Orlando/Kissimmee Supermarkets

[Amirah]

My hubby and I rented a condo at the Liki Tiki and there is a space to cook our own food. From what I have been reading, most resorts are way out of the way and there are no supermarkets around. Is there a regular place where we go food shopping (a strip mall)? We don't want to go to a convinience store (we want real food). We are planning to make our own supper meals. One night, we will eat dinner at Magic Kingdom. We will be in Orlando for 7 days. We would like to cook as if we are in our own home. Any suggestions? [:I]

[steph_goodrum]

Have you been to Orlando before Amirah? I was just wondering as you may find when you are there that you are so busy enjoying yourself that by the time you get back to your condo you will be so exhausted you will just want to relax, and as eating out is so cheap it never seems worth the effort to us. The most we do is to put some meat on the barbie, buy a prepacked salad and sit by or in the pool while dinner cooks. I personally have enough of cooking 50 weeks a year so it's nice to get a couple of weeks off no matter how much you enjoy cooking.
If you really want to cook the best supermarket is Publix or Walmart, you'll find they do just about everything you will probably want and for more exotic dishes they often have menu cards which will show you how to cook some of the more unusual ingredients.

[chrisg]

Hi Amirah, we're staying nearby to you, there is a fantastic supermarket Publix on the 192, we always shop there or Walmart. There is a really good web site kissimmee-us192.com which shows where everything is on the 192. Liki Tiki is on map 1. Hope this helps.

[Amirah]

Thank you for the replies. To answer your question, no I have never ever ever been to Orlando. It is quite embarrassing to say. My daughter is 7 and this will be her first time as well. My husband has some health problems and that's why I have to cook our meals. That website that chrisg recommended is AWESOME! I've searched the web extensively and never came across that site. Thank you so much for the link. I see a lot of good things on that map where we can substitute our cooked meals for.

Another question, I saw the OFFICIAL TOURIST WELCOME CENTER on the map on that website...should we stop there when we first arrive. We were planning to find the Official Visitor Center on Int'l Road. The first one seems closer to our resort. Do we get free coupons, vouchers and information? You two have been most helpful.

Thanks you

[steph_goodrum]

Hi Amirah
I love that website too, it's great now that the 192 has milemarkers as well so if you want to know where a shop is you can ask them which marker they are near and saves a lot of hunting.
You'll probably find Walgreens pharmacy quite useful if your husband is on a restricted diet as they, as do Publix, have special dietary sections. I had some Polish people stay in my place for a month last
May and both the children (who were under 5) have a particular protein deficiency which means that they can eat virtually no ordinary foods, so they had some of their own protein replacement delivered to the villa but found they could get some foods in the supermarket which they were not able to get at home, which the children thought was a real treat.
I thought I recognised the name Liki Tiki and then realised we had driven past it on the 192, you will probably find you can even walk to the Publix supermarket from there, now that there are pavements on the 192.

[imported_n/a]

publix is a great supermarket and very handy on the 192.

[Andy & Arlene]

With regards to the Tourist Centre. I would check out your timeshare where you're staying first. I also own a timeshare in Orlando (I Drive) and they have all the information about all the activities, theme parks etc that are on offer in the area. I also presume they will be able to sell you tickets for the theme parks, as ours certainly do.

You often find that the staff who work there as well are locals and they may advise you of other places to go or certain restaurants to try.

Failing that, there is a good Tourist Info Centre on I Drive, not far from the Mecado Shopping Centre.

Arlene