Magical Blogorail: First-Timer Planning Tips

Welcome to the first stop aboard Magical Blogorail Red. Enjoy the ride as we share our tips for planning your first Disney vacation.

A good friend of mine is planning a very special Walt Disney World vacation for this fall and has asked me for help.  Technically she has visited WDW once but since it has been about 30 years, we're considering her as a first-timer.  On this vacation, Ann will be traveling with her husband, their daughter who will be almost 4, and Ann's retired parents. They are all looking forward to seeing the little one take in the magic and Grandpa really wants to spoil his grandbaby.

You have to admit the volume of information available about Disney World is daunting. The options are nearly endless and a first-timer could quickly get overwhelmed with the research project required for a Disney vacation. I've tried not to bombard my friend with tons of information as she begins the process but rather break it down into smaller tasks.  Here are the first few things to consider as a first time Walt Disney World guest-to-be.  I'll write additional posts on this topic as I help her plan for the big trip.

The first step is to select travel dates. They were originally considering September, wanting lower crowds with weather still warm enough to enjoy some pool time.  Ann and her husband had not heard about the Food and Wine Festival but of course, it peeked their interest.  They were at our house for dinner, asking tons of Disney questions, when F&W came up.  Looks now like they'll visit in late September or early October, depending on which works best with school.  I reviewed Touring Plan's crowd calendar for my friend and that time of year is fabulous.  I also suggest checking the calendar at All Ears to see if there are any special events, conventions, tournaments, etc that a guest would either like to see or avoid.

Step two is to choose a Disney resort hotel.  There are some really good off-property options but you just can't beat the magic 'bubble' that staying on Disney property provides.  Especially for infrequent guests, the special touches, theming, and terrific Cast Members of a Disney resort hotel are really worth spending a little more.  Ann and her family are really interested in being very close to the Magic Kingdom and will likely book a room at the Grand Floridian.  Ann first let me know they were starting to plan via a text message.  She asked if I had heard of the Grand Floridian.  I told her I loved to visit there but I wouldn't personally pay the "Grand" prices and suggested Port Orleans Riverside.  What I didn't know was her father had already made up his mind that they were staying at the Grand and it was pretty much a done deal.  My husband and I had a suite there for our wedding night and it was beautiful.

If you are deciding where to stay for your first Walt Disney World vacation, know that Disney offers a wide variety of accommodations.  The prices vary widely from the cheapest value resort to the most expensive deluxe suite.  Once you've decided your budget for the vacation, you still have options within a category.  Be sure to browse Disney's site and check out the theming and amenities of a resort. For instance, a larger family might consider the Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort or a Family Suite at the new Disney's Art of Animation Resort.  Both sleep 6 and are about the same price but the experiences would be very different, as Fort Wilderness is rustic and AoA is as colorful as it gets.  That's one thing I love about Disney...something for everyone!

For a value resort, I've stayed at All Star Music twice.  Once in a standard room and once in a family suite.  It's not exciting but ASM has all the perks of being on property.  Pop Century is a very popular value resort in the Disney online community.  The newest resort is Art of Animation and I'm surprising the girls with a few days in a Little Mermaid room at the end of our fall trip.  They will love the theming and the gigantic pool.

The favorite moderate resort of the Growing Up Disney family and a fair number of our team is Port Orleans with most of us leaning toward Riverside.  This resort is divided into two sections, French Quarter and Riverside.  French Quarter is themed exactly like it sounds.  It's smaller and has a good cajun/creole food court.  Riverside has a more bayou feel, a little more space to wander, and a table service restaurant as well as a food court.  I don't think you can go wrong staying anywhere in this resort.

My favorite Disney deluxe resort hotel is the Polynesian.  I've stayed at all three of the monorail resorts and the Polynesian would be my choice for my family.  However, we are a Disney Vacation Club family and almost always book at Old Key West.  It's a lovely relaxed resort with huge villas and many of the comforts of home with full kitchens and washers/dryers.

Step three is contact a Disney Authorized Vacation Planner to reserve a room and purchase park tickets.  We use Travel with the Magic and they don't pay me to say that.  Yes, you can book on your own online or by phone but when you can get the help of a Disney expert for free, why not?  Your travel agent can check the latest deals for you and advise on ways to maximize your travel dollar.  They'll also watch for future offers to see if you could save more.  The current ticket pricing structure offers a myriad of options (park hopping, no expiration, water parks, etc.) and sometimes it's a good deal to purchase an annual pass for one member of your party in order to get annual passholder room discounts.  Back to my previous advice, let your travel agent run the numbers for you.

Step four TAKE A DEEP BREATH.  Again, it's easy to get in over your head in research so if you've wandered off into exactly how rider swap works at this point, walk away from the computer for a few.  You'll have time later to learn those things.

Step five is to make dining reservations.  Popular Walt Disney World restaurants book up far in advance.  This is the biggest surprise for pretty much everyone who has ever asked me for advice on a first-time vacation.  People just can't believe that they need to book a table six months before they'd like to dine with Cinderella or in Beast's Castle.  So if you are planning around the six month mark or less and are interested in the quintessential Disney dining locations, you need to get on the dining reservations fairly quickly.  If you are at around the one year mark when you read this...see step four.

Keep in mind that there are many options with Disney dining, just like with resort hotels.  If you have your heart set on having dinner with your favorite princess and it's booked throughout your vacation, try another similar restaurant.  I have two little girls and they will love Cinderella's Royal Table someday.  We don't tend to book far in advance and I'd like to save their first meal in the castle until they are a bit older.  However, we had a FABULOUS time at the Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus in Epcot's Norway Pavilion.  Hands down my favorite dining experience in ages and it's less expensive than Cindy's and a little easier to book.  You can always take a shot at last minute reservations for popular restaurants.  We managed to get a late breakfast a couple of hours in advance for Akershus.

We here at Growing Up Disney (and my blogorail pals) have shared many restaurant reviews and photos over the years.  When I am planning my own dining reservations, I always look at the menus at All Ears or the official Disney site.

Disney has a wide variety of dining options, from the character meals mentioned above to the exquisite five diamond/four star Victoria and Albert's to world cuisine to the casual cafe.  Check out our trip planning tab above for articles on the favorite restaurants of our family and guest contributors.  Our team of Minnie Moms has discussed our lists of best and worst restaurants for children.

Making reservations is simple.  Either send your list to your travel agent or book online with Disney or call 407-WDW-DINE.

Ok.  That's enough tasks to get you started on planning your first Walt Disney World vacation.  I'll be back later with more tips and you can always peruse our site for yourself in the meantime.  

Happy planning! 
~Amy

Be sure to check out our First Timer Class series.


Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is My Dreams of Disney.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ Growing Up Disney

2nd Stop ~ My Dreams of Disney

3rd Stop ~ Disney Donna Kay

4th Stop ~ Colorado Mountain Mom

Final Stop ~ A World View

Trip Planning with My Disney Experience

My Disney Experience - Web Version

Not every iPhone app or website is a winner.  But Disney has a winner in the making with its "My Disney Experience".

If you haven't seen it, My Disney Experience is a combination of a website and an app that allows you to plan your Walt Disney World vacation (as of today, My Disney Experience does not appear as a selection on the Disneyland web site and the app only shows WDW).  Planning is not limited to one person.  You can link others in your vacation party so all can plan and all plans show in the website and app for those you want to share with.  The website and app also stores the confirmation numbers for all your reservations.

My Disney Experience app on my iPhone

For the trip mom and I are sharing with Amy, Tink and Minnie, I made our reservations on the DVC Members site, www.dvcmembers.com.  As I have logins for the members site as well as www.disneyworld.com when I logged in to look at My Disney Experience my DVC reservation was there.  On the My Disney Experience website, I added all the members of the party and had it to send Amy an email to join in on the planning.

The My Disney Experience web and app work and look a little different, but both show you the same information.  The web version shows you every day of your stay and any reservations you have for each day on one screen.  On the iPhone app, it automatically shows you "today", and you use a calendar to find the dates of your stay and choose each one individually.  Both show you your reservations, notes and any "things to do" you have placed on your calendar.

I made reservations for lunch at Le Cellier Steakhouse at the Canadian pavilion at EPCOT.  Those reservations linked in.  The reservation shows not only the reservation but each person's name along with an  avitar of your choosing for each person.  You can also set reminders for events or attractions you want to see and they show on your day also.  So if you need a reminder of what time the "3 o'clock parade" is, you can add it.  For notes, I added Amy's flight numbers and arrival and departure times so I don't have to ask any more.   Amy has made some reservations and as soon as they are made, they are available on our shared My Disney Experience vacation planner, so we can see all reservations for our trip.

MDE park guides

MDE activities

Among other things, you can see park maps, resorts, attractions, restaurants along with menus as well as book your dining through the app or of course on the web.

I know My Disney Experience does more than just help you plan your trip.  Since we are only planning process for our trip, that is all I'm reviewing here.  Later Growing Up Disney will review the in-Park functions when we are in the park.

 If you are THE planner for your trips, I think it's worth downloading the app and logging into My Disney Experience on the web.  It seems to be a good dashboard view of your trip and all the planning you have done for you time at Walt Disney World.

--DisneyDad

A Walk Around The World With Ridge--Fulton's Crab House Review

My wonderful friend Shelley Caran, from www.onthegoinmco.com and several other well-known sites in the Disney community, joined me for dinner at Fulton’s Crab House on Sunday, May 20, 2012. I had not been there in many years and this was the first time for Shelley. I hate to say it but Fulton’s is one of those places I have just avoided for a long time because it always seemed like an overpriced version of a large chain restaurant that happens to serve “lobster”.  I have to say I am pleasantly surprised with the results of my dinner and I’ll share why. 

OBP

When Shelley and I met up Sunday we talked about what our expectations were.  We definitely wanted it to be good, that was a given, but honestly didn’t know what to truly expect. I’ll say that the experience started off with a bang.  My reservation was made by the PR representative for Fulton’s and it contained the fact I was a writer for Growing Up Disney. The Host, Reggie, quickly brought over manager Geoff who welcomed us to the restaurant and quickly disappeared to prepare the table. We were a few minutes early so we told them “no rush” and had a seat at the bar. They have OBP (Orange Blossom Pilsner) on tap so I really wasn’t in a hurry. The bartender greeted us and gave us a little something to snack on while we waited. Forgive me for not remembering the name, but Fulton’s makes a cream cheese and crab spread and serves that with whole-wheat crackers.  It’s pretty darn tasty.  (Editor's note: Here's a link to the recipe for Fulton's Crab Boursin.)

crab spread

crab spread

Once seated, we had a beautiful view of the sunset and less than a half an hour to wait for it.  Our wonderful waiter, Alex from Ontario Canada, made us feel immediately at home and began explaining the menu and making his recommendations. Once Alex had finished, we were honored to have the head chef, Marc Boor, come out to talk with us a little. Chef Boor is no stranger to Disney having worked at several of the resorts before moving north for other opportunities. That is until his wife saw Fulton’s was looking for a new executive chef and told him to apply. We talked for a few minutes about the menu and made a few decisions. Now for the good part. 

We made the choice to try a couple of appetizers: the calamari and the tuna tartare. I’ll start with the calamari. I’ve had lots of calamari in my time; I love some seafood. The calamari was fresh as I have ever tasted and was cut into thick strips, lightly breaded and fried.  The preparation and freshness were so good that it was still tender and moist even when cold.  For dipping, a fresh tomato basil sauce was served. The quantity on the plate was well worth the money but the tuna tartare was what Shelley and I would have fought over.

Tuna & Calamari

Ahi Tuna tartare is sushi grade tuna, finely chopped and serve raw. For me this is heaven because I’d eat sushi everyday if I had my choice and the money. Formed into a cylinder with fresh avocado-cucumber relish, sweet chili aioli, and a plantain chip on top for garnish, the ahi tuna tartare was on the money for freshness, texture and overall taste. 

Crab Cake

Grouper

For our main course Shelley ordered the fresh caught grouper, which was served with a variety of roasted vegetables, artichoke hearts, tomato and guacamole.  I went with the chef’s recommendation of the crab cake.  It was composed of jumbo lump crab meat with very little filler, plated on a roasted corn maque choux, and topped with a fried green tomato and a remoulade sauce. Just a little bit spicy as the chef had described it as a “Southern” style. No matter what you would like to call it; I called it delicious. I also ordered the cioppino, which is a fish stew that contains all types of seafood. Fish, crab, mussels, clams, shrimp and scallops in a slow roasted tomato sauce and served over a pasta, in this case linguine. 

Cioppino

For dessert, Shelley had the cheesecake which is just like the style I make, very creamy and dense, and you can really taste the cream cheese still because they haven't over-burdened it with sugar. I had Alex's suggestion of the sweet and sour cherry crumble with vanilla ice cream. Both were so simple and so perfect.

   

Everything was prepared with care and our waiter, Alex, made sure that we were well taken care of. I was impressed by the staff as well as the food. Shelley made the comment that the experience felt like “old” Disney… nothing was a problem, they would figure out a way to make you happy. For my money this is an experience I will have again. Fulton’s is not outrageous at lunch, and while dinner is expensive, keep in mind what you are getting for your money.  Only the premium Disney Dining Plan is accepted, so don’t expect to use the normal plan there.  It truly is a wonderful dining experience and if you sit in the bow of the crab house at dinner you may just get a wonderful sunset to boot.  Once again big thanks to Shelley for joining me on such a fun adventure. 

Enjoy the rest of the photos from the day!

Inside the lobby

stairway to dining room

Sunset 1

Sunset 2

Sunset 3

view to the bow

  
  

Tide Me Over

It's lunch time here at Hilton Head.

The resort doesn't have a table service restaurant but Tide Me Over is open for a quick breakfast or lunch. My family enjoyed a cheeseburger, a veggie wrap and a grilled cheese sandwich. Items from the children's menu are served in a sand pail and include a small shovel. Seating is outdoors on picnic tables. Since its a little chilly and windy today, we carried our lunch into the Community Hall. It made a nice spot for lunch and to visit with my friend, Jackie, and her daughter who came over to see us from nearby Savannah, Georgia. While we chatted, Tink found a toy box filled with princess dolls, puzzles and lots more.

Disneyland Paris Planning with Nine: Part 4 What to Eat?

Nine is still busy planning her family's first visit to Disneyland Paris.  Today she tackles a favorite Disney topic--dining.

I am currently researching into one of my favourite topics, eating. And even better, eating at Disney, Disneyland Paris to be precise.

Now if I were planning a trip to WDW then I would not need to do too much research. I may send a few tweets asking what new places are around and if anywhere has had a menu overhaul but in general, I know my way around the restaurants over there and I know spefically which places are veggie friendly.
You see, that's the hard part, yes, I am one of 'those' (see here for my previous article on being veggie in WDW).

If I ever thought I had problems finding non-meat or fish options in the land famous for surf 'n' turf, then France should be a piece of cake right (mmm, cake, maybe I could just eat cake while I'm over there ...). However, I digress. My family and I holiday in France every year and each time I come home full of cheese and maybe if I'm lucky some pizza and pasta. They do not really cater for the veggie palate.
But I have been busily consulting the official website, The Unofficial Guide to DLP and of course asking the experts on Twitter and The Dibb.

So, what have I come up with so far?

In no particular order ...

• The Agrabah Cafe, situated in Adventureland in the Disneyland Park. Moderately priced and offers a middle eastern inspired buffet.
• Annette's Diner, found in The Disney Village, US style diner serving a veggie burger (I really just need Cosmic Rays and I am happy lol)
• Colonel Hathis Pizza Outpost in Adventureland has a wide range of pizza and pasta.
• The Rainforest Cafe in has a veggie burger (and we've never eaten in the one on DTD or AK yet). There is also a Planet Hollywood in the same location, the one in DTD does a lovely pasta dish so it's possible this one will too. We also really like this restaurant and while others find it loud and expensive, we've always had a really good time and lovely food.
• The Earl of Sandwich in The Disney Village and The Market House Deli on Main Street, USA both serve deli snadwiches.
• Pizzeria Belle Notte in Fantasyland has a wide range of pizza and pastas.
• And remember what I said about living on cake? If it comes to it I'll just feast upon the goods from The Cable Car Bake Shop on Main Street, USA. This bakery will have to go a long way to beat the actual Main Street Bakery in WDW and my favouriate of all baked goods, the GIANT cinnamon rolls that you can smell almost as soon as you enter The Magic Kingdom. But if needs be I'll be willing to try several of the French contenders, just to see and report back to you guys of course!

As an aside, I have been trying to get quote this week for our stay next July. It is 99% certain we will be staying for 3 days, 2 nights within the first week of July 2012. However, the Disney site has been down so I have not been able to do this as yet. The in-laws are coming to spend the day with us soon so I will be trying to phone DLP direct whilst we are all together (and DFIL has his credit card ready lol). I will update you all when it is finally booked, hooray!

Contributed by Janine P. of Swindon, England. She is a proud wife, mommy to Felicity and one of our Minnie Moms.  Follow along throughout this monthly series as she plans her first trip to Disneyland Paris.


Other posts in this series:

New Series from Nine

Part 1: Questions

Part 2: When to Go?

Part 3: Where to Stay?

A Walk Around The World With Ridge--More America….American Adventure

       In this three hour tribute to all Nations but Mostly America, I will take just a few minutes to talk about American Adventure in Walt Disney’s EPCOT in World Showcase. The American Pavilion is located directly to the rear of the park between Japan and Italy.

Let’s look at the building, shall we? The building’s architecture is modeled after the Georgian style buildings found in Colonial America and is covered in 110,000 Georgian clay bricks. Beautiful columns stand before the entry to the rotunda queuing area of the American Adventure. Outside is a large fountain and to the left of the entrance is the Liberty Inn, where the typical fare is hamburgers, hotdogs and cold Sam Adams, let’s drink to Patriotism! Across from the American Adventure is the American Gardens Theatre where, at various times of year i.e. Flower and Garden Festival or Food and Wine Festival, musical acts liven the festivities. There is a shop to the right side of the entrance, which I am ashamed to say I have never been in…I pledge now that I will go into this shop on my next trip in 5 months and buy something with an American flag on it…although seeing as I am going back for Food and “Beer” Festival someone may have to remind me because the Sam Adams beer seminar is always right there and I forget, but I digress.

The pavilion has two different groups that perform daily: The Spirit of America Drum and Fife Corps and the Voices of Liberty. Both of these are wonderful experiences. The drum and fife corps plays outside a couple times a day between the American Adventure and the American Gardens Theatre. It is about a 10 minute performance that has Cast Members in Revolutionary period uniforms playing traditional marches. In the period they represent, the fife and drum were used to signal the army of the orders that were given such as march, halt, ready weapons, etc. because battle field communication was a bit frantic and signals were sometimes hard to relay by voice. Instruments have been used for thousands of years to aid commanders in giving orders that everyone should be able to hear. See what we learn from a tangent?…ok back to topic. The group Voices of Liberty is an acappella group that performs approximately a 15 minute show in the rotunda just prior to the crowd being allowed upstairs to enter the theatre. Usually they are dressed in a period costume; I personally have only seen them dressed in the fashions that would have been popular in the 1800s but I understand they have other costumes.

Take a few moments and peruse the rotunda. It displays a number of paintings by famous American artists depicting moments from US history. One of my favorites can be found to your left as you enter the building. It is a painting depicting the assembly of a B 17. If you look down at the floor, it is real marble and inlayed with copper. On the right side of the room is the American Heritage Gallery housing pieces such as a cast of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s hand, chairs that belonged to George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and Edison’s phonograph. Once it is show time, you are taken upstairs by an escalator, stairs or elevator. If using the escalator and stairs it is via the Hall of Flags. There are flags from other countries that have had claim over the lands of United States. In total there are 44; however, I have never seen the Confederate flag in the Hall. I guess we are just forgetting the struggle to hold a nation together?

Once inside the theatre, you will notice there are statues along the wings of the stage. These are to represent the spirits of America: Adventure, Compassion, Discovery, Freedom, Heritage, Knowledge, Independence, Individualism, Innovation, Pioneering, Self-Reliance and Tomorrow. When you are seated in the 1000+ seat theatre, don’t worry about your position. Personally I like to sit down front because I am in awe over how real the animatronics figures are but with a stage so big I think this is truly an attraction where the theatre was designed to have no bad seats. Your hosts of the American Adventure are two of my favorite Americans, Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). Both were extremely influential men of their own times as well as our own. I could ramble on about Dr. Franklin but I will spare you all the nap that would surely ensue.

Our illustrious hosts take us on a journey through the building of America. Now something I have failed to mention to this point is that this attraction uses sets and animatronics figures that rise up from out of the floor and descend from the ceiling. The show is as technically complicated as you can imagine; however, when you are watching the show your belief is completely suspended and these are not just animatronics they are real living, breathing and, in Mark Twain’s case smoking, people. As we stroll with our hosts through our country’s history starting with the Pre-Revolutionary war and ending with the “Golden Dreams” montage (believe me, it is a catchy tune and you will be humming it as you walk out at the end,) we are introduced to figures such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Fredrick Douglas, Susan B. Anthony, F.D.R., Will Rogers (who twirls a lasso!) and Chief Joseph just to name a few. The movie that plays at the end of the show called the “Golden Dreams” montage has been updated in the last few years to include 45 new seconds of footage some of our most recent American tragedies and triumphs and I dare anyone to make it through without being just a little misty eyed. As the show comes to an end Dr. Franklin and Mr. Twain discuss the past and future quoting John Steinbeck and Thomas Wolfe and their influential thoughts on America. Again I will not take your time and tell you what is said; instead I invite you to make your way to the attraction and see it for yourselves and experience our American Adventure.

originally appeared 7/9/10