How are Canadians saving on meals at wdw with the low dollar

[Hopeful8]

Does Garden Grocers deliver everywhere and how late? We have a house rental in Davenport and our flight doesn't get into MCO until 7:15.

Garden grocers no longer delivers outside of Disney resorts, as of January 10th. Just found out yesterday! They recommended WeGo Shop and Orlando Grocery Express when I contacted them to ask for their advice. We did the same thing as Mshanson3121, almost all meals in our townhouse, saved a ton that way. Brought a cooler backpack and slim freezer packs and brought sandwiches and snacks to the parks daily.

 

[Wish_upon_a_cat]

We ordered breakfast and snack foods delivered to the hotel room (garden grocer) and brought energy bars and nuts in our packed luggage. Breakfast is in the hotel room every day, and we pack all snacks into the park. We carry water bottles to the park as well and don't buy drinks (except those that come included with kids meals). On this trip I have cancelled many TS meals that I booked six months ago when the dollar was higher. I started with 9 TS and we are down to 4 now. Might lose one more, I'm not sure yet. We sometimes order 3 meals to split with a family of four, though this is hit and miss. I should have ordered sandwich fixings from GG as well - the moderate resort fridges are bar sized, but I could easily have stored sliced meats and cheese in there.

 

[mort1331]

We have done both ways, and this March we have the DDP. With 3 kids and 2 adults and the wife perfering the buffets we have a buffet each night. Well with the DDP the sum of the whole and the convenience works for us. We have DVC and a one bdrm, but still find it easier, and if the wife is happy then we are all happy.
We have cooked in the past and still do breakfast. If you have a kitchen and drive, think about a slow cooker, set it up before you leave and ready when your back. Loads of recipes from wings, lasagna, fajitas and lots of others to try out. Then the leftovers are grand as well.

 

[seashell724]

Oh gotcha. First question is - are you driving or flying? If you're driving start stocking up slowly on some items 4-6 weeks before your trip and bring them with you. Just adding a couple items to your grocery bill every week can easily be budgeted into your weekly budget and cuts down on that "big" grocery bill for your trip. Some things you'd probably have on hand anyways and could bring.

So, one thing is to use Garden Grocers. Go in a few days before your trip and order your groceries and they'll deliver the food right to the house/rental for you on the day you arrive (you set the time), and it's all great shape. And prices really are pretty good (though their fresh fruit is a bit pricy).

So for breakfasts, we bought your basics: bread, English muffins, eggs, bacon, juice, milk, butter, PB and jam, coffee, a bowl of mixed fruit, cereal for the kids

For lunches, we bought stuff to make sandwhiches (which of course included the jam and PB and bread), but also deli meat, mayo, mustard. Since we spent the afternoons at the house relaxing, we normally ate lunch at the house, so we also bought KD for the kids, hotdogs and buns. A bit boring and routine of a lunch time menu, yes, but we didn't really feel like cooking "big" meals while on vacation, and honestly, we found the heat kinda sapped our appetite anyways (we went in June), so a quick hot dog or sandwhich was fine. For the days we packed a lunch for in the park, we packed sandwhiches.

For suppers we did basically did meat and salad: so hamburgers and salad, pork chops and salad, we BBQd steaks one night, chili and salad - I made a huge batch of chili so we could have leftovers for the next day. We bought premixed salad bags and dressing, and a cornbread mix. We ordered in pizza one night, and had the leftovers for lunch. So again, not huge variety but we were trying to save money and also keep the grocery bill down.

For snacks we bought granola bars, cheese sticks, fresh fruit (bananas, apples, oranges), crackers, chips etc... We typically took the granola bars, fruit and crackers into the parks for a snack. We bought oodles of bottled water from home (much cheaper in Canada), so we packed typically 6 bottles per morning. In hindsight though I wouldn't do that again, since it's heavy to carry. Instead I would just pack a couple water bottles and refill in the park. Makes for a lighter backpack.

Definitely invest in a backpack cooler. We used this one with these ice packs, both worked great:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003I7CLCC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PTGO5A?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Thank you for the detailed answer! We are flying but plan to take a suitcase of light, non-perishables and then grocery shop there. These are great ideas!

 

[dis_guy]

We're another family that's taken advantage of free dining for the last several trips. With things as they are we'll probably try for a room only discount and avoid the dining plans altogether. We find that one of the big expenses of having a TS meal every day is the built in mandatory tips Disney that tacks onto your bill. If paying OOP we'd probably limit our TS meals to 2 or maybe 3 for the week and we have found that many CS locations have portions that are easily large enough for two to share for a lunch. The rib/chicken combo at Flametree and the chicken meal at Cosmic Ray's come to mind here. Putting in a GG order for snacks/fruit/water/wine would also help keep costs down. Certainly it would be less than what dining plans cost.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Firstly, we would never buy the DDP again. We always stay onsite so either take advantage of free DDP or pay OOP for meals when another promotion is applicable.

If going during the time of year where DDP is not free (you must pay for meals):

1. Bring oatmeal from home, granola bars, trail mix, cereal boxes, juice boxes, etc. We never buy breakfast @ WDW.
2. Share CS meals and TS meals where possible. Check menus online for size of meals, prices, etc. to know the best choices to share.
3. No soda pop, ice water only. We bring Brita bottles to filter the Orlando tap water.
4. We don't eat dessert @ home and so we don't indulge @ WDW either unless we share something special.

 

[CdnCarrie]

The stores on property at the resort usually have a section in the back with 2 L of milk, Pop, etc. Of course more than buying in a grocery store but cheaper than buying the refillable mugs for everyone or small individual cartons of milk. Nice if kids are young to have a 2L of milk in fridge in room.
Also you can go to the food courts at the values (not sure of mods) and get bread for 99 cents to toast along with free jam and PB. Still more than ordering in groceries but perhaps easier.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Oh gotcha. First question is - are you driving or flying? If you're driving start stocking up slowly on some items 4-6 weeks before your trip and bring them with you. Just adding a couple items to your grocery bill every week can easily be budgeted into your weekly budget and cuts down on that "big" grocery bill for your trip. Some things you'd probably have on hand anyways and could bring.

So, one thing is to use Garden Grocers. Go in a few days before your trip and order your groceries and they'll deliver the food right to the house/rental for you on the day you arrive (you set the time), and it's all great shape. And prices really are pretty good (though their fresh fruit is a bit pricy).

So for breakfasts, we bought your basics: bread, English muffins, eggs, bacon, juice, milk, butter, PB and jam, coffee, a bowl of mixed fruit, cereal for the kids

For lunches, we bought stuff to make sandwhiches (which of course included the jam and PB and bread), but also deli meat, mayo, mustard. Since we spent the afternoons at the house relaxing, we normally ate lunch at the house, so we also bought KD for the kids, hotdogs and buns. A bit boring and routine of a lunch time menu, yes, but we didn't really feel like cooking "big" meals while on vacation, and honestly, we found the heat kinda sapped our appetite anyways (we went in June), so a quick hot dog or sandwhich was fine. For the days we packed a lunch for in the park, we packed sandwhiches.

For suppers we did basically did meat and salad: so hamburgers and salad, pork chops and salad, we BBQd steaks one night, chili and salad - I made a huge batch of chili so we could have leftovers for the next day. We bought premixed salad bags and dressing, and a cornbread mix. We ordered in pizza one night, and had the leftovers for lunch. So again, not huge variety but we were trying to save money and also keep the grocery bill down.

For snacks we bought granola bars, cheese sticks, fresh fruit (bananas, apples, oranges), crackers, chips etc... We typically took the granola bars, fruit and crackers into the parks for a snack. We bought oodles of bottled water from home (much cheaper in Canada), so we packed typically 6 bottles per morning. In hindsight though I wouldn't do that again, since it's heavy to carry. Instead I would just pack a couple water bottles and refill in the park. Makes for a lighter backpack.

Definitely invest in a backpack cooler. We used this one with these ice packs, both worked great:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003I7CLCC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PTGO5A?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

This is almost exactly what we do too. We don't order groceries though, we go out and get them after we get checked in to the condo. When we rent a condo we tend to stay for 2 weeks and average about $450 on food which includes our meals out. Most days we only have 1 meal out. We use a lot of coupons and don't eat any place fancy. We love going to the places we don't have here at home....CiCi's pizza, Chick fil A, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden. Just simple places. I've also found some great deals for dining on Groupon and Living Social. One thing we cut out a few years ago was ordering drinks of any kind at restaurants. You can tack on $10+ just on pop. We have pop, beer or whatever at the condo.

I start a few months in advance watching what we use most often at home (condiment wise) and make a list. I also save up small plastic bottles to bring things in like ketchup. If you have to buy ketchup, mustard etc it really hikes up the bill fast and you won't use all of it so it goes to waste. Spices are another item to bring from home. I just bring S&P and garlic powder but whatever you use just bring a little in a Ziploc bag. Cereal is a great item to bring from home as you can find it on sale. Cheese is another item that I bring(if driving). I find US cheese a little flavourless and very expensive. I will bring the large blocks from home that I got on sale for under $4.

 

[mshanson3121]

This is almost exactly what we do too. We don't order groceries though, we go out and get them after we get checked in to the condo. When we rent a condo we tend to stay for 2 weeks and average about $450 on food which includes our meals out. Most days we only have 1 meal out. We use a lot of coupons and don't eat any place fancy. We love going to the places we don't have here at home....CiCi's pizza, Chick fil A, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden. Just simple places. I've also found some great deals for dining on Groupon and Living Social. One thing we cut out a few years ago was ordering drinks of any kind at restaurants. You can tack on $10+ just on pop. We have pop, beer or whatever at the condo.

I start a few months in advance watching what we use most often at home (condiment wise) and make a list. I also save up small plastic bottles to bring things in like ketchup. If you have to buy ketchup, mustard etc it really hikes up the bill fast and you won't use all of it so it goes to waste. Spices are another item to bring from home. I just bring S&P and garlic powder but whatever you use just bring a little in a Ziploc bag. Cereal is a great item to bring from home as you can find it on sale. Cheese is another item that I bring(if driving). I find US cheese a little flavourless and very expensive. I will bring the large blocks from home that I got on sale for under $4.

Interesting. Where you do you live? Where we are (NB), cheese (and milk) is far cheaper in the US than what we pay. But I agree, it doesn't have the flavor of Canadian cheese.
We ate 5 meals out I think during our 11 days. We thought our Disney trip was going to be a once in a lifetime so we splurged on CRT, HDDR and then ate two CS lunches at MK. We also ate at Golden Corral one night (which in my opinion was "meh". Good if you like greasy food.). Next time, it will be all eaten at the house, though I do think we'll do HDDR again. Great ideas about Groupon and Living Social, never thought of checking those places.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Interesting. Where you do you live? Where we are (NB), cheese (and milk) is far cheaper in the US than what we pay. But I agree, it doesn't have the flavor of Canadian cheese.
We ate 5 meals out I think during our 11 days. We thought our Disney trip was going to be a once in a lifetime so we splurged on CRT, HDDR and then ate two CS lunches at MK. We also ate at Golden Corral one night (which in my opinion was "meh". Good if you like greasy food.). Next time, it will be all eaten at the house, though I do think we'll do HDDR again. Great ideas about Groupon and Living Social, never thought of checking those places.

I live in Ontario. Until the exchange got bad I cross boarder shopped about every 2 months. Milk at home is $3.97 for the 4L bag. Across the boarder it's between $2.75 and $5(USD) depending on the store for the gallon. Cheese I can buy at home, when on sale, for between $3.77 and $3.99 for the 450g black. In the US you get the small 200g size for $4+.

 

[lizzyb]

We will be having breakfast in our room. Will also be picking up snacks. Most of our meals will be counter service.

 

[mort1331]

This is almost exactly what we do too. We don't order groceries though, we go out and get them after we get checked in to the condo. When we rent a condo we tend to stay for 2 weeks and average about $450 on food which includes our meals out. Most days we only have 1 meal out. We use a lot of coupons and don't eat any place fancy. We love going to the places we don't have here at home....CiCi's pizza, Chick fil A, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden. Just simple places. I've also found some great deals for dining on Groupon and Living Social. One thing we cut out a few years ago was ordering drinks of any kind at restaurants. You can tack on $10+ just on pop. We have pop, beer or whatever at the condo.

I start a few months in advance watching what we use most often at home (condiment wise) and make a list. I also save up small plastic bottles to bring things in like ketchup. If you have to buy ketchup, mustard etc it really hikes up the bill fast and you won't use all of it so it goes to waste. Spices are another item to bring from home. I just bring S&P and garlic powder but whatever you use just bring a little in a Ziploc bag. Cereal is a great item to bring from home as you can find it on sale. Cheese is another item that I bring(if driving). I find US cheese a little flavourless and very expensive. I will bring the large blocks from home that I got on sale for under $4.

Try the spray cheese, loads of flavor....YUKK kidding.
These are great suggestions if driving, but if flying and they baggage fees now, find ordering and having delivered still to be easier and economical.

 

[mshanson3121]

I live in Ontario. Until the exchange got bad I cross boarder shopped about every 2 months. Milk at home is $3.97 for the 4L bag. Across the boarder it's between $2.75 and $5(USD) depending on the store for the gallon. Cheese I can buy at home, when on sale, for between $3.77 and $3.99 for the 450g black. In the US you get the small 200g size for $4+.

Nice! Here in NB, 4L of milk runs $6.99-$7.99. Over across in ME it's only $3.99-4.99. The bricks here normally go on sale for $5.99, but shredded cheese is insanely cheaper over across for us! Here 4c of shredded cheese is typically $10+. Over across it's $3.99. Likewise pop cans for some reason are a lot cheaper. We can typically get 30 cans on sale over across for $6.99 (with $0.05 deposit instead of $0.10), and here they run $4.99 for 12 on sale. Crazy how much prices can vary from one province to the next.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Try the spray cheese, loads of flavor....YUKK kidding.
These are great suggestions if driving, but if flying and they baggage fees now, find ordering and having delivered still to be easier and economical.

Yep...cheese in a can is a special treat, not to be missed. Remember the one we used to get many years back that came in a little plastic tube with a star shaped opening to squeeze the cheese out of?

 

[mshanson3121]

Yep...cheese in a can is a special treat, not to be missed. Remember the one we used to get many years back that came in a little plastic tube with a star shaped opening to squeeze the cheese out of?

While it should almost be a sin to admit this... I really liked that cheese, lol.

 

[dancin Disney style]

While it should almost be a sin to admit this... I really liked that cheese, lol.

we ate it and are still alive....just like drinking from the garden hose

 

[LemonNeko]

I have one character breakfast at Cape May booked but I think I'm going to cancel. With the exchange it would be $80 for my son and I. He's going to be so disappointed

 

[isabellea]

Because I booked my room-only thru Orbitz and got a very good deal for Feb26-March1 (105$USD per night at Pop) I did some calculations and it wouldn't make sense to book directly with Disney (130$USD per night after discount) and add the dining plan. Even with 5 TS meals planned (Tusker House dinner, O'hana dinner, 50'PT lunch, Crystal Palace breakfast and Cape May breakfast) it makes more sense financially to pay OOP. For our food budget I got what we would have paid for the DDP+tips in cash and I expect some leftover. We drive so we always bring our kettle and oatmeal packets for breakfast in the room before RD (unless we have a character breakfast planned). I also bring some water bottles and some snacks when in the room. This trip I am not expecting more than 1 or 2 shared CS and we are not big snackers so that helps.

 

[quandrea]

I have one character breakfast at Cape May booked but I think I'm going to cancel. With the exchange it would be $80 for my son and I. He's going to be so disappointed

That's a shame. It's such a nice, low key character meal. Anyway to shave eighty dollars elsewhere?

 

[sullymom]

We just returned from Disney on the 7th. We paid OOP for all meals. We ate breakfast from groceries we bought (bars/cereal) We usually split an adult meal between my husband and I for lunch and the kids had their own kid meal. We brought ziploc bags with us to save food that we couldn't finish and had it as snacks later in the day (croissants/muffins) When we totalled our meals we ended up saving by not buying the meal plan. We wouldn't have been able to eat all the food on the meal plan.