Would you cook to save $400 on vacation?

[StitchBuddy]

We always eat some meals in our room, even if we don't have a kitchen. We just enjoy eating some regular everyday food, eating out every meal gets old.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

No, I wouldn't. I'm in the "I don't want to cook on vacation" camp. We do eat breakfast in our room about half the days, cold stuff like cereal, pop-tarts, etc. But as far as lunches or dinners, part of my vacation is enjoying stuff that I don't cook at home. It would diminish my perception of vacation to be eating the same old Old El Paso tacos that I make at home, or same old spaghetti that I make at home, or same old ham sandwiches I make at home. Blech. I don't particulary like frozen meals at home, why would I eat them on vacation?

And actually, I find that even if we do get a bit weary of restaurant food by the end of our vacation, then it makes coming home a little more tolerable. I might actually look forward to having that comfort food once we get home because I've had that break from cooking.

 

[HayGan]

We love our DVC and the ability to having meals in our villa is one of the main reasons why! We recently returned from a 2 week stay in which we fed 7 people (including 3 growing boys) for less than $700 total including a dinner at Boma and one at Giordano's (used a restaurant.com certificate for.) We love the fact that we have breakfast in the villa and then head off to the parks. We come back have a late lunch/snack and often dinner before heading back to the parks. We have simple dinners (tacos, lasagna, etc.) and it doesn't feel like work. For us we prefer the down time and don't mind the little bit of work that eating in the villa involves.

It all comes down to personal preference. We love not eating out every meal and it adds to our experience but I can completely understand how others don't see it the same way.

 

[lakelandgal70]

I am another that doesn't cook on vacation. That for me wouldn't be a true vacation. It is just me and hubby and we only eat 2 meals a day so we aren't really spending that much on food unless we decide to go to a signature meal.

 

[PBader]

I made this EASY breakfast and everyone raved about it. I packed in a ziplock bag the remainder of a bottle of vanilla and a bottle of cinnamon (needed 2 tsp of each) some powdered sugar and a small bottle of syrup. Picked up 2 of the 8 ct cinnamon rolls at the grocery, eggs, milk & butter.

Melt the butter (1/2 stick) in an oblong pan while the oven is heating to 350. Cut the cinnamon rolls into 8 pieces each and put them on top of the melted butter. Mix up 6 eggs, vanilla, cinnamon & 1/2 cup milk pour on top and bake for about 30 minutes. When done sprinkle with the powdered sugar. Microwave the frosting cups so they pour easily and drizzle on the top. Serve with syrup. I served it with the precooked microwave bacon.

It was so good, I fixed it for supper last night

 

[allison443]

Cooking at "home" DOES save you a ton of money and its super easy. We have done the following:

Pizza
Chili Dogs
Grilled steak on the grill with a salad and rolls
Cold Cut Sandwiches
Breakfast foods
Stouffers Lasagna and cheese toast (it was actually walmart brand and was GREAT)
Burgers on the grill
Betty Crocker meals in a box (hashbrown, ham and cheese bake - yum)
Chicken Salad on toast with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes on the side
Chicken Fingers and french fries (we fed our group of 4 on less than what one meal would have cost at Disney and it was the Tyson Chicken fingers which were already cooked)

You could easily save $400 by fixing a few meals at home. And some meals (like the cold cuts or chicken salad) dont even require cooking.

Fixing meals at home doesn't mean you are "slaving over a hot stove" or "stuck doing dishes" I mean really, whats it take? 5 minutes to load a dishwasher? 10 minutes to fix an easy meal? I understand some folks preferring to not cook and thats their vacation to do so but to make it look like those who do fix small meals at home are somehow slaving or spending all their time washing dishes while on vacation is just a little...well....stupid in my opinion. For me, I actually enjoy cooking because on vacation I actually make things I don't normally make at home. I always make a presentation with my food (colorful bowls, appetizers, etc) so it feels more "exotic". We all love it. Im not standing there stirring a pot of pinto beans for 4 hours or slicing potatos for fried potato sandwiches. I do whats quick, easy, and fun. We're eating at a kitchen thats not our own so it has a different feel to it. We do eat at Disney as well, but for my family its really hard to find something that we even know what it is. We are simple eaters so unless we want to risk $20-$30 pp on a meal that we may not like then we stick to what we are familiar with and in Disney its pretty much burgers, pizza, or chicken. I was looking at the food pics thread last night and the allears.net menus and on so many things I was like "WHAT is that?". We don't eat lamb, not much on seafood, I've never had couscous or gnocchi (sp?) in my life. I don't even know what it is. While we do venture out and try some new things while at Disney, it has to have a description that I can understand what it is before I will spend that kind of money on it. Its just how our family works.

You people who make it sound like its a 40 hour a week job to cook at your home/condo are just clueless. And honestly, why even comment on it? No one is knocking you for eating out all the time so why would you even post in a thread like this is you couldn't contribute to what the OP asked in a way that doesn't make it sound like those who cook are somehow in a Chinese slave labor camp??

I am going to suggest you buy a box of couscous and some fresh/frozen gnocchi from the grocery store and make it on your next vacation! (not at the same meal, lol). They are very good and you might like them!

I don't think people are clueless if they don't want to cook at all on vacation. I think there are a lot of factors-how many days is your vacation, age of kids, cost factor, etc. I can definitely see doing it in a unit with a kitchen. And there have been a lot of suggestions for simple easy meals like you suggested. It can be some good down time in a busy trip.

 

[jsmla]

I go to Disney solo sometimes now and couscous is a favorite staple of mine when I'm alone I usually do it with canned chick-peas. Nothing needs refrigeration and it's easy to nuke in the food court. If I have a tomato I'll throw that in too.

ETA: If I'm planning on cooking I always bring my own spices, even if we fly. They weigh next to nothing and that way you don't have to buy a whole container and then end up pitching most of it.

 

[kinntj]

No way! We're all on vacation, so we all get to relax. Only snacks in the room.

 

[Disneyliscious]

I find this post to be judgemental and downright rude. No one was knocking or questioning the OP about why she would cook on her vacation. As a matter of fact, this thread was completely civil until your post. I'm sorry, but calling people "clueless" for offering THEIR opinion of how they prefer THEIR OWN vacation is rude and uncalled for. As to why people who don't cook on vacation would comment, the OP specifially asked them to. Her original post has 2 questions in it

1. Would you cook to save $400 on vacation? (title of the thread)
2. If you would cook, what would you cook?

No good reason that I can think of for you to post such hateful words when all we were doing was politely answering the OP's questions. Very sad that you felt the need to go off on a bunch of nice people that way.

I found the words that prompted my post to be judgmental. Words like "slaving", "stuck", "hot", "time consuming", "all day". So I guess we are even. And yes, the people who think cooking at your home or condo is any of the above mentioned words/phrases.....they are clueless and do not have the skills to prepare a quick, easy meal. Some people can't cook. Big deal. But it means that they don't know (ie, clueless) how to do it.

I'm clueless about staying on-site, the DDP, the temperature of the moons surface and the price of eggs in China. Does that offend you too?

 

[miralys]

Absolutely! I would rather spend that money on a tour or merchandise.

 

[DSNY4ever]

That's a tough one because I am a tight wad...but I think I have to say no.

We rarely eat out, pretty much only on vacation, so it is one of the BIG things that I look forward to while on vacation. I love researching where to eat and thinking about how we are going to treat ourselves to fancy meals that I don't have to cook, and Disney has soooo many good/fun restaurants.

If we weren't talking about Disney and I was just going to beach condo for the week or something, of course I would cook. I did it in Hawaii and we treated ourselves to a lunch OR dinner out every other day and the rest we cooked. I can't cook all the meals or else it would just feel like our daily routine...and like I was still at home

 

[smitch425]

I found the words that prompted my post to be judgmental. Words like "slaving", "stuck", "hot", "time consuming", "all day". So I guess we are even. And yes, the people who think cooking at your home or condo is any of the above mentioned words/phrases.....they are clueless and do not have the skills to prepare a quick, easy meal. Some people can't cook. Big deal. But it means that they don't know (ie, clueless) how to do it.

I'm clueless about staying on-site, the DDP, the temperature of the moons surface and the price of eggs in China. Does that offend you too?

I've got a lot to do today so forgive me for not doing more research, and I have no desire to argue with you, but as I suspected, a quick thread search of the words "slave" and "slaving" resulted in 1 post-- YOURS. Making up quotes to prove your point says more about you than I could ever say.

To the OP, I hope you have a fantastic vacation and enjoy your meals whether you cook them or buy them.

Everyone has their own preferences as to how they like to dine on their vacation and no matter what one chooses, it is the right way for them.

 

[mommyrosa2]

I do not like or want to cook when I'm on vacation so for me, the answer is no. What we have done in the past is bought some breakfast items and snacks and drinks to keep in our room and we have also ordered pizza once and ate in our room but that's about it. It's definitely a personal choice so if you don't mind cooking some "easy/quick" meals, then go for it.

 

[MEM]

I would and I have. We recently stayed in a 1 BR at BCV over Spring break 2011. In order to save money I cooked at least one meal a day, often two. It wasn't so bad because the BCV kitchen has a dishwasher (that I don't have at home). Airfare from PVD to MCO was $500 a person that time of year (April) so I had to make up the difference somewhere.

 

[tweedlemom]

YES

 

[Disneyliscious]

I've got a lot to do today so forgive me for not doing more research, and I have no desire to argue with you, but as I suspected, a quick thread search of the words "slave" and "slaving" resulted in 1 post-- YOURS. Making up quotes to prove your point says more about you than I could ever say.

To the OP, I hope you have a fantastic vacation and enjoy your meals whether you cook them or buy them.

Everyone has their own preferences as to how they like to dine on their vacation and no matter what one chooses, it is the right way for them.

I forgive you. There are certain topics on the forums that repeatedly come up. I often frequent those to see even more responses on a topic I am either familiar with or need more info on. Now (since I didn't quote anyone on this thread), if you would do that same search on the forums instead of this thread, you would see each and every phrase I mentioned above and guess what? Its not even in MY words. Imagine that.

So I'll use some of your own words and say that accusing someone of making something up to prove their point (when they clearly did not) says more about you than I ever could.

 

[SalandJeff]

It's a no for me. I hate to cook at home, so no way I am doing it on vacation. We usually get some breakfast food like bagels. So I don't cook, but I do toast!

 

[DawnM]

I always do.

Dawn

 

[smitch425]

I forgive you. There are certain topics on the forums that repeatedly come up. I often frequent those to see even more responses on a topic I am either familiar with or need more info on. Now (since I didn't quote anyone on this thread), if you would do that same search on the forums instead of this thread, you would see each and every phrase I mentioned above and guess what? Its not even in MY words. Imagine that.

So I'll use some of your own words and say that accusing someone of making something up to prove their point (when they clearly did not) says more about you than I ever could.

I still think that this sentence that you wrote is not nice...

"You people who make it sound like its a 40 hour a week job to cook at your home/condo are just clueless. And honestly, why even comment on it? No one is knocking you for eating out all the time so why would you even post in a thread like this is you couldn't contribute to what the OP asked in a way that doesn't make it sound like those who cook are somehow in a Chinese slave labor camp??"

I took that to mean the people posting in THIS thread. Perhaps if you would have omitted the word "You" and just began with "People" it would have read as more of a general statement which I would have no issue with. Though, I still don't understand questioning a person's decision to post, but that's your right to do. I stand behind my original statement that you are the only one who mentioned the word "slave", but I will add a disclaimer in that you are the only one who did so in THIS thread. I was unaware that I should research all the threads on a topic prior to commenting on one. I have not been a member for very long, and when I saw your post, I noticed it was the only one in the thread that was uncivil in what is otherwise a very polite thread. I am truly sorry if I offended you in any way. I am one of those people that does not take kindly to seeing others attacked and talked poorly about when it hasn't been warranted. In my opinion, your post seemed specifically directed to the people in this thread and in my opinion, they did not deserve to be talked to that way. Again, I apologize. Peace to you and yours.

 

[verlee]

Yep, we do this all the time. It really is not THAT much of a hassle. We kind of get sick of eating out all the time I know we are a little