Airplane food...what to do???

[lntsmom]

I got home last night and turned on tv and there was Rachel Ray making some monster chicken sandwiches. The theme was airline food. The stuff she was making (sandwiches and kettle corn) looked yummy to me, but they were nothing my kids will eat.

To be honest, the last 2 times we went to Disney we lived smack in the middle of the US and had connecting flights that allowed me to grab meals in Denver and Charlotte.

Now we live over an hour from the airport (closer to 2...) so it will be around 8 when we leave home and 4 o'clock Orlando time before we land. Add an hour to get to the resort and it becomes clear that I need to pack food for the 3 hour plane flight.

Does anyone here have any clever ideas for airline picnic lunches? Most of the typical prepackaged snacks can't be taken onboard (fruit cups, pudding, jello). I'd love to say that my kids would pig out on fresh fruit and veggies, but they won't.

Right now all I'm coming up with is Mickey shaped peanutbutter sandwiches. There's got to be a better idea out there.

Has anyone had experience packing an on-flight meal? I'd love to hear about it if so!

TIA

 

[TDC Nala]

Be cautious about packing peanut butter sandwiches. It's possible that if there is a peanut allergic passenger aboard your flight, you may not be permitted to bring or open peanut products on board the plane. It's unlikely, but apparently does happen on occasion.

Liquids and gels may not be taken past the security checkpoint. It would be possible to buy any type of food or drink in the airport (past security) and take it on the plane assuming that they sell something in the airport your children will eat.

 

[stacy6552]

Doesnt the airport have food joints? Most airlines will let you bring food onto the planes, these days. So as long as you don't have to worry about getting it through security, you'll be fine grabbing burgers or something there (cha-ching, but what can you do).

 

[emmiesmom]

We've been thinking about airplane food as well...we're thinking picking something main up in the airport after security (bagel, yogurt, sandwich) and then:
raisins
craisins
trail mix
goldfish/crackers
luna bars (granola type bars)
100 cal pack snacks - teddy grahams, chex mix...
fruit snacks (?disney themed? - a real treat for DD!)

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We brought our own snacks for the plane and were glad we did after ending up with no time to grab food before our connecting flight. DH and I had nuts and trail mix packed in our bags. The boys each had a bag of Goldfish and Jif To Go cups of peanut butter to dip them in. I think we also had some Teddy Grahams and a few other little snacks. It wasn't the healthiest food, but it was a life-saver since it was all we had from 8:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. when we finally landed in Orlando.

 

[Perditamarie]

In addition to stocking up on familiar snacks, I think the cracker snackers work in a pinch (w/crackers, lunchmeat, cheese and a couple of cookies--no condiments in the package). Bagels are great too - we get big blueberry bagels from Dunkin Donuts and just eat them as is.

 

[dreamalittledream]

Try traveling with an Atkins dieter on a plane. LOL
I packed cheese cubes and pepperoni pieces for him
grapes (can't remember if I had an issue with these, but must not have)
along with all the other things mentioned above.

does the TSA have an issue with the Jif to go cups? how big are they?

I would just make it a fun looking meal, after all, presentation is everything. Colored saran wrap and use a disposible contianer with Disney stickers on it.

 

[phillmolly]

I just wanted to second the warning about PB. When we went to WDW in Sept we had an early flight and wanted to grab a bite to eat at the airport. Well we all picked up some PB&J's and were going to eat on the plane. Well as soon as we boarded the flight attendent made an anouncement that there was a young girl on board who was allergic to peanuts. So we ended up buying the boxed lunch for 5 bucks apiece. We were glad to have our sandwhiches when got to orlando, though. We had to wait about an hour and 1/2 for our ME bus, so we ate while we waited.

 

[lntsmom]

We have that issue at school...I never thought about it on an airplane! To be honest, the reason I wasn't thinking of grabbing something hot at the airport is I read an article before we went to Disneyland in 2005 that advised people to not bring anything hot because the smell would travel more and it was rude to fill the airplane with the smell of nuggets and fries (just an example!)

I wonder if they'd have an issue with sunbutter...that spread made with sunflower seeds. I wonder if I could pass sunbutter off as peanutbutter...maybe I need to have my older son give it a go to see if it would work.

I will probably go with the just snacks idea. My younger one isn't a problem. My older son is seriously finicky. I know DIA had a McDonalds near the United gates....if there's one near Soothwest I'll just try to convince the kids to grab lunch there and eat while we're waiting to board.

I agree about the airport prices...maybe I'll just explain it away as a warm up for a week of counterservice prices, .

Thanks for the ideas! If I find any great ideas anywhere else, I'll come post!

Beth

 

[brymolmom]

We've brought cold pizza before. OR even warm pizza - they usually have a pizza place after security and we can bring a couple personal pizzas on board. That plus the cheese crackers or other snacks we have packed usually holds us over.

We have also gotten sandwich or bagel type things after security. That might be an idea of your kids like bagels - buy some and some cream cheese (this will likely have to be after security). Don't forget you can usually find some yogurt, pudding, etc. after security too (depending on your airport) - so you can still have these things - just not when you go thru.

When in doubt I just bring a lot of granola and special K bars...worst case scenario - a couple of these plus the cheese crackers and animal crackers I always bring will fill up a belly until you get to the resort. Not much of a 'meal' but they do the trick.