Grocery Strategy

[GoldenLulu13]

We're debating our grocery strategy for our upcoming trip. We will be staying at Old Key West and have the dining plan so not planning on really cooking in the room. Looking for more drinks and snacks for in the room and that we can throw in our park bags. Are we better off paying Disney gift shop prices, doing a Garden Grocer order, or calling a cab and heading to the local Walmart/Target?? How far away would Walmart/Target be and what should we expect in cab fare?? Any other suggestions that we haven't thought of?? Thanks!

 

[kj2mom]

We actually packed a box of snacks in one of our checked bags. We were off site and had a grocery store next door but I filled a box, put it right in the middle of my suitcase then packed my clothes around it. I had full intention of tossing the box but it actually came in handy to protect some souvenirs on the way home. We didn't pack drinks, just our Brita water bottles which we filled with tap water once we got there.

 

[DisMommyTX]

We ordered custom gift 'baskets' from Disney Floral and Gifts. They were exactly what we hoped for with the kids' favorite snacks, a couple little toys (coloring sets, etc.), and balloons of their favorite characters which made the room look extra cute the whole stay.

 

[minnie mum]

I believe Garden Grocer charges around $40 for delivery on top of your groceries? Not exactly sure. You'd pay more for a taxi to Walmart and back, but Uber would be cheaper. I guess a lot depends on how much you are buying. How many people in your group, etc. I'd probably opt for a quick trip to the store using Uber.

There is a taxi fare estimator that you can use to get a rough idea of taxi costs: http://www.mearstransportation.com/taxi-services/taxi-fare-estimator/

 

[Lori74]

if you belong to coke rewards, they have for no points for $20 towards an uber ride. some people ship water from amazon to their resort, im sure you could include snacks too, or pack the snacks, and ship the water. we are renting a car for the day to do a little grocery run and a few other things, it only cost us $35. have a great trip!

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Do you have Amazon Prime? The Prime Pantry is great. Only $5.99 shipping and the prices on their items are basically what you'd pay in a local market. Even if you don't have Prime, I think they have a 30-day free trial most of the time. We ordered bottled water, cereal, granola bars, pop tarts, etc. and it worked great! Also they always run specials like if you order 4 of these particular items shipping is free, etc.

 

[G719]

Garden grocer has a $40 minimum on the order and a $14 delivery fee. If you order 60 days in advance you get a 10% discount.

 

[AntJulie]

Ordered 2 cases of water (24 pack)and a case of apple juice (20-24 plastic bottles) from staples and sent to resort a few days ahead of time--free shipping if you have a rewards card--shipped snacks/breakfast type foods for room and park via UPS--expensive--prob won't do that again

 

[LovesTimone]

If you use a private car you can get one stop included, normally 20 to 30 minutes, just make sure to have a list ready to go, get in and get out.

I have some friends that they do a rental car for one or two days, for outlet shopping and a run to Publix, Wal-mart, and a run to the post office to ship some stuff home. They stay offsite the first day or two, as they arrive late and need that 1st day to relax, and get acclimated to the time change. They check in at WDW, then her DH drops the car off at one of the DTD hotels, then walks back to catch a bus at DTD to there resort.

There are lots of options to ship items, garden grocer, or pack in your luggage. It just depends on how much you need and of course the cost.

 

[Jon84]

You could get an Uber trip for free if you have 2 people who are using it for the first time

 

[ZoZo]

I believe Garden Grocer charges around $40 for delivery on top of your groceries? Not exactly sure. You'd pay more for a taxi to Walmart and back, but Uber would be cheaper. I guess a lot depends on how much you are buying. How many people in your group, etc. I'd probably opt for a quick trip to the store using Uber.

There is a taxi fare estimator that you can use to get a rough idea of taxi costs: http://www.mearstransportation.com/taxi-services/taxi-fare-estimator/

This isn't correct - as someone else mentioned, GG charges a flat delivery fee of $14 (regardless of the size of the order), but they do have a minimum order amount of $40. To me, it's much cheaper to pay the delivery fee than to pay for a taxi back and forth to the store (especially since you'd have to pay the taxi for the time they wait for you to shop).

We had a great experince with GG last year. You can build a shopping cart (and add and subtract items as you like). You can pick your delivery window time (but be sure to do that a couple of weeks ahead of time, since they get filled up fast). They notify you by text when they deliver your items. The resorts will hold your items until you check in,and even put your cold items in a fridge for you until you need them). You can even order things like wine and beer from GG!

 

[ShannonBS]

Thank you for the tip on Amazon Prime! That never occurred to me!

 

[happymommy]

Garden Grocer does charge $14 delivery fee, but if your order is over $200 it's only $2.00 delivery fee. Our last time using them, we did order that much (made breakfasts in the room, had beer & wine delivered, almond milk, juice, bottled water, stuff for sandwiches since DH was actually spending a lot of time in the villa working that trip).

For only snacks, and if you have the dining plan, I'd use Amazon Prime Pantry instead though. I used them last trip (Pop Century) for water and snacks. They don't have almond milk or perishables, so our next trip to AKL Kidani we're using GG again.