Is this tacky?

[BrianMonk]

Can you imagine checking into the GF or the Yacht Club with everyone rolling a cooler behind them

I think this calls for a cooler swap thread. We can swap right in the lobby of the GF.

 

[stemikger]

I don't see anything tacky about it.

Do what you have to do and don't worry what people think.

It's a smart move.

 

[pchpie]

this old marketing/consumer behavior professor offers the following as a possible explanation for differences in opinion here. the concept of 'self-monitoring' refers to the degree to which one adjusts his ehavior based on his perception of what others think is appropriate. 'high self-monitors' are very concerned with what others think and consume in large part to avoid a faux pas (no coolers for these guys). 'low self-monitors' consume to the beat of their own drummer, pretty much unencumbered by what others may or may not think about their behavior (cooler kings). who do you think has more fun???

i love people watching, consumers in particular, and i am seriously considering doing some research on disboarders...particularly the effects of what i call 'brand love' on brand loyalty and postive word-of-moth.

 

[susy]

We checked into the BC with two coolers!!!! One electric one and one collapsible. I don't think anyone saw it.

As we were staying a deluxe resort, the bellman had the coolers on his cart (along with all of our other pieces and I doubt anyone even noticed them (they aren't very big).

We didn't bring breakfast (this time), but we had snacks and milk, juice, soda and water.

 

[skiwee1]

I stay deluxe all the time and it doesn't bother me to see coolers. We always rent a fridge but we do bring in water, my diet pepsi, and pink lemonade for DD alongwith some snacks for the room. We don't eat meals in the room unless room service brings them. It is nice to have something familiar from home to munch on when the mood strikes. DD has certain snacks she loves. If you want tacky I once brought a potty through the Poly lobby! My DD was in training and I was driving down so it was very easy to bring it. It was funny to be carrying in a graco white and blue potty through the lobby for all eyes to see. I couldn't have cared less what folks thought!

 

[gjerseygirl]

Okay. After reading this thread I am considering bringing a cooler. First, could someone tell me where the supermarket is? Also, we're taking the train so I don't want to bring a cooler on the train. Can we get one of those styrofoam coolers at this supermarket? Also, what do you think about bringing my TGIF pina colada mix and a blender? That would probably save me the most $$ than buying them at the Polys pool!

 

[sha_lyn]

thought that too but my daughter's doctor told her they start changing babies over to whole milk at about seven to eight months old now. I figured we wouldn't have to worry about that on our trip but I guess we will.

Not to suggest you go against the Dr, but please research this. Most babies do not eat enough babyfood/table food to get all their nutrition from it. They need the nutrition and calories in the formual.


Back to the OP...... We always carry an electric cooler, and we've never had a problem getting it plugged in at a hotel while they were storing our luggage. This has been at ASMu, contemporary and HRH.


We use a soft side cooler with the hard insert to carry all our non cold food items (cereal, chips etc). It seems to travel better than other things we have tried and I like they they zip close and have handles.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by gjerseygirl
Okay. After reading this thread I am considering bringing a cooler. First, could someone tell me where the supermarket is? Also, we're taking the train so I don't want to bring a cooler on the train. Can we get one of those styrofoam coolers at this supermarket? Also, what do you think about bringing my TGIF pina colada mix and a blender? That would probably save me the most $$ than buying them at the Polys pool!

I'd leave the blender at home. It would be a pain to have to go up to the room, make the drink and carry it back down again. Especially if your room is far from the pool. The pina coladas are only around $5 each and totally worth someone else making them. Bringing the blender is getting kind of tacky. You also get to talk to Rose, the nicest bar tender I've met at the Barefoot Pool bar.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

The original question was whether it was tacky, not whether she should do it anyway. Wanting to do something doesn't neccesarily make it appropriate. Funny, I just read an article this morning in the paper about the lack of etiquette we are experiencing in this country and that everything has become about "me" . Basically do it if it makes you happy and forget about everyone else. This "me-ism" has extended into so many areas of our life from cell phones, driving, movie theaters, etc. Wouldn't hurt us to teach our children about manners once in a while.

The point is if you want to bring a cooler to a deluxe hotel just do it discreetly. Most of the time it would go unnoticed as the bell men would load it up like luggage. This certainly seems to be important to many people who drive to Disney and have the cooler with them anyway. So enjoy! Disney is very accommodating and very family orientated. We are very luckyNot all luxury hotels are so understanding.

 

[Donnainnj]

We buy a foam cooler each trip. Love to get going quickly with fast bowls of cereal for everyone, plus the money we save doesn't hurt. I try to pass on the cooler, and any unopened food at the end of the trip, that is probably tacky, but I hate to see it go to waste. The last trip at Allstars it was quick and easy, unlike the trip to Hawaii, (condo) everyone I met was either checking out, or trying to give away their own unopened food. My mom used to leave any extras in the laundry room with a note on it at Disney.
Donna

 

[DisneyFreaks]

Originally posted by sha_lyn
Not to suggest you go against the Dr, but please research this. Most babies do not eat enough babyfood/table food to get all their nutrition from it. They need the nutrition and calories in the formual.

Thanks sha_lyn I will research this myself. Apparently the doctor gave her this long speech about the calories in formula making for obese children with bad teeth if babies are kept on it too long. Doctors seem to be doing things so much differently nowdays. And none seem to stick together. They all have different views on things.

 

[Schmeck]

Hubby used to like to haul the huge cooler to CBR, but on our last trip we did AKL, and I felt it would be too tacky for our old, beat up, huge cooler to be seen in that beautiful place. Must have something to do with the motelish CBR and the definite hotelish AKL. Anyways, we bought a medium sized cooler - tall and thin, big enough for the milk and a few cans of soda/beer. Since we drive, we just kept more beer in the van, and brought a few cans in every once in a while.

The old cooler has since been 'retired' to the cottage porch in Vermont, and I don't think we'll be getting anything that big ever again. If you're uncomfortable about hauling in a big cooler, how about getting two smaller ones instead? They're much more discreet (sp?), and they tuck under the vanity area quite nicely in the room.

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by aimee11621

Thanks for the advice on the ultra pasturized milk!!

will check it out!!!!

My son doesn't mind the taste of the Ultra Pasteurized milk but I think it's gross. It definately tastes different than "regular" milk.

 

[tar heel]

I can imagine checking into the YC with a cooler b/c I've done it three times.

My cooler has visited the poly, PO-R, CS, FW cabins and All Star Movies, too. We even had it transferred by Disney between PO-R and YC. Bell services has hauled our cooler up on the cart along with a case of water and a few 12-packs of soft drinks and our luggage. I gave him a $10 tip.

I take a cooler partly for convenience and partly to save $. We get out of the room a lot better if we have breakfast items there and even a quickie breakfast for five easily runs $20-$30. I fill the dresser drawers with individual boxes of cereal, granola bars, pastries, fruit cups and usually even homemade muffins. I buy/make the breakfast and snack items at home before we leave, but I get the milk each evening at the hotel gift shop. I know it would be cheaper at the grocery store, but I don't want to fool with going.

 

[PSherman37]

Not sure if it's available in your area, but Horizon Organics makes a shelf stable 2 percent milk in juicebox size containers. They make plain milk, and flavored in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. I think parmalat milk is gross, but my kids love the vanilla and chocolate milk for a special treat. I got the plain milk for our last trip so I could just put a few in the cooler everyday.
very convenient.

And we always take a cooler when we drive, even last week to a fabulous Westin, and the bellman and the concierge didn't give it a second look!!

now I'm off to the cement pond

Psherman

 

[Antonia]

A cooler doesn't seem tacky to me. But how's this for "tacky"? We are staying at the Royal Pacific at Universal and have rented a cabana by the pool. It comes with a t.v., ceiling fan, lounge chairs, table, a small refrigerator stocked with drinks and also fresh fruit. Here's the tacky part: I have purchased colorful paper plates, palm tree picks, pretty napkins and we are taking our home grown tomatoes and having homemade sandwiches in our cabana by the pool. We'll be discreet, but hey it's tomato season. And ours are delicious.

 

[sha_lyn]

DisneyFreaks
The only problem I've heard of with teeth is "bottle rot" where the baby is allowed to suck on a bottle at night, or constantly during the day. That is why in the past Dr's had reccomended never putting anything but formula or "baby" juices (which are diluted) in a bottle. I don't know what the most recent recomendations are, but I read several parents magazines and sites nad have ran across anything about giving cows milk before a yr old. There formulas out there that are formulated for the last 1/2 the first yr. I believe these are a bit lower in calories.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Oh, I love tomato sandwiches with mayo..yummy

I am a DVC Member, we drive and arrive with food for a week...I have never had a bellman act funny nor would I care what someone else thought when they loaded it on the cart...this is my vacation home.

I bring a cooler every trip, even if I'm not staying at one of the DVC Resorts. I'm not going to pay $3.00 for a soda, or $2.00 for a bottle of water.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Magic,
DVC is in a different category. If you are at the DVC you don't need a cooler. There is a refrigerator in the room. DVC provides a kitchen area too so you are suppose to bring snacks and food FYI there are several places to buy water and sodas at a normal price close to Disney for those who rent cars( or those driving if you haven't stopped already). BC DVC is pretty well set up so you don't have to cart all that stuff to the lobby when checking in. The parking lot is so close to the building that we go down to the car after we check in and bring our food in.

 

[ctrabada]

I bring 2 collapsible coolers. One of them has 2 pockets. I have no problem filling my ziplock bags with ice every morning to keep everything cold. Last time, we brought beer, milk, water, juice, ham, cheese, fruit, bread, cereal, pop tarts and other snacks. Everything stayed ice cold for our whole stay. I drive to WDW, so I froze my water the night before. I still had semi-frozen water after 3 days! We ate breakfast in our room and had one beer at night. One day we went to BB and brought one of our coolers. We did not spend anything on food or drink there since we made sandwiches and munched on fruits and other snacks. We saved a ton of money that we are now using to go back to WDW for MNSSHP.

I personally do not look at other people's luggage and couldn't care less about what they bring. Disney is expensive and we all make decisions on how to spend our money there. So, if you save by eating breakfast in your room and taking your own snacks to the parks, you might be able to splurge in other things, like a nice dinner or souvenirs or whatever. Either way, dear old WDW gets our money and we gladly give it to them...

I do not believe it's lacking in manners to bring a cooler to a deluxe resort. My mom was very strict on manners and that was not in any of her lessons. I say "please" and "thank you," know how to use all the silverware, eat with my mouth closed, do not talk with my mouth full, and tip the mousekeepers. Oh, and I bring my coolers to WDW!