Food - Eat at home or eat out?

[Coastie]

Can anyone provide some advice on food? Do the DVC members all dine out when at Disney World? I have read some of these posting and people are spending an exorbitant amount of $$$$ on food. I did some reading and found out it would be about $200-$300/day for food if eating out every day for a family of 4. Do any DVC members do any cooking ( I know its a vacation )? Any food budget suggestions for a family of 4 from the DVC veterans? Any nearby grocery stores (VWL)? :(

[The4OfUs]

We tend to prefer to cook when we go down, saving restaurants for one or two nights out - but my DH is a chef, and a former resident of Orlando...(as well as a former WDW cast member! *grin*) he knows where some of the less pricey stores are, and we stock up on the basics when we arrive.

We find that simple but filling things like bagels or cereal for breakfast and spaghetti for dinner can save us lots of money we can then spend elsewhere....lucky I married a man who can make most meals seem fancy. :D (especially as I can't cook to save my life! LOL!)

[KNWVIKING]

We will stock up on bagels,OJ,milk for lite breakfast. But we figure it's vacation,spend the money. It's also not that expensive. Most of the time we eat lunch in a park.All the parks offer your basic burger,fries,drink trays for 6-8 $$ which is the going price at any resort in the country. And most moderate & upscale resorts have a medium price restraunt where the entree's range 10-20 $$ The is also an Orlando bid site I use to buy gift cert to local restraunts. Example: paid $12.50 for Sunday Brunch for two at Baskervilles at the Grovsenor(?) hotel on hotel row. Absolutely the best brunch we've ever had. Live piano music,man drawing free caricatures, champaign toast included. We buy the Orlando Entertainment book-great discounts. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to enjoy eating out.

[KCritter]

We usually eat breakfast in the room, but generally have one "big" breakfast out. (I love big breakfasts!)

We then plan on one big meal, preferably a buffet and then just snacks for the rest of the day.

We've found that the portions on most meals in the park are big enough for two people and share meals accordingly.

[sgtdisney]

We always buy groceries for the time we are at OKW. We shop in on of the larger grocery stores off property on our first day. We have breakfast in the room every morning. None of my family is big on having a huge breakfast anyway. Sometimes if we have a day where we aren't in the parks we will eat a lunch in the room as well. We also tend to eat off property on the nights when were aren't in a park or have left a park a little early. This saves money as well. We have never yet eaten a dinner in the room although one time when my son got sick during the trip, on the last night, we ordered a Pizza and stayed in the room...

[Lil]

We plan a combination of eating out and eating in. Sometimes a plain 'ole sandwich hits the spot. We like to eat breakfast in, and eat one really nice breakfast at a resort....we are partial to the breakfasts at Boatwrights and at WL.

We love eating at different places, and always go to one new place. This summer we will go over to AKL for dinner (already have reservations).

When we go into the parks we tend to share a meal or share several snacks. Again, we always eat a sit down meal at a restaurant we haven't tried. Also, we will leave MK and go to Grand Floridian and eat.....nice 2 - 3 hour break.

If we are pool hopping (a whole other subject) at SAB - we go early and leave around 11am to go eat in the restaurant - It has the nautical theme and great food.

We really enjoy a relaxing home made meal on the patio at our room. I enjoy cooking and love the variety available in the grocery stores.

We love to go to the food courts and try food there. Different atmosphere.....love the Cajun Fried Chicken at Riverside(formerly known as Dixie Landings). We like the Pepper Market at Cornado Springs.

Love the food at Pucks....and the DH is Cuban and we aways end up at Bongo's at least once.

Love to go get flavored coffee and sit on the beach at the Polynesian or at Disney Village people watching.

We don't eat off property except to go to Celebration to Columbia House, or to Tu Tu Tango's in Orlando. We try to eat something different.......I live in the midwest....in a small town.....we celebrated getting an Applebee's and Cracker Barrel.

[Peggy Sue]

We tend to eat breakfast in the room. Nothing fancy, cereal, bagels, toast, fruit, juice etc. Last month we made some egg mcmuffins...my niece was along and she wanted a breakfast sandwich in the morning...I must admit, it's the first time we've ever turned the stove on during our vacation! It was nice, and relaxing, to have a family breakfast out on the deck each morning.

We tend to eat lunch/dinner out. We enjoy trying all the various dining options in and around WDW. We find the resorts have some wonderful dining options!

However, it's nice to know we have the kitchen available to us should we choose to spend an evening in sometime!

[mikesmom]

We do breakfast in the room each day. We stock in a lot of fruit and sometimes it's that and a bagel. Many mornings I cook a big breakfast = eggs, sausage, toast, fruit. Yeah, it's vacation, but I enjoy cooking, and it feels like a Sunday morning type of breakfast.

We usually schedule 2 dinners while we're there (6 days) . The rest of the time we have supper in. Could be pizza or leftovers from those 2 meals out (goes a long way). I also get sub rolls, deli fixings like turkey, beef, swiss, lettuce, and tomatoes. I make a big sandwiches, wrap 'em tight and put them in the refrigerator. The teenagers just grab one with some fruit when they are hungry - healthier fast food!

Of course we keep juice, ice cream, popsicles and iced tea on hand.

We spend very little more than we would at home.

[Jeanne]

Part of the planning or our trips home, is where are we eating. If you eat your biggest meal at lunchtime it is much cheaper. You can eat out without breaking the bank. Our family of 4 probably spends about $150 per day on days that we eat 3 meals out, and we rarely do the food courts. Also neither of my children eat of the children' s menu anymore. If they are young enough for the children's menu, it is usually about $5-6 per child. we tend to eat in the nicer restaurants for the more relaxed atmosphere, more unique meals, and air conditioning. Our fridge usually contains soda, beer, wine, cheese tray and snacks. We always make one trip to Einstein Bagels for a dozen and that gets us through several days of breakfast.

[dianeschlicht]

When it is just our family, we tend to do things differently than if we have guests staying with us.

For our family, we always grocery shop at the begining of the trip and buy Pop, snacks, breakfast items (we like oatmeal and pancakes since they are filling), fruit and maybe the fixings for one large meal in the villa. We usually eat our breakfast in the villa and have a main meal in one of our favorite restaurants in the parks or at the resorts. We like to do this around 2 pm so we can get by with one major meal. Then we either go to Beaches and Cream for a snack at night, or have something like that in the villa. By doing it this way, we save even on the priciest WDW restaurants since mid-day meals are less expensive.

[Dennis the WDW Menace]

We eat breakfast in the room and eat a a good WDW restaurant in the afternoon because most places serve the same food but it costs less. We have snacks and something small for dinner. When we get back to OKW we have soup and sand. and relax around the TV in the evening, by this time it is usually 9:00pm. We save money and get to eat at some good WDW places for less. This is one of the reasons we bought into DVC.
:bounce:

[Peter Johnson]

On the way to check in, we stop and get breakfast, snacks, soda and water. We eat breakfast at "home" on the patio, and other meals at the parks and resorts. Usually we just stop at Goodings for our food... even though it's the world's most expensive grocery store, it's a gigantic savings over WDW prices.

In all our DVC visits, we've not eaten breakfast on the porch only a few times... last month's smoky days and the day Hurricane Floyd hit are the most memorable.

The best thing we do is buy our own water. We have a water bottle with an insulated holder, and buy a 2.5 gallon jug of water. Every time we get back "home", we refill the water bottle. Saves a fortune in water and soda at the parks!

[slimplaw]

We were at VWL last week for one night and I noticed that Miss Jenny's Provisions has some family size portions which were actually reasonable. This is the room service at VWL. Ribs and fried chicken were both available for around $20 for family portions. This did not include any side dishes. The pizza also was fairly reasonable. We have stayed in a condo near WDW and we microwaved items like Stouffer's chicken and rice family meals. I also had bagged salad. This was enough for our family after a day in the parks. Dessert was usually fruit.

[Bennet]

We do both but more eating at home.

Typically we get up early quick breakfast and hit the parks as they open, after the crowds show up we go back to BWV for lunch and some pool time. We hit another park in the afternoon/evening. Sometimes we eat dinner out sometime at home.

We do one or two character meals per trip and the fantasmic dinner show & Mom and Dad have a night out at the Flying Fish.

Our trip report has a link to a map to Super Wal*Mart (http://64.225.125.24/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15638)

[Alysa]

On our first trip as a married couple before we signed up as members, one of the things we disliked the most about the trip was always having to go out for meals. We must have spent about $1500 US on food and there were lots of days we would have just liked to have had some tea and a muffin and some fruit for breakfast - especially as we are early risers and would have prefered to go straight to the parks instead of spending the first hour or more eating in a resturant. Plus, the servings in American resturants are huge - always way too big for us. I often looked with longing at the kid size versions. ;) So when we became mebmbers we were so excited about having a kitchen in our room! We knew how much money it would save us. Now we can go to the special resturants we are excited about not because we have to eat somewhere, and it is only two or three per trip at the most. We usually do one character breakfast and one or two romantic dinners. It makes the resturant meals that much more special to us!
P.S. Two musts to bring with you or buy for your kitchen - bottled water and a kettle, you can't make a good cup of tea there without these items. And trust me, my husband does not want to spend time with me in the morning if I have not had a good cup of tea. Have you ever tried to make tea with water heated in the coffee maker? I'll have a little less rat with mine, thanks.;)

[wdwnut]

hi: our youngest is still a teen, you know- the "hollow" stage of life. we usually will pick up breakfast type items like cereal, pop tarts, and oj. also, some lunch type goodies- bread, peanut butter and jelly, cold cuts, and TONS of fruit. we'll also get some snacks like pretzels, popcorn, etc. we save a ton of money just by having breakfast, snacks and drinks in the room with an occasional lunch.

[chris1gill]

If you have a family of 4 that actually eats (our kids are little & don't eat much) you can very easily eat 200.00 a day if you do the sit down dinners... if you do 1 sit down & 2 takeouts, you'll still spend 150.00 a day for 4 people that actually eat (little kids again don't eat much)

As for us, we cook a LOT of our own meals... we eat lunch in the parks most days, but that's it... we have groceries delivered & we eat breakfast & all but 1 or 2 dinners in the room.... we go for 2 weeks at a time & only spend about 300.00 total on eating out. 2 adults & 2 children that don't eat much....

[JT40]

The first day we load up the fridge with lots of drinks, light breakfast fare, snacks, etc. Each day, we eat in once, fastfood once, and one nice meal out. We spend a little over $100 a day and no one has to slave over a hot stove! (2 adults & 2 teenage boys)
As a vacation club member you can eat in as much or as little as you want. I love choices.

[shelbyjosh]

We prefer to eat in the room as much as possible. DH gets extremely tired of Disney food. We usually have a good breakfast (not just cereal!!) before we go out for the day. We try to get back for dinner, but if not no big deal. When we went in March, we spent $95 at Publix and ate good. I think we ate out maybe 5-6 meals that week. Our dinners down there are not as "fancy" as home, but we get a better variety than what WDW offers. It kills me to pay $2 for a 2 liter of Diet Coke at OKW when I can pay $1 (and no bottle deposit:D ) at Publix.

[Mic]

We do a combination of eating out and eating "in". We always do breakfast in the room(cereal, oatmeal, bagels, and fruit are our favorites)except for an occassional special breakfast(Cinderella's or the BW bakery). We always do at least 1 meal out a day, usually lunch at our favorite restaurants(Tony's, Teppanyaki)and a quick dinner in the room. My kids really like not having a dinner reservation to get to, especially if they don't want to get out of the pool, turn the tv off, etc. I used to make priority seating arrangements for lunch and dinner (before DVC) and we cancelled dinner a lot. If my husband does not go to WDW with us, we rent a studio to save points, and we can still do dinner in the room. We order pizza and salad from the takeout window at BW one night, we have spaghetti and Ragu sauce with a salad and fruit one night, we fix soup and sandwiches one night...nothing fancy that requires a lot of preparation but just enough after a busy day in the parks and a big lunch. My kids are 7-12 years old, and 2 meals out a day would be a waste of $$ and time. I take all non-perishables with me(we usually drive), and a small cooler with cream cheese and cold cuts in it, then I only have to purchase milk at OKW or BWV. I have found packing the food in a box instead of bags travels better, and for shorter trips(3-4 days)I pack it all in a big collapsible cooler that zips up, and still take the smaller one for cold items. I keep saying that I will pack my crock pot and use it, but I never do. I do take a small rectangular slow cooker, a collander that fits inside it perfectly(tupperware is a wonderful thing), and a small microwaveable dish and a cheap set of real silverware to use for the spaghetti and soup, and that is usually enough. ;)

[Andrea T]

I guess vacation means different things to different people. To me it means eating out 3 meals a day. I love a long leisurely breakfast with someone to refill my coffee cup at least 4-5 times!!!! Spoodles is one of our favorite places except Sunday...then it's Tonga French Toast at the Poly after mass. Lunch is quick at where ever we happen to be. Favorites are Beaches and Cream and The Plaza. For dinner we to like to always try different places. A must every trip is a character meal or two and DEFINITELY the Flying Fish! We allow our 8 year old son to bring his gameboy to dinner (never at the dinner table at home) so he's not overly bored. We end every evening at the BW Bakery...can't go to sleep without cookies and milk! We do spend a lot on food but it's an important part of my vacation experience. Of course to DH, vacation means jogging every morning and working out every evening..... You gotta wonder when we have time for the parks!

[prncssjas]

I think I am in the minority too!! When DH and I go to WDW, the last thing we feel like doing is cooking or preparing meals. I know how much $$$ it saves, but we are fortunate enough to be able to budget eating out. And I just love the food at WDW, the desserts and snacks are terrific. Plus, we aren't heavy eaters...if we have a big breakfast (at Spoodles, our fav!!), then we won't be hungry again until dinner, with small snacks in between. This works out really well for us. We are lucky...as I am sure once we have kids, this will most likely change and we would have to re-evaluate! ;)

[TriciaT]

We also do the last lunch seating usually around 3:00 for a combo dinner/lunch. Prior to DVC we would eat a light food court breakfast or a muffin on Main Street and then snack around 11:00, fruit, ice cream, or popcorn, maybe an eggroll. At 3:00 we would have a wonderful, leisurly sit down lunch in an uncrowded restaraunt. Crystal Palace, Tony's Town Square, Coral Reef, were empty at that time during our last trip over July 4th. Then we would have a late night snack if we got hungry again. (That was during summer's late hours)

Now that we have DVC, those breakfasts and probably the late night snacks will be in our room, saving us even more $$.

I am thinking about using Netgrocer to ship down most things, and stopping at a grocery store for perishables when we get there.

[Ralph&Pam]

As much as my DW and I both like to cook, we equate vacations with eating out. That said, we tend to do a combination. Our first visit to WDW as DVC members is next week, but in the past we have stayed at BWI and in a studio at VB as well as at the Disney Institute. We paid extra to have a refrigerator at BWI so I include our experience there in this description. Most days, we eat much the same breakfast as we have at home: bagel or toast with coffee and juice. We do try to include at least two restaurant breakfasts during a week-long stay. Sometimes this is a character meal, sometimes not. Next week, we will definitely do the Spoodles buffet at least once and possibly twice. Lunch will be fast food at one of the parks or quick-to-fix lunch/leftovers in the room. In fact, the availability of the refrigerator and microwave are real attractions for us, since we usually have leftovers from some of our dinners and we add a few snack-type foods, beer, pop, water, and the breakfast foods when we make our grocery stop. Dinner at a variety of restaurants around the world is an important part of our vacation experience. We usually make PSs for every other night. Next week, we will do the Biergarten, Artist Point, and the Yachtman's Steakhouse. These are "full" meals for us: appetizer(s), entrees, dessert(s). I enjoy a glass or two of wine and maybe an after dinner drink as well. Because of the quantity of food if you order an appetizer and dessert for each person (at the sit down restaurants, that is, no chance for leftovers at the Biergarten buffet), we expect that we might have some leftovers which we will take back to the room. We usually plan meal times for these meals so that they are our primary evening destination; thus we are not wandering a park after dinner carrying our leftovers. On nights when we don't have a PS, we might do counter service at one of the parks or hit a food cart at Epcot or along the BW, take a chance on getting into one of the sitdown restaurants at a park or DD, drive offsite to one of the non-Disney eateries, or even raid the refrigerator if there's something from a previous meal really calling out to one or the other of us (in our house, leftovers are community property; if you don't want to share your leftovers, you'd better eat them sooner rather than later ;) ). Once in a while, we even make a same-day PS for a restaurant we want to try or for a restaurant we visited on a prior trip and want to eat at again. We do try to do different restaurants than those we've already done during a particular trip (although I must admit that during a trip to London two years ago we found a small Italian restaurant in the neighborhood near our hotel which was so good that we went back our last night before returning home; not only that, but we again ate there twice during our trip this past March). As the number of restaurants we've tried around WDW has increased, our list of places we would definitely try again continues to grow. So many restaurants, so few nights.

Our children are grown, so we no longer have to worry about their care and feeding during vacations, but when they were younger, we did pretty much the same thing for breakfast as we do now (including one character breakfast each trip to WDW). The budget was tighter then, so we usually had only one "serious" dinner each trip, always planned for our last night at WDW. Any other restaurant meals were usually done at lunchtime rather than dinner, since prices are usually less expensive and menu selections are frequently just as good. If you do any WDW buffets, you usually save some money at lunch compared to dinner without sacrificing too much in the selections. Then dinner can be fast food or fix it yourself in the room.

Ralph

[Lisa P.]

I agree that it's WONDERFUL to have the option for both, whatever suits YOU! :) Even when we stay at offsite timeshare villas, making at least one big (though simple) meal daily saves us $$$ over eating out. We're a family of 5 (no very small children), plus we sometimes bring others along. Saving where we can enables us to travel more and we LOVE to travel. We mostly eat in, with one or two nice sitdown restaurant meals per week, plus we share occasional snacks or counter service meals at the parks.

Since we drive, we usually pack a couple grocery boxes and a cooler from Sam's Club at home or we visit WalMart or Publix on arrival. We bring or buy cereals, eggs, milk, bagels/rolls, fresh deli meats, rice mixes, pasta & jar sauces (alfredo & tomato), frozen foods (chicken parmagiana, hot pockets, corn/veggies, pizza, ice cream novelties), pretzels, brownie or cookie dough, prepackaged & cut veggies to add to bagged salad (or a tray gathered at a grocery salad bar), dressing, cubed cheese, lots of fresh fruit, (precut if it's melon or messy). On arrival day, I usually boil eggs and make a pound of pasta to store in the fridge in ziplocs - handy to microwave with restaurant leftovers.

We also bring paper plates and plastic cups, so it's easy to take a meal poolside or onto the balcony - always welcome in our family. I find that with our choice of groceries, I don't cook much at all. Anyone in our whole family can throw stuff together in the microwave or a pizza/brownies in the oven. The kids take turns making coffee and everyone rinses & stacks their own dishes in the dishwasher, like at home. Since we also love to relax together for at least a day or two at our resort, eating in works really well for us. We've been to Orlando many times and a leisurely pace is great when we're there, at least for some of the days. :cool: :D :cool:

[DisneyMim]

Yes I agree with the fact that the wonderful part about being DVC members is that there are so many options. My family is not big on breakfast so we eat in when we are staying at a DVC resort. Lunch and dinner are always out though. Part of OUR Disney magic is the different restaurants and we have always enjoyed trying new ones and revisiting (again and again) old favorites. I had to laugh at Alysa and her tea!! YES!!! I hear you. I HATE tea from a coffee maker!! We usually stay in a different Disney resort every time we go before moving to a DVC resort and eat Breakfast out while there. I usually just get coffee because it's so much easier and nobody seems to make it the way I like it. By the time I get into my DVC kitchen I'm ready for my tea!! I'm another one who hates to cook while on vacation. I'm a Stay-At-Home-Mom and the "kitchen is my office" so when I'm away I don't cook, but it is a HUGE selling point for DVC. Isn't it nice to have options, if only for a cup of tea???

[mrsdon]

We usually eat our breakfast and dinner in the room.
Last time we went to OKW we bought groceries to last a week.(And snack food)
We went to AKL at Bomas for our 1 dinner out that night. We spent the same amount of $$ on food for one meal as we spent for the whole week.
Im one who loves to cook and hates to pay the high $$ to eat out anywhere.
Besides its nice to take our time getting ready in the morning and we can eat in our jammies.

[lsutigger]

One of the things I'm looking forward to in Oct for our first trip home is the options for food. This will be our first driving trip also. I'm planning on bringing breakfast stuff and some favorite meals from home that we know freeze well, in individual microwavable containers. It won't take long to heat them. We'll probably eat one meal out each day. I love some of the park food, call me crazy. It is only DH and I so the cost is not too high. But one can only eat so much park food. So the option to have some home cooked meals without really doing the cooking is looking good. Only 88 more days :sunny:

[nytiggr]

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Eating on vacation, emm, I'm getting hungry already.

There are so many great ideas here but I had to add
my 2 cents, FWIW.

1st - not a plug but Publix probably has the
best supermarket prices.

2nd - we also buy Zephyrhills spring water to take
into the parks with us, which WILL save a small fortune.

3rd - for nice evenings out, try the California Grill
for a fantastic view and pretty good seafood;
and try Le Cellier in EPCOT for good Canadian
beef, eh. Nice steaks.

Emm, bon appetit!
- NYTIGGR

[Disney Doll]

We go to Publix, which is on the OKW side of WDW, but offsite, of course,when we first arrive, and get some breakfast foods (ie-cereal, milk,bananas,bagels)and some snacks and soda.I would caution you not to overbuy, unless you KNOW you are a person who will be spending a lot of time in the room. More often than not, we have left food there, or been scouring the parking lots for other guests to give it to as we're leaving!!!! In any event, we do breakfast in the room usually, and lunch and/or dinner out. Sometimes we do an early dinner/late lunch type thing, and then just snack later in the evening. We don't do any "real" cooking (other than making Starbucks coffee, and I don't know if that counts as cooking!!), since that's the same thing we do at home, and the purpose of vacation is to do different stuff!!

[msdis]

We have only ever stayed in a studio and for the 2 of us last trip we spent 150/8 nights and the trip before we spent 50/8 nights total food bill on property which includes the grocery store at the resort. We bring a lot of food from home since we don't rent a car and usually 1 counter service per day is what we eat out. Although 1 trip we ate out twice the whole trip. But our goal is 1 meal a day out and that usually run 12-15 for the both of us.

[Tigger1]

We are a group of 7. 2 real adults (yea, right) and 5 children from 9 to 19.

We make a stop at Super Walmart for milk, soda, ice cream, lunch meat and many items we never get around to eating. I also bring a few things that I could just as easily purchase when we get to walmart. A stop to the fruit stand for oranges, grapefruit and fresh orange juice is also a must do for our crew.

The first night we end up at downtown Disney, rainforest this last year, Wolf gang puck in 2000.

We eat breakfast at the hotel (usually we just have coffee the teens never wake up until noon).

On days we go to the parks we eat one counter meal or several junk food meals (Turkey leg, snow cone, popcorn (not the kids, just the "adults" eat junk food meals)) . This year no meals that had any charactor. Other years at least one at lunch time.

This year we did go to Fort Wilderness for a bufffet lunch. Cost was about $9.00 per person. Pretty good, beats hamburgers.

We also have Papa Johns pizza usually once. The past 2 years we also went to Jungle Jims.

Cost at Disney for the 7 of us is about $100 per day for food. Well I like to think that it is close to that. Maybe a little more on some days.

Vero is a different story. We have never ate at any restaurants onsite or offsite. We make a trip to Sams club and Walmart in Vero. Buy a weeks worth of food for about $150. Stay 5 nights, the last night we try to eat everything that is left, haha. This may be the only time I enjoy cooking. Imagine the ocean view to look at while dicing onions. It puts a tear to my eye, hehe.

Tigger