dining at disney

As promised, I wanted to share a bit about our food & dining experiences at Disney. Across the board, whenever “we’re going to Disney World” came into a conversation before our trip, I’d always have the same unanimous comment, “The food is great! Wasn’t the case a few years ago though.” So I’m not sure what happened, but I can chime in and say we all loved everything we tried everywhere.

We were part of a dining plan which allowed one quick service, one snack and one sit down dining per day. They can be used and spread out however you wish during your stay. Part of our stay we used our quick service at breakfast and then snacked in the middle of the day but found if you used your quick service for lunch your portion also included dessert. Since we stayed in Animal Kingdom, the majority of the dining on site was African-inspired. We just loved everything we tried as we ate at Boma (one night for a dinner buffet) and Mara for all of our breakfast services.

Owen enjoying Mickey waffles at Mara. One neat perk of staying at Kidani Village was our refillable cups for fountain beverages. I’m always really thirsty in pregnancy so I was constantly refilling.

Inside Animal Kingdom park we tried Tusker House (another dinner buffet) and Yak & Yeti Food Cafe for quick service. Both were great. A couple stand-out snacks I’m thinking might be exclusive to Animal Kingdom were Mickey Shaped Jalapeno Pretzels with Cheese and their Flavoured Nuts. We tried the sweet pecans and they are the most delish pralines I’ve ever tried! I brought them home and are planning on using them in Everyday Food’s Baked Banana-Pecan Oatmeal this weekend.

We ate at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney which was good, but I don't think I'd make an effort to go again. We also ate at Via Napoli at the Italy pavilion in Epcot. You'll find your standard Italian dining menu and the food was pretty decent. I had a pizza made in the wood burning oven and it wasn't bad. 

But the desserts were great. Here is some of the assortment that arrived at our table including Ricotta Fritters, Tirimisu and...

Ugly But Good - that's the name of this dessert.

Owen was thrilled to pieces over his chocolate sundae.

Belissimo!

Here is one of Disney’s most infamous desserts, the Dole Whip! So famous you can buy a souvenir T-Shirt about this particular novelty, I found mine at Aloha Isle in the Magic Kingdom (but it is also available at the Polynesian Resort and at Disneyland in California).

I tried an Orange Dole Whip with Pineapple Juice and loved it. It was very refreshing, light and thirst quenching. Little did I know until arriving back home that it’s vegan, gluten-free and fat-free.

But all of these dining experiences mentioned above don’t come close to several very memorable spots. First is the Sci-Fi Drive-In located at Hollywood Studios.

Upon entering the dining room you are seated at a 50’s style car converted dining table overlooking a giant drive-in movie screen where you watch projected collections of 50’s science fiction movies. Considering my sister and her boyfriend (who runs) attend Trash Palace weekly and are huge retro movie fans, you can only imagine what a hit this place was. For me, it brought back memories of my years watching Off-Beat Cinema.

Here’s Owen watching my favourite 50’s cult hit Cat-Women on the Moon. Honestly, Owen was too transfixed with the movie screen to eat, I had to coax bites from him.

We all loved our dinners, as indulgent as they were. Some of us started off with milkshakes (the Coconut Cream Pie was to die for!) I ordered New York Strip Steak with Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Blue Cheese Butter and Crispy Onion Rings and a dessert of their homemade candy bar.

The other outstanding dinner experience was at Citricos. This high end restaurant is located inside the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa near the Magic Kingdom. I ordered the Madeira-Braised Short Rib entree and it was the best dinner I had on the vacation.
 

The dessert I ordered coincidentally is the most photographed dessert at Disney, the Warm Banana Chocolate Tart with a Belgian Chocolate Tiara. Short of eating in the castle, I felt like a princess dining here. I so highly recommended eating here if you ever have the chance.

All in all, when choosing options for dining at Disney, for us the dining plan was a huge success. However, you have the chance to completely squander the credits if you order quick service for every meal and don’t attempt to book your sit down dinners (which you need to do months ahead of time). Some of the best places to dine in Disney are booked years in advance and unless sitting around for no less than an hour waiting is part of your itinerary, it really is a good idea to book ahead.

Disney World

Last week we had our family vacation to Disney World. And boy oh boy, does Disney know how to do a family vacation! Disney does not disappoint, in fact they far exceeded our expectations on every level. It’s been close to 22 years since I was there last and a whole lot has changed in two decades. It was nice to have such a large break between visits because between my husband and son who’ve never been before, we were in awe over every little detail of our vacation. Not only that, we didn’t really do a whole lot of research before our trip. We had a travel agent book everything (including dining) and my recently retired parents did a lot of planning as well. So every little experience was exciting and new for us - a true vacation without spoilers. 

Probably one of the most awe inspiring sights were the night time shows. Fantastmic! at Hollywood Studios features sorcerer Mickey battling the Disney villains and uses projectors on water and smoke to create amazing effects.


There is also the traditional Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom which I completely adored.

Afterward was the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular over the castle featuring animated projections on the castle along with a fireworks display. Seriously, my mind was blown.

We stayed in the Animal Kingdom at Kidani Village which was a wonderful stay featuring our balcony which ran the length of the suite so every morning Owen could go out and look at animals which included giraffes and zebras.

Our suite was really great, it even had 3 bathrooms so we could get up and out the door first thing in the mornings.

The other thing we really enjoyed at this resort was the splash pad and pool.

Owen first conquered the kiddie slide and eventually made his way to the big twisty water slide. He was so super proud of himself.


We took advantage of a park hopper style pass which allowed us to bus between all Disney parks at our leisure during the week. And, yes, it takes a week to take in Disney. It was just enough time to see and do everything we wanted and go home completely exhausted and with aching feet to boot.

We used a Disney app to know when performances and parades were happening, a super useful tool when organizing your day. One parade we really enjoyed (which happens quite frequently) is the Move It Shake It Parade at the Magic Kingdom.

Owen had a great spot and Mickey & Minnie Mouse stopped right in front of him.


The characters get off the floats and dance with everyone in the crowd which was super fun. I have this thing about dancing pregnant – went to a wedding a couple weeks ago and just couldn’t bring myself to shake my bump, silly, I know. But I got up and got into the groove with Owen – and Nuno has footage of it all, which I won’t be sharing on this blog!

Here we are at all four of the major parks.




Owen is at a great age for Disney and I’m glad we didn’t try to take him any time before this. Naturally, he was totally into the vacation but luckily he was also totally agreeable about every ride we took him on (and we took him on tons). I have a certain nostalgia for the rides I rode on as a kid at the Magic Kingdom, so we enjoyed It’s a Small World, The Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Country Bears Jamboree and my absolute favourite ride of all time – The Haunted Mansion. The traditional rides are fun but the 3D experiences are unbelievably creative. Our two favourite were “It’s Tough To Be A Bug” at the Animal Kingdom and “The Muppets” at Hollywood Studios.

One of the coolest little details at Epcot which suited our family completely was the resurrected Captain Eo 3D show, featuring Michael Jackson in his heyday. Owen got so into it, he came out of the theatre dancing and striking poses.


Of course, we had lots of character meet-ups and visiting in September had its perk of manageable wait times. I don’t think we waited any longer than 15 minutes to meet a character.

There was also Downtown Disney, which is open to the public and is the ultimate Disney shopping experience. Oh, the shopping at Disney – you’d really have to see it to believe it. We didn’t buy much, but you are in trouble if you’re a huge Disney fan. We only visited for a dinner reservation but for us, the highlight of Downtown Disney was the Lego store and their amazing Lego creations. Owen’s favourite toy is building with Duplo, so this was totally up his alley.




I know in my late teens and early 20’s I felt ‘over’ the whole Disney thing. This vacation was my 5th visit and now going as a parent and seeing the joy and happiness on Owen’s face during the week was totally priceless. Just to give you an idea, here’s a thrilled Owen meeting his favourites – Chip and Dale!



This past week pretty much blows every previous family vacation we’ve taken completely out of the water. My next entry will be exclusively about eating at Disney.

third trimester

We’re officially beginning the third trimester this week at 28 weeks. Super excited to be at this point because the baby is doing fantastic, I’m feeling good and enjoying these weeks of actually looking unmistakenably pregnant. It happened just as we were leaving child care so everyone we were seeing on a daily basis knew Owen had a sister on the way and then entering elementary school it’s pretty clear. So a quick photo (which I’m still taking the old fashioned way) to document this landmark.

I was able to get by all summer in my shorts and after next week all the tanks, sandals and shorts are going away. I’ve started pulling out my fall clothes and the timing of this pregnancy is perfect for dressing up. I’m loving scarves, light jackets, cardigans and boots. I kinda feel like if you dress up while pregnant you feel better about the whole experience. Making it work is all part of the fun, granted it can be a bit of a challenge. Having said that, I’m still fitting in my regular jeans & clothes - for now - but I went ahead and purchased 2 pairs of maternity leggings (the best thing to wear pregnant!) & a pair of jeans from ASOS mail order and then have 2 pairs of stored maternity pants (black skinnies and jeans) I bought in March on an H&M mark-down. So I feel set to adjust through these last 3 months and hope to post more pics if I can convince Nuno to be a photographer for me (or teach Owen – hehe).

And now to talk about a recent recipe. I’m all over Smitten Kitchen right now, it’s my stand-in when Everyday Food can’t keep up with my new recipe demands. As tomato season is unfortnetly coming to a close we recently tried Deb’s Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes [Pomodori Ripieni di Riso]. I like the idea of a creamy rice filling on a stuffed vegetable and super juicy tomatoes are the perfect vessel. The prep was super quick but they took a little while to bake. Although we were happy with the results Nuno felt that the stuffing might have been tastier with a meat or cheese addition to filling. Which I agree, this meal is great for a light vegetarian dinner. We paired it up with foccacia to help round it out a bit.

school lunches

With Owen entering school things have changed quite a bit for him, all of which I’m pleased to report are positive & exciting. As a parent though, the biggest change we’ve undergone is having to make school lunches. We’ve been fortunate enough to have spent the past 3 years sending Owen to a child care that prepared meals on-site. Naturally, bringing a lunch has its limitations, sorry Owen, no more piping hot Sheppard’s Pie and Mac n’ Cheese. Just before he left his child care I asked for photocopies of their monthly menu plans to try my best to find items easily transferable to a lunch box and, luckily, many were. I also researched on Pinterest, but if you do a keyword search for school lunches you’ll find some of the most artistic and totally unachievable on a daily basis examples where people dress up food into art. I believe food should be fun, but maybe I’m just a little lazy to ever imagine it would be possible to carve Kawaii radishes daily for a lunch box. What I decided to do was get Owen involved in making items for his lunch to get him interested in what he was eating. We started by trying these Zucchini, Banana and Flax Muffins from Everyday Food magazine September 2011. In some of my entries for the past 2 years I’ve shared how Owen is always a willing participant when it comes to baking and having a helper and kitchen baking buddy is so much fun. Here he is with a job custom-made for a three year old, mashing bananas.

It’s pretty funny, I’ve had to give Owen a little lunch demonstration every morning. I want to be sure he can open all the containers and he knows which item goes with what. For example, I gave him hummus with veggies, but his orange slices were also in the same cooler bag, so I did my best to explain that the orange slices aren’t very tasty with hummus. It all got eaten, so I’m assuming it’s working. 

Because we’re new to this and are always looking for more ideas, if you have any to share – please do! In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few simple and mostly healthy school lunch ideas we’ve put together as a starting point for reference. Right now I’m attempting to keep all lunches to finger foods just to make it simple to start. Some of the listed items require a fork & spoon, but all can be eaten cold. Photos and much reference courtesy of where else but the ever resourceful Martha Stewart. 

Bagel with Cream Cheese
Bean and Cheese Quesadilla
Pea Butter and Jam Rolls / Sandwich
Ham & Cheese / Turkey Ranch/ Chicken / Tuna / Salmon Salad Sandwich
Savoury Waffle Sticks
Calzone
Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Brown Rice
Homemade Pizza
English Muffins with Ham and Cheese
Whole Wheat Croissant with Ham and Cheese
Fried Rice
Chicken and Vegetable Stir-fry with Brown Rice
Macaroni and Cheese
Hamburger
Avocado Sandwich / Open Face Toast (dying to try this one with Owen)
Leftovers Pita in a Pocket (such as a slice of meatloaf)
Tortellini with Peas
Chicken Fingers with Plum Sauce
Mini Turkey Meatballs w/ Bocconcini, Garlic Bread and Marinara Dip
Crepe Roll Ups (Sweet - Pea Butter and Jam or Savoury - Ham and Cheese)
Sweet or Savoury Hand Pies
Broccoli & Pasta Salad
Burritos


Snacks / Sides:
Dried fruit
Tortilla Cups with Yogurt and Fresh Fruit
Toasted Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Pita Triangles with Yogurt Dip
Graham Cracker Sandwiches with Mashed Fruit Blended with Cream Cheese
Veggie Sticks with Ranch Dip
Homemade Oatmeal / Pea Butter / Chocolate Chip Cookies
Whole Wheat Tortillas Pinwheels with Apple Butter
Pitas Wedges / Pita Bites with Tzatziki or Hummus
Fresh Fruit & Dip
Applesauce Pouch
Banana Bread
Muffins (Raisin Bran, Blueberry)
Homemade Trail Mix with Yogurt
Ants on a Log
String Cheese
Yogurt Tubes
Whole Wheat Crackers with Pea Butter or Cheese Cubes
Digestive Cookies / Arrowroots
English Muffin with Jam
Rice Cakes
Fruit Leather
Frozen Fruit (grapes and sliced bananas)
Popcorn Balls

If I have time later I'll link to some of these recipes online

labour day weekend 2013

With the recent switch-up in routine in having Owen enter elementary school I realized I forgot to blog about this past Labour Day Weekend. Not that there is a whole lot out of the ordinary to say, we do the same thing every year because we love to. We visit Sarnia to spend time with my grandmother.
Part of our tradition is to always stop off in London to visit Storybook Gardens in order to break up the drive a bit. On Saturday before we hit the road I did a quick Google for a refresher on how to get to Storybook Gardens where I discovered they were celebrating their Star Wars Day. Talk about perfect timing! There was even a discount on admission for kids who chose to dress up. From our experience at the NF Comic Con, we thought we’d find out if Owen was interested in wearing part of his Jedi costume, to which he was thrilled! So here’s a montage of that little adventure.

We had a wonderful visit catching up with family in Sarnia, we always really enjoy our time there. It’s hard when family isn’t close by, but what time we do spend is great for making memories. My aunt, uncle and grandmother came with us to the Animal Farm – another of our annual Labour Day traditions.

first day of junior kindergarten

I mentioned a couple posts ago about how Owen is starting school. It seems pretty mind-blowing sending a three year old to elementary school, but seeing his ability & desire to learn and all the knowledge he gained from child care I was looking forward to seeing him step up to the next level. We’d been preparing him for school for about a month now by reading books about kindergarten, taking him to his new school, having him choose lunches and explaining what will be different between child care and big kid school. All this talking-up got him pretty stoked for his first day. 

Here he is doing a dance (that kinda looks like the puppetmaster) before leaving on the first day. He was so excited, which is a good thing, right? Well, it also made me a little uneasy because maybe we’d built this experience up a little too much. But when we picked him up after his first day he told us he had a good day even though there were moments he felt lonely. Understandable because he was in a child care with the same kids every day since he was a baby. One of his challenges will be to make new friends. Thankfully, today, his second day, he bounced right out of bed and was raring to return, which was a great relief.

Surprisingly, his first day of elementary school wasn’t as difficult for me as his final day of child care. We’ve grown to love and trust the staff of his child care and saying goodbye wasn’t easy. Coincidently, Owen’s been with the same teacher for 2 years (he moved through rooms and staff shuffle somehow always kept them together). The teachers in the preschool room put on the most amazing send-off.

Look at these adorable chocolate grad caps and diplomas (totally out of nutrition guides, but I’m sure we all agree that parties are the time for treats and to indulge!). They gave us a box of amazing gifts & memories, including a class year book. I thought I’d share Owen’s entry.

I still wonder what sort of embarrassing details the child care knows about us via Owen. 

So, I spent most of the event choking back tears with a full blown sob as his teacher and I were hugging goodbye & thank you (hey, she started it!). I think it's possible I’ll miss them more than Owen will. Hopefully our daughter will get accepted into the same child care here when it’s time.