Monthly Archives: January 2014

Walt Disney World Vacations – What Happens When the Kids Grow Up?

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IMG_2128If you’re like me, you dreamed for a long time of the day when you would finally take your children to Walt Disney World for the first time.  You planned and prepped (and saved!) and looked forward to the trip with great anticipation.  When that magical day arrived, do you remember the look on their faces as they discovered all the fantastic reasons you were so excited to take them there?  They see Mickey Mouse in person!  They watch Tinker Bell fly!  They’re mesmerized by the Magic Kingdom’s afternoon parade.  That look of

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wonder is something that stays with you long after your vacation is over.  It’s a big part of what keeps calling you back and you think – it just can’t get any better than this!

Flash forward a few years.  Now you are a family of seasoned Disney World vacationers.  You get a big kick out of how well your little Disney experts navigate around the parks and how opinionated they are about their favorite rides, attractions, and restaurants.  They even help you plan where to stay and what to eat.  Hopefully, at this point, they’ve each grown to become every bit as big a Disney fan as you are.  You watch them race towards Splash Mountain after rope drop, speak perfect photo 3Spanish along with the Monorail announcer, and pose for pictures – maybe even joke around with their favorite characters and you think – it just can’t get any better than this!

A few more years pass in the blink of an eye and suddenly, your sweet little Disney travel buddies are all grown up.  Oh, sure, you still see them as your “children” but they have lives away from home that involve jobs and college classes that put big demands on their schedule.  Finding time for a Disney vacation was once so easy!  Now the logistics are challenging and, lets face it – how could vacationing at Disney World possibly be as much fun now that your children have grown?

Listen to me carefully – this is important.  You may need a little extra planning DSCN2522and creativity to make travel times and transportation work for everyone.  You will worry that it won’t be the same – things that seemed fun to an 10-year-old maybe won’t be as much fun now.  Push those worries aside.  All you’ll have to do is look at their faces – walking on Main Street USA toward Cinderella Castle, waiting – next in line to board Rock’n’ Roller Coaster, jumping into a Doom Buggy or trying not to laugh during the Jungle Cruise, finding out that they are the Rebel Spy or taking that first bite of a Mickey-shaped ice cream bar.  I promise…You will think to yourself – It just can’t get any better than this!

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Ratatouille – The Disney-Pixar Movie and the Food

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IMG_1667During the summer, my kitchen can get pretty crowded with fresh vegetables.  This means I sometimes have to be creative with new recipes so nothing goes to waste.  I haven’t yet resorted to squash-chip-cookies or eggplant-cupcakes, but someday it may come to that.

Last summer I made my own interpretation of Ratatouille so we could have an at-home dinner-and-a-movie  that both saved us some money for an upcoming Disney Cruise AND got us in the mood for one of the cruise’s ports – in France!

I browsed in all my cookbooks and surfed my usual recipe websites (plus a few unusual ones as well) and Ratatouille Movienothing sounded exactly right, so I used bits and pieces of several recipes, threw in my own version of “getting fancy with the spices” and the results were quite tasty.  While Raymond and I are highly gluten tolerant omnivores, we regularly enjoy meatless meals and this turned out to be a great one.  I served the leftovers with some baked mahi-mahi the next day!

The veggies in this meal make a lot of juice which combines with tomato paste in the bottom of the baking dish to make a perfect sauce.  Served over pasta, you’ve got a healthy, light, and satisfying meal.  Grab a TV tray and press play.  Enjoy Ratatouille and Ratatouille at the same time!

Lisa’s RatatouilleRatatouille 2

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 green onion, diced
  • Tomato Paste (use the 3 oz. or the 6 oz. can depending on how much sauce you like and how many veggies you use.)
  • 2T extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
  • 2t Herbs de Provence + salt and pepper to taste
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • 3-4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 eggplant, sliced
  • 1-2 zucchini, sliced
  • sliced mushrooms (optional)
  • A couple of dashes of red wine vinegar (optional)
  • freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • Pasta of your choice, cooked al –Ratatouille 4

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Trace the top of the casserole dish you intend to use onto a piece of parchment paper – cut slightly inside the line to make a paper lid for your dish that will lay on top of the vegetables.  Sauté the onion and green pepper in 2T olive oil until onion is translucent – add the garlic and cook for two minutes more.  Stir in the Herbs de Provence and red pepper flakes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Spread tomato paste in the bottom of casserole dish.  This is when I add a couple of dashes of red wine vinegar to the tomato paste.  I like the tangy Ratatouille 5addition to the sweetness of the tomato paste – but this is totally up to you.  (I’m sure it’s still delicious without the vinegar.)  Spoon about 1/3 of onion/pepper mixture over tomato paste.  Then begin spiraling sliced vegetables in a single layer – drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper (to taste), top with parmesan cheese and 1/3 of the onion/pepper mixture.  Add one more spiral layer of veggies, drizzle with oil, top with the remaining onions and peppers, add more parmesan. Ratatouille 3 TAH-DA!

Now add the little parchment-paper lid and tuck your masterpiece into the oven for 40-50 minutes depending on how well-done you like your vegetables.  Be sure you scoop down into the sauce at the bottom of the dish when serving.

What’s your favorite Disney dinner and a movie combo?Final Ratatouille

 

Cruising the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic – Part 1

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DSCN3118Last August, The Fam and I took an incredible, unbelievably fabulous voyage – seriously, we had a spectacular trip full of all the magic a Disney vacation can hold.  A long time in the making, our Mediterranean Cruise on the Disney Magic was absolutely everything we’d dreamed it would be.  Today is the first installment in a multi-part series of posts on the most fantastic Disney adventure we’ve ever experienced.

We’d sailed on Disney Cruise Line four times before – and that’s actually how this whole trip began – on the Disney Wonder in Alaska in 2011.  While on board that sailing, we booked a place-holder cruise knowing we wanted to take Joseph on a trip to celebrate his high school graduation.  We’d taken Megan on one of Disney’s Western Caribbean itineraries to ring in the New Year for 2008 during her senior year – now it would be Joseph’s turn.  Re-booking while on board offered a reduced required deposit as well as a 10% discount on the next cruise.  We’d have two years to plan and save, which was certainly a good thing once Joseph decided on a Mediterranean cruise.  It took a lot of planning and, let’s face it, money to make this trip a reality.  NOTE:  Disney Cruise Line rules have changed since we made our onboard booking.  You now must sail within 18 months of booking a “placeholder” or “dummy cruise”.

I possess mad – okay, slightly obsessive – vacation planning skills.  Once the 2013 DisneyRS Guides Cruise Line itineraries were announced, I booked our trip immediately (prices tend to go up over time).  Joseph’s one request had been that we sail after June 15th (his 18th birthday) so he could finally eat in Palo – the adults-only restaurant on the Magic.  Raymond’s schedule eliminated any cruise with a duration longer than 7 nights – the only possible sailing we could make would be departing Barcelona, Spain on August 10th.

Armed with several Rick Steves travel books, Rosetta Stone Italian, several foreign language iPhone apps, as well as the DIS boards app – I started my extensive research and preparation.  Yes, we had been on other cruises that took us outside the U.S., but this would be different.  Traveling the farthest from home we’d ever been – to three of the world’s top 10 cities for pick-pockets – I wanted to be more than ready.  I wanted to make the most of every single moment.  This would be like a sampler platter – small tastes of the wonderful, beautiful, amazing things there are to explore in Europe.  My goal was to introduce The Fam to some of what Europe has to offer and leave us all with a desire to go back and see more.  HA!  No pressure.

Joseph’s best friend, Jason had gone on vacation with us before and I couldn’t imagine taking this trip without him – they’d been friends and classmates since kindergarten.  So I booked an inside cabin – Megan would act as chaperone for Joseph and Jason.  Raymond and I would be right down the hall in a stateroom with a balcony (perk of being the parents!).  At around 4 months from our sail date, Megan’s boyfriend of 3 years, Grant, found out he’d be able to make the trip, so we added him DSCN2765to our reservation.  Now Jason and Joseph would have their own chaperoning to do!

Okay – date selected, cabins booked – that was the easy part.  Airfare!  UGH!  So expensive – the cost of flying to Europe was a HUGE percentage of our overall expense.  I saw several people that had posted on the DIS boards “Cruise Meets” page for our sailing cancel their trips  when they discovered how much the airfare would be.   Raymond took charge and found us a non-stop flight from Atlanta that would get us to Barcelona early in the morning the day before our cruise and was somewhat reasonably priced.

Departing from Barcelona, we would visit the port of Villefranche, France, before stopping at three Italian ports:  La Spezia, Civitavecchia, and Naples.  The Fam cheered me on when I was researching excursion and tour options – “Just book whatever you think we’ll like, we trust you!  Again, no pressure, right?  On every previous cruise we had taken only Disney port excursions – they were excellent and there was no way the ship would sail without us if something went awry.  This time would be different – Rick Steves was making me feel brave!  The DIS boards trip reports were making on-your-own excursions sound easy and much less expensive than the Disney choices.  Four previous cruises under my belt, excellent travel resources at hand – I took a deep breath and went for it!  Emailing tour companies in Spain and Italy to make inquiries and book tours.  I decided Villefranche would be on our own.  I had studied French for 7 years growing up, certainly I could recall enough to get us around (and save some money for Italy).

DSCN2823So, on August 8th, our travel party of 6 met at our little regional airport for the first leg of our trip – the flight to Atlanta.  After a short layover, off we’d board on our next flight, straight to Barcelona.  Only Grant had been to Europe before.  All of us were as excited as we could possibly be.  I remember feeling worry start to creep up on me a time or two…what if something goes wrong while I’ve got not just my own, but two other people’s children with me in a foreign country?  What about pickpockets?  What if the tours were no fun?  What if we didn’t return to one of the ports on time and missed the ship?  Tamping it all down, I held my favorite Rick Steves book a little closer for comfort and boarded the plane.

I hope you’ve enjoyed part 1 of our big adventure on the Disney Magic.  Pat 2 will be posted Tuesday, January 28th.  Next up?  The horrors of jetlag and the beautiful and exotic Barcelona, Spain.

Links to other parts of this trip report:

 

 

 

Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast – Meet the Hosts!

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Enchanted Tiki Talk 2As you know, I regularly enjoy quite a few Disney podcasts.  For me, they’re a great way to keep the magic alive between Disney vacations, find out new Disney travel tips and tricks, and just “hang out” with people who are every bit as passionate about Disney as I am.  One of my newest and best discoveries in the Disney podcast realm has been the Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast.

Three guys, Sean, Keith and Alan, get together to talk Disney in a family friendly, low-key way that is just a pleasure to hear.  You feel like you’re right there with them in the Tiki Hut as they cover a variety of Disney topics and offer first hand reviews and advice for making your Disney Tiki Screen Shotvacation all it can be – I love the different points of view they present!  These guys are clearly good friends and their friendship comes across during every episode.  Topics are broad – you never know what awaits in the next installment.  They’ve discussed their Disney bucket lists, opinions on underrated and overrated attractions, how to eat on $40 a day at a Disney park, and, in Episode 7 – these guys even interviewed Bill Farmer!

Recently, I asked for an interview of my own with Sean, Keith, and Alan and they were kind enough to answer my questions!  All the answers were submitted separately, but you can tell by the answers how much these three have in common and why they’re such good friends.

1.  What unexpected surprises (good and/or bad) has podcasting brought you?

Sean:  For me its making some new friends on and off the show. You really get to see how passionate Disney fans are. And when I say Passionate sometimes its more obsessive but that’s a good thing. LOL. You also get to see how vacationing in Disney is different for everyone.

Alan:  For me, the biggest surprise has been the number of listeners and fans that have been listening to us and supporting us.  When we all agreed to take this adventure together, I knew that I’d have fun with Sean and Keith, but I wasn’t sure how we’d make a name for ourselves in the Disney podcast realm.  There are a lot of podcasts out there and many of them are very good.  There’s only so much time in the day for people to listen to us, so we face some stiff competition for their listening time.  It’s truly humbling to think that we have fans that 1MinDisneyDreamreally enjoy listening to us talk about something that we love.

Keith:  I started my website and was so shocked  about the size and passion of the Disney universe. I have made so many friends  it is humbling. When we started the podcast it was just to have fun and chat  about Disney. We hoped it would be received well, but were cautiously  optimistic. The support and love we have seen already is remarkable. The Disney  universe has embraced us and that is a very welcomed surprise. There hasn’t really been a bad with the podcast. However, starting on Twitter, then my  website, and now the podcast you learn that what you say gets to a lot of eyes  and ears. I used to be able to use social media to just let loose on my thoughts  and opinions. I still do to a point, but there is more at stake and you have to  be careful sometimes.

2.  Who are the top three guests you’d be most thrilled to have on your show? 

Sean:

  • Samantha Brown –  Love her shows and she has such a great personality. You can see the passion she has with what she does. (Plus she said she was coming on)
  • Tom Hanks – My favorite actor and he just played Walt. I would love to get more of his insight on playing Walt in Saving Mr Banks.
  • Richard Sherman – I am a huge fan of him and his brothers music. Timeless songs that bring back such fond memories as a kid. Not too mention he has intimate knowledge of Walt.

Green Head of Doom!Alan:  My top three guests are Michael Eisner, Dick Sherman, and Dave Smith.

Keith:  Well one we already had on the show, Bill Farmer  (@goofybill) the voice of so many Disney and other characters including Goofy  and Pluto. The other two I would have to say are Joe Rhode and Rolly Crump.  NEWS FLASH:  Keith’s Rolly Crump interview wish comes TRUE – Stay tuned for Episode 13! 

3.  What’s your Disney lucky charm – or most favorite, treasured Disney item?

Sean:  This is an easy one for me. I have a Gold Mickey Pocket Watch from  my wife when we got married. I only wear it on special occasions, and Its something I want to hand down to my son when he gets older. Its a sentimental keepsake and has some great memories attached to it.

Alan:  I don’t have any lucky charms but I do have one Disney item that is very special to me and that is my finisher’s medal for the 2013 Tower of Terror 10-Miler.  That was my first ever road race and it was something that my wife and I did together.  The sense of accomplishment that we had when we crossed the finish line together is something I’ll never forget and the medal is a reminder of that.

Keith:  Wow this was a hard question for me! I think my favorite Disney item isn’t one that was bought at the parks or store.  My  mother is a very talented quilter. I found some fabric of the wallpaper from the  Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion is my favorite attraction/ride at Walt  Disney World. She made me a quilt using that fabric. I love looking down and  seeing the eyes looking back at me! 

4.  The one thing you each love most about Disney parks?

Sean:  Its so hard to pick just one thing but its the memories that I have made over the years visiting there. My wife and I had our first vacation there, My son’s first trip and soon to be daughter’s first trip. Its such a Magical place that Magic does happen and memories that last a lifetime.

Alan:  When I’m on vacation at Walt Disney World, the real world is gone.  Walt Disney World is a place for me to escape from the wear and tear of normal life and act like a kid again.  I’m never happier than when I’m walking hand in hand with my wife through the property of Walt Disney World.  That’s what I love most about the Disney parks.

Akamai 2Keith:  This is like asking me what my favorite song  is. There are so many things, but the one thing that I love about Disney is the  escape. I started my obsession with Disney because of some dark times in my  life, and the one thing that gave me that escape was Disney. The ability to lose  yourself in fantasy and imagination allows you to get away from “real life” for  a while.

5.  Best advice about podcasting you’ve ever received? or What have you learned about life from podcasting?

Sean:  Best advice is be prepared for the topic you are talking about. Its also a lot easier when you have 2 other people you talk with. Conversations flow easily.

Alan:  No one ever gave me any advice about podcasting.  With the assistance of Sean and Keith, I have essentially just jumped in head first.  Doing this podcast every week has taught me just how fantastic the Disney community is overall.  I was nervous during the first episode but the listener response was so kind that I realized there was nothing to be nervous about.  I’ve made some amazing friends through the show and through social media and I’m glad that I am involved with the Disney community.

Keith:  I don’t think we received any  advice really. We just went into it with the attitude to make the show feel like  we are just three friends talking about Disney (which we are anyway).

6.  Best advice about vacationing at a Disney park you’ve ever received – and you think everyone should know?

Sean:  I can’t share any secrets how would that be fair to me 🙂 But seriously, plan. Make your dining reservations in advanced and have a general idea in what you want to see and do.

Alan:  Bring a poncho and fight through those afternoon rain storms.

Keith:   Just to enjoy your vacation! I  know that sounds corny but it’s true. Take it from me a very impatient, easily  annoyed, control freak in my normal life. The first time as an adult I went to  Disney World I wasn’t sure I would like it. I wasn’t fond of crowds, waiting,  heat, humidity, etc. However, the first time I walked on Main Street U.S.A and  looked at the castle. It was like I stepped into a time machine to when I was  five.  All that melted away and I was a different person.  I didn’t let things  annoy me and just enjoyed my vacation.

 7.  How did you first learn about Disney podcasts?  Was that your inspiration for starting one of your own?

Sean:  Inside the Magic was the first podcast that I listened to and since then I have been hooked. All the podcasts I have listened to over the years have inspired me.  Plus I always wanted to do one but did not want to do it myself. I wanted to share the experience with other passionate Disney fans.  After I appeared on Resortloop that sealed it for me. I thank those guys for lighting a fire under my ass to start one.

Alan:  My first exposure to Disney podcasts was Communicore Weekly.  That’s a fantastic show and the hosts are very interactive with their cadets (what they call their fans) and I admired that about Jeff and George.  They have a successful show and you can tell they really enjoy sharing their love of Disney with us.  That has been my inspiration with our show.  I love Walt Disney World and really enjoy talking about that with Sean and Keith.  When we record, that’s really all it is.  It’s the three of us just chatting about something we love and I especially enjoy being able to share that with our listeners and then have them chime in with their feelings.  Tiki Talk has really been a fantastic journey that has helped me make some great friends.  I’m so grateful for everything that has happened with the show.

Keith:   I learned about them through Twitter. I started  listening to them just to find out all of the news around the parks since I  wasn’t local.I started adding show after show to my playlist. I loved the  different opinions people have. I don’t think we had any “inspiration” to start  our own. We just wanted to talk Disney!

LuauBannerNow’s the time to jump on in and subscribe to the Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast in iTunes.  With just 12 episodes to date, you can easily catch up!  If you already listen – I hope you now have a better understanding of the guys behind #tikiooze and all the Disney fun that goes on in the Tiki Hut!  Please don’t forget to rate and review in iTunes.

Here are all the places to find Sean, Alan, and Keith:

Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast – Please like them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enchantedtikitalk

The Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast is available on iTunes, Podbean, and Stitcher

Sean’s on YouTube at:  http://www.youtube.com/1minutedisneydreams and Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/1MinuteDisneyDreams

Keith blogs at Dole Whip Daily.com – (get the tee-shirt here.)

On Twitter: