Dinners in the villa???

[Mickeygolf]

I know most of us don't use the stove in our villas, my family included. But this year we are not doing the dining plan and we want to prepare a few meals for the kids at the resort. We have quite a few ADR's set up, but we may cancel some of them. My question to you is what are some of the meals you have prepared using the kitchen? We know we'll do a spaghetti night and possibly a taco night, but we're looking for more ideas. We're staying for 10 nights this year, so we want to spread out the dinners at restaurants and eating in the villa.

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[buckylarue]

I don't know how your kids are with seafood, but we always make a point of cooking up a quick sauteed shrimp or scallop and veggies with pasta, since the seafood is so much cheaper and better quality there than in the landlocked midwest.

 

[ssawka]

I haven't stayed in a 1 BR yet (First DVC trip coming in Jan. ), but we always used to make Wimpies (AKA Sloppy Joe's) at the beach. They are really quick and easy.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Sloppy Joes & tater tots (What an excellent idea). OKW has BBQ grills by the quiet pools which we use at each stay. Steaks, BBQ shrimp wrapped in bacon, chicken breast on the grill. I do shrimp scampi over pasta. We drive over to the Winn Dixie and get rotiserrie chickens and salad. Spaghetti/meatballs, make extra meatballs & sauce and make Meatball subs for lunch later on. Frozen chicken tenders w/ ceasar salad mix. We also love to do appetizer night, with frozen potato skins, frozen bagel mini pizzas, frozen mozzarella sticks, various dips w/ carrots, cukes, celery, salsa and chips, frozen spinach artichoke dip w/ chips. Sliced peperoni and cheese w/ crakers. Every body including the kids gets to vote on their favorites.

I love to cook (and to eat, apparently) and I'm not a fan of the DDP and except for a few like Jiko, Citricos, Todds Blue Zoo, I won't pay the ridiculous prices. Other than CS, we eat offsite or in the villa.

Good Luck!

 

[kikiq]

We cook a big pot of spaghetti that lasts for dinner, lunch and breakfast for some Always have a roasted chicken or two for dinner, chicken sandwiches/chicken salad. Last summer my DSIL marinated meat in the morning and then grilled it in the late afternoon, BBQ meat, green salad and garlic toast mmmmm, good. If anyone is driving, have them bring a crock pot and you can have pulled pork. This year instead of tacos, we had taco salad and watermelon.

 

[toniosmom]

We get deli meat for making portable lunches which we take to the parks sometimes. We also have hot dogs (you can microwave, boil or broil them if you don't have access to a grill). We have also had macaroni & cheese with a side of veggies. Someone posted on another thread that they get a large veggie platter (that you usually eat raw) and they use it all week to snack on and also cook with meals.

There is also the option of ordering in pizza, so you may want to consider a pizza night one night. Not sure what other kind of takeout you might be able to get delivered.

The most important thing is to not spend too much time in the kitchen so that you can enjoy your vacation. Quick and easy is the way to go!

Here is a thread that I held on to which has some great dinner ideas.

 

[backyardponder]

When we were at VB, we did meatloaf. We tried to shape it in the form of Mickey, but, after baking, it looked more like Itchy (from the Simpson's).

 

[Longhairbear]

One dinner I do regularly in our villa, is Breakfast For Dinner. I make Eggs Benedict usually, and use Tater Tots for breakfast potatoes.
I have made a list of recipes from the Disney Resort cookbooks, and Food and Wine recipes that we like, and buy groceries accordingly, and cook them in room. Disney Resort dinners, without the cost. I will challenge myself to make the Grapefruit Cake recipe from DHS Brown Derby at some point.
We will be roasting a turkey in room this Nov. for an early full Thanksgiving dinner in our villa at VGC in CA. We'll be able to run out the door, have a ride on Grizzly River Rapids, run back and check the oven, and then run out to any other DCA attraction, and make regular checks on how dinner is cooking.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

We will be roasting a turkey in room this Nov. for an early full Thanksgiving dinner in our villa at VGC in CA. We'll be able to run out the door, have a ride on Grizzly River Rapids, run back and check the oven, and then run out to any other DCA attraction, and make regular checks on how dinner is cooking.

Sounds like a fabulous Thanksgiving, riding between bastings!

 

[MouseMomx2]

We will be roasting a turkey in room this Nov. for an early full Thanksgiving dinner in our villa at VGC in CA. We'll be able to run out the door, have a ride on Grizzly River Rapids, run back and check the oven, and then run out to any other DCA attraction, and make regular checks on how dinner is cooking.

We'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner in our villa too..but at AKV. I'm sending everyone else to AM EMH at the Magic Kingdom (I don't feel comfortable leaving the oven going when I'm not in the room) while I get the meal started in the peace and quiet. When they return we'll all finish up the cooking and enjoy our meal while looking at the animals.

As for other meals, we always do spaghetti. It's tradition. We also do tacos and chicken lo mein. We save some of the taco meat and reserve some of the chicken before cooking the lo mein. Then we use those meats to make quesadillas on a third night. Another favorite is Publix's fried chicken. We'll usually get it when we shop and have it for dinner that night. The leftovers can be eaten cold for lunch, along with sushi (also from Publix) and sandwiches.

We usually stay for a couple of weeks and make 4-5 dinners in the room. It really saves us a ton of money and we enjoy the time enjoying our resort. By cooking in and getting APs we are able to take two trips for the same money that most people spend on one.

 

[Mickeygolf]

Thank you so much for all the great ideas. I had completely forgot about sloppy joe's. That's generally a staple at our house. This might turn out better than I expected.

Thanks again!!!

 

[Cathy66]

We did frozen pizza one night and the kids loved us when we feed them hot dogs and kraft dinner. My dh and I then had a nice dinner out. Everyone got what they wanted. My kids are 14 and 11 so they were old enough to have a movie night when we went for supper.

 

[MouseMomx2]

We've also been known to break out the Hamburger or Tuna Helper for dinner in our villa. We always pair it with a salad and/or veggies to up the nutritional value, but it's an easy, quick supper.

 

[Dusted]

Dinners in the villas is a great way to save money and relax. Especially with young children. Everyone can eat at their own pace.

One time we had a two bedroom with my parents and my two young children. The adults opened a bottle of wine, put out some chips and dips, and relaxed!!!! The kids played and we cooked. Easy stuff. Stouffers Lasagna. Spaghetti. Hot dogs, baked beans and mack and cheese. Pizzas.

Stuff we kinda consider junk dinners/ quick dinners at home become more magical on vacation...

No rushing, trying to take pictures, running thru buffet lines, etc. All wonderful stuff if you are in the mood and tinkerbell has dusted you, but for those times when you NEED to pull away from the parks, it is SO nice. I never thought I would appreciate it, and thought I would be regretting the time away from the parks, but I was converted.

It has it's time and place, and dinner at "home" is a fun novelty in itself. Gives you extra time to watch the top things to do in Disney too!!!

Enjoy!!!

 

[leanne2255]

We're going on the "cheap" this next trip and plan to have most meals in the villa. Nachos is on the menu for one night- chips, chili, salsa, onions, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. That should be pretty filling for dinner, and there's only 2 of us, so it should be plenty.

 

[buckylarue]

Also remember, if you are a DVC member you can get free movies from your resort's community hall (or whatever your resort calls it). Some 'comfort food', a Disney DVD, and the kids and you should be fine!!

 

[kato0627]

Here is a crazy question. Do you go out after dinner or are you in for the night???

 

[yandbfan]

Here is a crazy question. Do you go out after dinner or are you in for the night???

We normally don't go back out. We bring DVD's of our favorite Disney movies, usually the best ones are checked out already, put on pj's cook frozen pizza and later popcorn and then turn in for the evening.

 

[dwelty]

We have always done the dining plan except for our last trip. We did our breakfast, and either dinner or lunch in the villa, and one counter service in the park that we visited. I could not tell you any of the meals we had (Wife planned them) but I can tell you that they were quick and easy, and we look back on that trip and feel it was just as enjoyable as the rest. We also saved a ton of Money. We will be doing more trips like this in the future.

 

[MouseMomx2]

Here is a crazy question. Do you go out after dinner or are you in for the night???

We almost always go back out. We have an early dinner and then either head to a park, to Downtown Disney or we go mini-golfing.

Sometimes we go swimming at the resort (weather permitting) and occasionally we'll stay in and play a board game or watch a movie.