Need tips for bringing food in car with overnight stay.

[the4moores]

We are driving from Ontario and plan on stopping overnight. I want to bring as much food with me as possible especially the basics just in case we don't make it to the grocery store the first day. I am thinking of freezing bags of milk and bringing them in our cooler. Do you think they will make it to Disney okay. Is there any other food or tips you have for me???

 

[Kermit]

I've never frozen milk, but I would be concerned about the texture when it defrosted. What I would recommend instead would be to buy milk that doesn't have to be refrigerated until it's opened. You can get regular milk like that, or you can get rice or soy milk.

 

[GenePA]

We drive down to WDW quite often and generally drive straight through.....from Pennsylvania (about 16-17 hours). I always take a cooler and pack it with drinks, cold cuts, and/or whatever other perishables we may have. As far as milk goes, are you able to get milk in plastic containers? If so, why not just bury that in the ice within your cooler.....I have done that before and it kept fine. Coming from Ontario, you will want to make sure you have plenty of ice or stop to get some on the way; but I would think that would keep fine! "Unrefrigerated' box milk will work fine too but I am personally not a fan of those....but to each his own!

We always have plenty of food in the cooler because we usually do not stop on the way down at all.....except for gas and bathroom stops. Plastic (ziploc) bags work great to store just about anything........lunchmeats, cheese, vegetables, fruit, etc. We've also used some of those cheaper plastic containers you can now buy in the grocery store to store food in and they work quite well too!

Can't wait.....only a mere 178 days until I get to pack that cooler again for that next trip to WDW.....woo-hoo!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

The milk in the giftshop at the resorts was not that overpriced. We find it worth it just to pick it up when we get there. We bring juice in cans and most of our other things (we just bring breakfast) does not need to be kept cool.


Jordan's mom

 

[karyn]

the4Moores

When we travel i freeze one or two 1/2 gallon paper containers of orange juice or a lemonade. They are a good addition to all the ice cubes. Depends how many hours you are going that you will sometimes find the juice starting to defrost upon arrival.

 

[welovemickey]

It might be worth the investment to purchase a plugin cooler. They plug into the lighter of the car and come with an adapter for a room plug. We got one 5 years ago and use it all the time.

 

[jaletu2000]

I would just like to say we freeze our milk all the time and if you really shake it up after it defrosts you don't have any loss in texture. It tastes great Also a frozen plastic jug of milk buried in ice would definitely keep on a long car ride. You might have more trouble getting it to melt than keeping it that way! You could use 1/2 gallon or quart size depending on what you'll use. Good luck!

 

[Traveliz]

We always travel with food and have a stop overnight - here is what we do --

First we have a full size van and there is plenty of room so we use a very large cooler - prior to leaving I freeze Evian water (we prefer that) to line the outside edge of the cooler with, then we fill the inside with whatever else (milk will be fine). Once everything is in the cooler we fill it in with ice cubes. We drain it each morning and add more ice as needed.

We also take out the water bottles as we need them and use them for cold water at the parks.

We have used this system with much success for several years now.

Liz

 

[the4moores]

Thanks for all the tips. I knew I could count on all of you for help.

 

[PhotobearSam]

We had a 2 and a half day drive to Florida from Canada and we were on a very strict budget.

We had a large brown box and each week when we did our groceries we would buy one or two items for the box..... It added up very quick and we had snacks for the entire 16 day trip and both drives to and from Florida.

Here is a sample of what we bought: (some we ate on the way , some we ate there)

Granola bars (not the soft type)
Cheese and Crackers
Peanut Butter and Crackers
Different Candies
Lolly pops
microwave popcorn (we had a microwave in our hotel room)
Crackers (in individual packages)
Soda pops in cans
Water bottles that we froze to drink and keep other stuff cold
A Brita water jug and filter to refill our water bottles (froze 4 at a time for each day)
We had small snak size Chocolate bars that we bought for Halloween (got a very good deal)
Lots of sandwhiches that lasted us 2 days
On the first day we had salads in plastic containers
Pringles (not very messy)
Pretzles
Dry cereal in individual packages
Beef Jerkey (home made)
Juices and Gatorade
Fruit cup
Jell-o cups
Puddings
Large container of Cashews and ziplocks to devide them up for several days
Bagels (pre-cut and Pre-creem cheesed)
Cookies and Fig newtons in individual packages
Bretons and Easy Cheese for my fiance
Muffins
Celery and Carrot sticks
Lunchables (meat, cheese, crackers and a dessert)


We would carry around a variety of snacks each day at the parks and would return to the car each day for lunch and a break.
We saved a lot of money and time doing this.
Hope these ideas were helpfull

 

[renessa]

I would just pick up milk or perishables you were concerned with along the way...gas stations, groceries, or at the hotel. I wouldn't worry about actually freezing. Bring some with you for the car trip, and pick it up as you need it.

 

[Goofyzgurl]

We usually bring the single serving size of parmalat every time we go anywhere. It doesn't have to be refridgerated until you open it. And since it comes in the little juice box size, then we don't have to worry about having any left over.