How do you plan the food on vacation??

[SDSorority]

Hi everyone. To save money, this year we're going to Dis and staying in a friend's time share condo in Kissimmee. Also to save money, we are going to go to Walmart when we get there and pick up groceries. I'm hoping to do 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 4 dinners from 'home' (aka pack and bring to the parks or eat at the condo), but I'm worried that I'm going to buy too much food. I don't want to waste anything... for those who have stayed in a condo on vacation, how do you plan how much food to buy (and what to buy)? It's not like grocery shopping at home where you already have some staples to go off of, you know? Oye.

 

[pattibehan]

We stay in a suite with a full kitchen when we go to WDW. I plan out meals, down to how many eggs we need for breakfast! I would recommend under buying...I had way too much the first year we did this. You do know they will not let you bring food into the parks? We eat a big breakfast and depending on when we go to the park, we either do lunch or dinner from home. Remember that everyone will be tired, and may not want a big meal. I do subs, chicken..easy to make things since it is MY vacation, too! I am interested in what tips everyone else has

 

[tinkermom23]

We stay in a suite with a full kitchen when we go to WDW. I plan out meals, down to how many eggs we need for breakfast! I would recommend under buying...I had way too much the first year we did this. You do know they will not let you bring food into the parks? We eat a big breakfast and depending on when we go to the park, we either do lunch or dinner from home. Remember that everyone will be tired, and may not want a big meal. I do subs, chicken..easy to make things since it is MY vacation, too! I am interested in what tips everyone else has

I thought you could?? Not just snacks but I've heard of people bringing little soft-sided coolers and renting a locker??? Did this change?

 

[TiffanyK]

We drive down, so we're able to make and freeze meals to take. Here's the story of how my mom did this. She kept the food frozen on dry ice for over 24 hours.

I offer menus with complete grocery lists on my blog. I heard from one reader that she used one of the menus on their trip to a cabin in Alaska. She said it worked great.

We're planning another trip for our family in May to WDW. I'll just plan out which meals we'll be eating at the townhouse and which in the parks, kind of like planning ADRs to go along with your itinerary. I'll keep the meals super simple and may make some up ahead of time and freeze them. I'll add breakfast foods in too. If there are foods that will be too fragile or perishable to bring from home, I'll place an order with We Go Shop for those things. I really don't want to grocery shop once I get down there.

 

[Donaldswife]

You CAN bring food into the parks, just no glass and only soft sided small personal coolers. Disney is pretty much the only park that DOES allow you to bring in food and drinks.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Bringing in Outside Food and Drink

Disney used to have a policy "requesting" that guests did not bring outside food and drink into the theme parks, but this was completely unenforced. Now it has changed its policy, and guests are allowed to bring food items, such as snacks or foods that do not require heating, into any Walt Disney World theme park. It is also completely fine to bring in bottled water or soft drinks.

One note of caution: avoid bringing in anything highly perishable, such as cold cuts. It would be easy to end up with food poisoning!

Also, you absolutely will NOT be allowed to bring in the following: hard-sided coolers, large coolers, glass containers, or alcoholic beverages. Also, you cannot bring any type of straws (even the little ones attached to juice boxes) into Animal Kingdom...

I would plan you meals as if you were home for breakfast. I would do pop-tarts, oatmeal, frozen waffles and cereal. It can be warm even in the mornings, and this is what my kids would prefer. Just estimate if for a week at your house and purchase that at Walmart.

If you possibly can, I would do an afternoon break and have lunch at the condo. So much food spoils and that would put a huge damper on your vacation. But bring snacks into the park, granola bars, juice boxes, trail mix (without chocolate), fruit snacks, crackers, etc....

It looks as though 4 dinners will be done also.. So maybe you might want to make your lunch your big meal, and then have a sandwich at the end of the night when you get back.

I know that you are really trying to do budget, but if it was me, I would have breakfast at the condo, lunch break at the condo, and pay for dinner at the park. Do either a CS or a buffet meal. This will maximize your time at the parks, and if you have enough snacks and aren't too hungry, you could skip the lunch. We have gone with 2 meals a day many times at the parks. The most important thing you need to do is stay HYDRATED. Drink water like it is going out of style. This will keep you healthy and actually filled up. Most hunger that people experience is really thirst. You will be amazed how much it makes a difference.

Enjoy your trip and have a great time.

 

[disykat]

I plan one less breakfast, and lunch/dinner than I will need. That gives us a chance to eat leftovers, or more flexibility in general. So for your trip I'd plan groceries ahead for 6 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 3 dinners. The other two meals could be leftovers, snacks, or a quick convenience meal.

Since you'll have a car and pretty easy access to groceries, I'd actually plan only about 4 days of meals and then make another stop if necessary. In general, I always have waay to much food.

 

[pattibehan]

This is why Ilove these boards. Ididn't know the food policy had changed!!

 

[AKL_Megs]

I ALWAYS have food planned out.

Like our last trip, our honeymoon... I knew exactly where and when we were going to eat, and how much we would spend.

During slow periods at work, I would research and plan. (Allearsnet is a GREAT site, as they list all food prices for most all of WDW )

We were on our honeymoon, and I planned every day in advance. Of course, a few days, we switched things around, but the cost never changed.

We had an idea of what we wanted to eat by looking at the menus online, and actually got pretty excited about eating by doing this!

 

[Kay1]

Hi everyone. To save money, this year we're going to Dis and staying in a friend's time share condo in Kissimmee. Also to save money, we are going to go to Walmart when we get there and pick up groceries. I'm hoping to do 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 4 dinners from 'home' (aka pack and bring to the parks or eat at the condo), but I'm worried that I'm going to buy too much food. I don't want to waste anything... for those who have stayed in a condo on vacation, how do you plan how much food to buy (and what to buy)? It's not like grocery shopping at home where you already have some staples to go off of, you know? Oye.

Could you bring small bottles from home with you? Are you driving or flying? We live fairly near Disney and use a cooler to bring home certain things, like half-used bottles of salad dressing and olives, for example.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

We did this in January. I made out a VERY detailed list of everything we'd need. We ate every breakfast in the condo - big breakfasts - eggs, oatmeal, coffee, and a meat - sausage or bacon.

I'd make sandwiches for lunch - peanut butter and jelly or tuna (we took those blue ice things to keep them cool), carrots, one bag of chips to split.

We brought crackers and cheese for a snack.

We usually went out to dinner or went back to the condo (Animal Kingdom day - they closed at 5 pm).

I agree with the pp who said to underbuy. I thought we had underbought, but we ended up with enough with our leftovers!

Have fun!!!

 

[SDSorority]

Could you bring small bottles from home with you? Are you driving or flying? We live fairly near Disney and use a cooler to bring home certain things, like half-used bottles of salad dressing and olives, for example.

I'm sorry I should have said- we're flying from Ohio. We do have a Walmart gift card to use , and though I prefer to make my own meals ahead... I can't do that this trip. That's why I'm

 

[SDSorority]

You CAN bring food into the parks, just no glass and only soft sided small personal coolers. Disney is pretty much the only park that DOES allow you to bring in food and drinks.

YEP! Since we're vegetarian, I emailed the special diets people and I have in writing from Disney that you CAN bring food into the parks