What kind of cooler do you keep in your room?

[Pink Flamingo]

Howdy - I've read here that a lot of you bring a cooler to keep things cold in your room instead of renting a refrigerator. I was wondering what size & kind of cooler do you bring?

We will be staying for 9 nights & have to transfer from 1 resort to another one time during our stay. We are flying & will not have a rental car.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[perdidobay]

I bought a cooler from Target a year ago that has wheels and folds up. It would work great for taking on a plane. You could even pack it with clothes for the trip. It keeps things very cold and rolls well. I keep it in my car at home for the trip home from the grocery to keep things cold. It holds about 4 6packs of canned drinks plus room for ice.

 

[Dodie]

Stop at a grocery store and buy a throw-away styrofoam cooler (they all have them - for just this purpose). Just make sure you buy one with straight vertical sides, instead of the kind where the vertical sides slant in toward the bottom. The straight ones hold a lot more.

At the end of your trip, you just leave it in the room or put it in the trash.

 

[LeahA]

We invested in a Coleman Electric Cooler, it was $60.00 at our Wal-Mart. We drive down to Disney and we can plug it in our cigarette lighter in the car, and we have another cord for a wall outlet in our room. It works great for all our car trips, as well as having an extra cooler for those summer bbq's. It's nice not to have to worry about ice.

Leah

 

[Pink Flamingo]

Thanks so much! These are all great ideas.

 

[KristinU]

LeahA,

We have considered one of the plug in coolers, but are concerned about draining the car batteries when it is plugged in and we are not driving. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this - like do you worry if you leave it plugged in in the car for a few hours or overnight? I suppose overnight you can take it into a hotel room or something. We do quite a bit of camping, but not always at sites with hook ups - so I'd want to be sure we could really get use out of it and still be able to drive the car.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Fºoºz]

We purchased a collapsible soft-sided cooler (Coleman hipp hugg cooler with leakproof lining - 20 cans+ice capacity) at Wal-Mart when we arrived in Orlando and used it for the two weeks we were there ... just re-packed it with ice each evening. Worked great and took it home with us ... just squished it down and packed it in our luggage as we also had to fly. We still have it two years later!

 

[Sammy]

We purchased a collapsible cooler by California Innovations. We bought it at either Sam's or BJ's and it was pretty big when opened (holds 36 cans). One of the reasons I liked it was that is has a leakprook, zip-out vinyl liner. We had ice in the cooler 24/7 and never once did the lining leak. It collapses down to about 1" thick so it packed easily in the luggage.

 

[Pooh's Pal]

We always stopped at a store on our way from the Orlando airport to the resort and picked up a styrofoam cooler and tossed it in the trash or gave it away when we left. (Usually to some family just checking in, always met someone in the parking lot.etc.) But now after reading these posts and searching the web I think I will pack a collapsilbe (SP) cooler.
I found some on www.coleman.com Look at thier web store and the closeouts..They have 6, 9, 12 & 48 ones on sale..The 48 is only $14.99 now...

Thanks for the tip FooZ
How'd you do that MIckey thing with your O's??

 

[Fºoºz]

Originally posted by Pooh's Pal

Thanks for the tip FooZ
How'd you do that MIckey thing with your O's??

Hi Pºooºh's Pal ...
While holding down the ALT key, enter the numbers in the following sequence
1 6 7 then release the ALT key ...

In re: to the collapsible coolers, I notice that either they are described as leak-proof or leak-resistant ... it may be a good idea to either test it out before you go or keep the receipt if you buy one in Orlando in case it doesn't work up to snuff. The first night we tried ours out ... we placed it in on a dry towel in the bathtub and checked on it the following AM ... not a drop leaked out even though quite a bit of the ice had melted.

Good luck.

 

[LeahA]

KristenU,

We usually just take cooler into our hotel room with us, so if we do leave it in the car, it's just at our pit stops. We haven't had a problem yet with our car battery, (knocking on wood, right now!) We felt it was a good investment, our first trip we did the cooler, ice thing, and it was a pain!

Leah

 

[Coll0610]

We use a collapsible cooler too and it works great. I also put the ice in ziploc bags. It's easier to just empty the bags and refill them and not have to empty the whole cooler. Plus, stuff in the cooler won't get soggy. The bags leaked a little, so I think I emptied the whole cooler once in the 7 days we were there.

 

[WDWVirgin]

"We have considered one of the plug in coolers, but are concerned about draining the car batteries when it is plugged in and we are not driving. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this - like do you worry if you leave it plugged in in the car for a few hours or overnight? I suppose overnight you can take it into a hotel room or something. We do quite a bit of camping, but not always at sites with hook ups - so I'd want to be sure we could really get use out of it and still be able to drive the car."

We have one also. Great investment. It does state in the manual that you should operate on your car's battery up to 4 hours only. So, if you camp without hook-ups it won't work well (but it does if you do!!) You can't regulate the temperature (I believe it says the cooler temp will be approx. 40 degrees cooler than air temp), but it still works well.

My family is flying and my parents will be driving down with our cooler in their car. I consider it "paid for" by our refrigerator rental fees from DW (not to mention ice $ saved when camping). I know, a styrofoam cooler and free ice would work better on a tight budget, but I plan to get lots of use from it.

 

[Chipmunk]

My aunt works for Coleman. She gave us a large soft cooler a few years ago. It's easy to pack and has handles.
You could even pack dry snacks in it and check it at the airport. It did leak a little bit so we kept it in the bathtub. It worked
fine keeping food cold.

 

[SNOWBOARDER]

Hi,
We take a collapsible cooler on all of our trips, except this next one 'cuz we'll have a fridge. Instead of packing the cooler, for the return trip, we always pack it with souvenirs. You can protect them with dirty clothes, towels, etc. and lock it, with an electrical tie, and put a luggage strap around it,(available at Wal-mart for a couple of $$), and check it as luggage. Hope this helps!!