Apr 1 2014

Tuesday Trivia – Pirates of the Caribbean

In the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney World, what two wonderful qualities does the winsome wench who is being auctioned off possess?

Please check the comments section for the answer!

Mar 28 2014

Friday Favorites – Best Magic Kingdom Counter Service Restaurants

For today’s Friday Favorites, I would like to share with you my picks for best Magic Kingdom counter service restaurants. There are so many great places, it’s hard to choose just a few, so I picked one location from each area of the park.

Be Our Guest Restaurant Located in Fantasyland, this restaurant wins hands down for atmosphere. The beauty and attention to detail are amazing! You really feel like you are dining inside Beast’s castle. The menu offers a nod to French cuisine with selections like Nicoise salads, Quiche and Croque Monsieur. My favorite part of the meal, of course, is the wonderful selection of desserts. Be sure to try a cream puff or a fancy cupcake! Yummy! This particular restaurant is only counter service at lunch time.
Casey’s Corner Located on Main Street USA, when picking this place, imagine eating at a baseball game! Fare includes specialty hot dogs, nachos, cotton candy and cracker jack. My favorite here is the tasty barbecue slaw dog. A great combination of sweet pulled pork and tangy coleslaw on top of a hot dog. You just can’t beat it!
Columbia Harbour House Located in Liberty Square, this restaurant is perfect for the seafood lovers in your group. The selections include a tuna sandwich, a lobster roll, salmon, fried shrimp and battered fish. Being allergic to seafood myself, I always opt for the chicken nuggets when dining here with my family. These nuggets are deliciously well seasoned with a nice crunchy coating! This place routinely gets great reviews. Try dining in the upstairs area of this restaurant to get a break from the crowds.
Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café Located in Tomorrowland, this is another fan favorite. There are so many great things about this place. First, there are three different bays to order food so there is something for even the pickiest of eaters. Options include burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, salads, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets and a rotisserie chicken meal complete with mashed potatoes and veggies! In addition, this restaurant has one of the best topping bars in the Magic Kingdom to dress up any of your meals. Lastly, there is an entertaining floor show put on by a Audio-Animatronic character named Sonny Eclipse that you are sure to enjoy!
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café Located in Frontierland, this is another great place for variety! Along with the usual burgers, you can also find onion rings, barbecue pulled pork and an awesome taco salad. What I love about the taco salad, is that it comes with just the tortilla bowl and meat, so that you can dress it up however you like with the tasty toppings from the bar. I get one of these on every trip!
Tortuga Tavern Located in Adventureland, this is the place to get your Mexican food fix! Choices include chicken or beef burritos, nachos along with my favorite taco salad! This restaurant also offers a yummy tropical fruit slush made of passion fruit, orange and guava which tastes great alongside the spicy Mexican fare.

So there you have it…the best counter service restaurants in the Magic Kingdom! Anyone else hungry now?

Do you have a favorite Magic Kingdom counter service restaurant? What do you order there? Please leave a comment!

Mar 27 2014

Disney World Planning Basics: Admission Ticket Options

When planning your visit to Walt Disney World another thing that you will need to pick is the type of admission ticket that you will purchase. Just like with everything else, Disney World gives you lots of options!

Single Day Tickets Just like the name implies, this ticket will get you a single day admission into one of the four Walt Disney World theme parks; Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom. This type of ticket really only makes sense if you are only going to be visiting Disney World for one day. As of 2014, these tickets are about $100 per day.
Multi Day Base Tickets These tickets will get you admission into one theme park per day for however many days you purchase. These tickets are available for anywhere between two to ten days worth of admissions. They must be used within 14 days of the first use. As of 2014, these tickets start at about $200 for two days up to $377 for ten days. As you can see, the more days you purchase, the more the price per day drops!

Once you decide if you will be visiting for a single day or multiple days, next up you get to choose your ticket options. These ticket options are only able to be added to the Multi Day Base Tickets.

Park Hopper Option For an additional charge of $49 for a one to three-day Multi Day Base Ticket or an additional $60 for a four-day or more Multi Day Base Ticket, this feature will allow you same day admission to all four of the Disney World theme parks so you can enjoy visiting more than one theme park in a single day.
Water Park Fun & More Option For an additional charge of $60 for a two-day or more Multi Day Base Ticket, this option allows you an equal number of visits to the number of theme park day admissions you purchased to the following locations: Disney’s Blizzard Beach, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course (before 4pm) and Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course (before 4pm). So if you buy a three-day Multi Day Base Ticket with the Water Park Fun & More Option, you can enjoy three days in the theme parks plus three visits to these other locations. All of the theme park admissions and the additional option visits must be used within 14 days of the first use.
Park Hopper and Water Park Fun & More Option Or you can go all out and for an additional charge of just $86 for a two-day or more Multi Day Base Ticket, you can have all of these options included!

Other Considerations

Annual Passes If you are going to be visiting more than once during a 12 month period, you may want to consider an Annual Pass. For example, let’s say you are going to visit Disney World twice this year for three days each trip. With Disney World’s current 2014 ticket pricing, if you were to purchase two three-day Multi Day Base Tickets with the Park Hopper Option, it would be $344 per trip for a total of $688 (including tax). On the flip side, you could purchase an Annual Pass for just $675 (including tax) for a savings of $13. This doesn’t include the savings you will see from the free parking and special discounts that you receive on dining, resort stays and merchandise as an Annual Passholder.

Where To Purchase Always looking for convenience, I purchase my tickets (usually Annual Passes) straight from Disney’s website. You can also check out Touring Plans ticket calculator, if you would like to purchase your tickets from a discounter. Please be sure you are purchasing your tickets from an authorized Disney ticket discount wholesaler! Watch out for random ticket stands set up around Orlando. If the seller asks you what specific dates that you will be using the tickets, this is a huge red flag! Some of these random sellers have been known to buy up and resell partially used admission tickets. Your tickets will be one of the most expensive parts of your trip, so please use a reputable ticket seller so that you protect your investment.

What about you? Which type of tickets do you usually purchase and from where?

Please leave a comment!

Mar 25 2014

Tuesday Trivia – It’s a Small World

How many Audio-Animatronics doll figures are in Walt Disney World’s version of It’s a Small World?

Please check the comments section for the answer!

Mar 21 2014

Friday Favorites – Best Disney World Frozen Drinks

There is nothing better on a hot summer day than a frozen drink to cool you off! Disney World offers lots of tasty frozen beverages throughout the parks. For today’s Friday Favorites, here’s my list of the best frozen drinks in Disney World!

Frozen Coca-Cola This is a classic frozen Coke. I absolutely love this one – being a huge Coke fan myself! It is so sweet, refreshing and great for anyone of any age. These can be found at several locations throughout all four parks. My favorite spot to get one is at the Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom. It is conveniently located right next to a yummy popcorn stand!
American Dream This is another great drink for anyone! This is a combination of frozen strawberry, frozen blue raspberry and vanilla soft serve. I love this patriotic red, white and blue, creamy frozen treat! You can find this delicious beverage at the Fife and Drum kiosk near the American Adventure in the World Showcase at Epcot.
Yak Attack This is a wonderful sweet and sour frozen beverage for the adults in your group. A tasty combination of light rum, wild berry and mango, this drink is amazing and strong! You can get one of these at the Yak and Yeti counter service or table service restaurant at Animal Kingdom.
Fiesta Margarita Another terrific classic frozen drink. What I love about this margarita is that it is a swirled combination of lime, strawberry and mango margaritas! This way you get to try all three flavors in one awesome drink! You can find this one at the Margarita Kiosk near Mexico in the World Showcase at Epcot.
Grey Goose Citron Slush When considering this drink, think “grown up” lemonade. It is a tangy combination of frozen lemon and Grey Goose Citron Vodka. It is so cool and smooth, these go down really quickly, so watch out! This drink can be purchased at the Vins de France kiosk near France in the World Showcase at Epcot.
Grand Marnier Slush Last but not least, this is my all time favorite! This drink is a sweet mix of orange and Grand Marnier. It is like a yummy orange dreamsicle with a kick! This beverage can also be found at the Vins de France kiosk.