Tag Archives: WDW

WDW Vacation – Getting Psyched for Food & Wine

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RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-LandscapeMy countdown calendar finally feels like it’s moving.  The days are ticking by ahead of our long-awaited return to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.  I couldn’t be more excited!  This may only be my second visit during Food & Wine, but I feel like a seasoned veteran after our weeklong 25th Anniversary celebration at F&W in 2014.  This year we’ll be a party of seven and our plans are really shaping up.  With only two-and-a-half months to go, it feels right around the corner.  It’s Friday today and that means a Friday Five is in order.  Dear Readers, I give to you…

WDW Vacation – Getting Psyched for Food & Wine

  1. Pick a week and book it! – This is the first phase of excitement.  Thinking about going changes after you know exactly when you’ll be there and where you’ll be staying – makes it real and you can set your countdown calendar!  Because I’m a planner I’m also, in this very early stage of vacation prep, starting to think about where we’d like to eat when we’re not enjoying the Food & Wine offerings.  Which brings us to…Citricos-Vince
  2. Make some ADRs (Advance Dining Reservations) 180 days out – “Some” being the important key here.  I think you can over-book dining reservations which may detract from the joy of strolling around World Showcase sampling all the excellent flavors that Food & Wine has to offer.  I like to ensure plenty of festival time, so I book just few carefully chosen reservations that will leave us a plenty of free afternoons and evenings for hopping from country to country on an international culinary tour.  Once those ADRs are booked, I feel more like I know what our touring plans will be each day and that makes me even more exited!RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Menu-Brazil
  3. Wait impatiently for the booths and menus to be announced – I’ve searched everyday for weeks and finally the kiosk and menu info is available – This is a major factor in getting psyched for the trip!  Sure, it’s fun to see what musical groups will be playing during our visit, but that’s not (for us) the primary draw.  You can print out those menus and narrow down all the food and beverage choices to the all important Top-Ten-Must-Try list (yours could be whatever number you like).  I’m not too picky, so I’m leaving room to be flexible and spontaneous in food selection.  It’s not imperative to have a list, but it sure is fun to strategize a festival food plan.  Yes, more excitement!  Check out this year’s lineup here.Disney's Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror
  4. Book those FastPasses ASAP – If you’re staying on property, this means there are only 60 days left before your vacation!  My strategy for Epcot is all about making sure we don’t have to come and go repeatedly from World Showcase once we start our feasting.  On this trip, we’ve got one whole day reserved for Animal Kingdom and I’m excited about having breakfast at Tusker House and dinner at Tiffins…while maximizing attraction enjoyment in between.  On most of the other days, we’ll be park-hopping to keep Epcot part of the action as often as possible.     RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Passport
  5. Reminisce or surf the web (or both) –  I like looking back at pictures and blog posts from our last trip to Food & Wine.  I also like reading about other people’s trips as well as food reviews, booth rankings, and touring tips.  This will keep me entertained and build excitement right up until the day we leave for vacation.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Pepper-Bacon-Hash

Are you headed to Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival this year?  What are you doing to get psyched for the trip?

Disney World Memories: The Adventurers Club!

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Today I’m sharing Nick’s post on the Adventurers Club.  I don’t recall having ever visited this once super-popular Disney World lounge.  This article was written before the opening of Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto at the Polynesian and The Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen in Magic Kingdom.  I have a question for those of you who were lucky enough to visit the Adventurers Club – are these two new places anything like the Club used to be?

Disney World Memories: The Adventurers Club!

Last Saturday, I discussed Pleasure Island. My favorite club at PI was the Adventurers Club, which was styled after a private club for world travelers and explorers and was set in 1937.
The walls of the club were covered with artifacts and photographs from various explorations.
It had animatronics, puppets, and a cast of “adventurers” who performed in shows and improvisational comedy while mingling with the club-goers.
There was also an actual club to join, with a newsletter, (which I have somewhere, and will surely share if I rediscover it) and a button.

There was so much to see and do at this club, including drinking specialty beverages, such as the official drink of the club, the Kungaloosh, which may or may not have come in this canteen, (I can’t remember, too many Kungalooshes).

Sadly, the Adventurers Club closed in 2009, with the rest of the clubs on Pleasure Island, but fans, including me, still hope that it will return once more to Walt Disney World in some form or another.

 

To read more about Nick’s amazing Disney collectibles and his many Disney adventures, visit the Disney Musings Blog (where this article first appeared).  You can follow Nick on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Pinterest.  You can also listen to Nick, our friend Dave, and me on The Disney Exchange Podcast where we talk about our love for all things Disney – new episodes every Sunday morning.

Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival Turns 21

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Ugh!  I think my countdown calendar is broken.  I’m so excited about our upcoming trip to Walt Disney World in October for Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival, the days are passing unbelievably slowly and vacation seems much too far away.  We’ve been looking forward to this particular trip since we started planning it in 2014.  Remember when Raymond and I went to Disney World during Food & Wine to celebrate our 25th anniversary?  That was our first experience visiting during the festival and we not only had an amazing time, we knew it was something Joseph would absolutely love…once he turned 21.  Well this is the year – Joseph and the Food & Wine Festival both celebrate the same milestone in 2016.Epcot-International-Food-and-Wine-Festival

Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival Turns 21

62 days long this year, Food & Wine is a great place to sample new flavors and enjoy World Showcase in a different way.  The fall weather in Orlando is incredible with less humidity and rain than during the summer months.  We’ll be visiting for 7 days and as is my habit, I’ve been obsessed with planning just the right amount of activities, time in each park, free time, special meals…you get the idea.  I may have gone overboard with the ADRs (advance dining reservations), but I have plenty of time to tweak the plan when we make our FastPass selections 60 days from our trip.  I’m anxiously awaiting more festival details so I can better plan our time in Epcot.  In 2014 Raymond and I found that scattering our Epcot visits liberally throughout our vacation allowed us to sample plenty of flavors and take in a couple of special events.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Landscape

I’ll tell you what I’ve got planned now.  I know you’re going to be shocked that we’re passing on Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, but four of the seven in our travel party have attended the party fairly recently and the other three are not all that excited about going.  Best to use that time and money elsewhere on this visit, I think.  Here are the plans – if you’d be so kind, please leave me a comment and let me know what you’d change (add, delete, move, etc.).RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Landscape2

Saturday – Arrival Day at Epcot – All veteran Food & Wine visitors will tell you to keep away from the festival on the weekend, but I’m bucking common sense here because I want everyone to see what a crazy Saturday night looks like in Epcot during this most unusual time of the year.  The only time that surpasses a Saturday night in Epcot during Food & Wine is World Showcase on New Year’s Eve (and we’ve seen that too!).  So basically, we’ll hit Epcot by early afternoon with whatever FastPasses I can score 60 days out, make our way slowly through the masses in World Showcase and arrive at 8:00 pm for our Via Napoli ADR.  I took suggestions from my friends on Twitter and Via Napoli was highly recommended as a crowd pleaser that won’t cost too much.  We plan to share appetizers and pizzas and call it a day.RM-Spaceship-Earth

Sunday – Magic Kingdom all day.  We’ll want to get an early start and fit in as many attractions as possible.  We do have a late lunch reservation at the Skipper Canteen, but depending on FastPass availability, it’s probably the most likely ADR to be cancelled.  Since the park closes early for Mickey’s Not So Scary, I thought this would be a great day to visit the Polynesian for drinks and dinner.  Hopefully, Trader Sam’s won’t be too crowded.  We have a dinner reservation for ‘Ohana and I’m looking forward to a relaxing evening where we can turn in early and get a jump start on Monday!Tower-of-Terror

Monday – Disney’s Hollywood Studios through lunch, Epcot in the afternoon.  Megan and Grant had a great experience at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater on their honeymoon last year, so we thought we’d give it whirl!  I can’t believe we’ve never tried it before and am excited about the experience.  After lunch, it’s on to Epcot with absolutely no other plans for the day.  The rationale here is that Epcot will be uncrowded and we can take it easy and soak up all that the Food & Wine Festival has to offer.Animal Kingdom-Entrance

Tuesday – Animal Kingdom all day.  I’m disappointed that Animal Kingdom’s posted park hours show a closing time of 5:00 pm and sincerely hope this changes!  We have an early breakfast at Tusker House (a first for us) and another reservation for very early dinner at the brand new Tiffins (4:30 pm).  If the park hours change and evening activities are a go, I plan to try to call and change our breakfast to a dining package for whatever show (Jungle Book or Rivers of Light) might be showing.  If you’ve heard anything about fall hours or evening events, please let me know.Disney's-Hollywood-Studios

Wednesday – Disney’s Hollywood Studios early and briefly then Epcot for lunch before Disney Springs for the late afternoon/evening.  This sounds like a lot of hopping, but I’m thinking that if we rope-drop the Studios and hit four attractions (Tower of Terror, Rock’n’ Roller Coaster, Toy Story Midway Mania, and Star Tours), we’ll be finished in two hours or less.  The food booths in Epcot will make a great lunch activity and we can take our time getting to Disney Springs by around 4:00 pm.  We have a reservation at Raglan Road for 7:00 and would like to shop a little and visit Jock Lindsey’s before dinner.  After dinner, we may even have time to hit Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours.Jock-Lindsey's-Sign

Thursday – Magic Kingdom until lunch then to Epcot for the afternoon.  I’m excited about our lunch reservation at Whispering Canyon Café!  That nice little boat ride from Magic Kingdom to Wilderness Lodge for some great food is a wonderful break from park touring.  Dinner will be at Shula’s Steak House (at the Dolphin) that evening and we can easily walk there from Epcot.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Menu-Boeuf-Bourguignon

Friday – Animal Kingdom in the morning before hopping to Epcot for more food booth action.  If I can, I’ll book Epcot fastpasses for late afternoon.  We can walk from Epcot to our farewell dinner at Il Mulino in the Swan.  I’m exhausted already and all I’ve done is type these plans!

Okay – I need you!  What would you change?  Have I allowed enough time at Epcot?  What about the other parks?  If I need to cancel some ADRs, which should be the first to go?Megan (5) and Joseph (4 months)

On a side note:  Today is actually Joseph’s 21st birthday.  I’d like to say…Happy Birthday to my favorite son – I admire your thirst for knowledge and your love of puns.  I am amazed every single day at the incredible man you’ve become and I adore the way you’re true to yourself always.  I love your gentlemanly manners and your love of everything old…especially your parents.  I love you, Sonny Boy.  Don’t ever change.Joe-Formal-Night-Dinner

Disney World Favorite Random Details

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WDW-EntranceYou know that expression (attributed to Aristotle), “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”?  To me, that saying is never more true than when applied Walt Disney World.  There are incredible components from the tiniest magical detail (like peanut shell impressions in cement) to the enormity of a single attraction like Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom) or Jungle Cruise (Magic Kingdom) – add them together and the whole is more – so much more!  That, I believe, is what makes Disney World infinitely more than a gathering of some hotels and theme parks – those millions of parts combine to make a destination like no other in the world.

 Disney World Favorite Random Details

Let’s talk about a few of the parts that make up the wonderful whole of Disney World.  Remember the other day when I talked about the things I think about while riding Spaceship Earth?  This is sorta like that only these random favorites were chosen from the World at large based on my vacation history – small treasures gathered through the years that add to the happiest memories and keep our family coming back for more as often as we can!Be-our-Guest-Gargoyle

Bouncy off-ramp – Have you ever noticed the exit ramp for Space Mountain’s extreme bounciness?  No?  Next time you leave the ride and you’re riding the conveyor belt, bounce a little bit on it.  Seriously!  It’s hilarious and fun and if you see me on those screens that show live video of guests leaving the ride, I’m the woman-of-a-certain-age jumping up and down.  Every time.image

Breaking plates – Is it just me or is the sound and feel of breaking plates on Toy Story Midway Mania ridiculously satisfying.  Clearly this says something about my psyche, but that is what I love most about this attraction.  So forbidden yet satisfying.  Clearly I need help.Entrance for Toy Story Midway Mania

Yeti – it’s real! – Abominable snowmen…mythical creatures or not?  Doesn’t matter!  The queue for Expedition Everest has me 100% convinced the Yeti exists.  I always wish there were a way I could take as much time as I wanted to see every single item in that Yeti museum and outfitter shop.  If the line’s being held up by someone, it’s probably me!  The footprint casts are my absolute favorite.  If you’re too scared to ride this attraction – do not miss the queue!Expedition Everest Queue Yeti Museum

Bathing beauties – I don’t get in line for Jungle Cruise (Magic Kingdom) thinking about those elephants in the water hole.  The moment I see that one happy baby pachyderm though…instant happiness!  He’s just the epitome of cute.  Every time I see him, I wish I could buy him in lawn-ornament form to take home.image

The first bite of a Mickey Bar – There are so many beloved snacks at Walt Disney World, but one stands out as my favorite for the thrill of the first bite.  Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar – soft and creamy vanilla ice cream encased by a smooth, hard chocolate shell, shaped like Mickey Mouse.  I peel the wrapper off carefully, clutch that thin wooden stick and savor the moment when cool chocolate gives way in an audible crunch and my teeth sink into that sweet ice cream.  After that there’s no time to savor anything else since I’ve got to eat that puppy in record speed before it melts all over my hands and clothes!Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar

Singing ‘Possums – You know the ones, don’t you?  On Splash Mountain – there are so many animals and adorable details to take in, it’s hard to see everything.  I look all around and enjoy the experience until our log floats us under those ‘possums, then I only have eyes for them and their extreme adorableness.Splash Mountain "You May Get Wet" sign

What about you?  What random details are your favorites at Walt Disney World?