I saved hundreds $$$ cooking meals at Cabana Bay Beach Resort!

[hsmom]

***edited to remove the skillet. These meals can all be warmed in the microwave**

I'm super excited to share our meals and how we saved well over $400 during our vacation!

Originally, we had booked two standard rooms at Cabana Bay Beach Resort. When they offered us a great upgrade deal, we changed to a tower family suite with a kitchenette. This ended up offering us a huge savings by allowing me to prepare 5 breakfasts, 4 dinners, and some snacks in our room. The grands ate a few breakfasts and 3 dinners with us, so we were feeding 7-9 people at an average of $15.55 per meal! (That's $1.73-$2.22 per person!) Big thanks to Trader Joe's for providing such high-quality, quick-prep foods!

First of all, if there is any debate about the size of these "mini" fridges at Cabana Bay Beach, see this photo and notice the gallon of milk in the background. These are certainly bigger than most hotel mini-fridges we've seen. While this fridge has no freezer, we stacked all of our frozen items together in the very back and our last dinner was still partially frozen after 3 full days. This fridge would not keep something like ice cream or popsicles frozen.

I bought Dawn trial size for $1 at Dollar Tree and purchased some Trader Joe's kitchen cloths. These cloths ended up being a fantastic purchase. I think I'll start using them at home, too.

In addition to these meals, we had turkey, lunch bread, PB&J, Joe's O's, TJ's frozen mac and cheese, and a few other items for snacks, all included in the price breakdown I mentioned.


We had 2 fridges since we had 2 rooms, but didn't need them both!

These items helped me keep everything clean.
The first morning, we had bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon. This smoked salmon was amazing! We had milk and Midnight Moo so the boys could have chocolate milk every morning. It also ended up being a good snack for the rest of the family. Dinner on the first night was Broccoli and Kale Slaw Salad and Beef and Broccoli stir-fry.


Bagels and lox

Beef and Broccoli with Broccoli and Kale Slaw

The next morning, we had scrambled eggs and ate more bagels. Most mornings, the boys ate Corn Flakes cereal with milk. For dinner, we had this delicious Pulled Beef Brisket on thin bread, Dill Pickle Kettle Chips, and cheese for whomever wanted it.




Dill Pickle Kettle Chips were the perfect side for the Beef Brisket

Breakfast on day three was more of the same: cereal, bagels, and/or eggs. Everyone likes different things, so we all ate what we preferred. For dinner, we made this Shiitake Mushroom Chicken that ended up being a hit with everyone.





Friday morning, we ate buttermilk pancakes. Trader Joe's sells ready-made frozen pancakes that you can warm up in the microwave.


Grass-fed butter makes everything better.

I forgot to buy syrup, but the diner downstairs had some for us!

What I brought from home:
can opener
cutting board
plastic mixing bowl
2 knives
metal spatula
rubber spatula
Trader Joe's reusable rags
dish soap
cafe press
paper plates and bowls (Did not need these! They provide!)

What Cabana Bay provided in their kitchenette:
hot and cold cups
bowls
plates
plastic utensils
coffee maker and all the condiments needed
mini-fridge
microwave
sink

 

[TommyJK]

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing. We're definitely looking to use the kitchenette as much as we can on our next trip. Especially for breakfasts on park days before early entry.

 

[bumbershoot]

Grass-fed butter makes everything better.

So true...so true. If one is a butter eater, one might as well get the Kerrygold!


That pancake mix is a great idea for our December DVC trip. Extended family trip and the menfolk make great breakfasts for the rest of us, and that would be AMAZING. So are all the other TJ ideas; thanks!

 

[kbelle8995]

Look's great. I love Trader Joe's

 

[wookiebeck]

We did the family suite for the kitchenette reason, too. Making even a few meals can really take the edge off the food budget for a vacation that pushes the limits of being able to afford it.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I don't thibk you're allowed to use electric skillets in hotel rooms. Something about it being a fire hazard. You're lucky the maid didn't report you.

 

[Bluer101]

Fire code does not allow it.

Onsite suites have, fridge, coffee maker, some with microwave. But as you see, non will have a cooking surface do to fire and ventilation codes. They are not designed that way.

 

[hsmom]

I don't thibk you're allowed to use electric skillets in hotel rooms. Something about it being a fire hazard. You're lucky the maid didn't report you.

I did think about that one of the nights when what I was cooking was steaming a lot. Of course, I was very careful to stay with it the entire time. If it's not allowed, then I certainly don't recommend using it. Many of these things can be cooked in the microwave. A crockpot might work for the stir-fry as well, if those are allowed.

 

[hsmom]

Fire code does not allow it.

Onsite suites have, fridge, coffee maker, some with microwave. But as you see, non will have a cooking surface do to fire and ventilation codes. They are not designed that way.

Thanks for the feedback! I've edited my post with all microwaveable meals.

 

[macraven]

Thank you for editing your first post.

There are some restrictions of cooking in the rooms at the hotels.
Microwave cooking is fine but other means of "cooking" does have restrictions.

 

[macraven]

I did think about that one of the nights when what I was cooking was steaming a lot. Of course, I was very careful to stay with it the entire time. If it's not allowed, then I certainly don't recommend using it. Many of these things can be cooked in the microwave. A crockpot might work for the stir-fry as well, if those are allowed.

not sure if a crockpot would be allowed in the rooms.
anything that is not attended to while you are there, might have restrictions.

crockpot is slow cooking and doubt you would want to spend your day in the room due to that.

 

[keishashadow]

I did think about that one of the nights when what I was cooking was steaming a lot. Of course, I was very careful to stay with it the entire time. If it's not allowed, then I certainly don't recommend using it. Many of these things can be cooked in the microwave. A crockpot might work for the stir-fry as well, if those are allowed.

not sure if a crockpot would be allowed in the rooms.
anything that is not attended to while you are there, might have restrictions.

crockpot is slow cooking and doubt you would want to spend your day in the room due to that.

Typically, crockpots are banned. I've seen some people's vintagecrockpots @ potlucks, they look like the original issues and certainly worse for wear. It's a liability issue they are likely unwilling to accept.

Small electronics brought from home can be issues all the way around as a fire hazard. I've read reports @ other hotels as to small, electric personal fans being confiscated. Often on cruise ships too, wherein room steward will even remove extension cords and unplug all your chargers.

OP - where there's a will, there's a way. Your post will be helpful to those who are trying to cut expenses on their trips.