Do you cook?

[wendy774]

We are going for 8 nights next May and we are thinking we may want to cook 1 or 2 dinners in our 1 br. Last year we went for 9 nights on DDxP and we got so sick of eating out that we thought we might want to try to eat in our room. But this time we are not doing any dining plans opting instead for TIW and I'm thinking this will help us not feel so sick of eating out. I can't decide if we should do 1 or 2 nights in. I know we will be doing breakfast in a couple of mornings but lunch will always be in a park. Do you ever cook dinner? And, what do you make?

 

[jdmn2010]

We usually only have breakfast in the room, but I have made dinner here and there. I make something simple like pasta with jarred sauce, mac n cheese, quesadillas or even just a can of soup. It is sometimes nice after a long day to have a quiet and simple meal in the room.

 

[seelyt2]

I cook 80% of the time while there as that was the selling-point for us - to save on food costs while in the World. Although I don't do extravagant meals, it's do-able. Since we fly, I order groceries from Garden Grocers and they deliver right to my villa or front desk - depending on the time we get in. Breakfasts consist of pre-mixed pancakes from the box or english muffins and bacon. For lunches we get make turkey or ham sandwiches, mac & cheese, salsa and chips...lunch kind of stuff. For dinner, because I want to have MY vacation too, I've ordered frozen pizzas, hot dogs, Perdu chicken tenders (which are quite tasty and the kids love them), I've made chicken picata, homemade chicken noodle soup, pasta, made a salad. Like I said - I try to make easy to make items since I don't want to be in the kitchen (much) and on my feet when I get back from the parks.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

We do cook. How much differs each vacation.

One March we had twelve people in a grand villa in SSR. One night we bbq'd at the Congress park pavilion. We ate in the pavillion. It was great as we had small children and they could play on the play equipment or in the pool while we got ready. It was much better than dragging them to a restaurant in the evening. The teenagers could eat quickly and then head to DTD. The adults just stayed put with their wineglasses. We also made pasta and chicken other various nights.

Last April we had a boardwalk view one-bedroom for just the two of us. We cooked quite a few nights. It was great to stay later in the pool while others were hurrying to get to reservations. We cooked later and watched the evening activity on the Boardwalk while eating.

I love to go to restaurants but sometimes a day where there are no fixed time committments to meet is great too.

 

[dzorn]

Yes. DD has food allergies and as good as Disney is sometimes it is nice to have simple, healthy non indulgent meal.

We keep it simple. Marinated baked chicken. Make a big batch and can use it for pasta alfredo, chicken ceasar salad, with some veggies and other sides.

Denise in MI

 

[CMOORE185]

We eat breakfast in the villa everyday, never lunch as we are always out and about, we cook dinner maybe once or twice. Of course there are always snacks and frozen pizzas if anyone gets hungry.

 

[joihan777]

For us the having a decent kitchen was a main consideration. At Disneyland Grand Californian the kitchen was quite serviceable (although I prefer natural gas) and all the utensils were there. We cooked all breakfasts, and 75% of dinners. Lunches were fifty/ fifty. Late snacks were great too!

One word of caution... I don't play around in the kitchen.... I've watched one too many Iron Chefs =P so I like my spice rack right next to me. They DO NOT come with spice racks of any kind. Pre-plan your menus! We did a lot of bulk items used in multiple meals. There is a Costco a few miles from Disneyland.

Also, their knives are pretty mediocre... no double Henckels =(
Bring your own knife set if you use them a lot.
(I do American/Italian/Mediterranean/Japanese/Latino cuisine)

 

[mopee3]

moe

 

[Longhairbear]

We cook all our meals in the villa with the exception of 2-3 dinners out at a table service restaurant during the week stay.

 

[Kaylove]

We cook sometimes, but it's usually simple things like
Nachos, or tacos lol
Most of the time we'll bring something home like chinese.
Usually we eat at a resturaunt 2 days out of the week we stay.

 

[Pakey]

For years we didn't do it but the food quality at the restaurants has deteriorated enough that we now only eat out once every other day; the rest of the time, we eat in the villa.

For breakfast we usually do oatmeal or toast. Lunch is sandwiches. For snacks we enjoy hummus. Dinner is easy stuff like mac and cheese, hamburgers, tacos, etc.

 

[murcor]

I love to eat out but I also love a simple quiet evening around the resort.

Eating out is very time consuming and if we were to leave the resort just to eat you would have to plan on at least 3 hours before you are back!


So, we do most breakfasts in the room, cereal, fruit, coffee etc

Lunch at the park or by the pool

Dinners are mostly simple, nachos, hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza, simple, simple, simple

Every year I say I want to do the BBQ and this year I will. We are taking my brother-n-law and family. I can picture the kids playing and swimming while we cook and watch

 

[Sammie]

Nope, we have breakfast in the room and snacks but have never cooked a dinner. We do get carryout sometimes and have it for dinners.

 

[dblr]

Almost always we do breakfast in the villa, if we drive we take our crockpot and plan a meal or two with it, sauce & meatballs & sausage then a pasta to got with. We also cook some extra meals at home so we only need to do a reheat there. This is mostly if we drive, if we fly it can be a whole new plan.

 

[kikiq]

We cook especially if the extended family is with us. Usually have grocery delivery by WeGoShop (Garden Grocer is the other great service). Make a big pot of pasta the first night, always have a roasted chicken or two delivered and usually grill one or two meals.

At the VGC this last weekend, we ate in the villa. For the cost of feeding 9 of us at Storytellers or Goofy's Kitchen, we fed everyone in the villa for 4 days plus hosted an extended family mini reunion with 15 adults and had money left over.

We took over both grills at VGC for the mini family reunion

Last month when we were at SSR, I found a frozen bag meal at Publix that took only 10 minutes to microwave, low sodium and my picky DH likes it! Cost...$2.50 on sale, added some more chicken, dinner rolls and fruit salad, total cost = $7.50!!!

 

[dzorn]

We cook especially if the extended family is with us. Usually have grocery delivery by WeGoShop (Garden Grocer is the other great service). Make a big pot of pasta the first night, always have a roasted chicken or two delivered and usually grill one or two meals.

At the VGC this last weekend, we ate in the villa. For the cost of feeding 9 of us at Storytellers or Goofy's Kitchen, we fed everyone in the villa for 4 days plus hosted an extended family mini reunion with 15 adults and had money left over.

We took over both grills at VGC for the mini family reunion

Last month when we were at SSR, I found a frozen bag meal at Publix that took only 10 minutes to microwave, low sodium and my picky DH likes it! Cost...$2.50 on sale, added some more chicken, dinner rolls and fruit salad, total cost = $7.50!!!

I would love it if the WDW resorts had gas grills.

Denise in MI

 

[Tiger926]

Yup, and we love it! Just recently started to cook though - we've owned for 7 years now, and used to do 2-3 TS meals per day with either DDE/TIW, DP or DxDP.

We realized last summer how much money we have wasted on Disney food, and we have decided no more of that! We've eaten pretty much almost everywhere, including Signatures and a few special events, and we've noticed such a decline in food and service at most places, but such a huge increase in prices, especially since we have to travel during peak seasons.

That being said, we now eat 2 meals per day in our villa, and eat 1 meal at a restaurant as it's better for our touring schedule. We love eating a big breakfast in our villa, and dinner. If we stay at OKW, which we absolutely love, we adore eating dinner out on the balcony. We do this each night at home in the spring and summer months too! Love that!

Not only are we saving a ton of money, but we have nice family time together, and we get to eat good food, as we cook very healthy here at home, and like to do that on vacation too. We do not eat out at home, so we love being able to hang out in our villa, eat good food, take a rest and go back to the parks feeling refreshed!

We really love cooking in our villa now! Tiger

 

[lakohls]

While staying at WDW DVC we have not "cooked" much yet - just the basics for the kids if they are hungry & reheating leftovers for the adults. But we do eat breakfast at the condo 5 of 7 days. GardenGrocer.com was a great service our last trip & I plan to use them again in Nov. We are staying a little longer this trip, so I am planning to really look at cooking a couple of nights for dinner - maybe a lasagna (love leftovers) and grilling one night - if there are grills at Kidani?

Other vacations we generally do cook alot, not sure why I don't as much at Disney Oh Well!. Maybe I just want more of a vacation from reality!.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Yes. We cook a few meals while we're down there (whether for lunch or dinner). Just depends on what we're doing, and if we're going to a park that day. No matter what we're doing, breakfast is always in the room.

Things we grill/cook:

* Hot dogs or hamburgers, fruit and baked fries/tater tots
* Spaghetti or Johnny Marzetti
* Grilled/BBQ chicken, potatoes and veggie
* Frozen pizza
* Taco salad (nachos or fritos, hamburger, chili powder, cheese, lettuce, tomato, red beans, tomato sauce, onion and sour cream - one of my favs and super quick)
* Eggs, bacon/sausage, biscuits
* Grilled cheese and soup

Here's what I have planned for our 10 days in July. Days 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 are either park or water park days.

Day 1 - Arrive at 2:30, Earl of Sandwich (dinner)
Day 2 - Cereal/Bagels, Lunch @ Water Park, Coronado Springs
Day 3 - Eggs, bacon/sausage, biscuits (brunch), Planet Hollywood @ 5:45
Day 4 - Cereal Bagels, Mama Mel @ 1:45, Pizza
Day 5 - Grilled cheese, soup, fruit (brunch), Burgers, Tater Tots, Veggie, Fruit
Day 6 - Cereal Bagels, Le Cellier @ 1:15, Earl of Sandwich
Day 7 - Eggs, bacon/sausage, biscuits (brunch), Cape May @ 5:35
Day 8 - Cereal Bagels, The Plaza @ 1:15, Coronado? (dinner)
Day 9 - Hot Sandwiches, vegetable, fruit (brunch), Whispering Canyon @ 5:25
Day 10 - Cereal Bagels, Rainforest Cafe @ 2:45 Hot Dogs, Sauce, Fruit & Fries

 

[taaren]

We like fancy breakfasts with slow mornings (DH makes wonderful Eggs Benedict! I make great Crepes), so we utilize the full kitchen then, but in the evenings we usually do one or two fancy meals out (Blue Bayou, Wine Country Trattoria), and the other evenings we do quick in-room meals like a rotisserie chicken from Costco + their pre-made mac & cheese you pop in the oven and eat + premixed salad so we feel okay about splurging on the nights we eat out. Also pre-made frozen lasagnas are great since usually after walking and riding rides all day we like to not work as hard and relax (although sometimes our cocktails can get fancy by then!). There are some frozen stir-fry bags that are also pretty handy then we make rice on the stove. Also take-and-bake pizza is nice, cheap, simple, and feeds a crowd well. Not sure if Orlando has Costco-esque options but we'll be trying preordering from Von's this fall for the first time so hopefully they have fairly similar ideas.
For trips when we have kids the essentials tend to be: smoothie ingredients to throw in the blender and Bagel Bites. Its not cooking but utilizes the oven, and if it keeps the small ones happy ---> less whiny kids = happy parents. One of the many reasons I the one/two bedroom over the studio/hotel units.