Premade Thanksgiving Dinner

achang2001

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 6, 2010
We'll be in Orlando for Thanksgiving this year. I've been looking into options for Thanksgiving dinner. Has anyone ordered the premade dinner from Publix, Whole Foods, Boston Market, Cracker Barrel, Buca di Peppo and/or Maggiano's? I had decided on Publix but after researching online and seeing negative reviews, I am now looking into other available options. I wanted some feedback from people who have actually had any of the above options. Thank you.
 
We used Publix for Thanksgiving dinner in 2015. We were in Disney and staying offsite. We had no complaints about it whatsoever. Was it as spectacular as what DW would make homemade? No. But it was still very good, and the perfect thing to have after spending Thanksgiving morning in the parks. We got back to our rental house around 2pm, and all we had to do was heat and eat. We liked it so much that we did it again last year...and we weren't even in Disney (we don't have any family nearby, so it's just the 5 of us).

We'll be in Disney this year for Thanksgiving, can't wait!!! Yep, Publix again. Nothing beats a day in the park, followed by stuffing our faces with turkey and sides, then watching football.
 
Thanks. I started reading some online reviews that were NOT positive so I was having second thoughts. Not to mention it will be our last night and celebrating two birthdays. Thanks!
 
Cracker barrel! Their Thanksgiving dinner is delicious. If you choose this option, you will need to reserve it in advance because they usually sell out.
 


I've never been fortunate enough to be in Orlando for Thanksgiving....but if I had to choose between Publix and Cracker Barrel I would choose Cracker Barrel only because I have never had a bad meal from Cracker Barrel. I have not always been thrilled with precooked food I got from Publix. I can make do with Publix, but I prefer Cracker Barrel.
 
We'll be in Orlando for Thanksgiving this year. I've been looking into options for Thanksgiving dinner. Has anyone ordered the premade dinner from Publix, Whole Foods, Boston Market, Cracker Barrel, Buca di Peppo and/or Maggiano's? I had decided on Publix but after researching online and seeing negative reviews, I am now looking into other available options. I wanted some feedback from people who have actually had any of the above options. Thank you.

I enjoy Maggiano's and their meal looks pretty darn tasty, although I haven't tried it. I find the Publix deli offering pretty bland, so if I could fit it in the budget I would go the Maggiano's route.
 
We'll be in Orlando for Thanksgiving this year. I've been looking into options for Thanksgiving dinner. Has anyone ordered the premade dinner from Publix, Whole Foods, Boston Market, Cracker Barrel, Buca di Peppo and/or Maggiano's? I had decided on Publix but after researching online and seeing negative reviews, I am now looking into other available options. I wanted some feedback from people who have actually had any of the above options. Thank you.
We are arriving on Thanksgiving and rented an offsite villa. There is no time to cook so we are looking for a place to buy a cooked meal. We tried Cracker Barrel last year. It was awful. It was processed turkey not fresh. The stuffing was like stovetop. They ran out of items and made substantial substitutions which were not things we like. They forgot the gravy and gave us soup. The only good thing was the side of Mac and cheese we had got for my son.
 


We used Publix for Thanksgiving dinner in 2015. We were in Disney and staying offsite. We had no complaints about it whatsoever. Was it as spectacular as what DW would make homemade? No. But it was still very good, and the perfect thing to have after spending Thanksgiving morning in the parks. We got back to our rental house around 2pm, and all we had to do was heat and eat. We liked it so much that we did it again last year...and we weren't even in Disney (we don't have any family nearby, so it's just the 5 of us).

We'll be in Disney this year for Thanksgiving, can't wait!!! Yep, Publix again. Nothing beats a day in the park, followed by stuffing our faces with turkey and sides, then watching football.
Is there a Publix open on Thanksgiving? Last year we wanted to order from there but it was closed. We don't arrive until Thanksgiving day due to my work schedule.
 
Is there a Publix open on Thanksgiving? Last year we wanted to order from there but it was closed. We don't arrive until Thanksgiving day due to my work schedule.
Publix is closed on Thanksgiving, you pick it up the night before, thus you will need to look at another option.
 
There's no shortage of places to go. I've read the Gaylord Palms is really good, but its $75 for adults.
Yes, I know about that one. Unfortunately that is way out of our budget. One year we got turkey sandwiches with stuffing and cranberry sauce at at Earl of Sandwich. My family have said they would not mind doing that again. Go figure.
 
We'll be in Orlando for Thanksgiving this year. I've been looking into options for Thanksgiving dinner. Has anyone ordered the premade dinner from Publix, Whole Foods, Boston Market, Cracker Barrel, Buca di Peppo and/or Maggiano's? I had decided on Publix but after researching online and seeing negative reviews, I am now looking into other available options. I wanted some feedback from people who have actually had any of the above options. Thank you.

Publix would be my 1st choice, my family would want Ham instead of Turkey, so that might work out for leftovers during the week with some ham sandwiches yumm...I have gone this route a couple of times, and never been dissatisfy with any thing that we had. I will say you need to order in advance, also if there is some special dessert order that ahead of time to. The good thing with Publix is that you can pick up some extra sides, to go along, and desserts, and gallons of sweet tea... one stop shop... Publix will be closed on Thanksgiving.

Between Buca di Beppo and Maggiano's - I personally would go with Maggiano's we just prefer their style of cooking. Not saying anything is wrong with Buca di Beppo , I just have a family of picky eaters...

Cracker Barrel - While we love the cracker barrel. I ordered a Thanksgivings meal for my grandparents one year. It took 3 tries before they got our order right, and I still had to stop and Publix, and pick up green bean casserole, and stuffing or dressing whichever you call it.... as the cracker barrel had run out of green beans and stuffing... the food was okay... the same year for Christmas I went to Publix for their Christmas dinner much better experience from start to the last bite of pumpkin pie...

I haven't tried, Whole Foods, Boston market so I can't comment on them.

I do have a couple of other suggestions... Sonny's BBQ make a really great smoked Turkey, and the side were really good... Order and pick up on the way back to your vacation rental some Chinese Food...
 
Miller's Alehouse has a fabulous Thanksgiving meal which was $12.99 last year. Plan on going again this year since that's so much easier than fixing for two, plus no reservation needed.
 
We are arriving on Thanksgiving and rented an offsite villa. There is no time to cook so we are looking for a place to buy a cooked meal. We tried Cracker Barrel last year. It was awful. It was processed turkey not fresh. The stuffing was like stovetop. They ran out of items and made substantial substitutions which were not things we like. They forgot the gravy and gave us soup. The only good thing was the side of Mac and cheese we had got for my son.

OMG !!!! I would NEVER had expected that from Cracker Barrel...thanks for sharing !!!! I guess since I stay off-site too, I would be better off to cook my own meal. I hope to one day have the option of being in Orlando during Thanksgiving !!!
 
I just made a reservation at Bahama Breeze. Not sure if that’s what we’ll end up doing. I guess I have 2 weeks to decide...
 
Publix I believe requires 72 hour advance ordering.
Tempted to Ale House vs ordering dinner but was really planning on hanging around pool/resort in afternoon so wanted food in the villa...
 
Publix I believe requires 72 hour advance ordering.
Tempted to Ale House vs ordering dinner but was really planning on hanging around pool/resort in afternoon so wanted food in the villa...
Think outside the box. Some of my most memorable Thanksgiving meals were pretty wacky. One year me and some friends were in Istanbul, Turkey and there was no way we were going to find a traditional meal so we went to this cool local restaurant and had a blast because we still went around the room and said what we were thankful for and we reminisced about our own family traditions. It is interesting to hear what different families do. A few years later I was with this same group of friends and we were in Sydney, Austraila and while we probably could have tracked down something traditional we had a full day of sightseeing so we ended up at a food court type place near the harbor and the closest thing we found was a deli where we all ordered turkey sandwiches. :)

Make a new tradition and you may be surprised how much they like it. Maybe "breakfast for dinner" or tacos or really whatever your family likes. What is it that they always want but you don't get very often?
 
Think outside the box. Some of my most memorable Thanksgiving meals were pretty wacky. One year me and some friends were in Istanbul, Turkey and there was no way we were going to find a traditional meal so we went to this cool local restaurant and had a blast because we still went around the room and said what we were thankful for and we reminisced about our own family traditions. It is interesting to hear what different families do. A few years later I was with this same group of friends and we were in Sydney, Austraila and while we probably could have tracked down something traditional we had a full day of sightseeing so we ended up at a food court type place near the harbor and the closest thing we found was a deli where we all ordered turkey sandwiches. :)

Make a new tradition and you may be surprised how much they like it. Maybe "breakfast for dinner" or tacos or really whatever your family likes. What is it that they always want but you don't get very often?
I love love this idea! Since my DD was off sun-tues and is now working rest of week we did our turkey dinner Tuesday night. I did order from publix, plus picked up a couple pies and extra side dish. So actual Thanksgiving day we are free to do something new...
 
We planned on going to Millers but we called and they said they were closed Thanksgiving day. It may have been a misinformed employee but he said Cracker Barrel is about all that is open. We actually pre-ordered the hot and ready Thanksgiving meal. It ended up being like $140 or so but it will feed our party of 12 and we get the comfort of eating (and drinking!) from our rental house. We are actually flying in at 6pm tomorrow, heading to pickup our meal, then going to the rental house. Heres to hoping for a hot dinner by 7:30 after 12 hours of traveling with 3 kids and 9 people.
 

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