Is Garden Grocery more expensive?

[Elacklen]

It seems their online prices are ridiculous, but I understand you are paying for a service. Ex-$4.99 for box of Cheerios. Are the prices at Walmart cheaper and worth going there instead? I'm unfamiliar with the area and pricing, but I can get Cheerios for $2.50 normally...

 

[Gracie09]

It depends. You have to factor in transportation costs ( cab car rental etc) and time. Also tourist areas have higher prices in general than normal stores.
Remember garden grocer has to pay it's employees, pay for the van and has to transport the goods and make a profit, so you are buying that as well as your groceris

 

[Alesia]

I found groceries in the Orlando area to be more expensive than they are where I live.

 

[HeatherC]

I have found them to be much higher. We always have a car so we just do a Walmart run when we get there....much cheaper for us as a family of five. We also stay at Bonnet Creek so we probably eat a lot more in the villa than we would if we were in a single hotel room.

 

[puffkin]

We always have a car and usually go to the Super Target on 192 near the AKL. It is quick and easy. I don't pack a lot of things and just buy when I get there (diapers, sunscreen, mouthwash, etc). I do not find the prices to be any more than they are in my home area in PA. It is much cheaper and more variety than Garden Grocer.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Garden Grocer shops at one specific store. I don't know which one, but it's how tgey can post prices.

WeGoShop will shop at the location you request, whether that's Walmart, Target, Publix, Albertsons, Goodings...

KingdomStrollers will also do grocery shopping, but that may be secondary to needing to rent a stroller.

 

[GatorMama]

Groceries in that part of FL are pretty high prices anyway. I think my eyes popped out of me head to see boring ole bacon at almost $9/lb

 

[queenofthehive]

The old saying - "time or money" comes into play for me on this question. I have used Garden Grocer many times in the past and it has worked out great. When I go to Disney, I do not want to leave to go grocery shopping and I do not want to waste any of my precious vacation (park and pool) hours at the grocery store. Yes, it is more expensive but to me, it worth every penny. If I have to pay $30 more for $100 order lets say - I look at the extra expense as hiring a personal shopper to shop for me so I can spend more time on my vacation.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We just used Garden Grocer for the first time a few weeks ago. It was a short trip, just 4 days so we didn't want to waste precious time having to go out shopping. Also we flew down after school and had a 9:00 pm landing with 10:00 pm arrival at OKW.
In this situation it was well worth the extra cost & convenience.
We flew on SWA so I had plenty of room to pack a lot of non-perishables so I wouldn't have to pay such high prices for everything. (Cereal, oatmeal, coffee, filters, etc)
It was really nice to have fresh milk for my coffee, OJ, choc milk for ds14, grapes, bananas etc.
I would use them again when only using DME for transfers. It's still cheaper than calling a cab.

 

[Elacklen]

Thanks for the tips! We are also staying at Bonnet Creek, renting a car, and flying SW. I think I'll use a combo of all these tips. I like the suitcase idea!

 

[marmalade]

$4.99 for a box of cheerios and $9/lb for bacon are pretty close to the non sale prices around where I live. Even if the prices is a little higher than what you're used to paying, the convenience of it is well worth it.

 

[klo1335]

We are taking the auto train this summer, so I am packing my car with food that doesn't have to be refrigerated (cereal, etc). I ordered from Garden Grocer for milk and dairy products. I just don't have the time to go to the store and wait in line and fight the crowds...nor do I want to. I do that when we go to the beach for a week and it is crazy!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Also if you book in advance they give a small discount. I ordered in early Nov for a mid Jan trip.

Here are the discount details copied from their website:

Take advantage of our special savings by ordering in advance, (15 Days= 5%, 30 Days= 7%, 60 Days= 10%) off your subtotal.

 

[Crystal824]

Yes, Garden Grocer is more expensive. If you don't have a car, it is worth it. On the trips where we do rent a car, we usually just go do the shopping ourselves. Yes, it takes vacation time, but Walmart, Target, and Publix aren't that far away. We just choose one store and go buy the things we need. That is rare. We usually fly to Orlando and don't rent a car so we generally use Garden Grocer. I will say all of our stuff is has always been there waiting for us when we arrive. I think they shop at Publix.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I've never used garden grocer. We just make a list and shop when we arrive. Takes about an hour. It's nice because we also pick up some small souvenirs while there. We go to Super Target.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

We live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago....This January we were in Ocala over nite before our stay at WDW....so we shopped in Publix for mostly non perishables ..I was stunned at the high prices there.....when we checked into OKW I just went into the store there and bought butter,juice, bacon(yes bacon) and milk, yogurt...even higher prices... time is money tho...
.We are frugal people but when we vacation at the World we are there to enjoy....we had a car so we did bring wine,pop,water & other drinks & some snacks from home.

 

[njmom47]

We did use one of them (for our 2008-2009 trip but can't recall GG or WGS) and I would do it again. We didn't have a car so we were kindof forced to use a shopping service. We also didn't want to spend a lot of $ on food in the parks, plus breakfast was eaten in the room so we could get an early start. Plus we were there for a baseball tournament and bought a case each of Gatorade and water. THAT right there was a savings.

 

[bobcat]

Time is money on vacation. We have used GG for several trips and I just add them into my budget. The little extra I am paying evens out in the fact I'm not driving around Orlando and they will deliver alcohol so I'm not buying drinks at the pool bar. I haven't used any of the other companies because I have been so pleased with GG.