How many of you actually eat in/cook while at WDW?

Yardbird

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Apr 23, 2004
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We will be taking our first DVC trip this June, and will be taking along our 2 1/2 and 6 year old grandsons. We'll be in a one-bed at VWL. I plan on using WEGOSHOP to deliver groceries, and have a pretty good idea of breakfasts and snacks. Even when we have stayed in a room at WDW resorts, I always take snacks and things to make a quick breakfast before hitting the parks. Now, I'm wondering if I should plan on something for a quick lunch and dinner for a day or two?

I don't have the boys often (they live in FL, I live in MD), so I'm not sure how the 2 1/2 year old will do in a restaurant; this will be his first trip. How many of you with small children purchase things to throw together for lunch and dinner? I don't want to over-buy, but want to be prepared, especially since we'll have a full kitchen!

Any advice/tips?

Thanks! :wave2:
 
How the 2 1/2 year old would do will depend on the child. If he just doesn't do that great, there are plenty of counter service restaurants. Also, many LOUD restaurants. When my DD was 23 mos old she had a meltdown at the Rainforest cafe in AK. The place was so loud, WE could barely hear her crying and we were sitting right next to her! I'm serious!
 
My kids are 4 and 6, and have been going to WDW since they were babies. We always stock a few "staples" such as: mac and cheese, pb&j for sandwiches (my DD will eat this for breakfast), and hot dogs. The only meal we plan to eat in the room is breakfast. So the staples I keep on hand for the kids are good for afternoon snacks after a long day at the pool. And comes in handy if we have later PS for dinner and need a quick bite beforehand.

Have a fun trip!!
 
I often take 1 of my grandchildren with me. We stay in a 1 bedroom. We bring little boxes of cereal from home and purchase eggs,milk,butter, & bread from store at the resort. If we feel like eating lunches or suppers in room, we will buy a frozen pizza or sandwich meat and chips. We like to do 2 breakfasts out with the kids, later in the am, after they first swim, seems to set the tone for the day and we avoid some of the early morning crowds. My grandson is now 6, started taking him when he was 3. Have a great time. We are goin back in April. Also microwave popcorn and licorice and trail mix are great in the backpack for snacks at the park. We then spend our money on water, often refilling our water bottles from the water fountains. :earsboy:
 

We ate in the room everyday, of course, not every meal. We did the quick & easy breakfast each day as my kids ages 5 & 4 tend to be hungry in the morning. Also, plan on bed snack...sometimes it was cereal, fruit, popcorn, crackers.

We did eat out every day for lunch or dinner and in return cooked the other meal. Dont get me wrong I wasnt a chef...it might have been frozen pizza, soup, sandwiches etc.

With the young children cooking dinner fit into our day very well. By that time of day we were back from the parks and just enjoying the pool, relaxing and taking time out. Honestly by 5 or 6pm, we didnt even want to head back out to find something to eat.

We used wegoshop and was 100% satisfied. One thing we will order more of next time is cases of bottled water, we had 2 but ran short towards the end of vaca.

Enjoy your vacation

Angela
 
We have 3 kids, now aged 10,8,and almost 5, and we LOVE our DVC kitchens! :)

I really like b'fast in the room, of course -- for starters, kids eat more in the room. THere's just too much going on in WDW that catches their eye! I feel better knowing I can get a good bfast in them... (plus -- bfast is, let's face it, the most overpriced meal in WDW too. Big savings here!)

As for other meals -- hmmm. Is the youngest one still napping? If so -- it might make sense to plan a lunch or two in the room, if he's a post-lunch napper. You could feed the youngest, let him rest, then play a game or watch TV (or one of you take the older child down for a swim while the other listens for the little one to wake up.) If the 2.5 yr old is NOT a napper, then you may find it works better to dine in the park and come back in-between say lunch and dinner for some pool time and "rest" time (not a nap, per se -- just relax a bit and take a breather). Or make an earlier evening of it (come back for dinner, then return to the park for fireworks).

Is the child a picky eater? That might help me decide, too -- especially if his food preferences were such that after a day or two, I questioned what nutrition he had received! We always packed some decent snacky items for the park -- raisins, Cheerios, etc. While waiting in line, items like that can really help!

We found that character meals were better received at dinner (so long as we didn't over-schedule the day or make them too late!) Or in contrast -- we made character b'fast plans for late in the am on a day when we did NOT plan to even go in the park.

Basically, read the child and see what he/she can handle. I admit it, though -- in our case, we dine in as much for OUR (adults) benefit as the kids! We can relax... we feed the kids, then take our time over our food while the kids perhaps watch Disney TV.
 
95% + of our breakfastes are in our unit. No lunches ( always in a park ) and maybe 60% of dinners we fix in, and enjoy the great places to eat the other 40%!

HTH
 
Almost every breakfast. And though we usually eat the rest of our meals out (lunch @ park, dinner either at at WDW resort or off-site) we do pick up some lunchmeat, bread & mustard for spur.of.the.moment sandwiches, and try to have a frozen pizza in the freezer for when we get lazy and impatient.
 
For me...just need my coffee jumpstart in the morning and then I'm good to go. But when I had a little one, it was important that she get a good breakfast before we started the day. (she was an eggs, bacon, cereal, juice baby but grew up to be a thin dancer...go figure)

Let the kid's mom give you some ideas of fav foods and eating/smacking times. I think the idea of pbj and mac and cheese great...just in case.
Yogurt, fruit, cheese, carrot strips are handy for when they just can't wait another second or they will starve moments.

We alwys ate dinner late , so never needed nighttime snacks...but some kids have to have a little somthing before they drop off to sllep.

How fun to have these little ones on your trip!

Colorado Belle
 
For me...just need my coffee jumpstart in the morning and then I'm good to go. But when I had a little one, it was important that she get a good breakfast before we started the day. (she was an eggs, bacon, cereal, juice baby but grew up to be a thin dancer...go figure)

Let the kid's mom give you some ideas of fav foods and eating/smacking times. I think the idea of pbj and mac and cheese great...just in case.
Yogurt, fruit, cheese, carrot strips are handy for when they just can't wait another second or they will starve moments.

We alwys ate dinner late , so never needed nighttime snacks...but some kids have to have a little somthing before they drop off to sllep.

How fun to have these little ones on your trip! ::MickeyMo ::MinnieMo

Colorado Belle
 
I guess I'm in the minority because even though we have a kitchen , I never cook on vacation. I do enough of that everyday at home. I also have two teenagers so they would not want me cooking either. We definitely keep cereal and other food in the room for snacking though.
 
Cereal for breakfast, but if VWL has a bakery like the boardwalk you may want to get a couple of breakfasts (ie. pastries) there and bring them back to the room.

Some soft drinks and coffee/tea.
OJ

One quick frozen meal if we're staying a week or more. Such as lasagna.

Lunch and snacks for pool and water parks. We bring the water park reusable mugs back each year because it's only $5 to renew vs $10 for new mug.

Some healthy snacks to balance all the junk we're gonna eat. (Carrot sticks, celery sticks, apples, etc.)

And our own junk food.
 
Buy a 6-pack of those little bottled waters that have the sports-bottle lip. Freeze them and put one in each person's fanny pack. It'll stay cold (welcome in hot weather) as it melts, and save you the cost of buying pop. In the evening you can refill them and freeze them again.
 















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