Mini-fridge from target.com

[MrsPete]

I'm considering buying a mini-fridge from Target.com. It's considerably cheaper than renting a Disney refrigerator for a week -- though it's also smaller (holds 8 12 oz sodas).

Has anyone had any experience with these? How cold do they keep things?

 

[tonilea]

They make an electric cooler, Coleman?, that should hold much more, but I don't know how it would compare price wise. You might be able to get a great deal on one this time of year.

 

[MrsPete]

Actually, the small size was one thing that attracted me to this item! I also looked at the Coleman cooler, and, yes, it is much larger -- probably about the same size as the square refrigerators that Disney rents.

 

[tink2dw]

You will want something big enough to refridgerate Water Bottles,too. Florida water tastes and smells like sulfer. As does the bottled water WDW sells.
So,it's either a Brita sports bottle or buying Aquafina[not bottled on Fl.] Bottled water so you can drink cold water.

 

[NancyIL]

You should be able to find a dorm-sized refrigerator (around 1.7 cu. ft.) for $70-$80 at this time of year. The electric coolers that you plug into the car don't get as cold as a compact refrigerator, but may be more practical for other uses year-round if you are driving to Florida.

 

[CarolA]

Got bad news for you. Aquafina is probably bottled at the Pepsi plant on Orlando. Aquafina is basically your city water just purified. Personally, I think it tastes horrible (my city water is better!)

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by tink2dw
You will want something big enough to refridgerate Water Bottles,too. Florida water tastes and smells like sulfer. As does the bottled water WDW sells.
So,it's either a Brita sports bottle or buying Aquafina[not bottled on Fl.] Bottled water so you can drink cold water.

I bought this cooler at the store when it was 50% off a couple of weeks ago. The box says it will hold bottles up to 32oz (it can be used upright or like a cooler). It also has a warming feature too. I bought mine for the YC, as I usually can't stuff the water into the packed mini bar fridge. If I can only fit a couple of bottles in there, that's fine, because when I take them out and head for the parks, I'll put a couple more in for later Good deal for 34.00 I think!

 

[mm6mm6]

I was on the fence before we drove down to WDW about buying the ac/dc fridge or just buying a huge cooler. I went with the huge Igloo cooler on wheels (50 quart) and I don't regret it. I have heard the ac/dc fridges are noisy and not good at making warm things cool, just keeping cold things cool but not cold. We loaded up the huge cooler on wheels with 24 oz plastic bottles of everyone's favorite pops (resealable, nonbreakable and in so many flavors for only $2.50 a six pack on sale at the grocery stores). Then we just added ice from the awesome Caribbean Beach Club ice machines (here's where the wheels are great). We bought milk too and just stored it in the cooler. Didn't really need ice more than two days at a time. Only filled it up three times. Easy and cheap. And it holds a heck of a lot more than the ac/dc fridge and it worked great keeping everything super cold. Highly recommend it!

 

[tar heel]

Cooler for us, too. We use a smaller one than mm6mm6 but still on wheels. We keep soft drinks, juice, water and milk. I add a bucket or two of ice every day and dump the melted iceand change the whole thing every couple days. I also bring water, soft drinks and juice that I store on the closet shelf and load in the cooler as the supply gets low.

 

[RedsRock]

Picked one up and it is on my desk at work right now. Nice and quiet and I have been pleasantly surprised at how well it cools down. I can place 4 cans of Diet Coke in first thing in the morning and they are ice cold by lunchtime. It will hold six, but I have found it to be much better when a little space is left.

Will take with us in the car and the room to hold a couple cans of pop, a juice box or two and a bottle of formula.

Great buy in my opinion!!

 

[veraletta]

Coleman cooler is what we bought at walmart, for our last disney trip, half way to Orlando from Ohio it stopped working.. I had to fill it with ice and used it that way until I got back to Ohio and returned it back into walmart.. I wouldnt try the Coleman again.. but I was thinking about buying the fridge.
but then again I would have to have a cooler too, for the ride down..

 

[BethR]

We have always been happy with using a cooler. We don't have one on wheels - althought that is a great idea!!! Once we used a styrofoam cooler that we bought at Wal-Mart in Orlando, and the other times we used soft-sided ones. We would just refill each day with ice from the resort's ice machines.
We liked putting our ice in zip-lock bags to save on the melting mess. I have also read where people make sure that they put them in the tub, just in case.
The ONLY draw-back to a cooler, IMO, is that you cannot freeze water (or anything) solid.

Good Luck with your decision!