Picnic at the car - practical?

[Gumbo4x4]

Thinking about this again...MK-it's just too far from the parking lot; Epcot-one of the main reasons to go is the food at World Showcase. I would definitely try to eat there if possible.; AK and Studios-this might be doable.

How about Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon? We've got 4 days of WP on our tickets

 

[ilovemk76]

This is a mid-June thing, so it's definitely going to require shade LOL.

The food in the cooler will not stay below the 40 degree point and will not be safe to eat. The car will be like a sauna and the cooler will be in that sauna.

 

[neffernie]

How about Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon? We've got 4 days of WP on our tickets

I believe the waterparks let you bring small coolers in with you that you can leave near the beach chairs. No locker or runner necessary. I haven't been in a few years so maybe someone can verify this?

 

[katrina1122]

Back in '94, 8 of us went to WDW for college spring break. To save money we packed lunches into our cooler every day and carried snacks around. I still can't eat the brand of granola bars we lived off of, lol. We even did some dinners out of the trunk.

Anyway, we went in March, so the heat wasn't a a problem. It's the walk to the front of the park, then the the hike to the parked car. It was more exhausting than it was worth. At that time you couldn't bring a cooler into the parks, so it was car or pay.

I guess if I could bring a soft cooler in, I'd do that, but going to the car and turning around after eating was just waisting more time and energy than we were saving.

DH and I too pack a cooler for Hurricane Harbor at 6 flags and hike to the car and then sit in the shade, but at wdw, it's a hole other ballgame to hike to the car.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The food in the cooler will not stay below the 40 degree point and will not be safe to eat. The car will be like a sauna and the cooler will be in that sauna.

We've got one of those heavy-duty 5-day coolers that's always keep food cold on 100+ degree sunny days as long as we keep plenty of ice in it. Probably the biggest danger is the potential hernia I could get putting it in the car

 

[reelmom]

I would think it would take up too much time and energy to travel out to the car to eat. Add up the cost of locker rental and food for the picnic. It might not be much more to just eat in the parks, without the stress and hassle. You can easily split meals and bring disposable dixie cups in your backpack to share drinks. This is what we do and it saves time and money.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

the inside of a car parked in the Florida sun can get to over 150 in a matter of minutes..every year a child is left in a car and they news does a story about how hot the inside a car can get. The cost of the ice you will need to sustain that heat would be enough to to void any savings on food.

Animal Kingdom parking and DHS is pretty far..it is walk able, but once you get to the car there is not a place to sit and have a lunch..as a PP said, the asphalt will bake you.

If you are set on bringing food, I would get a locker or use lunchtime as the perfect opportunity to go back to the hotel for break and pool. The intense heat fires up the afternoon storms in Florida during the summer. Great time to rest and eat at the hotel and then head back for the late afternoon.

 

[Metsfan520]

I'd rather eat PB&J at home every meal for a year than deal with all that. YMMV.

 

[2disneyboys]

Not for me!

We will carry various lite snacks into the parks w/ us, but between being able to get free ice water everywhere (just about!) and the serving sizes, I just dont' find it cost effective to pack a lunch to save money. Maybe its because my boys dh & I don't really like sandwiches.. we prefer salads or "meals" or whatnot, but for whatever reason, the few times we have visited a theme park and packed a lunch (never @ WDW) it's cost me just about the same as just buying the food we'd "rather" have in the park.

We tend to have a good filling breakfast, and various snacks/treats throughout the day and then a good dinner. Especially when it's so hot out...

and I've never been to WDW in June, but we went in Sept and the parking lots were so hot you were soaking wet by the time you got from your car to either the gate or the tram (and this was using the AAA Diamond Parking Pass) the (the parking lots) felt a good 10-15 degree's hotter then anywhere else.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I'd rather eat PB&J at home every meal for a year than deal with all that. YMMV.

Not for me!

We will carry various lite snacks into the parks w/ us, but between being able to get free ice water everywhere (just about!) and the serving sizes, I just dont' find it cost effective to pack a lunch to save money. Maybe its because my boys dh & I don't really like sandwiches.. we prefer salads or "meals" or whatnot, but for whatever reason, the few times we have visited a theme park and packed a lunch (never @ WDW) it's cost me just about the same as just buying the food we'd "rather" have in the park.

We tend to have a good filling breakfast, and various snacks/treats throughout the day and then a good dinner. Especially when it's so hot out...

That's a much better idea.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

the inside of a car parked in the Florida sun can get to over 150 in a matter of minutes..every year a child is left in a car and they news does a story about how hot the inside a car can get. The cost of the ice you will need to sustain that heat would be enough to to void any savings on food.

This isn't our first trip to FL in Summer, so we've got the ice thing covered. We have a full fridge at the hotel, so we'll freeze a couple milk cartons solid and then throw some loose ice in on top. The blocks + a quality cooler make all the difference

Do agree it sounds like more trouble than it's worth for most if not all the parks though

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We tend to have a good filling breakfast, and various snacks/treats throughout the day and then a good dinner. Especially when it's so hot out...

We've done it both ways (not at Disney), either as you suggest or with the car picnic. We've also made a quick jaunt offsite at our local Six Flags since it's right on restaurant row, but that doesn't sound real practical with Disney based on what little I remember from '98 or what I'm reading on these boards

 

[fortwildernessishome]

I believe the waterparks let you bring small coolers in with you that you can leave near the beach chairs. No locker or runner necessary. I haven't been in a few years so maybe someone can verify this?

Yes, its super easy to bring a cooler into the water parks. Although we always busy a meal while we are there, we bring a cooler in that is loaded with drinks and snacks. We just leave it at our chairs with our towels and sandals. We have probably done this 50+ times over the years and never had a problem.

Beside the bonus of saving some money, its also MUCH easier to have drinks and snacks at our spot when we want them, instead of having to stand in a food line.

We also fill a backpack or two with drinks and snacks when we go into the theme parks. We take turns carrying it and by the afternoon, its actually quite light as we have eaten quite a bit by then. Again, much easier to have something when we want it, instead of standing in line. We also buy food too, but eat our own stuff throughout the day.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Yes, its super easy to bring a cooler into the water parks. Although we always busy a meal while we are there, we bring a cooler in that is loaded with drinks and snacks. We just leave it at our chairs with our towels and sandals. We have probably done this 50+ times over the years and never had a problem.

Are there tons of chairs available? We've never left our stuff laying around at any of the other water parks we've ever visited - we've always put shoes, towels, street clothes, and $$ in a locker.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Are there tons of chairs available? We've never left our stuff laying around at any of the other water parks we've ever visited - we've always put shoes, towels, street clothes, and $$ in a locker.

Yes, there are tons of chairs, the water parks are huge. However, you need to arrive in the morning to get chairs.

We always do rope drop, pick a spot and cover 6-7 chairs with our t-shirts, sandals, towels, cooler and backpacks. I am sure someone will respond that their stuff was stolen, but like I said we have done this 50+ times and nothing has EVER been taken. Heck, we even have our money and park tickets in our backpack and nothing has ever been taken.

We pick our spot, do the slides and return to our spot every couple of hours.

Of course to get a spot in the summer you need to arrive at the waterpark early.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Of course to get a spot in the summer you need to arrive at the waterpark early.

That won't be a problem. I'll be lucky to get to sleep past 4 or 5 a.m. if the kids know a water park is on the agenda for the day

 

[NotUrsula]

The food in the cooler will not stay below the 40 degree point and will not be safe to eat. The car will be like a sauna and the cooler will be in that sauna.

Not that I don't think that doing this at Disney theme parks is a waste of time and effort, but that isn't really true about the food not being safe to eat; at least, not if you pack it correctly.

My dad was a part-time commercial fisherman in the Gulf. If he could keep fish cold in the hold of his boat with a large engine running right next to it, I assure you that it is pssible to keep a picnic cold enough in the trunk of a car for 5 hours or so; I've kept fish that way for two days in July. We always kept food in a cooler on the deck of the boat in full sun when spending the day on the water, and it was workable.

The trick to doing this (assuming that you have a good-quality hardside cooler) is to ice-pack the food and then insulate the opening of the cooler and the top of the cooler. I keep a fleece blanket and a stack of newspapers in my car in summertime just for this purpose. You pack the food in a plastic box or a cardboard box that is inside a sealable plastic bag, and then you pack the entire thing in ice all the way around -- bottom, sides and top. (Good to put the ice on top in its own plastic bag so that you can lift it out to access the food in the center container.) Then you need to put an inch of newspaper or a folded towel on top of the ice under the lid to insulate the opening, and then put an insulating blanket all around the outside and top of the cooler to help keep the surface cool. Works like a charm.

PS: As to the waterparks, we roll in a full cooler there unless we're on the dining plan, in which case there is no point. Most folks will not bother to rifle through belongings looking for valuables, but you should carry things that are REALLY valuable on your person in a waterproof pouch or leave them locked out of sight in your car. Stash coolers and beach bags under your chairs so that they are not really obvious and easy to grab. I made the mistake of leaving a can of sunscreen in plain sight on top of my stroller once, and came back to find a total stranger helping himself to it! (He didn't take the can, just stood next to our spot and used some of it as I watched from about 10 feet away. He put the can back empty and started to walk away when I called him on it.)

 

[North of Mouse]

Yes, there are tons of chairs, the water parks are huge. However, you need to arrive in the morning to get chairs.

We always do rope drop, pick a spot and cover 6-7 chairs with our t-shirts, sandals, towels, cooler and backpacks. I am sure someone will respond that their stuff was stolen, but like I said we have done this 50+ times and nothing has EVER been taken. Heck, we even have our money and park tickets in our backpack and nothing has ever been taken.

We pick our spot, do the slides and return to our spot every couple of hours.

Of course to get a spot in the summer you need to arrive at the waterpark early.

I would NEVER leave money and tickets at your site, because there is lots of stealing going on - how often do you notice what people are doing around you? I don't even look to see what they look like, never mind if the same people come and go . We always have the little plastic box to put around our necks and put some cash, mostly our cards, and keys. It works perfectly for us. We've personally, had nothing stolen there, but we only leave our towels and small beach bag there so not much to steal. We've talked to some that have had nice beach shoes taken as well as other items, so I'd definitely be careful - rather than sorry We wear our shoes, so no problems there. Sorry to hijack there OP, but rather than us carry any types of meals into the parks, we'd rather not eat in the heat than do that. It's not much difference in temps from April- Oct. It's not just the 3 summer months. There are variable exceptions, but trust me, it's the normal I loved it all my life (from gulf south) but it's not for everyone. Under your circumstances, we'd probably just bring in snacks, get free ice water and wait until evening and go back to hotel to eat - lots less hassle and eat in AC.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Yeah, we're real cautious of leaving stuff around. I honestly can't see convincing my wife to leave a cooler unattended, much less anything of real value

 

[fortwildernessishome]

I would NEVER leave money and tickets at your site, because there is lots of stealing going on - how often do you notice what people are doing around you? I don't even look to see what they look like, never mind if the same people come and go . We always have the little plastic box to put around our necks and put some cash, mostly our cards, and keys. It works perfectly for us. We've personally, had nothing stolen there, but we only leave our towels and small beach bag there so not much to steal. We've talked to some that have had nice beach shoes taken as well as other items, so I'd definitely be careful - rather than sorry We wear our shoes, so no problems there. Sorry to hijack there OP, but rather than us carry any types of meals into the parks, we'd rather not eat in the heat than do that. It's not much difference in temps from April- Oct. It's not just the 3 summer months. There are variable exceptions, but trust me, it's the normal I loved it all my life (from gulf south) but it's not for everyone. Under your circumstances, we'd probably just bring in snacks, get free ice water and wait until evening and go back to hotel to eat - lots less hassle and eat in AC.

As I always say to each their own for sure.......if you don't feel comfortable leaving your stuff at your spot then by all means don't!!

I can only speak from our experieince of 50+ trips and we have never had a problem.

I was curious about you saying that "there is lots of stealing going on"......really?.......where did you get that info?

I am sure that people have had things stolen, but to say that "lots" of stealing is going on at the water parks seems extreme to me.

Perhaps, we have been exceptionally lucky, but if Disney was having a serious problem with "lots" of stealing going on, I would hope they would up the security and warnings........