DVC kitchen and dining facilities...how many use them...or do you eat most meals out?

[Dreamfinder2]

This is probably just me, but I thoroughly enjoy getting up earlier than the rest of the family and fixing breakfast on trips ... we'll do cereal and Pop-Tarts some, then one of two mornings I'll scramble some eggs and zap some of the pre-packaged microwave bacon from Hormel - easy and minimal cleanup. I'll also do pancakes - can't remember the brand, but the mix comes in a bottle. Add water, shake, and pour it in the skillet.

We'll typically do lunch in the parks, and come back late afternoon for sandwiches, Stoffer's lasagna, bagged prepped salad, etc., in the room. We have relatives in St. Pete, and they'll come over and I might just pull out all the stops (OK, I've done that once.) We'll do one or two nice meals out.

Being able to do meals is a big plus for me; blame my inherited Scottish thrift, but by eating in I don't feel as guilty for those dinnertime splurges.

My wife, BTW, doesn't lift a finger at mealtimes. That's at my insistence. She does throw a load of clothes or towels in the washer occasionally, tho.

 

[TwirlerGirl]

We eat at least 2 meals per day in the room. Always breakfast, lunch the days we go to MGM or Epcot because they are opened late and are easy take in small sections. If its really hot we come home for lunch and a swim break. The key to this system for us is; one meal is steak, salad, bake potato which is easy to make and little clean up. We also bring a slow cooker with us, pot roast can cook itself while you are in the parks. Froozen stuff pasta shells & sauce will slow cook on low and be ready when you return.
Short ribs and B-B-Que Sauce is another treat in the slow cooker. And the list goes on.
That allows us to target special restaurants each day and still stay on a budget. We did Chef Mickey's the first night on our last trip which introduced the characters to the grandkids and made our vacation start off with a bang. We always eat lunch out when going to AK, its just to far away to make it reasonable. Do what you feel is right for you and your budget. It is vacation after all.

Sandy

 

[KathyR]

We eat 2 meals a day in the room. Somedays, we even have all 3 meals in the room. It varies what meals from day to day, but 95% of the time it is 2 out of the 3 meals in the room. We have all sorts of things from pop tarts, cereal and frozen waffles to pasta with garlic bread, casseroles and frozen pizzas. We don't do anything elaborate, but we certainly get sick of all the bugers and hot dogs in the parks since we mostly do counter service and a few of us are picky eaters, so the meals in the room work perfect for filling our need for a little variety. Our meals out are split 50/50 between counter service and sit down meals.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

I have been doing the "timeshare thing" since I was 15 with mom and dad. I am 34 and own 4 - Well 3 until friday and my DVC purchase will be complete!!! I dread traveling without a kitchen, even if its just myself and the hubby. I have 2 kids DS3 and DD10. Both good eaters, When at Disney (we have rented or paid cash in the past for DVC properties(Vero) or cabins) we always pack a suitcase for food and pick up stuff there. Always eat breakfast in, coffee, juice, muffins, bagels, toast and fruit. Lunch in if we are just hanging at the resort, usually hotdogs, PB&J, egg salad or tuna - nothing fancy. While at WDW I have never "cooked" dinner, but have brought it back or had it delivered. Now while at Vistana or our timeshare in Sint Maarten, I will bring some meals - lasagna, sauce and meatballs, chicken parm, stuff that freezes easy and you can just pop in the oven, not much to prepart. Don't get me wrong, we like to eat out dinner, but if your tired from the parks, or exhausted from a day at the beach, the last thing you want to do is get dressed to go to dinner. It also keeps the kids pleasant and if they are happy, we are all happy!!!!We also keep our beer, soda and buy a 2.5 gallon container of water for the fridge and bring the water in bottles with us. Or a nice cold beer while sitting at the pool!!

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We eat breakfast in the room, except for one character breakfast or Spoodles breakfast per trip (we stay at BWV). Lunch is in the room about half the time; rest are fast food on the BW, at the pool, or at one of the parks. If we eat in the room, many times this is leftovers from a previous night's dinner. Dining around the world is one of the special things we enjoy at WDW, so we eat out most nights, although I usually order a pizza for delivery once during a trip, usually on a day when we might have done a character breakfast.

When we stop at VB after our January stay at BWV, we eat almost every meal out, including breakfast. Sometimes we "survive" on two meals a day (plus snacks by the pool or in the Green Cabin Room ) because you get so much food in the restaurants.

Ralph

 

[ncligs]

We have never used the stove yet in 4 yrs , mainly we have breakfast in the room(coffee,juice,doughnuts,cereal,etc).
We don't have any small children, so we are mainly eating out at different resraunts,parks,etc.
Plus , when you are on "VACATION" you shouldn't be cooking, my wife says.

P.S. Where is the stove located in the 1BR?

 

[BigTigger]

Our gang of six (DD's 16, 13, 13, &10) eats breakfast in the room with exception of one "brunch" at Olivia's on our designated sleep-in day following an E-Ticket night or other later night special event. Our breakfast will vary from cereals to eggs & bacon to pancakes to omelettes to hot muffins. Even with all the fixings, it's a big saving over the $60 or so tab for brunch for all of us on the one brunch out. We also stock up on microwave popcorn and other snacks to keep the kids (and big kids too) full between meals. We mostly eat lunch at the parks, but bring a backpack with juices and munchies to take the edge off if mid-morning hunger pangs strike. Dinner is usually at the parks, or if back in the room it's haute cuisine (NOT!!) of Mac n' Cheese, order out Pizza, etc.

Overall, I'd classify our usage of the cooking facilities at DVC as an enabler. What that means is that we save a bit on breakfast and "tweeners" and it enables us to spend it on a few more meals out at Epcot restaurants that we couldn't afford to eat at if every meal was at theme park prices. We spend about $100 on food (in, out and in between) for our family of six each trip.

 

[Aurora3]

I'm a 2 out of 3 kind of person. We ate 2 out of three meals a day in the unit.
Our first DVC vacation to the World was this summer in a one bedroom and I planned 2 meals in the room each day. In 11 days we only ate two breakfasts out. We probably ate only two lunches in. Since its only myself and my daughter on our WDW trips it was really easy to plan meals. I flew into Orlando and did not rent a car so my one grocery stop had to last 11 days. Actually I brought a lot of packaged goods with me in a suitcase (which I then used for souveniers on the way back) and stopped only for fruit, vegtables and dairy.
I definitely felt better about what I was feeding my child when we ate in.
Our next trip will be 8 days long, 5 days in a BCV studio and 3 days at a convention at Coronado Springs. Since many of the meals are part of the convention package I'm planning on eating out lunch and dinner and just doing breakfast in the room. The trip after that I plan to be in a one bedroom again and go back to the 2 out of 3 in the unit plan.

 

[jcanary]

I guess because of the fussy eaters that our kids are, we eat alot in our villa. We have one breakfast out, and sometimes pick up donuts, which we eat in the room, and the rest we eat breakfast in our villa. For Lunch, since we go in the summer, 90% of the time, we use this time to regroup back in our villas and decide if we go swimming or shopping in the hot afternoon. For dinner, again because of the varied tastes of friends and family, we eat atleast 50% of our meals in our room. This year we will be taking my daughter and 3 of her friends, 16 year olds, and we will probably eat some late lunches, 3-4pm, out. But since they are on their own, they will be expected back at the villa for lunch so we can see what's happening. Plus they want to do the boat and bike plan at the POLY or VWL, so they want to go there in the afternoons.
A lot of the meals that I cook are ones that I do on time bake, like whole chickens, etc, which I set up and then go to the pool. I cook a lot like I do at home. My husband even pitches in on one or two meals. I can't go on vacation without cooking some meals.

 

[DiznEeyore]

We actually use the kitchen quite a bit. Like so many have already said, except for a character meal, we have breakfast in the villa every day. Then we usually plan for one meal "out" in the parks each day with the other two being eaten at "home".

We do this for several reasons: 1 - picky eaters! LOL 2 - testy tummies that don't take well to too many "eat-out" meals in a row and 3 - Disney meals can get expensive!

 

[tiggerguy2000]

We always use the kitchen and all that comes with it. Being that we have gone one or two times a year for the last six years we eat two or three meals a day out of our home away from home. The one and two bedroom setups are great. We dont go crazy spending all day in the parks or dont even go for days at a time. We hang around the resort and have all our meals just like at home. Last year i invited freinds and got a two bedroom and they could not believe how we spent our vacation in luxury. They have the $35.00 a night who cares its just for sleeping attitude. I thought that the stay would have changed their mind and joined but no such luck. They think the days suites outside is better. Last summer they came down again while we where at the boardwalk and they at days suites at Old town amusements we went over and it was horrible. It's great for groups of kids who want a place to party but not for my family. DVC is the best of the best.

tiggerguy2000 ºoº

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, we ALWAYS eat breakfast in the villa. If we have guests who are pinching pennies, we will eat more meals in the villa, but if it is just the two of us, we eat one big meal out at one of our many favorite WDW eateries and might do a light snack back at OKW. If we have guests staying with us, we usually do one big sit down dinner in the villa for them. Otherwise, they are pretty much on their own for meals other than breakfast. Keep in mind most of our trips are at least 10 days, so we get tired of meals out sometimes!

 

[MinnieGi]

On our first trip this past Nov. to OKW, we loved having the kitchen!! With a 2yo it was really nice having snacks readily available in the kitchen at any hour of the day!

Breakfast - everyday except for our CRT breakfast day
Lunch & Dinner - never
Snacks - Everyday!

 

[joepoe]

Breakfasts always unless we do a character breaky, cereal, muffins, coffee, juice.

Lunch, sometimes- especially on pool days: pb & j, maybe mac and cheese.

Dinner, once per trip we make spaghetti and meatballs, another time we order in pizza. Major savings and good for re-charging batteries!

Taking advantage of the kitchen, on the average, saves our family of 5 about $650 IN RESTAURANT CHARGES FOR A WEEK'S TRIP!

 

[Sharper]

We use the 'frig for drinks (milk, oj and cokes), the coffeemaker and perhaps the microwave for popcorn. We have NEVER cooked a meal.

None of us are big breakfast eaters, so usually it is a glass of milk and maybe a poptart for the kids, then lunch and dinner out. (Sometimes we plan a late, big lunch and "snack" around it. Fruit, yogurt and other generally ok snacks are readily available in most of WDW)

There are too many wonderful restaurants out there which we miss when we are away, and new ones to try!

 

[hoosiergirl]

We eat breakfast in our room as well as many lunches and dinners. Then we "splurge" for a few nice meals. Truthfully, we don't like eating out a lot. The kids like to be able to sprawl out in front of the TV and eat while DH and I have our meal together. We like to unwind before hitting the parks again and rather than spend our time waiting to be served, etc., we get to relax in the comfort of our "home". Our meals are, however, limited to fairly easy things (ie sandwiches, microwavables, etc.) and more "treats" than we have at home. We tend to eat almost all meals in the room when we're at VB because it's just so much easier than getting ready to go out. (Swimsuits are our main apparel there!)

I almost forgot--we almost always order a stuffed crust pizza from Giordano's (offsite) while we're there. My DH loves their pizza and we usually get enough so that we can have leftovers.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

We generally eat the majority of our meals in the room. When we do the parks, we usually break around lunch time and head back to eat and swim/nap. We always plan for at least one evening meal out, but it is definately a money saver to eat most meals in. We always make quick and easy meals like spaghetti or hamburgers, nothing fancy.

 

[DeeP]

We usually eat breakfast everyday at our villa, which is just juice, cereal, doughnuts. Once in a while we will eat lunch in our room but mostly we eat lunch out and we always eat dinner out, unless we order room service. We enjoy the many great WDW restaurants too much to be eating in our villa. To us, eating out at the WDW restaurants is a big part of our trip. We do like having the kitchen for snacks and drinks and to reheat leftovers, but the stove, I do not think I have ever even turned on the stove in a DVC unit!!!! When I am on vacation I want to be pampered and to eat great food; spaghetti and meatballs in our villa is not my idea of vacation or great food, not when I can be eating at the Cal Grill, Flying Fish or Jiko, etc. and get fantastic meals that are served to me.

 

[JADEMM]

Breakfast 90%
Lunch 10%
Dinner 10%
Snacks most everynight late.

 

[yesdisneyfool]

We always eat breakfast in our room. We make a character breakfast or lunch for 1 day during our trip.

If we stay for 5 or more days, we will do a relaxing day where we eat all meals in the room (1br or higher) and just do resort or shopping stuff.

We also use the kitchen for snacks and drinks.

Have a Magical Holiday stay in your new Home away from Home.