Monthly Archives: August 2017

Disney Cruise Tips – Beyond Fish Extenders

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It’s not like we spend every vacation at Disney World, you know.  We go other places…on Disney Cruise Line!  Two weeks from now we’ll be off on a new cruise adventure on the Disney Fantasy for the first time.  Eastern Caribbean…here we come!

When we sail for more than four nights, I like to get more involved in the Disney cruise experience than just visiting ports and participating in ship activities like eating constantly, attending cooking demos and playing trivia games.  I do this by joining a Facebook group for our cruise and signing up for group activities.

Disney Cruise Tips – Beyond Fish Extenders

Once upon a time, joining a Fish Extender group was all the rage.  We joined the fun on a couple of cruises and had a great time.  Now that we no longer travel with kids who’d get a kick out of the amazing assortment of gifts, we’re not so much into the whole FE thing.  However, we don’t have to abandon the fun completely.  There are alternatives to the traditional Fish Extender – same idea, but less geared towards children.  As a bonus, they also tend to take less prep time and not nearly as much room in your suitcase.

For our upcoming cruise, I found an excellent Facebook group with 400+ members.  This particular Facebook group has been one of the best I’ve experienced with lots of activity and newbies getting all their questions answered by seasoned Disney cruise fans.  The tireless group admin has organized several beverage tasting seminars for interested members and something like 19 different gift exchange groups.  In addition to traditional Fish Extender exchanges, there are magnet, postcard, ornament, and candy exchange groups.  It was hard to decide which to join!

I decided on the postcard group.  I ordered some Louisiana postcards from Zazzle and will include a favorite recipe with each one as I make the rounds to the staterooms in my group.  With postcards, there’s no actual Fish Extender necessary.  The card and recipe will fit neatly onto the Fish – or in the case of the Fantasy, the metal Seahorse beside each cabin door, whichever it may be.  We still get to do a fun group activity, but don’t need to bring anything to hang up and our “gifts” will be easy to bring along (and take home).

Have you joined a cruise group and participated in a Fish Extender or other gift-giving activity?  What type was it and how did it go?

Disney World Lounges – Geyser Point

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It’s no secret – We love Disney World lounges.  The Resort Loop Pub Crawl is one of our favorite vacation activities.  So many great places around the World, it’s hard to decide which ones to fit into our vacation plans.

Disney World Lounges – Geyser Point

Because Megan and I were on the Quick Service Dining Plan back in June, I knew we needed to check out the Geyser Point Bar & Grill.  It’s new, it’s just a short boat ride away from Magic Kingdom at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, and the food was on our dining plan – Win-win-win!

I’m sorry the rest of The Fam was not along for this experience.  I do believe Geyser Point (after only one visit) jumped straight to my second favorite lounge at Disney World!

A combination of elements is what makes Geyser Point so great.  The lake-side setting on the gorgeous grounds of Wilderness Lodge is wonderful.  The open-air seating and welcoming bar area give a great laid-back vibe.  The service is excellent and the food menu is priced right.  In fact, if you’re on the dining plan, Geyser Point is not the best use of a quick service credit.

The menu consists of a few sandwiches and salads – from lighter fare to more robust items.  I believe the offerings are still being fine-tuned.  Case it point:  I ordered a Grilled Salmon BLT that no long appears on the menu.  It tasted great, but was the only negative aspect of our dinner there.  The piece of fish on my sandwich was tiny, but the bread slices were huge!  I enjoyed the flavors, but left so much of the bread behind, our waitress asked if I needed a to-go box.  I made sure to tell her that the food was delicious, but suggested that if they continued to offer this menu item, the chef switch to a small bun of some sort.  Sadly, it seems Disney decided to do away with the sandwich altogether.

Megan ordered the Bison Cheeseburger (“Bacon, Tillamook Cheddar, Sweet Onion Straws, Lettuce, Tomato, Garlic Aïoli and Marionberry Barbecue Sauce served on an Artisan Roll with choice of Multigrain Salad or Waffle Fries“) and enjoyed it very much!

The beverage menu is the real draw for Geyser Point (to us).  Unique choices with something for every adult palate.  Want a fancy cocktail? Check!  Beer? Check!  Wine? Check!  The best part?  The super relaxing seating and excellent service.  We never felt rushed, we never felt hovered-over, but got just the right amount of attention.  We loved the open-air, casual vibe and the welcoming overall feel.  As a place to unwind at the end – or in our case, in the middle – of a busy Magic Kingdom day, Geyser Point fits the bill.

What’s my most favorite lounge in the World?  It’s the Nomad Lounge in Animal Kingdom, but Geyser Point is right up there!  I cannot wait to take the rest of the gang there next year – Megan and I know they’ll love it as much as we did!Have you been to Geyser Point Bar & Grill?  What did you think?  Is it on your list of places to try?  What are you looking forward to trying?

DVC Studio Review – Saratoga Springs

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Raymond and I have been Disney Vacation Club members since 2011.  Our home resorts are Bay Lake Tower and the Villas at the Grand Floridian.  When Megan and I decided to take our mother/daughter trip to check out Pandora, we needed three nights for specific dates.  The only resort available at the time we booked our room was Saratoga Springs.  This would be our first visit to the resort and we were excited to try a new place.

DVC Studio Review – Saratoga Springs

A bit of research helped me figure out where the best room option for us would be.  I called DVC and requested a studio in the Paddock area as close to the Congress Park section as possible.  Congress Park is popular for its close proximity to the walkway to Disney Springs, but the studios there require a higher point usage.  Because Raymond and Joseph wouldn’t be going with us, it seemed best (and nicest) to conserve points if possible.  Staying Sunday – Wednesday used 47 points.  Our room request was granted and we found ourselves also close to the Congress Park bus stop.  While we weren’t planning on spending any time at the resort except for sleeping, we wanted to be able to walk easily (and safely) to Disney Springs and back for our Paddlefish reservation.

Our first impression of Saratoga Springs was great.  Upon arrival, we parked near the Carriage House to check in and found the grounds and main building to be cheerful and welcoming.  The staff was super friendly and in short order, we were on our way to studio 6612.

The entrance was welcoming, but the hallways and outside entrances felt a little gloomy.  Inside we found a sink/vanity area outside the bathroom (tub/shower and toilet), a queen-sized bed, a small kitchenette area, and a sitting area with a sofa, ottoman and table and chairs.

The details were charming and the space (355 square feet) was perfect for the two of us.  These studios sleep up to four with the pull-out sleeper sofa, but Megan and I thought it would be pretty crowded with more than the two of us unless the second two people were small children.

Final thoughts…

Saratoga Springs Pros –

  • Our location was convenient to Disney Springs and a bus stop.
  • We had plenty of space, were comfortable, and we liked the décor.
  • Our studio was quiet – we never heard any noise from neighbors.

Saratoga Springs Cons –

  • This resort (like Old Key West) felt more like a condominium complex than a Disney resort.  Very spread out, many rooms are far from the main building/restaurants (which was okay for this visit, but might not work well all the time).
  • When it rained, there was quite a bit of flooding/high water to walk through.
  • The busses were SO slow and crowded.  Particularly horrible leaving Magic Kingdom at the end of the night.

Have you stayed at Saratoga Springs?  How was your experience?  Do you prefer staying closer to the parks or do you like feeling like you’re away from all the commotion?

 

 

Disney Vacation Libation – La Cava del Tequila

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A funny thing happened on the way to the Gran Fiesta Tour…

Disney Vacation Libation – La Cava del Tequila

Megan and I, on our Epic Mother/Daughter Disney Summer Road Trip, had so many opportunities to try new things!  One of the best was finally getting to find out what all the hullabaloo is about for the little bar inside Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion.  So many of my Disney friends love La Cava del Tequila and have waxed poetic about it repeatedly. Now we know why!  We enjoyed ourselves so much, we visited twice!

The first time we stopped in La Cava, we really were on our way to the Gran Fiesta Tour.  We’d just finished a delicious lunch at La Cantina de San Angel and thought a leisurely boat ride with the Three Caballeros sounded like a great way to digest a bit and relax in the cool, dark interior of the Mexico Pavilion.  As we were making our way to the ride, I remembered how much I’d been wanting to at least check out the offerings in this much touted corner of World Showcase.  Megan was totally on board and we headed on in.

First of all, the greeters are fantastic!  Friendly and helpful, they offered to find us a table, but we asked if we could just go to the bar instead.  Of course!  The service at the bar was just as great.  We were greeted by a very friendly young woman who was happy to make recommendations and share the drink menu with us.

We noticed right away that there were tequila flights set up on the back of the bar, so we asked about how those worked exactly.  Each flight consisted of three tastes of tequila (good, better, best), presented with salt, lime, and a shot of tomato juice to be taken after the first tequila sample (to cleanse the palate).  While the set up looked like a lot of tequila, the three servings amount to the equivalent of about a shot-and-a-half.  (Description – La Cava Tequila Flight:  22 Casa Noble Blanco, Partida Reposado, Ambhar Añejo)  Megan and I thought this sounded like a fun adventure and abandoned our plans for margaritas in favor of learning more about tequila!  We were very happy with our decision.

The next day, we found ourselves in Epcot again and knew we’d be heading back to the Mexico Pavilion for the margaritas we’d passed on the day before.  Our second visit to La Cava del Tequila was every bit as great as the first.  The margarita menu is awesome.  I knew from reading rave reviews that I wanted to try the Avocado Margarita which sounds kind of odd, but is ridiculously delicious!  I normally find margaritas a tad too sweet, but the avocado version is just exactly right.  Megan opted for the Passion Fruit Margarita and was very pleased with her selection – I tried a sip and it was exotic, refreshing, and very tasty!

So…La Cava del Tequila…Megan and I both give it a two-thumbs–up for service, atmosphere, presentation and flavor.  We will most definitely stop in again at the earliest opportunity!

Have you visited?  Are you a fan of La Cava del Tequila?  What’s your favorite Disney vacation libation to order there?