Taking your own snacks into the parks

[mamabear0222]

Fruit leathers! They pack flat, don't need refrigeration, aren't messy to eat, and help prevent the digestive slow-downs too often caused by travel.

Really? I thought with kids these were a sticky mess and I refuse to buy them....am I thinking of something else?

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[honeydiane1953]

Chex mix and cereal in baggies for little one. Pretzels, chips, pb crackers for big ones.

 

[parkhopping]

For those of you bringing actual meals to the park, where do you eat? DS has a large family and we are considering packing sandwiches, etc. instead of buying CS meals. Our other thought at this time is, since we are driving, leave the park and go to McDonalds for lunch and a little break.

We just find a bench or wide planter to sit on. The little kids often just stay in the stroller, it's easier that way and it provides shade for them. If there's no seating available we just sit on the ground against a wall somewhere. Probably not the cleanest thing, but you do it for parades anyway! Honestly, though, it's not hard to find a place in any of the parks. At AK last week we saw the 11:30 FotLK and found a place to sit in Camp Minnie-Mickey afterwards to distribute sandwiches and eat. It was fun listening to Gi-Tar Dan while we ate

How do you keep things cold? Thinking about getting a locker to store food until ready to eat, but afraid in July things will spoil.

When I'm by myself, I use my PackIt - see previous post. When I've been with friends, we take a large soft-sided cooler and use plenty of freezer packs. If you're taking lunch things, they only have to stay cold for a few hours. We tote the cooler in the bottom compartment of the stroller, so it's dark/shaded under there. I know some people use backpack coolers, too. A locker would be a good option if you don't have stroller-age kids and don't mind making a trip to the front of the park to retrieve your things when you want them. Actually, this could be very nice at MK...Main St. seems like a good place for a picnic!

 

[Annie78]

Really? I thought with kids these were a sticky mess and I refuse to buy them....am I thinking of something else?

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Here is what I mean by fruit leathers:

These are very dry, not like Fruit Roll-Ups. If a toddler were gnawing on these slowly they might turn into a sticky mess, but my 3 yo eats these without mess - he just bites off small pieces.

 

[jmarsh]

I'm gluten free so I'm going to bring pretzels, trail mix, beef jerky, cutesies, homemade cookies, strong cheese, homemade trail mix, crackers with peanut butter, and, popcorn...

This will be our breakfast and snack foods. We will buy lunch, one snack, and dinner in the parks since we are on the meal plan.

 

[ZoZo]

Bottles of water. Cheaper to bring in then to buy at WDw. Last visit my 32 pack of water cost as much as one water at MK

No need to buy bottled water at WDW. Just ask for cups of ice water at any CS restaurant. It's free, and you don't have to buy anything.

I pour my ice water into my refillable water bottle. Works great!

 

[luvmyfam444]

we bring all kinds of food in. For meals I try to bring in something different every day. We've done lunchables (they NEVER get those so it's a treat), pb&j on pita (less squishing), the chickensalad, tuna salad in a can you mix yourself & eat with crackers.


Snack are usually crackers, Pringles, trailmix.

Drinks are water...with flavoring added.

We carry a backpack cooler for our food...BEST thing EVER!!!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

This is our first trip bringing snacks with us. It is just hubby and I this time, and we usually bring our 5 kids and pack only carry-ons, so we don't usually have a lot of room for snacks. I am picky when it comes to snacks, so I really had to think about the kinds of things I would eat as a snack. This is what I have packed:

*Cream of Wheat packets for bkfst
*Quaker Chocolate chip granola bars for me
*Special K granola bars and cereal bars for hubby
*Slim Jims
*Craisins
*Beef Jerky
*Cashews and peanuts (plain and honey roasted)
*Target brand organic fruit strips
*Pretzels

I am considering Uncrustables b/c I like them for bkfst when at WDW, but I don't know if our room will be ready when we get there, so that could backfire on me. I think I will also buy those crackers with the spreadable cheese with the little red stick for spreading. I love those.

 

[indimom]

How do you make jerky?? I would love to do that; its hard to find gluten free jerky and I would love to know exactly what's in it

Sorry for the delayed response. I'll get my recipe for you as soon as I can (I'm at work right now). It's pretty easy, but I can't promise its gluten free, I use some store-bought additives (liquid smoke, etc). You'll have to check. I'm sure if my products aren't the right ones you could research and find alternatives that would work.

Beyond that, all I do is half-freeze a decent roast (that makes it easier to slice) and slice it with a counter top meat slicer. I cut the slices into smaller strips. Marinade it overnight. Then pop it in the dehydrator.

Really simple, but it stinks up the whole house. (Well, Dh thinks it smells good. I think it stinks. lol.)

 

[I-4Bound]

I love this thread! We always bring snacks in but this time, I am going all out and packing our lunches. Tired of paying for so-so CS food or leaving the parks to eat a yucky fast food lunch!

We have a backpack cooler and it is awesome! One thing we really like to get is the mini cans of Coke (I think they come in 8 packs at the store). They are fairly lightweight and it seems like the perfect amount of Coke. I freeze some water bottles to keep everything cold. We also have brought in candy, crackers like Cheez-Its, etc. This year, I am going to pack PB&J or turkey sandwiches as well.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

 

[LovesTimone]

When DD's were small, we took a soft sided cooler into the parks, with juice boxes, carrot and celery stick, and individual ranch for dipping, uncrustable, teddy grahmans, goldfish, raisins. We would keep it with the stroller, so no running back to the locker for snacks and such.

As they got older we, cut out the cooler, and used small back packs, with breakfast bars, granola bars, gold fish, bottled water, and use the small pour in's of crystal lite, gatoraid, koolaid.

Here are items I would keep in the room, poptarts, breakfast bars, fruit cups, or fruit, grapes, bananas, apples, milk, juice, Bread, peanut butter and jelly, chips, bottled water, soda, and gatorade. The peanut and jelly was a life saver late at night when the kid's where little when we would get back to the room they would be starving all of a sudden, this was fast and easy.

Now when it's just DH and I going , Here's what we take for us, bottled water, gatorade, juice, soda, adult beverages. We bring along, deli meat and cheese, crackers and cheese, olives, pickles, fruit, some type of breakfast bar. We use a cooler in the room, and have a softsided one for poolside. I have a plastic bottle it has one of those freezy stick in it that we pour the wine in for pool side. No glass at the pool.

We always stop at publix, over by the outlet mall near DTD and load up, we drive, But I have friends that fly and use a car service with one stop and they stop at publix, and grab what they need. If you go to publix on line you can pick your store and print a list by aisle, so that your in and out in a flash, I even have brought coupons along just attach to the list.

Have a magiaclly time

 

[North of Mouse]

It's just dh & I now, so we bring nothing, to very little, into the parks. Sometimes, I'll grab a baggie and put mixed nuts in it, but usually we have our 'must do' snacks that we enjoy only at Disney. We also get free water from the CS places, none from water fountains. We like to tour very lightly.

As for lunches, maybe we're the minority, but we actually enjoy some of the CS offerings. In evenings, we like TS for most of our meals. Are they over priced? Certainly, but that's just a part of a Disney vacation for us.

 

[AJ1983]

DBF and I tend to snack rather than eat regular meals while on vacation, especially when its hot (and yes, early May will be hot for us! haha). Also, DisneyWorld is not a routine thing for us, so we would rather eat on the go sometimes. I just did my list for Garden Grocer and here's what I have:

Breakfast - Cereal, milk, poptarts, apples, smoothies

Lunch - Turkey or PB &J sandwiches, Bagels and cream cheese...oh and some RockStar energy drinks in case BF needs a pick me up! haha

Snacks - Nuts, apples and peanut butter, Ritz cheese and cracker bites, bottled water

Pure gluttony : Twizzlers,cotton candy, single serve potato chips,pudding, popcorn, beer, Pepsi (though to be fair, paying $1/beer and $.30/Pepsi from GG will save us ALOT of money..and yes I know we can't bring alcohol into the park , but he would enjoy a couple of beer during a park break or in the evenings after a long day at the parks.)

Thank you to everyone for the tips on cooler backbacks..I will definitely have to get one of those..I was looking for a soft sided cooler that wouldn't be too awkward (ie Square) to carry with a shoulder strap. A backpack design is perfect.

 

[Willa]

DH and I often carry lunches and snacks into the parks to save money. When we have a meal with us, we usually find a CS table to sit at. Keep in mind that we are typically there at uncrowded times. We would never use a table for this purpose if it was crowded and people were having to search/wait for tables.

We look for bigger CS restaurants, or ones with outdoor seating, and we find a table in some out of the way spot. No one (CMs or guests) has ever approached us to suggest that this was a problem.

We have eaten our own food at Cosmic Ray's (patio tables outside), Sunshine Seasons (when hardly anyone was there), Flame Tree Barbecue, Liberty Inn (again, outside tables), the tables down the little side alley off of Main Street USA, the tables outside of Tangierine Cafe, and other places.