Cooking for yourself at resort/pre-trip report...*GASP!*

[lauran cameron]

So my DBF and I of 5 years are going to WDW this Halloween (Oct. 28th-Nov. 2nd) to celebrate our 5 year anniversary (October 31st 2007.) He has NEVER been to WDW before in his life and I have been as you can see in my sig. was raised with amazing parents who had the privilege of owning DVC since 1991. Let me fill you in on a little back story here...

I recently attended WDW with my entire extended family this past New year for a week for a Family Reunion. It was my first time going back to WDW in 6 years since I graduated high school. I was used to going at least 2 times a year with my family so when I went back, needless to say I was bitten by the Disney bug once again. The moment I returned home my Disney obsession returned.

I joined the DIS'boards as a 10th grader in biology class due to my adoration for all DISNEY 7 years ago now in 2004 I was 16. (Don't worry I got a 104% in that class, including extra credit, regardless for my "DIS'tractions.") I totally relapsed the moment I went back, and I have been planning to take my DBF on his first trip ever since I have returned home. This was in January...5 months later, the hotel is booked, the airline is booked...now I am going nuts over ADR's. (I am now 24 years old...DBF is 28) The thing is, we are both fabulous cooks who work in a restaurant (Outback Steakhouse) so ADR's has been quite the debate. We will be staying at BWV in a 1 Bedroom Villa with a full kitchen for 6 days/5 nights and I only feel that we should take full advantage of this. I see "Goodings" has delivery to the resort. I have filled my "virtual shopping cart" with all the basic essentials.

We are planning on cooking ourselves breakfast every morning. Eggs, bacon, butter, pancake mix, syrup etc...and I purchased pasta, chicken, vegetables & Alfredo sauce for dinner. I also purchased some quick snacks such as chips and salsa for mid-day meals. Also, Pineapple juice 6 pack cans so we can take one to the park every day.

It will be & $105.10 total for all the groceries plus tip and I plan to leave 20% as I am a waitress and have no problem tipping for making my vacation easier & saving me time!!! So $120.00 about all week for food. Without a doubt we will have snacks at the park. I know a lot of people don't want to cook on their vacation but I mean the villas always come with a decent kitchen. Better than most apartments I have rented here in Syracuse that I have actually lived in for extended periods of time. You just don't hear of people taking advantage of their resort room.

I feel like this is a fantastic way to save money. Don't get me wrong we're not trying to be cheap at all, just resourceful. We have a "special occasion dinner" booked for our anniversary at Fulton's Crab House I can not wait for.
So far we have:
Breakfast: Pancakes w/ scrambles eggs and bacon scheduled every morning so far...
Dinner: Chicken Alfredo pasta with peas and carrots.
Snack:& Ramen noodles or chips & salsa

I would love to hear from other DIS'ers what meals they prepare for themselves within their rooms. I know this is kind of a Taboo subject for some as we are on vacation and how dare we do such duties!!!! But for those who do not fear the kitchen on your vacation, please share your knowledge I would love to hear your suggestions.

 

[sleeperclan]

We only have 2 ADRs and plan on cooking in the villa this trip. My DH makes a killer egg, sausage, hash brown, and gravy casserole. I'm pre-measuring ingredients for pancakes and blueberry muffins in zip lock bags (we are driving).
The other mornings will just be bagels and cereal.
Our dinner menus so far:
Pasta alfredo w/caesar salad
Tacos
Potato soup w/salad
I'm waiting on DS/DDIL to decide what they want to cook (we are all taking turns in 2s)
Last time we were in a 1 bd villa, I brought the crockpot and threw in a roast and veggies. It was so nice to come back after a day in the parks and have dinner ready (and the wonderful smell of a roast cooking)!

 

[magicLAL12]

My DBF and I stayed in a 1-bedroom at Animal Kingdom in early June and also got groceries delivered upon arrival. We choose Garden Grocer, but I'm sure Goodings is extremely similar.

We absolutely loved being able to eat our own breakfasts in the room. Granted, we never cooked the elaborate meals which you have listed. Neither of us eat very heavy b-fasts, and wanted to get to the parks asap in the mornings. If you like your pancakes/eggs etc.. and don't mind arriving a bit later though, then I'd say go for it!

Most of the time, we ended up having mid-afternoon snacks/meals in our room as well. We purchased english muffins & peanut butter, and other snacks (fruit, chips, cookies, etc..) which we would either eat out on the balcony or bring with us to the pool. It was also really convenient being able to throw goldfish or cookies into our "park bag" so that we always had extra snacks on hand while walking around!

We never chose to cook dinner, since we were either at a park or too tired to cook in general. However, if I were going to pick a meal to make in the villa, I would probably choose something simple (yet delicious) like pasta as you have.

Hope you both have a blast!

 

[sharadoc]

Some of our fave dinners are:

Stouffers chicken parmesan with spaghetti; mini meatloafs with instant mashed potatoes and a can of veggies; couple of boxes of mac & cheese; pork loin with baked potatoes and a can of veggies; tuna melts or grilled cheese. Many of these are all pretty much assuming you can put something in the oven for at least an hour. Plus housekeeping always does the dishes, so it's okay to dirty pots and pans!

We always get bagels and cream cheese, cereal, eggs, pre-cooked bacon, lunch meat and cheese so we can have breakfast for dinner too.

We always go with a kitchen, so we prefer eating at the villa or cabin. Even when we do a family suite, we find things to cook or microwave. We've brought an electric frying pan and done burgers, melts, eggs, pancakes, etc.