What food do you bring with you??

[MickeyMomV]

So we are just about 30 days out and are trying put together a packing list. In all of our previous trips we have done the meal plan and did not really give thought to bringing food. This trip was not really a "planned" trip. We heard rumors of a Dark Side race weekend and we said if it was true then we would find a way to do it..... Well it was true and we did it. So in order to squeeze in this trip we are going without a meal plan to keep costs down. With that in mind we are only doing one TS and plan on doing a lot of QS are toying with the idea of bringing food down with us. We are flying Southwest so will have plenty of checked baggage room and we are on a direct flight. What are some ideas for bringing food with us and has there been anything, from experience, you would advise against (either TSA no no's or things that just didn't travel well)? Some possibilities that come to mind are soft sided coolers with stuff for sandwiches/roll-ups? Bagels (pretty dense and shouldn't be crushed like bread)? Pop tarts? Protein/Granola Bars? Ideas?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Ideas?

What's wrong with buying food from the supermarkets around WDW ? Save you a lot of baggage space / weight

 

[sxeensweet]

What's wrong with buying food from the supermarkets around WDW ? Save you a lot of baggage space / weight

Or use Garden Grocer delivery service. We always use them for our water and a few snack items (we eat everything in the parks and around WDW but like some stuff if it's late one night or before leaving in the morning etc). They have always been wonderful!

 

[MickeyMomV]

For baggage space, with Southwest all 3 of us can travel with 2 bags each weighing 40 pounds. Normally we only bring 2 bags total and the weight is pretty close. I figured we could bring an extra bag, space out our stuff and pad the extra room with snacks or breakfast foods on the way down. This would also free up space for souvenirs on the way back. So we are not out any extra money on a taxi and not out any time running to the store.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

For baggage space, with Southwest all 3 of us can travel with 2 bags each weighing 40 pounds. Normally we only bring 2 bags total and the weight is pretty close. I figured we could bring an extra bag, space out our stuff and pad the extra room with snacks or breakfast foods on the way down. This would also free up space for souvenirs on the way back. So we are not out any extra money on a taxi and not out any time running to the store.

The biggest cost savings comes from bottled water, and no amount of baggage will be able to stock enough and keep it under the weight limit (which is 50 lbs for Southwest, not 40 lbs). The $14 you'd pay for Garden Grocer delivery is well worth avoiding the hassle of lugging 100 lbs of food per person through the airport. It also opens up way more options than what you'd be able to pack. Milk, eggs, bananas, etc. all become viable options when you have them delivered versus trying to check it.

 

[MickeyMomV]

Or use Garden Grocer delivery service. We always use them for our water and a few snack items (we eat everything in the parks and around WDW but like some stuff if it's late one night or before leaving in the morning etc). They have always been wonderful!

We thought about water. I know that the single 20 oz bottles can be a bit pricey at $3.50 but it seems like the gift shops sold 24 pk cases of 12 oz. water for about $10-12. We figured we would have to do that.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We thought about water. I know that the single 20 oz bottles can be a bit pricey at $3.50 but it seems like the gift shops sold 24 pk cases of 12 oz. water for about $10-12. We figured we would have to do that.

$6.99 at Garden Grocer. If you order three cases, you've already saved 100% of the delivery cost. The convenience is just a bonus at that point.

 

[MickeyMomV]

The biggest cost savings comes from bottled water, and no amount of baggage will be able to stock enough and keep it under the weight limit (which is 50 lbs for Southwest, not 40 lbs). The $14 you'd pay for Garden Grocer delivery is well worth avoiding the hassle of lugging 100 lbs of food per person through the airport. It also opens up way more options than what you'd be able to pack. Milk, eggs, bananas, etc. all become viable options when you have them delivered versus trying to check it.

The $14 seems like it has to be better than the price of a Taxi. @sxeensweet and @CaptainAmerica What is the process for delivery? Do they deliver to the room? or the front desk? And do you have to be there?

 

[sxeensweet]

We thought about water. I know that the single 20 oz bottles can be a bit pricey at $3.50 but it seems like the gift shops sold 24 pk cases of 12 oz. water for about $10-12. We figured we would have to do that.

I still prefer GG but that's me. We even drive and I don't want to take up space in our car(we don't have much space left when packing for 2 weeks even with just 2 of us and a larger car lol) and lug all kinds of water and a few snacks. We rather delivery. It's always delivered to bell services before we arrive because pick a time slot to be delivered before we are scheduled to arrive. So easy and no extra packing or shopping for us.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The $14 seems like it has to be better than the price of a Taxi. @sxeensweet and @CaptainAmerica What is the process for delivery? Do they deliver to the room? or the front desk? And do you have to be there?

Depends on the resort and the time of day. At a villa or the cabins, it goes right to your room. They'll even put refrigerated items in the fridge for you. At other resorts I've had it go to bell services. The Disney bell people will take it to your room once you go down and claim it.

 

[sxeensweet]

The $14 seems like it has to be better than the price of a Taxi. @sxeensweet and @CaptainAmerica What is the process for delivery? Do they deliver to the room? or the front desk? And do you have to be there?

They deliver to bell services and no you don't have to be there. They hold your items until you call for them to bring them to your room. You pay everything online beforehand so nothing to do when they deliver it. Time slots do fill up though the closer to the date you need it so be aware of that GG is very popular for deliveries on property.

 

[sxeensweet]

Depends on the resort and the time of day. At a villa or the cabins, it goes right to your room. They'll even put refrigerated items in the fridge for you. At other resorts I've had it go to bell services. The Disney bell people will take it to your room once you go down and claim it.

They do not bring it right to your room unless your in your room already at the time of delivery. We stay in villas being we are DVC and it's always been left at Bell services because we were not there yet. Bell services has a refrigerator for cold items.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

They do not bring it right to your room unless your in your room already. We stay in villas being we are DVC and it's always been left at Bell services because we were not there yet. Bell services has a refrigerator for cold items.

I had it delivered to my cabin ~two months ago at Fort Wilderness and on another recent trip at Old Key West. In both instances it was delivered directly by GG, never touching bell services.

Maybe it makes a difference if you're at Old Key West or Saratoga where they can park right in front of your unit versus somewhere like AKL where they'd have to go from a central parking lot through a central lobby?

 

[sxeensweet]

I had it delivered to my cabin ~two months ago at Fort Wilderness and on another recent trip at Old Key West. In both instances it was delivered directly by GG, never touching bell services.

Maybe it makes a difference if you're at Old Key West or Saratoga where they can park right in front of your unit versus somewhere like AKL where they'd have to go from a central parking lot through a central lobby?

Was this on arrival day? Ours is always on arrival day so they cannot leave in our room unless we already checked in etc. They have no way to enter your room if your not there. They don't have keys to get in the rooms. So that's odd. Bell services may have put it in your room for you prior to arrival if you were not there because hotel staff can get in your room, but GG cannot (not staff of Disney/hotel) unless you are in your room to let them in. You have to be in your room to let GG in or bell services has to bring it themselves if your not in the room yet. Just like Disney Floral and gifts a hotel staff member has to let them in etc if your not in the room. Now of course if your there to answer your door GG can deliver in your room themselves or if they have the help of bell services to let them in to leave it when your not there. Not trying to argue Captain just curious because they have never put ours in our room prior to our arrival/checkin no matter where we stayed yet. Lol

 

[MickeyMomV]

That's a big help. Thank you guys!!

 

[sxeensweet]

That's a big help. Thank you guys!!

Your very welcome!

 

[bigorangeandy]

We drive so we can bring cold items, and mainly we bring breakfast foods, and snacks. I usually (okay always) bring some beer, so that saves some cash, and we also bring water and some diet coke and Pepsi. For breakfast we have been bringing the frozen sausage biscuits. I walk over to the food court, find the microwave and cook the biscuits for our breakfast while my wife is in the shower. We also bring a few other snacks that we like while walking around the parks.

 

[DManRightHere]

All we really do big is bottled water. We have no sodas in the parks at all. You can bring about any food except liquids or gel like foods on the plane. We even brought the personal fruit and veggie trays to eat on the plane on our trip to vegas. We always eat and snack in the parks and never really rest in the hotel, but we split a lot of stuff.

The only other snacks we bring may br trail mix, individually wrapped hostess cakes, oatmeal. Some of our other family brings carving board sandwich stuff.

 

[George]

One thing the TSA frowns upon is a crock pot full of delicious warm food. However, a couple of fork fulls of pulled pork thaws even the coldest heart.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Hi! Can Any one tell me, do they Deliver to Universal Studios as well>>>???