# Going to Disney World - What food to pack?



## wife&mommy (May 26, 2005)

So we are going to Disney World next week. We will have a fridge in our room so that makes life much easier. We have been before so I know what foods they offer and have... and for our budget, I do NOT want to be eating what they have. And I don't want DS having the kids meals either. It's all pizza/fries/burgers/fried chicken fingers with sides of high fructose corn syrup (oh I mean apple sauce) and mickey cheese crackers (like goldfish). They do have grapes and carrot sticks but my DS is hit or miss on actually eating those. For the adults I wouldn't mind so much since it would be temporary but I don't want to be eating it in front of DS so we are planning to pack our foods too for the most part. Everyone I know that goes there ends up coming home sick since they eat like crap and are around all those thousands of people and germs everyday.

So here is our plan:
6:30/7:00AM - Breakfasts - I will make muffins to bring for the morning and we will have with fruit. These are eaten early like around before heading to the parks.
10:30/11:00AM - Lunch - By 11 or so we are starving, sometimes earlier with all that walking around, not to mention I'm pregnant. So we plan to pack our lunch for this meal. *I need suggestions for these things as DS will not eat sandwiches of any kind. So I need something easy we could take along that is healthy and would stay fresh.*
3:30/4:00 - Dinner - So eating lunch early also makes us hungry for an early dinner so our plan is to pick somewhere in the park to eat around 4 or so. This is when we will make exceptions on what we are eating but try to order as healthy as possible.
8:00/8:30 - Late Night - After we get back to the room around 8 or so we are usually starving again! LOL All of that walking really makes us hungry and we find eating frequently but not huge meals makes us feel the best the last 2 times we've been. *So again, I need suggestions for this meal. Can be out of the fridge but no way to heat it up.*

*So basically I need HEALTHY suggestions for things I can take with us that can be in the fridge for 4-5 days. I need one set of things that will work for packing and taking to the park, and those need to include things for DS that are not sandwiches. DH and I will probably make sandwiches or pitas for this. Then I need healthy suggestions for things we can actually eat in the room already prepared and don't have to be heated up.*

Recipes and ideas would be wonderful! Thanks so much!


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## cloudswinger (Jan 24, 2005)

This cookbook might have some useful recipes. It's for times when you can't cook and have no refrigeration, so even though it says Hurricane, it's more useful than that.

http://www.fiu.edu/~health/assets/pd...04.11.2006.pdf

Also, every hotel room I've ever been to has a coffee machine, so you can get boiling water, and make instant noodles. You can drain it, toss some canned veggies and maybe some balsamic vinegar salad dressing for flavoring. Or buy an immersion coil. There's plenty you can do with one. You can make couscous, rice and probably even regular pasta with hot water.

What kind of foods do you like? We always go to Colonial Drive for Vietnamese, and there are groceries there with premade foods. Like buns filled with meat. But that's probably a half hour north of the Disney area.

Now, I'd do a snack around 4ish, and dinner around 7, take some leftovers home and bring those for lunch the next day. It's so hot now that the food will be warm by lunch time. But then again, we probably wouldn't get up so early, they don't even open until 9.


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## greeny (Apr 27, 2007)

We're going next week too!









First, I have heard that Disney is now offering healthier food. A friend of mine went about two months ago, and she said that with the kids' meals there were carrot sticks and apple slices offered in addition to fries and the usual fried stuff. (I think the "main" dish was still burgers and pizza, but apparently there are healthier sides as options.)

Second, what about granola bars? Baggies of homemade chex mix (nuts, healthy cereal, dried fruit, etc.)? Apples? Cold cuts (not in a sandwich, since he doesn't like them) and veggies?

Anyway, have fun! I am so excited about our trip.


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## PatchChild (Sep 1, 2006)

I bring lots of dried and fresh fruit, granola bars, and trail mix.

Disney has started to change over all of their kids meals to healthier sides and such. The apple sauce has been sugar free for ages which is great. They're adding in more fruits like apple slices or grapes as well. You might be surprised at many of the kids meals at sit-down places. Lots of REAL food choices, not just standard kid junk.

Have a great time!!


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## wife&mommy (May 26, 2005)

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, you all mentioned some things I hadn't thought of!









Greeny - you have fun too!


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

You can request veggie burgers, soy ice cream, organic yogurt...tofu pups etc They are not on the main menu in the parks, but you can call and ask for them. You can also ask in line at the food places (but I would still call first and ask which places would be more likely to have these items).

We have family in FL so we go to DW a couple of times a year, and finding healthy food (maybe not organic) is not a big problem. They have wonderful fresh fruit cups throughout all the theme parks as well. In Epcot, the resturants are pretty good, and the breakfast at The Contemproary is wonderful. Lots of fruit and more. Honestly, you can eat all the junbk you want, all the nuggest and fries, but in reality, the food can be quite good at WDW. They cater to everyone, and they employ some creative chefs at the lmore $ resturants. But even still, it's not hard to get something healthy.

That said, we bring food all the time. Nut butter sandwiches hold up well in the packpacks, apples, carrot & cheese sticks, hardboiled eggs etc. I like staying at the Wilderness Cabins as they have a kitchen and you can fill the kids up with a good breakfast of your choosing before you set out. As they eat breakfast you can boil up some eggs and put together some other itemsf ro the backpack. You can also freeze water bottles, which help keep everything cold, and then you don't have to pay $10 for a bottle of Dasani Nestle water. We've gone many times without buying any food at all in the parks, although eating is part of the fun...and gives you a chance to rest. The Wilderness cabins also have grills on the decks, so you can come home and whip up some portabella mushroom burgers and some grilled veggies.







I think the cabins are best for folks with allergies/food issues. Other places have kitchen, but other places don't have grills.

When we haven't bought food in the parks, I do always buy the kids ice cream to eat while we watch the parade.

If you stay in the value resorts, you can use the microwaves for snacks and such. I've brought Annie's burritos, Bearito popcorn etc. Technically, the microwaves are for the food they sell in the food court, but if there are no lines, and you're quick about it, you should be ok. Many times I've done this and then we've eatern our snacks by the pool. I try to do this during very off hours when it's not crowded.


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## erin_d_a (Jun 27, 2007)

I think packing lots of fruit is easy to take along, plus the fruit offered at DW is expensive!

Cheese, bread and crackers are all good.

We always take a big bag of crispy nuts with us, YUMMY.

Of course last time I went to Disney Land I had a mission to only eat mickey shaped foods the entire day.......I ended up sick as a dog, but enjoyed my mickey mission


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## jsmith2279 (Jan 12, 2007)

Yes, the healthy food is outrageously expensive there... I remember paying $12 for some fresh grapes and a banana muffin.

We Fed Ex-ed a box full of food to our hotel room so it was ready when we got there. I included a lot of Rice Dream (the boxed kind that don't require refrigeration until opening) and organic cereal for breakfast. Lots of tea that we could make in the coffee machine. Dried veggies and fruit. Granola and bags of air-popped popcorn.

The refrigerators there aren't very big, so we had to be selective about what was chilled overnight.

Good luck!


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## wife&mommy (May 26, 2005)

Thanks everyone. I think I have some great ideas. Oh and as for those who said you can get some healthy foods as Disney, yes, I know, but as I said our budget just won't allow for this for every meal we need to eat there. We will be doing that at the one meal a day we eat there.







Thanks for the reminders though.

Here is what I'm planning to bring so far:
Blueberry Muffins
Banana Muffins
Pumpking Muffins
Chicken Pasta Salad (My DH's favorite)
Ham & Pineapple Couscous salad (My DS's favorite)
Fruit, lots!
-Grapes
-Apples
-Pears
-Peaches
-Strawberries
-Bananas
-Raisins
-Avocado
-Tomato (DS loves them!)
-Oranges
Fruit Leather
Granola Bars
Organic snacking crackers
Sandwich stuff (for DH & I since DS won't eat it)
Red Beans & Rice (for DS - and he likes it with steamed veggies mixed in)
Cheese Sticks
Carrots
Lots of WATER!

Hopefully we can fill in the missing nutrition with the meal we have out there... I know these meals aren't rich in vegetables.


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