So, do you cook?

[Dancind]

We are making our first trip home, and staying in a OKW 1 BR for five nights in Sept. I was sort of thinking about a quick trip to Publix for some breakfast stuff, maybe a little bit of sandwich stuff and fruit, and possibly 2-3 pre-packaged type meals for stir fry or fajitas. But then I started thinking - oil for stir fry, rice! Sure don't want to buy a bottle of oil or rice package for 1-2 meals and don't really want to put a container of cooking oil in my luggage. Already taking coffee, I guess! Do you cook when you stay in the villas? How do you plan, and what do you take?

[Disneyfrek]

Mostly what I buy is breakfast items. A box or 2 of cereal (depending on how long we are staying), a gallon of milk and OJ, 2 loaves of bread, a package or 2 of bagels, butter, cream cheese, a can of coffee, coffee filters. I've never cooked there. I don't think I've ever turned the stove on, beats me if they even work ;) . I also bring some microwave popcorn and a case or two of soda. Have a good trip.


Joyce

[mama03]

When we go we always stop at publix to pick up supplies. We have 3 small children so we make breakfast in room, go to parks, come back and make lunch, then usually eat out only for dinner. We just purchase the smaller size items for the week. Also, dont forget the laundry detergent :).

Have fun, we go this thanksgiving cant wait!

Brandi

[wdwnut]

Use that nice stove decoration? on vacation? usually not. we'll pick up breakfast items, snacks, drinks, the prepackaged coffee in its own filter, laundry tablets (unless we bring them), fruit, pb & j, maybe some lunchmeat, and bread and rolls. still have a teen so we do have to have something to eat to fill up the "hollow" one and his friends.

[jimh13432]

We go with the easy stuff. Microwave "quickie" meals, snacks, junk food. Don't forget the popcorn!!!

Also, stock up on juice, soda, beer, more beer, wine, some more beer.......

[Dancind]

LOL, Jim, you and my husband would hit it off. He's a home brewer, which means we will probably have to do a meal at Big River, not my favorite place. He made friends with the "head brewer" last time we were there, and got a tour. He also loved Rose & Crown and the Guinness. Sigh. Do they have beer at Publix?

[donald@home]

We buy breakfast items also (saves a bundle of time and money) as well as some cold cuts and potato salad for lunch. Also load up on beverages, especially bottles of water to take to the parks in our insulated water bottle holders. For dinner we usually eat out, but supplement with a few in room meals. For these we found what works best is going to Super Walmart and buying some of their prepared food (chicken strips, lasagna, salads etc). We just heat and serve. Better than frozen, easier than buying the individual ingredients and MUCH MUCH cheaper than eating out at Disney each night.

And the stove does work.

[Dancind]

Where is the Super Walmart? Would they have small sizes of laundry detergent, etc? I have to buy the fragrance free detergents, I would imagine that's not what you get at OKW.

[Bill K]

We save alot of $$ cooking in! We use netgrocer. They don't sell anything perishable but they deliver right to your door at the BWV's. We buy the perishables locally. Works out great.



http://www.netgrocer.com/

[MdmMim]

I take coffee and filters. I buy a bag of bagels or cereal, and that's it. I don't cook at home, so I certainly wouldn't attempt to do anything that tricky on vacation. :earseek:

[princess angel]

we don't have any children, and we always stay in a studio. we always say a onebedroom would be nice for the king size bed and jacuzzi, but the truth is, the more I think about it, I don't even want to look at a kitchen while I'm on vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to save $$ by eating meals in the villa, make it easy on yourself, buy some frozen pizzas, or those meals that are in a bag all ready for the oven or stove (the ones that have the chicken/beef veggies, and potatoe/rice all together )

I would never dream of making all that stuff separate while on vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laura :)

[Margie J]

I do cook when I'm "Home" and have learned what to buy, quantities, what to bring, etc. from trial and error.

The stores sell small bottles of olive oil, perfect for a trip. You can find boil in bag rice and bring home the unused portion. I've packed unused cereal in my luggage without a problem too. In the parks, I grab packets of condiments, sugar, etc. to avoid buying a big bottle or bag. I'll also use more convenience foods (pasta mixes, packaged meal mixes, etc.).

[Regina]

We pick up drinks, snacks and some breakfast items (cereal, donuts, bagels.)

Other than that, this is one who Mom does not cook on vacation.:D

[GAIL HAYDEN]

diana,
do a search for Super WalMart. The directions have been posted here a number of times.
As to small detergents, yes, they sell them, fragrance free even.
They sell everything.
And, btw, yes, I cook. I love the kitchen and I love to cook and I REALLY love saving money to purchase other stuff. :)

[mzzbuzzlightyear]

Hi!

Yes, "we" cook! LOL...meaning that my DH and/or DD cook, they love to cook! The last time we were there, we all flew, so used Tiffany Towncar and stopped at the supermarket. DD gave each adult, 4 of us, a list of what to get and we met at the checkout. The driver was wonderful. We loaded everything and were able to check in immediately upon arrival at OKW!

Usually,some rice dishes, chicken, shrimp, etc. and salads for dinner. Breakfast consists of cereals, poptarts and maybe twice, eggs, bacon, English muffins and juice. We eat about half of the meals in and the rest out in the parks. Of course, we also buy Coffee, tea, soda and bottled water. As was said in previous posts, buy the small bottles of oil, salad dressings, etc.

Whatever we have left, we give away if it is not packable.

We get any other milk, orange juice,bread, etc at the store at the Hospitality House.

Now, after all of that, I wanna go home!

June:pinkbounc

[mickey7861]

The Super Walmart is in Kissimmee on rt 192 east on the right....very easy to find. This was our first villa trip so like a dummy I packed food to bring, canned goods, dry stuff etc., like Florida doesn't sell food!! Never again, Super Walmart had everything you could want and at cheaper prices than I pay at home. The store is HUGE though, we don't have Super Walmart's here, just the regular size, I was amazed. We ate breakfast in everyday. Then we bought sandwich stuff and easy meal makers for maybe one more meal each day or snack time (2 teenagers to fill). I used the stove top, brought my electric griddle, and even used the oven twice for frozen pizza and to bake chocolate chip cookies....yummy.

[Disney Doll]

We buy breakfast stuff,some chips, some soda, usually some bottled water. No meals...we are on vacation and eat out!!!!!

[tbatt]

We buy breakfast only (notice I didn't say "cook" breakfast!) Bagels, cereal, pastries, etc. and lots of coffee. Of course we keep fruit, cookies, milk, and pickies on hand. But most important ----- don't forget to get some wine for those great quiet nights when the kids are sleeping!!!! Very relaxing!!!

Have a great trip!

[Dancind]

Thank you all for the dose of sanity. Yes, pre-package meals sound like the way to go! I think I will hit Walmart the first morning, and send the family to DisneyQuest. Most of the stuff there makes me sick anyway. I'm only planning a few breakfasts, some lunches and at the most three dinners at our abode. The big coffee pot will get the best workout, I'm sure. We've still got plans for Boma, and Cindy's. But most of our splurgy meals are planned for the weekend before, when we're at GF. Now if we can convince DH that he doesn't have to sample every beer at Epcot, we'll have some extra for souveniers.

[nydizfan]

hi being a chef i do all the cooking and we save WAY too much money and u know what ??i love it.. some people dont want to cook and thats cool . but me we SAVE MONEY and that means more money for the kid to buy something crazy. i never could understand all the people who have a full kitchen and then dont use it because(sp) they are on vacation. then get a studio why spend the points..dave

[Dancind]

Forgot to ask, very important. Can I buy beer and wine at Walmart, or will I need to go somewhere else?

[Stinky_Pete]

Dancind -

As far as cooking goes, we also mainly pick up breakfast & lunch items (eggs, sandwich stuff, snacks, cold deli salads, etc.). We've often purchased a "family sized" lasagna, "lazy salad" (prepared lettuce/cherry tomatoes/etc.) and pre-made "heat and serve" garlic bread. We have this for dinner the first night, and there's usually left overs for lunch or dinner another evening.

As far as where to "lay in supplies," here's a post of mine from another thread:
I'm a big fan of Albertson's on the Orange Blossom Trail, right off the highway on the way from the airport to WDW. It's not the cheapest in the area (in fact, our bagger said Alberston's was the most expensive around -- he'd obviously not been to Goodings!). However, it was lower than what we typically pay at home, and frankly, the couple of bucks we might have saved was not worth the extra time it would take to go beyond WDW to the Wal-mart in Kissimmee (which we tried once, and it was a crowded, traffic-filled nightmare!).

If you're interested, just take the exit onto the Orange Blossom Trail off the expressway from the airport. You'll see a Home Depot from the highway just before the exit. It costs $.50 to exit (and if it's late at night you may need exact change). It's a straight shot across the road to the parking lot entrance.

There's also a liquor store right next to the Alberston's.

Since it's right off the highway on the way to WDW, we make the stop on the way to our resort. That way we don't have to go out later. And as I mentioned, when we went to Wal-mart it was PACKED with other tourists trying to save that $2-$3. We waited about 20 minutes in line at the check out, then had to go around the block a couple of times in order to get out of the pooly designed parking lot heading in the direction we needed to go to get back to WDW. We spent over three hours just getting groceries, whereas we've never spent more than an hour stopping at Albertson's.

[MaryJ]

I don't know about the Super Wal-Mart near WDW, but my local store does sell beer and wine. Also, don't forget that when you go out to eat, you can get take home boxes for any leftovers that you might have. They make a wonderful lunch a few days later!

[mickey7861]

Yes Super Walmart has a large selection of Beer, Wine, Wine Coolers, Mike's Hard Lemonade (a personal favorite). Anything you need they have it. We even bought my DD's birthday cake there. Round trip stop including shopping , about 1 1/2.

[yesdisneyfool]

First time in OKW 2/2001. Brought breakfast items (cereal, powdered doughnuts, snacks, chips, drinks) we bought in the general store some fruit, milk and OJ. We seem to move a little slooowweeerrr in the mornings so this is not only a $$ saver it reduces our stress level by not have to rush out to find breakfast.

We do plan on at least one character breakfast (Chef Mickey's is our favorite) during the week.

Next Feb 2002 we will try to bring lunch & dinner stuff (the quick microwave or prepared stuff)

Have fun and relax as much as you can when you "GO HOME".


All Stars Sports - 95
All Stars Movies - 99
All Stars Movies - 00
Old Key West - 01 (purchased 7/00) YEA!!!!
All Stars Music - 10/01
Villas WL - 11/01
OKW - 2/02

[Dennis the WDW Menace]

As the King of the stove decoration I have developed some quick and cost saving things to buy at the store. Try the Publix or the Walmart because Goodings is very expensive and they do not have a good variety as the other stores. Try buying the Hormel Roast Beef or Pork Already cooked meal. Then get some of the frozen mashed potatoes and a can of French cut Green Beans. All you need is some milk and butter to add and you have a great and fast dinner. The beef and pork is in a plastic bag with gravy and it does taste very good. It takes me about 15 minutes to cook this meal.

[mrsdon]

I cook most of our meals.
We usually drive, so we bring alot of our supplies and it saves alot of money. We do bring a crock pot. It makes meals very convinen. We just through in a roast and some potatoes and add a few spices and veggies and leave. When we come back to the room the meal is ready!!!!!
We get tired of eating out and it saves so much money for other stuff.

[Bennet]

We do breakfast every day at home and most lunches and soem dinners.

Here is a map to Wal Mart (http://maps.yahoo.com/py/ddResults.py?Pyt=Typ&addr=2101+N+Epoct+Resorts+Blvd&city=Orlando&state=FL&zip=32820&country=us&slt=28.366700&sln=-81.5540%20%20%20%20%20%20%2000&cs=9&newcountry=us&taraddr=4444+W+Vine+St&tarcity=Kissimmee&tarstate=FL&tarzip=34746&newtcountry=us&tlt=28.3035&tln=-81.4579&tcs=9&ta%20%20%20%20%20%20%20rname=Wal-Mart+Super+Ctr&tardesc=_______(407)+397-7000)

[Mary Anne]

I too cook. Mostly light cooking but we do cook. Some mornings we do early entry and then come back and have a BIG Brunch. Eggs, muffins, bacon, pan cakes, you name it. We all chip in fixing and it's done in no time.

Our usual plan is to have a fast non-cooking breakfast in the room, we have our main meal out for Lunch (usely PS) and then food in the room at night, frozen pizza, sandwich, junk food etc.
To me the best part of being in the DVC is having the kitchen right there. By the way for those of you who haven't tried the stove it's ELECTRIC not Gas, and that takes a bit to get used to if you've never used it before.

[Dizzy4Dizney]

It's always great to have some snacks around. Also, I bought paper plates and plastic wear.
I don't do dishes on vacation.

76 days to go!!

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