When my husband and I started to plan our family’s first trip to Walt Disney World, I realized how many decisions we would have to make. I had been to Walt Disney World many times, but this was the first trip for my two children. It was now a very different experience than my previous single trips. Where would I want the kids to stay? Onsite or offsite? {For the record, I am an onsite type of gal.} Where would I want to take them to eat? Then, there was the whole dining plan decision… I knew that the Deluxe Dining Plan was a little too much food and down time for my family’s tastes, but the Standard Dining Plan wasn’t quite enough.
After considering the many options, my husband and I decided that our best option was to go with the Standard Dining Plan and get some breakfast food to eat in the room. My family was coming from a couple of time zones to the West, and we weren’t quite
sure that the kids would be able to get up early enough to get breakfast and to make it to the parks at a reasonable time.
We were flying into Orlando and did not want to rent a car, so I looked into taking a town car from the airport to the Contemporary Resort. I knew that I could get a stop at the grocery store included with the town car fare; however, I was a little concerned that I might not be able to get everything that I needed in the 30 minutes allowed.
Then, I remembered reading about Garden Grocer. Garden Grocer delivers groceries to the resort hotels of Walt Disney World and Universal Studios (among other Central Florida locations). My husband and I decided that this was the way to go. I spoke to someone from Garden Grocer and was assured that, not only would all my cold items be stored properly at the resort hotel until I arrived, but that I could request items that were not listed on the website. I had done my research, and I was ready to order.
I set up my account and started to browse through the site. It was laid out in such an easy format that I found everything that I needed very quickly. It is separated into “aisles” like “Beverages” and “Breakfast Foods”. From there, you can even sort by “Brand”. They even have a category view for specialty types like “Gluten Free” and “Organic”. If you want something that you don’t see, you can request it at check out.
When I ordered and paid, I chose a delivery time for a 2-hour block of time close to the time that our family would arrive via Disney’s Magical Express bus. When we got to our resort, our order was already there being kept cold in the Bell Services/luggage room. Once we got checked in and to our room, we just called Bell Services to deliver our order to us. We received everything that we ordered, and we were very happy with our experience.
Things to keep in mind when ordering from Garden Grocer (taken from their website):
- Minimum order = $40
- Deliver charge = $12 No deliver charge for orders over $200
- Currently, there is a delivery surcharge of $1.99 due to the cost of gas.
- You will need to choose a 2-hour delivery window. Delivery times are 8 am to 9 pm 7 days per week.
- Order 72 hours or more in advance to get your preferred delivery time, but 36 hours in advance is required for any order.
- Most hotels have a refrigerator and freezer to store your perishables until you arrive.
- All Disney resorts have refrigerators and freezers in their luggage rooms to store your perishables until you arrive.
- Don’t forget to check out their “Specials” tab for sale prices.
- A tip for the delivery is not required but always appreciated.