Keeping groceries cold without a fridge?

[SandraC]

HI! Last April at CBR, we rented a fridge for $10.60 a day and hardly used it! I could have saved $80 and had a couple of great dinners! We only used the fridge for ds (15 months at the time) milk, which we could have easily used ice and an ice bucket for. So! Here's my question, how did you keep things cold without a fridge? Again, we only antipate milk this April's trip. BTW, where is the ice machines at CSR? THX S

 

[Pin Wizard]

I know what you mean. Those ice buckets in the room certainly don't hold much. I think on our next trip we'll take a cooler with us. Plenty of room. Many sizes to choose from. Just keep it loaded with ice.

 

[SandraC]

YEAH! dh mentioned we should buy a styrofoam cooler in WDW area, I remember them being about $4.00 ~ I could use that! Fill in half way with ice, that could even keep cold cuts and cheese cold too, wouldn't it! THANKS!

 

[buzz5985]

Go to Walmart, I think we paid less than $2 for our cooler.

 

[crusoe2]

We've taken a cooler for the room everytime we've gone and it has worked well for us. I read a tip on here about putting the ice in large ziploc bags so that it doesn't fill the cooler with water as it melts. That won't be entirely true - you get alot of condensation on the outside of the bags. But it did cut way down on how much water we had in the cooler and kept everything from getting as soggy as it usually did. I've also seen the suggestion to pick up a small trashcan at Walmart to use as a drywell inside the cooler - you put your coldcuts, cheese, fruit, etc. in the little trashcan and it doesn't end up floating all over the cooler and getting soggy. I may try that next time.

If you are staying in a room that has two sinks you can also use one of those as a big ice bucket and never have to worry about emptying out the water.

 

[cdntowdw]

I packed a small cooler (size that would normally hold about 10 cans of soda) with snacks and put it into one of our large duffle bags. I used that in the room. I also used one of the garbage cans from the room - lined of course with a garbage bag. I filled that up with ice and put the drinks into it. Kept other foods in my own cooler. Worked out great for me. Pack the cooler with souvenirs to bring home. Or you may want to put a snack into it for on the plane. I took two large ziplocs with me to the ice machine and filled them up each morning and evening. - R

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says..................................................... Bring a tupperware type container to keep your meat and cheese in. Even if all the ice melts, your container will float on top! We have a collapsable one, but it leaks when used 24 hours a day. Simply lined it with a kitchen garbage bag(bring a couple extras), and fill it up with "stuff" on the trip home!

 

[CarrieAP]

A soft sided cooler does work well. At CSR there is a ledge in the bathtub where we store the cooler. You can fill it with ice and if it gets drippy it will drain right into the tub and not make a mess.

 

[robinb]

I used to buy a styrofoam cooler, but now bring a collapsable one. It easily holds a 1/2 gallon of milk and a 1/2 gallon of OJ plus a couple of beers, cream cheese, etc. I bought mine at Target. Things stay plenty cold, but you have to keep up with the ice! I fill it with ice every morning before we leave for the parks and then again before we go to bed. I use plastic grocery bags from our grocery run to fetch ice back to the room.

 

[tjmw2727]

Depending on your mode of transportation if you can stop for groceries outside of WDW I recommend it. For just milk you can buy as you need and should have no problem keeping it cold in the ice bucket or a small soft sided cooler you can pack. My kids like the parmalat, comes in a box and you don't have to keep it refridgerated. Just chill it down before serving or serve over ice. Give it a try before you leave though to make sure your kids like it.

We use tiffany town car when we don't have a rental because they will stop for 1/2 hour grocery shop outside of disney. I buy breakfast items, bread & pjb, warm juice and soda, water etc and a styrofoam cooler. I most things warm and just cool down each night what we will need for the next day. Pack or buy lots of baggies - several sizes they are great for leftover snacks and to keep things from getting soggy in the cooler. These tips work well for us and we save lots of $$ of food and fridge rental by using TTC over Mears.

Have fun
TJ

 

[MinnieGi]

We were supposed to have had a fridge at the WL on our last trip but they forgot to bring it up so we started out using the ice bucket but it cetainly doesn't hold much. We were also just keeping milk cold for 14 month old DD. Since the room has two sinks my DH converted one into an ice cooler and we kept it stocked with ice and the milk stayed cold. Just an idea if you don't feel like carrying a cooler.

 

[MosMom]

We bought a soft sided collapsible cooler at Sam's Club for $16.00. Easy to pack and it held quite a bit of stuff, I think it is a 2 24 pack size. We kept a 1/2 gallon of milk, a juicy juice bottle, yogurt, cheese, & jelly and had room to spare. If we bought fruit at the food court we would put the extra in the cooler as well to keep it cold (grapes, apples). It was very nice to have. In fact, things got so cold we had the yogurt FREEZE on us (not freeze completely but get icy on the top and sides). We would just dump the cooler out every night & then fill it up at the ice maker.

 

[B3LM]

Hi Sandra,
I bought a collapsable cooler for $10 at Walgreens and packed it in the top of our luggage. It worked great and held quite a bit! We had a 1/2 gallon of milk, plus bottled water, 20oz sodas and tea, too. My DH would re-stock the ice once a day.

Beth

 

[rusty]

Here's an idea if you don't mind spending money up front. At Wal-mart we purchased a Coleman iceless cooler. You plug it in your car when driving and can have it open on top like a cooler and then when you get to your hotel it plugs in the wall and becomes a fridge that you can set upright like a small fridge. It was $79 dollars but we have used it on a couple of trips and it has already paid for itself (considering 10 dollars a day to rent) Igloo also makes them but they cost more and you have to buy the AC adapter seperate. The cooler looks like a regular cooler and only weighs about 1 or 2 pounds more but you don't put ice in it so it is lighter then a regular one with ice. We also like that you don't have to empty our all of the water in the morning and deal with everything all wet. Hope this helps.

 

[kimberwing]

These are great tips! We requested a fridge, but I may cancel it.

BTW....If you don't have car, where's the best place to get groceries? We have a toddler depending on a steady milk supply!

Thanks!