Packable Meals in Suitcase....any suggestions?

[aebeauregard]

So I am in the beginning stages of planning a Fort Wilderness cabins trip. We are staying 4 nights. It will be our 2 yr old, my husband, me, and maybe grandma and grandpa. We are trying to save money on food by eating breakfast and lunch at the cabins. (we are going to go back around lunch time anyways to let my daughter have a nap) Looking for suggestions on the food aspect. We are doing magical express so we won't have a car. I was thinking about packing as much non perishable food as I can in a checked bag and then have a place like garden grocer deliver the other stuff once we get there. The prices are kinda crazy though so I am trying to think up as much as I can that will transport ok and I can make quick. I would hope to cook everything they day we get there and just be able to heat up for quick meals. We would be getting one checked bag free each for the airport so I think we will have room without paying extra.

I was thinking like pancake mix, dry pasta and canned sauce, mac and cheese, fruit and veggie cups...etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas or know a cheaper option than garden grocer? Or am I crazy? If I'm trying to save money like this it means I shouldn't be going to disney. haha

 

[JaxDad]

 

[aebeauregard]

View attachment 166736

Maybe not that packable.....thanks though. haha

 

[JaxDad]

I had to resort to MREs many times in the military. My 12-year old son was asking about them a few weeks ago, so I bought him one, and he had a blast with it. They are better than they used to be, and there are lighter versions called Tailored Operational Training Meals (TOTMs).

I was definitely kidding, though. I think you are on the right track with the light but big carb stuff like pancake mix, pasta, granola bars, etc in your suitcase, then try to get some decent veggies and protein to supplement once you're there.

 

[CoP Luv]

Take a cab or Uber to the grocery store when you have time. That way you can pick up frozen pizza, lunch meat, cheese, salad stuff, rotisserie chicken, cases of water, other drinks etc. you won't have to worry about anything breaking in your bag.

I always pack granola bars, crackers, fruit snacks with me, and last year I had water, cereal, chips, and a few other snacks shipped from Amazon Pantry. I don't pack full meals though. Just mostly snack items.

 

[aebeauregard]

Take a cab or Uber to the grocery store when you have time. That way you can pick up frozen pizza, lunch meat, cheese, salad stuff, rotisserie chicken, cases of water, other drinks etc. you won't have to worry about anything breaking in your bag.

I always pack granola bars, crackers, fruit snacks with me, and last year I had water, cereal, chips, and a few other snacks shipped from Amazon Pantry. I don't pack full meals though. Just mostly snack items.

That might be a good way to go. Then I could get more fresh stuff without it costing an arm and leg. Any idea a rough cost on a cab or uber for that distance? How close is the nearest grocery store? I've never had a car when at disney so I haven't really payed tons of attention to the area outside disney property.

 

[Angeliki19]

Last trip we used WeGoShop instead of Garden Grocer. You give them your shopping list and they go to whatever local grocery store you want. We did it because we weren't happy with Garden Grocer's prices. However, I will say that we WAY overbought this way... the bill ended up being $400! This included a lot of alcohol but still. I know we wouldn't have spent that much if I had been able to see the prices in front of me. So anyway, this year we will be back to GG and like you, trying to pack a lot of non-perishables.

But WeGoShop is definitely a good option for you if you don't want to take an Uber and waste time of your trip shopping yourself!

 

[HeatherC]

I would bring...

Breakfast..pancake mix (add water kind), package of pre cooked bacon, fruit cups, small boxes of cereal or those single serve cups

Lunch..peanut butter, tuna or canned chicken, mayo packets, cheese sticks, pepperoni slices, applesauce, crackers

Would also throw in some microwave popcorn things as well.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

You could pack some meals from

Go Picnic

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

That might be a good way to go. Then I could get more fresh stuff without it costing an arm and leg. Any idea a rough cost on a cab or uber for that distance? How close is the nearest grocery store? I've never had a car when at disney so I haven't really payed tons of attention to the area outside disney property.

theres a shopping center just across from hotel plaza blvd (Disney springs area) I figure it should cost no more than about $20 each way, possibly less though. also you say you have a 2 year old I know several of the stroller rental companies offer a discount code for garden grocer is you book with them so that's a thought if you will also need a stroller rental.

 

[ateam79828592]

We used Amazon Prime Pantry for dry goods last year. Shipped to our resort ordering about 10 days before our arrival date. There is a sticky-thread in the Resorts forum about that. Then we used We Go Shop for perishables (bread/milk/etc). We Go Shop has a $100 voucher you can buy for $75. We did that (it has to be purchased 30 days before use and expires after 9 months...so read the terms). We Go Shop charges actual store prices plus a delivery fee. While the shop owner can be a little short/rude sometimes, we have used them multiple times and it has worked out. I think they are cheaper than Garden Grocer especially if you can use the voucher.

 

[georgina]

As there are campers at Ft Wilderness, the camp store may have more fresh food than most resort hotel shops. It might be more cost effective to buy food there than take a cab or Uber. We camped so long ago that I don't remember what they had, you may want to ask on the camping thread - http://www.disboards.com/forums/camping-at-disney-world.24/

I'm a fan of Stouffers frozen family size dinners with a salad.

You are definitely not crazy. We always take cereal and have breakfast in our rooms (buy OJ and milk there.)

 

[barkley]

have you considered using walmart.com?

I purchase non perishable food items from them regularly and with $50 spent it's free shipping for most items. I've never stayed at fort wilderness but I assume they have the same arrangements the other wdw lodging has (where you can make arrangements to have items mailed to yourself within a certain timeframe prior to arrival and it will be held for you till you check in). if you can do something like that then it might offset purchasing perishables on-site (b/c if cab or uber is going to run $40 round trip that would incline me to pay the higher onsite prices because with a 4 day trip I wouldn't see that much of a savings).


have you checked out the service fort wilderness offers to place a food order ahead of time? I just looked at the order form and while I would likely order my non perishables from walmart or another source (if they offered free delivery), the higher prices on non perishables aren't so much higher than at a grocery store that the $20 or $40 a cab or uber would cost me to go to the store (plus the time entailed) would result in any savings.

 

[rer1972]

We used Amazon Prime Pantry for dry goods last year. Shipped to our resort ordering about 10 days before our arrival date. There is a sticky-thread in the Resorts forum about that. Then we used We Go Shop for perishables (bread/milk/etc). We Go Shop has a $100 voucher you can buy for $75. We did that (it has to be purchased 30 days before use and expires after 9 months...so read the terms). We Go Shop charges actual store prices plus a delivery fee. While the shop owner can be a little short/rude sometimes, we have used them multiple times and it has worked out. I think they are cheaper than Garden Grocer especially if you can use the voucher.

We have used Amazon Prime in the past as well. No extra cost on shipping due to Prime membership, and there was a pretty good selection. We just picked up our box at the check in counter, and took it back to our room. I've also used Staples for shipping water to ourselves without having to pay shipping costs.

 

[teller80]

Have you considered a one day car rental? It's a 24 hour period, you could pick it up at the airport and drop it off the next morning on the way to a theme park. We've dropped it off at the Dolphin and walked to Epcot, and we've dropped it off at the Car Care Center (they give you a free ride to MK (or anywhere on property)). We don't shop around too much so I suspect I overpay, but both times the rental was $35.

 

[SunnieRN]

You've got some great ideas!!! By the time you rent a car or pay Uber, you can shop at the camp store and easily get a meal or two there!

We have shopped from the on property stores many a time when we stayed in villas and were tired of going out. Another super easy idea is to order pizza. Yes, it will cost more than bringing food from home, but it will make an easy, yummy lunch, most likely with leftovers.

For breakfast I would also bring some flavored oatmeal or cream of wheat packets. Yummy. We went to WDW when my grandmunchkins were 7 mos and 2 1/2. What saved us was having the snacks they really liked with us. When they want cheerios or the gummy snacks they have at home, having them with you is cheaper and can save a meltdown. If your daughter is like most kids I know, she is a grazed lol.

Have a magical trip!!!

 

[starry_solo]

For breakfast, we packed cereal and bagels. Only one box and one bag. When we ran out, we bought another box at the resort store.

For lunch, we packed tuna (got mayonnaise at the parks, bought a loaf of bread at the resort store).

 

[pampam]

Fort Wilderness stocks a nice supply of eggs, bread, milk, wieners, buns, some canned goods, and quite a choice of frozen foods and pizza. It is convenience store prices. Instead of a taxi, we take the Lynx bus to Publix, but we stay longer than just 4 days. I'm not suggesting you spend your time like that.

There is a new service called Dizzy Dolphin that I'm hearing good things about. http://www.dizzydolphindelivery.com/

 

[DonnaL]

Don't know how long of a flight you have.....but, in our earlier days as DVC members...early 2000's (when our kids were younger...and then, our grandson) we frequently cooked quite a few meals in our DVC unit.....sometimes we used Garden Grocer for fresh items....sometimes we rented a car and did grocery shopping ourselves....BUT....my carryon was ALWAYS a Thermos insulated soft side cooler (about 16 x 11 x 9). In that cooler were the precooked FROZEN ingredients for several meals.....things like precooked/and then frozen boneless chicken, crumbled ground beef, meatloaf, meatballs (most often I wouldn't take my sauce since I didn't want to chance a slight thaw and TSA would consider it liquid...so I would make do with jarred sauce from the grocery). Since these items were already precooked it was easy to put together things like tacos, chicken cacciatore, sloppy joes, meatball subs, etc. I was very careful not to pack anything that could thaw and become a liquid and never had a problem getting thru airport security. We have a 2 hr drive to the airport, always arrived 2 hrs before our flight and have a 2 hr nonstop flight, plus the drive from MCO to the resorts....so usually about 7 1/2 hrs until we arrived at Disney.......everything was usually still frozen when we arrived.....my cooler was rated for 24 hrs cold. We don't do that quite as much these days since it's only the two of us now, but, I do occasionally take some items in my cooler.

 

[BLAZEY]

I made muffins and packed them in a shoe box in my suitcase, along with cereal, oatmeal, granola bars and poptarts. We bought a 2 litre of milk from the food court and some yoghurt. I also brought disposable bowls and cutlery from the dollar store. For hot water we did buy a Rapid refill mug for DH and his Coke, so I would walk to the food court to fill it with hot water for that. DH & I shared all our quick service meals (the portions are huge in the US), and DD got a kids meal or Snack pack.