I am so excited to report that I booked our family vacation to Orlando! We're visiting both Disney and Universal, and I cannot wait! We've visited both before: Universal in 2012 and Disney in 2013. We're going this May, and I have so much planning to do!
One of the things I plan is vacation food. I came back from Disney last time having lost 2.4 pounds, so I need to spend some time analyzing what worked and what, if anything, to change.
We have never stayed on-property, and probably never will. We stayed at the Windsor Hills condominiums, which are 10 minutes door-to-door from all the Disney parks. Disney is not a cheap vacation, but we try to do it as cheaply as possible and save our $$$ for the priority items. We love Windsor Hills, and we're so excited to stay in the same condo this trip!
We meal-planned and grocery-shopped, and cooked quite a few meals at the condo. I love cooking, so it's not a chore I avoid on vacation. We ate breakfast at the condo every day: overnight fridge oats for me, and organic pancakes for my family. I actually packed an insulated lunch bag to the parks most days, and would eat it with my family while they got a counter service lunch. I was nervous that Security would give me a hard time, but the guard couldn't have been nicer when they searched my lunch bag. Frankly, my digestion is so finicky that I knew I needed to stick to clean food on vacation. I took things like boiled eggs, homemade power bars, string cheese, and fruit. We love turkey legs, so a couple of times, all three of us would split one for lunch.
We also took mid-afternoon breaks most days to relax in the A/C at the condo for a couple of hours. We'd throw together a salad and protein, then head back to the parks for evening activities, parades, and fireworks. Using all these strategies, we saved an absolute fortune on food: I think we came in $250 under budget for our food costs. Don't ask me how badly we blew through our merch budget, however!
Another vacation strategy is planned treats. I really don't feel deprived on vacation - I plan at least one treat every day, but the trick is it has to be completely worth it. Usually it's the darkest chocolate treat I see!
Before our last trip, I did a ton of research on where to find healthy food at Disney. I really like this blog: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2010/02/04/eating-healthy-in-walt-disney-world/
and plan to do more research on any recent additions. After having been once, I feel a little more confident in my ability to find healthy choices. Honestly, the hardest thing for me was the lack of vegetables. So I really tried to cram as many veggies as possible into my condo dinners.
We had one character dinner last trip, at the Garden Grille in Epcot. It was absolutely delicious! It all tasted really fresh and homemade.
Lastly, it was during our 2013 trip that I realized how underrated walking is as an exercise. I really did not deprive myself of food, and with all the daily treats, I figured I would gain. But the lack of stress and cortisol, coupled with miles and miles of walking every day, was amazing. It was when we returned home that I tried to increase my pleasure walking.
Stay tuned, and I'll post more vacation tips/tricks as I remember them.
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