BLT just ended great vacation with limited cash budget

[baylake bbq]

Just ended a great 7 night stay at BLT with limited cash. The focus of this trip was to try to not buy ANY food at any restaurant.

We stayed in the smaller 'lockout' room during this trip with the half kitchen with small fridge and no stove-top.

How it turned out:
- Ended up buying 1 hotdog, two cokes, and a single scoop of ice-cream (at French ice-cream shop in Epcot). I couldn't say no to our son for just a couple of treats.
- I BBQ'd a total of 4 times at BLT grills next to pool
- Brought a hotplate from Walmart and a frying pan, with a one spoon, one fork, and one sharp steak knife from home.
- Cooked some dinners and breakfast on hotplate in room when I was too tired to BBQ next to pool.
- Packed an entire suitcase full of snacks purchased at Walmart prior to trip.
- Used another suitcase for fryingpan, hotplate, and a case of small gatorades.
- All suitcases were under 50 pound limit.
- Bought (2) two-liter bottles of coke at contemporary for about 3 dollars each
- Bought a dozen eggs (for breakfast) at contemporary for 1.90
- I had a secret weapon with relatives in Florida that delivered some groceries that I had requested in advance. This was great as it cut down on cost of food delivery, but I should look at these figures a bit more next time if needed.

What I learned from this trip:
1.) Eggs are really cheap at Disneyworld!
2.) A two liter bottle of coke is the most bang for the buck since I could not pack these without going over weight limits on my luggage.
3.) That French ice-cream shop in Epcot is awesome!
4.) Next time, I will stock up on healthy snacks. This trip was all junk food and I realized it was way too much sugar. I wonder if I can pack apples without being TSA handcuffed?
5.) If you need hamburger patties, you can buy them at Wilderness Campground. Which I did when I ran low. Only about 4 dollars for 4 patties. That feeds 4 people. We don't need two patties each...come on!
6.) BLT provides ALL the BBQ utensils you need for FREE!!!, you just need the charcoal.
7.) The new website for the washers and dryers was great! I was able to track the washing via my iphone.
8.) Fridge is really small in lockout. Very challenging.


Overall- Great Time! Limited cash, maximum fun!

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

Can I ask if you came back to your room everyday then for lunches? And did your family bring the charcoal? Did you find you missed anything in the parks (evening shows, etc) by eating at your resort room exclusively?

I REALLY admire your commitment to this and imagine you saved a LOT, but trying to figure out how this would be feasible for our family. We always stay at BLT. TIA!

 

[bbak30]

Wow, I'm most impressed by the price of those eggs......
Sounds like a great time!

 

[baylake bbq]

- Dinners from night before became cold lunches (chicken) or re-heating some BBQ'd hamburgers. Our hamburgers and chicken were better than any restaurant could possibly make. I think the price of a hamburger at "The Sand Bar" at the contemporary is up to $10 now!
- Yes, we went back to room for a lunch around 1pm. I started EARLY every day at each park to make this happen.
- Done with parks by lunchtime, went to pool afterwards. I then BBQ'd dinner or we cooked a meal on hotplate using the frying-pan I brought. We even bought a complete 'chili kit' from walmart, minus the meat and made that on the same large frying pan. I used just one chopped up hamburger for a huge chili dinner.
- On some days, when we got our energy back from the pool and dinner, we headed back out to Epcot or Magic Kingdom. Lots of soda at the cool station at Epcot!
- Played some video games in game room at BLT and picked up two DVD's every night.
- I planned on rain every day at about 5pm (when its scheduled to rain in July) and the frying pan was the backup plan for rain.
- Also, went to the campground and we really enjoyed the campfire and movie, but left early to make sure we would not over-do ourselves since you still have to catch a bus and a boat before you get back to the room at night!
- Enjoyed two more campfire marshmallow deals at the contemporary; they last about 15 minutes each.
- Yes, brought the charcoal. The pre-soaked kind. (I had the secret weapon, relatives, deliver it). But, maybe you could have it delivered from a delivery service. many to choose from. I did not want to purchase on-site, but I forgot to look at the prices at Disney for charcoal.

The small fridge is really an issue in the lockout and you have a very small space to freeze meat or chicken. So I planned on small packages of meat planned well.

 

[baylake bbq]

I don't know why eggs were so cheap, but I didn't ask any questions and it was a real bonus to have great scrambled eggs and bagels every am. I packed bagels in the suitcase before the trip because they take a long time to expire and are a pretty rugged food if you buy the name-brand instead of fresh made bagels. I needed two bags of bagels for the trip.

 

[Quellman]

really cool trip report. thanks for sharing.

 

[Lakegirl]

Great trip report!!

 

[spiceycat]

yea you can do it!!!

have done it and probably will for a while - brought a house - have not had a mortgage for over 15 years - so it will money crunching time.

 

[emilymad]

Great tips! We sometimes bring a plastic thing that you can microwave eggs in. You could use a mug but the special plastic thing we have makes a better size for bagels. A very easy bagel, egg, and cheese sandwich. It works really well in the studios.

 

[gkrykewy]

When you say lockout, do you mean a studio?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You may bring apples either carry on or check it. TSA just prohibits liquids over 3 oz. in carry on but you can pack liquids.

 

[wallygirl]

Just ended a great 7 night stay at BLT with limited cash. The focus of this trip was to try to not buy ANY food at any restaurant.

We stayed in the smaller 'lockout' room during this trip with the half kitchen with small fridge and no stove-top.

What I learned from this trip:
8.) Fridge is really small in lockout. Very challenging.

Overall- Great Time! Limited cash, maximum fun!

Are there non-lockout studios? Just curious, since we're staying in a BLT lake view studio in two weeks. Really impressed with your planning and efficiency!

 

[pangyal]

This is great, we've been wondering how to make a studio work for an upcoming trip where we don't want to eat meals out and thre were some great ideas in here!

 

[ton80]

WOW, you should be the star in the next Extreme Cheapskates!

 

[DenLo]

All studios at BLT are lock offs (connected to a 1BR).

I keep thinking about all the grease from a fry pan covering the bottom of the cabinets or the mirror in a BLT studio. Although there is lots of storage in a BLT kitchenette, it is not really made for cooking as cabinets cover most of the countertop. And with that small sink how did you ever wash it out?

 

[dwdeb]

All studios at BLT are lock offs (connected to a 1BR).

I keep thinking about all the grease from a fry pan covering the bottom of the cabinets or the mirror in a BLT studio. Although there is lots of storage in a BLT kitchenette, it is not really made for cooking as cabinets cover most of the countertop. And with that small sink how did you ever wash it out?

I wonder about this too, and how it may add to wear and tear of the studio.

 

[jo-jo]

Is there a reason you brought a hot plate and a frying pan? Why not just an electric frypan?

I have considered a tiny electric frypan but so far have managed with just the microwave, but then again we are doing mostly breakfast. We've brought shelf stable bacon, brown and serve sausage, and mini quiche (which I make and freeze at home). All with some cheese, bagels, cream cheese and butter all in a cooler bag (like you would carry a casserole in )all tucked into suitcase. Buy eggs, cream and OJ at disney and we are set for a week.