Would like to use ME but need a grocery stop

[nkjzmom]

I need some advice.

We've always driven down but DH and I have the opportunity to go "sans children" and are flying down for a week in Sept. After looking at all the prices offered by the towncars, limos, and shuttles, the ME is looking really good! My question is what, then, is the best way for us to make a stop at a grocery store? We've thought about renting a car for a day or taking a taxi. The Mears shuttles do not make stops do they? Should we find our own transportation from the airport to WDW, stopping at a grocery store and then use ME for the return flight? We have AAA so could probably get a decent discount on a rental...

I usually can decide these things myself but this one is stumping me. Maybe I'm missing something very obvious.

 

[ccgegg]

wegoshop.com may be your answer. They'll deliver to your room. The only reason I'm still considering a towncar service for our Dec trip is because it saves some transit time-- and they'll make a grocery stop.

 

[nkjzmom]

Do we have to be in the room to receive the groceries?

Edited to add: I read their FAQ and found a few answers but they are mostly regarding deliveries to homes.

 

[ccgegg]

I've never used wegoshop, but heard about them on these boards. If you search for that in this forum, I think you'll find lots of testimonials.

 

[jjan]

How much are you planning on buying? Can you pack most of it and then buy odds and ends at your resort like milk and juice etc.? That has worked really well for us especially since once you eat the food you then have a nice place to pack all of your new purchases for your trip home. Just a thought...

 

[jennat]

I am struggling with the same decision. One thing I have thought of is t you would have extra money to spend at the parks on food if you don't spend it on a town car service. (But a service would get you there faster.....oh boy oh boy...)

 

[southjerseymom]

We used wegoshop in May. We asked for the delivery to be at 3:30 pm so we would be in our room (you could get it earlier and store it at the resort if you wanted to). They called us on our cell phone from the lobby as soon as they arrived (on time). You can pick the grocery store you want them to go to - and they will use that one if it is in the area. We use Albertsons locally so they shopped there for us. I spent some time when I was doing my regular shopping writing down the brand and quantity of items I needed. I tried to be as specific as possible - such as 2 64oz bottle of lemon lime gatorade. Since I knew where they would be shopping I was also able to choose some store brand items. I emailed the order to them I think about a week ahead of time. In addition, they stopped at an adult beverage store for us to grab some supplies. I think they substituted one item (the kind of cracker barrel cheese I wanted wasn't available) - other than that everything was perfect. This service is GREAT! On a previous trip we did a town car grocery stop where we faxed our order ahead of time. Hardly anything was right. Wegoshop was wonderful and I will use them again in Feb. PS ME was wonderful. I Love not having to get my bags. A great way to start the vacation.

 

[nkjzmom]

How much are you planning on buying? Can you pack most of it and then buy odds and ends at your resort like milk and juice etc.? That has worked really well for us especially since once you eat the food you then have a nice place to pack all of your new purchases for your trip home. Just a thought...

This is what I've been thinking about this weekend. I am following the LA Weight loss plan (lost 15 already) and really want to stay close to it on vacation. So I mostly will need some fruit, maybe veggies to crunch on, individual applesauce pkgs, then some bagels for DH. We can each bring an empty bottle or two for H2O and probably the applesauce and maybe some oranges. I know I'll be able to get in my proteins, starches, and some veggies. I am unsure about the fruit. It seems so expensive to buy it there. Can we buy skim milk at the resort?

I'm thinking that, if we can, it will be cheaper to bring things along and then buy just a very few at the resort and use ME for transportation.

EDITED: After reading tons of posts about this, I finally found one from January. I think I will pack up these items in a carry-on bag and leave it at that. No one has had any problems with it so I'll try it!

 

[jjan]

I know at Pop I don't think that they had skim milk (that is what we drink too), so we just got 1% and just tried to ignore it You could bring powdered milk if it really mattered that much to you or the skim milk that is in a box and doesn't need refrigeration. (Parlamait??? I don't remember what it is called). Bringing food worked really well for us... I just used my carry on for it so it wouldn't get squished.

 

[SB in KY]

All of the DVC resorts have mini-groceries...I think OKW probably has a little more than the other places...but they all have skim milk and whole fruit....also places in the parks now that sell fresh fruit (albeit, pricey fruit...but you could buy a lot of fruit for the price of a towncar!!)

We usually pack and check a bag or box with food when we fly and then just get the things we need from the resort store (milk, eggs, etc) if we don't have a car. Never had a ny problem.

You didn't say where you were staying, but you could always hop a bus from any of the parks or DTD to OKW or one of the DVC's and get your milk and fruit and then catch the first bus to come by to any park and transfer to your own resort bus from there....a little out of the way, but not as time consuming or expensive as renting a car for a day or cabbing it to the grocery.

Have a great trip minus the kids....I admire your will power!!

 

[goofy4tink]

I"ve used both netgrocer.com and wegoshop.com. Wegoshop.com is terrific. There is a small service charge. But, you can get them to buy anything you would normally buy, even beer or wine!! I liked it because I could order milk, fruit, oj...netgrocer is strictly non-perish. I told them the time I would like delivery to be and they gave me their cell number to call when we got into our room. THey arrived 30 minutes later, at the pre-arranged time. You can get stuff at the resort shop but it gets expensive.

We used DME last month, saved a bunch of money (about $150), and had groceries delivered. We arrived at MCO at 11:50 and we were checked into BCV and sitting by the pool at 1:30. When we used a towncar, it took us about an hour to get to our resort. Throw in a grocery stop and it comes out about the same..1 1/2 hrs. We loved Wegoshop.com and DME!!! Oh, and our bags got to our room at about 3:00. We actually lucked out and got into our room at 2:30!!!

 

[nkjzmom]

Have a great trip minus the kids....I admire your will power!!

Thanks....though I'm not sure if it's for the weight loss or going alone with DH !!

We went last year to celebrate our 10th anniversary, but that was with our children and two of my brothers....with my mom and another brother joining us for a few days at the end of the week. We have another big family trip in Oct so we decided that we'd get a few extra days out of our AP's by going for our anniversary this year. Can't wait!!!

 

[CLEO Z]

We used wegoshop in May. We asked for the delivery to be at 3:30 pm so we would be in our room (you could get it earlier and store it at the resort if you wanted to). They called us on our cell phone from the lobby as soon as they arrived (on time). You can pick the grocery store you want them to go to - and they will use that one if it is in the area. We use Albertsons locally so they shopped there for us. I spent some time when I was doing my regular shopping writing down the brand and quantity of items I needed. I tried to be as specific as possible - such as 2 64oz bottle of lemon lime gatorade. Since I knew where they would be shopping I was also able to choose some store brand items. I emailed the order to them I think about a week ahead of time. In addition, they stopped at an adult beverage store for us to grab some supplies. I think they substituted one item (the kind of cracker barrel cheese I wanted wasn't available) - other than that everything was perfect. This service is GREAT! On a previous trip we did a town car grocery stop where we faxed our order ahead of time. Hardly anything was right. Wegoshop was wonderful and I will use them again in Feb. PS ME was wonderful. I Love not having to get my bags. A great way to start the vacation.

We used wegoshop last week and they were AWESOME! Speedy and correct order! I cannot recommend them highly enough. The small fee they charge is WAY less than cab fare or paying for a car. Plus you don't have to waste your time at WDW shopping!

 

[kirbsam]

when you get to your resort and get settled in, grab a cab to the nearest grocery store. you should be able to get there, shop and get back in well under an hour.

 

[Densgirl]

Wegoshop sounds awesome. Do you have to be in the room if they make an adult beverage stop?(To ID you)

 

[southjerseymom]

Its been so long since I was carded (darn!) I can't really answer your question. I think it was addressed on their web site of FAQ's. I would think you would be fine getting anything before you get your room and storing it with guest services. FYI - their website has a link to a shopping list service. You would only use that if you were going to use wegoshop all the time. For one trip just make up you own list. Like I said before it is an awesome service and works great with ME.

 

[CLEO Z]

Wegoshop sounds awesome. Do you have to be in the room if they make an adult beverage stop?(To ID you)

I'm pretty sure you have to be in the room no matter what. You have to pay them and they are not a part of WDW so they don't have access to your room. I was worried that we'd be sitting around waiting for them, but they were calling with our order as we checked in! The woman that I talked to (Becca) had me plan a delivery time 2 hrs after our plane was due to land. Timed it just right! The refridgerated items were nice and cold, too! Visit the website at www.wegoshop.com and click on the links that lead you to the WDW resorts. I remember reading that they do ID for adult beverages.

 

[CleveRocks]

Here's my vote for Gooding's (www.goodings.com). Order by website. Pay by credit card over the phone. Flat $10 delivery fee, $50 minimum order. Don't have to be in your room to accept delivery (even for cold stuff!!!). That's the short version; below is the long version, something I posted a few weeks ago:

On this board or another I learned about Gooding's (www.goodings.com), which is reportedly a smallish upscale (more expensive than most) grocery store not far from Downtown Disney. There is a $50 minimum order and a flat $10 delivery fee. You order via their website at least a few days in advance, then they call you to take your credit card information live on the telephone rather than doing it online. Your card does not get charged until the day of delivery, just in case an item is out of stock, or if the exact cost isn't known in advance (if, for example, you order produce by the pound, they can't know exactly how much it will weigh, etc.). On the day of your delivery, a Gooding's employee actually uses your list and physically shops for your groceries, then uses your credit card information to make the purchase at the cash register, then it gets delivered to you. I live in a resort area and there's a similar-type small grocery around me, and I see this done all the time during high season.

Anyway, their website lists a "greatest hits" of what's available; you can e-mail special requests, and as long as the items are in stock they'll deliver them to you -- about half of my order was stuff they had on their actual store shelves but were not listed on the website. If you get meats and cheeses from their deli you can even request how you want it sliced (thick, thin, etc.).

I got all kinds of stuff to help save money but more importantly to keep my 2 kids happy. We got things like bagels (you can pick from all different kinds), cream cheese, fresh-sliced deli cheese, bologna, cheese sticks, yogurt, milk, bananas, grapes, bread, peanut butter, jelly, orange juice, bottled water, some junk food snacks, you get the idea. For 6 people I had no trouble breaking the $50 minimum. Along with the delivery comes your credit card receipt, your computer-generated shopping list, and the actual store cash register receipt.

The best part was the delivery process. It was about 2 days before my trip when I started stressing about when to schedule the delivery. Do I risk scheduling it before check-in time, which would allow me to get to a park early but if my room's not ready I'm screwed because of all the perishables? Or do I schedule it after check-in time but then feel very frustrated that I can't get to a park and I'm wasting my time waiting inside my hotel room for my groceries? NEITHER!!! Gooding's delivers to your WDW resort's Bell Services, and then Bell Services delivers it to your room. They call your room, and if you're not in they store your grocery order. But what about the perishables? Gooding's separately bags AND labels items that need to be in the fridge and items that need to be in the freezer, and your resort's Bell Services takes care of that, too! WHAT A GREAT SYSTEM!

Also: Gooding's messed up my order and left out one vital item, an 18 oz. jar of peanut butter. I called at the end of the day, and the next day they delivered two 12 oz. jars.


I think DME plus Gooding's saves time, too. With a towncar, you wait for your luggage at baggage claim, AND take the time to make the actual grocery stop. And because for Gooding's delivery you don't need to be in your room at any certain time, the delivery itself takes no time at all!

-- Eric

 

[CleveRocks]

I guess the only downside to Gooding's is that they can't deliver alcoholic beverages. Didn't matter to me, but might matter to you!

-- Eric

 

[Densgirl]

Thank you very much for all the info. This is the first time we wont have our car or a rental. I will check out both Goodings and Wegoshop's sites. Thanks again :