How often do you use the kitchens/kitchenettes when you stay? What meals do you do?

[quandrea]

Really enjoying this thread! I'm just starting meal planning for our October trip. Like to get a jump on it to get the 10% discount from Garden Grocer. I'm looking to shake things up and there are some nice ideas here. To add:

Monkey bread at breakfast
Chicken corn chowder
Baked chicken with cheesy potatoes (Life in the Lofthouse)
Teriyaki chicken casserole (life in the Lofthouse)
Chicken stuffing bake (life in the loft house)

Haven't tried the last three but will do a test run for dinner before adding it to the DVC rotation. We take long trips and I cook at least one meal besides breakfast every day. Needless to say our garden Grocer order is huge for a family of five. I don't mind the cooking though.

 

[s.r.disney nut]

We've used Safeway's delivery service and have been very satisfied. There is a delivery charge but they won't accept a tip. It's there policy. Prices are grocery store prices, not like Garden Grocer. Just thought I'd add this since some previous posters mentioned Garden Grocer and using a car service to get to a grocery store. If you order beer and/or wine, you have to be there to accept delivery and show ID.

 

[deide71]

We always stay on a one bedroom minimum so we always have a full kitchen and laundry. We eat what we feel like, nothing that takes a long time to prepare. Stouffer's, other easy meals, salads, Publix fried chicken, sandwiches, steak on the grill, we enjoy breakfast, eggs, BACON, hash browns.

Bill

Public fried chicken is the bomb!

 

[robndani]

I barely like cooking at home so there's no way it's happening on vacation. We take advantage of the full size fridge. We order from GG and stock up on water, juice, milk, yogurt, fruit, veggies, cheese, etc.

My husband would happily cook though

 

[michelleiada]

We always stay in 2 bedroom villas and while we love having the full kitchen, we typically only use it for some breakfasts and snacks when we come back at night. We always do the dining plan...I'm on vacation...I'm not cooking on vacation!!! But I do love having the kitchen for morning coffee, cereal, fruit, bagels etc..

 

[disneynutz]

If you have a kitchen, you also have an in room laundry!

Bill

 

[bluenosemickey]

When we did the math for our original purchase of DVC , we factored in the savings we'd see by cooking in the room. That was 10yrs ago and I would say we save about $150-$200 per day by cooking in the room. With a family of 5, that has allowed us to do 2 trips/year, sometimes 3.
I have found the key to making it work is to keep it simple. Buy/order as many pre-prepped items as possible. Pre-cut veggies, grated cheese, cooked chicken pieces, hummus and guacamole. Pasta, fajitas, nachos, salads, tacos, Mac and cheese, sandwiches, breakfast as supper are all easy favorites.
We really enjoy some meals in the parks, but only pick our favorite spots and work the meal locations into our plans. So long park days have a meal out, and the short ones or returning at night involve eating at "home."
Over the years, we have come to look forward to the peace and calm of eating in the room or on our balcony. We have also done a "picnic" at poolside with our own food. It saves money, recharges your battery, allows for family time during a busy vacation, better food and better for you in many cases.
Once you get used to the planning, it's pretty easy. Same menus for the most part for every trip. New additions each time to spice things up. I usually head back alone to the room early from the afternoon pool break to get things going. A nice glass of red, some good music, cool room, time alone to recharge Momma's battery!

 

[RebelHawk]

We drive down from SC for our trips so we will typically stop at the Publix near Disney property. The shopping list looks the same almost every trip:

Case of water
Pack of Diet Cokes
Enough wine to last the trip (we'll just leave that one alone)
Bagels
Bread
Pre sliced cheeses
Jam or spreads
Pretzels (or snacks in general)

So other than toasting some bread for "cheese toast" or a bagel in the morning we like to relax on the balcony at night and people watch if over at the BWV or watch the Magic Kingdom wind down if over at the VGF. if we want something more elaborate for dinner in we'll call room service or have a local pizza place deliver us a pie. But since our normal trips are Flower and Garden or Food and Wine we usually finish up our park days at Epcot and graze to the point we don't need anything else for the night.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Full kitchen or not, I've never cooked while in WDW. My BIL made breakfast for all of us one morning when our families shared a grand villa but other than that, the most we do is make coffee, possibly heat up leftovers. I do love to cook but not while on vacation since we enjoy dining at the signature restaurants.

 

[princessbride6205]

We have so far only stayed in studios. But like some others have said, I'm not cooking on vacation! (Or doing laundry, for that matter!)
We will stop at Publix if we have a car or order Garden Grocer.
I will typically get greek yogurt, milk, cereal, fruit, waters, soda, beer. This trip we were doing the runDisney races so I also ordered mini bagels and individual peanut butters. Having the fridge for beer is probably what saves us the most money, since otherwise DH would head to the hotel bar for 1 or 2 in the evening. Once you factor in tip, you could have bought a six pack or two for the same price.

 

[disneynutz]

Easy to do minor meals in the villa and the cost savings allows us to stay longer. We will take a longer vacation any day over going out for expensive Disney meals. A laundry allows us to pack less for our longer stays.

Bill

 

[quandrea]

When we did the math for our original purchase of DVC , we factored in the savings we'd see by cooking in the room. That was 10yrs ago and I would say we save about $150-$200 per day by cooking in the room. With a family of 5, that has allowed us to do 2 trips/year, sometimes 3.
I have found the key to making it work is to keep it simple. Buy/order as many pre-prepped items as possible. Pre-cut veggies, grated cheese, cooked chicken pieces, hummus and guacamole. Pasta, fajitas, nachos, salads, tacos, Mac and cheese, sandwiches, breakfast as supper are all easy favorites.
We really enjoy some meals in the parks, but only pick our favorite spots and work the meal locations into our plans. So long park days have a meal out, and the short ones or returning at night involve eating at "home."
Over the years, we have come to look forward to the peace and calm of eating in the room or on our balcony. We have also done a "picnic" at poolside with our own food. It saves money, recharges your battery, allows for family time during a busy vacation, better food and better for you in many cases.
Once you get used to the planning, it's pretty easy. Same menus for the most part for every trip. New additions each time to spice things up. I usually head back alone to the room early from the afternoon pool break to get things going. A nice glass of red, some good music, cool room, time alone to recharge Momma's battery!

I could have written this. For some reason, cooking on holiday is different than cooking at home. It's one of the nicest parts of our time away. Cozy family time. I'm in the throes of meal planning right now. Test driving some new recipes here at home. Dreaming of my October holiday!

 

[daisyduck123]

No cooking (or cleaning up after cooking) on my vacation. We've spent over 100 nights as DVC members and I have yet to cook on vacation. The 4 of us will be in a 2BR for 9 days at BCV this July and the only thing that will be in our fridge is beer & wine. I can't fathom cooking or cleaning on vacation...esp. when there are so many wonderful places to eat in WDW!

 

[WAHkoMom]

Great thread! Like most others, we prepare mostly breakfast food and snacks in our kitchen. It's a tradition for my kids that we buy individual size cereal boxes every trip. We used to rent a car and go to the Publix in Winterhaven after visiting my grandmother, but since she passed away a few years ago, we now use Garden Grocer. This actually saves us money from "impulse" buying at the store and I plan to save 10% by ordering well in advance (hopefully, they still offer that discount). Water, beer and Mike's Hard Lemonade are always on the list and these are the biggest money savers over purchasing in the parks or at the resort. I also order half and half for coffee (I bring my own coffee in baggies, which I then put in plastic storage containers), juice, milk, sour cream, cream cheese, half gallons of water for the coffee maker (YES, I'm particular about my coffee, haha), yogurts, cheese, baby carrots, celery, cukes, bread and chips. In my suitcase I'll pack PB & J, boxes of crackers, mini bagels, onion soup mix and lots of ziplock baggies so we can take snacks to the parks.

And thanks to this thread, I think I've got a good start on my shopping list for our December trip! I'm tempted to add cookie dough and cinnamon rolls to the list, too. Yum.

I have never cooked dinner in the villa; we always eat out while at the World so I don't have to!

 

[bwang123]

Both times we stayed in an either 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom, we have gone grocery shopping and made big meals in the room including steaks, pasta, beef wellington and lasagna. If we had more points, we would stay in a one bedroom every time. The kitchen, space and washing machine are huge for us. Though, we do enjoy our stays in studios and not making meals but would still prefer a washing machine.

 

[Bellecruiser]

Ok...you guys have convinced me! Next time we go for our two weeks in January I am cooking dinner! We always have breakfast in the room, but never dinner. We drive down so I can preplan and prepack a bunch of dinners...and we can go shopping for the salad/veggies kinds of things. I always think we'll grill, but it is too cold in January. This was a great thread and I am fired up!!

 

[DonnaL]

Honestly....it depends on the trip...if it's just DH and I ...we will always have breakfast in room before we leave and most days will eat a "late lunch" table service while out and in evening, we sometimes will go to one of the resort bars and have a few small plate items or when arrive back at room, have an assortment of fruit, fresh veggies, cheese, crackers. If it's the whole family ...which consists of three adult children, two spouses and four grand children or any assortment of above......we usually will make ADR's for one or two select meals, mostly breakfast in room...except if we have an ADR for a Character breakfast somewhere, a couple counter service and the rest......easy to do meals in room. Some examples would be homemade frozen meatballs from home mixed with doctored up jarred sauce/pasta/salad/bakery italian bread or precooked and then frozen boneless chicken to be used for any number of easy to do chicken dishes (since the chicken is already precooked at home, this usually can be put together in about 35 to 40 minutes), homemade meatloaf, again made at home, cooked and frozen...thaw it, reheat in oven, add some veggies and potato and you're done. I've been doing all of the above for years by simply planning ahead. For trips that I'm cooking, my carryon is a soft sided medium size Thermos bag, which is rated to keep items cold for up to 24 hrs. So, I simply put my well wrapped/or container frozen items in the bag and carry it on with me. I am careful not to pack anything that could possibly begin defrosting (why I don't take my homemade sauce with the meatballs!!) and TSA give me a problem over carrying "a liquid item". We drive two hours to the airport, arrive two hours before our flight and our flight is approx. 2 hrs to Orlando, then another hour to get to/checkin our resort....so items are in the bag for approximately 7 to 8 hrs.....most items are still partially frozen when we arrive. I go over the planned menus and also pack small labeled Ziploc snack bags any spices I need for a meal in the Thermos bag. Sometimes, if I have room I will also take any dry items (like my favorite brand of pasta) I need to complete a meal. Then, I decide what fresh ingredients I'll need, in addition to staples like milk, juice, butter, bread, etc. and place an order with either Garden Grocer or Publix also now has a new contracted delivery service (only used them once so far, but, was pleased with the service). Over the years, this has saved us a ton of money on meals and I don't really feel like I'm cooking on vacation since it's really just putting everything together that's been precooked at home. When we have a larger group, we find it's much easier to eat in than decide so far in advance where everyone wants to eat on a Tuesday six months from now in order to make ADR's.

 

[ThisIsJason]

At WDW in a one bedroom the only thing that gets done is breakfast. That is always something quick, nothing more than a quick 10-15 minutes of cook time and same for cleanup. Lunch and dinner are eaten out.

At Aulani we ate every meal in the room other than five or six of them.

 

[kboo]

Honestly....it depends on the trip...if it's just DH and I ...we will always have breakfast in room before we leave and most days will eat a "late lunch" table service while out and in evening, we sometimes will go to one of the resort bars and have a few small plate items or when arrive back at room, have an assortment of fruit, fresh veggies, cheese, crackers. If it's the whole family ...which consists of three adult children, two spouses and four grand children or any assortment of above......we usually will make ADR's for one or two select meals, mostly breakfast in room...except if we have an ADR for a Character breakfast somewhere, a couple counter service and the rest......easy to do meals in room. Some examples would be homemade frozen meatballs from home mixed with doctored up jarred sauce/pasta/salad/bakery italian bread or precooked and then frozen boneless chicken to be used for any number of easy to do chicken dishes (since the chicken is already precooked at home, this usually can be put together in about 35 to 40 minutes), homemade meatloaf, again made at home, cooked and frozen...thaw it, reheat in oven, add some veggies and potato and you're done. I've been doing all of the above for years by simply planning ahead. For trips that I'm cooking, my carryon is a soft sided medium size Thermos bag, which is rated to keep items cold for up to 24 hrs. So, I simply put my well wrapped/or container frozen items in the bag and carry it on with me. I am careful not to pack anything that could possibly begin defrosting (why I don't take my homemade sauce with the meatballs!!) and TSA give me a problem over carrying "a liquid item". We drive two hours to the airport, arrive two hours before our flight and our flight is approx. 2 hrs to Orlando, then another hour to get to/checkin our resort....so items are in the bag for approximately 7 to 8 hrs.....most items are still partially frozen when we arrive. I go over the planned menus and also pack small labeled Ziploc snack bags any spices I need for a meal in the Thermos bag. Sometimes, if I have room I will also take any dry items (like my favorite brand of pasta) I need to complete a meal. Then, I decide what fresh ingredients I'll need, in addition to staples like milk, juice, butter, bread, etc. and place an order with either Garden Grocer or Publix also now has a new contracted delivery service (only used them once so far, but, was pleased with the service). Over the years, this has saved us a ton of money on meals and I don't really feel like I'm cooking on vacation since it's really just putting everything together that's been precooked at home. When we have a larger group, we find it's much easier to eat in than decide so far in advance where everyone wants to eat on a Tuesday six months from now in order to make ADR's.

WOW. You are super organized.

Also made me think of this, totally tongue in cheek: http://www.theonion.com/article/mom-spends-beach-vacation-assuming-all-household-d-33431

 

[DisneyQueen1320]

We normally stay in studios, for breakfast we have cereal and my kids love pop tarts. For lunch we have cold cuts and my youngest son love PB&J. Dinner we go out for a nice meal. I used Amazon Prime and it worked out wonderful. I also bought some turkey slices from the shop at the resorts. We used to eat every meal out but I'm not a big fan of counter service.