HELP!!! Food and time onsite!

[tripplanner2]

So because of flights and schedules we are lucky enough to have 11 full days in Orlando. Our plan was to have 3 days at Disney and then 8 at Universal. We have booked Royal Pacific and Wilderness Lodge. Here are my questions...Is there enough to do at Royal Pacific to last 8 days? Also, don't want to eat in restaurants for all of those meals. Way too expensive. Is there anything within walking distance to RP as far as shopping and food? I would love a deli or bagel bakery, maybe supermarket. We will have a car while at Disney but we are turning it in once we hit RP because of the crazy parking fees. Also, no fridge is concerning to me. I may invest in a cooler from Walmart before check in and just sacrifice it at the end of our trip. Ready to hear from the experts. Thanks for all advice.

 

[macraven]

So because of flights and schedules we are lucky enough to have 11 full days in Orlando. Our plan was to have 3 days at Disney and then 8 at Universal. We have booked Royal Pacific and Wilderness Lodge. Here are my questions...Is there enough to do at Royal Pacific to last 8 days? Also, don't want to eat in restaurants for all of those meals. Way too expensive. Is there anything within walking distance to RP as far as shopping and food? I would love a deli or bagel bakery, maybe supermarket. We will have a car while at Disney but we are turning it in once we hit RP because of the crazy parking fees. Also, no fridge is concerning to me. I may invest in a cooler from Walmart before check in and just sacrifice it at the end of our trip. Ready to hear from the experts. Thanks for all advice.

well, i'm booked 11 days at rph and concerned i won't have enought time there................

bular bar opens at 4:00.
the portions are large, very plentiful.

last year i ordered the nachos and only ate 1/3 of them.
went solo so no one to finish up the food for me when i was at Bula Bar.

Orchid in the rph lobby has ala carte breakfast items.
they open at 6 each morning, closing at 11 on weekdays and noon on weekends.


there is a shopping section not far from PBH.
i don't remember of restaurants but they do have a walgreens with a refrigerator section.
you could get a styrofoam chest for about $4.00, fill it with ice at the hotel, store it in the bathtub in case of leaks.
use that to "refridgerate" your perishables.


hit the markets for food before you turn your rental car in at the darkside hotel.
i hit the Publix instead of walmart as it is closer to rph for me.

city walk has a burger king, moe's and one more fast food chain.
prices there are decent, won't break the bank.

there are not a lot of places in the UOR area for dining or picking up snacks.

Doubletree is about a 15-20 minute walk from UO and there are a few restaurants near that hotel.

before i hit the hotel, i usually get a few snacks such as fruit, crackers and water.
i don't eat 3 meals a day when i am on vacation.
i usually hit jakes or bula bar a few times as they are decent on prices and variety.
there are places in the parks i do eat at and they don't break the bank for me.
blondies has hand made sandwiches with potato salad.
same with boulangerie.
it's not the typical park food.

do you have children in your group or is it all adults?
kids usually snack so do a grocery stop and get what you know will be needed.

 

[tripplanner2]

Thank you so much for the reply. We have three children 14, 12, and 9 all girls. I was concerned because I was reading reviews of a dinner costing $300 for 2 people and they only ordered entrees and 1 bottle of wine. Also read bar drinks cost $15 each. That was the benefit of being able to walk everywhere! I actually looked into prices of a cooler from Walmart. May invest in a plastic one just so we don't have to worry about it leaking.

 

[Bluer101]

Mac is right on with what to do. We bring our big cooler with drinks and cold stuff. Then we pack a medium storage container with all types of snacks and grab on the go things.

We budget $150 per day in food for the 3 of us. That's DW, DS (11), and myself. Now somedays we will use it all while splurging. We tend to eat a cheaper breakfast in Orchid lounge or at Burger King in CW. Then we will eat a sit down meal in the parks, at CW, or one of the hotels poolside. Then we have a full sit down for dinner. We budget $50 per meal for 3. If we go under that on anyone meal then the leftover money can be applied to another meal that day. If we don't use it we put it back into an overflow envelope in the safe. The key is to only take $150 out per day so you don't over spend. With left over money too allows us to but some things and snacks in the park, popcorn, churro s, etc.

Yes we are not running out and having expensive dishes off the menu but try to keep it under $15 per person. If one of us wants something that's more $$$ then one will offset with something cheaper. We will also get 2 items that we both like and share. Yes, we could afford to eat anything we want but this keeps the money in check. This also allows us to make multiple trips per year.

I forgot to add that most counter service is about the same price for your basic food at a sit down. So most choose a sit down, but there are a few counter service that are on our must hit list.

We leave Saturday for 9 days for our annual summer trip and we are looking forward to all the food and no cooking. 9 days is still not enough for us as we love Universal. This is why we do multiple trips per year even if we drive up on a Saturday morn and stay overnight and drive back Sunday night.

I forgot to add we are not drinkers and that could effect someone's budget a lot.

 

[tripplanner2]

Thanks so much. So I found the Walgreens website. Looks like they have all we need. Now just to keep our food budget in check. As long as there are grab and go areas, we can afford 1 sit down per day.

 

[macraven]

Thank you so much for the reply. We have three children 14, 12, and 9 all girls. I was concerned because I was reading reviews of a dinner costing $300 for 2 people and they only ordered entrees and 1 bottle of wine. Also read bar drinks cost $15 each. That was the benefit of being able to walk everywhere! I actually looked into prices of a cooler from Walmart. May invest in a plastic one just so we don't have to worry about it leaking.

if you want a drink and at rph, the bula bar has mixed drinks such as jack/coke at $5 during happy hours.
that starts at 5:00


in all the times i used those $4 styrofoam chests, it has never leaked.
i would stay cheap and leave the chest in the room when you check out.

in case it would leak, placing it in the bathtub would be a good thing.

AAA used to allow a 10% discount on any food/merch purchase in the parks.
i read that it changed and you need the food charge to be $50 before you get the discount.
if you have that AAA card, use it !

 

[bumbershoot]

Each time we've used a styrofoam cooler it has leaked. Definitely keep it in the bathtub, just in case.


I'm so jealous of these LONG stays....

We're big "do it again and again!" types, so staying for a long time would work really well for us. We're not content to just ride things once and go.

 

[rpbert1]

My DD loves RPR as we do, the pool area is always lively with lots of games going on for the kids[and big kids if you want to join in] being on her own helps her make lots of friends. You will prob find they might prefer to stay at the pool lol.
Like others say, we would eat quite a few times during our stay, at the loungers by the pool and order from the Bula grill, food is excellent, and the kids menu while limited is quite big portions.

as we havent been this year, i am sure there is a Panda Express at Citywalk as well , and we quite like the food there as well.

we also buy the styrofoam cooler, but usually put a towel under it ,just in case of leaks.

 

[buckeev]

We have no problem varying our eating choices at USO/City Walk, but we usually end up hitting our faves multiple times. The Burger King/Moe's/Panda Express food court is great, busy, but predictable and reasonably priced.
We love The Kitchen Restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel, and the staff there is awesome.
Can't wait till December...we're taking our 6 y/o granddaughter to Orlando for her first time!

 

[tripplanner2]

Thanks for all the replies. I will leave things as is. I will try to find some menus so I can work on food budget.

 

[Bluer101]

Thanks for all the replies. I will leave things as is. I will try to find some menus so I can work on food budget.

Here is all the menus resort wide.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2681315

 

[patster734]

Instead of a styrofoam cooler, purchase a fold up cooler that resembles a small dufflebag. Fold it up and store it in your luggage prior to your trip. When you need it, take it out and use it. When you are done with it, empty it out, dry it off, and fold it back up and place back in your luggage. An empty, folded up dufflebag cooler doesn't take up much luggage space.

And think of investing in an AAA membership if you don't have one. Most restaurants and shops at USO offer 10% discounts on food, drinks (non-alcoholic), and souveniers.