When I first moved to Orlando, everyone told me I had to go to Goodings. And they were right, it was by far the best super market experience in the area. But still, it lacked something. That something was customers. The prices at Goodings were also the highest in the area.
One by one each location closed down for one reason or another. Even the brand new one that was the only location for Celebration. Now, word comes that the last location is behind on its rent and will likely be evicted soon.
Goodings at the Crossroads, which is right across the street from the Downtown Disney hotels, is the closest grocery store to Walt Disney World. When it closes that honor will go to the Publix near the Gaylord Palms and HWY-192. There’s also a Publics in the Williamsburg area, which is just past SeaWorld on the Central Florida Parkway. If you want to go a little further there area also a couple of nearby Super Walmarts.
When you visit Walt Disney World, do you visit a super market to stock up on supplies? What hints do you have that might help others who want to do the same.
I feel like Publix is the best grocery store option when you’re in LBV anyway. Fresh, great lunch-packing supplies, inexpensive, and compared to every Wal-Mart in the area, extremely clean and not crowded.
I’d never heard of Goodings, so when I go grocery shopping while at Walt Disney World, I go to Winn-Dixie just north of Crossroads on 435/Apopka Vineland Road.
It’s not too far away, the prices are reasonable (especially if you have one of their free club cards) and their selection is pretty decent.
I was at Goodings (for the first time) about a month and a half ago. It was depressing – you could tell things were in bad shape because they couldn’t keep the shelves stocked. The lighting was bad, the decor looked like it hadn’t been updated since 1985, the selection was poor and everything was expensive. The few remaining checkout people were nice, however.
Good riddance. Seriously. But it’s annoying that there aren’t more “general sundries” places near (or god forbid – ON) property.
I’m not saying you need to put a Walgreen’s in DTD, but could you at least put one inside the LBV hotel area?
I started shopping at Goodings the first time we stayed at Fort Wilderness. Yes, their prices were a bit high, but at the time they were the only ones really close. The interior of the store was gorgeous at that time and their customer service was beyond compare. The last time we were in LBV (about 2 years ago) we went in Goodings once, but couldn’t find what we needed and ended up at Winn Dixie. It’s a shame, but the way of the world these days!
I was going to say the Winn-Dixie just north of Crossroads is closer than that Publix. It’s just north of the Steak-n-Shake by about a block.
There’s also a SuperWalmart just south on 535/Apopka-Vineland, 1 stoplight south of the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlet mall.
Actually, there are two Winn-Dixie stores closer than the Publix you mention. One, as noted by Tim W., just about a quarter of a mile away from Crossroads, and another two miles East of World Drive on 192. There is even a Publix closer than the ones you mention. It is near International Drive on Vineland Avenue, just past the Premium Outlets.
Tourists too often are not adventurous enough to seek out alternatives to the hotels, especially when staying on WDW property. And unless you are from an area that has a Publix, you are not as apt to feel they will be any more reasonably priced as their hometown grocery store than anything on property. The Walmart on 535 is where many end up. Say what you want about Walmart, but it is a known entity.
For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the supermarket we go to, but it was about 1/2 way between the airport & WDW. We always stock up on bottles of water & usually the 100 calorie snack bags. Since we use the meal plan that usually is enough to fill the little holes where we might want an extra beverage or something to tide us over until the next meal and those little 100 calorie bags are easy to tote around.
If you fly in (like we do) don’t go too crazy at the supermarket (unless you don’t use a meal plan) because the last thing you are going to want to do is to leave behind a lot of stuff or worse, try to cart it home.
Publix at 8145 Vineland Ave Orlando, FL 32821 has a great selection, and they also carry lots of the essentials (sun gear, t-shirts, disney cups, etc) It also has a good Kosher, Vegan, Natural selection as well.
Hope it helps!
Z
Nearest Supermarket to Walt Disney world might close. http://bit.ly/bOt70A where do you like to stock up on supplies when you're at WDW?
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Closest Super Market to Disney World to close | The Disney Blog http://bit.ly/92fFgC
We stay at Saratoga Springs everytime we go to Disney and do NOT rent a car. What is the closest grocery store within walking distance to there. I can see nothing from the parking lots of Downtown Disney or Saratoga. Any ideas?
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We’re usually driving in from the Atlanta area with our little one and always need to stop off for milk and bananas etc, but not a ton of groceries. Mostly it depends on where we’re staying. We’ve gotten things at the Super Walmart on the frontage road to the SW of the Sand Lake rd exit off of I-4 on our way in to town or if we’re staying up near Universal somewhere. Plus its handy if we realize we forgot something and need a quick cheap replacement (we never travel without a baby thermometer now) Otherwise we have shopped at Goodings in the past when staying in that immediate area and it was thoroughly depressing. Almost $5 for a gallon of milk, half the lights on in the store, water damage and ceiling tiles fallen everywhere. We basically only went there if we were in dire straits. Otherwise when we stay on grounds or in the maingate area we hit the Publix off 192 at International Dr since its a pretty strait shot and the RaceTrac just the other side of the 417 tollway on 192 usually has fairly cheap gas compared to elsewhere.
Granted, I’m a local, so the location of Goodings doesn’t really mean much to me, but I’ve never really been impressed with it. Prices were high for the same stuff you can find anywhere else and the whole place seemed… run down, to me.
If they wanted to put a pricey, but nice grocery store in that spot, I’d rather have a Wegmans, where at least I’m getting organic food and interesting cheese for my money.
But yeah, that Winn Dixie several people have mentioned is my favorite. I used to not like it and didn’t go there for a LONG time, but they remodeled or something and now it’s beautiful and not usually super crowded.
How sad that Goodings is closing. I hope Publix will be just as good.
I suggest Netgrocer.com and Amazon.com groceries and have it delivered to the hotel. They both have low prices. With Amazon generally speaking any order over $20 has free shipping and you can sign up for a trial of Amazon Prime (assuming you don’t already have it) and get guaranteed two day delivery for free on most items.
So you will need to do a little planning ahead so that the items arrive at the same time you do. But if you don’t order perishable items, it won’t matter that much if they get there a little before you.
I second Ceej’s vote for Wegmans… as a current WDW CM and former Wegmans employee.
We used to shop at the Gooding’s Flagship by Universal when we lived over that way. It was a really, really nice chain of stores back then. Decent prices, nicely-kept stores, great selection.
I wonder what happened.
Going to Goodings to stock up on water and snacks has always been a part of WDW tradition for my family. I love the outdated decor and the happy people working there, and the fact that it was always open 24 hours. I’ll miss it dearly.
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John, I used to go to Goodings but it’s always so filthy, poorly stocked, and expensive that I stopped. The one thing that makes me sad is that every interaction I’ve had with employees there has been positive and friendly, so I’ll be sad for them.
I mainly go to the Super Target on 192. It’s really cheap and the selection is good and they have some gluten free and soy items for people who need those products. For example, a 1/2 gallon of organic milk there is half what it is at Goodings. It’s across I-4 on your left. If you pass the Waffle House at Seven Dwarfs Lane, you’ve gone too far. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll drive down to the Mall of Millenia. They’ve got everything you could want down there (plus Krispy Kreme with a drive-thru) including a Super Target and a Super Walmart. The Winn Dixie just a couple of miles down from Goodings on Apopka Vineland is okay, but the selection isn’t great.
The last time we used Garden Grocer, I noticed their selection had gotten a lot bigger. They’re pretty reasonably priced.
We always go to the Win Dixie (or is it Winn Dixie)? For some reason we always have the place to ourselves when we go there, so its never a hassle.
It's probably a sign of how geeky I am that this actually means something to me: Closest grocery store to WDW to close http://bit.ly/bKlKgn
i’m really not surprised… their prices just did them in. i’m sure they had to price things at a premium since i imagine rent in an area so close to disney property is pretty high, but that’s not going to stop people from going elsewhere so they don’t have to pay inflated prices.
We’re staying in a villa this summer and plan to make a lot of meals in our room (the thought being $200 for a week of groceries as opposed to $200+ per day for meals). We aren’t renting a car. I’ve been looking at a couple of options — taxi, hotel shuttle (if available) or the online options that Chris Wade mentioned above. I’m also open to you giving me a ride, John.
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