Bringing food along, what to pack? Or should I ship ahead?

[DEBDENBD]

I hope I'm on the right board! I wasn't sure whether to post here or Bargains... In 2 weeks, we'll be leaving for our first-ever Disney trip. In order to save money (and also help in a pinch with one of the kid's food allergy issues) we are planning to take along some foods which we can easily transport & do not require refrigeration. I am looking for suggestions or ideas which we may have missed. This is what's on the list so far:

Dry cereal
Instant oatmeal packets
dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, banana chips)
jello, pudding & fruit cups (individual portions)
Ramen noodle cups
Tuna kits
granola bars
grahm crackers
Peanut butter
Marshmellow fluff

Ziploc baggies, empty water bottles, small amount of dish liquid, plastic bowls, plates, utensils, premeasured baggies of laundry detergent.

We are HOPING we can get things like bread, milk at the resort (All Star Movies). Does anybody else have suggestions which may travel easily? We were told by friends to pack all this in a suitcase, then consume it and use the suitcase to bring home souveniers. We also have the option to ship ahead... not sure which idea is better.

Any advice/suggestions from those who have BTDT would be appreciated! TIA

 

[LisaFB]

I haven't BTDT yet but want to see what others say. We're taking the kids in Oct and DS is HIGHLY allergic to over 30 types of foods so we have to bring everything for him as well.

 

[bgirl29]

We flew down in October and I brought a lot of the items you mentioned in a suitcase. I thought it worked out great. With five of us flying we sure didn't need 10 suitcases if you figure 2 checked bags per person, so 1 bag for the food and souvineirs was easy. For perishables we ordered from gardengrocer.com, they delivered everything right to the hotel. If you don't want to preship or preorder you can pick up a lot of things at the hotel gift shop.

 

[Ariel8676]

We usually bring an extra small suitcase that we carry on the plane with most of the things that you listed. Maybe also a mixture of the mini boxes of cereal.
Instead of a small dish soap, try buying the Dawn disposable dish cloths..much easier.
Also you can ship water down to the resort through Staples.com (sign up for their free rewards program and shipping is free)

 

[Zoemakes5]

We do the extra suitcase too. It works great, as we never seem to be able to pack as well going home as we did getting there!
Some other things we've brought...sweets, like the prepackaged cookies or even a few candy bars; goldfish crackers; individual sized bags of chips; beef jerkey; jelly (in the squeezable bottle instead of jars), ditto some mayonaise/miracle whip and mustard; easy mac when we've had a microwave; soups when we've had a micro.; the mini muffins by Hostess.

My kids love ranch and veggies. I typically bring ranch dressing, if I feel like splurging I get the individual serving ones. Then I get carrotts and other veggies when I get there.

We used to bring on a little cooler with us and also were able to bring a number of perishable snacks with us, but with the new rules, that won't work.

 

[sdrsdd]

My kids like cereal bars...they even have pre-packaged mini bars now in individual bags that are great!!! Have fun!!

 

[jensen]

I've done this for our last two trips. I go the extra suitcase route and pack it full of stuff. I also take cheese sticks along - some people refridgerate cheese, I'm not so concerned about it. I like to take those packets of flavored oatmeal. I use the coffee maker to brew a pot of hot water. It works great. We also take a soft-sided cooler along. We fold it up in the suitcase and then fill it with ice each day at the resort. It works well for milk. We will do the same thing again next month when we go.

 

[lucky1]

You can also use one of the delivery services vs packing and carrying yourself. YOu can then have them deliver milk and bread. www. gardengrocer.com or www.wegoshop.com

 

[LisaFB]

Lucky, do they only deliver milk & bread or can they do other stuff as well? My Ds has multiple food allergies so we'd need specific foods for him.

 

[DEBDENBD]

OP'S!! FANTASTIC ADVICE! THANK YOU!

I am thinking out loud & randomly here, please chime in...

Soft-sided cooler, great idea (hadn't thought of it but that WILL come in handy)

Dawn dish wipes! (Never heard of that either but they are on my shopping list now!)

Bottled water--Ok, tell me honestly, is the water in Disney "bad" tasting or something? Or do those who use bottled water normally just prefer that way. We have those nalgene-type bottles (the hard plastic ones that don't pick up "odors") and typically take them everywhere and just keep stopping by water fountains to refill whenever we go away. We are not big juice/soda drinkers, and consume mostly water, sometimes milk (my husband is a coffee fiend but I've already figured he will buy the refillable mug for that) so I'm wondering, do we NEED bottled water? Or will we be OK with our nalgene bottles.

As for the grocery items... We are staying in the All-Star-Movies & as I understand it will not have microwave and we aren't opting for the fridge at this point (in travelling to other places in the past we did not get our $10/day worth use of it)

When considering shipping ahead, I would have used an empty Omaha steaks cooler (my husband can ship DHL at thru work, usually a big package is $1 or $ 2 charge) and keeping the cooler in the room filled with ice for perishables & fresh foods ...

But shipping ahead would not leave us "room" for souveniers if we purchase them. Should I maybe split my groceries between the cooler and a suitcase or am I seriously overthinking this?

Any advice or BTDT appreciated. Hindsight is always 20/20! Thanks again!

 

[DEBDENBD]

And Thanks to the other snack ideas, too... I didn't mean to slight anybody on my previous reply.

My 6YO is a pineapple allergy (among other things) and fairly often the prepackaged sweet snack items are sweetened and/or contain pineapple so I normally avoid that aisle altogether.

The kids are home from school this week BUT I am taking notes for things to look at on my shopping trip once they go back from holiday break! You know... when I can actually read a label without somebody rushing me on

 

[LBKMAMA]

I know you said some of this stuff is for your child with food allergies, but I have found all three times we went I packed way to much snack stuff (granted the last two times we were on DDP), but still I think it was too much. I packed 2x and shipped the last time. The cereal was the only problem (got crushed a bit). I sent the juice boxes ahead and there was no problem and did get water from Staples (like the taste better). The drinks were definately key for us. My kids don't drink soda. I also brought the soft sided cooler and it was nice to be able to pull out cool drinks all morning and maybe have to purchase just one snack in the afternoon. We've been in late Sept and Dec. and I say we drank just as much in Dec.

I know the values DO NOT have coffee makers (my mother found this out last time). They do sell bread, enteman's, juice, milk, sodas and some snacks like pretzels and chips.

Hope this helps....

 

[tacomaranch]

Yes, the water tastes bad in Disney. But did you know for that you can go to any CS and ask for a cup of water and ice. It is filtered and tastes better.

I am going in a few days and just pack whatever the rage is with the tot for the month.

April

 

[hollyb]

This is a great topic. We are driving/then auto train. We are not big breakfast eaters but I want to have food in the room for at night and to take to the parks with us. We are staying at POP. I am dissapointed about the POP not having a coffee maker, I wanted to make DH iced tea with it.

 

[lucky1]

Lucky, do they only deliver milk & bread or can they do other stuff as well? My Ds has multiple food allergies so we'd need specific foods for him.

Yes they do... You can check out their sites. I know that you can list specific items and they will get them if you can. We have used both companies listed and both worked out well. With WeGoShop, you can ask that they call you because of the allergies and I believe that the owner will call and discuss with you. I noticed that you are at the All star, so I would recommend that if you are not doing a Fridge sharing (found on the budget boards), that you bring a soft sided cooler or have the delivery service bring a cooler (Cost is about $5 for a small one).

 

[Zoemakes5]

Wow, if you have the option to ship for so little, what I would do is ship most of the food items. That way you're able to view the items, review their contents for the allergies, get things on sale up where you live, etc. You also then have the benefit of the cooler.
What we've done when we don't travel with food (typically non-Disney trips) is to pack a duffle bag in our check in luggage. Or, as long as you don't have food items in the cooler, use the empty cooler space to pack clothes and souvies and bring it back on the plane with you.
There's always things we "use up", as well. We use up shampoo, soap, film, batteries, baggies....well, you get the idea. That will open up some space in the suitcases. Not a ton, but some.
One thing I would recommend you packing some extra of is gum! It's really very tough finding it onsite, and we always need it for the plane.

 

[suncat73]

this is a great thread!
We are also going in about 2 weeks and my daughter has a severe milk allergy. I was planning on packing some of the things we need.
I am going to look into the grocery stores mentioned before.
Thanks so much everyone for your advice!

 

[bobcat]

You will be able to get bread, milk, donuts and snacks at the food court/gift shop. There is also a microwave available at the food court and we have used it to pop popcorn and heat microwavable meals (like mac n cheese).

I used gardengrocer last trip and was very impressed with them. We will use them on our next trip. They have a list of items but you can also request them to pick up others that aren't on their list.