So pleased with myself: $182 for all meals with alcohol for five nights

[Quicklabs]

My hubby and I just returned from a split stay between the Wilderness Lodge DVC Villas and a DVC Studio at the Poly. We rented a car for $50 from the Car Care Center, and purchased the food (bill came to $132 at Publix on I Drive) needed to make all our meals between the one bedroom Villas and the Studio. The budget included all food (except spice mixes, which I prepared at home), two bottles of good wine, a six pack of beer, all water, EVERYTHING we ate for five days. No dinner took more than half hour to prepare and cook and get on the table. I used gallons of bottled water to prepare my meals (hate the taste of tap) Here's a sample of what we dined on (obviously, not comprehensive):

Breakfasts:
Cheerios with strawberries or blueberries
Bagel with chive and garlic cream cheese
Blueberry granola and yogurt

Lunches:
Italian sausage sandwich with caramelized green peppers and onions with sweet potato fries
BBQ chicken sandwiches, chips
Cheese burger, chips
Ham roll ups

Cocktail hour
Rum and coke (rum brought in flask and packed in luggage)
Shrimp
Antipasti plate
Cheese platter

Dinners:
Pork with Balsamic strawberry sauce, couscous, and steamed vegetable
Beef taco bar (homemade salsa, cheddar cheese, lettuce, avocado), corn and Mexican rice (in the Studio)
Polynesian Chicken (with pineapple and banana) with rice pilaf and broccoli
Spaghetti with Italian sausage, tomato, onions and mixed green salad and zucchini, garlic breadsticks
Pork fried rice with egg rolls (in the Studio)

Dessert
Ice cream bars
Biscotti
Pepperidge farm Chocolate cake

We had wine/beer with each meal, plus appetizers. Most nights, we enjoyed a cocktail hour on the beach with the stuff I made.

We brought packets of Crystal Lite lemonade into the parks and asked for large cups of ice water so we always had refreshment there.

I simply decided in advance what I wanted to make for dinners and brought a few seasoning mix packets from home, each placed in baggies. The recipes were from Skinnytaste.com

We did spend some money on Dole Whips ($4 apiece) and a flatbread pizza ($20 total) on departure day. This is not included in thte toal. But overall, we feasted like kings for very little money, with just a little advance planning.

We used the also used rental car to take us to the Studios and Animal Kingdom on Day One, so we feel we got our money's worth.

The food was fresh, prepared with all natural ingredients (I bought organic whenever possible), calorie conscious and hearty. I have to say, I am a foodie and love complex flavors. We had no problem with transferring cold/frozen items during our split stay between VWL and the Poly.

Do we need to economize in this way? Absolutely not. We are doing okay. But it breaks my heart to pay Disney prices at the restaurants for food that is very substandard IMO. With the money I figured I saved, I bought a lovely Vera Bradley hipster bag and two Tiki Mugs. We dined on our Poly balcony with its water view, with Disney music playing softly in the background, or at our table looking at beautiful woods at the VWL. It was private, quiet and romantic.

BTW, this is for two people. I have to admit that I have some cooking skills and that I like to cook and to plan. I made use of steamer bags in the villas. But anyone can do this if you have even one night in a villa with a kitchen and even a few cooking skills (We are DVC members).

Let me know if you have questions about how I pulled this off!

 

[travelbug]

Hey, nice job of planning and eating well for a very reasonable amount of money! Thanks for sharing the details. Sounds like you had a great time!

 

[Marionnette]

I love it! Being able to cook decent food during vacation was one of the reasons that we decided to buy DVC. Your menu sounds marvelous and proves that you can eat well at Disney if you have access to kitchen facilities and do a little planning ahead. Great job!

 

[loves to dive]

Wow, what a great job. Wouldn't work for me since I don't even cook like that at home but wow what a great job and it all sounds good.

 

[Quicklabs]

I love it! Being able to cook decent food during vacation was one of the reasons that we decided to buy DVC. Your menu sounds marvelous and proves that you can eat well at Disney if you have access to kitchen facilities and do a little planning ahead. Great job!

This was our thinking as well in buying DVC. And now that we are getting older, it is all the more valuable to have some peace and quiet.

 

[Majesty1919]

Very impressive. If I wasn't in such vacation mode that could work. I am interested the poly chicken that you made.

 

[Quicklabs]

Here it is. It's called Caribbean chicken (oops). I also added a touch of soy sauce (I brought a packet with me that I saved from a take out) as well as a bit of red pepper flakes because I love sweet and hot together.


http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=59

Very impressive. If I wasn't in such vacation mode that could work. I am interested the poly chicken that you made.

 

[Madteaparty001]

I can see how this would work but for me, since I have to rent points, the cost difference between a studio and a 1 bedroom with a kitchen could easily pay for all of my family's food and souvenirs! Plus then I won't have to cook or clean on vacation. Are the amount of points to get a 1 bedroom that much cheaper when you own?

 

[Marionnette]

I can see how this would work but for me, since I have to rent points, the cost difference between a studio and a 1 bedroom with a kitchen could easily pay for all of my family's food and souvenirs! Plus then I won't have to cook or clean on vacation. Are the amount of points to get a 1 bedroom that much cheaper when you own?

The OP was in a studio for part of her stay. Keep in mind that DVC resorts also have charcoal grills that you can use if you are staying there. Even if you're in a studio, you can still grill up some chicken, burgers, or even do a tenderloin if you're into BBQing.

 

[eliza61]

Congratulations op,

I eat out and eat well on vacation so this isn't something I'd do, lol and we always have a 1 bedroom villa with a full kitchen but excellent meal planning.

 

[Madteaparty001]

The OP was in a studio for part of her stay. Keep in mind that DVC resorts also have charcoal grills that you can use if you are staying there. Even if you're in a studio, you can still grill up some chicken, burgers, or even do a tenderloin if you're into BBQing.

I didn't know that! Is that for all studios? I can't imagine AKV having them.

 

[eliza61]

I can see how this would work but for me, since I have to rent points, the cost difference between a studio and a 1 bedroom with a kitchen could easily pay for all of my family's food and souvenirs! Plus then I won't have to cook or clean on vacation. Are the amount of points to get a 1 bedroom that much cheaper when you own?

a few factors come into play.
1) where you own. I own at the BCV's so my points are a little more costly say than OKW but every time Disney builds a new resort, I get a bit more value out of my points. the cost of points at the Poly are insane.

2) Over time and the more vacations you squeeze out of your points is what makes the points cost effective. I thought I had read that room rates have gone up about 6% while my dues have not increased that much BUT and here's where it gets tricky, disney does offer discounts on their rooms pretty regularly.
Most dvc'ers calculate breakeven trip number. after which your room cost are essentially nil. So I purchased back in 2001 and for the way we travel (deluxe 7 nights usually in August) it would take 9 trips to cost what I paid for my dvc. LOL, We hit 9 trips back in 2010. so essentially now my room cost me my annual dues which is a little of 1100 bucks.

3) the cost of renting points has definitely gone up. when I first rented lol, back in 2000 I got points for 8 bucks a point at OKW. I think now the standard is 13 bucks a point. I rented out my points last year to a coworker for 10 bucks a point and folks where shocked.

 

[Madteaparty001]

3) the cost of renting points has definitely gone up. when I first rented lol, back in 2000 I got points for 8 bucks a point at OKW. I think now the standard is 13 bucks a point. I rented out my points last year to a coworker for 10 bucks a point and folks where shocked.

It's $14 now but...still only $100 more then what I would pay for a moderate with a room discount, so I'm happy to pay

 

[eliza61]

It's $14 now but...still only $100 more then what I would pay for a moderate with a room discount, so I'm happy to pay

I just went on the rent/trade board. My mistake, the average seems to be $13 bucks. I did see some 8 dollar points. lol, I may have to check them out myself. I used all my points for a family reunion but 8 bucks a point is a good deal.

they have poly & grand floridian points for rent at 16 bucks a pop. whew the poly is out of the park.

 

[Madteaparty001]

I just went on the rent/trade board. My mistake, the average seems to be $13 bucks. I did see some 8 dollar points. lol, I may have to check them out myself. I used all my points for a family reunion but 8 bucks a point is a good deal.

they have poly & grand floridian points for rent at 16 bucks a pop. whew the poly is out of the park.

First time renting so I went with David, but you're right the renters board has some fantastic last minute deals though! My mother loves the poly but I don't think we'll be able to fork up the money to stay there again with the point cost so high, especially with most other resorts so much cheaper. I'm keeping a close on the Wilderness Lodge though! I wonder how much they're going to charge when they've finished.

 

[AJ1983]

Very impressive! We aren't big eaters on vacation due to the heat so we are always able to eat cheap, but not as cheap for all those wonderful meals you were able to prepare!

 

[Marionnette]

I didn't know that! Is that for all studios? I can't imagine AKV having them.

There is a BBQ pavilion in Kidani and it has 4 grills plus picnic tables.

 

[ajwolfe]

Sounds like you did a fantastic job! For me part of vacation is not having to cook, lol, so it doesn't sound like any fun at all to me but I can see that value in it for others!

 

[threeboysmom]

How did you have lunches and dinners? I'm assuming you kept going back to your resort when it was meal time?

I'm flabbergasted that you only spent $182 for the 2 of you. I have $750 budgeted for the 2 of us, and I'm concerned that's not enough!

 

[Mad4Dizne]

Fantastic planning!