Who actually uses their kitchen to cook in?

[4mcbjCtr]

I am just wondering if many people use the kitchen in their DVC units to cook meals (more than a bowl of cereal). I am taking my second trip home in June but first one with a kitchen. We have all of our ADR's made for the DDP, but just beginning to wonder if I would rather have some home cooked meals in the room. All I hear on here though is that people eat in the parks using the DDE and DDP. Are there many who use the kitchens?

 

[dianeschlicht]

Of course! We love to eat at the great sit down restaurants, but we usually make a good hot breakfast in the villa and occationally will make a nice hot dinner or supper too, but then we are usually there for 10 days or more, so we don't like to eat out EVERY day.

 

[patsal]

I make breakfast nearly everyday, hot appetizers/snacks to tide the family over until dinner, and an occasional luunch or dinner. I don't cook too much though, since I have to enjoy my vacation as well.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

I'll preface this by saying that I don't like to cook very much anymore, but what worked well for our last large family group was to load up at Costco (on Orange Trail) at the beginning of the trip with:

simple breakfast foods - cereal, milk, bananas, juice, bagels

ready-cooked rotisserie chickens, brisket, bag of potatoes (to microwave)
and frozen vegetables

lots of bottled water, other drinks

Then we stopped at a regular grocery store for fill-ins: butter, cream cheese, jam, onion, etc

On the first day it took me about 10 minutes to put what would become a bbq-flavored brisket in the oven, then I let it slow-cook for several hours.

We ended up with plenty of stuff for really good sandwiches all week, plus a couple of meals that we decided in the moment to have "at home" rather than out.

We really like to eat out at table service restaurants, but counter service meals when the crowds are heavy can get old and annoying fast, and ordinary simple breakfasts at WDW are expensive and I think consume time better spent on rides.

Just one opinion, but this worked for us.

 

[elijahpep]

WE love having a kitchen and use it plenty. A hot breakfast is a must for us before a long day at WDW. It 's so nice to be able to fix dinner in your room for your family after a long day at the parks. It just wouldn't be home without it~


~DW

 

[LeCras]

We have breakfast in the villa every day and usually cook dinner two or three times during our two week stay. Nothing fancy - just pasta with sauce or some tortillas - but it can be nice to just stay in and chill with a bottle of wine and a DVD.

Charlotte

 

[Greysword]

We used the kitchen a lot on our first trip home last October. We really enjoyed the versatility of being able to cook the foods we like at a much lower price. Uusally, it was pretty simple stuff like spagetti, soup and salads, chicken and mac-n-cheese. When we went, our friends in Tallahassee came and we rented a 2-bedroom for all of us and we had friends from here in Colorado visiting WDW at the same time. We had plenty of people to feed and take turns with the cooking and cleaning.

I think the best part was being able to leave the park anytime during the day to recoup and get a nice meal before heading back in. Then of course, there is the midnight snack option if you stay at the park late. I think the kitchen was a boon and definately the morning and evening meeting place for all in our group to talk about the day and plan the next.

 

[FlyingfreeWDW]

We eat breakfast in so we use the kitchen for that. We also try to eat one cooked meal in per trip to break up the eating out and eat something decent. Too much fried stuff at the World for us to eat out every meal. We also make stuff for our son for dinner when we order room service. We don't use it a ton but we do use it.

 

[cobbler]

I do, we have cooked breakfast in there a couple of times.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

My wife and I usually stay at Disney for three weeks each visit. Eating out in a restaurant every night for three weeks is just too much so we tend to alternate eating out one night and cooking in our villa the next.

Andrew

 

[YesYourMajesty]

We used our kitchen every day. I made pancakes and eggs and bacon for breakfast. We made nachos, salad, chicken, all kinds of stuff. It was great. We werent spending 30-40 a morning having TS breakfast. I just got up and cooked in the jammies. And my husband loved it because I brought him breakfast in bed everyday.

 

[Kick Save]

The one time we stayed in a 1-BR we used it almost everyday for breakfast and lunch. You save a good chunk of change not having three meals a day in a resturant. We'd have dinner out every night, but breakfast and lunch in the villa was great.

 

[keys2kingdom]

I'm not ashamed to say that I don't EVER plan on using my kitchen.

 

[MinMouse]

We love having the flexibility of the kitchen. There are usually six of us and we have breakfast, coffee and tea every morning. We typically drive down so sometimes we freeze a meal or two --- chicken casserole, meatloaf to have when it suits our schedule. We also usually have the makings for tuna salad, mac n cheese etc. We also love to have some crackers/cheese on hand to snack on. The Winn Dixie on 535 is a great place to restock too!

 

[shellbelle1971]

With 6 kids, the thought of repeatedly taking the whole herd into a restaurant is !!

"Mom, I hate chicken fingers!"
"Do I have to share a meal..."
"Eeeewwww! These fries are cold!"
"Uh...fries are gross!"
"I'm hungry!'
"Do we have to wait..."
"Levi! Get out from under the table!"
"OOOOOWWWW! Quit biting my leg!"
"But I'm sooooo hungry. Your leg looked like one of those turkey things."
"I only want Ice Cream!"
"Hey, Mom & Dad, where are you going?"

SO much easier & cheaper to eat "at home"...not to mention the avoid-ruining-every-other-family-in-the-park's-meals factor!

 

[mom2rb]

We have breakfast in the room every morning. Plus we have coffee, we are much better parents when we have our coffee. We eat a large lunch in the parks, less crowded and cheaper. For dinner we have sandwiches. We use the grocery service and get the good deli meats and cheeses with croissants. This saves us a fortune. We also have mac & cheese and the other little things the boys will eat.

 

[Moonmom]

We usually have one, maybe two breaksfasts out on our 10 to 12 day trips.. then on those days we tend skip lunch; or just snack instead 'cause we're too full.
Most mornings we use the kitchen for breaksfast; DH or DD gets coffee (using refillable mugs) and picks up a paper.. and a muffin to share. And we make oatmeal or pancakes and bacon; (I bring my non stick pan).
None of eat "cold cuts" but I usually have some peanut butter & jelly in case some one wants to stop back for sandwich... and we usually pick up a couple of those microwavable "Chef boy a dee" since one of us at some point always pops back in around lunch time to take a quick swim (we're almost always at the BWV) and need that quick lunch but don't want to spend time (or the $$) to eat "out."
We do "cook' in two or three times during our stay. Nothing elaborate.. sometimes something as simple as frozen ravioli with jar sauce and some bagged chopped cheese to melt over it.. other times I've baked a small Perdue chicken and tossed in some pototoes to bake along with it... and zapped a frozen veggie. Sometimes we just get tired of "eating out"...all we want is the "fuel"... so we can either relax... or get going with to another park or something else that's going on.. without waiting for food to be brought to us.

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

Breakfast is a definate every day unless we have a character breakfast planned. Most days lunch too and then dinner about 4 times each trip. Because we go frequently, cooking to help on costs is a must for us. Also, I really don't mind cooking on vacation because it seems like at home we are always on the run.

 

[momtosydneyntodd]

I am with Shellbelle1971 with the six children--except for I only have two kids. Taking the two out for dinner after a long day at the parks is detrimental (spelling, anyone??) to my mental health--besides, my husband refuses to pay $7.00 for mac and cheese. We use our kitchen for at least two meals a day. We usually get a quick late night treat--The Boardwalk Villas are a great place to stay for those late night treats. I make easy stuff for the kids--DH is also easy to feed. As the kids get older, we might try eating out more-for right now, I love the kitchen.

 

[Tigger7570]

We too eat most mornings at the condo and several dinners. We especially like to eat in when our granddaughters our with us, especially breakfast. They can get up and have cereal or toast and I always have all kinds of fresh fruit for them. Then they can either play or watch TV if they have had enough and don't want the full breakfast. Usually DH is up early so if one of our gd is up before their parents and they want to eat, he'll get it for them. This works out so well because everyone is well fed and relaxed before heading into the parks. I have said it before, for some reason when people go to a restaurant their expectation is that a small child is going to eat a larger portion than they do at home and then get frustrated when they don't. We still do a couple of breakfasts out, but for the most part we like eating in and we have the full breakfast, varying it each day. Also, we do the same with dinner. Like someone said, again it's nice to go home after a day at the parks and know you can create a nice meal and not have to wait at a restaurant with tired little ones. Again, we do have some dinners out as well.