Do plan and cook meals?

[DonnaL]

dgaston......we do the same thing w/Olive Garden! Have been doing it for years.... I also premeasure dry ingredients for quick recipes (pasta,rice, beans, any seasonings) and package them in Ziplocs...sometimes I will pack these items in my checked bag (if it's only two or three of us traveling and I have room) or sometimes I will FedEx a package addressed to me at whatever resort we are at with these items, coffee, sugar, maybe some english muffins....I time it so the package arrives either the day before or day of our arrival. It usually costs me about $15 to do so......but, I'm able to package just what we need....and it's usually stuff I have in my pantry...so I'm not spending anything extra at the grocery store. However, keep in mind if you're staying at any of the convention resorts (BLT, BCV, BWV, or VGF) you will also be charged a delivery fee for your package by the resort....usually $5 to $10...depending on size.

 

[quandrea]

We do all breakfasts, most of our snacks and at least one meal a day. I use garden grocer but am going to try we go shop next time. Wasn't pleased with garden grocer this time.

I menu plan so I don't buy anything unnecessary. We have things like nachos, roast chicken, pasta dishes, shake n bake, Mac n cheese, sandwiches.

We leave tomorrow and the fridge will be pretty much empty. No waste.

I've also done a lot of baking this trip. Muffins and cake. Dd has a peanut allergy so this has been really nice for her.

 

[jimim]

We do breakfast only in the room. We aren't big lunch people so it's a toss up in the park or at the hotel since we are back early each day to do whatever before a nice diner out. I live for my bucket list of restaurants at Disney. There are 7 or 8 places we never miss cause. I just really look forward to dinner out each night.

jim

 

[MichelleVW]

Another great thing about having the kitchen is using leftovers from the fridge and microwave. We order a big take-out dinner and get pizzas from Giordano's the day we get to the DVC, and between that and anything I make, we have great leftovers to re-heat for the rest of our stay.

I made the mistake of planning every dinner before - the reality is, sometimes you just don't want to prepare or eat a big meal, and I had lots of food leftover, both prepared and unprepared. Now I only plan food for every breakfast, bring tons of snacks (purchased at home prices, not resort prices) and a do few major meals, supplemented by re-heated leftovers from the fridge. That works better for us!

Sounds like what we do. If we plan too many meals we have too much left over. We always eat breakfast in the room and usually one or two meals along with leftovers. I love having the kitchen and the washer and dryer!

 

[deebits]

We also tend to have breakfast in our room. Bagels/toast/eggs/bacon/pancakes. For dinner we usually do two nights of pasta and the others eat the WDW restaurants. Since we fly, I will pack pasta, sauce, bagels, syrup and pancake mix and order the rest from Garden Grocer. When we are at BLT or WL, my DH will go to Fort Wilderness and get a pizza or the Fried Chicken to go.

 

[jlwhitney]

We eat two meals in and 1 out in general. WDW food is way too pricey.

Make things like:
Grilled Cheese/Tomato Soup
Poppyseed Chicken
Tacos
Hamburger Helper
PB&J
Sloppy Joes
and so on

 

[darbry]

We usually eat breakfast every day in the room. I make 2 big casserole type dishes (last year i made an american chop suey then later in the week a chicken & sstuffing bake) that we eat through the week. The rest of our meals are in the parks. With 2 teenage boys, i also make sure i buy some frozen, microwave style foods for their midnight snacks. If they aren't eating every 2 hours or so they are 'starving'.

Oh my gosh this is so true! My son is 15 and seems like I hear him up at night eating. I buy salami in 3 pound increments. Lol

 

[smcabee]

Every once in a while we will use the Grills at the resorts and grill up a steak/fish or burgers. Nothing like grilling by the pool. And we always have stuff like cereal etc for breakfast but for the most part we are on vacation. We cook at home we dont go out to eat at home so we enjoy the signature restaurants for dinner while on vacation.

 

[franandaj]

To the OP, if I had that many people coming with me to WDW, I would take one of the large meats (ham, turkey, prime rib, etc) out of my freezer and chuck it in the suitcase just before leaving home. I've been known to do this before and there are only two of us. We get these meats at such great prices when they are on sale for the holidays, it makes a great meal and a bargain price.

Most of the ovens, especially in the newer and refurbished villas, have delay bake timers, so you don't necessarily have to spend the entire time something is cooking waiting around the room. You can set the timer to come on an hour or two before you plan to return, and dinner will be almost ready. Something like a ham will not only feed the family for a hearty dinner, it will make great leftovers for sandwiches for the rest of the week. I've been known to bring a Prime Rib and repurpose it into several different meals for the remainder of the trip.

We also eat breakfast in the room daily. Like others have mentioned, Bagels and Cream Cheese, Yogurt on the quick days. Once or twice in the week I like to make bacon and eggs or French Toast. We usually have lunch out in a park, and we do like to have some dinners at TS restaurants. Last trip I cooked a Tri Tip on the grills at BCV. We met up with a bunch of other DISers and had a potluck. It was great fun, and we ate off the leftovers for the rest of our trip!