Would you cook to save $400 on vacation?

[Beezle2]

I am looking over my December plans and I see I could pretty easily save about $400 if I decided to cook a few dinners instead of going out. We are staying in a 1 bed at OKW and so have a full kitchen, I'm kind of tempted, it's not that we can't afford to eat out I have the money. I just think of how nice it is to grab a drink, cook something and chill without fighting more crowds at resturants. We are there Dec 17-27th and we will eat out 6 nights Ts, 1 lunch TS, and 1 Breakfast TS, and lots of CS lunches.

We are a group of 5 so cutting 3 meals would be save money and just be more relaxing which sounds good.

If you would cook, what would you cook? I'm thinking pizza, tacos... and something

 

[lisajl]

Yes I would cook. We did the last time we went. It was stuff like tacos, frozen pizzas with salads, spaghetti. Easy, quick stuff.
Honestly, it tasted better than some of the stuff from the restaurants.
Lisa

 

[Cindy B]

I have.

We have done french bread pizzas, Bertoli Italian dishes (those one pot items), tacos, salad, grilled cheese, soup..

As for breakfast, eggs, french toast, bagels, etc, cereal.

To me this is easy. I figure hey at least I'm looking at palm trees while I'm cooking instead of my own backyard.

 

[Zhoen]

Yep.

For me it's not just that I'd rather spend the money on something else, but that the restaurant food is too heavy a lot of the times, so I don't eat much of it, and it ends up getting wasted, then I feel bad, then it's not fun anymore and and and...

We're getting a timeshare with a full kitchen this time, and will be packing some things to take to the parks for days when we've just had too much heavy stuff... I'm not sure we'll do any dinners at "home" just because we tend to stay into the evenings, but you never know. Kids have a way of wrecking plans

 

[Tiger926]

Yup. Did it in March, and will be doing it again. We go for 2 weeks each summer, so we need to eat at least 1 TS meal per day, so we can rest from the heat.

For this summer trip, we are eating almost all breakfasts in villa, except for 2 late breakfasts/brunches at Cape May and Tusker, and the rest are spread between lunch and dinner.

We also take a midday break each and everyday, and we find this fits our schedule well. It also saves a ton of money! We love OKW - the full kitchen is awesome, as is eating on the enclosed balcony!

Happy cooking, Tiger

 

[taylorcpa]

I would, but not necessarily to save money. I know that I get tired of eating "out" all the time. I would pick something easy that you're not going to eat in the parks - sloppy joes, frozen lasagna, rotisserie chicken, veggies, etc.

 

[satorifound]

We planned on doing it when we stayed at Fort Wilderness Cabins, but then we didn't. We left a lot of unopened food when we left. The snack foods got eaten though, mostly...

 

[sydneysmom]

Sorry, I'm going the opposite way. No way would I cook on vacation. To me, it's not a vacation for me if I have to work. I'd rather save up a little bit longer so that we can go on a vacation where everyone can enjoy themselves. But if I'm stuck making meals or doing dishes and then we head to the parks, it's going to feel like we're home only w/ different scenery..... I love being able to go out to eat when we're on vacation. It's a lovely break from the norm.

 

[brymolmom]

I would do it too, although I admit that I wouldn't do anything elaborate and likely would use paper plates - it's not my idea of vacation spending a bunch of time cooking and washing dishes. But when we stay offsite with a kitchenn we do a few nights like these:
Takeout Chinese or pizza to eat at the condo
Hot dogs on the grill with tater tots and pasta salad purchased at grocery store
sandwiches with chips and fruit
leftovers from another night eating out at a restaurant - if not enough for all, make the kids grilled cheese while dh and I enjoy leftovers.

These simple things can keep the $$ down and like others have said, I get sick of eating out at about the 3rd day of vacation so I actually enjoy eating in the condo for some of the time.

 

[dodukes]

Another vote for the NO WAY in heck would I cook on vacation. The closest thing I do food related on vacation to save is maybe have some breakfast items int he room, like donuts or such. But no way, if I have to cook, i'd rather stay home..lol.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I would...not so much to save the money but I get tired of eating out every meal after a while. I would do something easy like sandwiches or maybe a one pot pasta dish.

 

[mom2princesss]

Absolutely! I get really tired of eating out for EVERY MEAL on vacation. We stayed off site last trip and had a full kitchen and it was great! We bought breakfast stuff (eggs, waffles, cereal, milk, coffee) and had a relaxing breakfast in our PJs every morning. I also made a few dinners - spaghetti and salad, tacos, etc. We use Chinette so we don't have to wash dishes. Most everything I would cook would use one pot and washing one pot was totally worth the $$$ savings and not having to go to a restaurant and wait for our table and food. We also got things to make sandwiches and chips and could do that for a quick and easy lunch or dinner too.

 

[GinnyEmma]

Disney food is kind of icky so yes, I would cook. I can't stand eating out all the time.

 

[RitaE]

The Disney table service restaurant dance gets really old after 4 or 5 days. When the vacation is over a week - it gets torturous.

I'd do it just to relax and not have the hassle of Disney restaurants a couple of nights.

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

Sorry, I'm going the opposite way. No way would I cook on vacation. To me, it's not a vacation for me if I have to work. I'd rather save up a little bit longer so that we can go on a vacation where everyone can enjoy themselves. But if I'm stuck making meals or doing dishes and then we head to the parks, it's going to feel like we're home only w/ different scenery..... I love being able to go out to eat when we're on vacation. It's a lovely break from the norm.

Another vote for the NO WAY in heck would I cook on vacation. The closest thing I do food related on vacation to save is maybe have some breakfast items int he room, like donuts or such. But no way, if I have to cook, i'd rather stay home..lol.

Im with the above, NO WAY!!!! Part of vaction for me is NOT cooking...if I cant afford to eat out I do a less expensive vacation, or less day, I cant stand cooking at home, wont do it on vacation

BUt if you are up for it, I say GO FOR IT!
We will have drinks, snacks and maybe some breakfast items for the days we plan to use our CS/TS for lunch and dinner, and most nights our dinners are late b/c we will be at US/IOA so we will eat the snacks. And we are driving this time so we will have more access to food/drinks

Whatever you decide ENJOY, thats what Disney is all about!

 

[smitch425]

I noticed you are staying 9 nights and have 8 TS meals planned. Have you considered doing the DDP?

Back to your original question...

I rarely cook at home so there would be NO WAY I would cook at WDW.
It's a wonder I don't weigh 1000 lbs, but fortunately I'm still holdin' steady at 116. For now...

 

[GinnyEmma]

I agree. If you hate cooking don't fo it. Or pick easy stuff. Or carry in. I like cooking, so it is no hardship for me to cook.

 

[mjbaby]

I enjoy cooking so I would (and do) do it. I like not having the time pressures around meals and home and use vacation time to be a bit more creative than typical. Most of our vacations find me with a full kitchen I'll make a list/meal plan in advance and 1) bring certain items with us, 2) have groceries delivered or 3) scope out a market and make a quick stop on the way to our house/villa/condo/whatever. (BTW, the Whole Foods in Orlando is very nice!)

Anyway, most days I'll make breakfast "at home" and will also do maybe half of the dinners. Lunch will be out, and I'll usually carry snacks with me. To me, it's not as much about saving money (although I can't discount that entirely) as much as it is being able to have a bit more control over what we eat. We do splash out on our groceries a bit when we're away, so it's still like "vacation" even when I'm doing some of the cooking.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I wouldn't do it to save $400. We pick up enough fruits and veggies to supplement what we eat at Disney restaurants. We usually go off site for things, as well. The villas are probably properly vented, but the idea of cooking anything in my regular hotel room other than brewing tea or coffee makes me queasy. The residual odors and vapors on our clothes... ugh.

 

[averysmom]

Nope - part of vacationing is not cooking for me!