Does anyone not eat the WDW Food?

[MomOTwins]

then just leave it outside your door or beside their cart. they will get it.

Ick no--other people have to walk in the halls!

 

[karen4546]

Ick no--other people have to walk in the halls!

Where do you put the room service trays? Sometimes, we are going out to the parks again in the evening and we may leave our trays outside our door. They are always picked up by the time we return. The halls are very wide and you don't put it in the middle just right outside your door against the wall. Sometimes, we will call them to come pick it up but usually not.

We usually stay at AKL and order room service a lot. But, at BCV we didn't order it as much because we were there during F&W but if we had leftover food, we would just drop it in the trash on the way out. Not a big deal at all.

 

[karen4546]

We really liked BOG breakfast and lunch if we were on the dining plan. I do not care for the new dinner menu and I probably will not go there for lunch anymore since they don't offer QS anymore.

We like to take a break and eat in the parks. We like some QS locations : Flame Tree BBQ, Mexican in Epcot, Marrakesh in Epcot, Sunshine Season is also ok. I like Coral Reef, San Angel Inn, LTT for ooey gooey toffee cake only, and if I can find a jalapeno cream cheese pretzel then I will get one of those.

I don't want to cook on vacation and so we order a few grocery items, order room service breakfasts a couple of times, late night room service at least once, graze at the booths in Epcot, have several TS meals (once a day) and maybe a quick snack. DH and I share most of the time.

Room service breakfast is my FAVOritE ! If we are not staying CL then it something I look forward to. I hope they are offering RS in September.

 

[MomOTwins]

Where do you put the room service trays? Sometimes, we are going out to the parks again in the evening and we may leave our trays outside our door. They are always picked up by the time we return. The halls are very wide and you don't put it in the middle just right outside your door against the wall. Sometimes, we will call them to come pick it up but usually not.

We usually stay at AKL and order room service a lot. But, at BCV we didn't order it as much because we were there during F&W but if we had leftover food, we would just drop it in the trash on the way out. Not a big deal at all.

We call and have them come pick up the tray in the room. But my DH would probably agree with you--he's more laid back than me. Which is why I'm already a bit stressed out with the every-other-day housekeeping. Will mean a lot more tidying up after my kiddos (e.g., make sure they re-hang their towels; need to make the beds). But I guess that' self-inflicted--I just don't like mess!

 

[karen4546]

We call and have them come pick up the tray in the room. But my DH would probably agree with you--he's more laid back than me. Which is why I'm already a bit stressed out with the every-other-day housekeeping. Will mean a lot more tidying up after my kiddos (e.g., make sure they re-hang their towels; need to make the beds). But I guess that' self-inflicted--I just don't like mess!

i don't like mess either and that is why i do not want the room service tray in the room when we are done. I make my bed and put dirty towels in the tub. Like I said, if we don't have time to wait for them to come pick up the tray, then we leave it outside and there is NO WAY I am sleeping with a tray of leftovers sitting in the room. Can you imagine the smell in the morning !!!

I am a get and make my bed type of girl. I even straighten it at WDW even though I know they will have it made nice and neat when I get back to the room- with all the pillows arranged just right. I am married to Marine and he is likes things tidy also. The stories I could tell you about how he wants his socks, underwear and handkerchiefs folded-lol.

 

[JennP78]

Definitely agree. I don't feel like having really good food elsewhere diminishes my enjoyment of the food at WDW. It's part of the whole vacation experience. I don't find the food overall horrendously overpriced (also live in an expensive area) and we can always find something we like that is actually really great and not just mediocre. While I agree that not all character meals have the best food and are on the pricier side, in those cases we think of it more as paying for the whole package and not just the food since it's really fun for our kids to meet the characters, plus they love buffet food options. Some of our favorites at WDW are Homecomin' (a must at least once every trip), Sanaa, Jaleo... I could also always go for a Ronto wrap or a bowl at Satu'li or something from Tangierine Cafe. Lots of great options.

We will often do breakfast in the room since it's just easier with little ones, and coming from the west coast we're not always up bright and early at WDW. But usually lunch and dinner are out and about whether in the parks, at resorts, or at DS. We do bring lots of the snacks for the kids around with us though, since a lot of the theme park snacks aren't great for young ones like our 1 year old.

This is us as well. We're in a NYC suburb and enjoy a nice meal once in a while but fast food is fine sometimes too. Not a food snob at all.

I consider vacation an excuse to eat food I normally don't eat at home for whatever reason - it's greasy, it's expensive, I don't know how to cook it, etc.

I also refuse to cook on vacation. The most we'll do is pick up some frozen waffles to throw in the toaster and maybe some cereal and bananas if we're renting a timeshare. But that's rare lately. Usually we don't have a kitchen. We use the mini fridge though - sometimes I'll pick up an in park snack like schoolbread at Epcot and have it for breakfast the next morning.

Now I'm remembering having schoolbread and tea on our patio at the BWI while waiting for my family to get ready. So blissful.

 

[JFox]

Never. The LAST thing I want to do on vacation is cook and clean up. Or laundry. Growing up my parents packed snacks and sandwiches for the day and I hated it. I won't do that to my kidlet entourage. WDW is the one place anything goes.

 

[holden]

We usually have breakfast in the room while getting ready (cereal, bagel, etc). We also bring our own snacks to the pool (cheese and crackers, chips/salsa, etc). Other than that we eat Disney food.

 

[B-Ride]

Our only non-park meals are breakfast and that is more for getting to the park early. We can eat in the room while getting ready. When we are on vacation we would prefer to buy meals rather than having to think about making them.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Usually breakfast is always in the room unless we're doing a character meal like Ohana. All other meals are usually in the park or at the resort. Our last trip we stayed offsite but we still at onsite a ton. We eat pretty healthy at home so on our trips we don't mind living on fries and ice cream.

 

[Jennasis]

We typically do breakfast in the room unless we are splurging on a special PPO breakfast or something (Garden Grill or an early treat breakfast at Boma).

We never eat lunch or dinner in our room or pack food into the parks. I don't want to carry anything on me when I'm touring.

 

[Skywalker3]

Depends on the trip, but sometimes we do 50 percent or more in the room. Sometimes a lot less. Now if a festival is going on ,food and wine/flower and garden, we plan days/meals around that, and eat a lot there, especially when staying at BWv. We usually stop at publix on the way to checkin, or head there after we get our room, and stock up. plus we always drive and bring a lot of food/drinks, etc, with us. Way back when, we'd do ts every day, but now we usually only do 2 or 3 on a trip, if that. We also usually stay in DVC 1 bedrooms, so we have a full sized fridge. Dont' really prepare meals, just quick stuff, like pizzas, canned, cereal in the AM, etc. I also bring my own Keurig and coffee. Last 2 trips, picked up Giordanos, and enjoyed that for several days. delicious!

 

[csmom]

When our kids were young, we were on a tighter budget and stayed offsite. We always had breakfast at our hotel or condo, took snacks in our backpack, ate a counter service lunch in the park, then ate at an offsite table service restaurant for dinner. Now we stay onsite, and our onsite table service meals are a big part of our trip.

 

[DaeHyFoog]

A few years back we took a *bonus* trip to WDW b/c my husband had a conference at the Boardwalk. Since this trip was pushing our vacation budget for the year, I had to minimize the money spent on Disney food. What surprised me were some of the non-food benefits to bringing our own.

1) Having a more pleasant experience: At Blizzard Beach, I brought a soft-sided cooler filled with cans of soda, bottles of water, sandwiches, and fruit. I also brought in salty snacks like goldfish and pretzels. Honestly, I think this is the best way to visit one of the water parks. First of all, my kids got to eat when they were hungry without fighting the crowds at the food pavilions. (The crowds get long at lunchtime.) Secondly, due to the heat, lighter food was more enjoyable than a hot dog, fries, etc. We had a lovely shaded spot where we had set up for the day, and it was very pleasant to take a break, lounge at our chairs, and enjoy our food and drinks. To keep my kids from feeling overly deprived, I promised that they could each pick a Disney treat or snack later in the day, and by 4:00 or so, there were very little lines and everyone enjoyed their ice cream, dole whip, etc. The convenience and relaxing nature of bringing our own food, was great and something I would absolutely do again if I were doing a water park day, regardless of budget.

2) In the parks, it can be a real time saver and morale booster to have our own food on us. Having snacks in line has been great. We have had "theme park commando" days where snacking in line has saved a lot of time. Also, bringing our own food has helped keep everyone happy, when someone has needed food and needed it now! I'll never forget the time we got in line for Mission Space with a posted standby wait of 20 minutes and we ended up waiting well over an hour, for whatever reason. Everyone got hungry, so I pulled out snacks that we ate in line. No one likes an unexpectedly long wait, but no one got hangry. Over many years of trips, I have learned to always have a good stash of snacks on hand.

 

[DSLRuser]

Out of Pure curiosity that was spawned by me when planning my last Disney Trip.
Does anyone out there not eat the park food at all? I mean bring their own food in, and go back to hotel and make their own food?

Whats your experiences with not eating their, is that more planning??

sure....but not all the time. we frequently buy things for break fast in the roo....have brought sammiches at times, and have gone back to our dvc villa and made dinner. not all the time...but it can help.

 

[jsmla]

I’m not a huge fan of most of the Disney eats, especially at the inflated prices. I do enjoy the occasional meal at a favorite restaurant now and then but most of my meals do tend to be of the homemade variety. I usually prefer my own cooking to Disney’s and enjoy the savings. I’ve been going to WDW at least annually since 1990, 4-5 times a year for the last decade or so and eating “in” makes this possible. I also feel like I eat healthier when I prepare my own. Most of my trips are solo. If I go with DH or DD/DSIL we do eat out more. At a guess dining on my solo trips probably breaks down something like this:

Breakfast: 95-100% in room
Lunch: 50% brownbag/50% Disney
Dinner: 80% in room/20% Disney (I am NOT a night owl and am usually in my room by 8:00 PM.)

For my six night September trip I plan on outdoor dining only. I have ADRs at Tony’s (This is strictly beer related!), Spice Road and Raglan Road. I’ll probably have a QS lunch at AK and Epcot Food and Wine goodies one evening. The rest will be brought from home.

 

[JenBush]

It depends, but usually I eat breakfast in my room while getting ready, then pack some snacks in my bag and eat one quick service meal and maybe one snack in the park per day. I’ll usually plan 1-2 nice TS meals per vacation.

 

[sethschroeder]

Never did when I went as a kid and my parents had basically never until we went together last year. They may have had 1 thing over the course of 3-4 days but thats it. Simply bring a sandwhich, skip lunch, ect. Also with so much stuff so close you can still go out if you have a car, pay less, and get "good" food.

No real extra planning than making sure you have food to get you through until you plan on leaving for the day and eating before you get to the park.

 

[pointybubble]

As a kid my parents would justify our almost monthly trips by being very budget conscious- we were AP holders living only 3 hours away, would stay at an offsite hotel or condo, and would bring in our own sandwiches and drinks.

My DH and I enjoy experiencing the many restaurants (especially at the deluxe resorts) and consider it a big part of our vacation. However part of me is still budget conscious and I have a hard time justifying some of the pricier meal options these days. We often have breakfast in the room or stay at a hotel with free breakfast, and we bring enough snacks and drinks for our little kids to feed a small army. I use our Disney Rewards card to cover one fancy dinner a trip, or to go crazy at food & wine without the guilt.