Flying with cooler / eating in hotel

[JLa01844]

Any tips or great things to pack if you have flown with a cooler / eaten some meals in your hotel room? I just read online somewhere (not Disney related) that they have pre-made meals and froze them in ziplocs, packed into cooler frozen and enjoyed some homecooked meals from their hotel room! That made me want to do one of these

Like say soup or spaghetti and meatballs. If you froze those in single size portions, they'd get really solid. And in a cooler they would def. last the airplane ride down to FL. Then you can pop them in your fridge, defrost as needed. Warm up in the microwave (providing you have a microwave). Now I wouldn't be to keen on eating all my meals like this but a quick breakfast & 1 meal per day, I would be very happy with...then you can have a nice meal in the park everyday and not worry to much about the normally huge food budget.

We are currently booked at AOA but I'm seriously considering looking into renting DVC points for a studio at AKL (which I would be super happy to use the in room fridge & microwave!)

 

[kaytieeldr]

Seems like a lot of trouble - and have you considered what you'll to if there's a delay on the Tarmac on either end and your food thaws? Or that the fridge is a fridge - not a freezer - and likely won't keep your food frozen?

Why not just bring portable breakfast foods like bars, bagels, instant oatmeal, even hardy fruit - and make breakfast te meal you eat in your room? Or use a grocery delivery device?

 

[Janepod]

I don't know where you're flying from but where I am (1 hour drive to airport, get there at least 1 hour before flight, 2 hour flight, min. 90 mins before I get checked in to my room) you're looking at six hours, minimum, of having food in the cooler. Remember, you won't be able to use ice packs or anything similar. Things will thaw. Not worth it, in my opinion.

 

[ssawka]

I'm not sure where you live, but most of the grocery stores around here sell dry ice. You may want to look into getting some of that if you really want to do this.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I would just stay in a value (non-suite) or mod hotel and use the extra money to eat at the resort or parks.

 

[Melynny]

I dont think you can use dry ice on an air plane, even in checked baggage. It off gasses as it evaporates - which causes the cooling effect and could cause pressure in the cooler. Never put dry ice in an sealed container or use it in an area where there is not fresh air available.

 

[Melynny]

I got so wrapped up commenting about dry ice, I forgot to really answer the question... we have flown with a small cooler, in our checked baggage. Mostly non stop, to reduce the time. We take: frozen butter, a few sticks, a block of cheddar cheese, pre cooked bacon ( this does not need refrigeration), cream cheese, yogurt, boiled eggs.. maybe, just maybe ham for a quick sandwich. Out side of the cooler, we take coffee, bagels, eng. muffins, bread crackers and popcorn. ( and candy or snack bars)

Do you see trend? We generally only take snack, breakfast type foods. Taking a pre made meal sound like a good idea, And I'll admit that I have thought of it, but end the end, we stick to breakfast and snacks, when I am on vacation, I want a break. I don't want to worry about paper plates, utensils, how to warm it up, how to clean it.. how to eat it.. etc. I can usually get by with a few paper towels and one travel knife.

 

[hsmamato2]

it sounds like a lot of trouble to me and not worth it. Most rooms don't have a microwave anyway,much less a freezer just bring cereal and bars for breakfast.......

 

[hsmamato2]

oh wait...if you switch to DVC, the studios have a small fridge and micro.... but it's small. the bigger rooms have a normal fridge. But if you're thinking dinner,why not pack some dried noodle type prepared meal in a box things to cook?Why bother with prefrozen things on a plane trip? Not to mention, wouldn' there be some kind of problem with ice/liquid for checked baggage? And,if you switch,how much would this actually save in terms of $$$ ?

 

[sookie]

I have no clue because I have never done this. Can you ship by UPS or something - with dry ice? Mailing? I know that you couldn't do this on the plane. Think if this thing exploded in your checked luggage - ugh!
It would so not be worth the hassle or trouble for me. I love what my husband cooks (I don't cook - can't stand it) and while I prefer his meals... when we are on vacation, we are on VACATION. I want someone else to have to clean up after us and to do the handiwork.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I dont think you can use dry ice on an air plane, even in checked baggage. It off gasses as it evaporates - which causes the cooling effect and could cause pressure in the cooler. Never put dry ice in an sealed container or use it in an area where there is not fresh air available.

Yes, you can ship items packed in dry ice on a plane depending on the airline. It would be easier to use the dry ice to freeze your stuff really hard before the trip and then discard the ice before checking in. We did this once for a cooler of fish we caught in Alaska and it made it on a flight from Anchorage to DC, still frozen solid.

Seems like a lot of trouble - and have you considered what you'll to if there's a delay on the Tarmac on either end and your food thaws? Or that the fridge is a fridge - not a freezer - and likely won't keep your food frozen?

They will have a cooler with them. They can keep the frozen stuff there and add ice at the hotel.

It does seem as if this would be more trouble than it's worth to save money.

 

[Chelley00]

Why not order things from a delivery service? We use Garden Grocer and order breakfast items, bottled water and snacks and then once we ordered deli meat and cheese and made lunch of sandwiches. Or, we had big lunches in the parks and had sandwiches for dinner.

 

[ssawka]

I dont think you can use dry ice on an air plane, even in checked baggage. It off gasses as it evaporates - which causes the cooling effect and could cause pressure in the cooler. Never put dry ice in an sealed container or use it in an area where there is not fresh air available.

Not to hijack the thread, but companies do this all the time. I'm not sure if it would be different for commercial airlines, but companies like Omaha Steaks ships everything in dry ice. Also some dairies (like Penn State!) will send you ice cream packed in dry ice.

 

[JLa01844]

It does seem like a lot of work but I was thinking of it on a much smaller scale than I think some of you were! The quick breakfast items are pretty standard. I think most people do that. I was thinking like if I made an asian stir fry, chicken and veggies...something like that where it's meat, rice, and veggies I could freeze that all pre-cooked and then just microwave it for lunch some days. It wouldn't be any more work than empty the contents of the bag onto a plate and pressing start on the microwave.

We are traveling with a 2 year old and I'm undecided what we are going to do about naps. If we go back to the hotel in the afternoon, the wiser thing for time and money would be to eat in the room and then head out for a really nice dinner and enjoy a park until close.

I'll probably just scrap the whole idea and buy a dining plan! LOL

Oh and in case others were curious, you can check coolers as baggage, with ice, some varieties of ice packs, dry ice... It needs to be strapped shut but easy enough to be opened for inspections. We have one of those Coleman Extreme coolers that will keep things frozen for 5 days, so logistically...frozen food, in a good cooler would survive a half day excursion.

 

[JLa01844]

Why not order things from a delivery service? We use Garden Grocer and order breakfast items, bottled water and snacks and then once we ordered deli meat and cheese and made lunch of sandwiches. Or, we had big lunches in the parks and had sandwiches for dinner.

That's a good idea! I didn't really know that there was a delivery service, I can check that out for sure.

 

[JLa01844]

oh wait...if you switch to DVC, the studios have a small fridge and micro.... but it's small. the bigger rooms have a normal fridge. But if you're thinking dinner,why not pack some dried noodle type prepared meal in a box things to cook?Why bother with prefrozen things on a plane trip? Not to mention, wouldn' there be some kind of problem with ice/liquid for checked baggage? And,if you switch,how much would this actually save in terms of $$$ ?

It's hard to believe but my 8 nights at AOA ends up being just $80 less than a Studio at AKV (value view) using DCV points.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The freezer in a DVC studio is small. You can fit two tv dinners in there and thats it. You would have to having something to cook your meals in. The studio have a microwave and paper plates/bowls and that is it.

To save money you could eat at Earl of Sandwich which is the cheapest place at DTD to eat. I love the tomato soup at Earl and its less than $2.50 for a bowl. The Trails End buffert at FW is only $19.00 for dinner. We have eaten at Wolf Gang Expess and got a pizza and order of mac and cheese to split. Plan to eat a later lunch say 3:30 and pay the lunch time prices and make this your dinner meal. Then later in the evening have an appetizer if you get hungry. Same for breakfast. eat at 10:45 at a buffet and pay breakfast prices and call it lunch.

The Hess gas station across from the 2nd DTD bus stop has great pizza! You can get a whole pizza for $8.99 and on certain days a 2lt of pop is free. We usually go over and get a slice of pizza and eat it before we pick up our case of water and pop. We take a duffle bag to put the drinks in and catche the bus back to our resort.

 

[YankeePrincess]

Unless you are flying Southwest, are you factoring in the cost of the cooler which would be luggage?

 

[Disneyforus]

We have used wegoshop.com for grocery delivery. She will shop at a local chain store of your choice and deliver it to your room. I priced everything we needed at our local Walmart here in Michigan and she came back with exactly what we ordered and it was less than $10 difference in price. We bought breakfast and lunch items, lots of snacks and water.

Also, as a previous poster mentioned if we are eating Disney then we do one of two things:
If we are offsite in a Villa...make a large breakfast and snacks during the day and earlier dinner.

If onsite...quick snack in the room before going out to parks, 10:45 breakfast reservation as a brunch, and skip an official lunch, eat dinner at 5.

HTH, Have a great trip!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Unless you are flying Southwest, are you factoring in the cost of the cooler which would be luggage?

There are lots of ways to get free checked luggage on domestic flights - credit card programs, elite status, military family, flying JetBlue (one free checked bag). You don't have to fly WN.