Dining Dining Dining

I am currently planning meals for our February 2013 trip. We got the free dining special, which makes it all the more sweet. I've made a few changes to our park schedule. In the past, I always put us in the parks that had the Extra Magic Hours. But I'm finding myself getting more and more irritable in crowds (ones of the reasons we go in February), so I've decided to put us in parks without the EMH to see if I could get even smaller crowds. But with this new schedule comes the dilemma of where and what to eat!

I've already got two places reserved. The Garden Grill because hello, it's The Garden Grill. It's our favorite. It's where I first met Mickey Mouse! And Be Our Guest because it's new. It's in the new Fantasyland and HELLO IT'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. I mean, come on. I feel lucky to have gotten a reservation!

So that leaves three table service meals. Nothing in Hollywood Studios appeals to me outside of 50s Prime Time Cafe, and I haven't really wanted that in a while. I've heard not so great things about the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, so I've never gone there. Hollywood and Vine is just meh, and The Hollywood Brown Derby is too hoity-toity, in my opinion. OK I just don't want to spend the two dining credits. ;) So what we typically do is grab lunch at the ABC Commissary (I love everything about that place), and I book a resort restaurant for dinner. However, I can't think of a resort restaurant that I'm very excited about this time, so that means I'll have to research. I already know what I don't want, and that's Chef Mickey's. Blech. Last few times there was so blah and I felt like I was inconveniencing them. It just seems like a terrible restaurant to work in and the employees and even the characters seem miserable. I also don't want Whispering Canyon Cafe, because it's just too loud. And I didn't really like the meal I'd ordered when we went in 2011.

I am considering Kona Cafe again--I did really like my meal and their dessert selection is amazing. I'm also considering Boma. I've eaten there before and I enjoyed it enough. I feel like my culinary horizons will be expanded enough with Be Our Guest, though, so I'll have to think about that.

The problem is that I'm kind of a picky eater. I want to try new things, but it has to be within certain parameters. I don't want onions, mushrooms, weird seasonings, or strange sauces. This limits my menu selections a lot, but it's rarely crippling. I can usually find something, or I can usually ask for them to leave the offending menu items off my dish. But I like to try at least one new place every trip, but we have some favorites as well.

If you have any suggestions for table service meals (especially in resorts), please comment. I would love to hear them.

Counter service meals are way easy for us. In Magic Kingdom, we love Columbia Harbour House. I also truly enjoy Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. It really depends on what I'm in the mood for (or if one is closed!) for us to decide one over the other. CHH almost always wins, except, as I said, if they're closed.

In Epcot, we usually end up at the America pavilion for some boring old chicken breast nuggets and fries. I don't know... something about being in the midst of all those different foods we can try from other countries makes us run right for the boring stuff. I'm going to try to make an effort to eat lunch at one of the other countries this time. Try something new. As I said, at Hollywood Studios, ABC Commissary wins. And at Animal Kingdom, I have a hard time deciding between Pizzafari and Flame Tree BBQ. Both are super yummy. I guess it'll depend on what we're in the mood for. We typically eat lunch VERY EARLY at Animal Kingdom--I'm talking 10:30am.

Now for the fun part. SNACKS!

This part is easy. Look at these cookies. LOOK AT THEM. Oh my God.


If those babies aren't tempting me, there are Dole Whips of various varieties, those chocolate and candy covered marshmallows, churros, crepes, assorted baked goods from the World Showcase in Epcot, and more. Funnel cakes in Hollywood Studios--why am I just now learning about this? Adam and I always have snack credits left over, and we end up using them to pick up bags of gummies and things to bring home.

Dining at Disney is definitely Adam's favorite part, and it's one of my favorite parts as well. I'm excited for what's in store for February 2013!

Disney Dreaming

We just had the mother of blizzards in Chicago. So bad that my job actually closed on Wednesday, and this morning's (non)commute was so stressful that I ended up going back home to warm up. I was so frustrated that I decided to take another day off. My boss told me to write a Disney blog entry, so here I am.

I AM SO READY FOR JUNE, YOU GUYS. Seriously, this morning, I stood on a train platform in 1˚F temperatures for an hour. I am so over the cold and snow, and every day I dream about being in Florida with the sun beating down on me while I nom on a chocolate and M&M covered marshmallow or maybe even a Casey's hotdog. It is that serious, folks.

The past couple of weeks, I went ahead and put the deposit on our Disney trip and extra night at Port Orleans French Quarter, got Adam to book the plane tickets, and made our meal reservations. If you're one of the three regular readers of this blog, you know that I like to try something new every trip. Here are my meal plans for our June trip:

Saturday - Whatever strikes our fancy. We won't be on the meal plan yet, so I figure we can eat at Downtown Disney or even in one of the resort food courts.

Sunday - Liberty Tree Tavern dinner (Of course I had to put in a tried and true favorite!)

Monday - Garden Grill dinner (Always.)

Tuesday - Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner (This is our new place. The menu looks scrumptious, and I hear that you can get into some real shenanigans here!)

Wednesday - Chef Mickey's dinner (I've never done this place for dinner before and I am eager to try the parmesan mashed potatoes.)

I used to follow a certain pattern every single time I went to Disney World. This time, I'm going to be doing things differently. It's just about time for me to eat dinner, so stay tuned for more details. :)

Food!

Food is an important part of any vacation. In fact, I daresay that eating is in the top five (maybe even three) things I get excited about, no matter where I go. Especially if I get a chance to eat food that I don't normally get, or that are not available where I live.

So, I have made our dining plans for Disney World. I used the online reservation system and it worked like a charm! I was able to search for tables and times, and then I got an email confirmation a few minutes later. Here are the plans for us:

Day One - Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
We had Liberty Tree Tavern for the first time last year when we took Aidan. It was a hit with all of us. OK, the mac&cheese was Stouffer's, but I'm not going to lie. I liked it, and thought it went well with everything else that was offered. Plus, the dining was free, so why would I complain? I remember really enjoying the turkey and gravy. Mmm, gravy.

Day Two - Breakfast at Crystal Palace
I tend to sleep in on vacation, and I do not want to do this for this particular Disney vacation. I want to be up and at 'em, ready for some magical times in the parks. So I scheduled a couple of character breakfasts to get me up early and excited. I was deciding between 1900 Park Fare and Crystal Palace, and both Adam and I agreed that we wanted to maximize our time in the park. So Crystal Palace it is!

Day Three - Dinner at Garden Grill
The Garden Grill is a must-do. Not only do they have the best character interactions, but I love their fresh food, the atmosphere of the rotating restaurant, and the all-you-can-eat family-style dining. It's always nicer than a buffet, especially at the end of the day, when I want to relax and be waited on for a bit. This place has amazing desserts. Last time I had something called a Blueberry Buckle, which made me want to run around slapping everyone, it was so good!



Day Four - Dinner at Boma: Flavors of Africa
Every time we go to Disney World, I try to schedule a dinner somewhere we have not eaten before. This year, it will be Boma, along with Eli and Melissa, and possibly Sharon and Rich. This is way outside of my regular food comfort zone, as I have never actively pursued African food before. Now, I am a picky eater, but I'll try just about anything once. Boma is a buffet, which means I can take just a little of something unfamiliar, and if I like it, I can go and get more. There are some tried and true things there too, it seems, such as wood roasted meats and salmon. The soups sound very good. I'm excited to try this place out--Eli and Melissa rave about it!

Day Five - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's
I am kind of tempted to change this to Ohana because I keep remembering those amazing eggs, and 1900 Park Fare has the Alice in Wonderland characters. But, Adam has never had Chef Mickey's (I warned him it was loud and there are napkin swinging parties), and I remember having a great time there when I went in 2005. I'm excited about going again and exploring the Contemporary a bit.

Disney Love

Fewer than 90 days!!!!

Today, my travel agent made my ADRs. By the way, I HIGHLY recommend using Mouse Fan Travel. I'd never used an agent before, but I will from now on. Not only can they quote you a package and hold it for a few days (which came in handy while waiting to get approval to take the time off), but they will proactively apply any discounts that arise while waiting to take your vacation. There are no fees to use them. On top of that, they make your ADRs for you, which is great because I TOTALLY forgot that my window opened today!

Suzy--the best travel agent ever--got me all of my first choices:

8/16: Liberty Tree Tavern at 6:40pm

8/17: 1900 Park Fare at 4:30pm

8/18: The Garden Grill at 7:20pm

8/19: Hollywood and Vine at 12:20pm

8/20: 'Ohana at 9:25am

YAY. Four character meals. Two places I've never eaten before. One good time!

* * *On a Disney bulletin board that I post, someone asked what our favorite non-ride things to do at Disney are. Just thinking about it made me smile. And I came up with this:

• I LOVE talking to all the different people from all over the country and the world.
• I like talking to cast members, the ones that are probably more invisible to most guests.
• I like sitting on the rocking chair and just relaxing.
• I LOVE meeting characters (might do autographs this year!)
• Fireworks. Parades. Character meals.

Just BEING there makes me happy. And thinking about all that stuff makes me think of even more things I love about Disney. Such as:
Wearing Mickey ears everywhere, and feeling left out when I don't.

And, in even more happiness, Touring Plans lowered its crowd predictions. If I am not mistaken, it will be similar to how it was when Adam and I went for our honeymoon last year. This is really good news! I enjoyed walking onto rides, and watching the parks all but empty when it rained. We don't leave when it rains. We pop on our ponchos and stick it out, because in the evening, once that rain clears up, the park is even more magical.

Meal Planning!

On May 18, the window opens for my ADRs. I like to try new places as well as stick to some old favorites. Because Aidan is coming along, it's going to be more tried and true places because he's pretty picky. I mean, really, who's heard of a 6-year-old who didn't like bread?

The new places I want to try this time around include:

• Liberty Tree Tavern
• Chefs de France
• Ohana

I also want to try different meal times for restaurants I've already dined at. For example, I'd like to try Chef Mickey's or 1900 Park Fare at dinner instead of breakfast.

The top places on my list for our August trip are:

• Garden Grill - The Land, Epcot
• Liberty Tree Tavern - Magic Kingdom
• Ohana - Polynesian Resort
• Hollywood & Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner Package.

I have a huge list of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices of places I want to eat each day. In some cases, I have a 4th choice! We will only have the meal plan for four days, but we have a late flight out on our 5th day, so I plan to treat them to breakfast at Ohana that day.