Can I pull off (almost)not eatting in the parks?

[Misfit]

Yes we will have a crockpot and I am stocking up on those recipes and I have a small soft sided cooler now thanks to my DH's grandma who "has a million" I cannot wait 44 days!!!

 

[Misfit]

Yeah I plan on packing our lunches to the parks, mainly because my kids are picky eaters and I don't want to spend over 5 bucks for an uncrustable PB&J when I can bring in my own for 50 cents a piece from home. I'm cheap that way! Big thing to figure out when taking a cooler is how you will keep stuff cold in it. Does your pop up camper have a freezer? If not bags of ice from the campstore may work for you, just bring some ziplock bags to put the ice inside your cooler in.

It doesn't have a freezer so we will be using ice. I must admit I'm kinda cheap too I just cannot justify some of the crazy prices on common food items, vacation at Disney or not

 

[rideswithchrist]

I am a whole food mama so we hit up Costco before check in (when we stayed at POP) and I got breakfast items (yogurt, fruits, granola bars) and sandwich/wrap stuff and we packed a lunch every day to bring into the parks.
The way our family eats is "ARGH! I AM STARVING RIGHT NOW" then we wander for 20 minutes trying to decide what we want (What do you want to do, IDK, what do you want to do vultures)
Then we just grab something and regret it... so having a lunch back with our sandwiches meant we could go from I'm hungry, to, I'm done in 15 minutes! Plus I packed in reusable bags so half eaten sandwiches got finished off later. We went in Feb so we did not worry about spoilage either, so the lunch bag was small- even for a family of 5!

Honestly, if you are eating QS, the food is the same so as for the "Disney Foods"- you are not missing much.
We did eat dinner in the parks, or back at the room- but we ended up snacking later too so when we go back next year and stay in the FT, I plan on doing the same and planning crock pot meals for dinners/lunches.

There may be some things your hubby can eat too, like a Turkey Leg in Frontier Village!
I was pretty disappointed in the salads at the QS dining places, it was like they used what was left after cutting off the lettuce for burgers, so it was just the hard, white parts of the lettuce rib. Not cool for a $10 salad...I will bring my own in mason jars this time.

 

[tiggerdad]

The way our family eats is "ARGH! I AM STARVING RIGHT NOW" then we wander for 20 minutes trying to decide what we want (What do you want to do, IDK, what do you want to do vultures)
Then we just grab something and regret it..

Describes my family exactly.

 

[pjpoppins]

We have never gone to Disney without the dining plan. We always have stayed at values and only once had a car. We had a kitchenette last time at AoA suites and used Garden Grocer. Last time dining was too much. Too much food (I'm one of those who can't pass down dessert, I mean I paid for it), too hot, and WAYYYYY to much planning with MB and FP+. I'm really looking forward to our trip to the fort next summer and eating our own food. I told my DW I'd be happy with a PB&J and a water in that heat. I'll be researching the next year on quick and easy meals to prepare for on the go. Already of thinking of loaded breakfast burritos. Wrap them and all so in the morning we can nuke them and hit the road.

 

[tiggerdad]

Pancakes, waffles, and some microwave bacon have always done our breakfasts.

Put something in the crockpot and head out. When the kids are getting tired we head back and eat then either stay around the campground or head back to a park for an evening show.

Sometimes we sleep in, like an EPCOT day, eat a good lunch around noon, then go to EPCOT for the evening fireworks and touring around the Showcase.

I was told another good plan is do some grilling one evening cooking hamburgers, steaks, and chicken at one time. Refrigerate the meats we don't eat for the next few evenings meals. Needing only to heat them up. You can pick up some sides at Trail's End to go with it.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

I was told another good plan is do some grilling one evening cooking hamburgers, steaks, and chicken at one time. Refrigerate the meats we don't eat for the next few evenings meals. Needing only to heat them up. You can pick up some sides at Trail's End to go with it.

That is a great idea. I'm gonna have to remember that for our next trip.

 

[Misfit]

I was told another good plan is do some grilling one evening cooking hamburgers, steaks, and chicken at one time. Refrigerate the meats we don't eat for the next few evenings meals. Needing only to heat them up. You can pick up some sides at Trail's End to go with it.

I love this idea too!

 

[rideswithchrist]

Describes my family exactly.

That is why we did not get the Dining plan, or even do ADRs... to our TA's confusion LOL.

I love the idea of BBQ'ing up all the meat the first day- I think that will be what we do as well, then toss the meat in crock pot meals during the week.

 

[chartle]

I was told another good plan is do some grilling one evening cooking hamburgers, steaks, and chicken at one time. Refrigerate the meats we don't eat for the next few evenings meals. Needing only to heat them up. You can pick up some sides at Trail's End to go with it.

We try to avoid as much as possible any raw meat. We bring precooked bacon and sausage, taco meat already cooked up and seasoned and in a seal a meal bag we can boil. For some things we portion out what we need for each meal so we don't have to seal anything back up.

I have too many bad memories of ground meat packages leaking in the cooler. Well lets just leave it there.

 

[tiggerdad]

Chartle,
Been there too. We have two fridges in the camper (outdoor kitchen) so no coolers for me. Typically I bring those items frozen and put them out to thaw at the same time.

Heard several people talk about pre-cooking and sounds like a good idea as well.

 

[JETS70]

I was told another good plan is do some grilling one evening cooking hamburgers, steaks, and chicken at one time. Refrigerate the meats we don't eat for the next few evenings meals. Needing only to heat them up. You can pick up some sides at Trail's End to go with it.

Seems like I remember someone making that suggestion a while back........a certain Wildcat umm Smokey and the Bandit umm oh that's right Crimson Tide fan.
My DW found an idea on TheYummyLife.com, http://www.theyummylife.com/Instant_Oatmeal_Packets for oatmeal. Single serving ziplock baggies with oatmeal, pinch of salt, powdered milk and then any of your favorite addins such as cinnamon, brown sugar, and dried or dehydrated fruits and nuts such as raisins, apples, blueberries, strawberries and the such. Dump in a bowl, add water, microwave for a couple of minutes and instant hot breakfast. Throw it in a Styrofoam cup, plastic spoon and off you go to the parks. When finished just throw the cup and spoon away.
The DW makes up several different varieties of this before we go. Also makes a nice late night snack.

 

[chartle]

Chartle,
Been there too. We have two fridges in the camper (outdoor kitchen) so no coolers for me. Typically I bring those items frozen and put them out to thaw at the same time.

Heard several people talk about pre-cooking and sounds like a good idea as well.

But don't think we rough it. For breakfast I also make cinnamon rolls and from starch southern style biscuits (not totally I premix the flour and shortening at home, then just add the butter milk) in my coleman camp oven.

I've also seen ziplock bag omelets. though not sure those bags are rated for cooking.

One thing to avoid is pancakes, cleaning the batter bowl is a pain.

 

[ryansstitch]

It's funny to read a thread about the challenges of not eating in the parks. Before I was an adult, my family went to wdw about 11 times, and usually for long trips. Initially as a family of 5 and eventually 7, food would totally blow the budget if we ate in park a lot. We packed lunches, cooked at the vacation home almost every meal. I can only recall 4 meals purchased at wdw ever in those trips. I never really knew any other way, so I totally thought everyone did this! It does require a bit of forethought though. I'd say have fun planning some easy but interesting meals, add a few of dh's favorites and enjoy! If you can do some prep at home that makes it even easier. If possible premake a few meals, freeze them, and you'll be ready for those days you don't feel like doing any cooking.

 

[ryansstitch]

Seems like I remember someone making that suggestion a while back........a certain Wildcat umm Smokey and the Bandit umm oh that's right Crimson Tide fan.
My DW found an idea on TheYummyLife.com, http://www.theyummylife.com/Instant_Oatmeal_Packets for oatmeal. Single serving ziplock baggies with oatmeal, pinch of salt, powdered milk and then any of your favorite addins such as cinnamon, brown sugar, and dried or dehydrated fruits and nuts such as raisins, apples, blueberries, strawberries and the such. Dump in a bowl, add water, microwave for a couple of minutes and instant hot breakfast. Throw it in a Styrofoam cup, plastic spoon and off you go to the parks. When finished just throw the cup and spoon away.
The DW makes up several different varieties of this before we go. Also makes a nice late night snack.

My husband does this everyday to take to work! He likes his little oatmeal kits

 

[drdisneygirl]

I used the crock pot on our last trip and we took sandwiches and snacks into the parks for lunch. We also did a few counter service meals. I really enjoyed not having table service meals scheduled on our last trip because it allowed us to be more flexible with our schedule. When we go again, we might do one or two table service meals, but the majority will be at our camper.