Does anyone else take food with them?

[Aisling]

While in the parks, I'm not a bag lady, only because I'd rather put aside a few dollars every week leading up to vacation to pay for all the drinks, ponchos if needed, whatever. I would love to save money by bagging, but my family and I really can't stand holding anything bigger than a fanny pack. Even our souvenirs get sent to the hotel so we don't have to carry the bags. DH was embarrassed, though, when I wouldn't even carry a bag full of postcards and had them sent to the room.

I do, however, buy bottled water, a case of soda, and munchies at the town car grocery stop, to avoid paying for room service!

 

[WillAndFinn'sMom]

Originally posted by Aisling
Even our souvenirs get sent to the hotel so we don't have to carry the bags. DH was embarrassed, though, when I wouldn't even carry a bag full of postcards and had them sent to the room.

Do they charge for that service? Gosh, I know I'm coming across sounding very cheap. At this point in our lives, though, it is a struggle to save just the $1,300 for the room and tickets. I'm just trying to get an idea of how much extra we will need to have available.

 

[DMRick]

I'd rather put aside a few dollars every week leading up to vacation to pay for all the drinks, ponchos if needed, whatever.

Whatever works for each of us. I put aside a few extra dollars each week too, so I can go several times a year (no cheap thing form NYS!). Even if I bought new poncho's and drinks while there..I would end up carrying them : ) And I like my snacks..they don't sell what I bring for a price I'm comfortable spending..I'd rather save it for airfare (not that I'm saying Disney is overpriced LOL). I do make some exceptions for the grands of course.
We had a not so good experience last time when sending items to our hotel..and it cost me way too much in time rebuying and fixing it....so we either carry it if light, shop at the end of the day, or get a shopping pass for a morning (when we didn't have AP's) we set aside for shopping. I do find now, I have been so many times, there is very little shopping left to do LOL!

 

[Aisling]

Do they charge for that service?

It's a fee complimentary service for them to send your purchases over to your hotel, but only if it's an onsite hotel.
I'm sorry to hear that DMRick didn't have a good experience with this. It always worked out perfectly for us. I hope it stays that way!

 

[DMRick]

I'm sorry to hear that DMRick didn't have a good experience with this. It always worked out perfectly for us.

It has always worked out perfectly for us too. I liked it better when they put the stuff in your room. But last time we had delivery, they had it piled behind the counter in the hotel store..and put much heavier stuff on top. When we picked up, we watched the CM "paw" through the packages on the floor (for lack of a better word). One of our engraved ornaments were smashed, and our pins were missing..one of the pins had been one returned by someone and no longer sold at Disney. It wasn't replaceable. One of our freezer mugs had a crack, and the store manager at the hotel acted like it was our fault for not coming as soon as they called to pick them up. We would have, had we gotten a call. It took forever to figure out everything.
I also find filling out the forms after we buy for delivery, takes up time too. Not for us anymore.
Last visit we actually had the stuff shipped to home. We paid no tax, so it worked out just about the same. That stuff came in much better shape.

 

[BuffaloDisney]

Our family vacation is normaly 9-10 days at a DVC resort. We make good use of the full kitchen.
BREAKFAST: cereal, toast, or bagel at the resort.
LUNCH: eaten at the park restaurants.
DINNER: easy to make dinner back at the resort (eg. tacos, spaghetti, BLT's).

We too get tired of eating out too much.
The money saved by eating at the resorts is then put back to WDW in the form of other purchases.

What works for one family, doesn't always work for others. So just do what ever it takes to get the most out of your vacation and ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY.

 

[ducklite]

I've had the same problems as DMRick with shipping tot eh hotel.

Smashed to smithereens merchandise, missing merchandise...it would have saved a lot of aggravation to either spend a few quarters and stash purchases in a locker, or just carry them with me.

Anne