Do you cook in a DVC resort?

[mrsHerbie53]

Hi.
I am wondering how many of you take advantage of the kitchen areas of the DVC resorts while on vacation.

Do you cook a couple of meals or do you only have breakfast in and utilize DDP or DDE instead?

If you cook, what kind of things do you make?

Any details appreciated.

THANKS!

[tundramom]

When on vacation part of "vacation" means no cooking:blush:. That being said, I'm not a "breakfast" person but my DH, DD and recent guests all are. I couldn't justify using dining credits or the time for breakfast- so as a compromise I cooked pancakes the first night in, baggied them, and then they could zap them in the morning. We also always bring single serving cereals and Pop tarts, and every morning I put on a pot of coffee for them. That's the max I'm willing to do :thedolls:

[Horizon93]

We have only had one DVC stay so far in a studio at OKW. We did have our cereal and juice every morning in the room. On our next trip, we will be in a one bedroom value villa at AKV for 11 nights. We are definitely planning on ordering groceries, likely from Garden Grocer, and cooking dinner 4 of the nights in the room. We think that it will be fun and enable us to spring for a couple of really nice dinners out during the trip.

I definitely see us using the kitchen whenever we stay in a one bedroom or larger.

[Iluvpooh]

We just got back from a 9 day stay in a 2BR villa. I packed and shipped a TON of groceries. I really planned on cooking every day. In the end, I only cooked one meal. It was breakfast-Bicuits and microwave bacon. So much for my BIG plans for the kitchen. The good news was I took all my groceries home and cooked them later. Or,Is that the bad news?


I can say that the laundry room got used every day. So even if you don't use the kitchen to cook-you may use the washer & dryer. Also, the big fridge is great!!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

We stayed in a one bedroom for 10 days in September with our three kids. We had breakfast in our room every morning. Snacks at night and three dinners there. We had Garden Grocer deliver everything before we got there.
We are all breakfast people so it was great for that.
Our dinners were the night we went to AK. It closed at 5pm. The night we arrived and the night we went to MGM. We left the park around 3:30, went and had dinner, changed, and went back for Fantasmic.
I never would have thought that I would cook on vacation but, the Dining Plan is too much food for us and, it was nice to have some quiet time for the kids. We will absolutely plan on doing it again.
Garden Grocer was great by the way.
Also, we had them deliver juice bags (Capri Suns) for the kids. I would freeze them the night before and bring a few to the parks in a very small cooler bag. That way, they could have them later in the afternoon. Saves some money and they get tired of drinking water all day. They do not like Powerade and are not allowed to drink soda. Just mixed it up a little for them.
HTH

[MickeyMousse]

Well, I wouldn't call it "cooking":chef:, but we did use the kitchen for breakfast, lunch and dinner some days during our last trip. I made some microwave bacon and cinnamon rolls one morning, lunch consisted a few times of Easy Mac n Cheese, Ramen soup and dinner we heated up some frozen pizza and a large family size Stouffer's Chicken Enhchilada dinner. It was nice to have the option and the Garden Grocer was convenient (although over 2 hrs late with our delivery :wait:).

[Zippy_D_DooDah]

We stayed in a 2-Bedroom last Dec and February and cooked a few meals while there. Mostly the Stouffers Family style heat up lasagna and burritos and such. I made breakfast several mornings. We would stop in for a sandwich and chips lunch before nap (my kids are 3 and 2), but mostly we snacked...ALOT...

I still made a few ADR's to eat out, but not as many as in the past. We actually saved money by eating in the villa these two trips. The $150 we spent on groceries for the week would have been one meal at Chef Mickey's.

I know alot of people don't like to cook while on "vacation," but I don't mind. Since my kids are so young we were at the villa a lot. As they get older I probably won't cook as much.

[pox24]

Heck no.... we're on vacation. We use the larger villas for guests that come with us. The kitchen acts as a bar for drinks and finger food we usually have brought in before we all venture out. Now on our macho grande stay at the GV at OKW in 2009, we will cook. Thats when our 3 grandkids will be 3 and it would be fun and time saving to eat there. I wouldn't mind trying a cooked meal once, the problem is convincing the wife.:D

[Tinkermom]

We eat breakfast in our villa most days. I pack lots of dry goods like cereal, pop-tarts, crackers, etc.

Most trips we cook at least one meal. There have been a couple of trips where money was tight so we did cook dinner quite a bit. I have made burgers, spaghetti, salads, baked chicken, and other easy meals. :mickey: I love that I have the option though!!

[Carol]

I am wondering how many of you take advantage of the kitchen areas of the DVC resorts while on vacation.I use the kitchen to make coffee and ice. :thumbsup:

No way am I cooking on vacation - especially with all of the great restaurants Disney has to offer.

[brdavis]

We didn't cook this last trip, because we tried the DDP (&, for the most part, liked it). But every previous trip something like half a luggage has been poptarts, instant oatmeals, other cereals, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. Some of those are for in the park, but breakfast is almost always something quick in-room (my kids tend to wake up hungrier than the lions in AK). Not only has it saved us a good bit of money, but the space in the luggage isn't wasted either - we always have more stuff coming back (usually LEGO) than going down. We have on occasion cooked meals in the room, but only on "rest days"... & as the kids get older, we've scheduled fewer of those.

--
Brian Davis

[artyboy]

I've cooked a couple of meals while on longer trips...usually on days that were deemed "Resort" days...meaning a day off from the parks.

We usually drive to WDW...so we hit a grocery before arriving on property...which saves you a little $$$.

[DonLefNY]

Breakfast and most dinners

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

No elaborate dinners, but we've done frozen pizzas, hot ham & cheese sandwiches and other simple stuff.
For breakfasts we've had omelettes, bacon & eggs along with things that didn't require cooking like cereal and donuts.

And while it doesn't really qualify as "cooking" we often come back in the early afternoon for sandwiches and fresh fruit. It sure beats another burger or chicken strips.:D

It makes a nice break in the day and gives everyone a chance to relax and cool off, which is a must in June.:thumbsup: