Lunches for the FL sun

[PoohNPiglet]

I am working on planning our upcoming vacation. In fact, I paid for our room this week! YIPPEE! I need some suggestions though. Last time we went to WDW we saved some $$ by taking our own lunches into the parks. While it did save money over buying Walt's food it was not as cheap as it could have been. We took lunch meat sandwiches. Which now that I am thinking about it, they probably were not the safest lunches either (we did have them in a cooler, but you can only use soft sided coolers in the parks... so they are not quite as good at keeping things cool) Do any of you have lunch ideas that we can take in to the parks on HOT Florida days and save $$ while not jeopardizing our health. Some of us can have pb&j, but due to a peanut allergy in my immediate family I am supposed to hold off longer than usual on introducing peanuts to DS (I have not had peanuts since he was born... once I wean him it will be fair game...). So, I need something other than pb&j too. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[beavismom]

They have shelf stable canned tuna and chicken (I think) salads. I think they even come with crackers. It might get heavy, but you won't even need a cooler for it.

 

[runwad]

What about those cans of vienna sausages? My kids loved those when they were little. I wonder even if you could bring a can of say spaghetti-o's or something along those lines and eat those? They would be nice and warm in the fl sun no warming required

 

[ducklite]

Most people don't want a heavy meal when it's 90 degrees and 100% humidity. You'd be better off bringing fresh or dried fruit, granola bars, things like that which can be grazed on through the day.

Anne

 

[Mickey527]

Other than pb&j I can't think of anything that would stay well in the heat. But the individual cans of food sound like a good idea. Maybe some cheese and cracker dips things. You can find alot of individual type foods at Bj's in large lots. If you buy in advance maybe you can send the package to your resort.
I would be careful with other sandwiches though, I would hate to get food poisoning on vacation. I have heard on these boards of people who did and they got maybe one day of fun then 5 days of looking at their ceiling and toilet.
I think that even though bringing your own would save you some money you might be better off buying something you all can split.
AK and MK both have places where you can get a 1/2 chicken with sides. That should be good for all of you. You can supplement with some extra sides like fries, carrot sticks or fruit.
I don't know about the other two parks having these meals because I have never looked for them there but I am sure others will help.
I love the platto de combinacion in Mexico. $8 for a burrito, soft taco and enchliada with beans. Can be shared but I am not sure your kids would like it.
If you have a car go offsite to places like ci-ci's pizza if the resort you are staying in is too far to drive.

 

[NotUrsula]

I don't do it much at parks, because we leave for a mid-day break and seldom eat in parks, but here are my techniques for beach picnicing:

The first basic of packing a lunch to be kept in hot conditions is ice. You must have it, and block ice is much more effective than chunk. If you can, freeze water or juice bottles to keep the sandwiches cold. If you can't do that, ask for cups of ice at CS vendors and freshen the ice about every 90 minutes to 2 hours (you should have the ice in double ziplocs.) If you add salt to the ice it will keep longer. Also, pack LOTS of crumpled paper towels around the bottom/sides of a soft cooler before filling it -- they will help immensely to insulate. Borrow a hand towel from your hotel to put on top of the whole thing right under the lid, that will also help keep the cold in (the zipper is the weak point in the insulation of a soft cooler.) At the beach, putting a white towel over the whole cooler helps, too, but that's not practical when carrying food around a park.

As to meats, go with smoked or cured wherever possible; cured deli meats are slower to spoil than roasted ones. Also, the spicier the meat, the slower to spoil it will be, as hot peppers have a slight anti-bacterial effect. Add condiments just before eating, and stay far away from ANYTHING that contains eggs.

 

[feedindy]

Chips and salsa are a favorite around here. You can even buy nacho lunchables that keep pretty well. Though a bag of chips and jar of salsa (which needs no refrigeration prior to opening) are cheap enough that you could just toss the jar each afternoon if there is anything left.

I have to second sticking with light, fresh foods though. Apples and oranges would be decent to pack-they don't need much cooling so your soft-side bags would be perfect.

 

[dawnball]

We frequently pack food into the parks because it's so much less stressful than trying to get allergen-free food. We don't go for a big lunch usually though - just lots of substantial snacks that add up to a balanced menu.

Typically we start the day out at the condo with an early light breakfast, then we wrestle the kids into clothes, sunscreen and combed hair. By the time we drive to the parks, park, walk to the TTC, take the boat to MK, get through the security and admission lines and line up for rope drop it's been long enough that someone realizes they didn't eat enough breakfast. We take cold hard boiled eggs for that eventuality but make sure they're consumed within a couple of hours of being packed. We also have fruit (fresh and dried - dried is usually raisins or craisins) and dry cereal for morning munchies.

For mid-day eats we might have hummus with chips or veggie sticks, fruit (whole or cut up), trail mix, popcorn, individually wrapped string cheese (it will last longer in marginal conditions than cheese you've cut and wrapped yourself), shelf-stable chocolate milk (my kid drinks it warm, blech), etc. Sealed yogurts come along sometimes, but never get recycled to the next day - they just get tossed if they don't get eaten. Sometimes we have a waffle or pancake spread with butter stowed away. Sun-nut butter (sunflower seed butter) or soynut butter might work for you as a peanut-butter substitute.

 

[Mic]

We took sandwiches and fruit to Typhoon Lagoon once, because the kids were worried they would not "have time" to wait in line for lunch. I packed the bread in one Ziploc (oblong) container, and put it in my backpack. I used a soft-sided roller-cooler I bought from Disneyshopping.com(it has Mickey on it!) to keep the meat, condiments, and fruit in. I froze a whole box of Capri Suns(10 pouches) to use as ice packs, and they worked well. I also took a few partially frozen water bottles for the kids to drink. We were at the waterpark at opening(8 or 9 am), and by 10:30 the kids were starving. The long walk to the slides and swimming wore them out pretty fast. EVERYONE around us was so jealous when we whipped out our picnic at 10:30, because the counter service restaurants were not open yet, and their kids were hungry. We shared our fruit with a young family next to us(frozen grapes are always a big hit). I, too, was worried about food spoilage, so I made sure I packed the unopened packages of ham and turkey between the frozen Capri Suns, and I took a small, unopened bottle of mustard, but packets should work fine, too. I did not take any mayonnaise. I also packed a small pack of string cheese, a few bananas, a few apples, and some trail mix. Since that trip, the kids usually take a water bottle and small snack with them to the waterparks to tide them over until lunch, then I drop a wad of money on lunch for 4-8 teenagers...I need to dig out that cooler before our next trip!

 

[tar heel]

I would take snacks in your diaper bag and fanny packs, water bottles on straps and buy a lunch to split or a goodie from a cart. You probably won't spend much more, it will be a lot less trouble, and it will feel more like a vacation.

Something cheap to split -- the chicken wrap at Pecos Bill's. It's huge and comes with fries and the fixing bar, so you can even have essentially a salad with it. If you like to have soft drinks, buy a large with low or no ice and ask for extra cups.

 

[Owen's Mom]

cucumber sandwiches.... yum!!!