Who cooks while at WDW ?

[mouseaider]

We are completely knew to DVC with our first resale purchase in the works. In fact, the info has just been sent to ROFR this morning so we still have a little time to plan and scheme.

How many here actually save money on meals by cooking at your Villa ?

How about some good ideas for quick and easy meals ??

Inquiring minds want to know !

P.S. It's just my DW and I.

 

[jkfreeman33]

We do breakfast in the unit. That is usually donuts, toast, cold cereal. Sometimes we have bought lunch meat and cheese and when we come back at night, make a sandwich.
We have never done actual cooking a meal. I'm on vacation and not cooking. That said.....we still spend close to if not over $100 at Winn Dixie for the week.

 

[ToddyLu]

This year will be our second DVC trip. We did the DDP last year and are thinking we may purchase a TIW card. instead this year. Last year we got a 30 minute stop with our towncar and purchased snacks and drinks which worked out really well. No actual cooking for us in a studio. Many people recommend getting a roasted chicken from the deli at walmart then using it for sandwiches and salad for a couple of days, hot dogs, and brekfast foods. Sorry but I ain't giving up my dinner at Cali Grill, Brown Derby or Fulton's for a dinner in the microwave at a studio. We do not have children and might would cook a little, like toast, if we stayed in a 1 br.

 

[Donna M]

We usually stay in a 2bd and cook some meals in the unit. My DH doesn't cook anywhere! I would make spaghetti using a jar of sauce, frozen pizza and we let the kids pick frozen appetizers to make up a dinner once. I plan super easy meals. We like to make a dinner using a can of kidney beans mixed with a can of Del Monte tomatoes with chili peppers or something like that. It's real good if you like that sort of thing and talk about easy and fiber!

We always eat breakfast in and usually lunch out.

 

[CocosMeme]

We do breakfast and sometimes sandwiches at lunch or dinner but we also bring leftovers back from restaurants if we have them. We are planning a grand gathering at a GVilla next year and will probably bring a crock pot and do some cooking then. Nothing big - just quick and easy. I really like the option!

 

[Pakey]

We do breakfast (we make breakfast burritos, English muffins, etc) and usually oven bake type meals (frozen pizza, chicken, etc) for our late night munchies (we play cards at night after the parks close).

We order via Garden Grocer. We also do our cocktail hour (we are all adults over 21) so we get vodka, lemonade, cranberry juice, and salty snacks that are easy to dump in bowls and stuff like hummus and pita bread.

 

[daisyduck123]

No cooking here. We are DIE-HARD Dining Plan Devotees!!

 

[mouseaider]

Lots of good stuff being mentioned here. We did the DP once, but I can't really eat that much food.

We love LeCellier, Garden Grill, Flying Fish, California Grill and such but sometimes I feel to bloated for my Mickey Bar. Not really, but you know what I mean.

We will probably eat some cereal and toast in the morning and maybe some cold cuts for a quick sandwich, but I wanted to see if anyone really cooks.

I like the idea of the roasted chicken..... and a good salad to go with it. And a nice bottle of Riesling would make it great.

Thanks to you all..... keep the ideas coming.

 

[Hmom03]

We do frozen meals, and bring home leftovers. I've also baked cookies adn cakes a couple times.

 

[mdsd8700]

We only do breakfast, bagels, cereal, toast, etc which saves time in the morning as we like to get up and out as quick as we can. For me I would never cook on vacation so lunch and dinner are always eaten out, but know people who like to eat in their villas. We do like to keep snacks for afternoon breaks or the evenings. Ice cream novelties, baked goods and some snacks to bring with us in the parks just incase we get the munchies while in line.

 

[DonnaL]

When we're there in a 2 bdrm for an entire week with the whole family (DH, myself, 2 adult DS's, 1 adult DD, and 9 year old grandson) yes we do cook two or sometimes three meals, but, do a lot of the prep at home so it's a quick 30 minutes or so to pull it together for a good meal.......and we live in PA and fly to WDW!!! I have a great insulated rolling cooler which is the perfect size for a carryon and I precook and freeze the makings of a great meal......for example, I will precook boneless chicken and freeze in sealed plastic containers or I make homemade meatballs in sauce at home and freeze (can't take the sauce, unfortunately, just in case of thawing....so I freeze that separately for home use later on) or I will precook ground beef for use in sloppy joes, tacos, chili, etc. When I order my Garden Grocer order I simply order the other ingredients I need to put together a good meal....for example, for boneless chicken I might make butter and garlic chicken strips, or chicken cacciatore, but, my meat is already precooked so I just need to add the other ingredients and stick in the oven for maybe 20 minutes or so and whatever side dishes for a great meal in less than 30 minutes. Same thing with meatballs.....I just add jarred sauce......doctor it up a little.....add the pasta and some bagged salad and garlic bread for another quick wonderful meal. ANOTHER TIP: premix any spices you'll need before you leave home, label and double bag them in snack size baggies in your luggage. I've been doing the carryon bag for years and have never had a problem with TSA......once in awhile they will open the bag, but, they've never confiscated anything.......the key is to put nothing that could thaw into liquid. The bag I have keeps items frozen for 24 hours and even with the drive to the airport, the wait time at airport and the flight to MCO it's always under 8 hours and everything is still frozen when I get there.
While we do love to dine out when at WDW......sometimes every single day gets to be too much.

 

[javamom]

We like breakfast, and some lunches on our room. Grilled cheese, sammies, pasta, easy stuff. We prefer to dine out for dinners though.

 

[BWV2001]

Wow...previous poster sounds like Martha Stewart. We usually buy cokes, tortilla chips, cheese to melt on tortilla chips and salsa. And beer. Maybe a few healthy items, too, like fruit to eat while walking to the bus stop. Never have truly cooked a meal, but we still like the space of a 1 or 2 bedroom, and the option is nice if you plan to hang out in the room for a while. But, as I indicated, we mainly "cook" late-night snacks.

 

[adminjedi]

Breakfast - cereal (works for late night teenager snacks too), eggs and bacon/sausage etc
We keep other snacks or meal fillers - fruit cups, fresh fruit, chips, dips, crackers and cheese
Dinners out 'cause it is my vacation too!

 

[OurDogCisco]

I cook on most of our vacations (we own other timeshares) but I'd have to admit that I don't cook as much at DVC as I do at our other timeshares. But here are some things that I do make:

Taco Night: I saute sliced chicken breast in taco seasoning mix. Then, I make refried beans by mashing canned pinto beans in a mixture of sauted onions, cumin, jalenpenos. Then, I make an easy salad of cucumbers, tomatoes & avocado mixed with a light dressing of apple cider vinegar & oil olive. I bring the vinegar, oil olive & spices in my suitcase from home. I just use the tupperware containters. This takes me about 30 minutes to make this meal.

I'll also make Shepard's Pie. It is a recipe I got from Rachel Ray. And, it takes about 30 minutes it has ground turkey, carrots, onions, frozen peas, potatoes, etc.. I bring spices from home to add in those small tupperware containers. I also make green beans for side.

The only thing I don't like about DVC is that it is more difficult to BBQ as they only have charcoal grills. Otherwise, I would make Marinated Sesame chicken and use the leftover chicken for cheese quesidillas; sandwiches and wraps. Also, I would make Marinated Flank Steak as well.

I do find it harder to eat in at DVC especially with all the dining choices. But we do enjoy an evening of one or two nights on our trip to take a break from our restaurant dining. However, we do tend to stay at least 10 to 12 nights for each trip. So, those can be other factors of why people may not cook in the villas.

When I do shop I make sure I have multiple uses for the ingredients I purchase. For example, if I decide to buy tortillas then, I make sure we have ingredients to make sandwich wraps; breakfast burriotos, chicken tacos & quesidillas. However, if I sourdough bread then, I buy ingredients to make sandwiches like turkey or grilled cheese & french toast. Or on other timeshare vacations I do shop at Costco where I can buy a turkey roast and our first night dinner will be roasted turkey with the trimmings like mashed potatoes and green beans. Then, I would use the leftover turkey for sandwiches all week. You can get really creative with meals if you think them through.

I do notice with DVC we rarely eat lunch in.

 

[mouseaider]

DonnaL.... I'd love to travel with your family some time. It all sounds delicious. But I have to admit, that being at WDW and not eating out would be a waste.

OurDogCisco.... I agree with everything you said.

My wife and I love to cook but there is something about that Fillet at LeCellier that keeps me going back, but I don't think I'll be able to get it on my ADR wish list for our trip in January. Our resale contract was sent to ROFR just yesterday and we won't know for a few weeks if it will pass. Then we have to get a reservation for our first DVC stay in January, if there will be any availability.

So... now we wait.

 

[seelyt2]

Wow DonnaL! That's downright impressive! I'm not that motivated, and I remind hubby that I'm on vacation too! (he doesn't get it ) We're new to DVC too and had our first trip "home" last year, so I took advantage of cooking 5 of the 7 nights for our family of 4 (DS was 12 and DD 8). I ordered groceries from Garden Grocer and got really easy things - chicken patties, pizza, pasta, etc. For lunches we had bologna or pb&j sandwiches, hot dogs, grilled cheese, etc., and breakfast was pancakes or donuts that hubby bought at the gift shop. This year I'll order less prepared food/frozen and will go with a chicken dish, tacos, etc. since I was pleased with the quality of Garden Grocer. I spent about $200 in groceries, including the tip, which was well worth it, especially since we had a lot of left overs. Like I said I'll do it again this year since it turned out well last year, and again we'll go for two sit-down meals out and maybe a counter service somewhere. Like I said - I'm on vacation too, which includes a mini-vacation from the kitchen!

 

[mouseaider]

seelyt2.... you are a good Mom and wife. And you know how to save some $$ while there.

We were interested in Garden Grocers and have poked around their site a little and we might order a few things from them. But our Son who will also be in the area for a conference will have a rental car so we can go buy some groceries someplace.

On a side note..... I just got an ADR for LeCellier for one for the nights I think we will be there. Whoever would have thunk it !

Now to pass ROFR.

 

[seelyt2]

seelyt2.... you are a good Mom and wife. And you know how to save some $$ while there.

We were interested in Garden Grocers and have poked around their site a little and we might order a few things from them. But our Son who will also be in the area for a conference will have a rental car so we can go buy some groceries someplace.

On a side note..... I just got an ADR for LeCellier for one for the nights I think we will be there. Whoever would have thunk it !

Now to pass ROFR.

Ah shucks Mouseaider, you made me blush Thanks! Enjoy LeCellier! You totally scored!

 

[ssawka]

We used to be a DDP family, but then DD was diagnosed with Celiac disease (no gluten). This means that CS meals are rather difficult and I really don't want to spend the extra $ for DxDP. I thought about getting th DDP anyway, since it wouldn't cost that much for DD, but then I thought we would eat more of our lunches in the room in January. Well, we did eat in the room but I found us going of to CR to get take-out often. The thought of BP&J everyday for a week just didn't excite me. To save $ DW did make jared spaghetti one night.

I do enjoy making breakfast, so I did buy some good French bread at the france pavillion along with eggs and milk from the resort store and made French toast one morning and eggs another morning.

I'm debating what to do for our next trip in October 2011. We are planning on bringing my Mom and Dad with us and Dad loves to cook and is really good at it, so I don't know if he would be willing to do that on vacation. That being said, I can't see going to WDW and not eating at any restaurants. Got to have my Ohana's!