SIL wants to bring whole meals to the park

[jjarman]

My brother, DSIL, and their two kids are planning a trip with me and maybe my DS. The kids will be 5, 3 and my son, 17 when we make this trip. DS and I have been twice and will be going one other time before this joint trip. We are trying to economize as much as possible. I will try to get us a room only discount code, search for best prices on tickets, get SIL the menus so she can see how much the food costs, etc. Well, SIL tells me now that when her family went when she was a kid they brought an ice chest in and her mother made sandwiches for them while in the parks. Now I am all for skimping on meals and making a sandwich to eat in the room but I draw the line at taking an ice chest in the park. It would be such a pain to haul around for one thing and I know me. I would be just so embarrassed to be sitting on a bench somewhere making a baloney sandwich. I told her I was not going to do that and that if she wanted to she could. I told her I would rather save for an extra 6 months and be able to afford food in the parks. She also has said we could just go back to the room at lunchtime and eat there. That might work but really once I get to the parks I don’t want to leave until later in the afternoon. That would be too late for us to eat lunch. To me eating the park food is half the fun of the vacation. What else can I say to her to convince her we don’t need to do this?

 

[Disneyrsh]

They absolutely will not let you drag a cooler in, and you can tell her that.

The best way to save money on food is to eat counter service and bring your own water-never buy drinks in the park.

You'll save at least 20/day on that.

Bring two water bottles each and if you can stand florida water refill them at the bubblers.

There's such a thing as being frugal without humiliating yourself!

 

[Darcy]

Disney does not allow outside food.

They look the other way on snack tpe things and drinks, but I imagine (thought not tried it, but saw someone stopped at Disneyland with a cooler) they will question a cooler.

 

[sue1013]

Let her do what she wants and you do what you want. I agree with you I can't be bothered on vacation cooking or ever making sandwiches. It is your vacation too you don't need to do everything the same.

 

[missypie]

YOU CAN SPLIT UP AT MEALTIMES!!!!! Don't make a big deal about it. I guess you should let her know that she'll need to buy less lunchmeat, but other than that, when it's lunch time, arrange a meeting time and place (your meal will probably take longer.)

To save money, study the menus on allearsnet. Lots of meals are big enough to split, esp. if you are going to have a snack later. (I don't know where people get the idea that they have to leave every restaurant stuffed to the brim.)

 

[disneycrazzzy]

Although I didn't want to either, when traveling with my SIL and her family (10 of us in all); we ate out of a cooler everyday for lunch and went out to eat for dinner. It was actually very nice. We had a soft sided cooler that we hung from Grandpa's wheelchair (although it could have been hung from a stroller or put in a locker). In it was sodas, juice, pre-made sandwiches, cookies, grapes, chips, tupperware filled with cobb salads for those of us on diets. We could whip out the food and eat in about 15-30 minutes. We never had to wait in lines and it was cheap. I made PSs somewhere nice for dinner and everyone enjoyed that too. It was a very easy compromise.

Items of note:

1) we were staying in a Vacation Home so making the lunch was easy since we had a big kitchen.

2) we never had a problem bringing the food into the park.

3) The cobb salads were sooo good. We just bought pre-packaged cut romaine lettuce, sliced meats and cheeses, and Newman's own ranch dressing and assembled it in a Gladware bowl. When we were ready to eat we would shake it. Yum!

4) It saved us big bucks and then we could eat somewhere nicer for dinner and not feel like we were spending our last dime.

5) Making the lunch before we left in the morning became a social event. The kids would let us know what they wanted and the three Moms would put it all together.

6) We froze juice boxes to keep everything cold. They would still be partly frozen when we would have lunch and the kids would open them up and eat them with a spoon like a slushy.

It can be done. Of course when it is just me and my family we eat out.

 

[slp87]

If anything, eat a nice lunch out because the prices are cheaper, they can eat a sandwich at the room in the evenings and you're free to do what you want. You can always plan to meet up later.

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

Disney does not allow outside food.

They look the other way on snack tpe things and drinks, but I imagine (thought not tried it, but saw someone stopped at Disneyland with a cooler) they will question a cooler.

Actually, unless the policy changed in the last 5 days, then coolers are allowed in parks. However I don't suggest it. It's hard enough to lug them around, and unless they have wheels, you can't bring a wagon to court it around.. it would certainly wear on my nerves.

 

[Cass]

Tell DSIL you are on holiday and want to relax & enjoy yourself... you eat sandwiches at home and to get a grip

 

[mickeymousemom]

I'm sure there will be no problem with a small collapsible cooler. This could be kept in a locker until lunch time. I cannot imagine Disney allowing large hard sided coolers in the parks. I've done collapsible coolers with a few premade sandwiches and juice puches, then brought other snacks in my backpack. Never had a problem with getting them in.

 

[dani blaski]

My DH & I would make sandwiches in the morning before we left & put in your backpack. I had snack size ziplocs filled with peanuts & raisins and string cheese. We froze juice pouches & it kept it all cool. And...we stayed at Pop Century but requested a fridge. We did the town car w/ the grocery stop. We also did breakfast in the room, cereal & milk w/ fruit. So it can be done without a lot of fuss. I agree with a previous poster that you can split up for meals-don't have to spend every waking second together. I would think the little break would aid in keeping everyone happy with each other.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Actually, unless the policy changed in the last 5 days, then coolers are allowed in parks. However I don't suggest it. It's hard enough to lug them around, and unless they have wheels, you can't bring a wagon to court it around.. it would certainly wear on my nerves.

I agree!! Somehow the savings just wouldn't be worth it for me. At the end of May, we saw several folks pulling around those large coolers on wheels. They did NOT look happy.

 

[goofyernmost]

I had some friends that went to WDW years ago. This was thier first experience and the Mom made PB&J sandwiches to eat in the parks. This was OK but just so you know, now close to 20 years later when the family is together and discussing the past, that trip always comes up and it never fails to happen that the kids (now grownup) tease thier Mom about how humiliated they were to have to eat nasty old sandwiches while everyone else had Disney food.

They are just kidding her now but it doesn't take a degree in psycology to realize that it was hugely important to them back in those days. Although this didn't ruin the memories, it never fails to taint them.

Buy a hot dog for heavens sake. It's worth it just to not have to lug the stuff all over.

 

[Philly81]

I would nicely tell her that you don't want to go back to your room mid day and you'll meet up with them after lunch. I totally understand them wanting to save money by eating sandwiches at lunch, but they should go back to their rooms to do it. I would be embarassed doing it in the parks. They actually ask you that if you can't carry it on your back to rent a locker, rolling coolers aren't allowed according to Disney policy. I can see bringing snacks and water in, but the portions at counter service places are large and can be shared so you CAN have an inexpensive lunch.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I am all for saving where I can and when I do not care to eat in the parks but I would not want to lug a bunch of stuff around with me.

We eat before leaving the room, something simple. I pack a few small snacks, nuts etc in my purse. If we are going into a park a bit later we eat outside the park. If we leave early we eat outside the park.

That being said, if there is a place we want to eat at in the parks we do so.

The difference between being thrifty and being stingy is - Thirfty is not wasting money on things you do not really want while stingy is doing without things you really want but CAN afford.

Good luck and I hope you can all agree to agree or disagree and do your own things. Have fun in either case!!

Slightly Goofy

 

[CleveRocks]

Disney does not allow outside food.

They look the other way on snack tpe things and drinks, but I imagine (thought not tried it, but saw someone stopped at Disneyland with a cooler) they will question a cooler.

INCORRECT! You can bring in coolers as long as they are soft-sided and are small enough to (theoretically) fit inside a locker. On two different days, we brought in sandwiches, fruit, drinks (not in glass bottles), snacks, etc. Security glanced through everything but never stopped us or anyone else who was similarly equipped. We didn't "get away with" anything.

Let's stay with FACTS, shall we?

-- Eric

 

[Aimeedyan]

A CM has already said that big coolers are allowed, and in my trips there I have seen many. I'm sure she could get in with one if she truly wanted to, but I can't imagine having to keep up with it all the time. It'd be one thing if you can squish your stuff into a locker, but dragging it around all day would get old. Fast.

OP, I don't see why you need to convince DSis of anything, honestly. If she ultimately decides that her family needs to bring in food or leave the park at mid-day to go eat in the room, then just set a time to meet her later. I wouldn't break up my day to go back to the hotel to eat PB&J, nor would I drag around lunch all day if my budget allowed for some counter service. Just because you're going together doesnt' mean you have to be together all the time. I would be honest and tell her that you have budgeted and saved to dine out while at Disney, and that she is welcome to join your family at any meals she wants. maybe you can get her to do breakfast in the rooms, bring snacks, and eat counter for lunch and dinner?

Good luck!

 

[TDC Nala]

The parks allow small soft sided coolers. Hard plastic ones are permitted in the water parks but not theme parks. I haven't ever seen a hard plastic one in the theme parks, with the exception of the little ones that hold a six pack.

Only thing I've seen get confiscated was a can of beer at AK. Alcohol can't be brought into the parks, and they don't even sell it at MK.

 

[JoannaOhio]

I may be in the minority (or maybe other people are just afraid to speak up) but when we visit Disney World, we don't eat in any of the Disney restaurants. All four of us have special dietary needs, and bringing our own food keeps everybody happy and healthy. We stay off site, and have a full kitchen for keeping groceries and preparing sandwiches, salads, et al. We eat a hearty breakfast at the villa, and bring enough food to the parks for the rest of the day. I know that many on these boards plan their entire vacation around Disney World. We very much enjoy our time at the World, but we also include other things during our Florida vacation. Although we like saving money by not eating at the parks, we also like saving the time that a sit-down meal takes away from other park activities. Just another way of enjoying Walt Disney World.

 

[BrianMonk]

We packed a few sandwiches/grapes, etc... in a backpack similar to this:

http://www.travelersclub.com/tcl35017.htm