Yea I thought about the bread being soggy. I love those chicken tender subs they make thoughI've done this and stored the sandwiches in the insulated pocket of my diaper bag (sort of a soft side-like cooler I guess)
Skip the sauces, mayo, tomatoes or anything you can imagine soaking into the bread. I have a very visual memory of making my children eat soggy sandwiches on the bench near Spaceship Earth at Epcot. Not the happiest lunch ever.
Since then I decided to opt on eating in the parks.
Yea ultimate is good but my go to will always be the chicken tender sub. It may be a bit much to lug around. Reason why I want to bring in a sandwich or burrito is because I really do not care for the food in the parks.I have to say if you haven't had an Ultimate boars head sub from Publix you haven't really lived yet. You'll never be satisfied with any other sub from any other chain ever again. They are that good.
Having said that, IMO it's a pain to lug all that around and the savings isn't really that much. If you must, there are small insulated sleeves and pouches you can buy that really do a fantastic job and you don't have all that extra baggage to deal with. We did that on one trip with my wife when she was trying to stick to diet for breakfast and lunch.
I have to say if you haven't had an Ultimate boars head sub from Publix you haven't really lived yet. You'll never be satisfied with any other sub from any other chain ever again. They are that good.
Having said that, IMO it's a pain to lug all that around and the savings isn't really that much. If you must, there are small insulated sleeves and pouches you can buy that really do a fantastic job and you don't have all that extra baggage to deal with. We did that on one trip with my wife when she was trying to stick to diet for breakfast and lunch.
Having said that, IMO it's a pain to lug all that around and the savings isn't really that much.
What are you comparing when you say the savings isn't really that much? Do you mean buying from Publix vs. eating at a QS? If so, then I'd probably agree. We did that once...and only once. On our Thanksgiving trip, we didn't arrive at WDW until about 6pm. Long story short, we were supposed to drive down the night before, but DS10s' football team made it to their "Super Bowl" so we had to delay the trip by a day and left right after the game was over. Left Atlanta around 11:30am and arrived near WDW at 6:30pm. We wanted to head straight to MK. Instead of just making an exception and buying QS, we stopped at Publix. I'd guess we saved $8-$10 total over if we had just gone to QS. It wasn't worth the extra stop, eating in the car, etc...in hindsight we should have just made an exception and done QS.
However, if you're comparing bringing your own food in (buying bread and cold cuts, etc...) to eating in the parks, I'd completely disagree with you. That's what we do 99% of the time, bring our own food in. We spend a small fraction of what people who eat in the parks do.
I think regardless of where your vacation is if you have a kitchen it can actually be more relaxing to have some of your own food. Otherwise you have to get cleaned up from the pool or beach or whatever and decide where you want to eat. Sometimes it's real nice to just go to the fridge and make yourself something whenever you decide you are hungry. Also if a place is unfamiliar, it helps to have some stuff you know everyone likes.Yeah, I know what you're saying, but as I've said many times before I think a lot of people have a serious misconception about what packing/cooking on a WDW vacation really is. Sure, if you want to make it work and time consuming you can. But we make and prep incredibly simple stuff. The "cooking" seriously consists of dropping boneless skinless chicken breasts into the oven and letting it cook while we relax. Stuff like that, almost zero "prep" work. Clean up consists of putting everything in a dishwasher and pressing the "start" button. Minimal actual dish scrubbing. For us, the value proposition is well worth it. I'd say we spend about $5-$6/person per day while on vacation. For the 10 minutes per day we spend on food prep, it's worth it. If we had to spend hours over a hot stove, maybe not. But it's just a routine we've gotten into and enjoy it. Doesn't mean it's for everyone, I understand the attraction of eating out.
When we stay at a place with a kitchen, we always make breakfast. For lunch and dinner, we will just get take out or find a decent place offsite. We are just too tired at the end of the day to cook or prep.Yeah, I know what you're saying, but as I've said many times before I think a lot of people have a serious misconception about what packing/cooking on a WDW vacation really is. Sure, if you want to make it work and time consuming you can. But we make and prep incredibly simple stuff. The "cooking" seriously consists of dropping boneless skinless chicken breasts into the oven and letting it cook while we relax. Stuff like that, almost zero "prep" work. Clean up consists of putting everything in a dishwasher and pressing the "start" button. Minimal actual dish scrubbing. For us, the value proposition is well worth it. I'd say we spend about $5-$6/person per day while on vacation. For the 10 minutes per day we spend on food prep, it's worth it. If we had to spend hours over a hot stove, maybe not. But it's just a routine we've gotten into and enjoy it. Doesn't mean it's for everyone, I understand the attraction of eating out.
I think regardless of where your vacation is if you have a kitchen it can actually be more relaxing to have some of your own food. Otherwise you have to get cleaned up from the pool or beach or whatever and decide where you want to eat. Sometimes it's real nice to just go to the fridge and make yourself something whenever you decide you are hungry. Also if a place is unfamiliar, it helps to have some stuff you know everyone likes.
When we stay at a place with a kitchen, we always make breakfast. For lunch and dinner, we will just get take out or find a decent place offsite. We are just too tired at the end of the day to cook or prep.