A few questions before my second trip!

[rosiebella2894]

Hello!

I am going to Disney World this Summer with my friend (our second trip), and I have a few questions:

1. What is the best way to get to Walmart? We will be staying onsite this summer, and will not be renting a car. Last trip we went to Walmart on a bus from the Transportation Centre, however I found this took a lot of time out of our day as we had to wait a long time to get the bus back to Disney. We only want to get basics such as bottled water and a few American brands of sweets/chocolate, so do you think it would be worth going to Walmart or just the Hess station near Disney Springs? Does the Hess station stock these things, and is it easy to get to on foot?

2. Is it ok to make a ADR for Beaches and Cream just for dessert? I wanted to get an ADR for dinner, but there's only 9pm and 10pm times left for our dates. However, I have heard it is possible to get icecream sundaes from the walk-up window, so would it be worth making an ADR just for dessert or just going to the window?

3. As we have the quick-service dining plan for our trip, we will have the refillable resort mugs during our stay. My friend doesn't really like fizzy drinks so will most likely just be getting water in hers. Does the water from these drinks machines taste okay, or would you recommend buying bottled water instead?

4. Are there locations in the parks that the refillable mugs can be filled or are these just at resorts?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but I'll chime in before the rest of the US wakes up. (It's 7:28 am in New York )

1. I've never been to that Walmart; we tend to place an order through www.gardengrocer.com We get 2 cases of bottled water (for the 5 of us for a week), breakfast stuff (Fresh fruit, bagels, butter, and so on), and park snacks. You can probably find the chocolates in your resort gift shop, or even at the airport.

2. Ouch, not sure there either. My daughter is dying to go to B&C, but I hate spending an ADR on an ice cream shop when there are so many other restaurants we love. Maybe next trip.

3. You'll want bottled water for the parks. Summer in Orlando is HOT and HUMID. Start each day with a bottle of water each.
As to the taste of the water, we're fine with it. But that's really a personal choice.

4. To the best of my knowledge, the mugs are just for the resorts. We use them for coffee/tea each morning. My daughter, like your friend, hates soda, but always finds something there. (sorry, she's asleep or I would ask her what she gets.)

Have a fabulous trip!!

 

[minnie mum]

1. In your case, using Uber or a taxi would be the way to go. I'm assuming you'll have a smart phone to use. The Hess stations have been taken over by a new company. I don't know what they carry now. I also don't know what resort you're staying at, but hauling around cases of water and bags of snacks would be no fun. The walk from the DHS bus stop to the gas station there would be long and hot.

2. You could do either. But DONT pay for it using one of your dining credits. Pay OOP for it if you're just getting a dessert.

3. The water at the refill stations is filtered, so it tastes OK. But it doesn't have to be a Fizzy Drink or nothing. With the refillable mugs you can also get coffee or tea, iced tea, and usually some kind of lemonade ( the North American kind- not the Sprite kind in the UK).

4. The refillable mugs can only be used at the resort food courts or rapid fill stations.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Regarding going to Walmart, I would download the Uber app on our phone and use that Its cheaper than a taxi and very fast and convenient...or there is a company called Dizzy Dolphin that will deliver to you from any store and they will bring whatever you request....that would save you time and on a busy trip to WDW, saving time and making things convenient for you is key

 

[jmkjr72]

Well this is what I will say about dizzy dolphin after almost 4 months they finally got back to us with our total onlyn18 days out and it was 100 more then garden grocers
Funny they said on there website you get the estimate in 48 hours and we had emailed them several times
We won't use them again and if we can get out of it because of there extremely costs we won't use them this time

 

[Barbydoll8]

Hello!

I am going to Disney World this Summer with my friend (our second trip), and I have a few questions:

1. What is the best way to get to Walmart? We will be staying onsite this summer, and will not be renting a car. Last trip we went to Walmart on a bus from the Transportation Centre, however I found this took a lot of time out of our day as we had to wait a long time to get the bus back to Disney. We only want to get basics such as bottled water and a few American brands of sweets/chocolate, so do you think it would be worth going to Walmart or just the Hess station near Disney Springs? Does the Hess station stock these things, and is it easy to get to on foot?

2. Is it ok to make a ADR for Beaches and Cream just for dessert? I wanted to get an ADR for dinner, but there's only 9pm and 10pm times left for our dates. However, I have heard it is possible to get icecream sundaes from the walk-up window, so would it be worth making an ADR just for dessert or just going to the window?

3. As we have the quick-service dining plan for our trip, we will have the refillable resort mugs during our stay. My friend doesn't really like fizzy drinks so will most likely just be getting water in hers. Does the water from these drinks machines taste okay, or would you recommend buying bottled water instead?

4. Are there locations in the parks that the refillable mugs can be filled or are these just at resorts?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

1. Uber is probably the best option but many people order from garden grocer or from Amazon and just have it delivered to their hotel. Depending on where you are staying, Target maybe a better option. There is one of those north on 192 closer to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Hess is now owned by Speedway. It's very, very similar and yes they have water and candy.

2. Yes but like others have said, I wouldn't use your DP for it. You can also try The Fountain in the Swan/Dolphin area. Better food and ice cream.

3 & 4. Resort mugs are also good at the water parks. Coffee, tea, ice tea etc can go in them.

 

[eagles]

You can use your resort refillable mugs at the water parks?

 

[serenitynow]

You can use your resort refillable mugs at the water parks?

No. But they do sell souvenir refillable water parks mugs

 

[cassie58]

We also use Garden Grocer for our water, milk, and some brft items and fruits/veggies for snacks. There is a $40 minimum and $12 delivery charge, so you'd have to weigh that against the cost of getting a ride to a store for what you need. It might be worth it to have the stuff delivered to not take time out of your trip. We like knowing it will be delivered to our room and don't have to think about it. If you just want a case of water, I've heard people mention getting it delivered from Staples, so you could check their site.

For your refillable mugs, there are other options besides soda for your friend, like iced tea, and I believe there might have been fruit punch and lemonade - someone may be able to confirm or correct me. We also like hot chocolate on cool mornings or nts., and some people of course use theirs for coffee. You cannot refill the mugs in the parks as mentioned above, but you can carry your drink with you into the parks, and then throw your mug in your bag for when you get back to the resort later(we rinse ours in a bathroom when we are done). We have also poured the remainder of our drink from a meal into to ours to finish drinking while we walk around. DD loves the juice at Tusker House, so she always brings the extra with her to enjoy every last drop!

 

[Giraffeitis]

1. I agree with the majority, if you're going to get a lot of food items, I would go ahead and use Garden Grocer. According to their site, anything under $200 has a $14.00 delivery fee and if you bought over $200 in groceries, it would only be $2.00. Also just a snippet from their website:
Take advantage of our special savings by ordering in advance, (15 Days= 5%, 30 Days= 7%, 60 Days= 10%) off your subtotal. **Note: Discounts do not apply to add-ons of any kind.
I would call you resort in advance though if you do want to choose this option and see if they have a cold storage if you want to get refrigerated items delivered because I am not sure if they deliver to your room or to the front desk.

Otherwise I would go ahead and just use a Uber or taxi to go to Walmart if you think you would save money that way.

2. I would call Beaches & Cream and ask them if you can just walk up and order dessert (407) 939-3463.

3. Like the others say, there are other drinks available that are not fizzy such as coffee, tea (iced or hot), and I believe juices as well. You could also get some Crystal Light for her to use because then she could have something to drink that isn't fizzy and I know that they make some teas as well as juices.

4. Mugs are only supposed to be used in resorts. I would recommend investing in a good water bottle such as either a Brita:
http://www.amazon.com/Brita-Filter-...460564324&sr=8-11&keywords=brita+water+bottle

Note though that you're not supposed to freeze them with the filter inside of the bottle, and I accidentally did a few times and when it got dropped from about 3 feet it stopped working and I haven't been able to use it since because it leaks without the filter in it.

I have also seen people at my school using the Bobble water bottle and have heard good things about them as well:
http://www.amazon.com/Bobble-Water-...ie=UTF8&qid=1460564610&sr=8-3&keywords=bobble

They also come in a variety of colors so you could get one for you and your friend and be able to tell which belongs to each other.

 

[cassie58]

1. I agree with the majority, if you're going to get a lot of food items, I would go ahead and use Garden Grocer. According to their site, anything under $200 has a $14.00 delivery fee and if you bought over $200 in groceries, it would only be $2.00. Also just a snippet from their website:
Take advantage of our special savings by ordering in advance, (15 Days= 5%, 30 Days= 7%, 60 Days= 10%) off your subtotal. **Note: Discounts do not apply to add-ons of any kind.
I would call you resort in advance though if you do want to choose this option and see if they have a cold storage if you want to get refrigerated items delivered because I am not sure if they deliver to your room or to the front desk.

Otherwise I would go ahead and just use a Uber or taxi to go to Walmart if you think you would save money that way.

2. I would call Beaches & Cream and ask them if you can just walk up and order dessert (407) 939-3463.

3. Like the others say, there are other drinks available that are not fizzy such as coffee, tea (iced or hot), and I believe juices as well. You could also get some Crystal Light for her to use because then she could have something to drink that isn't fizzy and I know that they make some teas as well as juices.

4. Mugs are only supposed to be used in resorts. I would recommend investing in a good water bottle such as either a Brita:
http://www.amazon.com/Brita-Filter-...460564324&sr=8-11&keywords=brita+water+bottle

Note though that you're not supposed to freeze them with the filter inside of the bottle, and I accidentally did a few times and when it got dropped from about 3 feet it stopped working and I haven't been able to use it since because it leaks without the filter in it.

I have also seen people at my school using the Bobble water bottle and have heard good things about them as well:
http://www.amazon.com/Bobble-Water-...ie=UTF8&qid=1460564610&sr=8-3&keywords=bobble

They also come in a variety of colors so you could get one for you and your friend and be able to tell which belongs to each other.

Garden Grocer will deliver to the hotel, and they have a refrigerated compartment to keep your cold items till they are ready to be delivered to your room.

 

[Barbydoll8]

3 & 4. Resort mugs are also good at the water parks. Coffee, tea, ice tea etc can go in them.

I stand corrected. I think they use to at one time bring the RM. I've seen posts about it. Sorry everyone.