We've managed to be lucky enough to visit Walt Disney World at various times for some special events. So far our favorite event has been attending Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and we've managed to do that twice.
The first time was in October of 2003 and it was planned as an event we were going to attend without the kids. Since our in-laws were with us for the trip, we made plans to leave the kids with them one night and have a nice dinner and then attend the party. With the park being open until midnight, we figured the kids wouldn't tolerate that anyway.
Little did we know my mother-in-law would fall ill on that trip and they would end up leaving after only 2 days there. We made due without them by purchasing tickets for the kids to attend the party with us instead.
It worked out just fine for us. That day we had dinner at the Garden Grill with the kids. Not only did the kids have fun with the characters there but I also surprised Frank with a re-hitching ceremony where they pronounced us married again and had us kiss in front of everyone, and then brought out a cake for us to enjoy. It was fun.
That evening we hit the Halloween Party. We arrived pretty early and secured a spot on main street when the headless horseman came galloping down on the horse. It was so cool to see the park lit up for Halloween and all of the characters dressed up. The kids had bags for trick-or-treating and even though Noelle wasn't yet walking, we wheeled the stroller up to various lines so even she could get something. The park wasn't terribly crowded and we managed to watch the special Halloween parade which was very cool. I think we only stayed for a few hours, and Noelle slept for some time there, but we still had fun.
Three years later we would get the chance to enjoy the party as adults. This time Frank and I made a special 3-night trip to Walt Disney World for our 8-year anniversary. It also coincided with the Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT, which was also very nice. We ran ourselves ragged at the parks for those few days but we still had a good time. We enjoyed hitting the ride at the Magic Kingdom at night and bypassing the parade the first time. We did watch the fireworks show at the castle later in the evening and caught the parade as well. We also did a pretty good amount of trick-or-treating too. It was fun and we plan to do it again for our 10-year anniversary next year.
The Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT was also very nice. We spent one afternoon just eating and drinking our way around the World Showcase at EPCOT. We would look at the booth for each country and determine if there was anything we wanted to try, then purchase a small food item or a drink or both and share them. By the time we made it all the way around EPCOT we were no longer hungry, which was a shame because we had dinner reservations a few hours later at Narcoossee's which ended up being a fabulous meal, and I'm not saying that just because I had already had plenty to drink before we arrived. We are looking forward to returning next year to the Food and Wine Festival and this time we'll be smart about it and NOT make dinnner plans early on the night we plan to visit the festival.
This year we'll experience another special event at Walt Disney World and that will be Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. It will be cool to see the parks all decorated for Christmas and be able to see the lights and everything else which I'm sure will be great since it's Disney.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
31 Days to Go - Disney Planning Spreadsheet
I'm the biggest procrastinator in the world when it comes to most things EXCEPT travel. I always plan trips way in advance, and Disney is no exception. Disney trips made with me are planned out quite a bit. See below:
This is my typical Disney spreadsheet. At the top, you'll notice the dates of travel. The next row, in light orange, are each Disney parks operating hours during that day. Park hours in the darker bold font are the parks operating under Extra Magic Hours, which means they are open earlier or closing later than normal.
The next row in the purple and yellow background are the resorts information. For this trip, we are splitting our stay between Old Key West and Saratoga Springs. We haven't had the opportunity to stay at either one of these resorts in the past, though we've visited both before.
The next row with the light green background shows the planned parks for that day. These are always subject to change depending on weather and other factors, so it's just a guideline and some of these are due to restaurant dining reservations.
The next few rows are just open places for different information. The yellow background in these rows are planned tours. For this trip we have planned a Family Magic Tour one morning and Frank will dive at EPCOT on another day. The light blue background indicates our dining reservations. These are restaurants where we have secured ADRs - Advanced Dining Reservations. I indicate in these blocks the time of the reservation, the restaurant, it's location, the number of people as well as the ADR number that was assigned when I made the reservation. This comes in handy if I ever have to call back Disney for any changes as sometimes they have trouble looking it up by name or phone number. I have a green background block do indicate the day that we plan to attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party this year also, and a gray block to indicate the day other people will arrive to join us, specifically my brother and his girlfriend on this trip. The last row contains times for other special evening events, such as nighttime parades, fireworks, etc. including the Wishes fireworks show at the Magic Kingdrom and Fantasmic! at MGM Studios. There is also Illuminations at EPCOT in the evening but that is usually run at the same time every night, where Wishes and Spectromagic can change times depending on the park hours.
I'll make several copies of this in a final version and distribute them to be used during our trip to make sure everyone knows our gameplan. I don't expect everyone in our group (which will be 11 people at it's maximum) to have to follow this exactly. Dining reservations are there if they want to join us on some dates, but they certainly don't have to if they want to try something else.
This is my typical Disney spreadsheet. At the top, you'll notice the dates of travel. The next row, in light orange, are each Disney parks operating hours during that day. Park hours in the darker bold font are the parks operating under Extra Magic Hours, which means they are open earlier or closing later than normal.
The next row in the purple and yellow background are the resorts information. For this trip, we are splitting our stay between Old Key West and Saratoga Springs. We haven't had the opportunity to stay at either one of these resorts in the past, though we've visited both before.
The next row with the light green background shows the planned parks for that day. These are always subject to change depending on weather and other factors, so it's just a guideline and some of these are due to restaurant dining reservations.
The next few rows are just open places for different information. The yellow background in these rows are planned tours. For this trip we have planned a Family Magic Tour one morning and Frank will dive at EPCOT on another day. The light blue background indicates our dining reservations. These are restaurants where we have secured ADRs - Advanced Dining Reservations. I indicate in these blocks the time of the reservation, the restaurant, it's location, the number of people as well as the ADR number that was assigned when I made the reservation. This comes in handy if I ever have to call back Disney for any changes as sometimes they have trouble looking it up by name or phone number. I have a green background block do indicate the day that we plan to attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party this year also, and a gray block to indicate the day other people will arrive to join us, specifically my brother and his girlfriend on this trip. The last row contains times for other special evening events, such as nighttime parades, fireworks, etc. including the Wishes fireworks show at the Magic Kingdrom and Fantasmic! at MGM Studios. There is also Illuminations at EPCOT in the evening but that is usually run at the same time every night, where Wishes and Spectromagic can change times depending on the park hours.
I'll make several copies of this in a final version and distribute them to be used during our trip to make sure everyone knows our gameplan. I don't expect everyone in our group (which will be 11 people at it's maximum) to have to follow this exactly. Dining reservations are there if they want to join us on some dates, but they certainly don't have to if they want to try something else.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
37 Days to Go - Character Meals
We've had the fortune of being able to eat at many different character buffets during our visits at Disney. Even when we go without the kids, there are still some meals that I insist on attending.
My favorite character dinner buffet is the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends at the Magic Kingdom. First of all, you are eating at the Magic Kingdom and some tables even have a view of the castle. What could be better? However, the food there is really quite good for buffet and I especially enjoy the prime rib and the shrimp, but everything is always good. I think we've done this particular buffet for at least our last 3 or 4 trips.
We've had breakfast at the Crystal Palace also, but I'm not a huge breakfast eater anyway so I can do without it. It's still good though.
My next favorite character meal has to be Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, if only for the fun atmosphere that takes over the place. Most of the time we've had breakfast there and really enjoyed it. We had dinner once and I wasn't as impressed with it, but for our upcoming trip we'll try dinner again just because he fits better into our schedule and I figured we should give it another shot. We always have our photo taken there and purchase it too.
Another favorite breakfast character meal is O'Hana at the Polynesian. I love the pineapple bread they serve here. This is a family-style meal, meaning they just bring the food in a big plate to your table and pick and choose what you want to eat and can order more of anything. It's now been changed to include Lilo and Stitch, so we have plans to do this one again for our upcoming trip to see the new characters. I guess this means we may not see Chip, Dale or Goofy now, but we'll have to wait and see.
One other character meal we've done a few times in the past is the Garden Grill for dinner. This is located at EPCOT and the entire restaurant rotates with great views of some of the fish tanks. This is another family style meal, and it's not recommended for larger parties because the seating isn't made to accommodate them, but we've enjoyed a few meals there and the character interraction has been great. This is also where the perform the re-hitching ceremony so if you are celebrating an anniversary you should have that done there. It's cute.
Of course, the other character meal that is worth doing at least one time is eating in the castle at Cinderella's Royal Table. We've had the good fortune of securing this for breakfast about 3 or 4 times in the past, though the prices continue to increase so much there that even though I had a reservation this time around I just couldn't bring myself to pay that kind of money for BREAKFAST. Yes, it is truly wonderful to be eating in the castle and looking out over Fantasyland. You will most likely get a visit from a few princesses too. It used to be that Peter Pan would also show up and a few others, but we didn't see him on our last visit there. The food was really good. It's all-you-can-eat but it's preplated so they bring each person a plate full of food and you can have more of anything. If you only get to Disney one time, it's worth it to try to get this meal experience. However, you ABSOLUTELY have to book this one exactly 180 days in advance of the day you want to attend. You need to call the number for Disney dining (407-WDW-DINE) beginning just before 7am at the 180 day point and be quick about telling the person that finally answers that you want Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast at this date and time. I'm not sure if we'll do it again in the future with the prices so high now, but I'm glad each of our kids have had the chance to experience it once.
For our upcoming trip next month, we're trying out a few new buffets mixed with our old favorites. In addtion to Chef Mickey's for dinner, Crystal Palace for dinner and O'Hana's for breakfast, we're also going to attempt the Princess Storybook Lunch at Akershus in EPCOT one day and Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare for dinner.
One of the highlights of any Disney trip for us is the meals. Yes, they are pricey but we always enjoy them and having the opportunity to sit down and relax at a table meal every so often after spending all day on your feet roaming the parks is well worth it.
My favorite character dinner buffet is the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends at the Magic Kingdom. First of all, you are eating at the Magic Kingdom and some tables even have a view of the castle. What could be better? However, the food there is really quite good for buffet and I especially enjoy the prime rib and the shrimp, but everything is always good. I think we've done this particular buffet for at least our last 3 or 4 trips.
We've had breakfast at the Crystal Palace also, but I'm not a huge breakfast eater anyway so I can do without it. It's still good though.
My next favorite character meal has to be Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, if only for the fun atmosphere that takes over the place. Most of the time we've had breakfast there and really enjoyed it. We had dinner once and I wasn't as impressed with it, but for our upcoming trip we'll try dinner again just because he fits better into our schedule and I figured we should give it another shot. We always have our photo taken there and purchase it too.
Another favorite breakfast character meal is O'Hana at the Polynesian. I love the pineapple bread they serve here. This is a family-style meal, meaning they just bring the food in a big plate to your table and pick and choose what you want to eat and can order more of anything. It's now been changed to include Lilo and Stitch, so we have plans to do this one again for our upcoming trip to see the new characters. I guess this means we may not see Chip, Dale or Goofy now, but we'll have to wait and see.
One other character meal we've done a few times in the past is the Garden Grill for dinner. This is located at EPCOT and the entire restaurant rotates with great views of some of the fish tanks. This is another family style meal, and it's not recommended for larger parties because the seating isn't made to accommodate them, but we've enjoyed a few meals there and the character interraction has been great. This is also where the perform the re-hitching ceremony so if you are celebrating an anniversary you should have that done there. It's cute.
Of course, the other character meal that is worth doing at least one time is eating in the castle at Cinderella's Royal Table. We've had the good fortune of securing this for breakfast about 3 or 4 times in the past, though the prices continue to increase so much there that even though I had a reservation this time around I just couldn't bring myself to pay that kind of money for BREAKFAST. Yes, it is truly wonderful to be eating in the castle and looking out over Fantasyland. You will most likely get a visit from a few princesses too. It used to be that Peter Pan would also show up and a few others, but we didn't see him on our last visit there. The food was really good. It's all-you-can-eat but it's preplated so they bring each person a plate full of food and you can have more of anything. If you only get to Disney one time, it's worth it to try to get this meal experience. However, you ABSOLUTELY have to book this one exactly 180 days in advance of the day you want to attend. You need to call the number for Disney dining (407-WDW-DINE) beginning just before 7am at the 180 day point and be quick about telling the person that finally answers that you want Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast at this date and time. I'm not sure if we'll do it again in the future with the prices so high now, but I'm glad each of our kids have had the chance to experience it once.
For our upcoming trip next month, we're trying out a few new buffets mixed with our old favorites. In addtion to Chef Mickey's for dinner, Crystal Palace for dinner and O'Hana's for breakfast, we're also going to attempt the Princess Storybook Lunch at Akershus in EPCOT one day and Cinderella's Gala Feast at 1900 Park Fare for dinner.
One of the highlights of any Disney trip for us is the meals. Yes, they are pricey but we always enjoy them and having the opportunity to sit down and relax at a table meal every so often after spending all day on your feet roaming the parks is well worth it.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
43 Days to Go - My daughter's first Disney trip
In September of 2003, we planned a Disney vacation for our family once again. This time we'd be taking my daughter, age 11 months, for the very first time. This would be my son's second trip at age 3.5 and my in-laws were joining us again. It was going to be great fun.
I managed to get a great deal on 7 nights at the Polynesian Resort hotel. They special they were running was 7 nights for the price of 4 and it was such a great bargain that we even upgraded both rooms to a Lagoon View room. I requested a view of the Magic Kingdom and we had two great rooms located right on the water where we could view Cinderella's Castle in the distance.
The morning after our first night there, my son awoke bright and early. It was still dark outside but in the distance we could see the castle, changing colors every few minutes and he and I just sat there and watched together. I captured this on video as well. It was truly a magical moment, one of many we would have during the trip.
Unfortunately, after our second day there, my mother-in-law became very ill. We ended up booking her and my father-in-law on a flight back home on day three. We spent the rest of our vacation without them but still managed to have a great time.
Our plans to go to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party on our anniversary without the kids were changed to include the kids, but that was fine. The kids had a great time there at night, being able to ride many rides with very few lines and trick-or-treating. We also still managed to have our anniversary dinner at the Garden Grill in EPCOT where we were presented with a small cake and they had a rehitching ceremoney for us too. It ended up being a great 5-year anniversary.
As for my daughter, being so young at Disney wasn't a problem for her at all. No, she wasn't able to walk yet, but she was content to ride in the stroller. She fell asleep in my arms plenty of times, usually in the loudest places. I think she fell asleep during the Universe of Energy ride amongst all of the loud noises and she also fell asleep during the Tarzan ROCKS show.
However, seeing her interract with the characters there was truly something special. We had several Character meals planned, including Chef Mickey's, the Crystal Palace and O'Hana as well as the Garden Grill for our anniversary. Noelle could not get enough of each and every character that approached her and they seemed to love her too. She was picked up by Minnie Mouse for a photo. She touched noses with Mickey Mouse. It was just so great to watch her light up and smile and laugh at each character. See for yourself here:
Kids with Characters at Disney in 2003
So whenever people tell me they don't want to take their kids until they are older, I just think how lucky we were to be able to take our kids at such a young age. The memories we have of them there are priceless.
I managed to get a great deal on 7 nights at the Polynesian Resort hotel. They special they were running was 7 nights for the price of 4 and it was such a great bargain that we even upgraded both rooms to a Lagoon View room. I requested a view of the Magic Kingdom and we had two great rooms located right on the water where we could view Cinderella's Castle in the distance.
The morning after our first night there, my son awoke bright and early. It was still dark outside but in the distance we could see the castle, changing colors every few minutes and he and I just sat there and watched together. I captured this on video as well. It was truly a magical moment, one of many we would have during the trip.
Unfortunately, after our second day there, my mother-in-law became very ill. We ended up booking her and my father-in-law on a flight back home on day three. We spent the rest of our vacation without them but still managed to have a great time.
Our plans to go to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party on our anniversary without the kids were changed to include the kids, but that was fine. The kids had a great time there at night, being able to ride many rides with very few lines and trick-or-treating. We also still managed to have our anniversary dinner at the Garden Grill in EPCOT where we were presented with a small cake and they had a rehitching ceremoney for us too. It ended up being a great 5-year anniversary.
As for my daughter, being so young at Disney wasn't a problem for her at all. No, she wasn't able to walk yet, but she was content to ride in the stroller. She fell asleep in my arms plenty of times, usually in the loudest places. I think she fell asleep during the Universe of Energy ride amongst all of the loud noises and she also fell asleep during the Tarzan ROCKS show.
However, seeing her interract with the characters there was truly something special. We had several Character meals planned, including Chef Mickey's, the Crystal Palace and O'Hana as well as the Garden Grill for our anniversary. Noelle could not get enough of each and every character that approached her and they seemed to love her too. She was picked up by Minnie Mouse for a photo. She touched noses with Mickey Mouse. It was just so great to watch her light up and smile and laugh at each character. See for yourself here:
Kids with Characters at Disney in 2003
So whenever people tell me they don't want to take their kids until they are older, I just think how lucky we were to be able to take our kids at such a young age. The memories we have of them there are priceless.
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