Apr 4 2014

Friday Favorites – Best Magic Kingdom Attractions

For today’s Friday Favorites, I am going to share with you my picks for best Magic Kingdom attractions. The Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World is one of my favorite theme parks! It has such an amazing variety of attractions for every member of the family to enjoy. Throughout the years, I have experienced rides with my youngest son when he was just six months old all the way up to my grandparents when they were in their 70s! I love that Disney World has so many options that the entire family can share together. With over 40 different attractions in the Magic Kingdom, it was very hard to narrow my list down. I decided to pick one favorite from each section of the park. And here they are!

Pirates of the Caribbean (located in Adventureland) I absolutely love this ride! It has been one of my favorites since I was a child. This is a 9 minute dark indoor boat ride with audio-animatronic pirates plundering and being generally rowdy. The accompanying song “Yo Ho, Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life Me)” is so catchy! There are lots of things to see along the way like skeletons, ghost ships, wenches being auctioned, looting, fires, treasure and of course, Captain Jack Sparrow. The attention to detail on this ride is amazing all the way down to the hair on the pirate’s leg as his foot dangles over the bridge above your head. Although, my boys have loved this ride since they were toddlers, I would be cautious with kids that are very sensitive or are afraid of the dark. There is also one very small hill, so small that even my 65-year-old dad who doesn’t like any sort of thrill rides, can ride it with no problems. There are no height restrictions on this ride.
Splash Mountain (located in Frontierland) Even though I hate getting wet and always wear a rain poncho on this ride, it is one of my all time favorites! This is another boat ride, but this one is more flume style, and travels both indoors and outdoors. It journeys over a half of mile in about 18 minutes during which you will see more than 100 audio-animatronic animals telling a story based on the Disney movie “Song of the South.” Again, there is great music in this attraction including the songs “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “How Do You Do?” This attraction includes several smaller “teaser” type hills throughout the ride culminating in a 5-story plunge. The question on this ride is not if you will get, it is how wet will you get. If you want to stay dry, wear a poncho and be sure you tuck it under yourself and sit on it! You must be at least 40″ to ride and children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult.
The Haunted Mansion (located in Liberty Square) This is another wonderful Disney World attraction and one of my must-do’s on every trip. It begins in a room where a little of the back story is given. Then you will move from there to the actual queue to get in your “doom buggy” to experience the rest of the ride. Once in your “doom buggy” you will tour the entire Haunted Mansion and a graveyard. This ride also has a great song to it called “Grim Grinning Ghosts” and it makes the whole thing seem a little more light-hearted. There is nothing particularly gory about this ride and the special effects that are used to simulate the ghosts are really quite amazing! With that being said, as a child, I was terrified of this ride! My young boys are much braver than me and never had a problem with it. If you are going to bring a young child on it, here are a few things to keep in mind. In the room where you begin your ride, it will go completely dark and other guests find it very funny to scream their heads off at that point. This can be very startling to young kids so you might want to prep them for that possibility. Once you actually get inside your own personal doom buggy, they will be comfortable in their own enclosed car with you. There were many times as a child, I just rode through with parents with my eyes shut all the way and I was fine. There are no height restrictions on this ride.
It’s a Small World (located in Fantasyland) This is a true Disney classic so much so that it has been replicated in every Disney resort around the world! Another indoor boat ride, this one travels to all seven continents in a journey of about 10 minutes. Along the way, you will see almost 300 dolls each displaying the traditional dress from their nation while they sing along to the timeless song “it’s a small world.” This ride just warms the heart! As a child, this was my favorite ride of all time. It is almost like being in a time machine when I ride this attraction, remembering my parents bringing me on it and now I’m enjoying it with my own kids! This is a perfect starter ride for very young kids. It is bright, colorful and calm. There are no height restrictions on this ride.
Monster, Inc. Laugh Floor (located in Tomorrowland) Based on the hit movies, Monsters Inc. and Monsters University, this show is sure to get you laughing! The premise is that the monsters have now discovered that laughs produce more power than screams, so they are after your laughter. Through amazing technology, the animated characters on the screen are able to interact with audience members. This show is usually hilarious and can be made even more funny with great audience participation. If you just want to watch and don’t want to be chosen to play along, avoid the seats with what look like desk lights right in front of them. My whole family loves this show!

There you have it folks…my picks for best Magic Kingdom attractions!

How about you? What are your favorite Magic Kingdom attractions? Please leave a comment!

Apr 3 2014

Disney World Planning Basics: Dining Options

A big part of many people’s Disney World vacation is all the delicious food to eat! There are so many dining options (literally hundreds), it can be overwhelming! So here are some of the things that I do when planning where to eat on my trips.

At about seven months before my vacation, I start researching the table service restaurants where I would like to book an Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR – Disney World’s version of a reservation). You can book ADRs 180 days in advance and some of the most popular restaurants and character meals fill up very quickly, even the first day they are available! A great place to start your research is Disney World’s official website. On this page you can filter your search by location, type of cuisine, guest rating and cost. This site offers basic information about each restaurant including the current menu and prices. Once I have narrowed my options down, I like to check out The Disney Food Blog. This unofficial fan site is amazing! They have incredible photos, reviews, menus and other guest comments to read, to help you make your final decisions. Then at exactly 180 days out, I go back to Disney World’s website to make my Advanced Dining Reservations.

I like to research counter service restaurant options (places that don’t accept reservations) before my trips as well. If you haven’t been to Disney World before, it is not like a typical amusement park, where you find basically the same food at every restaurant. Even Disney World’s counter service restaurants have lots of variety from place to place. When I travel to Disney World, I am usually traveling with a group and it always includes my young kids. Everyone knows how hard it is to make a decision in the spur of the moment with lots of people including hungry kids! So before our trips, our whole group likes to discuss possible places to eat. Again The Disney Food Blog is our go-to website to figure this out. We check out the photos, menus, reviews and comments to get an idea of where we might like to eat in each park and make a list. That way when everyone in our group is hungry, we just check our list and head to the nearest counter service restaurant we have already preselected. It saves so much time and energy!

How about you? How do you go about choosing where to eat in Disney World? Please leave a comment!

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!