The Joy of Cooking

[goofydad99]

Goofydad, Dh and I were really impressed with DCL food quality. They still have the real Chicken Tenders not the WDW nuggets (that are mostly bread) and the burgers were good too. We took 4 boys over 9 and they all loved the fast food on DCL. The DDP alone for a week would have cost more than it cost to take them on the entire cruise. Really i would have had to move up to the DXDDP because they ate 3 meals a day plus snacks!

I really want to go on another cruise but the prices are astronomical. Anyway, I am curious on which category level you stayed in? We are a family of 5 so we either get 2 lower category or a category 4. I loved being on deck 8.........

 

[rescuetink]

Goofydad, Dh and I were really impressed with DCL food quality. They still have the real Chicken Tenders not the WDW nuggets (that are mostly bread) and the burgers were good too. We took 4 boys over 9 and they all loved the fast food on DCL. The DDP alone for a week would have cost more than it cost to take them on the entire cruise. Really i would have had to move up to the DXDDP because they ate 3 meals a day plus snacks!

We went on the cruise for the third time in May!! The 1st time was DW and I on a land & sea... the second was DW DS and I... and this trip was DW DS DD and I!! We LOVE the DCL and we can't wait to go back again... hopefully in 2011!!! We love everything about DCL!!

Anyway... we are planning on going to AKV in May 2010!! We were planning on doing breakfast in the room before the park in the AM while it's still cool out. The come back to the room at lunch to eat and a dip in the pool. Then head back to the parks in the evenings when it's cooler for the parades and fireworks. We don't plan to go to the park everyday of our stay.

Due to flying we can't bring much in the way of food with us. We did look at the grocery list and the prices didn't seem too bad, but without a car, or getting a DDP, it seemed a good option. Never having done this before I didn't know if there was agrocery store on site accessible by the WDW transportation.

Has anyone used the grocery list to order food delivered when you get there??

The good ... the bad ... the ugly !!! I wanna hear it all!!!

 

[jeromine]

Thanks for that and i love cooking and i enjoy them too,,,

 

[henri + katie's mum]

Everyone should get together and write a book or a formal guide with these good ideas!

 

[toniosmom]

Has anyone used the grocery list to order food delivered when you get there??

The good ... the bad ... the ugly !!! I wanna hear it all!!!

I used the grocery list at SSR and was very disappointed. Other than dairy items (milk, eggs, cheese), everything else was 'fast food' type stuff. Frozen entrees, etc. The selections are extremely limited....not a vegetable on the list.

I understand that Garden Grocer is much better. If you go to their web site, you will see that it is more like shopping at a grocery store than a convenience store. You can actually get a fresh vegetable. They charge more to deliver, but I think it's worth it. You will all eat better.

I know there are other services that I have seen from other posters, but don't remember their names. Hopefully, someone will be able to post them for you.

Enjoy!!!

 

[toniosmom]

Found a couple more names for you....

WeGoShop or netgrocer.com

I haven't used any of these services -- only the resort list, but others have posted positive experiences with them.

 

[culli]

Yes great thread. One of the reasons we bought into DVC, going to WDW with 3 young kids and the DDP was a nightmare for me. The 1st trip in a 1br and I was so floored and how relaxing a trip to WDW can be. I figure on a 1 week trip between the kitchen and ME and other "onsite" transportation (no need for rental) we probably save in the $1500 range. Plus we are more comfortable, now of course in the long run we spend more by going more but that is what we WANT to do.

Just having everyone eat when they want to eat, and having everything right there is so nice. I also like the alcohol delivery that helps

I prefer eating in regardless and we make pretty simple meals nothing fancy. Easy clean up and love having fresh veggies/fruit, oh and did I mention the alcohol delivery

 

[dwelty]

My wife does not like to cook on vacation, so we worked out a deal which works quite well for us. I actually like to cook, but my wife rarely lets me in "her" kitchen at home. When at WDW, I do all the cooking. I pick simple meals that I know I can cook. We usually plan a couple of nice meals out per trip, but the rest are in the Villa. We are not park commando types and our kids would much rather spend time at the pool. We spend about 4 hours in the parks per day, and spend the rest if the time at the resort. It saves us alot of Money. We will not be doing the dining plan in the future, as we do not find it a good deal anymore.

 

[rescuetink]

I understand that Garden Grocer is much better. If you go to their web site, you will see that it is more like shopping at a grocery store than a convenience store. You can actually get a fresh vegetable. They charge more to deliver, but I think it's worth it. You will all eat better.

I know there are other services that I have seen from other posters, but don't remember their names. Hopefully, someone will be able to post them for you.

Thanks toniosmom!! I looked at the sites you mentioned, and it seems that Garden Grocer may be the best option!! I think we're going to like hanging at the room to eat, and spending our money elsewhere!!

 

[edk35]

We have never made dinner in our villa but we do buy stuff for breakfast and sometimes even lunch. It depends on how long we are WDW. I do agree that the quality of food has really gone down the past few years. We always get tired of WDW by the time we go home. We also do a grocery stop on our way in with our car service...and it saves us a lot on bottled water, snacks and lite breakfast/lunch stuff when we get it.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We will have 9 of us in January and for the first time, we are planning every breakfast and dinner in the villa. We have done the dining plan in the past for our family of 4, but for the first time we will all be adults (10+), and I can't see paying $160/day for meals. I think the days of the DDP are over, plus I think the food is mediocre. Not bad, but not good either.

We have done some preliminary planning for our January trip, and will have a firm menu by the time we get there so we can bring spices, etc. from home. It is nice that each THV has its own grill, so I am thinking there will be a lot of grill food done, but hey who doesn't love a good grilled hamburger or dog? Throw in some chips and fruit and everyone should be happy!

 

[Camping Cat]

My friend Charlotte and I put on an open house dinner every December for our RADP friends. I think we had 35 people last year. We really enjoy cooking together and enjoy entertaining all our friends. The one bedroom at OKW is perfect for 2 cooks to move around in and there's even room for our husbands to help out.

 

[goofygal1975]

I agree. We stayed at SSR for 7 nights after our cruise this past May/June. We went to publix and bought stuff for breakfast, lunch and dinners.

Bagels for breakfast. We ate breakfast out at Chef Mickey's once.
Lunch meat and bread and cheese for a few lunches when we were in the room
Dinners: I bought wraps/tortilla and got our use out of them....Chicken wraps for dinner one night with a salad and then tacos another night. (chicken wraps: grilled chicken strips (in a pan) honey mustard and bacon...SO good).
We also made fruit punch and drank that more than soda, got lots of water for me, and lots of fruit as well to snack on or eat with lunch.

We also ordered pizza out one night...much cheaper than odering in from Disney.

We were really happy with doing this and the money it saved us. At first I ended up doing the dishes, until I said out loud "who's idea was it to cook here....and I have to do the dishes too!!" Dh took the hint and did all the dishes from then on!!

We'll be staying a week in June 2010 bringing my mother along, and we plan on doing more cooking in the room for her (she's on dialysis and won't venture into the parks too much). I look forward to saving some money for our Le Cellier dinner!!

 

[goofygal1975]

Hey, with everyone cooking at Disney now....we should start a thread to list things that we cook there. I know I'm always looking for new ideas!!

 

[LIFERBABE]

Hey, with everyone cooking at Disney now....we should start a thread to list things that we cook there. I know I'm always looking for new ideas!!

Great minds think alike!! I was thinking the same thing! We could even post pictures of our Villa meals I would love a Villa Meal support thread.

We are planning lots of meals this Christmas at THV and Im really thinking about taking the crock pot this time since we are driving. I made this really great bbq beef last night in the crock pot. We will also do some holiday entertaining in our THV so I am looking for ideas!

 

[LIFERBABE]

I really want to go on another cruise but the prices are astronomical. Anyway, I am curious on which category level you stayed in? We are a family of 5 so we either get 2 lower category or a category 4. I loved being on deck 8.........

There are just 4 of us, but we booked 2 Cat 12's this last cruise and were upgraded to Cat 11 sideways on Deck 6! We ended up inviting 2 cousins to go with us at the last minute since the cruise was heavily discounted. So the 4 boys shared a room next door to Dh and I. It worked out great and we had an Awesome time! Would definitely go lower to get our own room. It was nice to have our own space and tv. The boys really liked it too!

 

[MrsNick]

We started eating in the room at VB.

First time was in an inn room. Those under counter refrigerators store quite a bit! We would eat breakfasts and lunches in the room. It is so easy to toast some english muffins, microwave eggs and buy the Oscar Meyer pre-cooked bacon for a breakfast sandwich or pour a bowl of cereal. For lunch, it's also very easy to buy some turkey or roast beef and make some sandwiches. Add some grapes and chips, and lunch is served.

Another time we had a 1 BR and we did breakfast, most lunches, and I made dinner about half the time. Again, kept it simple. It really wasn't hard, and certainly took up less time than going out to eat!

Part of the reason we did this was money savings, but as it turned out, we really preferred eating in. Again, big time savings. But also, we really got sick of eating out, and my DH really didn't feel so well eating out, either. I guess the change in diet from what we normally eat at home just didn't agree with him, so limiting the amount that we ate out seemed to help him.

Next year, we'll be in a THV and will probably eat breakfasts in, and half our lunches and dinners in, and half of them out. I'm really concerned about the quality of the food at WDW, though. So many reports say that they have gone downhill.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

We are planning lots of meals this Christmas at THV and Im really thinking about taking the crock pot this time since we are driving. :

That's an excellent idea! We've been fortunate to host several family reunions give or take 10 to 12 of us and for such a big bunch of hearty appetites I always bring my crockpot! It's nice to come back to a home cooked meal after a big day out.

My family likes to eat out some of the time at Disney, we have a few favorites but all in all we prefer to follow our regular diet. Eating out at restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner doesn't work for us at all.

Christmas at Disney is wonderful, gee! it's only 5 months away!

 

[scot@dvcstore]

Cooking can be a great part of the family vacation. My girls generally plan "theme dinners" and I get to do the cooking. Lots of fun!