Many people ask me what are some tips for successfully enjoying a trip to the World and still maintaining your sanity. I often laugh and say how much time do you have? There are so many ways have fun at Disney, but it is so easy to get overwhelmed, especially for first time travelers. The parks are so big and there are so many things to do that I can easily see why many people say they just don't know where to start. So, here are a few of my tips for those of you who may be feeling a little overwhelmed on where to start.
First of all, decide how long you will be there, and how many days you want to spend in each park. Know before you go that you probably are not going to be able to see everything. We were there for 11 days last year and still did not experience every attraction (though truthfully there are actually a few rides and shows on property that we really don't care to see). This leads to the second part of this tip. Sit down with everyone in your group and make a list of everyone's must dos. Maybe know the top three things in each park that each person feels like they would be disappointed if they missed experiencing. Then make a plan for the day to hit those attractions first. Do the big headliners early in the day, then go to the others once these are knocked off. Once you check all of the must dos off your list, start enjoying the other rides that you may not have thought of.
Second of all, get to the parks early. I have heard many people say, "I am on vacation, I don't want to get up early". To all of you, I say thank you. You make it possible for my family to experience all of the headliners in each park before the lines get long. You make it possible for my family to experience all of Fantasyland in the morning with no lines so we can walk on and off the rides over and over again. For those of you do get up with us, I strongly suggest getting to the parks before rope drop and enjoying the opening shows. These are so cute and really set the tone for the day. Each park has a different show, but they all include characters and some singing. My daughter loves these shows and we all look forward to seeing them each trip.
Finally, plan your days, but don't try to plan every minute. As soon as you know you are going to Disney World, plan what restaurants you want to eat at and what parks you want to visit. Call 407-WDW-DINE or go online and make your reservations 180 days out if possible. As you wait for your trip to arrive look through books and visit websites to see what attractions you want to see. Make your list with the group to find the must dos and plan your days accordingly. BUT, leave time to experience the true magic of Disney. There are so many fun things that pop up that you could never plan. Your kids may enjoy spending hours in the fountains, or decide they want to drop pennies in the wishing well by the castle, or may even find out that the performances in World Showcase in the different countries are hidden gems of entertainment. Don't plan every minute so that you have time to experience these small things. They may very well turn out to be the best memories you take home with you.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Top five sit down choices of a six year old Princess
Now, as promised, here are the top choices of my Princess for restaurants in the World. While my choices were based heavily on the food itself, these are based mostly on the fun factor. My daughter also is a creature of habit, so we often have to eat at the same restaurants over and over again.
1. Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort. This was of course one of my choices as well, but she loves it for some different reasons. She loves to go to the kids section (a buffet that is a little lower for kids to reach themselves) and load her plate with mickey shaped ravioli, chicken nuggets, and macaroni and cheese. She likes some of the big people food as well, but there is not the fun factor of having it at your own level. When dinner is over she heads to the sundae bar and fills a bowl with ice cream which she proceeds to cover with m&m's and other candy. Then she goes to the dessert table and gets the yummy oreos dipped in chocolate with mickey mouse ears on top. Oh yeah, in the middle of all her serving herself she gets to meet some of her favorite characters and swing her napkin in the air when they do the birthday celebrations. For all of these reasons, and many many more this will be one of those restaurants we have to go to every time for many visits to come.
2. Tony's Town Square at Magic Kingdom. Many people probably don't even realize that this restaurant exists (I myself walked by it for years before I knew it was there). It is an Italian restaurant that is decorated in motif from the movie Lady and the Tramp. There are pictures all over the walls, a fountain in the middle of the restaurant of the two stars, and the bathrooms have a picture of either Lady or the Tramp instead of being labeled as men or women. For some reason I cannot fathom, my child LOVES this place. I don't know if it is the decorations or the fact that every time we eat there we all have to recreate the famous spaghetti scene from the movie. She takes turns "slurping" a spaghetti noodle with both me and her Daddy. It is too cute and something she randomly started making us do on our first visit there. It is now one of our "must dos" for our trips. The food isn't bad, but I definitely would not classify it as the best Italian I have ever had. I always get the chicken parmesean and she always gets plain noodles with a meatball on the side. It is always one of the highlights of our trip.
3. 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort. This is another fun buffet with really good food. The potatoes and prime rib are especially yummy, as well as a strawberry soup that I highly recommend. This of course is not why my daughter likes this one. She loves the characters that are there for dinner. It it Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Drizella, and Anastasia. When Cinderella makes her grand entrance it is announced and Prince Charming comes from wherever he is and waltzes with her. Then they go back to visiting all the tables and signing autographs. The step sisters and step mother are what make this dinner so much fun though. They are always cutting up and bickering or complaining about Cinderella. I dare someone to try to get Lady Tremaine to smile. We always try, but she is very much in character. Also, watch out, she may get on to you for making a mess or saving food for later (my husband had a crumb on his lip and she asked him if he was saving it for later and told him to be careful). It is a blast. I strongly suggest that if you do this dinner, make a reservation for as early as possible. We had a 6:30 reservation and waited well over an hour. Luckily my daughter was entranced by the grand piano player in the lobby of the hotel and made a friend to keep her company while we waited. Eat as early as you can!!!
4. Akershus Princess Dining in Epcot. This will never be my first choice for a meal, nor will it rank anywhere near the top. However, we will be eating there again this year for dinner simply because it is only one of two places on property where you can eat with several princesses at one time. The only other option is the Castle at Magic Kingdom and it is a hard meal to score, and costs two dining plan entitlements. Therefore, I will take one for the team and make one of those parent sacrifices so that my daughter can meet her favorite princesses. I tell myself that one day very soon she will be too old for the princesses and we will again get to have more say in the dinner choices. It's not that the food is horrible, it is just that it is food from Norway and not part of my normal palette. Breakfast is traditional American fare, and lunch and dinner are authentic Norway fare. We are not big breakfast people, so we go for dinner and enjoy the picture package that is now included in the price of your meal. When you first enter you get your picture taken with one princess (one 5x7 and four 4x6) then three to four more princesses visit you at your table during dinner. That experience is fun and the smile on my daughter's face as she meets her favorite people makes the dinner worth every penny.
5. Garden Grill at Epcot. Ok, so this one isn't really on my daughter's list. The true last choice would probably be the Castle or Whispering Canyon, but I have already written about those in my post. So, I tried to think of another character meal that she might choose if she had the choice. The last time my daughter ate here she was almost two, and this year when we eat there she will be turning seven so I don't think she really remembers this one. It is one of the most relaxing character meals on Disney property and the food is super yummy. It is located in the Land pavilion and is on a platform that rotates very very slowly during your meal which adds a little fun to the meal (though it turns so slowly you wouldn't even know you were rotating if you didn't happen to notice the scenery had changed from a few minutes ago). The salad is especially yummy as it is made from veggies grown fresh in the land every day at Epcot. The restaurant is relatively quiet for a character meal and a great place to unwind after a full day of walking around the biggest park on Disney property. The characters were Chip, Dale, Mickey and Pluto the last time we were there. I am very much looking forward to visiting this restaurant this year and truly hope it is one that my daughter will easily had to her list,
1. Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort. This was of course one of my choices as well, but she loves it for some different reasons. She loves to go to the kids section (a buffet that is a little lower for kids to reach themselves) and load her plate with mickey shaped ravioli, chicken nuggets, and macaroni and cheese. She likes some of the big people food as well, but there is not the fun factor of having it at your own level. When dinner is over she heads to the sundae bar and fills a bowl with ice cream which she proceeds to cover with m&m's and other candy. Then she goes to the dessert table and gets the yummy oreos dipped in chocolate with mickey mouse ears on top. Oh yeah, in the middle of all her serving herself she gets to meet some of her favorite characters and swing her napkin in the air when they do the birthday celebrations. For all of these reasons, and many many more this will be one of those restaurants we have to go to every time for many visits to come.
2. Tony's Town Square at Magic Kingdom. Many people probably don't even realize that this restaurant exists (I myself walked by it for years before I knew it was there). It is an Italian restaurant that is decorated in motif from the movie Lady and the Tramp. There are pictures all over the walls, a fountain in the middle of the restaurant of the two stars, and the bathrooms have a picture of either Lady or the Tramp instead of being labeled as men or women. For some reason I cannot fathom, my child LOVES this place. I don't know if it is the decorations or the fact that every time we eat there we all have to recreate the famous spaghetti scene from the movie. She takes turns "slurping" a spaghetti noodle with both me and her Daddy. It is too cute and something she randomly started making us do on our first visit there. It is now one of our "must dos" for our trips. The food isn't bad, but I definitely would not classify it as the best Italian I have ever had. I always get the chicken parmesean and she always gets plain noodles with a meatball on the side. It is always one of the highlights of our trip.
3. 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort. This is another fun buffet with really good food. The potatoes and prime rib are especially yummy, as well as a strawberry soup that I highly recommend. This of course is not why my daughter likes this one. She loves the characters that are there for dinner. It it Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Drizella, and Anastasia. When Cinderella makes her grand entrance it is announced and Prince Charming comes from wherever he is and waltzes with her. Then they go back to visiting all the tables and signing autographs. The step sisters and step mother are what make this dinner so much fun though. They are always cutting up and bickering or complaining about Cinderella. I dare someone to try to get Lady Tremaine to smile. We always try, but she is very much in character. Also, watch out, she may get on to you for making a mess or saving food for later (my husband had a crumb on his lip and she asked him if he was saving it for later and told him to be careful). It is a blast. I strongly suggest that if you do this dinner, make a reservation for as early as possible. We had a 6:30 reservation and waited well over an hour. Luckily my daughter was entranced by the grand piano player in the lobby of the hotel and made a friend to keep her company while we waited. Eat as early as you can!!!
4. Akershus Princess Dining in Epcot. This will never be my first choice for a meal, nor will it rank anywhere near the top. However, we will be eating there again this year for dinner simply because it is only one of two places on property where you can eat with several princesses at one time. The only other option is the Castle at Magic Kingdom and it is a hard meal to score, and costs two dining plan entitlements. Therefore, I will take one for the team and make one of those parent sacrifices so that my daughter can meet her favorite princesses. I tell myself that one day very soon she will be too old for the princesses and we will again get to have more say in the dinner choices. It's not that the food is horrible, it is just that it is food from Norway and not part of my normal palette. Breakfast is traditional American fare, and lunch and dinner are authentic Norway fare. We are not big breakfast people, so we go for dinner and enjoy the picture package that is now included in the price of your meal. When you first enter you get your picture taken with one princess (one 5x7 and four 4x6) then three to four more princesses visit you at your table during dinner. That experience is fun and the smile on my daughter's face as she meets her favorite people makes the dinner worth every penny.
5. Garden Grill at Epcot. Ok, so this one isn't really on my daughter's list. The true last choice would probably be the Castle or Whispering Canyon, but I have already written about those in my post. So, I tried to think of another character meal that she might choose if she had the choice. The last time my daughter ate here she was almost two, and this year when we eat there she will be turning seven so I don't think she really remembers this one. It is one of the most relaxing character meals on Disney property and the food is super yummy. It is located in the Land pavilion and is on a platform that rotates very very slowly during your meal which adds a little fun to the meal (though it turns so slowly you wouldn't even know you were rotating if you didn't happen to notice the scenery had changed from a few minutes ago). The salad is especially yummy as it is made from veggies grown fresh in the land every day at Epcot. The restaurant is relatively quiet for a character meal and a great place to unwind after a full day of walking around the biggest park on Disney property. The characters were Chip, Dale, Mickey and Pluto the last time we were there. I am very much looking forward to visiting this restaurant this year and truly hope it is one that my daughter will easily had to her list,
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Top Five Restaurant Choices
I thought I would share my top five favorite sit down restaurants. When I first thought of this post I thought this would be a quick and easy list. Then I started really thinking about how to rank my faves and realized I didn't know where to start with the ranking. My main reason for this roadblock is due to the fact that there are only a few restaurants at Disney World that I just don't like. Another problem is that we have eaten at several many times each, but each time is a totally different experience. It is truly dependent on the servers we get each time on how much "fun" we have. So, taking all of this into account, I am going to do my best to choose my top five. Hopefully this will offer some helpful tips if you are trying to decide where you want to eat while visiting the World.
My top five favorites are:
1. Cinderella's Royal Table. There are a lot of people who would question this choice (my husband included). Yes, it is very expensive and it takes two meal ticket credits if you are on the dining plan. Yes, it is very Fru Fru and the selection is limited. Yes, you wait in a cramped lobby to have your picture taken with Cinderella before finally being taken upstairs to your table. BUT, there is nothing more magical than eating in Cinderella's Castle. Just stepping in and having them give you your "Royal Invitation" is an amazing feeling that I could never begin to explain. Also, you do get the portrait package included in your dinner which includes a picture of the castle, and one 5x7 and four 4x6 prints of you with one of the biggest Princesses known, the wonderful Cinderella herself. Plus, all three meals now include visits in the dining room from other Princesses. So all that being said, yes it is worth getting up at the crack of dawn 180 days out from your vacation to try to score this meal (in my opinion anyway).
2. Chef Mickey's. I don't know who loves this one more, me or my daughter. This buffet has wonderful food, including a kid's buffet and ice cream sundae bar that allows me to walk away from here stuffed every single time. Plus after dinner you can go upstairs and hop on the monorail and ride it around the loop to let your dinner wear off before hitting more rides in the park. The best part of the meal is meeting the characters. While they won't guarantee which characters you will see, I have always seen Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. We even saw Daisy Duck one time as well. They are all wearing chef's gear so it makes for special pics you can't get in the parks. Plus they all come to your table, so you don't have to stand in line for hours at the park to get their autographs and pictures. More time on the rides is always good in my book.
3. Whispering Canyon Cafe. This is a very loud restaurant, but most people can't help themselves from being part of the noise factor. The food choices are yummy and with the all you care to eat skillet, I dare anyone to try to walk away hungry. The BBQ ribs and chicken are delicious and the milkshakes that you can get as your drink makes it easy to put this one on my list. Plus, there are lots of activities for the kids all during dinner that keep me laughing the whole time. If you go, just make sure you ask for ketchup. After all, everything tastes better with ketchup, right?
4. Le Cellier. I have never ever had steak like this. I am not exaggerating when I say that the steak literally melted in my mouth. Supposedly the cheddar cheese soup here is amazing as well, though we did not try it. We were too busy devouring the pretzel bread that came before the steaks. I also recommend the mouse dessert here as well. It is too cute and very very tasty. The only downfall with this choice is that it is very hard to score a reservation here. In fact the one time we ate here we got lucky as a walk up for lunch right when they opened. I had tried calling many times, including the crack of dawn on the first day I could 180 days out and they never had an opening. I do know friends who have gotten them, but usually it is when they tried to schedule the meal for a day late in their trips.
5. Teppan Edo. This is by far one of my most enjoyable meals I have had at Disney World. We ate here for the first time last year, and now I wish we hadn't waited so long to try it. This is a hibachi type restaurant where the chef cooks the meal on the grill in front of you. I was nervous about sitting at a table with strangers, but it was a lot of fun. We had a sweet retired couple next to us and they were really fun to talk to. The chef was funny and entertaining and the three of us all loved it. Oh yeah, the food was good as well! At the end of our meal, they sang Happy Birthday to my daughter and brought her a tall paper chef hat that my husband enjoyed wearing around Epcot (much to our mine and my daughter's embarrassment). This will definitely be a place we return to often in the future.
Now these are my top five. Stay tuned for a list of my daughter's top five!
My top five favorites are:
1. Cinderella's Royal Table. There are a lot of people who would question this choice (my husband included). Yes, it is very expensive and it takes two meal ticket credits if you are on the dining plan. Yes, it is very Fru Fru and the selection is limited. Yes, you wait in a cramped lobby to have your picture taken with Cinderella before finally being taken upstairs to your table. BUT, there is nothing more magical than eating in Cinderella's Castle. Just stepping in and having them give you your "Royal Invitation" is an amazing feeling that I could never begin to explain. Also, you do get the portrait package included in your dinner which includes a picture of the castle, and one 5x7 and four 4x6 prints of you with one of the biggest Princesses known, the wonderful Cinderella herself. Plus, all three meals now include visits in the dining room from other Princesses. So all that being said, yes it is worth getting up at the crack of dawn 180 days out from your vacation to try to score this meal (in my opinion anyway).
2. Chef Mickey's. I don't know who loves this one more, me or my daughter. This buffet has wonderful food, including a kid's buffet and ice cream sundae bar that allows me to walk away from here stuffed every single time. Plus after dinner you can go upstairs and hop on the monorail and ride it around the loop to let your dinner wear off before hitting more rides in the park. The best part of the meal is meeting the characters. While they won't guarantee which characters you will see, I have always seen Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. We even saw Daisy Duck one time as well. They are all wearing chef's gear so it makes for special pics you can't get in the parks. Plus they all come to your table, so you don't have to stand in line for hours at the park to get their autographs and pictures. More time on the rides is always good in my book.
3. Whispering Canyon Cafe. This is a very loud restaurant, but most people can't help themselves from being part of the noise factor. The food choices are yummy and with the all you care to eat skillet, I dare anyone to try to walk away hungry. The BBQ ribs and chicken are delicious and the milkshakes that you can get as your drink makes it easy to put this one on my list. Plus, there are lots of activities for the kids all during dinner that keep me laughing the whole time. If you go, just make sure you ask for ketchup. After all, everything tastes better with ketchup, right?
4. Le Cellier. I have never ever had steak like this. I am not exaggerating when I say that the steak literally melted in my mouth. Supposedly the cheddar cheese soup here is amazing as well, though we did not try it. We were too busy devouring the pretzel bread that came before the steaks. I also recommend the mouse dessert here as well. It is too cute and very very tasty. The only downfall with this choice is that it is very hard to score a reservation here. In fact the one time we ate here we got lucky as a walk up for lunch right when they opened. I had tried calling many times, including the crack of dawn on the first day I could 180 days out and they never had an opening. I do know friends who have gotten them, but usually it is when they tried to schedule the meal for a day late in their trips.
5. Teppan Edo. This is by far one of my most enjoyable meals I have had at Disney World. We ate here for the first time last year, and now I wish we hadn't waited so long to try it. This is a hibachi type restaurant where the chef cooks the meal on the grill in front of you. I was nervous about sitting at a table with strangers, but it was a lot of fun. We had a sweet retired couple next to us and they were really fun to talk to. The chef was funny and entertaining and the three of us all loved it. Oh yeah, the food was good as well! At the end of our meal, they sang Happy Birthday to my daughter and brought her a tall paper chef hat that my husband enjoyed wearing around Epcot (much to our mine and my daughter's embarrassment). This will definitely be a place we return to often in the future.
Now these are my top five. Stay tuned for a list of my daughter's top five!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Where do I start?
So you have decided to go to Disney. What should you do first? Buy a copy of the best book in the World....The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. This book will quickly become your best friend. It has the best information of any book I have ever read about Disney World. Even though a lot of the information is the same from year to year, I still buy the newest copy every year. I love sitting down with a hot cup of coffee every morning and reading a small section every day. It is so informative and also entertaining. It truly is a great read. I recommend buying it off the web as it is so much cheaper. Use pricegrabber.com or bizrate.com and search for the lowest price. I don't remember ever paying over $14.00 for it, shipping and all. The website for this book (touringplans.com) is a good planning tool as well. It has planning information on it that you can access for free, such as restaurant reviews, hotel reviews, blog posts, etc. They also have a premium subscription you can purchase for $10.95 that will allow you access to a crowd calendar that tells you the best days to visit each park, detailed touring plans to help you plan your days, and access to their mobile system called lines that will allow you to check wait times for attractions in the parks while you are on vacation. If you buy the book, you get a discount on this subscription rate. So buy the book, then check out the website for more assistance.
The next step is to decide when you are going to go. We have become very big fans of traveling in the fall. If it is at all possible to go during the off season, I highly recommend it. We are blessed that our little girl gets a two week break in the fall, two weeks at Christmas, and two weeks in the Spring. Of those breaks, her fall break is the only time that falls into off season touring so it is a no brainer for us. The temps are great, the crowds are low, and we love the Halloween party and decorations.
The next thing to do is decide where you are going to stay. You have two options you have to decide on first....on property or off. This is a hard decision for many, though not for our family. We always stay on property. My husband and I both used to stay off property when we took our trips with family before we were married...but then we stayed on property for our honeymoon and will not go back! For us, it is amazing being totally immersed in the magic of Disney. I will write a new post on this topic at a later date.
Once you know when you are going and where you want to stay, go ahead and book your stay (especially if you are staying on Disney property). If you book a package (room plus park tickets) through Disney, you pay a $200 deposit which is fully refundable up until 45 days out from your trip. If you change 5 to 44 days out you get all but $100 back. If you only book the room portion and no park tickets, your deposit is only the cost of one night, and you have until I think 5 days out to cancel for your full money back. The great thing about booking early is that you are guaranteed the resort that you want. Disney is wonderful in that they will allow you to change your reservation up until I think 45 days out if a better deal comes out. Disney always seems to be running some kind of special so chances are good that you will get some kind of discount during your trip. I will post later about this as well.
I think I have rattled enough for now. My mind is racing with all the information I want to post so I will save that for another date. For now, get the book and enjoy all it has to offer. Happy planning!
The next step is to decide when you are going to go. We have become very big fans of traveling in the fall. If it is at all possible to go during the off season, I highly recommend it. We are blessed that our little girl gets a two week break in the fall, two weeks at Christmas, and two weeks in the Spring. Of those breaks, her fall break is the only time that falls into off season touring so it is a no brainer for us. The temps are great, the crowds are low, and we love the Halloween party and decorations.
The next thing to do is decide where you are going to stay. You have two options you have to decide on first....on property or off. This is a hard decision for many, though not for our family. We always stay on property. My husband and I both used to stay off property when we took our trips with family before we were married...but then we stayed on property for our honeymoon and will not go back! For us, it is amazing being totally immersed in the magic of Disney. I will write a new post on this topic at a later date.
Once you know when you are going and where you want to stay, go ahead and book your stay (especially if you are staying on Disney property). If you book a package (room plus park tickets) through Disney, you pay a $200 deposit which is fully refundable up until 45 days out from your trip. If you change 5 to 44 days out you get all but $100 back. If you only book the room portion and no park tickets, your deposit is only the cost of one night, and you have until I think 5 days out to cancel for your full money back. The great thing about booking early is that you are guaranteed the resort that you want. Disney is wonderful in that they will allow you to change your reservation up until I think 45 days out if a better deal comes out. Disney always seems to be running some kind of special so chances are good that you will get some kind of discount during your trip. I will post later about this as well.
I think I have rattled enough for now. My mind is racing with all the information I want to post so I will save that for another date. For now, get the book and enjoy all it has to offer. Happy planning!
Taking the plunge
I can't believe I have done it, but I finally took the plunge. I have been toying with starting a blog for a long time, but didn't know if I would have enough to blog about. I mean, who wants to read about my boring life, right? Then the last few months I have found myself helping several fellow Mom's plan their trips to Disney World. I have answered questions ranging from the best time to visit to how to book online dining reservations. I finally decided that I might have a little more to write about than I originally thought. So therein lies my goal for this blog. I hope to post information here that will help others plan their magical trips whether they are planning their first trip to the World, or their tenth. I am by far not an expert, but do have a lot of experience and knowledge based on my own trips and self education. I am a self proclaimed Disney addict and love talking all things Disney. So if you share my love of Disney or are thinking about planning your own Disney vacation, stay tuned for more (hopefully) helpful hints.
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