Grocery delivery price comparing - Dizzy Dolphin vs others ?

[Starwind]

In the past we have used Garden Grocer for groceries, but they have gotten even more expensive.

Our last trip we used GG and Amazon Prime Now [APN did not have everything we needed and at the time had limited selection / things went in and out of stock frequently; they seem to have improved that quite a bit since and can now also shop from Whole Foods].

For our next trip I have priced out what we will likely want to order at each of GG [doesn't have everything we need], Instacart [shopping both Publix and Whole Foods] and Amazon Prime Now [shopping both Amazon and Whole Foods].

We are also considering Dizzy Dolphin as I have read good reviews about them. But I have no idea of their cost.

Has anyone priced out the other options and then gotten a quote from or used Dizzy Dolphin and can comment on how they compare price-wise for items in the order ? I realize there is a delivery fee from them, but I am more concerned about the actual item costs.

For example, a GoGo SqueeZ Apple Sauce - Apple Apple - 3.2 oz (Pack of 4) is $4.19 @ GG, $2.49 @ Target and @ Amazon Prime Now (Amazon), and 3.35 @ Instacart (Publix).

Thanks !

SW

 

[DVC Jen]

Dizzy Dolphin is expensive. Like twice the regular price of an item. We have used them a few times but are probably going with Wal-Mart delivery this year. Much less expensive.

 

[Starwind]

Dizzy Dolphin is expensive. Like twice the regular price of an item. We have used them a few times but are probably going with Wal-Mart delivery this year. Much less expensive.

Thank you.

 

[DVC Jen]

Thank you.

You're welcome. They have a good service but they are pricey. A bit too much so in my opinion.

 

[jimmytammy]

I am interested in these possibilities as well. We are at a point in life(mainly me as I am the primary driver)that we are feeling the stronger need to fly these days. I dont like the stress of air travel, but have learned to deal with it vs. the stress of driving. We can make it in 9.5 hrs via the road, but so many factors are affecting us recently on the road that I am willing to pay more to hit the air for safety.

Over the years we have dealt with rain downpours, tornadoes in SC, snow in NC, being literally run off the road by a Winnebago camper(the dudes front tire and our front tire were in line with each other when he insisted on being in my lane)and a transfer truck almost flipping over right in front of us as a sports car instead on being in his lane too. Kudos to the 18 wheeler driver for keeping it under control!

And the countless times we all experience the everyday texters, novel readers, guys shaving, ladies make upping, etc., etc. in addition to the crazy drivers in a hurry, plus road ragers. And on my own acct., I have trouble seeing as well in my 50s at night and in the rain.

All this to say that groceries are another one of those factors we need to consider since flying is going to be the way of travel moving forward. Im glad to have the option of driving if needed, but if not, then we will need delivery. We already have Owners Locker so this is just another thing to fit into the budget.

Sorry for sabotaging the posts but I know you folks from the VWL Groupies so y'all already know Im

 

[DVC Jen]

I am interested in these possibilities as well. We are at a point in life(mainly me as I am the primary driver)that we are feeling the stronger need to fly these days. I dont like the stress of air travel, but have learned to deal with it vs. the stress of driving. We can make it in 9.5 hrs via the road, but so many factors are affecting us recently on the road that I am willing to pay more to hit the air for safety.

Over the years we have dealt with rain downpours, tornadoes in SC, snow in NC, being literally run off the road by a Winnebago camper(the dudes front tire and our front tire were in line with each other when he insisted on being in my lane)and a transfer truck almost flipping over right in front of us as a sports car instead on being in his lane too. Kudos to the 18 wheeler driver for keeping it under control!

And the countless times we all experience the everyday texters, novel readers, guys shaving, ladies make upping, etc., etc. in addition to the crazy drivers in a hurry, plus road ragers. And on my own acct., I have trouble seeing as well in my 50s at night and in the rain.

All this to say that groceries are another one of those factors we need to consider since flying is going to be the way of travel moving forward. Im glad to have the option of driving if needed, but if not, then we will need delivery. We already have Owners Locker so this is just another thing to fit into the budget.

Sorry for sabotaging the posts but I know you folks from the VWL Groupies so y'all already know Im

I will let you know how it goes with Wal-Mart delivery when we are there in June. I do understand about the driving. I wish it was just 9.5 hours for us. We drive from the Dallas area. In all the trips we have had since our first in 1997 we have only flown once. It takes us about 21 hours depending on weather and traffic. December of 2017 we actually ran into snowy and icy roads in Lousianna of all places. The drive between Baton Rouge and the Mississippi state border had us white knuckling it the entire time. Had one person completely wipe out right in front of us.

 

[BillPA]

We used Wal-mart in January, prices were basically the same as in the store. You can open an account and poke around to see prices and the options for brands without committing. Just be sure to select a store near Disney to get good prices. The delivery price was $7.95 but they had a code online to make delivery free.
Delivery was right on time. They did make a few modifications, some for a different size a few for brand, all were fine. We WILL use them again on future trips.

 

[skiwinnie]

We used fairytale personal shopper and would highly recommend her no price markups just cost of groceries plus $20. Fantastic service and I do believe she does gift baskets

 

[pinklotusflower]

I use Dizzy dolphin & always great service, I didn't find it that expensive and plan to use them again this year. There have been a few posts on Facebook groups showing other delivery services not putting items in the fridge/freezer.

 

[skiwinnie]

Those services are Amazon and services like that
I have used fairytal personal shopper always puts them in the fridge and shelf with name clearly marked on items. Highly recommend and will be using for our next trip in a couple months. Great service and only charges $20 flat fee

 

[js]

Dizzy Dolphin is expensive. Like twice the regular price of an item. We have used them a few times but are probably going with Wal-Mart delivery this year. Much less expensive.

I agree. I priced them out a year or two ago and they wanted $10+ for a case of water plus other items which I thought was way too high.

I use to use wegoshop for years but now use Instacart for food and alcohol.

 

[kevtlas]

I’ve never used any but some of the posts have me curious. They deliver the groceries before you arrive and put them away for you in your resort room? Meaning Disney lets them in to put them away?

 

[TammyLynn33]

We did too just back last Thursday she is wonderful

We used fairytale personal shopper and would highly recommend her no price markups just cost of groceries plus $20. Fantastic service and I do believe she does gift baskets

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I use Dizzy dolphin & always great service, I didn't find it that expensive and plan to use them again this year. There have been a few posts on Facebook groups showing other delivery services not putting items in the fridge/freezer.

My understanding is that Bell Services refrigerates/ freezes items when they arrive at the resort, until you call to have them sent to your room or picked them up. Or is this referring to how Dizzy Dolphin and similar services might have more than one resort to stop at and are thus driving around with multiple orders at the same time (which would mean items could be left without refrigeration/ freezing for a period)?

I’ve never used any but some of the posts have me curious. They deliver the groceries before you arrive and put them away for you in your resort room? Meaning Disney lets them in to put them away?

That has not been our experience at all, so I’m curious as well. We have always had the items held at bell services and frozen/ refrigerated as necessary. We then called to have bell services deliver the groceries to our room. We’ve never had anyone actually put away our groceries.

 

[Starwind]

My understanding is that Bell Services refrigerates/ freezes items when they arrive at the resort, until you call to have them sent to your room or picked them up. Or is this referring to how Dizzy Dolphin and similar services might have more than one resort to stop at and are thus driving around with multiple orders at the same time (which would mean items could be left without refrigeration/ freezing for a period)?

No, it is referring to pictures on Dizzy Dolphin's FB feed that they take when they deliver orders. Some of the photos are in the Bell Services areas at the various WDW resorts, and show the care - or lack thereof - that some of the other services sometimes take with groceries. Some examples include leaving them sitting outside the Bell Services door and not checking them in to Bell Services; not putting them away properly, so perishables are not put into the fridge/freezer, using plastic bags not sturdy paper bags, and other examples. Some do fine, others don't; presumably much depends on the specific delivery person. Per the pictures, many of the Bell Service areas now have signs up reminding drivers from Instacart and Amazon Prime Now that they have to check in with Bell Services, and some have additional reminders about where things are to go.

I can speak to my experience with GG and Amazon Prime Now:

Both used brown paper grocery-store style bags which were labeled with our name.

Amazon Prime Now packaged the perishables in a bubble-foil insulated bag and a cold pack that was inside a paper bag [since the top is rolled down and stapled, from the outside you can't tell it is perishables]. It was NOT labled as needing fridge or freezer and it was not placed in one in Bell Services [the bag wasn't cold when we got it]. Amazon packaged frozen items and fridge items in the same bag. Fortunately, I placed the order when I was at the resort and was around when it was dropped off, so we just had to go to Bell Services to have them retrieve and deliver it, which we did within 30 minutes of delivery for the order with perishables. The perishables were cold, but if we had waited a longer period it could have become a problem.

Garden Grocer packed the perishables in their own paper bags - a couple fridge ones and a freezer one. Each was clearly marked that it needed fridge or freezer, and had been stored accordingly at Bell Services. Although we choose a delivery window that started about when we expected to arrive at the resort, GG actually delivered a few hours early, sending us a text message and email that they had delivered while we were still on the plane -- this has been our experience each time we've used them but YMMV.

My understanding is the Dizzy Dolphin experience would be similar to Garden Grocer in terms of the packaging of items.

I *assume* part of the difference is the dedicated ?focussed? [not sure what to call them] services like GG and DD have a small number of dedicated drivers that do these deliveries to the resorts all day long; they know the drill and have an established process they follow and their companies have developed practices which work well [e.g.labelling, packaging etc]. Some of the other services apparently not so much [with great variability -- some are great, some not, some depends on the specific driver, etc -- if you search these boards you will see a wide range of experiences from the same company from stellar to not very good at all].

I know for myself, for our next trip I am really torn on who to use: Garden Grocer both doesn't have everything we need and has priced themselves too high; Dizzy Dolphin could get everything we need but I am afraid of what their prices will be like; Amazon Prime Now can get everything we need if we shop both Amazon and Whole Foods; Instacart can get almost everything we need if we shop Publix and Whole Foods and then we would have to just bring a couple things with us in checked bags. Amazon Prime Now and Instacart are basically the same price; Amazon's inventory fluctuates more day to day/week to week but they are getting better in that regard. BUt I've also read the good and the bad stories about Amaozn and Instacart and in that regard am leaning toward Amazon since they seem to *maybe* have better customer service if something goes wrong. We have some months to decide.

As for delivering to the room... all the grocery orders we have done have been left with Bell Services. We then get Bell Services to deliver them to the room and tip appropriately.

SW

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

No, it is referring to pictures on Dizzy Dolphin's FB feed that they take when they deliver orders. Some of the photos are in the Bell Services areas at the various WDW resorts, and show the care - or lack thereof - that some of the other services sometimes take with groceries. Some examples include leaving them sitting outside the Bell Services door and not checking them in to Bell Services; not putting them away properly, so perishables are not put into the fridge/freezer, using plastic bags not sturdy paper bags, and other examples. Some do fine, others don't; presumably much depends on the specific delivery person. Per the pictures, many of the Bell Service areas now have signs up reminding drivers from Instacart and Amazon Prime Now that they have to check in with Bell Services, and some have additional reminders about where things are to go.

I can speak to my experience with GG and Amazon Prime Now:

Both used brown paper grocery-store style bags which were labeled with our name.

Amazon Prime Now packaged the perishables in a bubble-foil insulated bag and a cold pack that was inside a paper bag [since the top is rolled down and stapled, from the outside you can't tell it is perishables]. It was NOT labled as needing fridge or freezer and it was not placed in one in Bell Services [the bag wasn't cold when we got it]. Amazon packaged frozen items and fridge items in the same bag. Fortunately, I placed the order when I was at the resort and was around when it was dropped off, so we just had to go to Bell Services to have them retrieve and deliver it, which we did within 30 minutes of delivery for the order with perishables. The perishables were cold, but if we had waited a longer period it could have become a problem.

Garden Grocer packed the perishables in their own paper bags - a couple fridge ones and a freezer one. Each was clearly marked that it needed fridge or freezer, and had been stored accordingly at Bell Services. Although we choose a delivery window that started about when we expected to arrive at the resort, GG actually delivered a few hours early, sending us a text message and email that they had delivered while we were still on the plane -- this has been our experience each time we've used them but YMMV.

My understanding is the Dizzy Dolphin experience would be similar to Garden Grocer in terms of the packaging of items.

I *assume* part of the difference is the dedicated ?focussed? [not sure what to call them] services like GG and DD have a small number of dedicated drivers that do these deliveries to the resorts all day long; they know the drill and have an established process they follow and their companies have developed practices which work well [e.g.labelling, packaging etc]. Some of the other services apparently not so much [with great variability -- some are great, some not, some depends on the specific driver, etc -- if you search these boards you will see a wide range of experiences from the same company from stellar to not very good at all].

I know for myself, for our next trip I am really torn on who to use: Garden Grocer both doesn't have everything we need and has priced themselves too high; Dizzy Dolphin could get everything we need but I am afraid of what their prices will be like; Amazon Prime Now can get everything we need if we shop both Amazon and Whole Foods; Instacart can get almost everything we need if we shop Publix and Whole Foods and then we would have to just bring a couple things with us in checked bags. Amazon Prime Now and Instacart are basically the same price; Amazon's inventory fluctuates more day to day/week to week but they are getting better in that regard. BUt I've also read the good and the bad stories about Amaozn and Instacart and in that regard am leaning toward Amazon since they seem to *maybe* have better customer service if something goes wrong. We have some months to decide.

As for delivering to the room... all the grocery orders we have done have been left with Bell Services. We then get Bell Services to deliver them to the room and tip appropriately.

SW

Thanks for clarifying. Our APN order was labeled, items separated into different bags for frozen and refrigerated, and they were cold/ frozen when I met the delivery at bell services (order contained alcohol so I had to meet the driver). I placed the order when we arrived at the resort so that I knew we’d be there when it arrived. Bell services held the items and they arrived at our room frozen/ refrigerated. Same experience with Instacart. I specified in the delivery comments to separate frozen/ refrigerated items and mark them as such and both services did that.

Where Instacart won for us was the availability of items (pricing for the entire order was close in price to APN and as you noticed APN’s inventory can fluctuate but for my May trip it’s not nearly as bad as it was for my trip last August), and Instacart can deliver Publix subs and that’s what my kids wanted for dinner on our first night there, by the pool (living it up on vacation ). Also, using APN if they shop both Whole Foods and Amazon I believe you need to make the minimum order for both if you want to avoid paying the delivery fees.

Instacart does have a delivery fee/ service fee depending on order size. It can be avoided if they have a promotion code, or sometimes ordering certain items, or signing up for the free trial of Instacart Express (just remember to cancel if you don’t want to keep that service).

 

[Starwind]

Thanks for clarifying. Our APN order was labeled, items separated into different bags for frozen and refrigerated, and they were cold/ frozen when I met the delivery at bell services (order contained alcohol so I had to meet the driver). I placed the order when we arrived at the resort so that I knew we’d be there when it arrived. Bell services held the items and they arrived at our room frozen/ refrigerated. Same experience with Instacart. I specified in the delivery comments to separate frozen/ refrigerated items and mark them as such and both services did that.

Where Instacart won for us was the availability of items (pricing for the entire order was close in price to APN and as you noticed APN’s inventory can fluctuate but for my May trip it’s not nearly as bad as it was for my trip last August), and Instacart can deliver Publix subs and that’s what my kids wanted for dinner on our first night there, by the pool (living it up on vacation ). Also, using APN if they shop both Whole Foods and Amazon I believe you need to make the minimum order for both if you want to avoid paying the delivery fees.

Instacart does have a delivery fee/ service fee depending on order size. It can be avoided if they have a promotion code, or sometimes ordering certain items, or signing up for the free trial of Instacart Express (just remember to cancel if you don’t want to keep that service).

THanks for your experience. Good tip re: noting to label and separate in the comments section.

We had a few Amazon Prime Now orders [none had alcohol] and tried to meet the delivery person, even asking them to call so we could, and missed them every time -- we watched on the app as they arrived, and then poof the order was delivered to Bell Services; we never saw the deliver person even when we were waiting outside for them. So we gave up trying ;-)

SW

 

[GEOLIZ]

We've had really good experiences with Instacart for delivery to SSR - delivered right to the room. Great selection at reasonable prices. We were able to change the delivery time day of when we got into our room early. Will use them again this summer at BWV

 

[kydisneyfans]

We used Shipt for the first time at AKL back in January and it was flawless. Shopping was done at Target. We bought the membership knowing we would use it in many different areas, not just Orlando. They were great delivering to our hotel in New Orleans also.

 

[skiwinnie]

I recently used fairytale personal shopper she just charges regular grocery prices no markups plus $20 service fee. Great service and very friendly. Highly recommend.