Ordering Groceries

[M5ward]

I've only ever ordered groceries from the DVC site, but our next trip will be with two of our children and their families (9 people including two toddlers and an infant.). I would like to have more food in the villa this time so..for those who order from Garden Grocer or WegoShop:
1. How far in advance do you place your order?
2. Is your order delivered to bell services?
3. Will bell services deliver your order to your room? Is there a specific time limit on how long they will hold your order?
We usually check in to our resort by 10:00 AM, leave our carry on stuff at bell services, and head to the park. We don't usually come back to the resort until after dinner (maybe around 8:00PM.). Will they deliver our order that late?
Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[DHar]

we stayed at wl over labor day..our groceries were delivered by 10 am..we checked in around 1030am and headed to the parks...we came back around 4 pm and called bell services to bring our groceries up...no problem. anything that needs refrigeration will be refrigerated...where ya from in south jersey?

 

[M5ward]

I live about ten miles outside Atlantic City.

 

[Pakey]

You pick a time for delivery with Garden Grocer. I always pick the time I plan to be at the room vs. the time I arrive on property.

We always have Bell Services deliver and tip accordingly.

We place our order about 3 weeks out. We've used Garden Grocer several times and we have always been happy.

 

[dreamwedding]

Off subject for a moment It's such a small world and so funny to see so many Jersey people on here. I live right outside of Atlantic City too. Back on topic, How do you place your order on the phone or the internet?

 

[THicks863]

You can fax or mail in your order. Orders are supposed to be made no less than 3 business days prior to your arrival. I normally send mine at about the 5- to 7-day mark, and there's never been a problem for me. The order forms say that "Groceries will be delivered on date of check-in after 5:00 p.m.", but my experience has been that they often deliver them to your room before that. They'll put the refrigerated stuff in the fridge for you. I don't know if it's Bell Services that does the delivery, or if the store has staff members who do that.

 

[mdsd8700]

We too always use Garden Grocer and the service has been excellent. The site does say at least 3 days notice, but as others have said I order mine several weeks ahead of time. If I am going at a extremely busy time I try to order even before that. Sometimes they can fill up their delivery times and nothing will be available. Although that has never happened to me, when you log into their site, you will see a note that says if days are no longer available. We are going Thanksgiving Weekend and I have already placed my order, the earliest time available for my date was 2 pm, the early spots were already taken. That is no problem, but still I was glad to have it taken care of. You can always change your order if necessary so no need to worry about being locked into what you have already ordered. With GC there is a $40 minimum and the delivery is $12 plus tip.

Good Luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[logan115]

We've used wegoshop the last two trips and love it. They'll shop anywhere you want (if you have a preference) and can get just about anything. We've used gardengrocer in the past and I don't have anything bad to say about them, but with wegoshop you're not limited to what they show on the gardengrocer website.

We placed our order 4 days before arrival and had no issues.

Chris

 

[heynowirv]

We've used both and have no complaints about either one. Last time e ordered a week in advance,

 

[mjc2003]

I have used garden grocer 3 times and have had no problems. Bell services will not deliver the groceries to the room unless you are there, but will store it for as long as needed so just have the food delivered whenever, and call when you are back to the room.

I like the garden grocer website. I find it very easy to navigate. Once you set up an account you can go on and fill your "basket" slowly. When we think of something we need, we go on and add it to our order. This way we are not sitting down trying to figure it all out in 20 minutes, I find that's how we forget simple things! For our upcoming November trip we have had the list going for about 3 weeks now. The earlier you place the order the better (within reason), they do book up as you get within a few days sometimes, so I would give it at least 1-2 weeks.

 

[gortman65]

With GC there is a $40 minimum and the delivery is $12 plus tip.

We are in the process of filling our GC shopping cart for a late October trip, so I was just recently at the website. If you spend $200 or more, they waive the $12 delivery fee.

 

[get_us_to_WDW]

We have used wegoshop several times in the past. I believe they request orders be placed one week in advance but I usually call about four weeks out to be sure I can get a convenient delivery time. Then I follow up with my list one week out.

I always arrange a time in the late afternoon of our arrival day. Once I've been given access to our room I call Amy on her cell and give her the room number and she brings the items right to my room. I have never utilized Bell Services to collect / store my groceries so I cannot comment on that. It is slightly inconvenient to have this extra "appointment" on arrivial day, but I think it is worth it.

I usually prepare an Excel spread sheet with the following columns:
Category, Quantity, Approx Size, Brand, Description, and If Not Available Substitute With

I put my name, arrival date and hotel at the top, then I fax or email this list one week before our trip.

As other posters stated, wegoshop is nice because there are no restrictions on what you can place on your shopping list. On one trip we forgot our stroller so I called from MCO and wegoshop went to Costco and got us an inexpensive stroller and brought it along with our food order at no extra charge!

Good Luck!

 

[tinkerbellsaratoga]

We use WEGOShop...great service, I believe family operated. We have used 2times, and both times we have called upon landing to have our items ready to be delivered when we arrived, or when the room was ready. Basically list all of the items you want, and they will get them to you. Better then going to the food store via cab service...have fun!

 

[tinkerbellsaratoga]

Hey wait, this is a Jersey Thread - too funny!

 

[njmom47]

We used Garden Grocer and I loved the whole experience. We didn't get our groceries until the day after our arrival but we were there Christmas week so it was my fault for not placing the order earlier.
Keepin' with the Jersey theme.

 

[Hopefully]

We are huge Wegoshop fans. I have used them 5 times and have my order in for our trip in a few weeks. I prefer to create my own list, rather than shopping a "Virtual Aisle". I like the fact that wegoshop does not mark up each item, like Garden Grocer does. They give me the store receipt with the exact prices of the items. I can ask them to shop where I want. I have always been given a 30 minute delivery window - not 2 hour - and they have always been right on time.
Both are reputible services, and either would be fine.

 

[MaryJ]

For those of you that have used Garden Grocer, do you leave a tip on the website? We plan to go to the park as soon as we check in and don't want to wait for the groceries to be delivered, so they will most likely be held at bell services. And if so, how much percentage wise? I will most likely also be tipping the person from bell services that brings the groceries to our room along with our carry on luggage that we will have stored there while we are in the park. Any thoughts?