Cooking Meals Reality

[Jonnnyap]

Sounds like you have a fun trip planned!

To add to the previous very good suggestions, the stores/markets within the DVC resorts also have a small selection of grocery items. If you prefer to not deal with delivery or bringing food, you can buy a fairly diverse set of items from these stores. Everything from frozen pizzas to bagels to eggs and quick cooking items are available. They’re not necessarily healthy, but convenience food is available and at better prices than quick serve restaurants.

Hope you have a fantastic trip!

 

[kanerf]

Bring a crock pot. Put your meal in there before you leave for the park. Let it cook on low all day until you get back. Feast!

 

[TCRAIG]

2 of our favs are crockpot chili and ham/potato casserole- for crockpot chili - you throw hamburger meat, onions, beans, tomato soup, a bit of water and taco seasoning in the pot - easy peasy
For ham and potato casserole- you buy boxed potato au-gratin or some other potato cheese box mix (multiples boxes), add luncheon meat ham that’s been cut up and bake…

 

[Lady Hiss]

Love some of the ideas offered here. In addition to breakfast items, I like to get the fixings for a baked potato bar to have for dinner at least one night. I bring or buy foil, baking potatoes, cheese, butter, bacon bits etc. When we get back from the parks, we have an hour of down time while potatoes bake, then just set up the fixings. We’ve also used the microwave to zap the potatoes if pressed for time. Easy, peasy.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Sounds like you have a fun trip planned!

To add to the previous very good suggestions, the stores/markets within the DVC resorts also have a small selection of grocery items. If you prefer to not deal with delivery or bringing food, you can buy a fairly diverse set of items from these stores. Everything from frozen pizzas to bagels to eggs and quick cooking items are available. They’re not necessarily healthy, but convenience food is available and at better prices than quick serve restaurants.

Hope you have a fantastic trip!

We have done grocery delivery for several years now and more recently we just make a quick grocery stop on the way from the airport. Our youngest is allergic to milk so we didn’t want to risk substitutions with shoppers if his milk or snacks weren’t available. Now I kind of enjoy the stop. Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t forget things and I’ve found great selections at the resort when needed!

Love some of the ideas offered here. In addition to breakfast items, I like to get the fixings for a baked potato bar to have for dinner at least one night. I bring or buy foil, baking potatoes, cheese, butter, bacon bits etc. When we get back from the parks, we have an hour of down time while potatoes bake, then just set up the fixings. We’ve also used the microwave to zap the potatoes if pressed for time. Easy, peasy.

This is a super clever idea! Thanks.

 

[808blessing]

Iʻd cook a bunch of ground beef the first day. Then make spaghetti, taco meat and chili at the same time. Lots of bread, lettuce and dressing. Also can do broccoli/bacon (bring pre-cooked from home) mac & cheese.
Fry ground beef and chop lettuce and broc while the noodles are boiling. Put it in the fridge and call it done for 3 dinners. LOTS of gallon ziplocs. Lunch on the go or sandwich station.

 

[gharter]

I get it, but we are on vacation and not cooking.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Most days we eat breakfast plus one other meal in our room. With the lack of annual passes for sale we aren't in the parks every day like we used to so we eat more in our room. We get our groceries delivered. We are a family of 5 and often travel in a 2 bedroom with friends or my parents. We get uncrustables for a quick meal or snack for the kids who may or may not have the patience to wait for a meal to be made. Our go-to vacation meals include chicken caesar salad wraps (1 bag caesar salad, 1 bag precooked chicken and tortillas), sandwiches (we always get potato or macaroni salad and chips to make that meal feel less plain), frozen chicken strips and tater tots and lastly brats, hot dogs or italian sausage on the grill. We get plenty of frozen veggies and salad kits for sides and lots of apples, baby carrots, bananas and strawberries for easy healthy in-room snacks since we eat a lot of junk at the parks.

Edited to add: The grills at BRV are great, they are right in front of the cabins. Thankfully they are gas, I refuse to deal with charcoal DVC grills, not my idea of a relaxing time! Getting the grill tools kit is a bit of a challenge at BRV, since Teton boat and bike rentals is technically closed but currently used for cast members and that's where you pick up the kit. You have to stalk a lifeguard or other pool cast member as they are coming in or out of Teton's for a break or shift change and they will go in and grab the kit for you. Same issue with returning the kit, you have to hang around that area until someone comes in or out of Teton's to take it in for you.

 

[Brian Noble]

Thankfully they are gas,

I didn't know this, thanks for pointing it out!

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I get it, but we are on vacation and not cooking.

Isn't it awesome how as DVC members we can all choose our own comfort level with eating in or out and the accommodations give us that luxury? We usually hate cooking too, but this trip will probably be a little different.

Most days we eat breakfast plus one other meal in our room. With the lack of annual passes for sale we aren't in the parks every day like we used to so we eat more in our room. We get our groceries delivered. We are a family of 5 and often travel in a 2 bedroom with friends or my parents. We get uncrustables for a quick meal or snack for the kids who may or may not have the patience to wait for a meal to be made. Our go-to vacation meals include chicken caesar salad wraps (1 bag caesar salad, 1 bag precooked chicken and tortillas), sandwiches (we always get potato or macaroni salad and chips to make that meal feel less plain), frozen chicken strips and tater tots and lastly brats, hot dogs or italian sausage on the grill. We get plenty of frozen veggies and salad kits for sides and lots of apples, baby carrots, bananas and strawberries for easy healthy in-room snacks since we eat a lot of junk at the parks.

Edited to add: The grills at BRV are great, they are right in front of the cabins. Thankfully they are gas, I refuse to deal with charcoal DVC grills, not my idea of a relaxing time! Getting the grill tools kit is a bit of a challenge at BRV, since Teton boat and bike rentals is technically closed but currently used for cast members and that's where you pick up the kit. You have to stalk a lifeguard or other pool cast member as they are coming in or out of Teton's for a break or shift change and they will go in and grab the kit for you. Same issue with returning the kit, you have to hang around that area until someone comes in or out of Teton's to take it in for you.

Great ideas and I really love the grill idea. I think grilling out at BRV even seems more fitting with the theme of the resort than grilling at GFV for instance. Love that it is gas. I am really hoping Teton's will be open by the time we travel. Would love to rent a boat from the resort one day.

 

[bwang123]

We have made lasagna, beef wellington, steaks and pasta ... there really are no limitations.

 

[Eviejim]

Cookie Sheet-Pan Pancakes​

Level: Easy Total: 30 min Active: 10 min

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups whole milk

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, melted

1 cup thick-sliced strawberries

1 cup chocolate chips

1 heaping cup blueberries

Butter and warm pancake syrup, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.

In a blender, combine the milk, eggs and vanilla and pulse to mix it well. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and blend until smooth, 25 to 30 seconds. Pour in half of the melted butter and pulse a few times to combine.

Spread 2 tablespoons of the melted butter on a sheet pan, then pour in the pancake batter. Sprinkle the strawberries, chocolate chips and blueberries over the batter in three sections. Bake until golden on top, about 20 minutes.

Brush the remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter over the surface of the pancake.

Cut into squares and serve with butter and warm syrup!

 

[RoseGold]

I haven't seen a DVC grill yet I would be willing to use, maybe they exist?

For the parks, there's no way to heat anything. I would plan on something like a cold lunch you would take to work. Sandwiches, wraps, bags of snacks. You can bring in cooler bags and ice packs. You can even bring in an empty stroller to have somewhere to leave all this stuff. No one will look twice at an umbrella stroller and no kid in it. I have made myself some cold healthy lunches in the past with wraps and hard boiled eggs, fruit, when I feel like I've had enough fried food. My kid loved just snacking on a veggie tray.

I have a knife in my owner's locker, but the kitchen is stocked enough. They'll even bring you stuff like a blender. It's got enough tools. But it doesn't have much storage, like food storage containers or ziplocs. You'll have to bring that stuff if you plan to meal prep.

And you don't have to eat every meal together. You can get a burger for your kids even though dad packed a sandwich.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Here's a link to a post where I included pics of the grill tools and the BRV grill area.
Post in thread 'The road less traveled- a week at Boulder Ridge' https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...a-week-at-boulder-ridge.3883008/post-64027800

We were at the pool and decided to grab some hotdogs, buns, apples and chips from the Wilderness Lodge Mercantile. It was very clean but just like any public grill, you need to burn off anything left over from the last person. You can use a ball of foil on tongs to do a quick scrub of the grates.

Even though Teton's is closed you can rent pontoon boats from The Contemporary, Grand Floridian or Beach/Yacht Club. The smaller sea raycers appear to be gone for good.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I haven't seen a DVC grill yet I would be willing to use, maybe they exist?

are they just dirty? Might take a look at them before committing to cooking on them.

 

[Turn the Page]

We eat all our meals in the room at WDW. We added a bunch of stuff to our owner's locker that we like to cook with but you don't really need anything more than what they already stock.

Some of our favorites to make in the room are:

Burgers
BLT's
Chicken caesar salad
Spaghetti
French Toast
Sandwiches
cheese/cracker/salami plates
Shrimp scampi

We usually make pretty close to the same things at WDW that we do at home. The easier things anyway.

 

[nw6675]

We cook a few times when we have a 1 or 2 bedroom villa. Generally it is a full breakfast or easy things like sandwiches, pizza, etc. We make a point to not have it be too similar to what we would eat from Disney menus for when we do go out.

We found that ordering mobile from TS and bringing back to the room worked just as well as cooking. We could be in control of how much we were ordering and at the risk of sounding cheap, drinks and tip weren't required. That in itself is a huge savings.

My favorite time was when we used a former cast member's catering service. Wowzers - we had enough breakfast and o'hana type food for literally a week for just several hundred dollars. Much cheaper and the food was better than eating at the restaurant!

Finally, I echo the grocery delivery or better yet, bring from home approaches. We use both of these options.

 

[Flynn's Gal]

Going to add one more low prep idea we used for lunch. Tuna macaroni salad with mayo, frozen peas, black olives, and chopped onions - fresh or frozen.

 

[mom2missmous]

Most days we eat breakfast plus one other meal in our room. With the lack of annual passes for sale we aren't in the parks every day like we used to so we eat more in our room. We get our groceries delivered. We are a family of 5 and often travel in a 2 bedroom with friends or my parents. We get uncrustables for a quick meal or snack for the kids who may or may not have the patience to wait for a meal to be made. Our go-to vacation meals include chicken caesar salad wraps (1 bag caesar salad, 1 bag precooked chicken and tortillas), sandwiches (we always get potato or macaroni salad and chips to make that meal feel less plain), frozen chicken strips and tater tots and lastly brats, hot dogs or italian sausage on the grill. We get plenty of frozen veggies and salad kits for sides and lots of apples, baby carrots, bananas and strawberries for easy healthy in-room snacks since we eat a lot of junk at the parks.

Edited to add: The grills at BRV are great, they are right in front of the cabins. Thankfully they are gas, I refuse to deal with charcoal DVC grills, not my idea of a relaxing time! Getting the grill tools kit is a bit of a challenge at BRV, since Teton boat and bike rentals is technically closed but currently used for cast members and that's where you pick up the kit. You have to stalk a lifeguard or other pool cast member as they are coming in or out of Teton's for a break or shift change and they will go in and grab the kit for you. Same issue with returning the kit, you have to hang around that area until someone comes in or out of Teton's to take it in for you.

Were the grills working on your latest trip(and if you don't mind sharing in case I missed it, when was your trip?) I know we went last year and could not find a single gas grill at WL that was working ( either out of gas or inoperable) When we asked about the issues, we were told they were 'waiting on parts" or that maintenance would look at them but never were able to use them- our lovely steaks went to waste as we only had a studio, so no real cooking appliance beyond microwave we could fall back on! We are about to go again at end of January , so would love to be able to grill as we are again in a studio and plan to spend a lot of time at the resort ( our first trip as OFFICIAL owners at BRV- in past used our BCV to stay as guests at this lovely resort!)

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Were the grills working on your latest trip(and if you don't mind sharing in case I missed it, when was your trip?) I know we went last year and could not find a single gas grill at WL that was working ( either out of gas or inoperable) When we asked about the issues, we were told they were 'waiting on parts" or that maintenance would look at them but never were able to use them- our lovely steaks went to waste as we only had a studio, so no real cooking appliance beyond microwave we could fall back on! We are about to go again at end of January , so would love to be able to grill as we are again in a studio and plan to spend a lot of time at the resort ( our first trip as OFFICIAL owners at BRV- in past used our BCV to stay as guests at this lovely resort!)

Our trip when we used the BRV grills was April 2022 (Easter week). If that had happened to me, I would have asked for day passes to the Poly to use their grills, wasting food is a huge pet peeve of mine so no way I would let those steaks go to waste. Poly grill area is nice, way nicer than VGF. You are practically grilling in the VGF parking lot. BLT wouldn't be an option since I believe they still have charcoal grills (Poly and VGF are gas grills).