. This means you won't have to spend as much time in the restaurant ordering and waiting for your food. I just thought I'd mention this in case you think it sounds like a good option for you. We really enjoyed using this on our most recent trip. It really helped us save time.
Have a great trip, Rebekah. Thanks so much for stopping by planDisney.
Mike