If you have stayed Offsite-Did you cook?

[devotedchristian]

If so, how did that work for you?

Or if you are staying Onsite, are you planning to cook?

We are a family of 4: Me, DH, DD(16) and DS(5).

We are staying at the Marriott Grande Vista villa and it comes with a full kitchen, utensils etc..

I am trying to decide if I want to cook. My family prefers a hot breakfast, grits, sausage, eggs, biscuits and I know there is a Denny's up the street from the resort. Since we will be there for 4 days, I've budgeted about $25 each day for breakfast, and that may be *underbudgeting*.

I know I could cook us breakfast on much less, but cooking wears me out, and I don't want to be exhausted on my vacation LOL!

And that goes for maybe dinner as well.

What did you (or are planning on doing) do?

Thanks

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Orlando Hotels and Attractions board.

 

[suejai]

We stayed offsite on our trip last year. We always ate breakfast at our condo, but my kids usually just eat cereal. Mornings are just so much more relaxed when you don't have to go out for breakfast. We ate lunch out for the most part but I did cook a few dinners. I didn't go crazy with the whole cooking thing - I'm on holiday too! My friend who also stayed at an offsite condo did cook most meals and even went so far as to make lunches the night before and take them to the parks. They spent about a 1/3 of what we did on meals. But I think it worked for both of us (I'm just not as disciplined as my friend ) We are going to do it again on our next trip.

 

[dougsmom98]

If you are not going to eat breakfast in, then my guess is that you will not use the kitchen much. There are still major advantages. We like to keep fresh fruit around and lots of cold drinks. If you get take out for dinner, you will be able to store the leftovers. We spend quite a few "down" days at the villa, so we ate a few lunches at "home," things like beans and hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. Most nights we got take out, or went out. I don't like to cook a lot on vacation either, but I like having a full kitchen.

 

[spiceycat]

food allergies - so do cook - if you call it that.

Disney tries but one of my allergies is pepper - chef love pepper and since have waited over an hour for a steak - my guess he kept forgetting.

so if I do it myself save time and money.


plus also allergic to the sun - so go early (generally will have a little breakfast before we leave) - then leave when the sun, crowds, humdity, heat gets to me. generally around 10 to 11 am (depends upon the season) - come back around 4 to 6pm (season) have eaten both lunch and dinner (except for a couple of times we eat out) in the studio or villa.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

We do a couple of meals in, but very basic though. I don't want to "cook" on vacation either. I'll make something basic like spaghetti, order pizza in and make salad, or buy those meats and potatoes that you just microwave. Saves money, saves time and my kids like the downtime.

 

[Janet Hill]

We cook in a lot. However, I do cut lots of corners. I buy the pre-cooked sausage patties and bacon. So all I have to do is make the eggs. For dinner we do lots of salads (I get the bags) with a pre-cooked rotessiere chickens, or other pre-cooked meat entree.
More expensive that home cooking, but cheaper than eating out. We also enjoy the down time to just relax.

 

[mainelyj]

Some of our best meals on vacation was steaks cooked on the grill. And a nice leisurely dinner in our resort. But keep it simple. Salads, pasta, frozen pizza, srambled eggs, toast, bagels. Also, the kids love having snack food around, popcorn, ice cream, and immedate access to drinks. We would make our own smoothies and save a lot of money.

 

[onajourney]

We haven't been to Disney before, but we love to rent houses/condos for vacations so we can have more control over what we eat and avoid "travel tummy". We always have fruit, veggies, cheese sticks, etc. for snacks. We cook up eggs/omelets for breakfast and that gets us through the day better than sugary breakfasts. We usually pack lunches since we have the resources to store food. Then we will do Papa Murphy's pizza, spaghetti, tacos, maidrites, ham and potatoes, etc. It is so much easier to and cheaper. I don't think of it as work.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

Breakfast every day, occasional lunch, and sometimes a late night snack.

 

[Miss Ang]

We did stay off Disney property every other time we've gone, only one of those times was with the kids. When it was just dh and I, we did a little cooking at the time share. But when we had the kids with us, we were so busy that spending time in the kitchen was just not something I wanted to spend time doing.

 

[happymommy]

When we've had shorter stays, I have always made the mistake of buying too many groceries! So if you only have 4 days, be careful.

I agree about fresh fruit, drinks, and see what your family likes for breakfast. I think it's more relaxing to eat in for breakfast, that way someone can still be getting things ready for the day while others are eating.

I like to have some simple things onhand when we have had a kitchen at Disney (we've stayed at the Boardwalk Villas a couple times). My daughter loves macaroni and cheese (the really good Kraft kind with the pouch of sauce) and my son likes chicken nuggets, so for a quick snack I will ususally pick up a couple things like that. No major cooking.

My son also has food allergies, so I really liked having a kitchen when he was younger. That way I had some more control over what he was eating. Luckily he hasn't had any reactions at Disneyworld!

Now, when we go for longer (a week or more) and with friends in Hawaii (we all own a wonderful Marriott timeshare on Oahu) we do the beach thing or touring thing all day and definitely cook almost every night. It was relaxing way to end our day, grill some fresh fish, and visit. Much better for the kids too. Plus, there is a Costco and that is where we buy most groceries for those trips. The cost is so much less, for fresh produce, meats, and water, drinks, lots of stuff. I look forward to that Costco shopping trip!

I sometimes send a box of pantry items either way - like a small amount of rice, noodles, condiments, etc. You don't want to have to buy a large amount of something you'll only use a tiny bit of. So that is something you can do.

For 4 days, I'd just use the kitchen for breakfast and snacks.

 

[steelebug]

We used the kitchen quite a bit over a ten day period. Breakfast everyday for sure, pancakes etc. Some lunch and a few dinners. Loved having everything right there. Packed lunches to take to the parks in a small soft sided cooler. Than we could spend more on a nice dinner if we wanted.

 

[isla bonita]

We cook now a lot.
Breakfast is always in.
Most lunches are out while at the parks. If at home we cook.
Dinner is out or in depending on what we did that day. If we were at the parks we ate in ver simple meals. Pasta, shrimp, something on the grill where there is little clean up.
I like the freezer for frozen snacks around the pool.

Just having the fridge and freezer for drinks is helpful.

 

[iwannago!!]

I do most of the cooking our first night there. I spend about an hour cooking & cleaning up and then I am done for the week.

I cook 2+lbs of taco meat & use that for nacho's for a couple of days. Everyone likes this by the pool & it is simple to put together.

I cook 1lb of breakfast sausage & put together an egg souffle for the next morning. We eat 1/2 and the other 1/2 gets eaten for the next 2 days til its gone. I buy pre-cooked bacon & use the microwave just to heat it up for 20 seconds. Ham or Canadian bacon is easy too. PM me if you want the recipe, it is easy.


When we have a grill, DH & I grab a beer & leave the kids in the room with 14dd to babysit while they watch a movie & chill out. We go cook some burgers or bbq chicken. I get sides of pasta salad & potato salad from the deli. Frozen french fries or tater tots in the oven while we grill is easy enough.

Other easy things to 'cook' for breakfast- French toast sticks, waffles, bagles.
other Poolside treats - chicken quesadillas with leftover bbq chicken!

 

[hegsag]

Whenever we go on vacation I always cook with a crockpot - that way it's done when we get back from spending the day having fun. There are so many ideas for crockpot cooking -- even if you wanted to cook an omelet in it overnight (I never have but I'm sure you can & have it ready when you wake up). To make it even less of a mess and easier clean up get the crockpot liners. You're on vacation & you don't want to feel like a slave cooking and cleaning up after everyone. I think the crockpot is a must have when I am on vacation.