No car and staying at Pop Century

how easy is it to get from Pop or WDW in general to non-Disney restaurants and supermarkets (Publix/Winn-Dixie)?

my husband and I are worried about how expensive it could get eating breakfast and dinner every day for a week at Disney. We have looked at the Dining Plan, but I really don%26#39;t think it%26#39;s for us.

Any help woudl be greatly appreciated. We%26#39;ve always stayed up the northern end of I-Drive and done universal, etc , so this is our first time going to disney and staying in this area of orlando!!

No car and staying at Pop Century

Disney certainly doesn%26#39;t go out of the way to make it easy for you, for the most part. There are several Hess gas stations on Disney property that should be reasonable for some convenience store essentials, one by Downtown Disney, and one somewhere near the Swan/Dolphin/Boardwalk area, I think (and one by the Magic Kingdom gates). Otherwise, you would need to take a Disney bus to Downtown Disney, and then you can either taxi it down Hotel Plaza Blvd directly to Goodings (right across from Hotel Plaza Blvd), or take a left from Hotel Plaza Blvd onto 535, and eventually there is a Winn Dixie on the right.

Also, there are some new bus routes for Lynx being added to go to and from Downtown Disney; I took a look at these earlier (these routes seem to be 301, 302, 305, etc.), and they may be able to stop in the Lake Buena Vista area (where Goodings and Winn Dixie are). If this can be done conveniently, this is your best option; either way, you still need to take Disney transport back to Pop.

No car and staying at Pop Century

In my previous post, I was assuming you wouldn%26#39;t have a car; if you will have a car, its no big deal, but it will take some driving. From Pop, you can go south to Osceola Pkwy, and either take that left to International Drive South, which will go to US 192, and there will be some stuff there, such as Walgreens. Or you can go right, then take a left on the main Disney freeway, then take a right on US 192 and this will take you to the maingate west area.

Also, if not driving, in the area where Goodings and Winn Dixie are, there are a number of restaurants, casual dining and fast food, that you can check out. There also is a Mcdonalds at Downtown Disney, and another standalone one on the property that I can think of (not sure exactly, but I think its closer to the All-Star Resorts and Animal Kingdom, perhaps. Of course, there%26#39;s the food court at Pop, I believe.

Your topic title says ';No Car';. I guess I need to get my contacts checked. Or better yet, actually get some, lol!

I think your best option would be to use taxis. We stayed at Pop last year with no car, but never ventured outside of Disney. I don%26#39;t think you can really walk anywhere from Pop, and I didn%26#39;t see any accessible public buses, so that only leaves taxis.

Having said that, we thought the prices at Disney were very reasonable and spent a lot less than we had anticipated on food.

We were at Pop last year also and we loved the dining plan! It is so worth it! My husband was feeling well one night so he went back to the room we were staying at Caribbean Beach and they have a sit down restaurant. He was able to order it to go!

Pop you only have 1 place to eat!

Good luck!

I think that you are pretty much stuck at Disney if you stay on property and do not have a car. There is really no good transportation between Disney and Publix or Winn-Dixie. That being said, the food at Disney is remarkably good, and not significantly more than you would pay for something comparable outside of Disneyworld. For example, we all love the turkey legs. I do not know where I would buy a turkey leg outside of Disneyworld for $5.00.

Since you do not have a refrigerator or microwave at Pop I am not sure how food from Publix would save you a significant amount of money on food. I guess you could buy take-away items and eat them in your room, but the quality would be significantly less than what you could get at Disney.

I have always been favorably impressed with the Dining Plan, we just have never been able to use it since we almost never stay on property.

I think absent dining at Disney you would probably want to take a taxi, and I always get confused in the area around Pop so I do not know how far you would have to go to get to a grocery store, but I am positive it would be several miles.

thanks for all your help everyone.it is greatly appreciated!

EddieK - got those contacts yet? hehe.cheers for the advice!! x

Before the Dinning Plan we had a budget of $50 per day for two people. That always worked out just fine. We never left Disney Property. Now with the Dinning Plan we have paid $78 per two People and we eat about $50 EACH per day. We have never thought the time and $ for taxis was worth it to get off the Property. Alot of people think eating at Disney Restaurants is so expensive, I disagree and have found even the counter service restaurants have better food then going out for pizza or hamburgers at a chain restaurant. IMO it is less of a hassle to just stay on property, enjoy the free transportation and enjoy the different restaurants. You can Resort Hop and check out DTD for lots of options.

It%26#39;s pretty easy actually-take the bus to Downtown Disney,walk down Hotel Plaza Blvd and across SR 535 is the Crossroads which has a number of restaurants and a large Goodings Supermarket,open 24/7. You can cab it back if you buy a lot of groceries. There%26#39;s also a Walgreens nearby,lots of other restaurants on Palm Parkway.