Take-out at Food & Wine festival?

[U2_rocks!]

Yes I know that the booths give you food on a disposal plate or container. But, what if I wanted to carry a bunch of it out of the park through the International Gateway - could I bring in a small cooler and load up? Would that be really weird?

The reason I am asking is that, due to a short trip and tough decisions about which park to do when, I may have to limit Epcot to only one day for the family. But, while they are having pool time (on a break from another park), I could pop over to Epcot (we'll just be at the Beach Club Villas) and get some stuff to try, while we order the kids what they want from Hurricane Hannas. If we can't eat it poolside, no problem - we can eat it later in the villa. I have a park hopper, as my ticket was one I bought years ago and it has 6 days left on it, but the rest of my family has non-hoppers (financial decision), which means that we can't all hop to Epcot for dinner.

Please tell me I am not a total freak for doing this! I really want to try lots of stuff from the booths, but I know I won't be able to fit it all in in one day!

 

[wezee]

A small cooler that could be carried would be great.

 

[Kay1]

I guess it depends on what you buy. It sounds a little messy to me. Also, the samples are so small. I certainly don't think you're a freak but I wouldn't do it. Would you be bring Tupperware?

 

[OKW Lover]

This probably isn't practical for several reasons:

1. The portions are very small, but not cheap.
2. They are just served on a paper plate so you'd also need to bring an individual container for each item.
3. Most dishes are served hot (well, maybe warm) but will not stay that way while you carry them around. Since you won't have a way to re-heat them I'd be concerned about food poisoning at worst and just plain edibility at the least.
4. Do you have the discipline not to eat the samples as soon as you get them?

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

I think it would be fine.. Just carry a small cooler and bring some foil. You could bring several already cut off the roll squares around 6 inches by 6 inches which should cover each dish adequately enough to prevent too big of a mess to transport back to the BC. The, you just have to carefully stack in your cooler and you would be good to go.

 

[TDC Nala]

Sure you could do it. It sounds like far more trouble than it is worth, though, as you'd have to find a way to individually store each item for transport. If I personally did this I wouldn't order anything that was meant to be served hot.

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

Another option to the foil that I suggested before would be to bring a handful of quart sized zippered baggies. Those should be big enough too to cover the dishes.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I'd really be doing this for DH, since he'd be the one missing out. We're in a villa, so no issues with storage/reheating. Also, I would guess that I wouldn't want to spend more than an hour or two picking up just the few samples that he missed when we were in the park together - I wouldn't spend all afternoon, and I wouldn't get a ton of stuff.

OTOH, it does sound like trouble, and maybe he won't care all that much if I go and enjoy myself and don't bring him back anything! I'm more than happy to wander around alone, or with friends that will be knocking around the parks the same time we're there.

Plus, I don't even know yet what the selections will be like - if they turn out not to be that great, then we will be able to try everything we want in one day, especially if we make it lunch and diinner (I am not a big eater at all, though DH will need something to supplement the small, expensive portions). I'm just trying to work out my options at this stage, no decisions yet.

 

[Hopefully]

I agree with the others, you COULD do it, but I wouldn't do it. As the others have said, transport will be an issue. Much of the items are meant to be eaten warm, Even an hour of "collecting" samples will mean they are all cold. Even being in a Villa wouldn't work for me.
I say, go yourself, and don't worry about bringing samples back
Have a great Trip

 

[U2_rocks!]

Thanks for being a sounding board and helping me put my thoughts in more rational order. Back to the drawing board on this one.

I may try to upgrade DH to a hopper if my parents will hang out with the kids somewhere, or I'll use that afternoon to hook up with friends and DH will have to sort out food for himself and the kids (which is no big deal at all). I don't know why I thought he'd care so much about this, because now I'm pretty sure he won't. If he weren't traveling right now I would have just asked him.