Hello all. Just got back from the park again & would like to mention something few know about. We packed 18 MREs in our luggage and took them into the park, 2 a day for the family. It was GREEEAAAT!!! An MRE is military food. Military rations, but probably not what you are thinking. They come in a thick durable army green plastic pouch that you need a knife to open (the plastic ones in the park work fine). They are about the size of a 6 pack of yogurt, but all rectangle. They used to be (and have a reputation for being) very bland. Times have changed, and so have MREs. They are absolutely DELICIOUS! The slice of ham is about 1/2" thick, and sealed in its own juices, the Chicken with salsa is a big piece of chicken with a delicious red and green chile sauce/salsa.
The usual MRE consists of a something along these lines:
Chicken with salsa, crackers, cheese spread, pound cake, diced peaches, a pack of beverage powder (similiar to sweetened coolaid, but made to be more nutricious), a packet of hot or cold cocoa, a tiny lil bottle of Tabasco sauce, a packet of Folgers coffee, creamer, sugar, salt, napkin (very tightly compacted), a premoistened wipe, waterproof matches, and of course, the stove which is a thin piece of some chemical that you add a spec of water to to cook the main entree. (Yes! all that in a small bag! Remember, they are made for our fighting forces) You drop the stove in a bag with the entree, and then add the right amount of water, and put them both into a provided thick plastic bag, then put that into a cardboard box that the main entree is stored in. It cooks (steam and all) into a very hot meal.
We bought a bunch of these MREs at yard sales all last year, and planned to save them for the first big power outage/ snow storm, but wound up taking them to Disney instead.
2 MREs fed myself, my wife, my 6 year old son, and our 16 month daughter well for a lunch. We got 4 free cups of water from the nearest dining spot, and a few free utensils, and we were set. We had our delicious meal scarfed down in about 15 minutes. When you coinsider waiting in line, you come out ahead. It was a basically free meal each day for the family.
There were of course good and bad points. It wasnt as convenient as just buying it, but saved us about $35.00 per day, so I don't mind the mild inconveiniences. When you are done, a trash can is usually a few feet away, so that wasn't a problem either. Never actually being in the military, it took me a few trys before I got the heating thing down pat, but once I did, it was a snap. We sat in front of Spectromagic, right in front of the castle, and ate our meal with very few distractions.
There was no problems checking them into the parks, and we brought along lots of other snacks as well, no problems at all. Most had never seen them, and when they read the words Meals Ready to Eat, they said OK and let us through with no problems at all. I figure we saved about $150.00 over park prices on food, so that is worth the extra "inquisitive" looks that other people gave us. On one particular day, we were sitting in front of Tokyo on the wall, beside the food cart in Epcot WSC and I was eating an army green packet full of Mexican rice. I only had a plastic knife handy so I just used it, and it resembled eating rice with chopsticks. One lady walked up to us, looked at me, and said "I hate to be nosy, but what is that that you are eating? IT LOOKS DELICIOUS!!! Did you get it over there at the restaurant?" When I told her what it was she said "Hey! That was a good idea! I'll have to remember that!"
It wouldn't be for everyone, but worked quite well for us!!!
The usual MRE consists of a something along these lines:
Chicken with salsa, crackers, cheese spread, pound cake, diced peaches, a pack of beverage powder (similiar to sweetened coolaid, but made to be more nutricious), a packet of hot or cold cocoa, a tiny lil bottle of Tabasco sauce, a packet of Folgers coffee, creamer, sugar, salt, napkin (very tightly compacted), a premoistened wipe, waterproof matches, and of course, the stove which is a thin piece of some chemical that you add a spec of water to to cook the main entree. (Yes! all that in a small bag! Remember, they are made for our fighting forces) You drop the stove in a bag with the entree, and then add the right amount of water, and put them both into a provided thick plastic bag, then put that into a cardboard box that the main entree is stored in. It cooks (steam and all) into a very hot meal.
We bought a bunch of these MREs at yard sales all last year, and planned to save them for the first big power outage/ snow storm, but wound up taking them to Disney instead.
2 MREs fed myself, my wife, my 6 year old son, and our 16 month daughter well for a lunch. We got 4 free cups of water from the nearest dining spot, and a few free utensils, and we were set. We had our delicious meal scarfed down in about 15 minutes. When you coinsider waiting in line, you come out ahead. It was a basically free meal each day for the family.
There were of course good and bad points. It wasnt as convenient as just buying it, but saved us about $35.00 per day, so I don't mind the mild inconveiniences. When you are done, a trash can is usually a few feet away, so that wasn't a problem either. Never actually being in the military, it took me a few trys before I got the heating thing down pat, but once I did, it was a snap. We sat in front of Spectromagic, right in front of the castle, and ate our meal with very few distractions.
There was no problems checking them into the parks, and we brought along lots of other snacks as well, no problems at all. Most had never seen them, and when they read the words Meals Ready to Eat, they said OK and let us through with no problems at all. I figure we saved about $150.00 over park prices on food, so that is worth the extra "inquisitive" looks that other people gave us. On one particular day, we were sitting in front of Tokyo on the wall, beside the food cart in Epcot WSC and I was eating an army green packet full of Mexican rice. I only had a plastic knife handy so I just used it, and it resembled eating rice with chopsticks. One lady walked up to us, looked at me, and said "I hate to be nosy, but what is that that you are eating? IT LOOKS DELICIOUS!!! Did you get it over there at the restaurant?" When I told her what it was she said "Hey! That was a good idea! I'll have to remember that!"
It wouldn't be for everyone, but worked quite well for us!!!
. The MRE's sure are packaged well for travel, too. Glad it worked for you. And hello from a neighbor. I live in Lexington, too!
