Travel

Epic Mickey: Lunch In Italy, $8 Beers In Germany, And Soarin’ (Day 3)

March 28, 2012 By Blonde Mom 3 Comments

It’s not every Monday that you tell your kids you’re going to Italy for lunch.

We headed to Epcot on day 3 of our Disney World family vacation and I was pleasantly surprised at just how much my girls loved it. Epcot, in fact, ended up being one of their favorite parks. We covered so much territory and so many cultures I could write even more than I have, but I’ll just hit the highlights. And you can’t read highlights about Epcot without mentioning food!

I’d made lunch reservations for Via Napoli back in December after reading several incredible reviews of Epcot’s newest Italian restaurant. We arrived at the park mid-morning and started working our way around the countries as we headed toward Italy.

Our first Disney princess we spied was beautiful Mulan from China. She was gracious and friendly and the girls loved meeting her. My girls are well past the Disney Princess age, but this was one princess they could relate to. Girl power rules! Speaking of girl power, as I was fumbling around in my bag for my camera because PRINCESS SIGHTING! I somehow managed to pop the button on my shorts. So classy ya’ll!

The girls with Mulan. They had a great conversation about Nashville!

In all seriousness, here’s a great travel tip for you if you head to Disney in early March. Epcot’s annual International Flower & Garden Festival’s official kick off date was March 7 but we were in the park March 4 and all of the incredible character topiaries were already on display. We may have missed the related festival events, but we got to see these topiary masterpieces minus the extra crowds. And every time you avoid huge crowds at Disney an angel gets her mouse ears, or something like that.

Yes it’s Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen as you’ve never seen them before. This seriously cracked me up.

The weather was also absolutely picture perfect. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.

Donald and Daisy in flower form.

We logged plenty of walking time before our 11:30 lunch reservations at Via Napoli. The restaurant had just opened for the day for lunch and our food was absolutely incredible. The oven fired pizza was amazing and so was the ambiance. Even though we felt like we’d been transported to Italy, the subtle Disney touches that keep that magic going were there. The balsamic oil in vinegar for dipping bread was even artfully added in the shape of Mickey’s iconic face and ears by our server. Via Napoli is definitely one of my must do dining experiences at Epcot.

Are we in Italy? Because it sure feels like it.

Reservations are a must for Via Napoli, one of our favorite dining experiences at Epcot.

After lunch we explored more of the country expo areas but we eventually made our way to Soarin’. We didn’t have a Fast Pass (they were gone by the time we arrived) but we decided it was well worth the 40-minute wait and it was. Soarin’ simulates hanggliding and you really feel like you are flying thanks to the biggest movie screen I’ve ever seen. This was the longest wait for a ride we encountered during our 5-day vacation but as I mentioned, it was well worth it!

Speaking of Fast Passes, as luck would have it we struck up a conversation with a couple as we were leaving Soarin’ and they just happened to be leaving the park for the day so they gave us their THREE Fast Passes to Fast Track. Cha ching! We headed over to Fast Track and while hubby and the girls basically walked right in, I wandered over to the Fast Pass dispenser and grabbed four more for later in the evening as I really wanted to ride Fast Track. It ended up being one of our favorite rides, ranked up with Soarin’ in the top 3.

More topiary cuteness near England. Pooh!

After I snagged four Fast Passes to Test Track with our park tickets I trotted over to Mission Space to check out the wait time, which was less than 10 minutes. Miss C (my 9-year-old) and the hubby opted for the more intense ride, while Miss A and I opted for the less intense version. Maybe because every sign at every turn warned against claustrophobia and motion sickness, but I wasn’t so keen on Mission Space. The girls loved it, though, especially Miss C.

Mission Space, one of the coolest ride exteriors at Epcot.

We ended up circling back around to the World Showcase area and headed into Mexico where we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour inside the giant Mexico pavillion. It was honestly a tad hokey, but was a pleasant change from Future World and all of the space and technology theme attractions. An added bonus was spying Donald Duck in a full on sombrero! Photo op and autograph time again. We also rode another indoor ride, Maelstrom, a Viking inspired ride in Norway.

All the walking was making us thirsty and hungry so after wandering around aimlessly in Germany looking for beer (only half way kidding!) we headed to the Japanese Pavillion for dinner as I’d read that it was a good choice for a quick service meal (remember, we were on the dining plan). We sat outside by a beautiful koi fish pond and enjoyed a live show not far from Katsura Grill at dusk. Really pretty amazing scenery.

We walked around even more (I wish I’d worn a pedometer) and ended up closing the evening with The Seas with Nemo & Friends, a sweet ride suited for really young kids, Turtle Talk With Crush, and then finally used our fast passes for Test Track, which I loved! This was hubby and the girls’ second time on Test Track and my first. It’s a thrilling fast vehicle simulation ride (that sped up to 60 MPH) and another must do, along with Soarin’. It’s a 5-minute ride and I highly recommend grabbing a Fast Pass for either it or Soarin’ as soon as you arrive in Epcot.

I don’t have photos to do it justice, but Epcot closes with the 14-minute IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks and laser show and it was a highlight of our trip. We honestly liked it even more than Wishes at Magic Kingdom. The show and music were incredible!

Day 1: Magic Kingdom

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Next post: Return to the Magic Kingdom and dinner at the Grand Floridian with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and those wacky wicked stepsisters.

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Epic Mickey: Getting Soaked And Spotting Yetis At Animal Kingdom (Day 2)

March 21, 2012 By Blonde Mom 11 Comments

The Tree of Life

Our first full day at Disney was jam-packed with fun at Animal Kingdom. I described Animal Kingdom to our families late that night as the “coolest zoo you’ll ever go to.” It was one of our favorite Disney parks. I mean you can’t go wrong when the focal point of your day is the Tree of Life from Lion King and Mt. Everest serves as your backdrop.

We woke to an overcast, unusually cool morning but this helped keep the crowds down. By lunch time we had beautiful weather. I had made 10 a.m. reservations for the safari character breakfast at Tusker House and we had a few minutes to kill so we browsed some gift shops and grabbed Fast Passes for Kiliminjaro Safari.

The cool open market feel of the Tusker House buffet.

I cannot recommend the Tusker House safari character breakfast enough! Donald Duck greeted us in full safari gear outside and we posed for photographs with him before being seated. We loved the signature juice and headed to the expansive buffet more than once. There was really something for everyone, from fresh fruit and oatmeal to Disney’s famous Mickey waffles that kids, both young and old, love. About mid-way through breakfast several characters made the rounds. The girls got autographs from Mickey Mouse himself, as well as Pluto and Goofy.

Pluto writes really well for a dog.

This ain’t your neighborhood ice cream truck. Even the snack truck at Animal Kingdom had that cool world beat vibe.

After we’d loaded up on food we headed out and around the corner because our server had tipped us off that Baloo the bear was signing autographs in a tucked away nook near the restaurant.

Kickin’ it old school Disney with Baloo from Jungle Book.

After Kilimanjaro Safari and seeing some incredible animals (and feeling like we were really in the African savannah) we headed to ride something indoors, Dinosaur. Miss C loved it, Miss A wasn’t so keen on it. Then it was just a short walk to DinoLand USA, which had a carnival feel with fun larger than life dinosaur theming. Somehow Miss C persuaded me to ride Primeval Whirl and we blew way too much cash on carnival games but we had a blast.

I really wanted to love this ride as much as Miss C but it was too joint jolting for me…I’m getting old, aren’t I?

We never saw The Lion King performance (a reason to return as it was on my must do list) but absolutely loved It’s Tough To Be A Bug in the base of the Tree of Life. Miss C’s favorite highlight of the day was riding Expedition Everest with the hubby and I loved the Tibetan village feel of the area. Miss A was just a few inches shy of the 44-inch height required to ride Expedition Everest but it got top ride billing from Miss C. It was a definite top ride during our 5 days at Disney.

We all loved Kali River Rapids (which we literally walked right up to since it was such an unusually cool day)...even me who got SOAKED to the bone in my jeans. Slosh, slosh. Before we headed home for the day we also snagged a VIP autograph at Camp Minnie-Mickey...Minnie Mouse herself! It was well worth the wait.

We closed out the park with dinner and soaked up this incredible view of Expedition Everest from a waterfront outdoor dining area at Flame Tree Barbecue. It was the perfect way to end the day.

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Epic Mickey: Our First Disney World Family Vacation (Day 1)

March 20, 2012 By Blonde Mom 11 Comments

Our first Disney World vacation took months of planning. I honestly felt like a kid counting down the days until Christmas waiting for our departure day. I loved logging into our Disney account and seeing the countdown ticker!

Finally the big day was here! We headed to the Nashville airport that Saturday morning shortly after 7 for our 9:50 a.m. flight and just a few hours later we touched down in Orlando. Here are some of the highlights of day one of our amazing, and honestly ya’ll not so restful trip, but it was so worth it!

I love a parade! Hey Genie from Aladdin bids I’m still waiting for you to grant my wish – a lifetime supply of margaritas.

Day 1 – All Star Movies

We arrived in Orlando about 1:30 in the afternoon. If we could have just parachuted directly down to the Magic Kingdom I think the girls would have been up for it, they were so pumped about arriving. Despite all my OCD planning for this trip, I somehow missed making reservations for the free bus transportation from the Orlando airport to All Star Movies Resort via Disney’s Magical Express until a few days earlier so we had to jump in a quick line to pick up our passes. But that was just caused a few minutes delay. We were on our way!

We’re here! Ready to head to the Magic Kingdom our first afternoon.

We loved All Star Movies resort. Because I had booked our package during the free dining plan special promo we had a “preferred” room location in the 101 Dalmations Resort, which meant it was close to the main lobby building and cafeteria (which was absolute mayhem every morning with people getting free coffee, but I digress). The theming was fantastic and bright and full on Disney. I had second thoughts, albeit briefly, about the location late at night because we were the last bus stop in the resort area and for that reason I would consider booking a different hotel, such as All Star Sports. I have to admit that late at night I gazed longingly at the Coronado Springs Resort (a moderate level resort that I had considered booking) as it was the first hotel we passed by as we headed home every night. But if you are looking for a fun resort as a base camp for visiting the parks, you can’t go wrong with All Star Movies. I was very pleased overall and most importantly the girls LOVED it!

The fun details at All Star Movies are unforgettable!

On our way to catch the bus to the Magic Kingdom!

The bus waits for the parks each day were not bad at all, since buses run every 20 minutes, and we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom around 3 that afternoon. I have to say that between it being a Saturday AND the park having special extended magic hours, it was absolute insanity but then I knew it would be.

First glimpse of Cinderella’s Castle.

By the time we got into the park it was after 4 and we were all starving since we had been traveling through lunch time and let’s face it, the peanuts and pretzels on the plane don’t cut it as a true snack. I’d packed snacks, too, but we were still starving. We lucked up when we headed into Tony’s on Town Square, a lovely Italian restaurant based on the classic Lady and the Tramp movie, one of our favorite Disney flicks! I had actually tried to make online dinner reservations for Tony’s in December and couldn’t get anything early so I was pleasantly surprised when we only had a 15-minute wait at just before 5 p.m.! This was a great way to start our Disney experience. So, lesson learned…if you don’t have reservations for a sit-down table restaurant, it’s still worth checking on, especially if you eat at an earlier hour. Thumbs up for the food and service at Tony’s. It was so nice to sit down at relax after a day of travel before heading into the park.

The girls pose in front of the fun Lady and the Tramp fountain, which is located in the center of Tony’s.

We headed to the Haunted Mansion for our first ride and it was perfect timing because by the time we snaked through the line (which was 30 minutes but went by quickly), it was dusk. I have to say this was one of my favorite rides and the girls loved it! Miss A was a little scared, but not so much that she didn’t enjoy it.

A color-boosted view (thanks to Picnik) of the Haunted Mansion as we approached the entrance.

We rode a few more rides in Tomorrowland after learning that Pirates of the Caribbean was temporarily shut down for the evening (but we’d hit it later in our trip.) I bought a Christmas ornament in one of the gift shops, which is something I try to do on every family vacation, and then we hustled to find a good spot for watching the Wishes fireworks show, which was easier said than done. Honestly since we’d just arrived late that afternoon we didn’t want to stake out a spot for an hour so we just waited til the last minute and it was fine. Although the Magic Kingdom was open until midnight, we headed back to the resort by 10 so we could crash and get ready for our first full day at the Animal Kingdom and a character theme breakfast at Tusker House that I highly recommend! Great characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and, most importantly for us parental types, awesome food. But more on that in my next Disney World post.