I want to know if there are any health food stores/organic markets(whole foods,wild oats...ect) by Disney? I want to bring healthy snacks for the week and I don't want to have to ship a box of them to the hotel. Judging from the area around my hotel Seralago we are surrounded by junk eateries..ect
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any help would be appreciated
My sister and I researched this last January. The pickin's are slim...not none, but slim. And you definitely need a car to get to them.
There is a Whole Foods in Winter Park, but that is at least 45 minutes away. Another WF is supposed to be opening up soon closer to WDW, but I'm not sure exactly where, or when it is scheduled to open.
We found a small, local health food store, Chamberlin's, that is relatively close, it is up near Universal Studios. It was only about 5 miles away from DTD, a short pleasant drive through the upscale neighborhood north of the Crossroads shopping area (Goodings), off of Sand Lake Road. No need to get on I-4 to get there. Turn left off of Hotel Plaza Drive at the Crossroads Intersection. Go a few miles north on S. Apopka-Vineland Road. Turn right onto Sand Lake Road. After a couple of blocks, turn left onto Dr. Phillip's Blvd.
Chamberlin's Market & Cafe
7600 Dr Phillips Blvd # 88, Orlando, FL 32819
Phone: (407) 352-2130
It is not big, and doesn't have a lot of food (lots of supplements), but did have a prepared food cafe area. We were able to get the 100% cranberrry juice we wanted, plus some organic eggs, cream cheese, half and half and milk, and some great frozen Alvardo Street bagels (onion w/a few poppy seeds-yum, much better than the Ezekial ones!), Emergen-C packets, oh, and the brand of zinc lozenges I like (EVERYONE was sick on this trip!!!)
There was also an Albertson's (Acme) supermarket in the same shopping center, but a Winn Dixie across the way, and a Publix on Sand Lake Drive before you turn onto Dr. Phillips. There also seemed to be some nicer shops and restaurants up in that area, if you got tired of the same "chain" restaurants down near WDW and 192.
Just checked the WF's site before I sent this. No opening date yet, but looks like the new WF will be around the same area, near Universal, no exact address, except Turkey Lake Road.
One other tip that may help. I wanted to bring some uncured organic meat I get from a local farmer (we stay at DVC for the marathon in Jan, so we have a full kitchen). I took the frozen meat, wrapped it up in an old mylar blanket from a marathon, then wrapped it in my extra sweatshirt and put it in my carryon. (You can get mylar "space blankets" in camping and outdoor sections of Walmart or Target if you don't have one from a marathon.) I put the packet of meat in my luggage at 10am, went to the airport, boarded the plane, flew to Orlando-with a delayed flight, drove to WDW hotel, didn't get it out of my luggage until at least 7pm, and it was still frozen. So if there is some refrigerated or frozen item that you absolutely have to bring along, this method MAY allow you to do that without the food spoiling. It worked for me, and no issues with security, trying to fly with gel ice packs.
HTH
Eileen in PA
I know with Meijer the health food selection greatly varies from store to store.
