Disney Details #1

I have a feeling there will be a lot of Disney centered posts in the months to come and the posts will cover a wide range of things.  As I prep for Disney there are crafts, tips, etc. that I might just HAVE to share.  I grew up going to Disneyland.  It's got a million and one childhood memories for me.  As a kid Disneyland was a day of magic and a late night car ride home.  We ate hot dogs, churros, burgers, fries and ice cream.  We got to drink soda instead of milk!  But my, how times have changed.  I now live on the opposite coast and a trip to Disney can't happen in a day.  Instead we drive 11 hours and stay for a week!  I'd been to Disney World once in high school with my dad, but other than that when I planned our last trip I was a bit of a novice.  I spent a lot of time reading up on the ins and outs of Disney World.  The info paid off and we had a fabulous trip of course, but as we plan our upcoming trip I'm much more informed.

This time around I knew that there was more to Disney than hot dogs and churros.  Don't get me wrong,  I love me some churros.  They are so much harder to find on the east coast than in So Cal!  But I digress.  Last year I learned, a little late, that I could make reservations for our sit down dining experiences in advance.  I was still early enough to get most restaurants I wanted, but we ate at some funky times or some of our second, third, etc choices.  Not this time!  This girl was on the computer at exactly 180 days before our vacation making dining reservations!  Despite a set back of one restaurant not being in the system for over a week I am happy to say that we got reservations for every restaurant we wanted except one.  (More on this one later...)  So here is where we'll be eating on our trip:

Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge:  We ate here on our last trip and, what can I say, my boys love a good buffet!  Another perk is this restaurant is at our hotel this trip so it's a perfect arrival night restaurant.  Since the fussbucket will have spent quite a bit of time in the car I'm positive he'll have a ton of energy to burn off, as will the rest of us.  Hopefully it will be warm enough for the pool or the playground before dinner that evening.

Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios: We'll be eating my birthday lunch here.  The best part of this restaurant is that it's set in the 50's so everyone is aunt, uncle or cousin and the food is just like mom makes.  Your table may even have a little black & white TV running old TV shows while you eat.  Best of all you can get a milkshake for your drink on the dining plan!  Hello, delicious!  Oh, and that viewfinder on the table, that's the kids menu!

Dinner 50's Style at Prime Time Cafe

Biergarten in Germany at Epcot: This will be our first experience here and I'm nervous about whether the fussbucket will have anything to eat.  However, I think he'll love the oompah band so if worse comes to worse, he'll just eat dessert or something!  I think it will be a fun experience for everyone.

Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom: We did one character dining last year at the end of our trip.  We ate at Cape May Cafe right before pulling out for home.  This time we scheduled the character dining earlier in hopes that it would help us gauge how the fussbucket would react to the characters.  Crystal Palace features Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore.  The little brother sleeps with a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal and enjoys the movie so I'm hoping this is a good way to start.  Plus, I was able to get the earliest reservation so I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to get some photos in front of the castle without a million people in them!

Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast Last Trip

O'Hana at the Polynesian: I've heard nothing but good things about this restaurant and it was one we couldn't get a reservation at last trip.  I'm really excited to try it out!  Pineapple bread, meat delivered to your table on skewers and lots of fun antics.  I hope it lives up to the expectations!

Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room in Britain at Epcot: I had wanted to eat here last trip, but it seemed wrong to sit in a pub without a beer and I was pregnant so the beer just wasn't happening.  This trip I plan to induldge in a Snakebite and enjoy some fish & chips!  We've made a late dining reservation in hopes of being able to see Illuminations from the patio seating.

California Grill at the Contemporary: This is probably my favorite restaurant at Disney World!  The food is delish and the view is amazing!  It's a signature dining experience and take 2 table service credits, but they are so worth it!  Each time we make our reservations around when Wishes is shown so we can watch the fireworks from the viewing deck at California Grill.  Plus, it's a good excuse to get cleaned up for the evening and do Disney in style.  It really can't be beat! 

Special dessert plate made by our waiter at California Grill for Den

Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary: Just in case the little brother likes the characters or we're really brave I made reservations at Chef Mickeys for the morning of our departure.  It's a great way to get the big guys autograph without standing in line and supposed to be a lot of fun.

T-Rex at Downtown Disney: This is the one restaurant we didn't get a reservation at.  I guess everyone and their mother will be eating there the same day we planned too!  However, we have this magic card called the Landry's Select Club.  We love Landry's, the restaurant, but one of the great things is that the Landry's corporation owns T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe and Yak & Yeti, all of which can be found at Disney World!  Here are some of the reasons why we love Landry's Select Club:

• Earn one point for every dollar spent
• $25 Welcome Reward - You do pay $25 to join the club, but are credited with your $25 welcome reward as soon as you activate your card
• $25 Birthday Reward - Hello, Disney in December when my birthday is!
• Priority Seating - aka, your name is moved to the top of the list & you get the next available table!

So we may not have reservations, but we're still confident we'll be able to get a table in a reasonable amount of time.  And we should have $50 in rewards to spend so we don't plan to use our Disney Dining Plan credit for this dinner, even though it is now on the DDP.  And if I'm lucky I'll earn enough points on Swagbucks or MyPoints for a Landry's gift card so that the meal will be totally free saving our dining points for other dining adventures.

We are clearly set to eat well at Disney World this trip!  What is your favorite restaurant at Disney?