In honor of Earth Day, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s 15th anniversary, I thought I would share some of the pictures we took during our recent visit to Animal Kingdom. One of my favorite moments of the day was seeing the tigers up and active! Every time I haved visited them in the past, they have been fast asleep in the shade. They were stalking each other and playing together. So cute!
I’m about to let you all in on a little WDW secret! Shhhhhhhhh!
Tadd and I recently spent an early morning in Epcot’s World Showcase. Normally, the World Showcase section of the park opens at 11AM, while the rest of the park opens at 9. However, the bakery in the France pavilion was recently remodeled and reopened with new hours! They now open right at 9 with the front of the park. BUT! The France pavilion is literally as far back into the park as you can get. Nothing else is open back there before 11…It’s literally JUST the bakery (which, as I’m sure you can imagine, serves some pretty fantasic pastries for breakfast!). And word hasn’t really gotten out yet about this hidden gem.
What this means is, if you can get to Epcot at park opening, and immediately walk straight back into World Showcase, you basically have that whole area to yourself. While everyone else is racing to The Land pavilion on the other side of the park to get Soarin’ fastpasses, you will get to stroll past the completely empty Canada and UK pavilions on your way to your delicious breakfast in France!
There is something SO cool about feeling as if you have a whole theme park to yourself. We are so used to seeing these places full of crowds, noise, and hustle-bustle. Being able to take our time and really enjoy all the sights and details in peace and quiet was well worth the hassle of getting up extra early. Of course, we had to take our sweet time and take a ton of pics!
January has turned into a bit of a blog hiatus for me. Unfortunately, I am still dealing with issues stemming from my accident (I officially hate car insurance companies!), still dealing with traces of my cold on and off (although I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better), and work has been pretty insane too. I swear, I couldn’t believe when I woke up yesterday morning that it was ONLY Wednesday. It felt like it should have been Friday many times over by that point. To say this month has been challenging for me would be an understatement. Although I do know that it could be much, much worse, and for that I am grateful.
Last Saturday, we took a break from our life stresses to celebrate my good friend Elizabeth’s birthday at Epcot, where I got to try several new things for the first time! Having lived in Orlando for over 2 decades, and having been a Walt Disney World passholder for several of those years, I get excited when I get to try something new in the parks.
First stop: New Test Track.
It’s basically an upgraded version of the old ride. The footprint and track of the ride are exactly the same as they always were. However, the look and “story” of the ride are totally different. Now the ride basically looks like you have stepped into the movie Tron. Lots of dark spaces contrasted with neon outlines. Everything looks more slick and futuristic. Also, now you get to design your own car via touch screen kiosks before you ride, and your design gets pitted against the designs of the others in your ride vehicle as you go through various “tests” (stuff like sudden breaking, handling on curves, aero-dynamicness, and everyone’s favorite…SPEED!). After each test, there is a little leaderboard that shows how your imaginary car fared against the others.
The queue looks totally different now too. The focus seems to be on the science of car design and concept cars. I am not a huge car person, but I could see where this would really interest someone who was into that kind of thing.
Later on in the day, we surprised Elizabeth with lunch at Via Napoli for her birthday.
This was another first for me. This restaurant opened in the Italy Pavilion of World Showcase back in 2010, and it was a place that I had always wanted to try, but just had never gotten around to it. They are known for their authentic Neapolitan cuisine, including delicious wood fired pizzas. What I think is the coolest feature of this restaurant are the three very striking pizza ovens shaped like the faces of the patron gods of each of the three active volcanoes in Italy: Stromboli, Vesuvio, and Etna. So cool!
The pizza was delicious. It’s traditional oven-fired style pizza with thin crust, ever-so-slightly charred on the bottom with great toppings. We got a delicious white pizza with artichokes and truffle oil, and some kind of custom-ordered prosciutto and sausage monstrosity that I wouldn’t touch (I don’t like meat on my pizza…I’m a veggies-only kind of girl, but my friends really loved it).
Then the birthday girl got serenaded by the waitstaff! She got some kind of lemon cookie mini-dessert. But really, the cookie was just a vehicle for the AMAZING chocolate and raspberry sauce drizzled all over the plate.
I would say all of us really enjoyed it and I know I would definitely go back. The pizzas are pricey when compared with regular takeout pizza ($30 each for the large), but they were a good size and two of them were the perfect size for the 6 of us. I didn’t think it was bad at all for a filling, sit-down lunch at Disney. I know I left stuffed.
My WDW escapism continues this weekend at Magic Kingdom…We have reservations this Saturday for dinner at Be Our Guest, the brand new restaurant in the Beast’s castle in New Fantasyland. I had to book these reservations back in August (three plus months before the place even opened!), so they are quite coveted. I am psyched! If only this week could mercifully end so I could get back to the fun stuff!
Finally getting around to sharing some of the holiday events we attended this year at Walt Disney World. We did a lot of these events much earlier in the season this year (as in, before Thanksgiving) because crowd levels closer to Christmas can be ridiculous, and it just happened to fit our schedule better. Being in Florida at Christmastime can tend to not feel very Christmasy, but I love that we make up for it with easy access to these spectacular events and displays. If you visit Disney at Christmastime, regardless of the weather, there is NO way you don’t come away firmly entrenched in the holiday spirit. It’s the most festive place I know of this time of year.
Magic Kingdom: Main Street and Castle Dreamlights
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights
Epcot: Candlelight Processional with Guest Narrator Whoopi Goldberg
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort: Victorian decorations and giant gingerbread house
Linking up to a very worthy cause!:
Melissa at 320 Sycamore is hosting a Favorite Things Link Party today! What a great idea for a link party…We all have those little things that we have discovered recently that are worthy of sharing. Here are a few of mine:
1. Kindle Fire HD
I had been hemming and hawing for awhile on getting a tablet. My cheapie $300 laptop was starting to show its age, and I had decided about 6 months ago that instead of replacing it, I would keep it as long as possible and use it just for things like photo editing and blogging, but get myself a tablet for more daily use and for travel. I went back and forth for awhile on iPad vs. Kindle Fire HD, and was anxious to see the price point on the iPad Mini, but as soon as the Mini was announced (starting at $329…way higher than I expected), I made up my mind. A few weeks later, I had my brand new Kindle Fire HD and I couldn’t be happier. More power to you iPad users, but there’s no way you can tell me that for twice the price, you get twice as much. Kindle Fire HD blows iPad out of the water when it comes to value. At least for me!
2. Amazon Prime
Piggy-backing on my previous mention of the Kindle Fire HD…I also elected to enroll in the Amazon Prime membership, which so far has saved me a ton on fast shipping for my holiday shopping (one of the perks is FREE 2 day shipping on most items they sell). I also love all of the complimentary content (books, and streaming movies and TV shows) I can get on my Kindle!
3. White Barn Candle Company – French Baguette candle
I recently stopped in to a Bath & Body Works store to stock up on a few of their holiday items, when I came across this French Baguette candle. Neither Tadd nor I can get over how realistic it smells! Like real, true fresh-baked crusty french bread. I couldn’t resist and bought myself a mini candle, and have burned it in my electric tart burner a ton the past few weeks. We both adore it. As a matter of fact, Tadd worked from home the other day and when I got home from work, he told me he had burned this scent all day. It’s just incredible! Even if you are not interested in buying it, at least give it a sniff next time you are in a Bath & Body Works store. You will be amazed!
4. One Love Organics Aromatic Body Serum
I got a sample of this in my November Birchbox, and it has become one of my favorite items I use daily. It’s a scented body oil, which is great for dry skin (especially this time of year!), and the chamomile scent is lovely and soothing. It’s the perfect blend of floral and herbal. I don’t like scents that are perfumey and overly floral, and this is none of those things. I spritz a tiny bit on my wrists and neck in the morning in lieu of perfume, and keep it in my purse for use here and there throughout the day. I sometimes get patches of dry skin, and this helps with that immensely. And the sample size I received is perfect for the cosmetics bag in my purse. It also comes in Lavender (which I would love to try!), Neroli, and Rose scents.
5. Walt Disney World FL Resident Seasonal Pass (and the monthly payment option)
Ok, so this item is only available to Florida Residents, but it is definitely one of my favorite things, so I am sharing! It’s no secret that Tadd and I are fans of visiting Walt Disney World (which is about a 40 minute drive from our house). We both have passes, as do many of our friends. We try to go about once per month, and tend to go more often during the October thru December timeframe, when all of the fall and winter holiday events are going on. A Florida Resident Seasonal Pass is currently $318.44, but Disney has an option that allows you to break up that cost into 12 months. There is no additional fee for choosing this option. All you do is pay a one-time down payment equal to a 1 day ticket ($94.79) and then pay $18.64/month over the next 12 months. Keep in mind that the Seasonal Pass has blackout dates and does not cover the parking fee (as opposed to the Annual Pass, which is a little more money but has no blackout dates and free parking). However, if you know someone with an Annual Pass, you can catch a ride with them into the parks. And I honestly don’t think the blackout dates are all that bad. Usually they are the last 2 weeks of December, the 2 weeks surrounding Easter, and mid June thru mid August. They are all the times where either the crowd level or weather (usually both) will be too miserable anyways. We have been passholders for years, and still find that they are a great value to us, and I love that it’s something we enjoy doing together. And even after all these years of visiting the same parks, Disney still comes up with new stuff for us to see and ways to keep the parks interesting!
So sorry for my extended absence. The past week has been insane for me since Election Day. Wednesday we went to an Orlando Solar Bears hockey game, Thursday we went to Magic Kingdom for the first night of Castle Dreamlights (and we got to see the New Fantasyland again!), Friday I attended a Dove Chocolate Party at my friend’s house, Saturday afternoon our out-of-town guests that we thought were arriving on Sunday night arrived a day early, and Saturday night we saw the band Weezer perform their blue album at Hard Rock Live. Sunday we went with said houseguests to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and got to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Whew! Last night after work, I was ready to just relax with a glass of wine, which is exactly what I did.
Some Instagram pics from our crazy week:
Rivers Cuomo of Weezer
Stay tuned for more pics (and maybe even video!) from our Disney holiday adventures so far this year!
I realize that my blog has been lacking in the creativity department lately. I have been so busy with travel and wedding and life in general, that most of my posts have been filled with that stuff lately. I hope to get back to crafts, sewing, and maybe even share a recipe or two really soon. I hope you will bear with me in the meantime, and enjoy me sharing a bit about the other things going on in my world!
I thought I would share the Instagram pics I took during our 4 days/3 nights at Walt Disney World last week! I can’t stress enough how much Tadd and I enjoyed ourselves during that little getaway. As a matter of fact, I told Tadd that if I thought we could swing it, I would definitely book another very similar staycation in December to enjoy all of the holiday happenings at WDW. October, November, and December are definitely my FAVORITE months to enjoy the theme parks!
Some highlights…
Tadd and I just returned home from a wonderful 3-night “staycation” at Walt Disney World. After all of the craziness of the past year, including lots of travel, we really felt like we had earned a few days of fun just for us. More on the staycation later. Just before we arrived for our stay, Disney decided to open up the much-anticipated New Fantasyland expansion for soft openings, which we were able to take advantage of this morning.
If you live in Central Florida, or are a Disney Parks fan, then you likely are already aware of the well-publicized massive expansion that is currently underway in Fantasyland. It has been opened in phases, starting with the Storybook Circus section this past July (in the space that was formerly Mickey’s Toontown Fair). This portion of the expansion contains the new home for twin Dumbo rides, a re-themed Barnstormer mini-coaster, and a Casey Jr. water play area:
The portion of the expansion that is in soft opening now is the much larger section that centers around some of Disney’s most popular fairytale films, namely The Little Mermaid and Beauty & the Beast. As a WDW passholder, I am always excited for new attractions and experiences, so I was thrilled at the chance for a sneak preview of the New Fantasyland. Since it’s an unannounced soft opening, we weren’t sure what we would find open (if anything at all) as we approached the gates, but we figured we would try and see what might happen.
I just love how the new gates match and compliment the architecture of nearby Cinderella Castle.
We were thrilled that they let us in!
Our first action was to just wander around and soak up the atmosphere. We passed the gates of what will eventually be the Be Our Guest Restaurant, which is held in Beast’s castle. It wasn’t open yet, so we just got to see the outside.
Gaston’s Tavern was also closed, but it looks cute.
In the same courtyard is a gift shop…
…and an adorably-themed popcorn cart (you might recall that Maurice was Belle’s father, an eccentric inventor…and apparently he invented this “popping machine”).
I was most excited about getting a chance to ride Under The Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, and it did not disappoint. It’s an omni-mover dark ride style attraction, similar to other classic attractions like Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan’s Flight. Continuously-moving ride vehicles take you through various scenes from the movie. I found it to be adorable and fun. We actually got off our first ride through and immediately got in line again! If you love the soundtrack of The Little Mermaid, you will be singing throughout the ride.
We also got to experience Enchanted Tales with Belle, which is an interactive show that takes place partly in Belle’s father Maurice’s cabin and partly in the Beast’s castle. This is similar to another storytime type show that Belle used to perform on a tiny stage next to the castle, where audience members are chosen to play various parts in the telling of Beauty & the Beast. But this version is full of special effects and little details that made it SO much better than the original version. I don’t want to reveal too many details, because not knowing what was coming up next was part of the greatness of this attraction.
There are still construction crews working on the final phase of the expansion, which will be the Seven Dwarves Mine Coaster. Can’t wait until that is finished, although it will probably be a year or more into the future before it opens.
One of the things I love about this park is that it can be a totally different experience each time. The animals are never in the same spots doing the same thing twice, so you’ll never know what you might see!
It’s also seemingly the hottest of all the parks. Maybe it’s all the extra foliage trapping in the heat & humidity? All I know is that I won’t likely be returning until it is much cooler. The bonus of attending Animal Kingdom on a cooler day is that the animals always seem more active when it’s cooler.
Tadd and I were finally able to get back to Walt Disney World this past weekend. Disney’s summer season is officially over and Tadd’s seasonal pass was no longer blocked out, so we took advantage and went to Epcot. We were especially interested in working more with our new camera. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate at first, and it was drizzly and rainy for most of the morning and into the afternoon. Which was nice for crowds (the park was almost empty when we got there!), but not so great for taking photos.
We had lunch reservations at Le Cellier, which is the extremely popular sit-down restaurant in the Canada pavilion, so we decided to wait and see what the weather was like when we were done eating. First of all, holy crap was Le Cellier good! It was our first time dining there, and I had to get us reservations back in May because it’s always booked months in advance. I was very curious to see if it lived up to the hype. We had a great, really fun waitress, and they even had my favorite Canadian beer, La Fin Du Monde. I’m not really a steak person, but Tadd kept rolling his eyes back into his head while enjoying his wild mushroom filet. I had the pork chop and the sauce it was served with was delicious. But my favorite part was the pretzel bread they brought out at the very beginning. Soooo good! Tadd also really enjoyed the cheddar cheese soup (which is one of their signature items). We both walked out stuffed.
When we left Le Cellier, the weather was starting to clear up. So we decided to proceed with our day, which included a visit to Captain EO (which I had not seen since I was probably about 6 years old), watching the movie in France, and trying out the wonderful new wine bar, Tutto Gusto, in Italy. We took photos all along the way. Here are some of my favorite shots.
