Are we the only ones who don't make a grocery stop on our way to our resort?

[faithinkarma]

These posts are bringing back a memory that has me chuckling to myself. I am from Quebec, Canada, and I married an American and moved to central NY. The first time I went to a supermarket down here I said " Hon, you don't have to take me to Disney after all, just let me come here and play in the aisles " I was totally in awe of the enormous variety available.

Of course, the newness wore off, and we do continue to go to Disney

 

[Jakesmom1]

Add me to the list of grocery store shoppers!

It's not a money thing either. We just prefer to have real milk in our coffee in the morning while we are getting ready for our day, and my DS has to have a snack at night, since the parks are closing early, I am sure there will be evenings when we are back earlier.

We dont do a big shop, and we dont bring anything with us to the Parks, cant be bothered carrying all that stuff.

Just makes the room feel a little more like home.

 

[cacgac]

A stop at the grocery store takes about 1/2 hour. Even if all you get is water bottles it is so worth it. I figured with a sale +coupon I paid at Publix(Goodings is too expensive!) about .35 for each bottle of water. That comes out to a savings of $2.15 per water bottle @ 8 bottles of water a day(a family of 4) $17.20 savings a day. Doesn't that seem like it is worth it? To us it is. I guess to each its own!

 

[diathoney]

We drive, but we always bring a box of food - chips, water, soda, juice boxes for the kids, flavored coffee for me, breakfast bars and cookies! At first I felt weird hauling in a box of food, but it doesn't bother me anymore. We still spend PLENTY of money on food in the parks! HAVE to have the turkey legs, Mickey ice cream bars, popcorn...

 

[epcotfan]

I don't make a grocery stop either. First off, we don't use the towncars anymore. Had a bad experience last time and taking a cab was less expensive and more convenient in the long run. When I'm on vacation I don't mind forking out dough for food and drinks. I'd pay $10 for a bottle of water after I saw a kid sneezing all over the water fountains at the Magic Kingdom. Yuck. I also can't be bothered to carry around the extra weight of my own prepurchased water in order to save $. I have enough to carry with my camera equipment. At Coronado Springs we lucked out and they had a 1 Gallon bottle of Zepherhills water for about $2.49 which we kept it in the room. If I'm too lazy to take my mug back for refills I'll just get a pop from the vending machine.

 

[tazz]

We're a family of 5 and have never stopped anywhere or brought food items back to our room. However, I do plan to stop and pick up a case or at least a couple of 6packs of water. I drink a lot of water. Kids do when they're at the parks and since we'll have a stroller for ds this time we'll bring some extra water to the parks. We will have a car so I can stop at 7-11 or any convenience store for this.

 

[cinmell]

We don't make any grocery stops or bring coolers. The only food I bring with me are a couple of certain snacks for my daughter that I know I can't find at WDW (we've actually sent them ahead along with diapers/wipes so I don't have to pack them since we obviously won't be bringing them home and b/c I don't want to make any store stops). When we land in Orlando, we just want to get to our resort and hit the MK or go swimming. When I'm on vacation I don't want to do anything there that I do at home such as grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, etc.

 

[amymouse]

I guess you've figured out that you're not alone. I have never made a grocery stop, either. Part of my fun is all the yummy eating (and overeating) that I get to do at Disney.

I AM using a refrigerator for the first time with my September trip, though. I originally planned to have a frig for my sister. She has done fantastic on her diet this year. I wouldn't want to sabotage her success, so I wanted her to be able to keep some of her lower-cal foods with her on our trip.

Well, that was before my kitty-cat got sick last week. Seven hundred dollars worth of sick. Yes, that's $700 on a cat. But I digress.

We'll now be using that frig to help keep my food budget down a little bit. I summed it up for my sister in a recent e-mail: "Pack more cereal and Lean Cuisines."

Off the subject, but here's a quote from the vet's office. To kitty, "You must be one special kitty." To me, "That will be $705 dollars." Me to kitty later that day, "Bad kitty. Do NOT bite the hand that writes the checks."

 

[AirForceRocks]

Since we always drive, I always bring soda, water and snacks for the room, and then get a fridge. We don't take the stuff into the parks because I don't want to haul it around, but I like the convenience of having drinks and a few snacks in the room in case we want munchies at night and don't feel like going out for it.

 

[Kimberle]

epcotfan - oh your "tale" of the drinking fountain takes me back.....

A couple of years ago, we were flying, had arrived, and were over at the rental car check-in counter. Well, this man had this huge dog (prob. abt 150#'s). He let the dog stand up and "lick" his water from the fountain.

I've never been more disgusted in my life. I was never big on drinking fountains before, now I for sure would never touch them!!

I love animals, but that man should have carried a bowl with him. He could have easily filled it and put in on the ground for the dog to drink.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

This year I was thinking of using Netgrocer to have some snacks, cereals, water, etc. delivered to the villa. Has anyone tried them?

Since we have the villa, I like having breakfast in the room. The boys can have their favorite cereal, I can have a nice cup of tea while getting dressed (we're not the get-up-at-7:00-and out-the-door-so-we-can-be-the-first-in-the-parks type!) I also buy snacks; granola bars, fruit snacks, stuff like that, to bring into the park.

 

[Poohbear123]

I had to shell out 500.00 on mine. I don't make a grocery stop because I am ON VACATION! I also work at a Grocery Store, and go on Vacation to get AWAY from my grocery store. I also go alone, and don't need too much anyway.

 

[Madi100]

I mentioned to my husband about sending stuff down beforehand. Water, snacks, etc. He pointed out that the stuff would be heavy, and it would probably cost more to buy and ship, then to just buy it down there. What do you think?

 

[palmtreegirl]

We drive down to WDW from NJ and always stop in Palm Coast for lunch at Steak-n-Shake and then we walk over to Wal-mart.

We usually pick up some juice boxes and snacks for the room for the kids. And some Diet Dr. Pepper and gum for myself, my 2 addictions-lol. Plus anything else I can think of that I forgot to pack.

It's a nice break from being in the car and the Wal-mart there is very nice. Last trip we even bought this cooler fridge(that plugs in the car too), it was only 69.00 and we loved having in the room.

We don't bring anything into the parks though, I don't even carry a purse. I have a small see-through mesh bag/back pack for my camera, sun tan lotion, bug spray, diapers and a wipes case for DS. It's great because all I have to do is lie it flat on the table and the security can see right in. Hopefully DS will be done with diapers soon and then that'll be 2 less things to carry!

 

[patsal]

Madi100 Water is very heavy. It takes up a lot of space in the suitcase as well. The only time I ever bring water with us is if it is just a 2-3 day trip and I have room in the suitcase for a 12 pack of water because I really wont have time to go to a grocery store. Shipping water to oneself is very expensive and cuts out any savings you may have thought you had. We always rent a car and we are DVC so we do get a few things. I don't really cook on vacation, but snack foods and breakfast items as well as soft drinks (re-fillable mugs are not really convieninet when you are in the villas the walk just isn't worth it and we spend more time at the quiet pools) and water. Beer and wine in the supermarket also make it a quick one stop for everything. I don't usually go until we take a break during the afternoon or in the evening right before we are ready to settle in for the night. What I save in the few minutes I run into publix I can spend somewhere else in the parks or on another "quick trip" for a long weekend.

 

[Jen D]

Here in NYC the supermarkets are not very super--they're small with narrow aisles and minimal selection. When we got to the Kash N Karry in January, my dh and I felt like we were already in a theme park!

Heh! No kidding! And the stuff at Publix is so cheap, too! I just marvel at the prices!

I don't really see a downside to the grocery stop. We get a few juice boxes, water, sodas, cereal (we buy our milk at the resort in the morning), and a few snacks: donuts, peanut butter and crackers, fruit, whatever. Last time for me and my daughter we spent about $30 and we bought way more stuff than we can eat, but we came out ahead on beverages alone. Anyway, the grocery stop goes fast and we don't overdo it. Aside from the obvious savings, its just easier-- to not have to leave your room if you're feeling a little peckish.

The only way I'd skip the grocery stop is if we were staying concierge. Then I wouldn't be able to see the reason for it.

 

[madge]

Madi100 I shipped a box prior to our trip last summer. I used UPS, because it is cheaper since the USPS raised their rates. I am told that UPS is also faster....I sent our package on Monday and it was in FL on Friday waiting for us

I did not ship any water, though. Only diapers, wipes, and snacks. There might have been juice boxes in there, but I can't remember for sure, that was over a year ago, LOL!

The cost to ship was a little less than $10, I do remember that.

I plan to do the same in a few weeks

NYDisneyMom We have also used Netgrocer to ship ahead. That works well, too. Things are very well packaged, and they have a nice selection. The only problem I have with www.netgrocer.com is that the prices on somethings were significantly higher than I could buy them for here or in Orlando.

Since it is back-to-school time, many of the individually packed snacks are on sale. I just pick up an extra thing or two each week when I'm at the grocery.

 

[Kimberle]

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[skiwee1]

Originally posted by Kimberle
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Why the angry face?

 

[NotUrsula]

Oh, no, I've GOT to have my cold caffeine, and I don't want to have to traipse out to any food court or restaurant to get it. Same with milk for DS; I don't want to have to leave my balcony, put shoes on the both of us, find my room key, and go fetch.
I'm not a big breakfast eater, but I need some protein in the morning if I'm going to have a very physical day. I'm all for saving money, heaven knows, but for me it is more about convenience, I like having the basics at my fingertips when I want them. (Room service is not something I do; not only will the service charges break you, it takes forever at most hotels.)

Since I'm not really familiar enough with any of the grocery stores' layout in Orlando, we often use the Albertson's fax service. You fax a detailed list of what you want, and they box it up and have it waiting for you when you get there; all you have to do is pay for it and leave; no wasting time wandering, and no impulse-buying. I have the list already made up as it is always the same; all I have to do is mark the quantities and send it.

They can handle putting cold items in it, too, so I get milk, not-from-concentrate orange juice, and a packet of sliced deli ham, along with some cookies, muffins, a box of cereal, a roll of paper towels, soft drinks, beer, and bottles of my favorite sunscreen, which is not sold where we live. (We don't schlep bottled water, we use Brita filter bottles that we take everywhere.) If we are staying a long time or going to the beach, there is a wheeled hard cooler in our luggage; if not, we also order a styrofoam cooler.

There is a very convenient Albertson's just off 417 at OBT, but it unfortunately is not open 24/7; they close at around midnight. If we take a really late flight, I can't use them.

I *always* stop outside the hotel for drinks and a few snacks when I travel overnight; even on business trips. Even an airport gift shop is better than hoping for stocked vending machines or depending on room service.