When we went to Florida in January, we rented an awesome home from Florida Dream Homes. Not only were we thrilled with the house, but we were very pleased with the treatment and services we received from the staff at Florida Dream Homes. I receive their e-newsletter, and have recently started following Lance's blog. Today's post made me proud of Disney, yet again! I love it that they go the extra mile to cater to people with special needs.
We appreciated the special assistance they give to parents with young children - allowing some to wait off with little ones and then get a Fast Pass to avoid the long lines. Gotta love Disney!
I've been to Disney 5 times - - - the first time, I was a "kid" (an older teen); the second time, I was a much older teen (more on my own); and the last 3 times, I've traveled with children (first time with one, second time with two, and this last trip with 3). So, most of my trips to Disney have been WITH kids.
I used to love that commercial where the girl is packing her car, getting ready to head off to college, and the parents are acting all sad and weepy. Then, the minute she backs out of the driveway, they go back in, grab their bags, and head for Disney World! I always said "that will be me someday". Really, though, at this point in time, I can't imagine doing a Disney trip without my kids. I'd feel guilty and sad, not having them with me.
If you're planning a trip to Disney - WITH KIDS - there are so many resources you can find to help make your trip successful. Check out Planning Disney with Kids (on the DIS), DisneyWithKids.net, and WDW With Kids for plenty of planning tips. If you'd prefer a book to web research, here are some of my favorites:
So,what do you prefer - Disney WITH kids or WITHOUT? Do you have any great tips for Disney vacations WITH KIDS? If so, please share. We all want to have the best vacation ever, and it's nice to help each other. Please blog about your Disney with Kids experiences, tips, and tricks, and then sign the Mr. Linky below with a direct link to your post.
5 Minutes for Mom is doing a 10 Days of Disney Video Tour! You all know how much I love all-things Disney, so I thought I'd share about it here! Be sure to check it out by clicking on the graphic below:
I'm late posting today and really don't have much to say about the Japan pavilion anyway. I do enjoy the scenery here - the gardens are lovely. Birnbaum's Guide says that "the five stories of the Japanese pagoda symboliz earth, water, fire, wind, and sky.
Poor Destination Disney! It seems to have fallen by the wayside. Just me and Cindy posting regularly. I've considered just quitting; but think I'll try to finish out the year. I have all these Disney pictures to share!
Our favorite part of the Streets of America section of Disney Hollywood Studios is probably Muppet*Vision 3D. I remember watching the Muppets as a kid; and, even though I wasn't a huge fan, I really enjoy this 29-minute 3D show at Disney. It's hilarious!
Lots of people enjoy the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure. We opted out of this "playground" experience this time around. Ian is terrified of bugs; so I didn't think he'd really appreciate this section of the park.
There are some neat little shops and places to grab a bite to eat in this section of the park; and it seems to me to be a bit less crowded since it's out of the way.
Here is a photo collage from our experience at Streets of America in January:
So what is your experience with Streets of America? Any pics or tips to share?
I love World Showcase at EPCOT - it's truly one of my favorite things at Disney (however, I must say that, as I've been writing these posts each week, I'm realizing that EVERYTHING at Disney is among my favorites!) Anyway, when we visited in January, I was sad because the park was SO FULL that we didn't have opportunity to really "visit" the countries and we certainly couldn't get any good photos. Thankfully, our friends took this one (above) from across the lagoon.
I never realized, before visiting Philadelphia, how much they patterned this building after Independence Hall:
Though we did not take the time to watch The American Adventure Show this past trip (with a baby and a 2 1/2-year-old, a 26-minute show probably isn't such a good idea!), we have seen it several times in the past. Because I love history, this show is really interesting to me. The audio-animatronic figures are amazingly lifelike. The American Gardens Theatre is a great place to sit and relax, while taking in the entertainment (which is ever-changing).
Have you visited American Adventure? Do you have a favorite thing about it, or some photographs, that you would like to share? Please sign the Mr. Linky below with a direct link to your blog post.
I want to start off this post by saying that WE LOVE CHARACTER MEALS at Disney! For our first several trips, I thought that the character meals were a waste of money, since you had opportunity to meet many of the characters throughout the parks - why should you pay extra for a meal with them? Then, when we were planning our trip in 2005, we had extra money (Disney points) from our Disney Visa, and decided to use it toward a character meal. We chose the Lunch with Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. We loved it - the kids loved the interaction with the characters during lunch, and Brian and I were impressed with the atmosphere and the food. It was a nice time to sit down and relax in the middle of what can be a busy and hectic day; and it provided plenty of time for one-on-one interaction with the character.
So, when we got together with our friends to plan this past trip, we knew we wanted to do not one, but two, character meals this time around. We weren't sure if our friends would want to do any character meals, since they were only traveling with a baby; but they quickly said they wanted to do whatever we were doing. They didn't care which meals we chose, so we allowed the girls to pick. They wanted to do the Pooh Lunch again; and this year they added the Princess Breakfast at Norway (in EPCOT) to the line-up of plans.
Here are some pictures from our Breakfast with the Princesses:
(the fabulous buffet - this was in addition to the tray of goodies they brought to our tables)
We were very much impressed with this character meal. We would definitely do this one again, and will recommend it to anyone who asked. The princesses were so wonderful to interact with - because they are "real" (as opposed to those in costumes), they can actually talk.
When we were first taken into the restaurant, we had a family photo op. with Belle. At the end of the meal, they bring you a folder containing one 8x10 and 4 4x6 prints of your photo - a very nice extra perk.
The food was absolutely delicious! As a matter of fact, I'd love to have the cheesy potato recipe! The strawberries on the buffet were HUGE - I could have made a meal just on those and the pineapple. And, for the Europeans, they even have meat and cheese (yes, for breakfast!)
Here are some pictures from our Lunch with Pooh & friends:
(the menu at the Crystal Palace)
Again, we loved this meal enough the first time to go back for round 2. I don't know that we'd do it again, though. After the breakfast in Norway, we were a bit spoiled, and didn't like the food here as well - it was more "fancy" food, which was fine, just not as big of a hit with the kids. We do enjoy the atmosphere, though - it's beautiful and the cast members are all so nice. We would recommend this dining experience.
So, tell me about your Character Dining experience at Disney. I'd love to hear about all the different character dining opportunities - we're already thinking about our next trip and which meals we'd like to add to our line-up. Who knows? We may actually plan 3 or 4 for next time!
As was the case earlier this year when we talked about Typhoon Lagoon, the water parks at Walt Disney World are not my area of expertise - I've never had opportunity to visit either of them because it's always too cold when we travel to Florida. I do hope that, one day, we'll be able to enjoy these water parks, as they look like so much fun.
For now, though, i'll just have to be content to live through YOUR experiences. So, please share them on your blog and sign the Mr. Linky below. It's hot and humid in PA this week, and I could use a bit of an opportunity to DREAM!
Who doesn't love this part of the Magic Kingdom? First of all, everyone recognizes the center of the park (and the Magic Kingdom icon) - Cinderella's Castle.
(Ashley took this - one of our favorites)
(make a wish in Cinderella's fountain)
Behind the castle, the fantasy becomes reality! I don't think I ever realized how much we enjoy this section of the park, but our photos from this past trip really prove that we do! We took a ton. I'll just share a few favorites.
From Peter Pan's Flight
From It's a Small World (yes, the song gets stuck in your head - but it's worth it!)
From Dumbo the Flying Elephant
From The Many Adventures of Winner the Pooh
And from Cinderella's Golden Carrousel
We always skip over Snow White's Scary Adventures. We DID ride the Mad Tea Party, but we crammed a bunch of us into one tea cup and it was too crowded to get a decent picture. Ashley loves this one though:
We also enjoy Mickey's Philharmagic 3-D Show. What do YOU like?
The Italy pavilion in EPCOT center is patterned after Venice. I'm not sure why I never noticed it before, but I snapped this picture of a gondola in the lagoon on our trip this past January:
I can vaguely remember a real-life trip to Venice in 1975, at which time I rode on a gondola very similar to this one; so it brought back memories!
What's your favorite part of Italy? Do you enjoy watching the laser show from the bridge? Do you like eating Italian food? Please share your favorites with us.
(this was a shot on my "pictures to take" list)
(the fabulous buffet - this was in addition to the tray of goodies they brought to our tables)
(the menu at the Crystal Palace)
(Ashley took this - one of our favorites)
(make a wish in Cinderella's fountain)
(yes, the song gets stuck in your head - but it's worth it!)
