Freezing food for travel to save money

[Princess Disney Mom]

honestly, i wouldn't even think about this. If money is so tight that you are worried about how to eat, maybe it isn't the right time to go.

and what if the airline loses your cooler?

It's not about the money. I'd prefer not to eat WDW food for an entire week. I've done it before on the dining plan and it gets old and not healthy for me. I bring healthy foods that I like in order to have a few good quick meals in addition to eating out. This also make it easy to get to rope drop in the am.

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[Lucille1963]

honestly, i wouldn't even think about this. If money is so tight that you are worried about how to eat, maybe it isn't the right time to go.

and what if the airline loses your cooler?

I used to feel the same way, to me vacation meant never preparing food for myself. Now that we have a kiddo, that has totally changed. Although I have no problem getting up, dressed and out of the room before breakfast, my son can't. And after a long day in the parks, sometimes we just want to chill out with a low key meal, that doesn't involve waiting for a table, table service, walking goodness how far, sitting in a chair etc. Not to mention my husband and son are milk and fruit fiends. For our last 7 day trip, I got 4 gallons of milk and they drank them. The fruit bowl below was just a portion of the fruit we had delivered and a friend stopped by with fresh oranges from her tree halfway through. Its great to have around to snack on between Mickey Bars.

I'll say something that I'd never thought I'd say 6 years ago....
I find eating in the room much more relaxing.

It isn't necessarily about the money. Sometimes after a long day in the park, I'd just rather eat chips and salsa in my pajamas while the kid passes out halfway through his meal rather than deal with a restaurant.

 

[Anna114]

The only thing I ever travelled with frozen is butter. I froze the butter then wrapped the butter in a wet hand towel and froze that. I then put that in a ziploc bag and wrapped that in my beach towel. By the time I got the luggage the butter was still frozen.

The fridges, as everyone has said, is small, so the fridge can't hold that much. Secondly you can only reheat items. There is no cooking appliances only a microwave and a toaster.

My brother once brought Alaskan King crab legs back from Anchorage to NY. He used it as his carry on but he used a coleman plastic cooler.

 

[maxiesmom]

I hope that you're staying in a DVC villa or FW cabin. The regular resort rooms are not meant for cooking in. And after the recent refrigerator fire in DLR, I don't think that heating appliances such as the electric skillet or sandwich maker will be welcome in a regular room.

This!

Disney does not allow cooking appliances in rooms that do not have a kitchen area, except for the coffee pots that they provide. And I would expect them to be pretty strict on that now. You don't want to risk losing your appliances, or risk getting kicked out of the resort.

Disney does provide microwaves in the food courts, and you are free to use them. Maybe some microwave bacon and eggs in the morning, and you can always use the toasters for pop tarts or waffles.

 

[hsmamato2]

I agree with the breakfast in the room thing, we always do that,DDP or not,as we hate getting out to breakfast each day..... what I don't get is why people say "I need protein for breakfast" which seems to equal bacon and eggs... there are a lot of high protein foods that are simple to prepare that don't equal tons of cooking too.... think about the milk you pour on healthy cold cereal...protein. Granola/protein bars. Greek Yogurt. A handful of almonds. peanut butter on whole wheat bread. all full of protein. I've never eaten a poptart on vacation in my life.....so I don't get why a bowl of healthy cold cereal with milk on it is such a difficult way to start a day..... My personal start on a Disney morning is 2-3 cereal choices for the fam- cold milk,and coffee in the coffeemaker...We buy quarts of milk from the gift shop as needed....
Also what some pp's have said, cooking in the rooms is against policy for good reason...... I can see a hot pot/kettle coffeemaker thingy,they all have that. (quick oatmeal and yogurt,anyone?)
But sandwich makers,toasters,etc can get smelly,and are a fire hazard to others.

 

[brennicksmom]

This!

Disney does not allow cooking appliances in rooms that do not have a kitchen area, except for the coffee pots that they provide. And I would expect them to be pretty strict on that now. You don't want to risk losing your appliances, or risk getting kicked out of the resort.

Disney does provide microwaves in the food courts, and you are free to use them. Maybe some microwave bacon and eggs in the morning, and you can always use the toasters for pop tarts or waffles.

Thanks for letting me know this. I wasn't aware. Change of plans to cereal, milk, yogurt, POP tarts, protein bars, peanuts.... Whatever else I can think of. Honestly, I think this is easier anyway. Less clean up and mess.
That is why these boards are great-to let people know what they didn't know

 

[wendow]

A couple of my babies received donor breast milk. I live in CO and had milk shipped to me from as far away as FL. The donor mom packed the milk tightly with newspaper as a filler. Air pockets are a killer and will defrost your food. You want to make sure all space is filled. The frozen food will insulate itself. You do not need additional ice packs. There were times that milk took 2 full days to reach me and it was still frozen so I think 7 hours of travel time will be fine.

We are considering doing this too in a little over a month when we go. Not so much because of money (although it is a tremendous savings), we just don't like eating out for 10 days straight and a couple of our kids have allergies so this makes life easier. We are staying at a DVC villa with a full kitchen so no issues with cooking and I don't care much for Garden Grocer's selection.

 

[SDSorority]

I used to feel the same way, to me vacation meant never preparing food for myself. Now that we have a kiddo, that has totally changed. Although I have no problem getting up, dressed and out of the room before breakfast, my son can't. And after a long day in the parks, sometimes we just want to chill out with a low key meal, that doesn't involve waiting for a table, table service, walking goodness how far, sitting in a chair etc. Not to mention my husband and son are milk and fruit fiends. For our last 7 day trip, I got 4 gallons of milk and they drank them. The fruit bowl below was just a portion of the fruit we had delivered and a friend stopped by with fresh oranges from her tree halfway through. Its great to have around to snack on between Mickey Bars.

I'll say something that I'd never thought I'd say 6 years ago....
I find eating in the room much more relaxing.

It isn't necessarily about the money. Sometimes after a long day in the park, I'd just rather eat chips and salsa in my pajamas while the kid passes out halfway through his meal rather than deal with a restaurant.

THANK YOU! I was thinking of cooking and freezing things like ground beef, cubed chicken, bacon, and sausage, then packing it flat in ziplock bags. Since I only have a microwave in the room, I won't be able to 'cook' as I normally would in a full kitchen. So, for breakfast I could just crack a few eggs and cook them in the microwave, heat up some bacon, and I'm good to go. Or for lunch I could just let the chicken thaw in the refrigerator and squeeze some mustard in, add some chopped veggies, and I have a chicken salad.

I dunno, does this sound realistic? Do the studio fridges have a little freezer shelf that actually keeps things frozen? I cook most everything from scratch at home due to food allergies, so doing this prep work wouldn't be any different from what I normally do.... I just haven't ever thought about bringing frozen meat with me on vacation LOL.