Can I pull off (almost)not eatting in the parks?

[Misfit]

We have 49 days to go and I have been stressing over food. My DH is a truck driver and his stomach is shot. He cannot take much if any take-out. He basically needs to have me or him cook his meals,or, he will be sick for days and that is not something we want to deal with on this trip.

*We are driving & will be staying in a pop-up.
*There are 6 of us in my group ages 37,36,20,17,16 & 9
*We are not big eaters especially when hot.
Park days are :
2 MK
2 Epcot
1 HS
1 AK

Now at AK I imagine we will eat 1 meal in the park with the hours only being til 7 I think we will have to make an exception. Also, 1 day at MK we have a BOG lunch scheduled for 1pm but we still plan on a park break. Since we have a car and extra non-park days we don't mind grocery runs.I also have no problem cooking on vacation.. So I am hoping we can manage by eating breakfast and the Fort. Then eat again when we get back to the Fort for our afternoon break. For the last stretch pack some things to take with us and buy the younger ones some fun snacks in the park. Then when we get back to the Fort at night anyone who is hungry can eat a meal again.Obviously, if the younger 4 are hungry for that last stretch we will visit a QS for them.I promised DH that if we went we wouldn't eat in the parks to much, if at all because of his stomach problems.. I know others couldn't, wouldn't want to miss all that Disney Food but hey I'm willing to skip it to get my DH to Disney at all! So is this actually possible, Can we pull it off?

And Oh.. We will have a crock pot too

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Yes, of course you can! We did a ton of cooking and you can see our camp kitchen via my signature link. Whether you are staying at the cabins, in a TT/RV, or tent, you can cook the majority of your meals.

Just plan your schedule as much as possible and get creative. You can also bring your own lunch with you into the parks. If you don't want to lug it around, rent a locker at each park.

BOG has a decent lunch, their turkey sandwich is really good and soup too. The breakfast buffet at Animal Kingdom is my favorite and has a great deal of healthy options.

 

[KristinU]

You can totally pull it off! We are high maintenance eaters and DH is limited sodium, so we eat out maybe two to three times in a trip as a special treat. Not hard to do at all as you have suggested. You're also allowed to take in a soft cooler to the parks, so we bring an Igloo backpack cooler if we'll be at a park at a mealtime. The big thing here is finding a place to eat that isn't taking a table away from somebody who has paid to eat in that area (like at a quick service patio), we tend to choose park benches or an unused corner of a back area of a QS place. Sandwiches, pasta salads, regular salads, wraps, all very easy to pack along!

 

[canadiandisneynut]

Disney doesn't have any issue with you bringing food into the parks so why not pack your food with you or at least for hubby? My daughter has allergies so we often bring a back up meal everywhere. As long as your food is in a soft sided cooler and not in glass containers you are good to go. The baby care centers offer microwaves if the food happens to need heating up. Also, the quick services restaurants in all resorts have microwaves so you could go to lunch at a nearby resort if you needed to. I have seen so many families grab a table or a spot on a lawn for a full picnic!

 

[jsmla]

We did this a lot when our kids were little. It worked well for us when we had to go during school holidays. We'd hit the parks for rope drop, spend the hottest and most crowded part of the day at the camper and then head back after things cooled off a bit.

I found that it worked best if we had our "big" meal at lunch and did simpler snack-type stuff at night. The simpler you can keep the nighttime routine the better.

I also made and froze as much as I could at home. The evening meal came out of the crockpot most nights.

 

[Misfit]

Thanks everyone for the tips!I just wanted to make sure I wasn't deluding myself and that it was doable. These replies have eased my mind
a lot!! iloovedisneymm I read you sig before and you had an amazing set up!

Thanks again everyone I feel so much better knowing what we are planning will be just fine

 

[North of Mouse]

We have 49 days to go and I have been stressing over food. My DH is a truck driver and his stomach is shot. He cannot take much if any take-out. He basically needs to have me or him cook his meals,or, he will be sick for days and that is not something we want to deal with on this trip.

*We are driving & will be staying in a pop-up.
*There are 6 of us in my group ages 37,36,20,17,16 & 9
*We are not big eaters especially when hot.
Park days are :
2 MK
2 Epcot
1 HS
1 AK

Now at AK I imagine we will eat 1 meal in the park with the hours only being til 7 I think we will have to make an exception. Also, 1 day at MK we have a BOG lunch scheduled for 1pm but we still plan on a park break. Since we have a car and extra non-park days we don't mind grocery runs.I also have no problem cooking on vacation.. So I am hoping we can manage by eating breakfast and the Fort. Then eat again when we get back to the Fort for our afternoon break. For the last stretch pack some things to take with us and buy the younger ones some fun snacks in the park. Then when we get back to the Fort at night anyone who is hungry can eat a meal again.Obviously, if the younger 4 are hungry for that last stretch we will visit a QS for them.I promised DH that if we went we wouldn't eat in the parks to much, if at all because of his stomach problems.. I know others couldn't, wouldn't want to miss all that Disney Food but hey I'm willing to skip it to get my DH to Disney at all! So is this actually possible, Can we pull it off?

And Oh.. We will have a crock pot too

Absolutely! Your call! Enjoy!

 

[sprousehouse]

We are planning only a few meals at the park because we don't eat junk food and my son has some food allergies. We primarily eat Paleo/Primal so limited grains and little to no processed food. EPIC bars are awesome for high quality protein. We also do rolled up lunch meat and organic cheese cubes. Trail mix, fruit and veggies are easy to take. I have FridgeSmart tupperware that are great for storing cut up fruit and veggies so I can do my chopping at one time and then just dish out what we need for a day. My kids love to snack on fruit and cherry tomatoes too. I make up bags of organic tortilla chips and containers of guacamole and salsa. We will do things like KIND or LARABARS for snacks. Hard boiled eggs and yogurt are good as well. I'm sure we will indulge some but I know if we ate out more than once a day we wouldn't feel good.

 

[MattFromPA]

No problem! We fly down and rent a camper, and just do the shopping right away and cook at the site all week. We get a 24-hour car rental to be able to go to Wal Mart. Lunch is usually packed sandwiches and fruit. We plan on Trails End for breakfast once, and we may eat lunch in the parks once. Its a little more work but healthier for everyone.

 

[Misfit]

My kids also cannot get enough fruit and cherry tomatoes! I love all the tips and am feeling as ease and I think I'm off to do some online shopping and find a great soft sided cooler for us

 

[Mary2e]

While it's to cook/eat at your site, particularly when the parks are open late and your not rushing dinner, keep in mind that Disney restaurants are VERY, VERY, VERY conscious of food allergies and restrictions. We often go with a friend who cannot eat fish, dairy, shellfish, eggs, etc. Every time we go to a restaurant, the servers notify the chef who comes to the table and discusses the food preparation and ingredients in detail. I was quite surprised.

You can note it on your reservation or just tell the server when you're seated.

 

[ruthies12]

Yeah I plan on packing our lunches to the parks, mainly because my kids are picky eaters and I don't want to spend over 5 bucks for an uncrustable PB&J when I can bring in my own for 50 cents a piece from home. I'm cheap that way! Big thing to figure out when taking a cooler is how you will keep stuff cold in it. Does your pop up camper have a freezer? If not bags of ice from the campstore may work for you, just bring some ziplock bags to put the ice inside your cooler in.

 

[jsmla]

I bring my lunch in a lot on my solo trips. If I don't have a freezer I also use double Ziploc bagged ice. You can get more ice from any CS location that offers fountain drinks. The double bagging helps prevent leaks.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Lots of our Fort guests barely eat in the parks.
2) They might grab a snicky-snack, then go back to the campground and make dinner.
3) Remember, The Fort is a campground, not just a Disney Resort.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Well said Scupper, and remember the Crock Pot is your friend, we'll do a roast one day while we're in the park, the left overs are turned in to BBQ sandwiches.

 

[tiggerdad]

You can for sure make it without eating in the parks except for some snacks. This is how we save our biggest chunk of change staying at Disney. No offense, but the food variety has gone down hill since the arrival of the Disney Dining Plan and is overpriced. There are a few places that still have unique food, and we do like to try one or two new places when we stay, but for the most part we feed ourselves.

However, when I do my own cooking I always invite this guy along to help with my meal fixings at the camper...

 

[TheRustyScupper]

You can for sure make it without eating in the parks except for some snacks

1) Yep.
2) When n the parks, how can one possibly pass up Mickey Ice Cream Bars ?????????????????????????????

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

2) When n the parks, how can one possibly pass up Mickey Ice Cream Bars ?????????????????????????????

This is very true!

 

[tiggerdad]

Hello! Funnel Cakes!

 

[Julylady]

We are DVC members and cook most of our meals in the villas. I have found that with myself and my girls, sticking mostly to familiar meals prepared the way they are prepared at home makes for a better vacation. No tummy issues, no disappointment because the meatloaf has peppers in it, no long waits for food when they would rather be riding rides. We usually only eat out one meal per day (either CS or TS) and that is plenty! I have several "comfort food meals" that I always make while at WDW. I am sure you know what meals your husband can tolerate well and do your planning from there. This year we gave away our DVC points as gifts to family members (honeymoons!) and so we are staying in a Fort Wilderness cabin. I am also planning to make a few simple meals while we are there.