Who cooks while at WDW ?

[LindaBabe]

I'm with Martha Stewart (that is DonnaL, above) in that I try to stay in Florida for at least 3 weeks in January, and I cook for several reasons. I get sick of eating in restaurants, it's easier to stay on my eating plan if I fix it myself, sometimes just too tired to eat out, and it's a lot easier to stick to my budget, cooking in the villa. (The less I spend, the longer I can stay)

A crock pot can be had for as little as $10, an electric skillet little more. With those two items and the right food, a studio kitchen can be gourmet. It's more fun than cooking at home where I "have to" lol.

 

[MattIL]

We typically eat breakfast in the villas so we might have some basic stuff like oatmeal, frozen breakfast items etc...

For lunch we usually will have some hotdogs and lunch meat to make sandwiches.

If we are staying four 4 nights or longer we will usually have some frozen pizzas or items like that to eat as snacks or for dinner if we ate a big lunch.

If we don't plan on going into the parks alot we might do more cooking but we aren't at that stage yet.

 

[stopher1]

We do. Typically breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles or scrambled eggs with some sort of meat; but we've also done dinners like spaghetti, grilled chicken, burgers & brats or pizza and the requisite salads, fruit or pasta sides.

 

[mouseaider]

We do. Typically breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles or scrambled eggs with some sort of meat; but we've also done dinners like spaghetti, grilled chicken, burgers & brats or pizza and the requisite salads, fruit or pasta sides.

Hmmmm... can I come stay with you the next time ? It sounds delicious !

 

[patdotson]

I know this may be crazy, but I have a waffle maker and electric griddle I take with me. I can whip up pancakes and waffles in a few miuntes, since some mixes only need water and maybe an egg. We usually go with a couple of familes and everyone gathers in our room for breakast and just hanging out. lots of fun.

 

[mouseaider]

I don't think it's crazy at all. Now..... I've just got to find a way to pack the waffle iron so I don't upset the security guys at the airport.

 

[KENNYBOT]

I had best of intentions ordering groceries ahead of time for at least breakfast. Wife and kids didn't even want it. Wound up throwing out lots of groceries.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I had best of intentions ordering groceries ahead of time for at least breakfast. Wife and kids didn't even want it. Wound up throwing out lots of groceries.

Quite the opposite here! I love to cook and my family/friends would rather not eat DISNEY morning, noon & night. I like to have some spontaneity in when and where we eat. I hate having to plan my day around an ADR. We're not big breakfast, buffet or desert people so the DDP really didn't work, too much similar food.

We buy groceries when we arrive, we mix in a couple of CS and add 1 or 2 TS and the rest of the time I cook. Spaghetti/Meat Sauce w/ lots of vegies, we use the grills for steak, microwave potatoes & salad, shrimp scampi and nacho's. A ham or turkey breast comes in handy for sandwiches the next day, hang out by the pool while it cooks. For our GV family reunions I bring my crock pot, comes in handy when you need to feed 11. I bring a few staples from home like spice mix in zip lock snack bags, a few asst sizes of bags and some precut aluminum foil and the villa provides the rest.

I find cooking relaxing, even more so on vacation and everyone helps in the clean up.

 

[OKWMom]

I like to cook and don't mind cooking on our WDW vacations. Like other posters have said, I prefer not having to work our schedule around all those ADRs. We do a character breakfast or two for our daughter who loves them and maybe a dinner out for the adults.

I make a large breakfast most mornings - some combination of eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, french toast, etc. One evening I will prepare a make ahead blueberry french toast to be baked the next morning.

Because of the large breakfast, lunch is usually snacks in the parks or sandwiches in the room. I buy the cold cuts and chicken salad at Publix.

We drive so I have more flexibility in what I can bring, so I can do a lot of the prep work for dinners at home before we leave. I will make spaghetti sauce at home and freeze it for the trip. Then I buy the spaghetti, salad and bread from Publix for one meal. I will also make and freeze a shrimp creole at home and bring it with me. Then I measure out the rice at home and double bag it in ziplock bags to be packed in the suitcases.

I also make a marinade at home, add chicken breasts and thighs to it, and freeze the whole thing. Then at WDW, I either bake the chicken or grill it on my grill pan I bring with me. I have also brought pre-browned ground beef for taco salads and the like. This year, I have frozen a beef tenderloin and plan on roasting it along with some potatoes. I buy the veggies at Publix based on what looks good in the produce department.

Because I season the sauce or meat before freezing it, I don't need to pack as many spices. Normally I just bring my sea salt and pepper mill. I also bring my saute pan and one of my good knives from home.

 

[mouseaider]

Thanks for all these great ideas. My wife doesn't come on the board but she sometimes reads over my shoulder..... and she's loving the idea of saving money and cooking at WDW. She especially likes it because I do most of the cooking !

 

[SassyLassy]

Quite the opposite here! I love to cook and my family/friends would rather not eat DISNEY morning, noon & night. I like to have some spontaneity in when and where we eat. I hate having to plan my day around an ADR. We're not big breakfast, buffet or desert people so the DDP really didn't work, too much similar food.

We buy groceries when we arrive, we mix in a couple of CS and add 1 or 2 TS and the rest of the time I cook. Spaghetti/Meat Sauce w/ lots of vegies, we use the grills for steak, microwave potatoes & salad, shrimp scampi and nacho's. A ham or turkey breast comes in handy for sandwiches the next day, hang out by the pool while it cooks. For our GV family reunions I bring my crock pot, comes in handy when you need to feed 11. I bring a few staples from home like spice mix in zip lock snack bags, a few asst sizes of bags and some precut aluminum foil and the villa provides the rest.

I find cooking relaxing, even more so on vacation and everyone helps in the clean up.

Do they have grills at all of the resorts?

 

[momhmmx2]

We order our food from Marge at Wegoshop.com

We cook breakfast..pancakes, eggs, toast, cereal...etc... Really quick and easy to make breakfast! and the dishwasher makes clean up a snap!

We have snacks and adult beverages

We also cook dinner sometimes making Tacos, lasagna (in a throw away pan that Marge brings) this works for 2 meals, chicken, salads..for the picky kids I get hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc.......

This next trip we are going to have a crock pot that we are going to leave in our Owners locker..This will allow us to cook even more! So easy! Throw in pot, go to parks, come back for afternoon break...eat dinner then head back out! Can't wait to try this

 

[npshinn1]

We usually only have a studio so the options are limited but even the cost savings from breakfast are measurable. Our next trip is to a 1br and I'm thinking of ordering groceries but I'll still keep it simple - soup and spagettios (maybe)

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Do they have grills at all of the resorts?

They are usually located by the quiet pools.
I've used them at SSR, OKW, BCV & WLV. I think they have them at all DVC resorts.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Do they have grills at all of the resorts?

They do but they are charcoal not gas. I'm thinking it is florida thing because we stayed at a timeshare in Orlando and it was charcoal. Charcoal in my opinion is time comsuming to start unlike gas. I hope one day they switch to gas.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Charcoal in my opinion is time comsuming to start unlike gas. I hope one day they switch to gas.

Hey, it's a great time to hang by the pool with cocktails & appetizers while the kids are in the pool!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Hey, it's a great time to hang by the pool with cocktails & appetizers while the kids are in the pool!

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but the other issue is we tend to go in the summer and it is always raining between 5 and 7 pm. But on our other timeshare vacations I'm BBQing every night especially in Maui. We watch the sunset every night. In fact, I hate eating out for dinner in Maui because I go to watch the sunset and dinner time is a great time to do that.

 

[mouseaider]

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but the other issue is we tend to go in the summer and it is always raining between 5 and 7 pm. But on our other timeshare vacations I'm BBQing every night especially in Maui. We watch the sunset every night. In fact, I hate eating out for dinner in Maui because I go to watch the sunset and dinner time is a great time to do that.

Hey...... who hijacked my thread ??? Just kidding.

I love to cook on charcoal more than gas so that won't be a problem.... and I don't have kids so cocktails by the pool while the fire gets happy would be fine with me.

Where do you go in Maui ??

 

[OurDogCisco]

We own at Westin Kanapali villas. I have pictures of our resort here. There are lots: http://travel.webshots.com/album/417987148ihlBFI

 

[mouseaider]

Awesome !

Will you be my new best friend ?????