Do you cook?

[VWL2001]

We usually book a studio, as we have only 3 in our family (10 y/o son). We don't "cook", but we do have breakfast in the room every day. We bring bagels, muffins, cereal, juice, etc.

The one time we went to Vero we got a one br, and I decided to cook. We spent quite a while buying groceries, in addition to bringing stuff from home, but after that one trip decided that it was way too much work for me!

There are plenty of other ways to save money on food. Cooking full meals will not be my choice for saving from now on!

 

[byoung]

No cooking here, maybe heat up a snack in the evening.

 

[DonnaL]

Yes ...I always cook at least three or four meals (we usually do eat out at least four times). We always do breakfast in room (whether we have a full kitchen or just a studio) Very easy to make microwave egg sandwiches, etc. I usually make spaghetti sauce/meatballs at home and freeze (enough meatballs for two meals.....meatball sandwiches) and also I will precook, debone, and freeze enough chicken for something like chicken salad, chicken cacciatore or some recipe that uses precooked chicken, and I also precook some fresh ground meat and then freeze for use in tacos, sloppy joes, etc. Since we always fly I put together a box of staples to put my planned meals together (boxes of pasta, rice, taco shells, spices needed...premeasured into a Ziploc snack bag, maybe some cereal .....taken out of boxes and put into Ziplocs, coffee, sugar, etc.) and UPS it to myself at whichever resort c/o of front desk......I put name, checkin date and ressie # on box ......UPS website will give you specifics as to how long you need to allow for delivery. Then, the frozen items go in my carryon (which is a larger Thermos insulated bag) and even with a 2 hour drive to PHL and then a 2 hr 15 min flight and the drive from MCO/WDW everything is still frozen when we get there. However, with new carryon regs .......I don't know if I'll be able to take those things anymore......nothing is liquid or gel, but, frozen solids. We do make a grocery run our first day for things like milk, juice, fresh rolls, etc.
By the way, we're also at SSR in mid October......our dates are 10/14 thru 10/20......will you be there during that time? You'll love SSR........it's a beautiful resort......at first I wasn't sure, but, this will be our third stay there over the past two years and then it's back to our 1st home....VWL.....in January.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

We always do breakfast in the room. Not necessarily cooked, cereal, toast, bagels, juice, fruit...standard fare for home as well though....we then do either sandwiches and lunch stuff or a quick dinner meal at night, what ever strikes our fancy (we're never on a meal reservation schedule so we just go with the flow of what the family feels like...for the most part we try to do 1 - 2 meals a day in the room, even if they're nothing special it still saves a boat load of cash

 

[LIFERBABE]

I work full time, so I miss cooking full meals at home.

Our vacations are more relaxed and I dont like being on anyones schedule (ADR's) so we book a couple of fun meals or meals we really want to do and we keep food in our villa for the other times.

I always take my Mickey Waffle maker and we have waffles for breakfast most mornings. I rarely get to use it at home, so its nice to do special things for the boys while we are away.

Another favorite is we always plan pool days and grill by the quiet pool when at SSR.

Love fixing a nice salad and dining on the balcony

For us its not about saving money (although we do save), but about convenience and vacationing the way we like. And I agree, it does get old really quick, when you dine out every day, especially on the longer trips.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

WOW, thanks all for the tips and advice.It's interesting reading about what everyone else does. We will definitely be doing breakfast and at least attempting a couple of dinners. We also want to venture out and go to some Non-Disney restaurants this time. We won't do lunch in the room b/c once we're out of the room in the morning, we don't come back until late-night.

DonnaL- Our check in date is the 17th and we will be there until the 25th. Have you put your name on the looooong October list? We'll have to arrange at least a quick hello!!

 

[NMW]

We don't cook at Disney. We plan to always stay in 1 or 2 bdrms for the space and the washer/dryer-NOT the kitchen! We do like having a big fridge though.

We fly from Newark NJ, so we don't bring any food with us. We don't rent a car, we use a limo service. We do have the driver stop for soda, beer, water, juice for the kids, laundry detergent, wine-but no food.

We like resort and character breakfasts. We always do Crystal Palace, Noway's Princess one, Donald's in AK, Cape May Cafe, Spoodles a couple of times, and this year we are doing the Lilo and Stich one at 'Ohana. I'm droping CRT because we just hate the food every time we go. DD 4 will just have to deal with only one princess breakfast. We usually do the Boardwalk bakery one time too.

We aren't in the room for lunch-EVER! We grab CS in the parks and do a couple TS lunches (Brown Derby, Sci-Fi and ESPN on our check-in day) We always do a TS dinner somewhere. We have many favorites.

I'm a stay at home mom and I feel like all I do is cook for my three kids and whatever friends they happen to have over. I wouldn't want to do it on our vacation. Plus, DH really prefers to eat out on vacation. I think it would be impossible to convince him to eat dinner at our villa instead of say, 'Ohana! He'd look at me like I was nuts. Breakfast would even be a tough sell. Plus, we plan our dinners (locations/ADR times) around night-time events like Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic, going to DTD, the Halloween or Christmas parties. We really could not be in the villa cooking and eating dinner and make these events. Do people who cook dinner skip these events? Granted, we usually go in early Dec (this year Oct) when the parks close earlier than Summer and only have one showing of an event like Fantasmic.

 

[ZachnElli]

We usually do breakfast (eggs, toast, cereal, bagels) and lunch (sandwiches, chips) in the room. But never a full dinner meal. We are doing the dining plan this week, but I think it will be the only time we do. Once I have to pay for the little one and my middle one as an adult (she's 7), it just won't be worth it to me.

 

[llp479]

We always do breakfast in the room, and usually at least 3 meals during a week long stay. We've made frozen pizza, sloppy joe's, spaghetti, and soup.

It's so nice not to HAVE to go out. Especially if the kids are tired, it's nice just to let them put on their PJ's and chill.

 

[Longhairbear]

I always make eggs benedict with home fries for one meal, breakfast or dinner. Other breakfast meals, and some dinners I cook in the unit. Lunches are always at the parks, or take out from whatever DVC we are staying at.

 

[DonnaL]

Yes Tara, I did put us on the long October list......love to see you and your family for a quick hello. Too bad our grandson won't be with us this trip ......he's four like your middle daughter (well, he'll be five in Sept). It's always nice when kids can meet some friends their age at the pool. But, this trip is just DH and I with some friends of ours..........our adult children and grandson will be visiting with us in January.

 

[shellbelle1971]

We cook a lot in the rooms because with 6 kids eating in restaurants can be unpleasant. And not just for us! It's so difficult for small children to keep up their best "restaurant" manners for every meal for a week, and we'd hate to spoil someone else's dining experience with a crying baby or whiny toddler, or whatever.

Breakfast: usually milk, cold cereal, juice, fruit. I buy 6 gallons of milk, which is usually enough to last the full week if we're letting the kids have something less nutritious for lunch/dinner (hey--it's vacation! soda or kool-ade is a treat I wouldn't ordinarily buy.)

Lunches: sandwiches, chips, mini-carrots, celery, fruit, etc. We usually eat counter service (occasionally table service/character meals) for lunch in the parks on days we're there, and only have lunch in the room on our non-park days. But I always pack snacks for the little ones in the backpack, since I can never be sure they're going to like what's available in the park.

Dinners: usually make something "kid friendly" (or have kids do it--the older two know how to cook) like mac n cheese, spaghetti, or frozen lasagna or the like, plus bagged salad and some kind of dessert for the kids to eat "at home", then DH and I go out for dinner. mmmmm...cheesecacke factory! sushi!

I plan on about $250 for groceries for the week, which is more than I would spend at home (due to "convenience foods"), but far less than we would spend if we tried to eat in restaurants all the time.

We make sure the kids have plenty of treats that they wouldn't usually get at home, and since they tend not to like the food in the parks anyway, they're happiest with this arrangement, and I'm happy with the $ saved!

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Yes Tara, I did put us on the long October list......love to see you and your family for a quick hello. Too bad our grandson won't be with us this trip ......he's four like your middle daughter (well, he'll be five in Sept). It's always nice when kids can meet some friends their age at the pool. But, this trip is just DH and I with some friends of ours..........our adult children and grandson will be visiting with us in January.

I will send you a pm in the beginning of October. There are a couple of other Disers staying at SSR that I'm trying to arrange something with. We can all meet up together. Don't forget your lime green!

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

We cook a lot in the rooms because with 6 kids eating in restaurants can be unpleasant. And not just for us! It's so difficult for small children to keep up their best "restaurant" manners for every meal for a week, and we'd hate to spoil someone else's dining experience with a crying baby or whiny toddler, or whatever.

Breakfast: usually milk, cold cereal, juice, fruit. I buy 6 gallons of milk, which is usually enough to last the full week if we're letting the kids have something less nutritious for lunch/dinner (hey--it's vacation! soda or kool-ade is a treat I wouldn't ordinarily buy.)

Lunches: sandwiches, chips, mini-carrots, celery, fruit, etc. We usually eat counter service (occasionally table service/character meals) for lunch in the parks on days we're there, and only have lunch in the room on our non-park days. But I always pack snacks for the little ones in the backpack, since I can never be sure they're going to like what's available in the park.

Dinners: usually make something "kid friendly" (or have kids do it--the older two know how to cook) like mac n cheese, spaghetti, or frozen lasagna or the like, plus bagged salad and some kind of dessert for the kids to eat "at home", then DH and I go out for dinner. mmmmm...cheesecacke factory! sushi!

I plan on about $250 for groceries for the week, which is more than I would spend at home (due to "convenience foods"), but far less than we would spend if we tried to eat in restaurants all the time.

We make sure the kids have plenty of treats that they wouldn't usually get at home, and since they tend not to like the food in the parks anyway, they're happiest with this arrangement, and I'm happy with the $ saved!

So you can bring snacks into the parks? Like little bags of graham crackers or fruit snacks, etc.? What about bottles of water? I know what you mean about it being to difficult for the kids to keep up their manners at a table service. Even my DD9, who at home would be very well behaved at a restaurant, would get a little antsy at WDW. The whole vacation is such an adrenaline rush, it's hard to "calm down" to eat. I think eating by ourselves, at a table, would be much more convenient.

 

[shellbelle1971]

I honestly hadn't thought about the parks not allowing outside food in...so now I'm wondering whether this is *legal* or not Our diaper bag always contains clif bars, and on park days I've added fresh fruit (oranges seem to pack well) and string cheese or some other more *filling* snack for my child with food allergies as well. (Like I said, these are things our kids like.) We've also always put one frozen water bottle per person into the stroller. It certainly helps with the kids' behavior to keep them fed with things they like and hydrated. (Well rested is important, too. Luckily, my littlest ones nap very well in the stroller!) Security can plainly see these things when they look through our bags, but has never said anything...

 

[Fitswimmer]

We do breakfasts for all but the very last day, and if we're staying more than 3 days, we do lunches too. We've never done dinner in, although we will probably do a LOT of meals in at HHI. We're traveling with a couple and a 17 month old so they are really budget minded.

 

[Disneyrsh]

. .

 

[DonnaL]

We have 32 oz plastic water bottles with insulated holders on a shoulder strap for all of us and take them into the parks all the time. I got them a few years back at Big Lots for about $3 each. Every night I wash them out and fill about 1/3 full and freeze overnight. In the morning when we're ready leave, just finish filling with water and you've got fresh, cold water for a good part of the day. Since we don't like WDW water, we buy about six or eight gallons on the first day when we hit the grocery store. However, I think for our October trip I may just order a case of water from Staples and have it delivered to the resort the day before we get there. If you're a Staples Reward member you can order the water online and shipping is free.

Tara.....sounds good.......look forward to hearing from you early October.

Donna

 

[mmmcq]

Like many others we do breakfast most days in the room except for Chef Mickey and Princess Breakfast days. The kids love egg sandwichs on english muffins that we spruce up with a slice of American cheese and a slice of pre-cooked bacon. Or they have cereal. An Irish nanny got my youngest DD hooked on hash brown potatoes (luckily they have prepackaged ones now) so we do those as well. Sometimes we can eat breakfast at and tour a park for 4 hours and get back to the room in time for lunch and then a swim.

When my youngest DD was under 4 we ate dinner in the room more often because restaurants were too hard. We eat most of our meals at Epcot because we just love walking around the lake at night before and after Illuminations. The kids really enjoy eating at different "countries" each night.

My DH loves going to the grocery store the night after we arrive. And he enjoys cooking on vacation because his schedule doesn't allow him to do so much at home. I opt out of the pm cooking chore. I'm on vacation. It's bad enough that I have to do laundry.....although over the past year I finally (my own fault) got my teens to be laundry independent and that will continue thru this next trip.

We buy lunchmeats and try to make lunches at least 2 times/trip. We also buy cheese/crackers and snacks for late afternoon in the room and then we skip appetizers and have later reservations so that we can see Illuminations or MK fireworks.

We always buy a case of water and take our own into the park. I may take the stroller this one last time (youngest is going to be 7...but she's small and won't be able to keep up with us yet) just so we can use the stroller storage.

I also freeze juice or lemonade boxes for DD's in the park so they aren't drinking soda all day long.

 

[6mouskateers]

We are planning to have breakfast in, I love the thought of having my coffee in my jammies with my mom! I really dislike the food courts in the morning rush. I am a morning person...provided I don't have to wait in line for my coffee Besides breakfast runs us the GNP of small third world countries with 4 kids--2 of them teenage boys
I am bringing my Mickey waffle iron! DS 17 makes a mean Mickey pancake
and the little ones love it!

We haven't thought much about lunches- we usually tank up at breakfast and have Mickey ice cream bars for lunch--we are sooo bad. We are planning a couple of dinners out-don't know where yet, we are living dangerously with no ADR's. I do plan to BBQ some steaks the day we get there for late lunch/early dinner then off to MNSSHP.

My mom insists on bringing a ham so I told her to knock herself out. I figure we can probably make some great sandwiches with left overs, ham biscuits for breakfasts etc.

We are only going for 5 days this trip so we will keep it simple.

I should add that we drive, so we pack up water,soda and tons of snacks.

31 days until we go!!!!!!!!!!!