Groceries and Deliveries
Since we will likely use Uber to and from the airport and only have a car on the weekend...grocery delivery is probably going to be the way to go. Last time we got a LOT of groceries during our week long stay. Von's has delivery so we'll probably get some stuff from them. I think we have to spend at least $50 for delivery. We'll get stuff like bottled water, milk, string cheese, snacks, paper towels, etc.
Then we'll probably do a Prime Pantry delivery from
amazon.com. It's $6 shipping and you can fit a bunch of stuff in a box. We'll need diapers (or maybe pull-ups if we get lucky.) We will also need wipes. We can also order some snacks from here as well.
We will probably eat breakfast in the room most days. That's what we did last time and I think it worked out well. Saved us time and money. We'll still eat breakfast in the park once or twice, I'm sure. So we will need breakfast food. Plus plates/bowls/utensils.
I am weird and like to buy certain things to use in place of the provided stuff in the hotel room. Typically we'll buy our own toilet paper, Kleenex, and hand soap. So those are things we might order. (Hand soap, at the very least, because I hate bar soap.) We also like to have travel pack of Clorox wipes for restaurant tables. And then hand/face wipes for Henry. Though we may just use regular baby wipes on his hands and face this time.
Last time I bought shampoo, conditioner, and body wash at Target. But they didn't actually carry the stuff I like. So this time I might just put some in travel bottles and put them in my checked bag. It might be a little too pricey to order them on amazon or at Von's.
So yeah...we'll be spending a ton on various deliveries. Last time we spent around $200 on grocery items at Target. I am hoping we can keep in around or even under that this time. We'll see, I guess. Diapers/wipes are always a big one, of course. And you can't really avoid that. Bottled water is super important too. We do occasionally buy some in the parks but we like to start the day bringing our own, cold water in.
At a later date I'll probably type up a (long) list of everything we'll want to order. I just hope our hotel isn't annoyed with us!
I'll probably start with a huge list and then cut it down as much as possible. In reality, we just need to ship enough to get us by a few days. We arrive on a Wednesday. We'll have a rental car Saturday/Sunday. So we really just need things for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, part of Saturday. Then we can run to Target to get stuff for the second half of the trip.
As I said, we'll probably eat breakfast in the room most days. We will be in CA for 8 mornings. If we were to eat out for each of those...it really does add a big cost. I mean, we're already eating lunch/dinner at restaurants the entire time. So it's nice to find ways to save.
Last time, Henry was mostly eating puree pouches at breakfast along with milk in a bottle. He also ate some dry cheerios. Maybe fruit too, I can't recall. These days, Henry doesn't eat cereal. He mostly eats waffles/pancakes/french toast sticks/eggs/fruit/yogurt. But who knows what he'll be eating come February. So we'll just have to wing it.
Last time, I had cereal in the room most mornings. And then a few times my husband got some tea and pastries from the breakfast room. I suspect we'll do the same this time.
We did eat 1 breakfast in the park at Tomorrowland Terrace. That's kind of been our tradition so I suspect we'll do that again. One other morning we went to Ihop. It was pretty pricey but we did get a lot of food. I could see us doing that again one day. Maybe on a non-park day (which is what we did last year.) We might do a 2nd breakfast in the parks at some place Flo's. I'm not sure since I haven't really looked a menus yet.
So anyway....those are just some plans. I am babbling now.
It should definitely be easier flying with a 3.5-year-old than a 17-month old! We used to live cross country from our family and I have flown with every age from 2 months to 6 years... Every child is different, of course, but it will be much better! Our last (only, so-far) family trip was with a 6, 5, and 2.75-year-old the last few days of February (trip report in my sig), and the little one did pretty great. They all did great. A lot of that was being flexible, and also letting the older two take turns in the double stroller so they didn't get too tired. And having TONS of (non-sugary) snacks so they were never hungry. We didn't bring anything messy, either, and had them eat their snacks in line, which helped with the waiting.
