Yet Another "Shipping Package (groceries) To Resort Question!

[Castillo Mom]

Which is better, buying groceries online through NetGrocer or buying the groceries myself and shipping them via UPS? Is NetGrocer reliable? Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[momoftwins]

Castillo Mom, I hope you do not mind if I add to your thread. I was also wondering the same question. I have also heard that Goodings Supermarkets also delivery. Anyone have any input? This really saves us a lot of money on food. Also, I have 7 yr old twins and they still need downtime during the day. We go back to our resort to have at least one meal (we almost always have breakfast in the room) and give them - and us a rest.


We always fly Southwest out of Rhode Island - great airline. I have heard that people pack up a cooler and fly it down with them. It must count as one piece of their luggage. I have thought of that, but I can't imagine you can fit a lot of food in the cooler??

We always use a towncar and use the stop to get heavy things like juices and water.

Have a nice night.

 

[Castillo Mom]

No problem! I want to bump this up to see if we get any responses. I just wanted to address a couple of your points though. Mind you, this is our first trip to WDW, but I've done extensive research and have learned a lot from the nice people on these boards. As far as Goodings is concerned, I've heard that their prices are not good and that they're actually overpriced. I've seen Publix mentioned a lot for those who do the towncar/grocery stop thing.

You mentioned a cooler being brought as carry on. I've seen many people recommend a soft sided cooler that you can fold up and pack in your luggage. I haven't gone shopping for mine yet, but I believe they probably have different sizes, I know that the stores where I live carry a variety.

I was planning on getting things like water, soda, Gatorade, possibly cereal, those tuna/cracker combos (but not for eating in the room, don't want to stink up the place), cookies, etc. I'm planning on it primarily because I have three boys who have voracious appetites (hubby too) and want to have something on hand for those rushed mornings and for late night snacks, but I do like that I'll be saving a little mulah!

 

[dalepool]

I just looked up goodings--orlando with the search engine.
The have a min order of $50.00 and a $10.00 delivery charge. Not a bad deal---They will deliver to the WDW resort hotels as well as a few of the DTD area hotels. I'm sure I;ll use this next time we visit. Taxi to goodings was $30.00 round trip our last visit--.

 

[danacath]

Castillo Mom--Your first trip! You've gotta be getting excited! I hope you have a great time!

I've heard good things about NetGrocer, but I'm convinced that I will save more $ by bargain-shopping (something I already do anyway) and shipping it down myself. Do a search on these boards and you will find lots of good tips on how to go about shipping a box down to WDW. Try not to ship heavy items, though, or that will really make your UPS shipping fees skyrocket.

 

[whozit]

I would suggest you go to the UPS and Fedex websites and get an estimate of the cost to ship a box. I did that before our trip in August....I went to those sites and put in my zip code and the Lake Bueana Vista zip code, then I put in that I would ship a box 24"x24"x24" (this was just a guess....as long as your package is not considered oversized, the price won't vary--check the sites for a explanation on package sizes and how to measure them), then I tried various package weights. I found that for the same sized package, the price was the same whether it weighed 20lb or 50lb (after 50 lb, the price went up). In my case, I shipped a 50lb box (from St. Louis, MO) and it cost $17 (using "FedEx Ground"--UPS was about $10 higher). It was guaranteed to arrive in 3 days....in fact, I used the tracking number to check the status before I left and it arrived at the resort in 2 days. I hadn't originally planned to send juice boxes down because I thought that as heavy as they are, it would make the package shipping more expensive, but since the price was the same for 20 or 50lb, I was able to include them and I was way ahead by purchasing them at home, on sale and shipping them down.

 

[prncess674]

If you decide to pack a cooler with food be sure to just pack your non perishable and DO NOT PACK ICE!!!!! Take snacks out of the box and just stack items inside. Take the granola bars out of the original cardboard box and place inside a ziploc bags, etc. The ziploc bags could come in handy for putting ice in once at the hotel.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Originally posted by danacath
Castillo Mom--Your first trip! You've gotta be getting excited! I hope you have a great time!

I've heard good things about NetGrocer, but I'm convinced that I will save more $ by bargain-shopping (something I already do anyway) and shipping it down myself. Do a search on these boards and you will find lots of good tips on how to go about shipping a box down to WDW. Try not to ship heavy items, though, or that will really make your UPS shipping fees skyrocket.

Excited is an understatement! I'm a bargain shopper too. I went to the Netgrocer website and apparently they also have sales just like my local grocery store and their prices were pretty comparable.

You mentioned shipping heavy items. I was planning on purchasing at least one case of bottled water as well as soda a and juice. These items will definitely be heavy, so it looks like I'm leaning toward NetGrocer. I'm just hoping that they'll be reliable.

Someone else posted that Goodings has a website; I didn't know that. I'll have to check them out.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Castillo Mom
Excited is an understatement! I'm a bargain shopper too. I went to the Netgrocer website and apparently they also have sales just like my local grocery store and their prices were pretty comparable.

You mentioned shipping heavy items. I was planning on purchasing at least one case of bottled water as well as soda a and juice. These items will definitely be heavy, so it looks like I'm leaning toward NetGrocer. I'm just hoping that they'll be reliable.

Someone else posted that Goodings has a website; I didn't know that. I'll have to check them out.

goodings may have a website but they are the most overpriced grocery store I have ever seen. Their prices are more expensive than CT or NY.
If you cannot shop at one of the more reasonable stores when you are in FL, I would suggest Net grocer or something similar.

 

[madge]

what I did was fill my cart at netgrocer to see what the bottom line is--I found that I could shop for the items we would need and send them to myself cheaper than netgrocer. I used UPS for my carrier, it was the cheapest option for me--the package arrived 2 days later. I shipped diapers, wipes, film, snacks, and other things that we needed in the parks, but wouldn't be bringing home with us. It was a heavy box (30+pounds) and cost less than $20 to send....

Of course, I overpacked I always do.....

 

[LiLPrincess]

Shipping a box ahead - what a great idea! The last time we went to DisneyWorld, the towncar driver made a 30 minute stop at Publix and we bought groceries.

Is shipping ahead a cheaper option? I can see it definately being less stressful. It was kinda embarassing to check in at the Wilderness Lodge lobby lugging in all those grocery sacks!

 

[madge]

Originally posted by LiLPrincess
Shipping a box ahead - what a great idea! The last time we went to DisneyWorld, the towncar driver made a 30 minute stop at Publix and we bought groceries.

Is shipping ahead a cheaper option? I can see it definately being less stressful. It was kinda embarassing to check in at the Wilderness Lodge lobby lugging in all those grocery sacks!

well, we ship a box ahead....but we also stop at Winn-Dixie for fruit and drinks, LOL. We saw lots of people at the Contemporary with grocery bags and coolers...we bring stuff with us every time we travel, Disney or not. With 3 kids, we have to

 

[mom2alix]

I'm sending a fed ex box with non-perishable items and then doing the free grocery stop with the town car just for milk and eggs and cold items. Cuts down on the stress at the grocery stop. Net grocer seemed a little high to me. Another option might be to ship your non-perishables and buy the milk and eggs at the resort. They may be a little pricey, but if that's all you buy there the savings on the stuff you shipped should help.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Gail, I had heard the same thing about Goodings but decided to check out their website. Ridiculous! $10 just for shipping and you have to have a minimum order of $50, $5.99 for the smallest size cereal box, $1.79 for a 2 liter bottle of soda? I'm a bargain shopper and refuse to spend any more than .99 a bottle or six pack. I stock up when they have sales at Albertson's or Ralph's and also shopt at Costco every two weeks faithfully.

I've decided to go with Netgrocer. Prices are just slightly higher than my local grocery store, but they also have sales. Crystal Light drink mix is on sale for $1.99 on NetGrocer and at my local grocer normally runs $3.99 and up!

I don't want to have to lug groceries through the BC lobby either! Yup, for our family I think it'll be much more convenient to have them delivered.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Castillo Mom
Gail, I had heard the same thing about Goodings but decided to check out their website. Ridiculous! $10 just for shipping and you have to have a minimum order of $50, $5.99 for the smallest size cereal box, $1.79 for a 2 liter bottle of soda? I'm a bargain shopper and refuse to spend any more than .99 a bottle or six pack. I stock up when they have sales at Albertson's or Ralph's and also shopt at Costco every two weeks faithfully.

I've decided to go with Netgrocer. Prices are just slightly higher than my local grocery store, but they also have sales. Crystal Light drink mix is on sale for $1.99 on NetGrocer and at my local grocer normally runs $3.99 and up!

I don't want to have to lug groceries through the BC lobby either! Yup, for our family I think it'll be much more convenient to have them delivered.

I almost had a fit when I saw the price for those cute little premeasured coffee packets by Maxwell House. I paid 2.59 at WalMart, at Goodings 6.59. That is a bit of a jump and at those prices not difficult to hit the 50.00 minimum.