shoo!! the grocery list thu DVC

[goofy4tink]

We pack the stuff we can. We buy milk, half and half and eggs at the Screen Door at those inflated prices. Its still cheaper than eating out, and we don't ever buy enough to make a Garden Grocer order doable. When we've done the grocery shopping thing we always buy way too much - better to spend $7 on one box of cereal you eat that $10 on three boxes of cereal where you only eat one.

That's been my experience as well. So, it looks like a nice walk over to the Hess station for the few perishables that we need.

 

[CandyMandy]

I just placed an order through Garden Grocer for our upcoming June trip.

Out of curiousity, I compared it to the latest DVC grocery price listc on the member website.

Bottom line: a few of the items I ordered from GG aren't even on the DVC list. But just limiting a comparison to the items that do overlap, what I spent a little over $40 total on from GG (including not just delivery but also a gratuity to the delivery person) would have run over $70 from DVC.

As for concerns about "buying too much" from GG (or any outside service), I think that risks lowers dramatically once you become more "seasoned" (i.e., looking at history to know how much you actually ate/drank/used). Yeah, on our first DVC trip we overdid it (too much packaged food) - but by the third we were pretty much hitting it on the nail and on our last visit the final ordered item ( a can of soda) was literally being consumed on our way out the door to checkout.

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

Their website is garderngrocer.com

You register with the site, load up your cart with what you want, then select your delivery date. You'll want to do this a couple of weeks ahead to make sure you get the date/time you want -- maybe even earlier if you're going at a really popular time. Their groceries are a little higher than going price, plus there's a $12 delivery fee and a tip for delivery is customary. That's why if you're not ordering a whole lot, it might not be worth it. For us, though, the convenience far outweighs the costs. We generally travel with other family members, and split the delivery fee & tip with them.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the info! Very helpful. =)

 

[crisi]

As for concerns about "buying too much" from GG (or any outside service), I think that risks lowers dramatically once you become more "seasoned" (i.e., looking at history to know how much you actually ate/drank/used). Yeah, on our first DVC trip we overdid it (too much packaged food) - but by the third we were pretty much hitting it on the nail and on our last visit the final ordered item ( a can of soda) was literally being consumed on our way out the door to checkout.

Last trip my sister did a GG order, so we piggy backed on her $12 delivery charge and tip....and ordered way too much because we ordered things we thought we'd want. This is after 10 years of membership and knowing pretty well how we travel. You'd think four Coke drinkers could go through a 12 pack in a week easy - but we don't. You'd think kids who given the opportunity at home drink orange juice every day would on vacation, but they don't.

 

[CandyMandy]

Last trip my sister did a GG order, so we piggy backed on her $12 delivery charge and tip....and ordered way too much because we ordered things we thought we'd want. This is after 10 years of membership and knowing pretty well how we travel. You'd think four Coke drinkers could go through a 12 pack in a week easy - but we don't. You'd think kids who given the opportunity at home drink orange juice every day would on vacation, but they don't.

I guess the ability to forecast is a function of how crazy one wants to get about not just day by day but hour by hour planning.

We actually look at our itinerary and determine how often we'll actually be in the villa as well how much of that that time is close to "hunger/thirst" creating activity that isn't going to be taken care of elsewhere. Or put another way, we can get that specific because we just don't view Disney as a place to be particularly spontaneous (Heaven bless those who have figured out how to!)

Over time that's led to ordering a lot less snack stuff as well as liter bottles of drinks vs. cans (for whatever reason, the liters get drunk as predicted better than cans do). Our latest order is breakfast heavy with a small amount of mid-day break and late night snacking thrown in...and not much else.

That sort of thing works for us on shorter trips. On longer ones we usually add ingedients for a lunch and/or dinner in the villa to the GG order, for both the variation and so we can feel like we are actually making "substantive" use of that kitchen we've paid for!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I guess the ability to forecast is a function of how crazy one wants to get about not just day by day but hour by hour planning.

We actually look at our itinerary and determine how often we'll actually be in the villa as well how much of that that time is close to "hunger/thirst" creating activity that isn't going to be taken care of elsewhere. Or put another way, we can get that specific because we just don't view Disney as a place to be particularly spontaneous (Heaven bless those who have figured out how to!)
Over time that's led to ordering a lot less snack stuff as well as liter bottles of drinks vs. cans (for whatever reason, the liters get drunk as predicted better than cans do). Our latest order is breakfast heavy with a small amount of mid-day break and late night snacking thrown in...and not much else.

That sort of thing works for us on shorter trips. On longer ones we usually add ingedients for a lunch and/or dinner in the villa to the GG order, for both the variation and so we can feel like we are actually making "substantive" use of that kitchen we've paid for!

I'm no expert, but this is what we do: we make our reservations, schedule our park days, ADRs, and breaks many, many months in advance. We then glance at it on occassion to make sure that park hours, emh's, etc. haven't changed...and basically forget about it. We then go by whatever we have written down, and roll with the punches, and change as necessary. Since I'm pretty forgetful, it works out. I may not know where my car is at the mall...but I don't feel like I've overplanned the fun out of my trip.

This method works better after you've completely taken all of the fun out of a trip because you stared at the beautiful courtyard at the Wilderness Lodge on your computer screen for 6 months, only to have a really bad view of the OTHER courtyard.

Plan it...forget it...have reasonable to slightly low expectations...arrive and be showered with pixie dust.

 

[cloudnut220]

Wow am I glad I was surfing the forums this afternoon! I'm ashamed to admit that I've been staying at DVC resorts since 1994 (on my dad's points) and we never knew about the grocery delivery service. I'm totally using it for my stay in three weeks--first time on my own points!

 

[Donna M]

I assume that the Hess prices are higher than Publix. How much higher?

 

[crisi]

I'm no expert, but this is what we do: we make our reservations, schedule our park days, ADRs, and breaks many, many months in advance. We then glance at it on occassion to make sure that park hours, emh's, etc. haven't changed...and basically forget about it. We then go by whatever we have written down, and roll with the punches, and change as necessary. Since I'm pretty forgetful, it works out. I may not know where my car is at the mall...but I don't feel like I've overplanned the fun out of my trip.

This method works better after you've completely taken all of the fun out of a trip because you stared at the beautiful courtyard at the Wilderness Lodge on your computer screen for 6 months, only to have a really bad view of the OTHER courtyard.

Plan it...forget it...have reasonable to slightly low expectations...arrive and be showered with pixie dust.

We do the same - but don't even bother to schedule the breaks. ADRs and which park which day....but by now that is about it.

And we aren't terribly budget driven on vacation, which I suspect doesn't help the "overbuying at the grocery store" - if I want a Dole Whip and I'm walking by the Dole Whip stand, I'm not going to eat the snack I hauled into the park with me. But I'm frugal in planning, so I'll tell myself I'm going to skip the Dole Whip for a granola bar.....

And we travel light into the parks now that the kids are well out of stroller age. We don't haul in soda and snacks any more.

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

I assume that the Hess prices are higher than Publix. How much higher?

HESS is a gas station. That should tell you the cost.