Leaving left-over food

[PETE FROM NYC]

DW and I are doing our first DVC vacation , leaving in a week, driving down. We are booked in a 1 BR at BLT. We are doing the economy route to save a few bucks: making our own in-room breakfast, bringing sandwiches and drinks into the parks for lunch, and splurging for a good dinner. I figure we may have some leftover food at the end of our stay. Should we throw it out ourselves, or just leave it for mousekeeping, with a tip of course, to dispose of it?
I am not talking about a ton of food, just some odds and ends that will be inconvenient to pack out with us for our return trip.

[MonoMan]

I found myself in the same position a few years ago so I asked Bell Services when they came to pick up our luggage. He was more than happy to take all of our bottled waters and drinks. He also told us to leave the rest of the stuff for mousekeeping because they would take what they wanted and dispose of the rest. We still left our normal gratuities, but I definitely felt better knowing the food items wouldn't go to waste.

[Basket Mommy]

That's good to know. We have left perishable food before (unopened - anything opened we dispose of) and I wondered if anyone took it or if they were required to throw it away. Some non-perishables that would keep until the next trip we put into our Owner's Locker - but only if the expiration was a year or more, just in case.

[DonLefNY]

If we have open food we dispose of it ourselves in the trash/recyle room (we always take out our own trash). Unopened food we leave in the room/fridge and maybe the mousekeepers will be able to use it.

[tundramom]

Some non-perishables that would keep until the next trip we put into our Owner's Locker - but only if the expiration was a year or more, just in case.

Ok, what is an "Owners locker"?

[kakn7294]

In August, we left what we couldn't take for mousekeeping along with a note saying it was for them.

[ElenitaB]

I think many of us find ourselves in the same position. I know when we left our short-term home a little over a week ago :( , there were almost full bottles of ketchup, individual unopened packets of cream cheese (the individual Weight Watchers ones), etc. We chose to leave it for mousekeeping and they could chose to throw them out or repurpose them. Same went for hamburger rolls, bread, etc.

We didn't pack any food items in our Owners' Locker (a service run by a Celebration company that stores a large plastic storage box for you in a climate-controlled environment) as they were pretty specific about it in their guidelines and also because I figured that I would just pack up the unused canned goods in the car with us and use them at our "rest of the year" home.

I was really happy with making breakfast in our room every day and saving that expense to use for something else. We only had a studio but still had some great breakfasts.

[tundramom]

Thank you ElenitaB!

[shellyc]

We tossed any opened food in the trash and took it to the trash bin. We left any unopened food for mousekeeping. Mousekeeping said they can only take unopened food to the break room.

[JPL]

Just a quick note from someone who had food left in their fridge when they checked in. Make sure you leave that note for Mousekeeping. I found week old Milk and half a jar of Mayo left in my fridge at OKW one trip.

[faline]

I found week old Milk and half a jar of Mayo left in my fridge at OKW one trip.

Yuck! Not a nice way to start!

[Basket Mommy]

We didn't pack any food items in our Owners' Locker (a service run by a Celebration company that stores a large plastic storage box for you in a climate-controlled environment) as they were pretty specific about it in their guidelines and also because I figured that I would just pack up the unused canned goods in the car with us and use them at our "rest of the year" home.

I guess I missed that. Oops. There isn't any food in there now. We finished it off on the last trip. Taking food with us is hard since we fly. I'll remember not to put any more food in the locker. :thumbsup:

[Seasonscraps]

We generally don't have too much in the way of left over food but we throw everything away before we leave. Although we will leave unopened bottled water for mousekeeping.

[Disney_Barbie]

Mousekeeping said they can only take unopened food to the break room.

Oh that's a shame. We always end up having 2 or 3 bottles of unopened wine/champagne. (we order thru wegoshop and tend to go a bit overboard. But like it that way, I'd rather have it there available, in case I want it than to go without, afterall it's vaca!) Since I'm always pushing the limit of my luggage weight it's never worth bringing it home and I always hope that a nice mousekeeper will be able to put it to use. But alas, I'm assumeing they're not allowed to consume wine in the break room, so does that mean they must dispose of it? Shame :(

[faline]

But alas, I'm assumeing they're not allowed to consume wine in the break room, so does that mean they must dispose of it? Shame :(

They do need to dispose of any alcoholic beverages that are left. As I understand it, they are not allowed to have any on their carts as they make the rounds of rooms for fear that an underaged person may help themselves while the cart is sitting unattended in the hallway. Mousekeeping had no problem taking our unopened water bottles.

On the other hand, bell services had no problem taking several cans of beer that had not been opened.

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

They do need to dispose of any alcoholic beverages that are left. As I understand it, they are not allowed to have any on their carts as they make the rounds of rooms for fear that an underaged person may help themselves while the cart is sitting unattended in the hallway. Mousekeeping had no problem taking our unopened water bottles.

On the other hand, bell services had no problem taking several cans of beer that had not been opened.

LOL...same thing with a few bottles of beer we had left back in August. The guy from Bell Services was happy to take them and said he would see that they went to a good home. :D