Mum saves £36 on theme park food with little-known hack that can be used anywhere

We all know theme parks can be an expensive day out - once you've paid for tickets to get in, sometimes you can expect to pay that much again on food and merchandise.

One mum has come up with a clever food hack, however, which she claims saved her family-of-four £36 on a recent trip to Alton Towers. Mum-of-two Becky took to TikTok to reveal her method, beginning in a video: "Did you know that most theme parks allow you to bring your own food in, including Walt Disney World in Florida and Alton Towers?"

Grabbing a jar of hot dogs in her clip, she continued: "We used it there [Alton Towers] but I would strongly advise that whatever theme park you're going to in whatever country you're going to, you check their packed lunch or picnic policy first because there can be restrictions."

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Detailing her hack further, Becky said that although Alton Towers' hotdogs are big and look "nice", she was much happier purchasing a £2 jar of them from the supermarket beforehand, along with a pack of 80p buns. She then showcased exactly how she did it - bending four hotdogs into each flask before adding boiling water and sealing the lids tightly.

"I took thermal flasks and filled them up - we got into the park at lunchtime and made ourselves our own hotdogs," Becky closed. "It wasn't a hassle to carry around, it wasn't hard to make, and the kids enjoyed it. We enjoyed it too and I saved myself a cracking £36!"

Hailing Becky's enterprise, one TikTok user responded: "The food you buy at theme parks is probably the same as this stuff. I don't know why people are saying spend for the experience. Rather save money on other things."

A second praised: "That’s genius! Great hack, that." A third added a bit of finesse: "A tip for next time is bring little sachets of ketchup/mustard for extra taste." Whilst a fourth person added: "My kids love doing this. Get some crispy onions, wee bit of sauce."

Becky responded: "It’s the way to go! I usually do pack sauce, just forgot to stick some in this time, kids didn’t seem to bothered with out it which was a relief."

However, one cynic was clearly unimpressed by the idea, telling Becky: "Carrying around all that water just to save yourself £36 and eat a substandard hotdog- nah, just budget. It’s worth the £36 just to not have to carry that."