Category Archives: Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom – Tater Tots, Fried Twinkies & Pirates

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The new menu items at The Friar’s Nook in Magic Kingdom were on my wish list for Joseph’s dining reviews.  Lucky guy, he possesses both the metabolism and intestinal fortitude to try food items I would not.  The other day he had a chance to pop over to Magic Kingdom and grab a snack before checking out the newest version of Pirates of the Caribbean.  Here’s what he had to say about all of it. (Good job on the pics this time, Joseph!)

Magic Kingdom – Tater Tots, Fried Twinkies & Pirates – According to Joe

By Joseph Green

I knew The Friar’s Nook was in Fantasyland, but having never eaten there, it took me a minute to locate the restaurant.  Like many of Disney’s quick service snack shacks, the menu is small.  My choices were limited to tots, tots, tots, hotdog and tots, and the fried Twinkie.  I zeroed in on the Loaded Fiesta Tots (currently $9.49) and the Twinkie with chocolate sauce (currently $4.99).  There’s an assortment of sauces offered which also includes vanilla, strawberry, and caramel.

The Fiesta Tots were surprisingly good.  They’re topped with chili, cheese sauce, pico de gallo, and jalapenos.  Like those fries in the Refreshment Port’s poutine, the tots were hot, fresh and crispy.  The chili wasn’t greasy, but with the cheese sauce, might have been too heavy without the pico de gallo and peppers, which added just the right amount of freshness to this snack.  It didn’t hurt that the appearance of this tot concoction was really appetizing.  For what it’s worth – this tasted like something I could get at Taco Bell (I like Taco Bell).

Now, let’s talk about that Twinkie.  It looked harmless enough covered with powdered sugar and the chosen chocolate topping.  Unfortunately, frying a Twinkie causes it to lose much of its Twinkie-ness.  I’m not sure how to describe the texture, but it was denser than the non-fried version and less spongy.  The cream filling was gone completely.  It was a sweet, battered, fried dessert…if that’s your thing, you might like it.  Think funnel cake in log form.

A few words about Pirates.  I went to see the new Redhead and was blindsided by the changes that came before that part of the ride.  The mermaid skeleton is gone and the beach looks barren and unadorned, not to mention less menacing.  I liked it the other way better – menacing set the right tone and added just the right creepy feeling at this point in the ride.  The Auction scene looks great!  I was expecting the dialogue to be at least as funny as the old version and for me, it fell a bit short.  This was a missed opportunity to make the change more acceptable to those who didn’t want it.  I think it could have been a lot better or at least more clever.

Watch for my Blaze Pizza review coming soon and thanks for reading…Joe

Best Time for Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris?

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If you’d asked our family this question a few weeks ago, we would have answered “Morning!”.  With gusto!  Having had amazing experiences in Animal Kingdom early in the day, we started always making FastPasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris at the beginning of every Animal Kingdom visit.

Best Time for Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris?

During our last visit to Animal Kingdom, we wanted to wait until Joseph was finished with work for the day so he could ride with us.  I ended up making a late afternoon FastPass for Kilimanjaro Safaris and honestly had very low expectations for animal viewing.  I was so very wrong!  The animals were active, were close to the vehicle and we saw things we’d never seen during our dozens of previous safaris.  One of the best was this bull elephant enjoying his enrichment activity – playing with an enormous log!

As our expedition moved through all the different habitat areas, I was having a great time!  I started wondered exactly how far from sunset it was so I could share this with you and also try to replicate it in the future.  A quick check of my weather app and I calculated we began the safari just over an hour before official sunset time.

Animals were perky and the light on the savannah was beautiful.Best Time for Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safaris? Best Time for Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safaris?

Many animals were right beside our safari truck.  It was a treat to see them closer than ever before!Best Time for Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safaris? Best Time for Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safaris?

Okay, the hyena was sound asleep, but still!  We usually only see the African painted dogs, which swap habitats with the hyenas every evening. The switch had already taken place by the time we came along, so we got to see a hyena…sort of.Best Time for Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safaris?As I’ve mentioned before, I can’t not take a million pictures on each and every safari.  Raymond, Megan and Joseph can always be counted on to tease me about this irresistible urge.  This time was different though.  I was, as expected, snapping away, but the experience was so extraordinary that Raymond, from his place on the outside left of the safari truck, jumped in and took pictures right along with me, knowing I wouldn’t want to miss a thing.  (That’s true love for sure.)

So…Next time you find yourself booking a Kilimanjaro Safaris FastPass, check on sunset and book accordingly.  Hopefully, your tour will be as awesome as ours was.

Is Kilimanjaro Safaris an Animal Kingdom must-do for you?  What time of day was it when you saw the most amazing sights?

 

ASICS Studio App Review

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ASICS Studio App Review

Now that the Fairy Tale Challenge is behind us, I’ve been having issues with motivation. I don’t want to get on the treadmill.  Not even a little bit.  I had been lifting weights twice a week, pre-Princess weekend, and I don’t want to do that either.  Not doing anything is not a viable option as Raymond has registered us for a 60-mile cycling event in May and I need to be ready.  Plus, I’m certain I’ll have another runDisney event in my future…just have to decide on one.

Enter the ASICS Studio AppASICS Studio App Review

I’m pretty sure it was an ad in my Facebook feed that sent me to the app store to check out ASICS Studio. I knew ASICS owned the Runkeeper app I’ve been using to track my outdoor runs for years, so I figured I might like this new offering.  What I wasn’t expecting was that I’d like it enough to pay the subscription price for access the entire contents.

What does the app offer?

Audio Workout Coaching.  Choose from Strength Training, Treadmill, Fusion (strength + cardio), Outdoor Running, Indoor Cycling, and Elliptical workouts.  Within the Strength Training and Fusion categories, you can choose what (if any) equipment you’d like to use.

What I loveASICS Studio App Review

The trainers are very motivational.  So far, I’ve completed ten workouts:  Seven running, two strength-training and one indoor cycling workout.  I feel the trainers do an outstanding job of helping me stay focused, use good form, and push harder than I would if left to my own devices.  For example – I rarely run on an incline on my treadmill because my outdoor runs are almost always on hilly terrain.  I completed (barely) a 40-minute treadmill workout called “Hill Yes” with Coach Erin and it was brutal!  It made me realize that I can (and should) get an awesome hill run in on my treadmill from time to time.ASICS Studio App Review

If you need a new challenge or motivation to push harder to improve speed or endurance (or both), these workouts may be just the ticket.  As an added bonus, you can tell the app what you’re trying to accomplish (run faster, lose weight, build muscle, etc.) and it will recommend workouts to you, making the ASICS Studio experience more personalized.

What I’d change

While there are currently 26 classes available for treadmill workouts, there are only 8 classes for indoor cycling.  The longest cycling workout is 24 minutes.  I’d like to see more and longer options for indoor cycling. (I do see new classes added all the time.)

There are (today) 61 classes for strength training of all different lengths.  Some use only body weight and some require simple equipment like dumbbells, bench, yoga mat and/or kettle bells.  While I’ve only tried a couple short strength classes after running, I wish the trainers would allow about 5 seconds to change positions between exercises.  I’m no spring chicken, so for example, getting from laying on the ground to standing up and grabbing weights for the next exercise sometimes uses up a chunk of the time I’m supposed to be doing that next exercise.

Final Thoughts

From what I can tell, subscription prices vary depending on the length of time purchased.  I went for the one-year plan which ends up being about $8/month.  This is way less than a gym membership would be and I can exercise anywhere with this app, including when I travel.  Post-workout, those encouraging emails from ASICS Studios are great and help keep me motivated. So far, the app has exceeded my expectations and is not only getting me back on track with my workouts, I’m quickly improving both my running speed and endurance.  Now, if it’ll just stop raining every weekend, I can get those much-needed cycling miles in!

What’s your favorite workout app?

FastPass Strategy – Six Adults Including One Expectant Mother

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After gleefully anticipating and tackling many a FastPass-booking day, I’m feeling anxious about the one ahead!  Typically, we all ride the same rides and none are off the table.  This time’s different and if you’ve got advice, I’d love to hear it.

FastPass Strategy – Six Adults Including One Expectant Mother

This will be our last family vacation before we all change names.  Megan and Grant will become Mom and Dad, Joseph will become Uncle Joe (which always makes me think of Petticoat Junction – holler if you know what I mean!), and Raymond and I will turn into Grandma and Grandpa (or some variation thereof).  This trip is special and I want everyone to have a wonderful, memorable time.  Because Megan’s “in the family way”, she won’t be able to ride her usual favorites, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to miss out, right?  But I don’t want Megan hanging out the whole time waiting alone, either.  Thus the need for a new, special-circumstance FastPass plan.

I found and reviewed this list of rides Disney specifically says expectant mothers should not ride.  Of the ones left, only a few are possibly FastPass-worthy.  Let me know which one’s you’d choose.

Magic Kingdom:  Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, or It’s a Small World.  I feel like I can book FastPasses for us in groups of two or three for the Mountains and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, so Megan won’t wait alone.  The best thing about Magic Kingdom, under these circumstances, is that there are a ton of attractions that won’t need FastPasses at all.

Epcot:  Frozen Ever After one day, Soarin’ another.  If I book more than one FastPass, the others will be for Space Ship Earth and maybe Finding Nemo and Friends.  Typically, Raymond and I don’t ride Test Track or Mission Space, so we can keep Meg company while everyone else does those.  This park’s easy.

Animal Kingdom:  Kilimanjaro Safaris (Disney advises against this one, but we think it’ll be okay) and maybe the Festival of the Lion King.  This park is tough because almost all of our favorites are hard no’s for Megan.  Also challenging is how spread out everything is.  Maybe I can stagger our FastPasses for Flight of Passage (if I can even get any) in a way that would allow us to use Nomad Lounge for a home base and Megan can have a big rest and a snack while we take turns riding.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:  Toy Story Midway Mania is probably the only thing Megan can ride that would need a FastPass.  If we rope-drop Rock’n’ Roller Coaster and make our first FastPass of the day for Tower of Terror, Megan would be on her own to shop or relax, but only for a very short time.  I hate to stagger FastPasses here because we’ll only be in this park for one morning.  I’m sure it’ll be back to being a full-day park for us in the future, but right now…no.

This is challenging and I know we’ll have a great time with or without FastPasses, but I want to save at least some queue-waiting time.  If you’ve been to Walt Disney World while expecting or traveled with someone who was, please let me know what you did.  For all the rest of you…speculate!  Any and all suggestions are welcome, I could use your help, please.  Thanks! – Lisa