Restaurants, Convenience Stores, and Coffee Oh My!

I do not have any personal experience with those places or their quality (though I generally find good food at convention centers that I've been to in other cities), however for any places inside the convention center, I would expect airport prices.

 

At CIV, In the con - I paid $13.00 for a hot dog,small order of fries and a med size ice tea!!
That hurt I tell ya.But there was no place to eat with in a mile or more in LA. We wont have to worry this time around.
Theres plenty to accommodate everyone's budget . I mean there is a Subway and McDonald with in one block of the con.

 

Keep in mind, however, that while there are some of the quick and cheap places pretty close to the OCCC, you have to think about how much you want to leave during the day for lunch. 30,000 people all trying to go to Subway at lunch time may not be a good option.

I always recommend, if you can, to bring something with you so you don't have to leave. A lot of hotels these days have fridges so you could keep supplies in there to make a quick sandwich to keep with you (or if your hotel is close enough, just run back to your room to eat).

The key here is that the closer the restaurant is to the OCCC, the more crowded it will be too so you may not save much time there.

I'm really just talking about lunch here though. Dinner is different since that becomes more of an off-site social event.

 

saaaaayyy, is there any way a mod could sticky this for everyone now that we're 4 weeks out? That would be grrreat....

 

I offered a suggestion on one of the other boards.
I buy the pre-package Tuna fixin's, bag of cookies, Crystal Light pouches, water bottle and mints to eat during the day.
If your hotel puts out fresh fruit every morning, then that's a bonus!
As for dinner, I'm not big into large meals, so, there's a Subway within one block of my hotel.

 

I'm staying at Embassy Suites, so my plan is to eat a large breakfast and bring some snacks with me for during the day. Looking at the tentative schedule, I think I'll be busy enough to not even think about eating lunch! Then I'll only have to figure out dinner each day.

 

Thank you to Amidala081499 & everyone for the info!

If I can get to the McDonald's every day, I will be good. I need my 1 iced coffee a day to keep my engine running!

May the Force be with us!

Jay Tee Erricck
http://www.rebellegionhawaii.com <<<<<<<<< Please check out the pix of fans in costume in our GALLERY section! Lots more pics (including of CIV) still to come!

 

Maybe Red Lobster can set aside an area, if you call ahead.

 

Does anybody know how late those places stay open? Last time I was in Florida visiting the parks was in 2001 and during that time I was positive everything closed at 9pm even though it was the weekend.

 

You're not too far off. Restaurants closer to the center do close semi early: I wanna say 9-10 for most, possibly 11 on Fri/Sat. As you head north toward Sandlake (and therefore Universal) there's the typical open till 11-12. There's a Dennys on the far side of the Omni, I do not recall offhand if its open 24 hours but I can recon if someone needs.

For those interested in doing more grocery type thing, there's a Publix not far from the con (www.publix.com > store locator) semi close to SeaWorld. It's the best grocery store in the Southeast no question. Never had any issues with date changing on meat, decent(ish) prices (the store brand is GREAT quality and def cheap) and prolly one of the cleanest stores you'll ever see.

Also, there's a McDonalds close to 528 on the south side of the Dennys/Omni. Prolly packed like hell during normal times but if you plan yourself right and hit it during off hours it's a less obnoxious and the prices for the area aren't terrible (in fact I think I pay a little more since I live next to UCF.)

As a local I will warn you about one thing that I've noticed dining in most of the sit down places on I-drive:

They know you're a tourist and they don't care about repeat customers. Service is tolerable but usually mediocre. If you're used to regular southern hospitality, don't look for it there. :C

 

I added a few more shopping places to the map in case anyone needs to stock up on supplies before the Lucas Campout:

http://bit.ly/ffswcv

I also threw in what looked to be the closest movie theater.

 

One thing that I like (I call the hotel to confirm) is that the Rosen Centre hotel has a Deli that's open realy late (which mean I can get food when I get in at like 11pm- ugg..timezone change) and so there's a place to eat there. Plus, since I'll have a car, I'll probably hit up a local supermarket for some food that's not at conviencce store prices for breakfast...any maybe lunch.

If people are willing to pitch in for gas, and have their hotel in the area of the convention, I'll be happy to have people car share to the supermarket. I'm all about saving money (and eating better) at the convention so that I have more money to spend IN the convention.

PM me if you're interested.

 

I LOVE Papa Johns!! I SOOO Miss that place!!! Haven't had it since I moved out to Cali.

 

I've got two questions I hope someone can help me out with:

1) There's a Walmart (8990 Turkey Lake Rd) right across from my hotel (Embassy Suites) I'd like to go to for food and to see if they've got their new exclusive Jabba toy. Only problem- the intersection.
It may sound like a dumb question, but HOW can I get across to the other side? Are there underground walkways/ passages or bus shuttles? Dodge two highly frequented intersections Frogger style?
Surely there has to be a way for people who don't have a car to get there.

2) I've been thinking about about going to the Florida Mall (Simon's Mall). Unfortunately, they don't have any info on public transportation to get there. Any suggestions what would be the easiest/ cheapest/ safest way?

Any suggestions would be truly appreciated!

 

Billy Dee, My brother lives in Winter Springs and he told me you CAN NOT get to that walmart by foot. You most likly will have to get a taxi for both or carpool.

 

Hey Eric!
Thanks for asking your brother about it. Guess I will either walk or take a cab. I hope the toy hunt will be worth it!

 

No problem Billy Dee.

 

I'm curious, did anyone try the "Blue Milk Ice Cream" in the eating area?

I tried a sample and couldn't quite put my finger on the flavor.