How often do you stay at a value, NOT request a fridge..........

[marshallandcartersmo]

And there's one in the room anyway?? Free??

I think it's so bizarre in this day and age that Disney is still charging for a room fridge anyway. But I was just wondering if it ever happens that you don't request a fridge, and there's one there by the luck of the draw??

$10 a day adds up!!

 

[Donold_Fan]

Both times we've stayed at a value, there hasn't been a fridge. I just run to the store and get a styrofoam cooler to put in the room.

 

[BrianD]

Values are the only resorts now that charge for the fridge. All of the mods and deluxes have them in the room already. I agree with you about the $10 a day adding up. You really have to factor that in when deciding between a value and a moderate, especially if the room rates are discounted, because that makes the price difference even less.

 

[EMom]

You might want to check the Budget Board and see if you can get in on a Fridge swap. They are usually no more than $10 and sometimes even free.

 

[sunlover13]

We are staying at a value for the first time and could not get into a fridge swap so we are going to bring a collapsable cooler.

 

[PrincessGrandma]

Collapsable cooler! Now that's an idea. Since we are flying & using ME, "running to the store" to get a styrofoam is out of the question. I had reserved a frig, even though I didn't like the idea of $10/night. A collapsable might work out fine if there is an ice machine handy. I wouldn't want to walk 10 minutes just to get ice when we needed it. I wonder if I could just wait until we actually get there to cancel my frig reservation or if I must do it before we arrive. My concern is that with last minute packing we may exceed our luggage weight limit or space and not won't to use luggage space on a cooler. For those of you who use coolers, is it easy to manage?

 

[lyzziesmom]

When we stayed at Pop last year during Free Dining, we requested connecting rooms for my parents and us. My parents got a handicapped accessible room, which contains a king bed, a roll-in shower and a fridge. They were thrilled to see the fridge, because my cheapskate dad was actually considering paying the extra $100 for a fridge for our 10 days and felt like he "saved" that amount. Never mind the fact that we only used it once for cheesecake!

 

[G's mommy]

If you are considering a grocery delivery like gardengrocer.com, they have a styrofoam cooler available for about $6. We got one with our grocery order last time we stayed at Pop, kept some drinks and milk cold with ice from the ice machine. We just left it behind when we checked out.

 

[sunlover13]

Collapsable cooler! Now that's an idea. Since we are flying & using ME, "running to the store" to get a styrofoam is out of the question. I had reserved a frig, even though I didn't like the idea of $10/night. A collapsable might work out fine if there is an ice machine handy. I wouldn't want to walk 10 minutes just to get ice when we needed it. I wonder if I could just wait until we actually get there to cancel my frig reservation or if I must do it before we arrive. My concern is that with last minute packing we may exceed our luggage weight limit or space and not won't to use luggage space on a cooler. For those of you who use coolers, is it easy to manage?

The collapsable cooler we are going to bring actually looks like a carry-on bag so if it doesn't fit in our suitcase, I figured I would put our swimsuits and miscellaneous items in it and just carry it on. I don't actually own a collapsable cooler. I'm borrowing it from a friend so I have no idea where she got it from. I read somewhere on here that if you leave a note for Mousekeeping, they will probably fill up the ice for you while you are out. Especially if you leave them a tip

 

[dyna]

We have NEVER had a fridge at a value we refuse to pay to rent a fridge.

Since we drive anyway we haul our own hard sided cooler from home already iced down an loaded when we get there. It isn't opened till we are in our room as we have another small cooler that goes with us daily that holds our drinks for the way down. Take a drink out an put one in which is what we also do in the room so we never add a bunch of hot drinks or anything to the cooler at one time.

The hard sided coolers much easier to manage with the drainin of the water an adding ice. DH usually adds ice twice a day morning an night he takes care of that. A BIG disney shopping bag is ideal for puttin ice in till he gets it to the room nice an strong very sturdy bag. 1 trip an he's done.

Just make sure the hard sided cooler has a drain plug makes drainin the cooler much much easier.

YES in the days that almost all hotels has fridges an microwaves in the rooms disney still charges for theirs in the value resorts. Seems to me it would be cheaper to put fridges in rooms than to clean up cooler messes but then again maybe not. I do know the price of those dorm fridges has really dropped the last 15 yrs.

 

[rolltidepixie]

When we stayed at Pop, we brought a coleman cooler that plugs in to the wall and can be used as fridge. Got it at wal-mart for about $45. It's great, you can even plug it into a lighter plug in the car and use it there.,

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We have never had a fridge left in the room when we stayed at the values. There have been a couple of times when we paid for one but it was usually for a couple of nights and not that long.

 

[fla4fun]

When we stayed at Pop, we brought a coleman cooler that plugs in to the wall and can be used as fridge. Got it at wal-mart for about $45. It's great, you can even plug it into a lighter plug in the car and use it there.,

I have two of these - the one that is small and has the padded armrest on the top (which holds a six pack) and the full size that you can either use as a chest cooler, or stand it on end like a mini-fridge. We bought the big one back when you had to pay for a fridge even at the deluxes and it paid for itself the first trip we used it. It was so much lighter to move around than a small fridge too. We still use it every once in a while (it came in real handy at the office when the fridge was on the blink) and any time I'm going to a value resort, it comes along with me.

 

[**tinkerbell**]

i stayed in all star movies last year and there was a fridge already in the room when we got there, it was there the whole fortnight and we weren't charged i dont think we used it enough to have paid $10 a day, and wont be paying this year.

 

[lonegungirl]

Yeah, I think $70 for a week of fridge is not a great bargain for us. On one solo trip down there, I drove to the Sam's Club and bought a collapsible cooler and have used it for every trip. It folds down to a square that is still bigger than I'd like, but fits in the bottom of my duffle bag (probably around 15x15x3) and has never leaked on me yet.

I usually have to dump the water 2x/week and refill with ice, but it's great to keep 2 liter bottles of soda/water/tea cold, and to keep leftovers from dinner cold until recycling as breakfast in the AM.

 

[dydo2424]

I have never had to consider this as we always drive to our vacations, but we are flying this time. I found one at Target over the weekend for $20, that folds really flat. I just wanted a place to keep a gallon of milk, lunch meat, etc. It has plenty of room for that. Target also has some neat backpack looking softsided coolers that I picked one up for using in the parks. It's suppose to be leak-proof so I figure if I am not carrying a couple of cold bottles of water, I can use it for the camera while we are walking around and not have to worry as much about it getting wet on the inside on the rides. Plus as the OP said, they are each carryon size so I can fly back with them. We plan on using gardengrocer for delivery of water, milk, snacks, etc.

I do have a fridge reserved for now and I am also wondering if we can cancel it once we get there. Anyone know?