What do you do?

[heathers4um]

So, we just got back from a glorious 5 nights/6 days stay at SSR, just DBF and me. We LOVE going and relaxing and not going by a schedule. We did the meal plan for the first time but I did not make any ADR's - we wung it and did pretty well actually.

The thing we run into, however, is DBF is quite picky - hes a simple eater,he only likes things cooked a certain way, and this is not to be confused with plain. We went to Rose and Crown, Turf's at SSR, Crystal Palace, Sci Fi, ESPN and Planet Hollywood. He loves the nachos at ESPN and couldnt stop raving about the steak at PH...but wasnt too impressed with Turfs or CP! I am thinking of just ordering grocery delivery and only going out a couple times next time we go. Of course we will have the kids with us so that just means we will save $$ right? And its more family bonding time in the villa...

I just need opinions...will I be missing out on alot of the disney magic? What do you do?

 

[Pakey]

We've been going to WDW a long time and Disney Dining is not what it once was. We do more in-villa meals now than we used to.

Except for maybe 1 character meal, we eat breakfast in our villa. Then we will either do lunch or dinner at the villa, depending on the day. We always come back to our resort in the afternoon for pool time anyway. So sometimes we come back, have lunch and then go to the pool or sometimes we come back and then go to the pool and then have dinner after before heading back out for the evening.

 

[Sandisw]

I think if you are okay with cooking/eating in the villa, then no, I don't think will miss the Disney magic because you don't eat out.

 

[heathers4um]

I do agree...thank you for your thoughts! I think it will encourage us to make the most of the villa and to also go back to make the most of the resort too! I am actually excited about doing that now!

Plus, theres nothing worse than dragging kids out of a restaurant when they are overtired and cranky...only to walk to the buses in a state of food drunkeness and have to wake them up to get off the bus!

 

[seelyt2]

I've made breakfast, lunch and dinner (less 2-3 meals) for the last two trips. We stay about 7 days so that's a lot of cooking. It's worked out pretty well for us. The kids get to eat what they want, it costs so much less $$$, we get an afternoon swim and rest squeezed in there to boot. I think next time, however, I will pick a day when I'll pack a lunch of sandwiches and chips for the park to see how that goes (maybe rent a locker to store it) The downside for me: because the weather was cool the last time we went, there were times when I felt like we could've stayed in the parks longer and it was a drag to go back to the room. Some days it felt like we were on the bus equal to the time in the park. But cooking in the room was one of the many reasons we bought into DVC...but this point has been a much debated topic on the boards....cooking on vacation isn't always preferred, but for us, it seems to work just fine. Give it a try!

 

[rcchello]

Some people live and die by the meal plan, but it has never worked for my family. We enjoy breakfast in our rooms - cereal for the kids and eggs and bacon for us. We also like a couple of the places to eat outside Disney a couple of time during the week (things you can't find in NJ - good bbq, my wifes addiction to waffle houses).

When the kids were younger we always had bread, peanut butter and jelly and balogna so the kids could put together a sandwich for themselves when they got hungry or could carry it into the park.

We do eat at least one meal in the park, but not always a sitdown meal (fish and chips, flametree bbq, outside in Morroco or a Turkey leg passed from person to person.