Disneyland vs Disney World: Christmas Showdown!

Merry Christmas from 3 Dis Kids! I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, filled with wonderful experiences with family and friends!

A couple weeks ago we got to visit Disneyland in California for the first time! As you can imagine I have a lot to share, but today I want to stick (or candy cane) to to subject at hand, Christmas, or more specifically how Disneyland compares to Disney World at Christmastime.

Round 1: Merriment 
It is hard to imagine a more merry place than a Disney Park during the holidays. Christmas music playing, characters dressed for Christmas cheer, Christmas trees that reach to the sky, and resorts decorated to the nines! If you can't get into the spirit at Disney, you should see your doctor about a serious yule tide deficiency.

Both resorts overflow with Christmas cheer.

Round 1 is a push

Round 2: Decorations in Disneyland Park vs. Magic Kingdom
Just like in round 1, both resorts do a wonderful job of decorating for Christmas. Walking down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, or Disneyland Park there will never be a time when you forget what time of year it is. Wreaths hung on the light posts with care, display windows, the before mentioned music, and the smells exuding from the bakeries... When the sun goes down, the lights on the castles glow like ice palaces! Let's just say you won't confuse it with Earth Day!

After leaving Main Street is where the parks begin to separate themselves from each other....

For years I had heard how much better Disneyland decorates for Christmas, and before seeing it with my own eyes, I wondered how it was possible, but it is true. All of Disneyland is maxed out for Christmas! The level of attention that is paid to decorations is amazing! Even the miniature castles and villages of the Storybook Land Canal are decorated with tiny wreaths, Christmas trees, and poinsettias. The only place where I was surprised to see no decorations was on the Jungle Cruise.

Unfortunately once to get off of Main Street at the Magic Kingdom, there are very few signs of it being Christmastime.

Round 2 goes to Disneyland

Round 3: Resort Decorations
Once again if you are staying at or visiting any of the Disney Resort hotels at Christmas, you know it. Giant trees themed to match the theme of the resort, special music, chocolate carousels and gigantic gingerbread houses are just a few of the things you mights see when you stroll through the various lobbies.

Disney World has more resort hotels on property, but Disneyland does a great job of keeping up with their three on site resorts. Quantity does not necessarily trump quality, as they all match up very closely. This category was just too close to call...

Round 3 is a push

Round 4: Holiday Extras & Special Events
If you are visiting either Disneyland or Disney World there are special offerings just for the Christmas season. Tours of the decorations are offered, special treats are cooked up, and special performances are well performed...

From early November to a few days before Christmas you can purchase tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. The party is offered a few times a week, and from 7:00-Midnight you get to be a part of a special hard ticket party, and enjoy the park with a much smaller crowd. There are special fireworks, stage shows, hot chocolate and cookies, and the Once Upon a Christmastime parade runs twice. It is a very festive evening, but you usually have to pay between $50-70 dollars to experience it. For people who aren't visiting right around Christmas Day, this is your only opportunity to see Holiday Wishes or the Christmas parade, but if you are there after the 21st, you get it as a part of your regular park admission.

The other parks at Disney World also get in the spirit. Every night Hollywood Studios lights up the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, with lights dancing to popular Christmas songs. Animal Kingdom has a special Christmas parade called the Jingle Jungle Parade. Epcot offers Christmas storytelling at many of the country pavilions, and also the Candlelight Processional, where a celebrity host reads the story of Christmas, while an enormous choir sings songs from the season. This is hugely popular, so line up early to catch it!  

Disneyland does not offer a hard ticket event like MVMCP, but instead gives it to you with your regular park admission. In addition they have a Jingle Jangle Jubilee that takes up the Big Thunder Ranch in Frontierland. Here you get to see Hillbillies sing Christmas carols, color holiday pages, and decorate Christmas cookies ($6 per kit). Characters dressed in their Christmas best stroll around for pictures, and you can get your picture taken with Santa too! Depending on the day, the parade, A Christmas Fantasy, runs once or twice, and the nightly fireworks are the Believe... In Holiday Magic fireworks.

In addition there are special holiday overlays of It's A Small World, and Haunted Mansion. During the holidays these attractions are transformed into almost completely different experiences. It's A Small World turns into a Christmas carol filled cruise around the world. They outside of the attraction is covered in Christmas lights and there is a special little show that goes on around every 15 minutes. The Haunted Mansion is given a Nightmare Before Christmas makeover, and Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King takes over. Both attractions are amazing, and should not be missed if you are there during the holidays!

Disneyland also has a Candlelight Processional, shown at Town Square. It is also very popular, and there is limited area to watch to pick out a place early!

California Adventure doesn't offer much more than special decorations, and a special opening Prep and Landing section in World of Color. But even with that...

Round 4 goes to Disneyland

Round 5: Christmas Parade
Normally I am more of a fireworks/nighttime spectacular type of person, but Christmas is when I really love a parade, and nobody does a Christmas parade better than Disney. Comparing Disney World's Once Upon a Christmastime parade to Disneyland's A Christmas Fantasy is like comparing red apples to green apples, it's just a personal preference. Both have great floats, classic and new characters, and most importantly, they both have my favorite, the Tin Soldier Marching Band. But for me there can be only one winner for best Christmas Parade...

Round 5.... Disney World  

So after 5 rounds who wins the Christmas Showdown?

Disneyland! 

Disneyland pretty much ran away with this one, but Disney World held it's own. Each resort offers a lot for Christmas, but Disneyland just does it better all around. Disney World has a lot more to offer for Christmas, but Disneyland just envelops the entire resort in Christmas! Honestly, I can't think of two more magical places to spend the holidays! 

***Sorry for the lack of Christmas pictures from Disney World... They are stuck on a laptop that I can't access....***  

Walt Disney World Mom's Panel... The Adventure Continues

About two weeks ago the recruitment period for the 2013 Walt Disney World Mom's Panel began, and just like last year, I decided to throw my mouse-ears into the ring. 

Also like last year the Mom's Panel was looking for specific areas of expertise (Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Vacation Club, Adventures by Disney, RunDisney, and Disney Cruise Line), and once again I selected Disney Cruise Line. Unlike last year, there was no official start date announced for submission of applications ahead of time. Laura Spencer blogged about it  coming soon in July, but on the Mom's Panel website we were told to check there everyday in September. 

Well the Disney fan community, and Mom's Panel hopefuls especially are really good at sniffing out these kind of things, so eventually it got out that they would open for applications on September 10th, and close on September 14th, or whenever they received 14,000 applications. That was 6,000 less than in years past, so many Mom's rushed to get their applications in as quickly as possible. I took a couple of days to send my final submission, and even though they have not closed it out early in recent years, I was slightly concerned about the applications cap. 

The application process was a bit different this year. In stead of waiting for round 2 to test your knowledge in your specialty area, there was a second page of questions in round 1. The first page was general Disney knowledge, plus an essay (100 words) on helping to plan other people's Disney vacations. The second page had a few pretty tricky questions focused on your specialty area, plus another 100 word essay about planning vacations in that area.    

I gotta tell ya, 100 words is really not that much to show your passion for Disney! Both of my essays had to be almost cut in half after my first draft. There is so much that you want to share, but just not enough word space! 

Last year I progressed onto round 2, where they tested my knowledge of Disney Cruise Line, and I had to make a one minute video about my favorite Disney memory, but I didn't make it to the interview stage. It will be interesting to see what round 2 consists of this year, since they already made everyone answer questions and write essays about their specialty areas in the first round. I'm sure there will be another video submission, but what else does the Mom's Panel have up its pink sleeves? 

The wait begins... 

Cars Land to Replace Avatar at Disney World???

In the last couple of weeks the only rumors that I have been actively following have been ones surrounding the new iPhone, and if Apple will introduce a new smaller iPad. But one rumor that perked my ears up was the one saying that Cars Land could be making it's way east on Route 66 to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Things really seemed to be lining up for this, what with Kathy Mangum coming to Florida on assignment and all, but I didn't really buy into the whole Avatar Land dying a slow death... But it appears that where there is smoke there could be fire.

I really try not to get into the whole rumor spreading thing. With Disney there is so much to talk about that is happening, I have never felt the need to fill lines with the hundreds of credible, or insane rumors that pop up like pre-teen girls at a One Direction concert. I'm not connected to any sources at Disney to get comments, and I'm not a reporter who is expected to find leads on these types of stories. I'm a tennis coach who lives in Bucharest, Romania! I'm about as disconnected as you can be, so I rely on the hard work of people on the inside to get me my information! 

One of the people that brings this stuff to light is Kevin Yee. He has written a very good article about how Avatar Land could be shelved in favor of an east coast Cars Land. 

When the Avatar announcement was made, I like many people were taken by surprise. I also had mixed feelings about it, and I wrote about it in a post last September. The concept sounded really cool, and I thought that the Imagineers would do a great job with it, but I just thought it was a bit of a stretch. That combined with the stories of James Cameron being a bit of a pain to work with, kind of scared me that there would at best be delays. As rumors started to spread that Avatar might be downsized from an entire land to a couple of attractions, or even shelved completely, I thought it was just because of the fact that no new news was coming from the project. I shrugged them off thinking they were just a result of an impatient public, or from people that never liked the idea (there were plenty out there) who were looking for any reason to paint it in a bad light.

So how do I feel about this? Overall I am excited. Cars Land in Disney's California Adventure looks spectacular, especially the Radiator Springs Racers attraction. But a part of me thinks it should be exclusive to California Adventure. I for one love that all of the worldwide Disney parks have things you can only see there. It gives me the excuse to go see them all! But once again I trust the Imagineers to make a Disney World Cars Land different enough that people will want to see both. I also know that the designers always "plus" things as they re-imagine them. They learn from the previous attractions, lands, and parks, and tweek them to make them better. I have seen this with my own eyes from visiting the Magic Kingdom in Florida (opened October 1971), and the Disneyland Park in Paris (opened April 1992). There are a lot of improvements there, some little, some small, but if you pay attention you will see them.

So will Jake and Neytiri be moving out to make room for Lightning McQueen and Mater? We'll just have to wait and see! 

Resort Review: The Contemporary

I've done it again! Here is another Epinions review on a Disney Deluxe resort! If you would like to see it in it's original form CLICK HERE.

There are a few key memories that I have from my first "real" trip to Walt Disney World. Chief among them is riding through the Contemporary Resort on the Monorail. I remember thinking that there is not a cooler hotel in the world. First of all, it is right next to the Magic Kingdom. Secondly, the freaking Monorail drives right through it! The last thought I had was, "Wow! What kind of rich do you have to be to stay here?" Those thoughts continued to run through my head as we drove back to the Econo Lodge (or something like it) we were staying at in nearby  Kissimmee. 

You can imagine how excited I was when I got to stay at the Contemporary 24 years later! Staying at the Contemporary had been a goal of mine since I was 10 years old. The goal became almost an obsession when I "rediscovered" Disney in 2007. Could a hotel that I had been building up in my mind for 24 years possibly live up to the hype? Yes and no... The Contemporary Resort was built as one of three opening day resorts (along with the Polynesian and Fort Wilderness Campground) at Walt Disney World in 1971. It's A frame design is unmistakable, and it is nothing short of a Disney icon. Another cool fact is that the resort was built similar to how cruise ships are constructed, all the rooms are compartments that were installed into the main building. There is also a Garden Wing that is separate from the main building, and the Bay Lake Tower on the same grounds, houses Disney Vacation Club villas. 

We got a great Annual Passholder rate and stayed for three nights. When we booked the room I was afraid that we would be sent out to one of the Garden Wing rooms, but our room was in the main building, on the 5th floor, with a view of the pool and  Bay Lake. The room had two queen beds and a pull out sofa (that tried to eat my then 2 year old son). There was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, and the decor was very modern. The bathroom's were equipped with big flat square sinks, and doors that slid inside the walls when they were opened. It was a really cool room, in a really cool hotel! 

No other resort at Disney World can make the claim that it is walking distance to the Magic Kingdom. It is so close that my daughter and I were able to walk from Space Mountain Tomorrowland, back to our room in just over 15 minutes! If you want to take your time, you can hop on the Monorail, and get off at the next stop. Coming back is a little more time consuming because you have to make stops at the Grand Floridian and Polynesian. If you are travelling with small children who nap in the afternoon, there is no better resort on property. 

Even if you aren't staying at the Contemporary, there are three restaurants and a food court that you can visit for a bite to eat. 

At the top of the resort is the California Grill. This is one of Disney's Signature restaurants, and although I haven't had the opportunity to dine there, it gets great reviews! This is fine dining with a great view! If you're lucky you might be able to snag a reservation for dinner during the Magic Kingdom fireworks. 

Chef Mickey's is one of the toughest reservations in Disney World. Here you can enjoy a breakfast or dinner buffet, with the Fab 5 of Disney, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. We have had breakfast here a few times, and it has never disappointed in terms of food or character interaction. It;s a bit pricey, and incredibly loud, but when you see your kids meeting their favorite characters, you forget about everything else! Another cool thing about this restaurant is that it is located just below the track of the Monorail, in the Grand Canyon Concourse of the hotel. 

The third restaurant in the Contemporary is The Wave... Of American Flavors. The good news is that it is pretty easy to get a reservation here, that is also the bad news. The menu here has a big focus on healthy, sustainable food. I'm all for that, but the quality just doesn't cut it. Kevin Klose, the restaurant reviewer for for the Dis Unplugged Podcast described the restaurant as "beige", and I can't think of a better way to describe The Wave. The food is just ok. The decor is just ok. Even the service was just ok. We probably would not have eaten here had we not been staying at the resort. I have heard that the breakfast is quite good here however, and the wine list is very extensive! 

The Contempo Cafe is the quick service option at the resort. By food court standards I found the food to be pretty good. Nice sandwiches, and a good selection. You place your order here at a self serve kiosk, and then take the printed receipt to the kitchen counter. The food is prepared fresh and comes out hot. I had no complaints about the meals we ate here. This is also where you can purchase and put to use your Disney refillable mug.

In addition to the restaurants and food court, there is a coffee bar at the resort. Contemporary Grounds serves up your favorite latte, tea, frozen coffee, and pastires. My wife says that this is the best coffee on Disney property (not a high bar to clear), but with Starbucks coming to the parks soon, we'll see where it stands! 

The pool complex is behind the main building, and was a bit of a disappointment. Considering that this is one of the most expensive resorts to stay at on property, the pool just doesn't compare with other deluxe resorts. There is a water play area for the little ones, and a lack luster slide but that is about it. Our kids actually preferred to just play in the sand by the lake. The pool at Bay Lake Tower next door is much better, but you can only access it if you are staying in the villas. In addition to the pool there is a marina where you can rent boats for tooling around in the lake, or if you are feeling adventurous, book para-sailing. 

Surprisingly enough, the Contemporary Resort did live up to the 24 years of anticipation. I would love to be able to hop in a Delorean and go back to 1986 and tell 10 year old me, "one day you will stay here!" Or maybe I'd still keep it a surprise...   

Resort Review: Wilderness Lodge

The following review is another review that I have written on Epinions.com. If you would like to see it in it's original form CLICK HERE.

If your idea of "roughing it" is pretending to be in the great outdoors, but actually being in an amenity rich resort, then you are a lot like me! If you enjoy the idea of a vacation at a national park, but would prefer a theme park, then have I got the place for you! Disney's Wilderness Lodge resort! 

The Wilderness Lodge is themed like the great lodges of the Pacific Northwest, and the themeing is amazing! Whenever I visit this resort, I feel as if I have been transported from central Florida, to a land of towering trees, bubbling brooks, and thundering waterfalls. 

Just walking into the lobby of this gorgeous resort is an experience. As soon as you step foot through the doors you hear sweeping songs from the west. You look around and see totem poles, big comfortable rocking chairs, a gigantic fireplace, and enormous animal skin (no buffalos were harmed in the construction of this resort) chandeliers hanging from the several stories high ceiling. In the distance you might see a wooden bridge that crosses an indorr creek that flows outside to the pool. You forget you are at Walt Disney World, until your eye catches a few of the well integrated hidden Mickey's, and until you are greeted by a friendly cast member ready to help you find your room. 

The Wilderness Lodge is one of Disney's Deluxe resorts, located near the Magic Kingdom theme park. By deluxe resort standards it isn't in the most convenient area, but it is just a short boat ride to the Magic Kingdom. In some ways this is a big advantage. Because it is very slightly off the beaten path, the Imagineers were able to really go big on this resort. An example is the geyser that lies just past the swimming pool overlooking the lake. While you can't see the Magic Kingdom from the Wilderness Lodge, you are close enough to hear park's opening ceremony in the morning, and the fireworks at night. 

There are several different types of rooms, but we stayed in one of the rooms facing the woods (and a kind of sad pond) with a queen bed and a set of bunk beds. The kids loved the bunk beds, so much so that they never tried to sneak into our bed! The room was not as large as other rooms in the deluxe category, but it was still very roomy and very comfortable. The beds are made to look like they have been built from trees, and the colors are dark woods and American Indian inspired designs. A flat screen TV mounted on the wall gives it a feel of modern comforts, and there is a small refrigerator to keep your drinks cold. 

Outside of the room there is a lot to do! One of my favorite things to do is explore the resort. The theming is so immersive that they offer free tours of the lobby just to tell the stories behind the design elements! Check at the concierge desk for times. The pool is more aesthetically pleasing than others on property, but otherwise it is about average. The water flowing in from the lobby over the rocks is really cool though. There are a couple of hot tubs at the back of the complex close to the geyser, but unfortunately, like most hot tubs at Disney they are very crowded. 

Out past the pool there is a rental hut where you can rent bikes and surry bikes,  and a great playground for the kids, right on the beach at the lake! There are also a bunch of lounge chairs on the beach where you can sit, relax, or catch a glimpse of the Electrical Water Pageant each night. There is also a bar where you can grab a soda or your favorite adult beverage! 

Dining is a definite highlight at the Wilderness Lodge. Roaring Fork Snacks is the quick service "food court" at the resort. It isn't very big inside (there is a lot of outdoor seating), but there is a lot of good food to choose from, and it has a fixins bar for your burger or sandwich. We really like the made to order flat bread pizzas. If they are offering it, try the BBQ Chicken flatbread. 

In addition to Roaring Fork, the Wilderness Lodge has two sit down restaurants, Whispering Canyon Cafe, and Artist Point. Whispering Canyon is a loud and rowdy cafe that is great for a fun dinner! Be sure to ask for a large drink, and ketchup! You can order off al a carte, but I recommend getting the all you care to eat family platter! All the ribs, sausage, potatoes, and salad you can eat! This is not a place for a romantic dinner! If that is what you are looking for try... 

Artist Point, one of Disney's Signature restaurants. I have never eaten here, but you can bet that you will get a great Pacific Northwest inspired meal. Their specialty is the Cedar Plank Salmon, and I have heard that it absolutely melts in your mouth! 

With all of these things you may need to extend your vacation by a couple days! 

The only real negative that I see with the Wilderness Lodge is that for a deluxe resort, it is not walking distance to one of the theme parks. The location is good, but not as good as the resorts on the Monorail, or in the Epcot resort area. 

One more thing... If you are planning on visting Disney World during the holidays (mid-November-January 1st), there is not a better resort to stay at for Christmas decorations! The Christmas tree that they put up in the lobby is jaw dropping! It is just a great resort to stay at for a wonderful family holiday, or vacation anytime of the year! 

Resort Review: Beach Club

Before I had my own blog to force my opinions on people, I did a lot of writing on Epinions. When the website was started in the late 90's people were making some pretty good money writing reviews on the site. In fact, there was a lot of "dirty pool" by some people to maximize their earning potential! While I never made the big bucks like some posters, I did my fair share of reviews, and was able to gain a little extra spending money for myself. 

Over the years my commitment to doing reviews there has ebbed and flowed. Recently, there has been no flow at all for me at Epinions. Before the review I will post below, I hadn't written anything there in over four years! The site is a good place to find out what real people think of products and services. When I was writing there a lot, most of my reviews were of tennis products, but I think I might start doing some Disney reviews over there. 

Well anyway, I just finished writing a review of my favorite Disney resort the Beach Club resort and I thought I would share it here as well. If you want to see it on the Epinions site, CLICK HERE. 

We have stayed at most of the resorts on property at Walt Disney World, and the Beach Club is our favorite! It was also the first of Disney's Deluxe resorts that we stayed at, and suffice it to say, it set the bar high! 

Originally I wanted to stay at the Beach Club because of it's proximity to the International Gateway entrance to Epcot, which is only a five minute walk from the resort. Little did I know that the resort would become the benchmark that we would judge all Disney resorts by! The rooms are spacious, the sand bottom pool is amazing, and the service is great, even by the high Disney standards you expect! 

Upon arrival we were greeted at the door by a cast member who showed us to the registration desk. As it turned out she was from the same small town in Ohio where my family comes from. She could not have been more plesant, and check in went very smoothly.   

We stayed in a first floor room that looked out on Crescent Lake, and the sand volleyball court. The room was very nicely sized and our family of five was very comfortable. The light blue beach motif was very comfortable, yet it had a very luxurious feel as well. 

The room was equipped with a flat screen TV, two queen beds, and a day bed/sofa. The furniture was of a high quality, and thanks to a recent refurbishment of the resort, in great condition! There was also a small refrigerator and a coffee maker, albeit with below average coffee, but if you have been to Disney before, this will come as no surprise!

Whenever we stay at  Beach Club we build in a resort day to our vacation. In my opinion,  the Beach Club, and Yacht Club (which is attached to the resort) are two of the few resorts on Disney property where you can spend an entire day at the resort, without ever leaving to hit one of the theme parks. The main reason for this is Stormalong Bay, the resorts main swimming complex. I say complex, because just calling Stormalong Bay a swimming pool is like saying that Disney World is just a theme park! One part of the inter-connected swimming area is a sand bottom pool. This is where the smaller kids hang out and make sand castles, and climb on the rocks. The water is shallow, and there are lots of chairs to relax in while the kids play. There is also a more traditional swimming area, and a small lazy river that is deep enough to play dolphin or mermaid! The last part of the complex is a shipwreck themed slide. There is a big slide that starts at the mast of the ship and empties out into the main pool, and a smaller kiddie slide that is in the hull of the shipwreck. You could easily spend a whole day here at this mini water park! Something else that is very nice about Stormalong Bay is that it can only be used by people staying at the Yacht and Beach Club. You must show your room card to enter the complex and get towels, and they put a wristband on you that you need to re-enter. Throughout the day there will be poolside activities and games for the kids as well.

Next to the pool on the Crescent Lake side is Hurricane Hannah's, which is essentially a snack bar. It's a nice place to get a quick burger or a beer, but there isn't anything really special about it. 

On the resort side of the pool there is a large video arcade, and one of the best reasons to stay at Beach Club, Beaches and Cream! Beaches and Cream is an undersized for it's popularity pool side diner that serves typical diner food like burgers, hot dogs, and yummy onion rings. They also have (and you're probably getting tired of me saying this) the best ice cream on Disney Property! My favorites are the No Way Jose, which is a chocolate-peanut butter sundae (big enough for two people), and the Kitchen Sink (big enough for the whole family), which is 8 scoops of ice cream, all of the toppings at the bar, and a whole can of whipped cream! We have tried twice unsuccessfully to finish it. They only allow walk ups, and it is not unheard of to have 2-3 hour waits for a table. There is a walk up ice cream counter where you can get a couple scoops or a milkshake, but not the signature sundaes or non ice cream items. 

There is a sit down restaurant at Beach Club called Cape May Cafe. In the mornings it is a breakfast buffet with character meet and greets. The characters that are usually there are Minnie, Goofy and Pluto, but I have also seen Chip and Dale show up as well. The food is pretty good, but your kids will be too excited to eat. It is one of the easier character meals to get reservations for, and we have always gotten a lot of attention from the characters when we eat there. 

At night the restaurant serves a seafood buffet that they call a clam bake. My wife is allergic to seafood so we have never tried it, but I have heard mixed reviews. 

There is also a quick grab and go market/deli in the resort gift shop, The Marketplace. This is where you can buy and refill your refillable mug, pick up some small grocery items, and of course souvenirs! The shop has a lot of great stuff in it, and a few resort specific items, but we have never had much luck with the food here. 

To be honest, that is the one negative thing about Beach Club. The food options can be limited. It is the smallest of the Disney Deluxe resorts, so it doesn't have as many food options as the larger resorts. There have been a couple times when we have just wanted something quick, but couldn't easily get what we wanted. The other side of this criticism is that you have the larger Yacht Club literally next door, and the Boardwalk Resort a short walk away. Not the most convenient solution, but it's an option. 

One very good reason to walk next door to the Yacht Club is the Yachtsman Steakhouse, one of Disney's signature restaurants! This is probably my favorite Disney restaurant that isn't on a cruise ship! The steaks are great, the service is professional, and while it is a bit expensive, totally worth the price! A couple years ago my wife and I had Valentine's dinner here. She is a recovering vegetarian, and still not a big meat eater, but she loves it to! It's usually pretty easy to get a reservation, and I recommend asking for a table with a view of Stormalong Bay. Try not to rub in the face of the people walking by what a great meal you're enjoying! 

So I think that just about covers it. I wish that the beach vacations that I used to take as a kid was as great as staying at the Beach Club!            

Thanks for reading!      

Favorite Disney You Tube Videos

Do you remember when you were a kid and your Aunt Hilda would come over for dinner after returning from vacation, and she would show you hundreds of boring slides of whatever distant mind numbing place she had just visited? Well maybe that goes too far back for some of you...

What about when your co-worker gets back from their honeymoon and shows you two hundred Instagram photos of various flowers from whatever Caribbean island they just returned from? Why do these people think we care about their vacation photos? We weren't there, why try and comatose us with these pictures? We don't care!

Unless you are a Disney fan, and the pictures are of a Disney vacation.

Now you have my attention.

It's a funny thing about the Disney fan community... Many of us will go out and search on You Tube for complete strangers vacation videos! For a lot of people this is a great way to keep away in-between Disney trips depression. And there are a lot of these videos out there! In fact there are a lot of great ones, that are really professionally done.

Programs like iMovie and Windows Movie Maker have allowed so many people to produce great videos to share with the world. The quality of these videos have improved so much since I made our first Disney Cruise slideshow back in 2008.

Here are some of the favorites I have found recently...

Phil, Emma and Ben are a British family that travels to Disney often. Whenever they take a Disney trip, they take tons of video and post each day in one or two parts after they return. They have a huge online following, and lots of people have duplicated their style. They chronicle everything even the travel days! When I watch their videos, I really feel like I am there with them! Also, Emma is a member of the Disney World Mom's Panel. This video is from their most recent trip, but there are several more on their You Tube page.

This is a very popular video from a family's 2011 trip. What I love about this video is how professionally it is produced. There are a lot of cool effects, and you can tell that the family had an idea of what they wanted to do before they even got to Disney.

What I love about this video is that you can really see what makes a Disney vacation so special. This family has a great time, and there is a good message as well. I also love the music!

Those were just a few great Disney videos that you can find on You Tube. Do you enjoy reliving your Disney memories by watching other people's videos? Do you use them to get ideas for you next trip? Do you have a favorite, or have you made a video of a recent trip? Share them here in the comments section!

Stacey vs. Sophie: Disney Resort TV Showdown!

One of the things that we really enjoy whenever we return to Walt Disney World is watching Stacey and the Must Do Disney show. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Must Do Disney runs on a continuous loop all day and all night on Walt Disney World Resort TV. The show has had many editions, and hosts, but the current version runs for 15 minute, and uses a lot of green screen intros. Our family preferred the version before the current one, the Top 7 Must Sees, that featured a lot more park footage and ran around 30 minutes. The show takes you to all four parks, plus the two water parks, Downtown Disney and Disney Quest. About the only things missing are the two miniature golf courses! Must Do Disney uses a lot of the same footage from Top 7, but is missing a lot of our favorite Stacey-isms like "yummy, yummy, yummy" when describing the food options in Epcot's World Showcase. Regardless of which edition it is, we always make sure that we watch Stacey at least one time, start to finish, each time we visit. For those who haven't seen the latest edition of Must Do Disney, here it is!

As we were on our way to Disneyland Paris we wondered if they would have their own Stacey, and as it turns out they do, Sophie! Sophie is British and her show, 10 Things to

Know Before You Go, more closely resembles the longer Top 7 Must Sees from Disney World. Even the animated intro is very similar. From what I have read, this version is a few years old, so that could be why. Sophie takes you around the entire resort as well, but since there are only two parks, she has to throw in some resort stuff to fill out the 10 things. In Paris this show actually does not run continuously, in between they throw in a couple of Disney related commercials before Sophie comes back on. So in a 24 hour time frame, you get less of Sophie than you do Stacey. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? I'll let you decide that! Here is Sophie's 10 Things to Know Before You Go, courtesy of our friends at Dedicated to DLP, who by the way have a really great Disneyland Paris Podcast!

So there is the info, but this is a shhowdown! Who should hold the crown as the ultimate Disney Resort TV Spokesperson? Let's find out...

Round 1: Energy Level

Both Stacey and Sophie bring it in this category. I'm betting there is no decaf lattes being handed out at their shoots. Straight double shots of espresso baby! Both of them are running around, riding attractions, sharing (and shouting) their excitement for their respective resorts for all to enjoy. In previous editions of her show, Stacey had energy and excitement to spare, but in the new edition they have really toned her down. There are still clips of her prancing and high fiving characters, but it is broken up with green screen shots of her introducing the Must Dos in an almost local news format. Sophie has not been toned down yet, and she is still all over the place at DLP. If this were three years ago, I would give the edge to Stacey, but for today. Sophie takes Round 1.

Round 2: Fun Level

Whether you are talking Walt Disney World, or Disneyland Paris, you are there to have fun! The resort's spokesperson should really sell how much fun you can have at the resort. Stacey looks like she is having a blast on every attraction from Teamboat Springs ("you could throw your whole family in that puppy!"), to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, where she sees a gorilla that reminds her of her Uncle Phil. Sophie brings the energy, but I just don't get the feeling that she is having as much fun. In Sophie's defense, Walt Disney World has a lot more fun things to do compared to Disneyland Paris, but the result here is pretty obvious. Round 2 goes to Stacy!

Round 3: Re-Watchability

Yeah I'm pretty sure I just made that word up, but lets be honest. There isn't a lot else on Disney Resort TV worth watching except for Sophie and Stacey (although I have read reports of a big upgrade coming to the channels at Disney World). Which of these women would you rather watch over and over (and over) through out your vacation. For us, we got a little tired of of Sophie early on, and didn't venture back to that channel as much as our stay went on. With Stacey, we frequently will watch her every day, and while we prefer her earlier shows, we don't ever really tire of her. In fact we quote her very often when talking about Disney thing we enjoy. Round 3, Stacey.

Round 4: Information Delivery

For many of us watching Stacey and Sophie is for entertainment at this point. We might see them as just another perk of staying on Disney Property, or as one of those things that make us feel at home. For families visiting for the first time these shows can be a great way to introduce you to your vacation. This was true for us years ago at Disney World, and weeks ago at Disneyland Paris. While there is no shortage of information online about Disney World and Disneyland Paris, sometimes you just have to have it shown to you (repeatedly). In my opinion both Stacey and Sophie accomplish the goal here. They do a great job of presenting their respective resort to the vacationer, in their own style. Round 4 is a push.

So who is the ultimate Disney Resort TV spokesperson? In my opinion the winner is...

STACEY!!

Honestly, this wasn't really that close. My family loves Stacey. It was nice to see that Disneyland Paris had a similar show, but it can't compare to the Disney Must Dos. Stacey does a great job getting everyone excited about the adventure they are about to embark on at Walt Disney World, and even if Disney edited her down, and cut the time of the show in half, we still love watching it, and always will! So thanks Stacey for helping make so many of our trips to Disney World more magical!

If you get the chance stop by Stacey's website and see what Stacey does outside of Disney Resort TV land!

The Jedi Training Academy

Here is the first of the videos that I promised to share with you, some footage from the Jedi Training Academy at Disney's Hollywood Studios!

This was not a totally new experience for us, as Alyssa was chosen to participate in the show back in August 2009, when there was no sign up procedure like there is now. (You can see her battle Darth Vader in flip flops here.) And to be honest, I much preferred it the old way. In my opinion it made for a much magical moment, but I can say that because my kid was picked, and I didn't have to deal with the tears that would have come if she hadn't been! I understand why they changed the procedure... It was, and is, a very popular thing, and there were probably a lot of dissatisfied families chewing on guest relation's ears about how their child(ren) didn't get to participate. But now it has just become another line on the touring plan.

We didn't really plan on doing it, but it occurred to me that we could while we were making our way over to Star Tours: The Adventure Continues (fabulous rennovation by the way, but we'll save that for another day). It was our 2nd rope drop at Hollywood Studios this trip, and it was my wife's turn to make the Toy Story Mania FastPass March. We told her we would meet her at Start Tours after she braved the crowd, and since we had time, we stopped by the sign up for Jedi Training Academy. We were not the first people there, but we got our ticket to return and were on our way, knowing we would be back in a couple hours.

So when the time came I noticed that there were A LOT more kids in the show now! I think there were 12 kids on the stage, and another 12 on the ground in front of the stage! How would they be able to get all of these Padawans (Star Wars knowledge) to battle Darth Vader in the

time they had set aside?

Enter Darth Maul... So it turns out, that the kids on the ground level actually face him to complete their training. It seemed like the older kids were the ones that would face him, and it made sense, he was creepy lookin! Smaller kids could get freaked out!

So even though I wasn't able to get that classic shot of Alyssa dueling against Darth Vader, I was able to get some new footage of her fighting the most feared dude from Episode One! No not Jar Jar Binks...

Enjoy the video!

Time to Play Catch Up & A Trip of Firsts

Playing Catch Up

Well it's been over a month since my last post and quite a lot has happened... We've had two major holidays (well one candy fest and one real holiday), It snowed back home in Washington DC before it did here in Romania, I did not continue on to Round 3 of the Disney Mom's Panel process, and we have finalized our plans for our next Disney World Vacation!

Let's go back in time a bit and talk about the last thing I mentioned there...

Shortly after we returned from our Mediterranean cruise Disney released dates for free dining. Since we were already counting the days until our next vacation in December, we decided to defy the critics and take advantage of Disney's free dinning plan offer. So in 14 days, we will be leaving Eastern Europe before the cold gripping hands of winter can get a hold of us completely, and jet off to a much sunnier place. Can't wait to get home - to Disney World.

A Trip of Firsts

Of course this is not our first trip to Disney World. In fact it isn't even our first in 2011. We went down and stayed at Beach Club Villas for a few nights before we packed up and moved to "The Carpathian Garden," (Romania). However, this will be a trip where we will be experiencing many firsts - don't you just love firsts!

First off, this will be our longest consecutive stay (8 nights) on Disney property. We have always been the type of family that chooses to take several small (3 or 4 night) trips throughout the year, rather than one really big one - who can be that disciplined? But, since we now live 4,997 United miles away from the World instead of 868 miles, we have had to change our vacation pattern. When you have to spend 19 hours to get someplace, it just makes sense to stay longer!

This will also be our first time on the Disney Dining Plan! Free dining was always something that I wanted to try (can it be as bad as some people say it is), the timing was never quite right to take advantage of free dining. We are very excited about this for a couple of reasons. One, we are going to get to try a whole bunch of new restaurants that we haven't had the chance to in the past, and two, this will really make the Disney Parks experience more like the cruise in terms of dining.

Being on the dining plan made us do a couple of things differently in terms of planning. Since we are going during free dining we knew that advanced dining reservations (ADRs) would be more difficult, so as soon as we booked our dates, we headed to the website to book our favorites. This also made us really think about where we would be on the days we were making the reservations. We spent a lot of time on the Touring Plans website referencing their crowd calendar, and looking at park hours - only then did we decide where we wanted to eat. Some of the reservations that we are most excited about are places we have never been. Le Cellier, Sanna, and Crystal Palace to name a few. But we will also be hitting some family favorites as well, like Chef Mickey's and 'Ohana!

We will be also be staying at a new resort on this trip, Port Orleans Riverside. Many of you might remember that Port Orleans French Quarter is one of our favorite resorts, but with our youngest Dis Kid no longer sleeping in a port-a-crib, we had to make the switch to a resort that was able to sleep 5 in a room, and with an 8 night stay not cut into our daughter's college fund! The rooms in Alligator Bayou offer a trundle bed which will work great for our little guy. In some ways it makes me a little nervous to be staying for so long at a resort we have only visited in the past, but after reading many reviews and trip reports, I am confident the only thing that will get old will be lugging our laundry across the resort - you gotta have clean clothes! Just a couple of days ago we read at PortOrleans.org that they have started to open renovated rooms in Alligator Bayou, so we made sure to request a room in one of those buildings. We also heeded the warnings about the buses at Riverside, and we'll be renting a car so we can avoid them.

Probably the biggest first of them all is the fact that we will be coming back to America for the first time since we moved to Romania 10 months ago! And when returning to the US after such a long time, what better place to go back to then Disney! The last two weeks can not get here soon enough!

More to come sooner rather than later... I promise.

Avatar Coming to Animal Kingdom

We now take a break from our regularly scheduled blogging about my cruise recap to discuss the big news coming out of Walt Disney Imagineering...

In case you are not plugged in to all news Disney, there was a big announcement that James Cameron's Avatar will be coming to Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom theme park. The news came out yesterday (September 20, 2011) via a press conference at Walt Disney Imagineering in Burbank, California. Many details are not known yet, but we do know that construction is set to begin sometime in 2013.

The Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Tom Staggs, answered some email questions yesterday on the Disney Parks Blog regarding the upcoming partnership, but there was very little new information learned. He gave a possible time frame of 5 years before opening, and said that their vision includes "multiple attractions, entertainment, merchandise locations

, restaurants, and other immersive elements." He did not answer if this would be replacing specific attractions, or if it would be an entirely new land, which troubles me...

My thoughts on this have gone back and forth since I first read about it...

First, I like the idea that they are planning something big, and trying to increase the profile of Animal Kingdom. Unfairly in some respects, and spot on it others, Animal Kingdom is often described as a "half day park", and I know that we are not alone in skipping days of our vacation at Animal Kingdom to return to other parks. Bringing a new aspect to the park, and one that should be really cool if done right (and I have complete confidence that Disney will), will draw a lot of new people to the park.

Secondly, I feel that the connection between Avatar and the theme of Animal Kingdom is a bit of

a stretch. I understand the concept of all animals past, present, and mythical, but this just seems made up. The long rumored "Beastly Kingdom" was supposed to explain the dragon in the parks logo, but big blue people? I'm just not sure.

Third, I am excited to see what a partnership between Disney and James Cameron could produce. Like him or not James Cameron is an idea guy. They might not always pan out, but he has a lot of them. If he is really involved in the design and implementation of this project, I think it will be an amazing experience! The comparisons to Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter will come up, but if that is what they are looking to emulate with Avatar, it has the potential to be amazing! While I wasn't as high on the movie as others, I did think that it was amazing to look at, and technically superior to anything we had seen before. If this new land can be as innovative as the film, we are in for something really special!

Some people are saying that this is in response to the before mentioned Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I'm not sure if something that is at best, 5 years down the road can be seen as a response. Also, Avatar does not, at least at this point, have the dedicated fan base that Harry Potter has. They did say that there were at least two more films in the works, but even with those, the Avatar franchise won't reach as far as Harry Potter. I do think that Disney has seen that the model that Universal followed with Harry Potter has worked, and they want to get their hand into something similar. I also think that they have seen where Universal has fallen short in their venture, and will learn from other's mistakes. Disney has a much larger infrastructure and more experience with these types of projects, and they should be able to plan and implement procedures to avoid some of "growing pains" that Universal suffered.

So after typing out my thoughts, and really thinking this over, I think I like this new Animal Kingdow/Avatar venture, but I'm not over the moon about it. On the surface it seemed odd for them to use an outside entity, but they did it with Star Wars, and Indiana Jones to great success. I have high hopes for this, and look forward to seeing how it progresses. We'll just have to wait and see...

Disney Character Dining: Where food takes a backseat to fun!

In today's Disney Parks Official Blog they gave tips on character dining at Walt Disney World. This inspired me to write about our family's favorite places to grab some food, and also some photos with some famous friends... Keep in mind that when I say "grab some food" it actually means that the adults end up eating cold food because they are taking pictures through out the entire meal, and the kids eat nothing because they are too excited to even sit in their chairs...

We have had the opportunity to enjoy several wonderful character meals with Disney. Some better than others, and one that we will never do again. But I will say that we have found these meals to be some of our best time spent at Disney World, and at sea. As always I'm not decisive enough to actually pick just one favorite, and it's my blog so I make the rules!

Chef Mickey's

Contemporary Resort

This is the character meal you want to reserve (as far out as possible) if

you want to see the big hitters. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto

are the characters that will be visiting your table. This is a buffet restaurant, so if you really try you might be able to get your moneys worth. we have done breakfast here three times, and it has never disappointed. There's just something to be said about eating a Mickey Waffle with Mickey at the table, and the Monorail zooming by overhead. Celebrating birthdays are fun here because the characters get the entire restaurant to swing their napkins like lassos while a special song plays over the sound system. One trip we were lucky enough to get a morning of reservation on the last day of our trip. It was a nice way to make an otherwise depressing morning great.

Cape May Cafe

Beach Club Resort

We love this character meal for a couple of reasons. The first being that it is at our favorite resort, Beach Club. Another reason is that it is a pretty easy reservation to get. On our last trip we arrived at the resort very early (around 7:00 am), and our room wasn't ready, so we walked over to Cape May to see if they had room for us and they did. We have always been able to get a reservation when we wanted one, even a couple weeks before our trip. The characters here are great, Minnie, Goofy and Donald, and it isn't as crazy as at Chef Mickey's. The characters tend to spend more time with your table here. This is also a buffet breakfast, and the food is pretty much the same as anywhere else at Disney for breakfast.

'Ohana

Polynesian Resort

This is our number one character meal at Walt Disney World. First of all it has our youngest daughter's favorite (and mine too) Stitch. In addition to the little blue guy, his pal Lilo is here, and Mickey as well! We have found the breakfast here to be a bit better than the buffets. Here your meal is served family style, so you get a huge platter of food to split between the entire group. They will bring you more of anything, or everything if you would like. They also have a special fruit juice that they serve here that is great! This meal is tougher to get, but if you are willing to eat a late lunch you might be in luck. I would still recommend getting your reservation pretty early though, this is a popular restaurant. The theme at the Polynesian is also a fun plus, and they hand out Hawaiian Leis to everyone, and you get your picture taken at a Tiki alter.

Special Character Breakfast Menu

Disney Cruise Line

This is our all time favorite character meal! On cruises of 7 nights or longer you will get to have a special character breakfast in the Parrot Cay restaurant (on the Magic and Wonder, specifics for the Fantasy have not been announced yet). This was our first character meal experience, and it spoiled us. Not only are you on a Disney Cruise ship, but you get so many characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale), and such great service! You order your breakfast off the menu, so it isn't a buffet, but they will bring you as much food as you want, and it's a cruise so go crazy! Another great thing about this experience is the service. On a Disney Cruise you have one wait staff that takes care of you in all the restaurants. By the time your character meal comes around they know you pretty well, and they know what you like. even at the best character meals at Walt Disney World I sometimes feel like they are rushing us out so they can turnover the table. On the ship I have never felt rushed by the staff at all. I can not recommend this highly enough! Just another reason to take a Disney Cruise.

There has only been one time when we tried a character meal that was not a breakfast, and it was the bad experience. We decided at the last minute to try and get a reservation for a character meal one morning. The only thing we could get was the Playhouse Disney character lunch at Hollywood and Vine at Hollywood Studios. It was just a bad experience. We had to ask our server to get one of the characters to come to our table, and the server just seemed like she couldn't be bothered at all. We expressed our disappointment with the manager on the way out, and he basically blew us off. Luckily this is the only bad experience we have had with any meal at Disney.

There are still several character meals that we are yet to experience. I have heard great things about Donald's safari Breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, and 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. Of course the one that eveyone wants is Cinderella's Royal Table inside the castle at the Magic Kingdom. We haven't been able to score a reservation for that yet. We never plan our trips 180 days out, so we have been closed out numerous times. Hopefully it will be in our future, and you can bet that you'll hear about it when it is!