DO YOU COOK IN YOUR ROOM??

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

When we stayed in the family suites (at AoA and at ASMu) we stopped at Publix and bought some things that could be microwaved - bagel bites (my son's fav) those small packages of microwavable french fries - stuff like that. The teens would make them. Plus we have the stuff we normally bring to snack on like trail mix, chips ect.

Other than that, when we stay in a regular room we usually bring a couple of boxes of cereal, plastic spoons, plastic bowls, fruit cups, pop tarts - things to eat in the room for breakfast - we just buy milk or juice in the food courts to keep in the room.

 

[leebee]

When we stay onsite it's usually at a value, so I bring foods that either can be eaten "as is" or that we can take to the food court to heat up in the microwave or put in their toasters. We usually only make our own breakfasts and bring our own snacks, but there's nothing stopping you from using the food court appliances. There are a lot of dried/canned options that you could bring with you. If you have a car at WDW, you could get pre-made dinners from the grocery store, frozen meals, or something as straightforward as hotdogs or chicken or beef patties that can be heated in the microwave, with rolls, store-made potato salad, bagged lettuce with a container of toppings from the salad bar, etc. I understand that Disney vacations are expensive, and if you are willing to make the adjustments to your meals that are required for food-court cooking, more power to you! (I really hate the "If you can't afford to do Disney the way we do, you should reconsider your vacation" comments!)

It's a huge plus now that the value rooms have refrigerators; we bring boxes of almond milk for cereal, freeze yogurt at home (it's already fermented so not a food spoilage issue, and it thaws nicely), pack cheese, etc., in addition to the stuff we normally bring (crackers, cereal, bagels, fruits that won't bruise in our suitcases and fruit cups, etc.). My sister used to take things like a travel coffee pot, toaster, mini-crock pot, etc., and hide them in the room during the day, but one time housekeeping found the kitchen stuff and confiscated it. Disney let my sis/family continue to stay onsite, but she was told if it happened again, they'd have to leave as it's a violation of the fire code.

 

[eliza61]

I read this in a motel room one year where we stayed overnight on the way to Disney. I thought it was a good rule to live by.

If you don't cook in your bedroom at home, don't cook in your motel/hotel room.

I don't cook in my room unless staying in a suite with a kitchen.

I once read here of someone making grill cheese sandwiches using the iron. 'nuff said

 

[leebee]

I read this in a motel room one year where we stayed overnight on the way to Disney. I thought it was a good rule to live by.

If you don't cook in your bedroom at home, don't cook in your motel/hotel room.

I don't cook in my room unless staying in a suite with a kitchen.

I once read here of someone making grill cheese sandwiches using the iron. 'nuff said

Do you think this really happened, or is it sort-of urban-legend? I know in the movie "Benny and Joon", they make grilled cheese sandwiches with the iron and use a tennis racquet to mash potatoes. When I read about making grilled cheese using the iron, I always think that people are just remembering the movie and thinking it was something they'd read about really happening.

 

[eliza61]

Do you think this really happened, or is it sort-of urban-legend? I know in the movie "Benny and Joon", they make grilled cheese sandwiches with the iron and use a tennis racquet to mash potatoes. When I read about making grilled cheese using the iron, I always think that people are just remembering the movie and thinking it was something they'd read about really happening.

Hey Leebee,
I actually hope you are right. never seen the movie but I really hope no one would do this. icky.

 

[hsmamato2]

I like my hot tea in the morning,so I 'cook' with the hot water only.... actually I like instant oatmeal that way also...so we 'cook' breakfast but not much more,since I like to eat out on vacation (but not early in the morning!) With a 'hot water' coffee maker type setup you can actually eat a variety of simple foods for snacks.... I usually bring my own camping style bowls and mugs to use also

 

[pjlla]

Okay.... admitting right here that I am "THAT PERSON" who has used the iron to "cook" in a hotel room! I brought precooked egg patties to make breakfast sandwiches (we had a fridge) and I put them in foil and warmed them with the iron! Worked just fine (eggs wrapped in foil and foil wrapped in a towel so as not to scratch the iron bottom)! Didn't harm the iron at all, didn't stink up the room, and didn't use "illegal" appliances. Would I do it again? Sure! Am I ready to take some heavy flack here for admitting it. Yup. ................P

 

[hsmamato2]

Okay.... admitting right here that I am "THAT PERSON" who has used the iron to "cook" in a hotel room! I brought precooked egg patties to make breakfast sandwiches (we had a fridge) and I put them in foil and warmed them with the iron! Worked just fine (eggs wrapped in foil and foil wrapped in a towel so as not to scratch the iron bottom)! Didn't harm the iron at all, didn't stink up the room, and didn't use "illegal" appliances. Would I do it again? Sure! Am I ready to take some heavy flack here for admitting it. Yup. ................P

 

[BLAZEY]

We have breakfast in a regular room, but never stuff that needs to be heated. Cold cereal, fruit, muffins, yoghurt, juice and milk. I got up early and went to the food court to get tea in the refillable mug we bought. Dh filled it with coke on our way to the bus stop.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We always get at least a one bedroom DVC villa. Cook breakfast every day, eggs, oatmeal, cereal, fruit, etc. make lunches with deli meats and breads that we can take to the pool since we rarely go to the parks anymore and occasionally I'll make pasta or chicken for dinner although we like going out for dinner to Raglan road, artist point, Jiko, California grill, eto. We often have wine and appetizers in the room before going to dinner. We go the grocery store...there's a publix close by...and stock up with groceries.

 

[disneydacey]

We are staying in a BCV studio in October and I fully intend on packing an electric skillet to cook breakfast (eggs, bacon, French toast). Some people have said they use crockpots but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. I don't mind cooking a little bit if it means I'm saving money that will go towards nice dinners out.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

We are staying in a BCV studio in October and I fully intend on packing an electric skillet to cook breakfast (eggs, bacon, French toast). Some people have said they use crockpots but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. I don't mind cooking a little bit if it means I'm saving money that will go towards nice dinners out.

We are staying in a studio villa as well and I had wondered if you would be allowed to use an electric griddle or something for eggs or grilled cheese, quesadillas, etc. I thought of getting one of those microwavable egg poachers too.

OP, we always pack our magic bullet and stuff for breakfast smoothies - almond milk, protein powder, frozen berries (which don't stay frozen in the fridge, but fine anways cold!). Things like wraps are easy. You can keep sliced up chicken breast in your fridge, cold cuts, shredded cheese, etc. and wrap up with some veggies. Cereal, bagels, yogurt are easy. My kids even like boost, so will pack those as well for a quick energy drink to tide them over til dinner.

I actually didn't realize you couldn't use a toaster or coffee pot in the regular rooms. Our first trip the dis boards were full of fridge and coffee pot swaps that I used, and I don't ever remember hearing it mentioned. Nor did housekeeping take away the coffee pot or toaster that was right on the table every day, that was used by many others using the swap back in those days. Maybe they are stricter now?

 

[ellie05]

We are staying in a studio villa as well and I had wondered if you would be allowed to use an electric griddle or something for eggs or grilled cheese, quesadillas, etc. I thought of getting one of those microwavable egg poachers too.

OP, we always pack our magic bullet and stuff for breakfast smoothies - almond milk, protein powder, frozen berries (which don't stay frozen in the fridge, but fine anways cold!). Things like wraps are easy. You can keep sliced up chicken breast in your fridge, cold cuts, shredded cheese, etc. and wrap up with some veggies. Cereal, bagels, yogurt are easy. My kids even like boost, so will pack those as well for a quick energy drink to tide them over til dinner.

I actually didn't realize you couldn't use a toaster or coffee pot in the regular rooms. Our first trip the dis boards were full of fridge and coffee pot swaps that I used, and I don't ever remember hearing it mentioned. Nor did housekeeping take away the coffee pot or toaster that was right on the table every day, that was used by many others using the swap back in those days. Maybe they are stricter now?

I think the problem might have been the crock pot and they decided to just take everything. I honestly don't think Disney would mind a coffee pot or a toaster. But a crock pot that you leave on without supervision is just a bad idea.

 

[sheetz]

Okay.... admitting right here that I am "THAT PERSON" who has used the iron to "cook" in a hotel room! I brought precooked egg patties to make breakfast sandwiches (we had a fridge) and I put them in foil and warmed them with the iron! Worked just fine (eggs wrapped in foil and foil wrapped in a towel so as not to scratch the iron bottom)! Didn't harm the iron at all, didn't stink up the room, and didn't use "illegal" appliances. Would I do it again? Sure! Am I ready to take some heavy flack here for admitting it. Yup. ................P

I'm actually somewhat ok with using an iron to heat things up. (That's really what you were doing, not actual cooking.) The only problem is when people don't wrap the food in foil and make a mess with the iron. Otherwise making a grilled cheese sandwich with an iron isn't any more dangerous than ironing a shirt.

 

[jsmla]

I'm staying at Pop in April. Hate, hate, hate the food court coffee and was planning on bringing my own coffee and our travel sized coffee maker. I've done it before, will it be a problem this time?

Side rant:
What the heck is it with no coffee makers at the Value resorts? The only other hotels that I've ever stayed in that also lacked them were all in Vegas. Even the cheapo side-of-the-interstate places we stay in on road trips always have them.

Thanks, and sorry for the rant.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We stay in our trailer so of course we always cook but alas we have our own kitchen. It's one reason I don't like staying in hotels. But when we stay in hotels we bring lunch meats, yogurts, bagels, fresh fruit, cereal and snacks, basically foods we don't have to cook. We always eat breakfast in the room. For Disney eating is part of the fun but we try to keep costs within reason. By eating breakfast in our room (trailer) we save there. And we eat quick service meals with one or two table service meals. My family prefers to go to epcot and try small snacks from each of the countries. It actually is cheaper than getting a huge meal. And we never buy drinks. We get free water or bring our own.

 

[Ashley Monroe]

Thank you all for the replies! Although from a couple I can say that the insinuations and arrogant attitude was not only unnecessary but a little rude AND ridiculous. ---> @Nebraska_Disney really? "My choice"? Exactly. I CHOOSE not to waste money. I asked a question BECAUSE I haven't been in so long and wanted to ensure I was following all rules/regulations in our room...BUT I did NOT ask for pretentious attitudes nor your opinion on my vacation choice because I to save cash in all the ways I can. Thanks though!

For everyone else, we are flying. We have a rental so we can go off site any time. I'm sure it'll come in handy. I did want to be around the parks as much as possible but I'm sure it'll be good for me to get a break.

I'm going alone with the kids this time so wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ashley Monroe]

5kidsmommy thank you! We have ordered from gardengrocer? I hope they do well but all the reviews said they were awesome and I could go ahead and pay and schedule a delivery so it'll be there by 9 pm the day we arrive. That way all the fruit, etc I can't take on the plane will be there. I'm not too big on eating and wasting. There's no reason to have a huge dining plan with me and 2 kids . It sounds like SO MUCH FOOD when you're going to be going all that time! Also, who has time to stop for so much or who wants to take home a bunch of snacks because they didn't use it all?

Thanks for the advice! I'm SOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!

 

[5kidsmommy]

5kidsmommy thank you! We have ordered from gardengrocer? I hope they do well but all the reviews said they were awesome and I could go ahead and pay and schedule a delivery so it'll be there by 9 pm the day we arrive. That way all the fruit, etc I can't take on the plane will be there. I'm not too big on eating and wasting. There's no reason to have a huge dining plan with me and 2 kids . It sounds like SO MUCH FOOD when you're going to be going all that time! Also, who has time to stop for so much or who wants to take home a bunch of snacks because they didn't use it all?

Thanks for the advice! I'm SOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!

My daughter and I went in November and had the dining plan, I thought it would be a nice treat since it was just the two of us and we stayed in a regular room. Never again!! It was a wonderful treat to have the table service meals but honestly it was just too much food for us. I felt like we were always eating and we didn't need a beverage or a dessert with every meal. It's just not how we eat. It was on the "free dining" discount so it was a good deal but never ever ever would I pay for it. I looked at the cost of the plan for our trip next February and while it's nice to feel even more inclusive it just isn't for us. We usually budget two quick service meals a day per person and one snack and plan on spending about $40 a day but we never spend that much. Lots of times I am perfectly content to get a kids meal, but only when they have something tasty like a salad. But a lot of time the snack options are more than enough food for us. We always budget way more than we spend on food and I have teenagers. And honestly the biggest way to save on meals is don't get a drink. The water is free and I tell the kids if they want soda they can drink a bottle from the room. I usually pick up some soda and bottles of water.

 

[jsmla]

5kidsmommy thank you! We have ordered from gardengrocer? I hope they do well but all the reviews said they were awesome and I could go ahead and pay and schedule a delivery so it'll be there by 9 pm the day we arrive. That way all the fruit, etc I can't take on the plane will be there. I'm not too big on eating and wasting.

I hate wasting food too and prefer to eat smaller meals so I brown bag and eat in a lot. I had the QSDP last trip and threw out more than I finished.

I've used Gardengrocer many, many, many times and have over at least ten years and have never had a problem. It's an excellent service.