For those who stay offsite and cook their own meals....

[Lisa BC]

Tried one in Florida about 6 weeks ago. I feel the same as Sheila, it was edible, not great, a step above most frozen pizzas. But overall a decent value, because you shouldn't expect a ton for $5. The salad was fresh, the pizza was hot. The brownies... now those are good.


btw, for those who grill, grilled tater tots are yummy, makes the hot dog meal so much more gourmet

When we travel, I try to stretch my cooking across meals. Grill chicken (lots of it) and have grilled chicken, with rice and grilled veggies one night... then have grilled chicken salads one night... maybe grilled chicken fettuccine another night. Our last stay at OKW, I baked baked ham steaks and made augratin potatoes (with frozen hashbrowns) one night. Took me about 15 minutes to throw it together and put it in the oven. We went for a swim, and came back to a yummy dinner an hour later. The next morning I took the leftover ham and scrambled it with eggs, and had the rest leftover potatoes.

 

[*disgal*]

I have cooked in a condo before and will be again this August. We are at WDW for 2 weeks. I cook A LOT at home but want fairly easy things to fix on vacation. I brought a crock pot last time and will do that again. We are driving so I can bring things from home and we will have a big cooler just for the frozen items.

Here's my plan so far;

1st night - just getting into town but not at the condo yet. Dinner Cici's Pizza.

2nd night - Tacos

3rd night - Salmon filet (that we get down there), green beans, boxed rice

4th night - Chicken Stuffing Casserole (that I have made ahead and frozen), fresh cooked carrots. salad

5th night - Meatloaf (that I have made ahead and frozen in a circle), potatoes, carrots in my crockpot

6th night - Big meal at lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, leftovers for dinner

7th night - Big meal at lunch at Tusker House, maybe burgers for dinner

8th night - Pizzafari at AK for lunch, dinner Stouffer's Mac and cheese, veggie

9th night - Rose and Crown

10th night - Chicken Eugene in crock pot with potatoes and veggie

11th night - Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Meat sauce made ahead of time, salad, garlic bread

12th night - Chicken Parmesan, salad, garlic bread

13th night - Lunch at Columbia Harbor House, dinner leftover Spaghetti/chic. parm.

14th night - Stouffer's Mac and Cheese, veggie

15th night - Dinner at Pecos Bill's

Next morning before we leave town we will do the breakfast buffet at Golden Corral. One of the days might change because we might go to the beach for the day so there might be one more night of eating out.

We plan on park touring in the morning till lunch time(like 11am/11:30), then coming back to the condo for lunch, nap, swim, dinner........then going back to the park around 6. That's what we did last time and it worked out great.

I was thinking about burgers and didn't even give a thought to all the condiments we would need. Burgers are now off the menu.

I brought the condiments last time but I was wondering if, say, a month or two before, I just save ketchup and stuff in those little packets from the fast food places we eat at.........do you think that would work?

 

[an_evans]

We did hamburgers, spaghetti, sandwiches, tacos/taco slad, snadwiches. Breakfast was pigs in a blanket, breakfast tacos, biscuits and gravy.

For me one of the luxuries was popsicles and ice cream when we wanted it. having fresh fruit cold and ready to snack..... Ice cold bottled water and soda.

Being able to heat a quick hotdog up in the microwave versus paying $3.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

WE usually buy the roasted chicken at Publix. Add some frozen veggies and garlic bread or a salad. Orlando is the capital of prepared foods so if you do not want to cook you do not have to. We got the pre made panckes(Aunt Jemima) as well as plain old cereal for breakfast. There is always grilled cheese and soup or as others have said pizza and hot dogs. If you do not want to buy a frozen pizza just buy some English muffins or pita bread, sauce and cheese and make your own. I like to use the pita b/c we also use it for sandwiches so it gets used up. The key is to try and NOT have a ton of food left when you leave.

 

[4eyedbuzzard]

We plan on park touring in the morning till lunch time(like 11am/11:30), then coming back to the condo for lunch, nap, swim, dinner........then going back to the park around 6. That's what we did last time and it worked out great

That is our plan for our upcoming week June 6 - 13. I'm hoping we beat the crowds and worst heat of the day on our four "park days". Glad to hear it worked great - let's hope not too many people catch on and get motivated to arrive early.

I brought the condiments last time but I was wondering if, say, a month or two before, I just save ketchup and stuff in those little packets from the fast food places we eat at.........do you think that would work?

As Ringo screamed: "I've got blisters on my fingers."

Hmmm, 14 day WDW trip and we're saving how much by snatching up ketchup packs?

Salt and pepper, $1. Bottle of ketchup, $2.29. Look on DW face after salt gets rubbed into blisters from opening all those little free foil packs - priceless. Sorry, just a little humor to start the day.

 

[MYDISNEYHOUSES]

I kind of remember the Publix 192 about 1/2 mile down from the Formosa Gardens shopping center having very small sizes of condiments for pretty cheap. I remember thinking that would be perfect for people on vacation. I think that since they are so close to the rental communities they
cater to people on vacation. If I remember correctly, it was a whole section of small sized things that people would use when on vacation. Of course they had everything else you could imagine too. It was a very nice grocery store.

 

[jsmla]

If you drive:
I always cook a double portion of things at dinner at home a few weeks before we leave and freeze them in a Zip-loc, either in the bottom of my crock-pot liner or a disposable baking pan to bring with us. We like spaghetti, red beans and rice, jambalaya, gumbo, etc. Another thing we do is buy the plain cheese frozen pizzas and have a toppings bar of fresh stuff (peppers, mushrooms, onions, pepperoni, whatever) to add before we pop it in the oven. We like this much better than the pre-topped frozen pizza. Once I'm there I buy the premade bag salads. Costs a bit more than home-made but, hey, I'm on vacation too!

We also do fruit and pasta salads as well as sandwiches at lunch. For breakfast it was usually cereal for the kids and coffee for DH and me.

Jennifer

 

[*disgal*]

As Ringo screamed: "I've got blisters on my fingers."

Hmmm, 14 day WDW trip and we're saving how much by snatching up ketchup packs?

Salt and pepper, $1. Bottle of ketchup, $2.29. Look on DW face after salt gets rubbed into blisters from opening all those little free foil packs - priceless. Sorry, just a little humor to start the day.

Yea, I think I'll bring the bottles!

 

[Camping Griswalds]

We did hamburgers, spaghetti, sandwiches, tacos/taco slad, snadwiches. Breakfast was pigs in a blanket, breakfast tacos, biscuits and gravy.

For me one of the luxuries was popsicles and ice cream when we wanted it. having fresh fruit cold and ready to snack..... Ice cold bottled water and soda.

Being able to heat a quick hotdog up in the microwave versus paying $3.

Okay ...a stupid question...how do you make the pigs in a blanket? do you cook the sausage, and then the pancakes, and then roll the sausage in the pancakes? How does it stick? How is this not more work than throwing the pancakes and the sausage on the plate? Is there a neat trick I know nothing about? Thanks

 

[*disgal*]