Garden Grocer or Amazon Prime?

[KeepCalmAndCarryOn]

We are getting ready for our trip to The World (yay!) and, since I am already "on vacation" in my mind, even though we have about two weeks to go (as bad as my students sometimes...). We have Amazon Prime account, but am unsure if Amazon is the best bet or if we should consider Garden Grocer. (We are staying at Boardwalk and have the meal plan, but are thinking to make smoothies for breakfast and snacks for the kiddos, nothing crazy.)

Welcome insight or suggestions and tips as to what has worked well in the past.

Thanks in advance!

 

[omniscientmommy]

I know that Garden Grocer has higher prices but we did use it last year. A lot of people said they are using Amazon Now app either before, during or after the plane ride. Kind of nervous about trying it.

 

[musika]

Neither - Our plan is to use Instacart. Though if we had Amazon prime that might have been an option for us. GG - I just can't stomach the delivery fee and higher prices.

 

[1911]

I'm using safeway,way cheaper than GG and better selection than prime.

 

[goofy kc]

Another vote for Instacart. Nice service! Last trip the store was out of something on my list and the shopper texted me while I was on ME to suggest a couple of replacements. I also think their list of merchandise is more extensive and the prices more in line with what you would normally pay. First delivery is free so that's a nice perk!

 

[suzieq54]

Safeway-Instacart -prices were good and you get free delivery on your first order! set up a delivery window ahead and make a "list" and you can edit it up to the day before you want it

 

[wisteria1019]

Can you order bottles of wine through any of the services?

 

[musika]

Can you order bottles of wine through any of the services?

Yes. With Instacart you have to be present for delivery. Garden Grocer will allow you to provide ID ahead of time.

Also FYI on insta cart - if you start a profile 3-4 weeks before, they'll keep increasing the discount to a max of $15 and free delivery if it's your first order with them.

 

[goofy kc]

They say you have to be present, but Bell Services accepted my order for me - liquor and all!

 

[musika]

They say you have to be present, but Bell Services accepted my order for me - liquor and all!

Sorry for the hijack OP but this is interesting to note... Was this recently? I'm not sure I'd want to take the gamble though, in case the whole order was denied.

 

[wisteria1019]

Yes. With Instacart you have to be present for delivery. Garden Grocer will allow you to provide ID ahead of time.

Also FYI on insta cart - if you start a profile 3-4 weeks before, they'll keep increasing the discount to a max of $15 and free delivery if it's your first order with them.

Thanks. I thought that I would use Amazon, but will check out Insta cart.

 

[tellemarie]

We always use GG, even though they are more expensive than the others. We've had good experiences with them and have always ordered far enough out to use their advance discount, so that always helps!

 

[jo-jo]

I've been reading here about instacart, so I thought I'd look into it. I'm annoyed you can't see any prices until you signed up. So I signed up. I started looking and whoo hoo first order free shipping. Only good for two weeks. Trip is in a month.


I added some things to the cart, tying to decide if I like it. Left the page, and started getting emails when I wanted it delivered. Not wanting to get several emails a day I went back to the page and emptied the cart.

Am I doing something wrong? And if we do use it, how do you figure a tip?

 

[beccasmom]

We are major Amazon fans in the “real world” but we’ve used Garden Grocer for over 10 years with no issues. We don’t see a need to change.

 

[cassie58]

We have always used GG and been very happy, although paying more than usual, but last trip prices seemed much higher ($8-9 for a 12 pack of Coke), so tried Amazon Prime now. Generally I was happy with it - ordered in the park, delivered to room before we got back, free delivery over $40 I believe. The variety was not as great though, and always changing. For example, we could not get regular cheese sticks, only had string cheese and some organics that were $6-7, and we had small cereal variety pack in cart, but was no longer available when we went to order. Thought about Instacart, but heard mixed reviews on here.

 

[musika]

I've been reading here about instacart, so I thought I'd look into it. I'm annoyed you can't see any prices until you signed up. So I signed up. I started looking and whoo hoo first order free shipping. Only good for two weeks. Trip is in a month.


I added some things to the cart, tying to decide if I like it. Left the page, and started getting emails when I wanted it delivered. Not wanting to get several emails a day I went back to the page and emptied the cart.

Am I doing something wrong? And if we do use it, how do you figure a tip?

Take this with a grain of salt, since I haven't actually received an order yet. However, I created my first initial dummy cart more than 2 months ago. They have been sending me 1-2 emails ever since, but my discount kept growing. Maxes out at $15 off your order and free delivery. So, might be worth deleting their emails for a couple of months? I didn't empty my cart.

 

[jo-jo]

Take this with a grain of salt, since I haven't actually received an order yet. However, I created my first initial dummy cart more than 2 months ago. They have been sending me 1-2 emails ever since, but my discount kept growing. Maxes out at $15 off your order and free delivery. So, might be worth deleting their emails for a couple of months? I didn't empty my cart.

So I added a bunch of stuff. About an hour later, I got an email saying something like,"did you forget your order". So far no mention of discounts.


Can you provide some guidelines with tipping? I'm ordering for two rooms,, so roughly case of water, 4 gallons of water, 4 bottles of juice, 4 bottles of soda, 4 cases of soda and a few odd groceries.milk, yogurt, fruit, bagels... about a bags worth. Fair amount of heavy stuff.

 

[pup975]

Just tried to sign up for Safeway-Instacart, but said it was unavailable in the 32830 zip code which is the zip for Bay Lake. Don't know if Safeway has stopped delivering there.

 

[disneyinthespringtime]

We just ordered from Safeway and got our delivery smoothly to our resort on property. Did not do insta cart though.
I liked their selection and especially cost much more than Garden Grocer. I checked GG out first but was floored how expensive it was. Safeway was much more normally priced.

 

[CeruleanMoon]

We've decided to use Amazon Prime Now. I'll come back and let you all know how it goes! So far, I've been very impressed with their prices and the delivery is free! Now of course you have to be Prime members, but if you already are, it looks like a great deal. Their selection appears to be good. They don't have everything I've looked for, but usually they have some equivalent. I was pleased that they offered Lactose Free milk, for example.

I was not impressed by Garden Grocer. I'd read on a blog to expect their prices to be a 10-15% mark up, but when I checked, their prices were generally much higher, sometimes even double what we normally pay at the store! Big difference. And then you have to add a delivery fee on top of that.