Homemade Meals for the Room

[iluvdisnee]

I have not done this myself but I've heard of someone who boiled hot dogs in the coffee pot! Might work well!

 

[tink2dw]

People, People!! For crying out loud, what are you thinking?? Go to the store in Anaheim, and buy shelf stable meals[need no refrigeration at all] and Microwave them. Or a hotel with FREE Breakfast! you can take trays to your room.

In the Parks there are cheap options!!

1. box of 6 large chicken strips and 1 order of fries will feed 3 or more
2. LARGE cooked turkey legs will feed 2 families, joking, but it is huge
3. Corn Dog and fries, Just 1 will feed 2 to 3 children or 2 adults
4. Keeping Hydrated will keep down hunger pains and crankiness. Use Koolaide for water bottles it only has 30 calories.
5. 1 disney treat item will have them taking for years!

Downtown Disney has a Wetzels Pretzels with Pretzel Dogs yum yummy - 2 children could share 1 with hot cheddar cheese dip.

 

[tink2dw]

Oh and you could always go to WDW in Aug. and Sept during FREE Dining.

 

[50sjayne]

People, People!! For crying out loud, what are you thinking?? Go to the store in Anaheim, and buy shelf stable meals[need no refrigeration at all] and Microwave them. Or a hotel with FREE Breakfast! you can take trays to your room.

In the Parks there are cheap options!!

1. box of 6 large chicken strips and 1 order of fries will feed 3 or more
2. LARGE cooked turkey legs will feed 2 families, joking, but it is huge
3. Corn Dog and fries, Just 1 will feed 2 to 3 children or 2 adults
4. Keeping Hydrated will keep down hunger pains and crankiness. Use Koolaide for water bottles it only has 30 calories.
5. 1 disney treat item will have them taking for years!

Downtown Disney has a Wetzels Pretzels with Pretzel Dogs yum yummy - 2 children could share 1 with hot cheddar cheese dip.

My son is autistic, he has a very limited palate....believe me I have tried....

We are in the process of being almost completely debt free, that is if my husband ever decides to put our kickers and refund all on the credit card instead of resting on his desk. Anything we buy at a grocery store in Anaheim will be more expensive than stuff I get on clearance here and no tax here either. Things are more expensive there, I know that just from working at Albertsons and comparing prices in different regions on the same items we sell. If we go to a grocery there it will only be to get stuff we forgot and can't live without. I keep hearing over and over again how expensive food is at the parks, I've seen pictures and looked at menus. For us (we like to eat) the BIG portions look like a joke to me in most cases. I will definitely check out the Hometown buffet on Katella, and the Inn and Out as eating out options and Mcormick and Schmicks's happy hour ( I have heard they have one there in the new Gardenwalk- the happy hour food here is incredible). I am mildly curious about whitewater snacks mostly because I have heard the kitties hang there but it seems with all the construction, they haven't been, and may not be found there next March. We'll see.

 

[crashbb]

I smell cooking coming out of another room at a hotel/motel I am staying at, I would be complaining to the front desk within a minute. The cooking (and smell associated with it) is a fire hazard and a nuisance (I don't want to smell your dinner in my room).

 

[twinspluscade]

People, People!! For crying out loud, what are you thinking?? Go to the store in Anaheim, and buy shelf stable meals[need no refrigeration at all] and Microwave them. Or a hotel with FREE Breakfast! you can take trays to your room.

In the Parks there are cheap options!!

1. box of 6 large chicken strips and 1 order of fries will feed 3 or more
2. LARGE cooked turkey legs will feed 2 families, joking, but it is huge
3. Corn Dog and fries, Just 1 will feed 2 to 3 children or 2 adults
4. Keeping Hydrated will keep down hunger pains and crankiness. Use Koolaide for water bottles it only has 30 calories.
5. 1 disney treat item will have them taking for years!

Downtown Disney has a Wetzels Pretzels with Pretzel Dogs yum yummy - 2 children could share 1 with hot cheddar cheese dip.

LOL! I was thinking the same thing. Plus, isn't there a McDonald's right outside of DLR? Not exactly healthy, but beats hot dogs cooked in a coffee pot.

We bring with snack items and maybe a few quick things for breakfast (granola bars, etc). Other than that--no thanks! I'm on vacation....who the heck wants to be "cooking" in the hotel room when it's not going to save you all that much money anyway?

 

[Leofoenget]

We don't want to eat out 3 meals a day while at DL. Looking for budget stretching ideas of meals that can be made in the hotel room. We'll have the standard microwave & mini fridge combo. (I'm guessing bringing a crock pot or toaster oven from home would be frowned on by the hotel staff.) What's the wackiest thing you've made in your room? Include recipes or photos plz.

bring a small George Forman grill. (I have one with the warming lid on top. Goodwill about $4) You can do all sorts of stuff with one of those. Burgers, chicken breasts, grilled cheese sands. Microwave some vedgies, and you're good to go. Obviously if you drive you can premake food and nuke it in the hotel room.

OHH I remember one thing I did in my room. I got this plastic egg poacher thing at target. It's plastic and you put the egg in one half poke the yolk and microwave it for about 2 mins. I toasted an english muffin and made home made egg mcmuffins. Cheese and ham added. It was very good and quite the meal. I could make 2 at a time and everyone could have seconds. It's this plastic gizmo I found at target that (yes if you look at it you will agree) looks like 2 breasts. It was about $2 worked like a charm. That with oj or apple juice was great. I did drive so I had my $8 cheapo toaster with me too. (we camp a lot so some stuff I just had)

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

IMO eating is just one of those expenses of vacation. If I felt I really couldn't afford to pay for all the meals, and was trying to find ways to cook (beyond a sandwich, and simple microwave stuff) in a motel room that doesn't have a kitchen area, I'd probably skip the vacation until I had enough money saved up to eat properly.

I'm all for budget trips, and saving money, but eating is something I refuse to scrimp on. I'm amazed when people talk about a whole family sharing a corn dog! A hot dog cooked in the coffee pot? Yuck! I love DL, but I'd have to wait until we could all have our own corn dog before we'd go. LOL Just my 2 cents!

 

[Gisele]

Yah, exactly, and I think your little Jo Jo agrees too! I may have to forget about souvenirs next trip, however, I too, refuse to give up my foodie lovin ways, besides, I am but one person, so it is much easier, I know, to say that, If I had a family of 4 or more, yikes, the expense involved really for everything. Oh well, maybe in my next life, I will have a husband and at least one child, for at this point, I ain't holding my breath!
Anyway, hot dogs in a coffee maker? not so sure about that, I mean would they really fit in there? just micro wave them, or if you have a baby Foreman Grill, just grill them, it takes almost no time whatsoever, to do so.

 

[kiwitravel]

On our first family trip we found the American food a little too bland and too many carbs for our liking. On the second trip we bought an electric frypan at Target and cooked our own food, the frypan had a lid and we always cooked with this on so we didn't create any smell. We shopped at the supermarket up the road in Ball road and got fresh vegetables meat etc. We made curries, casseroles and cooked the rice in the frypan, microwaved potatoes and vegetables, not every night, but our tastebuds, waistlines and wallet enjoyed the stay much more.

 

[nun69]

one thing that my DH likes is mini bagels, cream cheese and sm pepporonis on it...great little morning snackie item....just FYI...you can cook hot dogs in the microwave {we do it all the time} and you can also scramble eggs inthe microwave, takes a little practice though {my 15 yr DD does this ALOT!!!} and we are all about saving but have one pretty big meal planned most of the days we are gonna be there {BB, Minnie's Breakfast Goofy's dinner Jazz Kitchen, etc...} and we figure if we decide we don;t want to spend alot for other meals, we'll go out and eat at Quiznos, McD's or MiMi's or somewhere on Harbor...plan on trying the Hometown Buffet {since we will have a car} and I REALLY like the Pizza Hut idea..I understand that some people feel like they shouldn't have to worry about $$$ for food, but sometimes to me I just can't justify $2.59 for a soda or $2.99 for a bag of Doritios that I know I can buy at the commissary for $0.79...so needless to say I stocked up on drinks, snacks, and even bought the Kool-Aid and CountryTime Lemonade singles to add to our water, since we can carry a water bottle and refill it for free....

 

[Gisele]

If I have to pay for my own meals, then price is very important to me, if someone is treating me, then not so much.

 

[Gisele]

Forgot to add, that I agree about the price for drinks, please! and for a number of other foodie items too!

Good eats for us all!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We always have soda and snack foods in our room (chips for example). We also buy our bottled water at Target, and bring that in to the parks. Most of our meals are not onsite. We'll usually do 2-3 onsite meals, and DTD, but the rest offsite. We save a ton by eating at Mimi's, McD, Subway ect...

Like I said, I'm all for saving money. Some of the prices in the parks are a bit too expensive for us to eat all our meals and snacks there. But I just can't do hot dogs in microwaves, or share one corndog between the 3 of us. LOL

 

[DSNY4ever]

If you want off-the-wall, I know REI has a great selection of just add water freeze dried meals. I've always wondered what they taste like!

My husband brings these on his backpacking trips, and he says they are surprisingly good. But in Disneyland we have done cup-o-noodles for lunch, instant oatmeal for breakfast and we have gotten Stouffer's meals for dinner before (mac n cheese is a favorite). We are so cheap that we bring our own PBandJ and other snacks into the park at lunch time, but then we usually get dinner in the parks...and of course a treat or two!

When we have kids someday and will be making more trips back to the hotel during the day, we'll probably make everything in our room!

 

[Leofoenget]

We always have soda and snack foods in our room (chips for example). We also buy our bottled water at Target, and bring that in to the parks. Most of our meals are not onsite. We'll usually do 2-3 onsite meals, and DTD, but the rest offsite. We save a ton by eating at Mimi's, McD, Subway ect...

Like I said, I'm all for saving money. Some of the prices in the parks are a bit too expensive for us to eat all our meals and snacks there. But I just can't do hot dogs in microwaves, or share one corndog between the 3 of us. LOL

I'm sorry, the food at Disneyland isn't that great. Yes there a some really good places to eat, but eating Breakfast, Lunch AND Dinner for a family of 4 can really REALLY drive up the budget. A bowl of cereal and a tuna sandwich and a banana so easy to take with you and can save tons of money. I can see eating one really nice meal as a treat but all 3 meals+ snacks is too much. Vacation or not

 

[50sjayne]

IMO eating is just one of those expenses of vacation. If I felt I really couldn't afford to pay for all the meals, and was trying to find ways to cook (beyond a sandwich, and simple microwave stuff) in a motel room that doesn't have a kitchen area, I'd probably skip the vacation until I had enough money saved up to eat properly.

I'm all for budget trips, and saving money, but eating is something I refuse to scrimp on. I'm amazed when people talk about a whole family sharing a corn dog! A hot dog cooked in the coffee pot? Yuck! I love DL, but I'd have to wait until we could all have our own corn dog before we'd go. LOL Just my 2 cents!

I dunno I think we all have things we like to eat, what sounds terrible to you may be something someone else's comfort food. Sharing food like that wouldn't work for us because we're simply not good at sharing lol. It makes sense though just to tide you over in the park that sort of thing, that's why I thought it was a good idea when someone else said they brought in small coolers to the park with sandwiches, sounds like a great idea to retrieve them to sit and wait for Fantasmic one day, or take them over to Tom Sawyer island for a picnic. Even though we'll be close enough to walk, it'd still be nice to not have to leave the park to eat. For me gathering food to take for our 6 days there, plus the drive up and down (the way down will be an all nighter, the way back will include a stop in Sacramento to see dh's Uncle) is fun- no problem. I work at a grocery store and am a bargain shopper anyway, if I can get good sandwich meat for $.99 clearanced from our meat deli, and pick up clearanced stuff from Target's frozen aisle 75% off that seems to make sense for me. We will get good stuff too like nice roast beef fresh before we leave for sandwiches, havarti, swiss and muenster cheese for sandwiches, nice sandwich bread (no high fructose corn syrup!) As far as hamburgers go, the Albertsons brand steakhouse choice premade patties are really good, not something I'd eat even occasionally because of the fat content (the best ones are the bacon and cheddar) but on vacation they rock. We'll bring microwave popcorn too, even though the awful smell might cause complaints....(wow) at any rate it will all be fairly healthy stuff that is also good and less hassle than eating out (IMHO) We have also become fine connoiseurs of happy hours, and I am so hoping the Mcormick & Schmick's there has the same sort of deal as they do in Portland, I'll have to do some checking around the area, I've heard some of the hotels have good happy hours-you get great food so cheap for buying one drink...and come on now, that's fun.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I dunno I think we all have things we like to eat, what sounds terrible to you may be something someone else's comfort food. Sharing food like that wouldn't work for us because we're simply not good at sharing lol. It makes sense though just to tide you over in the park that sort of thing, that's why I thought it was a good idea when someone else said they brought in small coolers to the park with sandwiches, sounds like a great idea to retrieve them to sit and wait for Fantasmic one day, or take them over to Tom Sawyer island for a picnic. Even though we'll be close enough to walk, it'd still be nice to not have to leave the park to eat. For me gathering food to take for our 6 days there, plus the drive up and down (the way down will be an all nighter, the way back will include a stop in Sacramento to see dh's Uncle) is fun- no problem. I work at a grocery store and am a bargain shopper anyway, if I can get good sandwich meat for $.99 clearanced from our meat deli, and pick up clearanced stuff from Target's frozen aisle 75% off that seems to make sense for me. We will get good stuff too like nice roast beef fresh before we leave for sandwiches, havarti, swiss and muenster cheese for sandwiches, nice sandwich bread (no high fructose corn syrup!) As far as hamburgers go, the Albertsons brand steakhouse choice premade patties are really good, not something I'd eat even occasionally because of the fat content (the best ones are the bacon and cheddar) but on vacation they rock. We'll bring microwave popcorn too, even though the awful smell might cause complaints....(wow) at any rate it will all be fairly healthy stuff that is also good and less hassle than eating out (IMHO) We have also become fine connoiseurs of happy hours, and I am so hoping the Mcormick & Schmick's there has the same sort of deal as they do in Portland, I'll have to do some checking around the area, I've heard some of the hotels have good happy hours-you get great food so cheap for buying one drink...and come on now, that's fun.

I actually get doing small things, popcorn, instant oatmeal, cereal, sandwiches. We do some of those things. Keep muffins, or go get donuts to keep in the room. We'll eat that in the morning to tied us over, so we can get an early start. We've even had cup of soups one trip, for a late night snack if we had an early dinner. I can get all that. It's the actual COOKING of BIG meals I wouldn't want to do. It is vacation after all!

I mean, to each their own. But I just know if I couldn't afford even the cheaper meals on vacation, I'd probably not go until I could. Budgeting for food is just part of the price of vacation. Just like the hotel room.

 

[twinspluscade]

I'm sorry, the food at Disneyland isn't that great. Yes there a some really good places to eat, but eating Breakfast, Lunch AND Dinner for a family of 4 can really REALLY drive up the budget. A bowl of cereal and a tuna sandwich and a banana so easy to take with you and can save tons of money. I can see eating one really nice meal as a treat but all 3 meals+ snacks is too much. Vacation or not

I can see bringing easy stuff for breakfast, snacks, drinks, etc. We will be eating a quick breakfast in the hotel, and then bringing bottled water into the parks. I also plan on buying very few snacks in the park, if any.

But to bring a crock pot, George Foreman grill, skillet, whatever and actually COOK in the room? That I don't get. Especially when there are cheap-ish options outside the park. I mean, would a person really save that much money cooking a burger on the George Foreman grill compared to getting one from McDonalds? I can't imagine you'd save more than a buck or two.

 

[Motherofafae]

I ordered food from Albertson's delivery like fruit and milk and water and other basic needs and had it delivered when my daughter was napping to our hotel room. I found the lunch food at the stands less than desirable so we brought lunch into the park most days and also brought snacks and water. It really saved a lot. That made the sit down character meals that much better! I think its great the delivery of healthy food to your room. so I didn't need to get a cab and waist time shopping when I could be playing in Disneyland!