For those "we eat 90 % of meals in room" people....How much do you spend on groceries?

[limace]

Eating out with a 4, 5 and 5 year old is even less fun.

That is so true. Heck, my kids are now 11-23 and I still would hate to eat out three meals a day with them on vacation, even if we had unlimited money. I like to cook and don’t mind doing a little on vacation-one of the main points of DVC for us! Now, I will agree that I hope you won’t be solely responsive for figuring it all out and doing all the work!

 

[jo-jo]

That is so true. Heck, my kids are now 11-23 and I still would hate to eat out three meals a day with them on vacation, even if we had unlimited money. I like to cook and don’t mind doing a little on vacation-one of the main points of DVC for us! Now, I will agree that I hope you won’t be solely responsive for figuring it all out and doing all the work!

I'm doing the master food list. But I've sent it back and forth a few times and they add to it.

I already told DD and DDL, breakfast - feed your own kids. Grandma is not showing up at 6:30 with a fresh pot of coffee and chef's hat on.
Half the kids are old enough to throw a sandwich in to the microwave or pour a bowl of cereal. If they really wanted too, the two oldest can cook up eggs too.

Lunch - we'll make sandwiches the night before and throw in fridge. They will leave before us. They will take a small cooler with bottled water. 5 - 8 oz bottle, 5 - 16 oz bottle, Plus the moms will have their iced coffees. They will also have sort of snack - gold fish, pretzels, etc. and pack of cookies (these are for lunch) When we leave, we'll bring the sandwiches , frozen string cheese ( mini ice packs) and juice boxes.

Dinner - honestly, I'll probably take care of that. DH and I don't plan on spending nearly as much time as they will in the parks. But really, putting a bunch of frozen food in the oven and boiling a pot of water for mac and cheese is not that hard. Using paper poducts as much as possible. The hardest work will be cutting up fresh veggies. I plan to do that twice. Cut up veggies , put in ziplock bags, eat, repeat.

Snack--There will be crackers, cheese, veggies, fruit.....At this point, DH and I will probably be back in our room, so they will be on their own.

 

[Meglen]

I wanna tag on a question . What do you do with all the extra food when it's time to leave?

 

[jo-jo]

I wanna tag on a question . What do you do with all the extra food when it's time to leave?

They are leaving on Sunday, we are leaving on Tues. I don't think there will be tons of food left. We may be eating odd meals the last two days, but we'll live. After they leave we don't plan on leaving the room at all. Just enjoy the savanna view room at AKL.

If you see my list for one night we have chicken patty sandwiches. There are ten of us. I have on order 2 packs of 9 patties. A few people will have two sandwiches, most one sandwich. So maybe 5 leftover. On Thursday, the day before we move to AKL, I have leftover night. That night we'll have whatever, chicken, hot dogs., fish...hopefully very little cold storage stuff to move to AKL. Aside from breakfast, we plan on eating meals at Epcot that day, so no worries if our luggage or room isn't ready .

 

[quandrea]

I could not fathom that much cooking. It just does not seem like a vacation for you.
We don’t cook that much in five years.... at home.

We are eating at home tonight for the first time since Christmas. We are heading to Publix soon to get a precooked, ready to eat chicken. Does that even count??

Don’t you worry about the impact of that much restaurant food on your health? Home cooked is always healthier.

We cook a lot on holiday and I love it (I’m the cook and shopper). The kids prefer my food, it’s cheaper, I know it’s healthier, no vacation weight gain and somehow vacation cooking is less stressful and more fun than cooking at home. Besides, eating out every meal gets old fast.

 

[quandrea]

I'm doing the master food list. But I've sent it back and forth a few times and they add to it.

I already told DD and DDL, breakfast - feed your own kids. Grandma is not showing up at 6:30 with a fresh pot of coffee and chef's hat on.
Half the kids are old enough to throw a sandwich in to the microwave or pour a bowl of cereal. If they really wanted too, the two oldest can cook up eggs too.

Lunch - we'll make sandwiches the night before and throw in fridge. They will leave before us. They will take a small cooler with bottled water. 5 - 8 oz bottle, 5 - 16 oz bottle, Plus the moms will have their iced coffees. They will also have sort of snack - gold fish, pretzels, etc. and pack of cookies (these are for lunch) When we leave, we'll bring the sandwiches , frozen string cheese ( mini ice packs) and juice boxes.

Dinner - honestly, I'll probably take care of that. DH and I don't plan on spending nearly as much time as they will in the parks. But really, putting a bunch of frozen food in the oven and boiling a pot of water for mac and cheese is not that hard. Using paper poducts as much as possible. The hardest work will be cutting up fresh veggies. I plan to do that twice. Cut up veggies , put in ziplock bags, eat, repeat.

Snack--There will be crackers, cheese, veggies, fruit.....At this point, DH and I will probably be back in our room, so they will be on their own.

This sounds like so much fun to me! Enjoy! I’m planning a big 50th birthday trip for next year and can’t wait for all the family time in the villa!

 

[jo-jo]

Just to give a final account. For the whole trip, we spend about $800. About $500 on walmart food. $200 on food in parks. $60 on pizza. So that's about $10 per person per day. That included everything, not just food, but also paper cups/plates etc, foil, ziplock bags, and laundry soap.

Meals were real meals, not just a breakfast bar, gold fish for lunch with popcorn for dinner.

My DH and I stayed for 10 days and the rest were there for 7. At the end of the trip, we threw away probably $25 worth of food. Half bottles of ketchup, syrup, PB, etc. Some cereal, a few frozen waffles, couple of bagels. Half bottles of juice / milk.

We had about 1/2 case of water, several cans of soda and seltzer water, about 8 juice boxes. We left them lined up on counter. I'm hoping housekeeping kept them.

 

[polynor]

Just to give a final account. For the whole trip, we spend about $800. About $500 on walmart food. $200 on food in parks. $60 on pizza. So that's about $10 per person per day. That included everything, not just food, but also paper cups/plates etc, foil, ziplock bags, and laundry soap.

Meals were real meals, not just a breakfast bar, gold fish for lunch with popcorn for dinner.

My DH and I stayed for 10 days and the rest were there for 7. At the end of the trip, we threw away probably $25 worth of food. Half bottles of ketchup, syrup, PB, etc. Some cereal, a few frozen waffles, couple of bagels. Half bottles of juice / milk.

We had about 1/2 case of water, several cans of soda and seltzer water, about 8 juice boxes. We left them lined up on counter. I'm hoping housekeeping kept them.

Great job! Good to hear the post-trip accounting. Did things go according to your plan? And more importantly — good trip?

 

[jo-jo]

Great job! Good to hear the post-trip accounting. Did things go according to your plan? And more importantly — good trip?

Few rocky moments. DD had rain delays of 4 hours. Waited , go on plane, waited, got off plane and repeat. The plan of going to MK about 3 with park closing at 9, turned out going out at 7:30 for a few rides. We had already paid for that days' ticket. It was use it or lose it. DGS sat on a wood bench at AK and got a huge splinter in hand. Went to first aid, but they wouldn't remove it Gave stuff to DDIL so she could remove it. Front wheel felt off DH wheelchair. DGD had huge allergy issues. She had meds, but different trees/flowers, different issues. Life guard thought DGS (9) was drowning and jumped in. DGS was practicing swimming underwater. Maybe his head going above and below water, caught the lifeguard's eye.

But but but, kids had a fabulous time. Being together almost 24 /7. The two moms and all the kids shared a room. So they had playmates (not just siblings) ALL the time. Swimming was great. Few rides never got on due to lines, but got most. At BLT our rooms were about 10 or so rooms apart. At AKL we were three rooms, the kids traveled to our room (savanna view) all the time. And we had a great views We saw 8 different animals and at times as many as 5 groups at one time.

Our youngest is a little short for a number of big rides, so we had her for a few hours here and there. She thought grandpa's belly was her personal waterbed. While everyone one else went on splash mountain, we went on little mermaid.

We (as grandparents) were a little disappointed we couldn't do as much, we'd go to HS and go back to room, They would go on to Epcot for 3 or 4 hours. We all would do morning at MK, then they went swimming and then back to MK. DH would be done after the morning at MK.

The food was mostly as planned, but more waffles. less cold cereal. Package of sausage that DD questioned who would eat that, was gone by day two. Problem with ordering food, smallest bottle they had of syrup was 27 oz. 12 oz would have been enough. We ordered a 12 oz bottle of mayo, they subbed a 30 oz tub. Kids who breath PB&J, suddenly love ham sandwiches. Stuff like that.

I would do the meals in the room again. It came out to about $10 per person per day. Or slightly more than a mickey bar......... For the kids to eat in the parks, you order, you wait, I'm starving, I'm climbing on walls, I spilled my drink, she stole my fries. When we were at BLT, we would eat breakfast in room, come back , eat big meal, go swimming, eat sandwich, go back to MK. If we went to HS, we do breakfast in room, sandwiches in park and big meal in evening. If they did HS/Epcot, they would buy something at Epcot.



But the goal was for the kids to have memories of us with them at disney.

 

[CarolynFH]

Few rocky moments. DD had rain delays of 4 hours. Waited , go on plane, waited, got off plane and repeat. The plan of going to MK about 3 with park closing at 9, turned out going out at 7:30 for a few rides. We had already paid for that days' ticket. It was use it or lose it. DGS sat on a wood bench at AK and got a huge splinter in hand. Went to first aid, but they wouldn't remove it Gave stuff to DDIL so she could remove it. Front wheel felt off DH wheelchair. DGD had huge allergy issues. She had meds, but different trees/flowers, different issues. Life guard thought DGS (9) was drowning and jumped in. DGS was practicing swimming underwater. Maybe his head going above and below water, caught the lifeguard's eye.

But but but, kids had a fabulous time. Being together almost 24 /7. The two moms and all the kids shared a room. So they had playmates (not just siblings) ALL the time. Swimming was great. Few rides never got on due to lines, but got most. At BLT our rooms were about 10 or so rooms apart. At AKL we were three rooms, the kids traveled to our room (savanna view) all the time. And we had a great views We saw 8 different animals and at times as many as 5 groups at one time.

Our youngest is a little short for a number of big rides, so we had her for a few hours here and there. She thought grandpa's belly was her personal waterbed. While everyone one else went on splash mountain, we went on little mermaid.

We (as grandparents) were a little disappointed we couldn't do as much, we'd go to HS and go back to room, They would go on to Epcot for 3 or 4 hours. We all would do morning at MK, then they went swimming and then back to MK. DH would be done after the morning at MK.

The food was mostly as planned, but more waffles. less cold cereal. Package of sausage that DD questioned who would eat that, was gone by day two. Problem with ordering food, smallest bottle they had of syrup was 27 oz. 12 oz would have been enough. We ordered a 12 oz bottle of mayo, they subbed a 30 oz tub. Kids who breath PB&J, suddenly love ham sandwiches. Stuff like that.

I would do the meals in the room again. It came out to about $10 per person per day. Or slightly more than a mickey bar......... For the kids to eat in the parks, you order, you wait, I'm starving, I'm climbing on walls, I spilled my drink, she stole my fries. When we were at BLT, we would eat breakfast in room, come back , eat big meal, go swimming, eat sandwich, go back to MK. If we went to HS, we do breakfast in room, sandwiches in park and big meal in evening. If they did HS/Epcot, they would buy something at Epcot.



But the goal was for the kids to have memories of us with them at disney.

All in all, sounds like a wonderful trip! I'm glad it worked out!