Is it tacky to bring ...

[LAinSEA]

Is it tacky to bring store bought bottled water and snacks to a deluxe resort?

I'd like to avoid raiding the minibar this time around (or rather DH raiding the minbar - LOL) and we will have a car so a grocery stop on the way in isn't a big deal.

My thought was to chill 2 bottles of water in the ice bucket at a time and take them with us to the parks in the am (chill another 2 while we're gone for later). Would housekeeping toss them out? Or is this plan way too tacky?

thanks so much for your advice - in advance!

-LA:)

[Shannon D]

This is not only perfectly acceptable, but smart!
NO, housekeeping won't pitch any of your personal stuff.
Stock up, girl!
:)

[redd45]

tacky NO nescesary yes!!!! I do it with every visit and I've stayed at the G.F.-Poly-Beach Club-WLV-Contemporary. I drink a lot of water and i can't see paying the park price and i prefer to bring the snacks of my choice,i refuse to use the mini bar. Last time I brought water there was 4 of us and we brought a case,even had bell services bring it to the room.Susan

[LeahA]

I would definitely bring snacks and drinks with you. We once stayed offsite at a Comfort Inn and they charged my dh $9.00 for a 6 pack of beer. I cringe just thinking about it!

Leah :)

[nluvwithdisney]

It's good common sense and cents!:D I looked at the price of the bottled water in our room at the Dolphin. It was $6.00. I told my wife to not even look at it.

[Looking Glass]

I have heard stories of people removing everything from the minibar and placing it in a drawer, then placing all of thier food items into the minibar. They leave a note for housekeeping informing them of what they did. We buy milk and cereal everywhere we go for a quick snack or breakfast making enough room in the mini bar to keep the milk.

[D,L and K's Mom]

We bought water, snacks, juice etc in one of the grocery stores we passed (we had a rental car). DH bought the same brand as was in the mini bar and we just kept replacing them as we used them. The prices are really highin the hotel for juice and bottled water etc.

[Rpsemont]

We usually try to always have a couple of Beers on ice during the day, and milk on ice overnight.

[ducklite]

I always stay at a deluxe (unless I'm using DVC) and I always bring water and wine/beer with me. We also have used the garbage can as a large ice bucket, and never had a problem with housekeeping pitching our stuff. Heck sometimes they do'nt even throw away stuff you WANT them to--like the newspaper. They seem to leave it if at all in doubt.

Anne

[princess angel]

it's not tacky at all. it's very smart! :)

Laura :)

[LAinSEA]

Oh good! Now I won't feel so bad - or bad at all.

Turning the garbage can into a larger ice bucket sounds like a great idea to me...and keeping a bottle of something else on ice as well.

thanks again!
-LA

[punkin]

Well I think it probably is tacky and if I had unlimited funds and/or was on an expense account I would not do it. However, since I'd rather be tacky and frugal than impress housekeeping, I will continue to get the most for my money. That includes keeping my own bottled water in my own hotel room. Just call me Ms. Tacky.:D

[DeeP]

No, it is not tacky at all. I have seen people check into deluxe resorts with all kinds of stuff. The funniest though was a group checking into the YC with 4, yes 4, cases of beer! The CMs never said a word to them and bell services just loaded up the cases of beer on the luggage cart with their luggage and bags of groceries and took everything to their room.

[B3LM]

Not tacky at all - a lot of people do it, it just makes smart cents! We made a grocery stop on our way to CR last November. We bought breakfast items, snacks, fruit, bottled water and soda. Housekeeping never bothered it at all.

Beth

[Swan]

I always bring my 12 pack of Dr. Pepper since WDW does not sell it.

[pixiechick]

We've done this too. We pack water, a box of assorted chips/cookies, and other junk in our suitcase. We slip the water in huge ziploc bags, just in case. We buy wine at the resort store, more expensive than a liquor store but cheaper than the resort bars. Then on the way home, we have plenty of room for souveniers.

[BuzzandWoody]

Not Tacky at all.

I prefer to have a cooler in the room for longer stays.

Since you'll have a car. Get a styrofoam cooler. When you check in have bell services take your stuff up. Including cooler. And depending on how long your there. I'd have a couple 12 packs of water, plus beer, and wine and sodas.

I always feel like I'm doing something wrong carrying a cooler through a lobby. Let them do it for me! LOL

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Our last few visits we've been bringing drinks and snacks -- Pop Tarts, crackers, cookies -- with us to store in the room. And trust me, I've done the "waste can as impromptu cooler" thing several times in the past. In fact, DW Mean Laureen has brought a coffee maker with us so she can make tea (she's tried the inroom makers in the past, but they make the tea taste like coffee).

Heck, I know one person (a certain "Jazzy" DIS moderator who I won't name ;)) who brought 24 22-oz. bottles of Propel fitness water with him. From Arizona. ON a plane. (never mind that we found out it was available in the Orlando market; he just wanted to make sure he had it)

[Patrick IL.]

I always bring my water, snacks and may be some "frosty malts" to put on ice at the end of the day :)

[PixieBelle]

I am another bring your own drink kinda gal. Why pay 2.00 out of the machine when you can get a 12 pack of Coke for 2.99???

No, it is not tacky at all! Last trip, I brought Sprite, Dr. P , and Coke. I also brought snacks too...had them all spread out on the table in our room at the WL. Poptarts, Chexmix...LOL

Take it with ya!! No harm at all!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[BCV23]

It is not tacky in the least. We, too, always buy pop, wine, beer,and juice as well as fruit and cheese. We always get a refrigerator. Years ago, I remember my husband using the trash can as a wine cooler! You brought back a fun memory, Ducklite!

[Momto8]

I always bring pop, juice, milk, beer, wine, water, snacks, fruit, etc. I even bring cereal and bowls....I buy the solo plastic bowls and use plastic spoons. We've emptied out the mini bar and left a note for housekeeping explaining what we were doing. We had no problem doing this and they didn't try charging us for anything.

One way of keeping the water cold is to put the bottled water in the freezer the night before. That way when you bring it to the parks the next day, it will stay colder longer.

Last year, when the bell man was bringing our luggage to our rooms, one couple that was walking along with us made a remark about all the food and luggage we had. They asked us if we were staying for a year. They didn't know we had 9 people and were staying for 10 days.

No I don't think it is tacky, but I think those people were trying to make me feel that way.

[colleen121]

Hi all,
I will be going down to CS during the last week of March and am wondering 2 things:

1 we are taking tiffanytowncar to the resort. I heard about the supermarket stop. Is it reliable? How long do you have to shop?

2 Can we remove the contents of the minibar provided we leave a note with housekeeping w/o being charged?

[Disney Doll]

Are you kidding???When my DSIL's and DBIL's
kids were small, they used to take a cooler, and have milk, juice,bagels,cream cheese,cereal,water,soda,snacks in their room at the BC!!!!!If they drove down(or took the autotrain)they'd bring their own cooler, since they had their car. If they flew, they stop at a grocery store and buy one of those inexpensive styrofoam ones. All they had to do was remember to keep refilling the ice. I think they actually even left it in the bathtub when they left to go to the parks, so in case it leaked or sweated, the water would just run down the drain.

[ubetiski]

Definitely not tacky. Very smart actually. We always rent a car when we are in WDW. The first night we usually take a drive to Walmart and stock up on water, soda, chips, fruit, mini-muffins, cereal, granola bars, beer, other munchies, and anything we forgot to pack. We pack a collapsable cooler in our luggage and fill it up with ice each morning. It is big enough for 24 cans or bottles I believe. It fits perfect underneath the sink in any resort...or even on the balcony if it isn't the middle of summer. We usually will buy milk for the cereal at the resort since it is really not too expensive compared to everything else. Just easier than keeping a carton in a coller. I remember last October walking through the Comtemporary lobby with our "groceries". I think it's pretty common.

[Disney Doll]

Are you kidding???When my DSIL's and DBIL's
kids were small, they used to take a cooler, and have milk, juice,bagels,cream cheese,cereal,water,soda,snacks in their room at the BC!!!!!If they drove down(or took the autotrain)they'd bring their own cooler, since they had their car. If they flew, they stop at a grocery store and buy one of those inexpensive styrofoam ones. All they had to do was remember to keep refilling the ice. I think they actually even left it in the bathtub when they left to go to the parks, so in case it leaked or sweated, the water would just run down the drain.

[shick]

When we stayed at the BC in September, I brought a collapsable cooler in one if the suitcases. We bought gallon jugs of water at our grocery stop with Tiffany Towncars. We stored the water under our sink (plenty of room) and kept two jugs in the cooler. Refilled the cooler everday from the ice machine. We filled our water bottles before heading to the park and had drinking water in the room. When it was time to go home, we used the cooler as a carry-on to take some of our Disney purchases home!

[infoseeker]

Do all of the deluxes have mini bars in the rooms? We'll be staying at the Poly in Aug. and would love to be able to freeze a few bottles of water to take to the parks!

[MKingdom]

We always rent a refrigerator for the room (cost is about $10). We use the fridge to chill 2-liter bottles of soda and any leftovers from dinner!

[BCV23]

The Poly does not have minibars which is another plus in my book for that great resort. They take up room and prices are ridiculous.
Concierge rooms at the Poly do include a tiny refrig. You can also request a mini-fridge at the Poly for ten dollars/day.

[BCV23]

The Poly does not have minibars which is another plus in my book for that great resort. They take up room and prices are ridiculous.
Concierge rooms at the Poly do include a tiny refrig. You can also request a mini-fridge at the Poly for ten dollars/day.

[skeezixspud]

I remember once seeing a guy at the Swan who pulled up in a huge Mercedes and proceeded to let the bellhop get his luggage from the trunk -- it consisted entirely of plastic Wal-Mart bags! (There were 23 of them, I counted while we were in line to check in because it was just so strange.) He may have been replacing lost luggage, but I didn't think so, because it appeared to be his own car, and it had out-of-state plates.

I don't like checking in with plastic grocery bags, just because it's hard to keep them from tipping over and spilling, and they tear easily. I carry my loot in a couple of large nylon zippered tote bags that I picked up at the Goodwill ($1/each brand-new; they were printed with the logo of a defunct company.) Once in the room I put the stuff in a drawer, then use the totes as laundry hampers.

BTW: At a very posh convention hotel in Nashville, I did see true tacky coming through the back door once, late at night. A guy parked a large SUV, and proceeded to carry in the following items over several trips: a 3-ft tall refrigerator, a full-size George Foreman grill, a toaster, a blender, a large microwave, and a box of cooking utensils. Either he was the cheapest guy in the universe, or he'd just robbed an appliance store!

[olena]

Maybe we were really tacky then......:) we had a cooler full of bottled water and Power-Ade......not to mention all the snacks and breakfast foods. It's such a good way to save money....:)

[Gillian]

skeezixspud, maybe he was planning on cooking something at a convention with all that stuff! I remember at a pharmacists convention one of the companies had a greasy snack (bbq chicken, maybe?) served with a side of antacid! Companies will do just about anything to lure you to their booths :)

[4 Princess Morganne]

I probably have crossed the tacky line... We live on a farm in Virginia and have the BEST tasting well water. (though if it doesn't rain soon we may not have a well anymore, but that's another story...)

Even bottled water tastes bad after our great water. I think my coffee even tastes better with our well water, so I save up gallon Apple Juice bottles year around. I wash and dry them completely then fill them with water from home to take to WDW! I usually freeze several of them to keep my cooler cold for the drive down, and the rest I just load on the cart and bring on in! We store them under the sink at the hotel.

Tacky or not - we drink a LOT of water - especially if it tastes good!

[BCV23]

4 Princess Morganne...I don't think that's tacky at all. It's just making your vacation as magical as you can make it.

[loriandmatt]

We have a camper, but i refuse to camp without air conditioning for our trip in June. Granted i am staying at a value resort because the other members of our party want to stay there - but we will be making a food run when we arrive. Since we are driving we will be bringing our own mini fridge. (i like it better than a cooler because the freezer section can acually fit 4 bottles of water. The frozen bottles last all day and can be refilled from a fountain when only half thawed, making ice cold water all day long.

light breakfast stuff (my MIL can't live without her morning Cheerio's) snacks, juices and some PB&J for the kiddies.

If bringingh these things into my room makes me tacky - then i proudly proclaim myslef as tacky (among all the other things i have accepeted that i am and become comfortable with ....an occasional bi%^h, not as thin a i was when i was 20, a card carrying county music fan in a city where that is so uncool, ......)

it is nice to know that i am not alone though :)

- lori