What to get to eat in room?+ refillable mugs

[Jen D]

We are going to do Tiffany Town Car with the Publix stop. Last time we went we had a studio with a fridge, but this time it is just me and my five year old in a moderate, no fridge. Don't want to go overboard on buying. Maybe just six pack of water, some juice boxes, soda for me, pop tarts-- those instant oatmeals in boxes, can I heat those with water from a coffee maker?

Also, I don't know if refillable mugs are worth it; we are there four nights/five days and I'm planning on getting drinks for the room. What do you think?

 

[pumba]

there was a hot water dispenser in the food court....plus a microwave...and toasters....buy one refillable mug...I don't think a five year old needs one.....

 

[mylilnikita]

Hello Jen D. I am going to take my 5 year old in November of this year to Disney World. Can you give me any tips, this is our first vacation to Disney World. Thanks. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[Jen D]

mylilnikita, this is my first trip where it is just me and her, although when she was much younger we did Disneyland day trips with just the two of us. It is very intense being the only parent but fun and great bonding. Just make sure you build in plenty of time for breaks, and pay attention to your child's cues-- missing meals or breaks can blow a day! In general my philosophy for this trip is to make a general plan but go with the flow.

Make sure you build plenty of Magic Kingdom time into your schedule, and don't forget to book a character meal!

 

[bornwiththeears]

We have purchased mugs at every resort...never regretted it. Your 5 year old will probably want his/her own (it is a great keepsake from your trip) - just a few drinks and it has paid for itself.

 

[goofygal1975]

I'm bringing my resort mugs back this trip to use. We don't drink a lot of soda, but it will be enough to make it worth while. (Last time I only used them twice!!) I know that i *may* not be able to reuse them...(read other threads where people got out right rude regarding this issue..so I dont want to restart that here!! )

Mugs...at least one will do the job for you and your child. I've never stayed more than a weekend and when we go in June I"m trying to figure out what to bring!! (we'll be there 6 nights)

He's a short list so far...

Bagels
Bread
Peanutbutter
Apples
Snacks...(chips,crackers,cookies)
I plan on doing the "eat breakfast in my room" for all but 2 of the days there. (Bagels or toast w/PB)
Fruit chewy snacks
(Of course some of the snacks will be to carry w/us for munchies at the parks)

Any other good ideas for quick snacks/meals to pack would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MELSMICE]

As far as the mugs, you could probably do with or without. Do you drink coffee? If so, you might want to get the mug. Does your daughter drink milk or juice? For this reason you may want to get them. (I think milk & juice is included - I remember getting OJ last year). However, if you don't think it will be worth taking the trip to the food court every time you want a drink, don't bother. Then again, 5 breakfasts with coffee or juice may be worth the cost. Regardless, it's a nice souvenir to have.

For food, take light breakfast foods, like you have listed. One suggestion I have is to get a fanny pack for both of you to put snacks in at the parks. Even dry cereal is a good snack for a 5 year old (My DD's 13, 10 & 10 still enoy it dry!) Get some pretzel nuggets, goldfish, Teddy Grahams & other snacks like that to munch on - not only in the parks - but in the room after a long day. This will help with costs of food in the parks. Also, instead of waiting in food lines, you can be waiting in attraction lines & enjoy a little treat.

 

[tmli]

For drinks next trip I'm bringing the single serving kool aid packs to add to the free ice water I'm going to ask for. (That's for ds(6)) For myself i enjoy the single servings crystal lite that will save us $5 every time we need drinks!

I often travel alone with my 6 yr old ds and patience is the key! We don't rush anything, go at his pace. Stay on site so I don't need rental car and just use WDW transportation--he loves this! Spend a lot of time in hotel pool, and just enjoy each others company.

IMHO the most important tip to having a succesful trip is.....Private Car Transportation. This was amazing! I was so worried about getting our luggage and keeping a hand on him. Our driver met us at baggage claim, retreived our bags off the belt and took care of everything from there. I only had to hold my sons hand and watch him act like he always has a Chauffer!!

We also got all the park maps at check in and each made a list of all the things we wanted to do. As we each got one of our wishes we checked it off.

Our first trip alone we also started pin trading. This was a great way for us to speak to other people and not feel "alone". Every time we had a "good" day he could buy a pin when we got back to the hotel.

This trip alone to WDW was the most special time we have ever spent together. We are doing it again this August and he's going on his first cruise in Jan'04 (DCL) of course! This time I think we'll definitely do the Pirate Cruise so I can explore the GF!

 

[Jen D]

Tracey, thanks for all the tips on traveling alone with a kid. I am very very excited, but as the trip grows closer I'm realizing the little challenges. Usually one adult would leave the room in the morning to get food items, newspaper-- can't do that this trip, she'd too young to be left alone. Ditto with laundry. Usually I like doing laundry on trips, I do it after her bedtime, but can't leave her in the room Guess I'll just skip laundry. I also worry about very unlikely things: I worry that I'll get really sick on the trip and it will be hard for me to look after Hannah.

Usually I don't obsess but I'm 8 weeks pregnant, which makes me more obsessive! I think I planned this trip in a fit of pregnancy hormones before thinking it through!

Thanks for the pin trading tip; we've been saving pins over the last year and a half, we're hoping to do some trading...

 

[katiemegcz]

About mugs...I stayed on POR last 2 trips, and did NOT use much. You have to tote them across the resort to fill them, and then if you just hoped to hop a bus, you have to tote them with! My kids did fine with milk cartons in morning, and water bottles stored in the room. Since you're pregnant (congrats!), you probably won't be drinking loads of coffee, so you could probably do fine with stuff in the room. I also took Tiffany-which was great. I had granola bars and kid-type yogurt in the fridge too, and some days, the kids didn't even want to go to breakfast.

Don't worry about your trip! You'll be fine. It'll be a great opportunity for you to bond with Hannah before the baby. Just take it slow, and don't try to do everything-or you'll miss the magic! The character meals are great. Over the past few trips, we've done most of them. I would definately recommend the 1900 Park Fare at the Floridian (we had Pooh characters, but I think it is different now). Our favorite was the Barbecue at the Campground. It isn't always running, so check for it. The kids got more character time, and there was more interaction than any other character event!

 

[Snow Brite]

and it was fine. It is a little more stressful, but not that much. We stayed at CSR and it was great. I did not get the refillable mugs as we were clear across the lake from Pepper Market, so it was not practical for the reasons you stated (can't leave alone in room to get food/drinks). I think you have the right idea on having things on hand in the room. I went with a Disney theme and got the Mickey and Pooh individual juices, the Mickey fruit chewies, the Pooh cereal and it was great. We would pick up a small carton of milk at the shop on our way back to our room at night and put it on ice and then have cereal in the morning. The dry cereal was great to take in baggies in our fanny packs to have for snacks.

As for laundry, you could certainly forgo it. But I found it easy to do. The laundry room was very close to our room and right next to the quiet pool. I left to get it started (had it pre-sorted, etc.) when they were napping one afternoon and was back inside 5 minutes. Then zipped out to put it in the dryer, again about 5 minutes. They never even knew I was gone. (Not for everyone I know, but it was fine for us.) Then when they got up we went and folded laundry then went for a dip in the pool and back to the room. Pretty painless really.

Have fun and relax. The only other thing we did that I thought worked really well for a single parent traveling with kids was each of us had one "ace in the hole". You could use it at any time for anything that did not cost money. This worked so well. My DS (5 at the time) threw his down on our very first night when he HAD to ride the monorail (at Epcot closing, 20 minutes wait). I was disgusted, as I did not want to wait in that line to ride the monorail to the TTC only to ride it back to get on the bus...well you get the idea. It actually was perfect. At the TTC we were practically the only people going BACK to Epcot and got to ride in the front car, at night. So cool. I used mine to go see Beauty and the Beast and my daughter used hers to go on Its a Small World a third time. With no other adult to trade off with this was a wonderful way of making sure everyone got to have their "moment"..

Have a GREAT time!

Jennifer