Suitcase full of food...

[mondragon]

For some of us, it's not about cost. It's about not being able to get specific items at the resorts. But, since there's no WRONG way to do Disney, you're doing what's best for your magical vacation while others are doing what is best for them.

But for most people it's all about cost. They don't want to spend $$ on park food. Spend thousands of $$ on a trip and skimp on the food.

 

[Mamato2cutekiddos]

If I have to pack food from home the trip isn't worth doing, I will wait another year and do it right.

That seems like an unnecessarily rude thing to say. Every family has different needs and wants. While most of the time it is financial, sometimes it isn't. I simply don't want fried, fatty foods for every breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack. Nor do I want to spend $3 for an apple. That's just poor money management no matter how you look at it. Thankfully we stay at a rental house off property and we always rent a car so getting groceries to take with us isn't a problem. If we were ever to stay on resort you bet we would bring snacks/have them ordered. Why not? Personally I'd rather have extra money for souveniers and experiences. The food is only going to stay with you for 12 hours (give or take ). Experiences and souveniers will last much longer.

You may decide to wait another year and "do it right" but in the meantime the rest of us are saving money and by doing so we are able to squeeze in an extra disney vacation while you're still saving for that first, perfect trip.

I know with my kids they don't tell me they are hungry when they start to feel it- they let us know when they're beyond hungry and can't wait. That's when those pre-packed containers of strawberries and goldfish crackers come in handy. I would hate to leave my place in line, or have to wait in line for food when a kiddo is already past that point.

Different families work differetly. While I respect your views, and the way you wish to take a vacation, you probably could have found a less offensive way to get your point across.

 

[mondragon]

That seems like an unnecessarily rude thing to say. Every family has different needs and wants. While most of the time it is financial, sometimes it isn't. I simply don't want fried, fatty foods for every breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack. Nor do I want to spend $3 for an apple. That's just poor money management no matter how you look at it. Thankfully we stay at a rental house off property and we always rent a car so getting groceries to take with us isn't a problem. If we were ever to stay on resort you bet we would bring snacks/have them ordered. Why not? Personally I'd rather have extra money for souveniers and experiences. The food is only going to stay with you for 12 hours (give or take ). Experiences and souveniers will last much longer.

You may decide to wait another year and "do it right" but in the meantime the rest of us are saving money and by doing so we are able to squeeze in an extra disney vacation while you're still saving for that first, perfect trip.

I know with my kids they don't tell me they are hungry when they start to feel it- they let us know when they're beyond hungry and can't wait. That's when those pre-packed containers of strawberries and goldfish crackers come in handy. I would hate to leave my place in line, or have to wait in line for food when a kiddo is already past that point.

Different families work differetly. While I respect your views, and the way you wish to take a vacation, you probably could have found a less offensive way to get your point across.

But what we are talking about is packing frozen food into a suitcase (ie hotdogs, pasta, cheese, etc) instead of just purchasing it when you arrive. What you do is fine with renting a home and going food shopping. What someone posted above is bringing a toaster and using it in the room (fire hazard).

 

[Marionnette]

I have to wonder why anyone cares what other people pack in their luggage? Short of having your Pepsi explode mid-air and ruin my baggage which is stored underneath yours, it makes no impact on me. Packing cream cheese and frozen perishables is not something I'm going to do because I just don't want to deal with sickness due to spoilage or the absolute stench that would result if the luggage were to be lost for a day or two. But again, that's something others are okay with. As long as I'm not expected to eat the stuff, I really don't care what they do.

 

[mondragon]

I have to wonder why anyone cares what other people pack in their luggage? Short of having your Pepsi explode mid-air and ruin my baggage which is stored underneath yours, it makes no impact on me. Packing cream cheese and frozen perishables is not something I'm going to do because I just don't want to deal with sickness due to spoilage or the absolute stench that would result if the luggage were to be lost for a day or two. But again, that's something others are okay with. As long as I'm not expected to eat the stuff, I really don't care what they do.

I don't really care until they start bringing their slow cookers/toasters/toaster ovens with them and cook in the room knowing that is not allowed.

 

[clr055]

I have to wonder why anyone cares what other people pack in their luggage? Short of having your Pepsi explode mid-air and ruin my baggage which is stored underneath yours, it makes no impact on me. Packing cream cheese and frozen perishables is not something I'm going to do because I just don't want to deal with sickness due to spoilage or the absolute stench that would result if the luggage were to be lost for a day or two. But again, that's something others are okay with. As long as I'm not expected to eat the stuff, I really don't care what they do.

I agree. This post is about packing food so if someone does not and that is how they vacation then why would they come in here and stick their nose in the air to make people feel like not being wealthy means they some how have done their vacation wrong as they need to budget. It doesn't hurt them in anyway if I pack some bagels in a suitcase so why be hurtful.

 

[kj2mom]

If I have to pack food from home the trip isn't worth doing, I will wait another year and do it right.

We just got back and I had no idea I wasn't doing it right! I put a box in the middle of my suitcase and filled it with breakfast foods/snacks then put my clothes all around the box. We stayed off site and had a car but we got in around 8pm at night with the next morning being 4th of July when we planned on being at MK from open until closeish. I thought it would be handy to have a breakfast we could grab and take with us to eat when we got to TTC. I am not sure what about this makes the trip not worth doing? It actually made the trip much easier. Each morning (except for the morning we had a Chef Mickey ADR) we grabbed a drink and a package of something to have before the parked open then we were good until lunch. The snacks also came in handy when we decided to stake our claim for the 4th of July fireworks but hadn't had dinner yet. The children all shared the crackers I had packed and it held them until after the show. The original intention was to toss the box and have more room for souvenirs in the bag on the way home but I actually ended up repacking the box with some left over food and also some souvenirs fit perfectly in there and were a bit protected. Here I was thinking I was doing something right (well planned), go figure!

 

[gopher101]

Well, I guess I am going to be doing it wrong next year too. We are We will be driving in (we prefer road trips to plane rides). So we already have a snack bag/cooler. We are also taking my nephew along too. It just seems easier to buy extra snacks when we buy the first batch. Breakfast items we will probably buy the first day after we check in when we go to store to get drinks to put in cooler. Since my dad is not going into the parks, he just wants to explore Orlando. He will buy a bag of ice for the cooler everyday for the drinks. I don't want to leave the room every time my sister, nephew, or I want a drink. So yay for doing it wrong.

 

[starry_solo]

Okay, we stayed at DVC in 2012 and packed a suitcase full of food. We brought cereal, cookies, crackers, chips (pringles), tuna, bagels, and a few odds and ends.

When we were at AKV, we ate most of it, LOL. We did get a refillable mug while at AKV so we could get hot water (for tea), sodas, hot chocolate (well, at the Kidani, they gave us the Nestle packets because they didn't have a machine for hot chocolate). We bought milk there and also found out that they sold Entemenn's chocolate chip cookies (these aren't sold in CA anymore).

When we moved to Beach Club, found out they had a little marketplace and got another box of cereal, a loaf of bread, and few miscellaneous items.

We also had Staples deliver two cases of water and a case of orange juice (bottled).

Since the OP is staying at a value resort, consider Staples for delivery. I believe you get free shipping as long as you are a rewards card member.

 

[ChristmasElf]

This is our first trip flying. We have always driven in the past so I'm beginning to stress. We're flying Southwest and between the 8 of us, we will be able to check 16 bags plus each have a carry on and a personal item (32 packable items total) so we will have plenty of extra space.

Has anyone put cans of beer or pop in their checked bags?

We plan to pack our food/drinks is bags and pad with towels instead of clothes in case there are any problems we will still have clean clothes.

Will there be any problems checking empty suitcases on the trip back? I don't see why but thought I'd ask.

If you will have a rental car: Don't pack anything! There are so many grocery options close to Disney that are not "tourist priced".
There is a (gasp as I hate WalMart with a passion, but they are good in a pinch)
There is a Super WalMart on Palm Parkway and another at the corner of 535 and Polynesian.
PUBLIX has several locations nearby. One is on Sand Lake near Apopka Vineland. Another is right down from the Outlets on Vineland.
Another PUBLIX is located in Summerport off of Winter Garden Vineland Rd (aka CR535)
Whole Foods is at the corner of Turkey Lake and Sand Lake Rd.

 

[daughtersrus]

If you will have a rental car: Don't pack anything! There are so many grocery options close to Disney that are not "tourist priced".
There is a (gasp as I hate WalMart with a passion, but they are good in a pinch)
There is a Super WalMart on Palm Parkway and another at the corner of 535 and Polynesian.
PUBLIX has several locations nearby. One is on Sand Lake near Apopka Vineland. Another is right down from the Outlets on Vineland.
Another PUBLIX is located in Summerport off of Winter Garden Vineland Rd (aka CR535)
Whole Foods is at the corner of Turkey Lake and Sand Lake Rd.

Thanks for the info. We will not have a rental car since we will be staying on property. DD's special needs car seat weighs a ton and it's difficult to manage with her wheelchair and all of our bags. I may end up ordering a few things from Garden Grocer.

 

[crisi]

We have brought food down (cereal, a jar of peanut butter, sugar, salt and pepper, coffee, microwave popcorn, and snack food like granola bars and fruit snacks - we are DVC and have a kitchen), then buy bread, eggs, half and half, milk and butter at the resort store. But since the advent of easy grocery delivery, we can pull together a $40 order of those things and bottled water pretty easily - and we add a few things - like soda - that are cheaper through garden grocer than at the resort store, but wouldn't EVER be worth packing. We've also grocery shopped, and I really don't like spending my vacation looking through a store I don't know the layout for - it feels like a waste of hanging out at the pool or visiting the parks time.

Garden Grocer is really easy, you make your list, they'll leave it with bell services. Someone recently said that Whole Foods will deliver if you have those sorts of dietary desires.

I'll second the advice to be careful and whichever way you get food, don't get much more than you would be willing to transport back or leave behind. Housekeeping the first year got frozen pizzas from us.

 

[ryansstitch]

Question for those who bring perishables (ie cream cheese, cheese sticks, etc...), why don't you just order it from garden grocer instead of bringing it on a plane. Is it that much cheaper to buy at your local grocer? I really don't get it. We drive but never bring anything like that. Only thing we bring are the babies cookies since she specifically likes those from whole foods and a few bottles of Gatorade for me since I run every morning.

I always pack my own as we can be very picky about certain things. I couldn't stomach paying more AND getting something that's not what I want. We also have food allergies and it's not nice to be hungry and not have access to reliably safe food upon request. We drive down though, so it's different. Very specific deli meats, cheeses, certain varieties of fruits,homemade bread, homemade muffins and bagels. I freeze everything (except fruit and some cheese) in freezer bags so that they keep themselves cool in the cooler with just a few ice packs. We also pack trail mix and a few special treats for the evenings. A bottle of our favorite wine and corresponding cheeses, or some other fun stuff. We do this partly for saving money and partly because we don't want to have to go out and order something in a restaurant all the time. Especially if we're tired.

 

[ryansstitch]

What I do is make extra of a few things before our trip and freeze them. Meatballs,cheese, lunch meat, sasuage , chicken strips etc. I use these foods frozen as ice packs for other foods I take. Cottage cheese , yogurt, organic fruit, veggies. I do use a large rolling cooler though. The food court has a microwave.

We leave for our first on site stay on Tuesday and so glad you mentioned meatballs and chicken strips! I will be copying you! My dd is 18 months old and meatballs are one of the few foods she will always eat!

 

[mymankeith]

If you arrive at the resort early, and your room isn't ready yet, and we have items in our luggage that we froze, will the resort have a place to keep it cold for us? We will be at the Beach Club Villas. We plan on checking in around 10am, and then go to Magic Kingdom and also do MNSSHP, so we would be back very late. I thought I read before that they could, but I can't remember. Thanks.

 

[jcanary]

I always pack some of my own food. I get tired of eating out. I usually make homemade sauce and meatballs and freeze them and bring them along with snack and english muffins or bagels. We also bring frozen hot dogs, etc. We spend alot of time at the resort since we have been going twice a year since 1993. We are DVC members so we have kitchen facilities. I never thought of the box of wine but that is something I may consider for our next trip in November.I also pack my frozen stuff in a collaspable cooler and if room isn't ready I take that out and have them refrigerate those items.

 

[Sunnywho]

But for most people it's all about cost. They don't want to spend $$ on park food. Spend thousands of $$ on a trip and skimp on the food.

It's very easy to spend thousands on a trip AND thousands on the food.

 

[honeybunches]

On our first trip, we drove and I waaaay overpacked with snacks and everything. We hauled it in to the hotel room, and hauled most of it back out. I haven't bothered packing food since we've flown each trip since then. But these days, my son has the metabolism of a hummingbird. He is hungry when his feet touch the floor in the morning, and usually wants a snack just before bed. I hadn't thought of packing cereal and bowls, but this is such a great idea. It just might tide him over when we don't want to leave the room at 10PM looking for snacks.

 

[manning]

That's what I was thinking. Does not matter if you unplug it while gone. As I mentioned before, we were checking into wilderness lodge and the room next to us had a slow cooker plugged in and stunk up our room and the hallway. Maintenance went in and removed the slow cooker and had to fumigate the area. I think they were cooking sausages or hotdogs with sour kraut. Someone didn't have dinner that night. I just wish those people who bring all this food from home would use some common sence and use the cafeteria to warm their food up.

Get even. Unwrap limburger cheese and put nest to the connecting door.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

OP here... we won't have a rental this time so I was thinking of packing what we can. And we'll have 8 bags allowed on Southwest, so why not pack food? My oldest is so picky so yeah, I'd be mad to pay $3 for a piece of fruit she says "tastes funny." Thanks for all the suggestions!