Tag Archives: Walt Disney World

Show Your Love at Disney World

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Animal Kingdom's Dinosaur RideLove is patient and kind, right? Love is about sharing and compromise, giving and taking. This applies even on vacation. Because you’re here with me, you know I’m talking Disney vacations specifically – and never have I found a place with more opportunity to practice showing love than at Walt Disney World. It’s not easy sometimes to step outside your comfort zone and take one for the team. For today’s Friday Five, I’d like to help you…

Show Your Love at Disney World!

Wear It:  Push aside any thoughts you might have of looking silly, childish or stupid – if your family wants to wear matching t-shirts, Earhats, or all-inclusive, themed costumes for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, do it! For sure you won’t be alone and you might just enjoy yourself even more.Meg and Joe at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Ride It: Unless you have a medical condition that would prevent you from being physically able to enjoy a ride or attraction safely, don’t knock anything until you try it. If your family wants to go, please don’t stay behind because you don’t think you’ll like it. This is about making family memories. Together!Kali River Rapids / Disney's Animal Kingdom

Wait For It: If you don’t have any patience for waiting, figure out how you’re going to deal with waiting at Disney World because wait you will! If a member of your family suddenly wants to add parade watching or princess meeting to the agenda, give it your best try! A little research ahead of time will clue you in on where the best and worst waits are – choose your FastPasses accordingly.Exterior of Indiana Jones Theater / Disney's Hollywood Theater

Stop For It – The view is different for everyone and magical details and surprises are everywhere. Unexpected delights will spring up from time to time and someone will want to stop and check them out. Pay attention and share the moment of awe and discovery. Maybe there’s a giant peeking into the shop you’re in. Maybe there are footprints in the walkway. A door might suddenly open to reveal a surprise.It's a Small World Clock

Go Along With It – Get over yourself! Nobody needs to be “that guy”. The one who won’t pose (and smile) for pictures with characters or sits glumly at a character meal. You should be trying to be a part of Enchanted Tales With Belle.  Wave at parade characters, visit with Cast Members, play along with your server at Whispering Canyon or 50’s Prime Time Café – let yourself be part of the magic! Your family will love it and you might love it too.

What’s your favorite way to show love to your family at Walt Disney World?

Disney Date Night – Resortloop Pub Crawl

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Yellow Monorail / Walt Disney WorldRaymond and I are big fans of the Resortloop Pub Crawl!  A great grown-up activity that gives us the opportunity to see what’s going on at our favorite resorts along the monorail loop while enjoying an adult beverage here and there.  We can visit one lounge or more, as a pre-dinner way to relax or a dinner substitute altogether.  The pub crawl is a great way to take in the unique settings of each pub within the very differently themed resorts – we love this!

Disney Date Night – Resortloop Pub CrawlRM-The-Wave

We like the Wave at the Contemporary, but have also spend quite a few happy early evenings at the tiny and casual Outer Rim (right next to Chef Mickey’s).  The Wave’s bar is pretty traditional with a great wine selection and tasty menu.  Choose a dish to share and save room for the next stop on the loop!RM-Mizner's-Lounge

We think the atmosphere and ambiance at Mizner’s in the gorgeous Grand Floridian makes it a great place to relax and soak up the fantastic sounds of The Lobby Society Orchestra.  If you know us, you know we’re going after the artisanal cheese platter!  Wine and cheese and fantastic live tunes.  This place has all our favorite things!  If you decided to wait on this stop, there’s also a nifty dessert menu.RM-Tambu-Lounge

And we’re off to the Polynesian Village Resort.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto – new-ish, small, heavily themed, and impossible to get into!  We’ll give it our best shot in late December and if we succeed, I’ll give you the full scoop.  Let’s talk instead about the Tambu Lounge – home of the popular Lapu Lapu and Backscratcher cocktails.  If you’re waiting to get into ‘Ohana, this is the place to be!  RM-Tambu-MenuThis pub is open, lively, noisy and fun!  If you’re NOT headed to ‘Ohana for dinner, belly up to the bar and order some of those fantastic honey-coriander chicken wings then top those off with a serving of the ‘Ohana bread pudding.  YUM!RM-Tambu-Wine

Three stops, three amazing lounges!  That’s what makes the Resortloop Pub Crawl so unique and special – each stop along the way is completely different from the others.

Have you tried any of the Resortloop pubs?  What’s your favorite stop?

Memento Mori: Ghostly Shopping in Magic Kingdom

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Happy Halloween!  It’s the perfect day for this particular installment of Saturdays With Nick.  Spooky shopping!!!  If you’ve not had the pleasure, next time you visit Walt Disney World, save a few minutes and some souvenir money for Memento Mori.  Personally, I think this is one of the very best attraction-related shopping experiences to be found in a Disney park!  I’ll let Nick fill you in on the details…

Memento Mori: Ghostly Shopping in Magic Kingdom

By Nick

A new shop, (or is it an old residence?) mysteriously appeared a few months ago in the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square, at the exit of the Haunted Mansion.

Memento Mori was the home of Madame Leota, until her disappearance, and, I suppose, partial reappearance within the Haunted Mansion. Her portrait can be found inside.

According to Webster’s Online Dictionary, Memento Mori means “a reminder of mortality.” Google  provides a definition that is even more appropriate; “an object serving as a warning or reminder of death,” and the Memento Mori shop is happy to provide such reminders of the iconic ride it is located beside.

There are a lot of items in here that appeals to fans of the HM, and you can go a little nuts. Indeed, if  we had more space in the house, I’d have walked out with much more than just the one item I did leave with. I could easily see having a room dedicated to some of this fanatasmagorical merchandise.

Think of a merchandise category, and there is a really good chance you’ll find it here. Clothes? Obviously. Shoes? Check. Make-up? Wait, what? Yes. Haunted Mansion Make-up kits from the Beautifully Disney line!

Want to redo the kitchen in Early American spooky? Yes, you can do that also. Dish Towel sets are $19.95, coaster sets are $24.95.

We were very interested in the dinner plates, but had breakage concerns. The round plates are $26.95.

There is a lot to see here, and you may stay so long you actually build up an appetite. If you are hungry for Haunted Mansion food, popcorn and cotton candy are readily available.

Want chocolate? They have chocolate in the form of bats, for $4.95.

There are many t-shirts and even collared shirts to choose from.

The Gracey Family Reunion shirt is $24.95.

This shirt of the Ghost Host himself, which is $ 36.95, changes, transforming into a skeleton…

…like the portraits below.

A version of this can be had on a postcard as well.

 

Looking for the perfect Haunted accessory to go with your clothes?

How about a protective case for your smart phone?

There are action figures for boys, and even something for your little girl. Perhaps she’ll like a Haunted Bride doll for $21.95?

Holidays aren’t forgotten, as there a couple of different ornament sets to be had.

There are higher end collectibles and home decor items, such as the Haunted Mansion wall hanging for $100.

This replica of the Haunted Mansion sign can hang in your home for $95.

Plenty of less expensive souvenirs can be found as well, such as key chains, notepad and magnet sets, and antenna toppers, which are 2 for $8.

You can even take home an 8×10 ghostly image of yourself or a loved one for $19.95 plus tax.

Step behind the curtain for your own piece of “Spirit Photography.”

I had read online that there is a limit to how many items a guest could purchase at one time, and indeed there was this sign hanging under one of the displays:

When I asked a Cast Member why guests would be limited to 6 items, unless otherwise specified, I was told it was because people would buy items in bulk, and sell them on eBay!

We did buy one item, the throw pictured below, for $59.95.

As you can see, Disney has found yet another ingenious way to separate me and my money.
“Hurry back, hurry back,” indeed!

For more great reviews, trip reports and all manner of Disney delights, follow Nick, his wife Barbie, and friends:  Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Late Arrival Plans

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RM-Asia-Sign-Animal-KingdomFirst a disclaimer:  This post should in no way be taken as an implication that Disney’s Animal Kingdom is anything less than a full-day park.  In emergency situations, when an entire day cannot be spared to enjoy what is most assuredly a park that can (and should) be enjoyed from open to close, the following plans may help you decide what to do.  Again – Disney’s Animal Kingdom is NOT a half-day park!

This week the FastPass+ window opened for our December Walt Disney World vacation.  Raymond and I are taking a little us-time after Christmas – we need it!  Having made our dining reservations months ago, I tried to work our park plans conveniently into and around our dining plans.  Since our arrival day will wrap up with dinner at Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, it’d be convenient to spend the afternoon at Disney’s Animal Kingdom – just a short bus ride away from the Lodge.RM-Russell-Animal-Kingdom

The difficulty is that we LOVE Animal Kingdom (the park) and are diehard rope-drop fans.  There’s nothing like arriving early and seeing and doing as much as possible before the crowds grow and the heat of the day makes the animals a little less active.  On the day in question, we won’t be arriving until around 2:00 pm and will have to squeeze in as much action as we possibly can in roughly four hours.cropped-RM-Expedition-Everest.jpg

Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Late Arrival Plans

We’ll hit the entrance running for Asia and Expedition Everest to make it to the Forbidden Mountain before our FastPasses expire at 2:35.  Next we’ll hightail it over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek where we’ll have about 30 minutes to check out the incredible exhibits there.  Details along the Maharajah Jungle TrekAt 3:30, we’ll plan to arrive at the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail – an absolute must do for us!RM-Pangani-Forest

Our next FastPass, for Kilimanjaro Safaris, will be available from 3:25-4:25.  Once we return from Safari (on which I will take another 1000 pictures, as usual), we’ll have a few minutes to spare before our Festival of the Lion King FastPasses kick in.  Rhino on Kilimanjaro SafariDuring that time, we’ll try to grab a cocktail at the Dawa Bar and pause in our frantic explorations to take in the indescribably detailed theming and relax for a few minutes.  Once we’ve seen the Festival, it’ll unfortunately be time to go.RM-New-Tree-of-Life-Roots

Yes, we will have bypassed all of Dinoland U.S.A., will have missed Discovery Island, Kali River Rapids (I’m okay with not riding this in the winter), Rafiki’s Planet Watch, Finding Nemo the Musical and MANY of the best and most amazing details and exhibits.  We have to prioritize – boil our love of this incredible Disney park down to a few hours of our most favorite experiences.  We have a couple of free mornings later in our trip – we’ll rope-drop Animal Kingdom on one of those days to make up for what we’re missing on day one.

What would YOU do with four hours in Animal Kingdom?