Eating In Room/Condo

[AJMlovesRLM]

We are off to a 2BR in OKW for the first time next week and are considering the kitchen/meal issue.

How many of you actually have actually cooked & ate in your rooms?

Where have you purchased groceries from? I know Disney will do it for a fee (basics only, and a limited selection at that) and I have also seen an Ad on the DISBoards site for GardenGrocer (dot com) but I believe you have to be in your room for delivery from them (where Disney puts groceries in your unit).

Where have you got your groceries for your Disney unit? We do want to stock up on bottled water and would like some beer, so shopping for ourselves may be the only way to go for us......YUCK......

Is there a convenient Grocery store very near WDW? We have a rental car but don't really want to waste valuable Disney time shopping!!!!

 

[mickey0930]

Add me to this request, I have the same questions

 

[bgirl29]

We are going next month and plan on using Garden grocers for some items. I have read on here previously that you do not have to be in your room to recieve your groceries, in fact your hotel will place cold items in cold storage for you. I am also thinking of ordering water ahead of time from Staples as I also read on here that it is a good deal.

 

[JC Butterfly]

Well, I'm sure more experienced people than me will answer this but . . .

www.gardengrocer.com You do not have to be in your room. You don't even have to be checked in yet, they will take the delivery to bell services. Refridgerated items may be brought to guest relations. It will be available for you to take to your room when you check in or return from the parks. Or Bell services will bring it to your room for you (be sure to tip them).

Although certainly not the cheapest grocery store, I find it to be the easiest to get to: Goodings. It's right across the street from Disney's Marketplace (downtown Disney).

 

[cnids00]

We just go back 9/16 from a weeks stay at OKW, building 64 (#6424) and it was a 1 br unit. We loved the room, the space and the total ambience of this resort, it's just wonderful.

We ordered through Gardengrocer online, they calleds us as we first chose COD, then paid over the phone with CC, we made changes to our order the day before (add-ons and take offs) with no problems at all.

Our total order was around $170 for a week incl tip of $15, though I ordered a bottle of Asti for the jetted tub and never got to use it the way I had hoped .

I was too beat when evening came around, sleep was all I wanted, so next trip note to self: drink the Asti in jetted tub night of arrival!

For us I ordered a little too much for us this trip, next trip I will know better, we ate breakfast in room every morning except for one when we did Chef Mickey's, we sometimes ate lunch out and threw a pizza in the oven when we got back or just made sandwiches with chips and dip on the side. The bananas I bought got thrown away except for one my DD ate.

It's hard to figure out, at least for us what we would eat except for breakfast, it was too hot somedays to have the bigger appetite and some nights we were just too tired when we got back to eat properly

Pizza in the oven was our only really "cooking"

 

[iluveeyore]

We just stayed in a 2 bedroom at OKW - building 35 (our favourite area) - we usually stay in a 1 bedroom every year. We always rent a car for a day from Alamo (20% off with AP) - they pick you up at the resort and bring you back - book ahead online and @ $30 for 24 hour rental. We go to the Walmart Supercentre - newer one on the 535, about 10 min. drive from OKW (used $5 in gas driving around). We got beer, coolers, pop, water, all our deli meat, freezer full of stuff, snacks, etc., etc., and inexpensive Disney souvenirs, only spent about $300 to feed 7 people for ten days. I prefer to pick out my own food instead of ordering it from someone else, because you never know what's going to be on sale and some extras you might want to pick up, especially snacks to take to the parks. We also froze bottles of water every night to carry around with us the next day. I cooked one big meal a day, then everyone ate when the wanted, or reheated leftovers the next day - you'll love having a full kitchen. Believe me, because we moved for the weekend and had to buy meals, and it was nauseating how much we had to spend when all week I could just go to the kitchen whenever we were hungry and not spend $10-$20 each per meal. There are other grocery stores nearby OKW as well, I think there's one at the Crossroads just outside of Disney property on the way to Walmart, just not sure what it's called.
Have a great trip!

 

[disneyfan719]

Hi!
Our group of 12 just got back 3 weeks ago and on the first day, my parents went to the brand new Super Walmart. They bought things like bottled water, cereal, beer and frozen pizza. We would all have breakfast in the room everyday. When we got back to the room after the parks closed, we'd put ni a pizza and enjoy. We also had ice cream and snacks every night. Since the restaurant and bar were all closed by 11:30 it was nice to have snacks in the room.

The Walmart is 10 min from OKW (535 towards 192 right past Osceola Parkway on the left side)

Enjoy!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Well, I'm sure more experienced people than me will answer this but . . .

www.gardengrocer.com You do not have to be in your room. You don't even have to be checked in yet, they will take the delivery to bell services. Refridgerated items may be brought to guest relations. It will be available for you to take to your room when you check in or return from the parks. Or Bell services will bring it to your room for you (be sure to tip them).

Although certainly not the cheapest grocery store, I find it to be the easiest to get to: Goodings. It's right across the street from Disney's Marketplace (downtown Disney).

I wonder if bell services tips the gardengrocer delivery guy?

 

[dianeschlicht]

We usually go the grocery store ourselves because we have a rental car, so I can't comment on the grocery delivery services, but I CAN say we use the kitchen quite a bit at OKW.

First of all, it IS a full sized kitchen with full sized appliances and utensils, so very conveneint. We often will cook one or two large full meals just like we would at home, and usually like to do something like a roast or ham so we have leftovers for quick meals and sandwiches. We always make breakfasts in the villa, and usually do substantial things like oatmeal or pancakes that "stick with you" awhile. Pasta dishes, lasagne, and oven meals are also easy to do. Most times we will do a breakfast in the villa plus a table service restaurant each day. That leaves just a light meal or snack in the unit. We do get tired of restaurant food though, and that's when we do our full dinners in the villa.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The most impressive thing to me about eating at OKW is the fact that you have a full dining room, table, sideboard, whatever you need to enjoy a room full of people eating at a table. We were at VWL, 2 bedroom in August, and I had planned on a birthday dinner for my DS, but I got sick instead, and we only got together for cake and ice cream. We could not have fit 9 people, 3 of them young children, around any sort of table there.

I know that if I was going to think about a real dinner again, it would be in OKW!

Bobbi

 

[kcdisneymom]

We used them 2 weeks ago. Tip is calculated in the bill. We spent $140 for Seven days. Had all breakfasts in room but 1. I full meal made and one ordered from Giardano's Pizza delivery. (Chicago style stuffed pizza-huge)And still had to much food but did buy a couple things at the OKW store during the week(snacks).

 

[HGD24]

We cooked small late night snacks but not any big meals. We packed one carry-on just with food items like ramen noodles, those little coffee cakes, granola bars, fruit, tea, water and soda. We bought frozen pizzas and milk at the store at SSR. There's just two of us, so we didn't need much.

 

[Lora]

We use the kitchen a lot. We usually have a light breakfast (bagels or cereal) and return to the room for lunch (cold cuts, salads, tuna, pbj) after 3-4 hours in the parks. Sometimes we stay for lunch at the park and do supper in the room (frozen prepared foods or pasta - something quick). We usually get some snacks as well (ice cream, microwave popcorn, etc.) there are times when I cook something more substantial (chicken or beef, etc.).

I especially like having a good amount of bottle water and fresh fruit on hand. I usually buy a couple of the large (3 gal.?) dispenser bottles of water and refill our water bottles at night (freeze 1/2 bottle - fill the rest in the am).

I do not like to eat out too much at WDW (or anywhere). It's too expensive and filling. We have 3 ADRs for our upcoming 2-week trip. We will probably do counter service meals almost 1/day.

Usually we have a car (ours or a rental). Last time I rented the car specifically for grocery shopping. This time I'm trying WeGoShop because I have company and it's my daughter's birthday on the day we would normally want to get groceries.

I chose WeGoShop because the Gardengrocer didn't have the items I need and WeGoshop will go the the SuperTarget (where I would normally go).

 

[jbthi]

When it is just my DH and I we don't do any cooking. Maybe eat cereal for breakfast.

When we took my DD and her family (7 of us) we did eat in some. It gets expensive eating out all the time with 7 of us. I would bring the youngest back to rest in the afternoon and do some cooking then. I grilled a lot of chicken breasts and then cut them in strips to use in a green salad. Very easy and healthy.

I usually go to Publix by Orange Lake. I found the Goodings at Crossroads to be overpriced and even more important, terrible quality. I love the Boars Head deli meats that Publix has. Especially the Chicken Aroastica (sp?).

June

 

[solgent]

we planned carefully to bring a few things from home and to place an order with Wegoshop. same reason as the other poster-- we wanted things Garden Grocer does not offer.

part of the reason we bought into DVC was the kitchen. we like to get rooms with kitchens wherever we go. eating our simple meals in the room is not just way cheaper, it's also quicker and more relaxing for the kids, and to us it tastes great.

 

[DVCJEN]

We have demanding jobs so we don't cook much at home. We enjoy cooking together on vacation. We do breakfast in the room and do a mix of eating out and cooking. I love having bottled water and fresh fruit on hand too.

 

[DVCconvert]

How many of you actually have actually cooked & ate in your rooms?

Where have you purchased groceries from?

We/I cook and eat "ensuite" all the time! Healthier and cheaper! -- usually (have a rental car) go to Winn Dixie for groceries.

HTH

 

[paults]

Eating In Room/Condo

please no eating in the rooms oops sorry I mean no smoking

 

[jenelope]

I ate breakfast in my studio almost every single day of my last trip. Just a toasted bagel, cream cheese, fruit and tea, but it saved me a small fortune. I stopped off at SuperTarget on the way to the hotel from the airport so I didn't feel like I was cutting into Disney time. I wasn't officially there yet! On this trip, I'm not renting a car, but I intend to place an order with Garden Grocer. Besides the bagels, cream cheese and fruit, I'll also order some Diet Coke, bottled water, and a couple of bottles of wine.

Yep, you read that right. Even though wine and beer aren't listed in the products available through Garden Grocer, there's a spot on the order form for comments. People have assured me that you can request beer and wine in that area. This will be my first trip ordering from Garden Grocer, and I have to say, I'm looking forward to having someone else do the shopping for a change.

 

[PlainJane]

I've never done any major cooking in one of these units. I think we did frozen lasagna and made scalloped potatos. One thing I noticed they didn't have was pot holders.