Caribbean Beach Resort

I’m FINALLY getting round to writing my review of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, a whole 9 months after our stay!

Location:

Caribbean Beach is basically bang-slap in the middle point of Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney, so after a late night in the parks, or exploring the nightlife of Downtown, you can enjoy the bonus of a short bus ride back to bed, but it does mean its quite a long haul to and from the Magic Kingdom!

It does, however, mean you are lucky enough to be able to catch the fireworks from both Epcot and Hollywood Studios from pretty much anywhere around the lake, and pretty much all of the many swimming pools!

Layout:

The resort is centred around Barefoot Bay, a huge lake surrounded by beaches and palm trees, and the rooms are split into six villages, each representing a different Caribbean island, and each with their own swimming pool at the centre, and own stop for the buses into the parks.

The resort’s reception is actually a little way away from the rooms themselves, on the other side of another small lake, so a bit of a trek for those staying at the other side of the resort, but there is an internal shuttle bus that runs around the outer rim of the resort.

The main hub of the resort is Old Port Royale, with its many food counters, souvenir shop, guest services and table service restaurant: Shutters. Just outside of Old Port Royale is the main swimming pool of the resort, equipped with towers and slides, perfect for families!

Rooms:

We stayed in a standard room, which was nice enough considering we didn’t spend much time in our rooms at all. The rooms are equipped with a fridge, which was great for keeping snacks and drinks in, and there were two sinks, ideal for families.

If I’m being totally honest, I was a little disappointed with Mousekeeping.. When we first arrived there were no toiletries in the room, and it took a few calls and about a day and a half before this was rectified.

Dining:

Old Port Royale has a number of food counters, serving a selection of food from snacks to burgers to pizza to burritos, and a great range of breakfast options.

Activities:

As well as the seven swimming pools around the resort, there are endless activities on offer from evening movies by the pool and campfire marshmallow toasting, to bike rentals and pirate adventures. The path around Barefoot Bay is 1.2 miles for a scenic stroll or jog, and some of the beaches have volleyball facilities.

Overall pros:

°o° At the lower end of the Moderate resort price range, its great value for money!

°o° Its pretty magical being able to see fireworks from the swimming pool!

°o° Close proximity to Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney

°o° Great facilities for families with small children, especially with every room having a nearby pool

°o° Beautiful scenery and design!

Overall cons:

°o° Its a large resort, so lots of walking to get around!

°o° Quite a long trip to and from the Magic Kingdom

°o° For a large resort, its often very busy and buses can be very crowded!

May 30, 2015Lottie 1 Comment

Being the first people in The Magic Kingdom

So I always knew that I wanted our trip last year to be as magical as possible, given that it was a) my first time back in 15 years, b) the girls first ever visit to Disney World, and c) probably the only time both families would be able to do this holiday together, and with that said, I wanted to make it as magical as possible for everyone.

My first priority was making sure that the first time everyone stepped into the Magic Kingdom, it was totally perfect, and in my opinion, the only way to do that was to be the first people into the park, and to see it all without the hassle of weaving through hundreds of other guests.

Now you could do this by waking up super early, rushing down to the park to be the first in line at the entrance, and waiting for AGES for the ropes to drop and make a dash before the surge of people behind you also converge onto Main Street.

Or, you could do it the easy way!

Yes, ok, you do still have to get up early, and there’s a tiny bit of queuing, but its worth it, and its as simple as breakfast, quite literally.

Be Our Guest, Crystal Palace and Cinderella’s Royal Table all offer breakfast reservations from 8am, when the park doesn’t usually open until 9am, and if you have a reservation for any time before the park opens, the gate for you opens just before 8am!

With this in mind, we managed to get reservations for Crystal Palace at 8.15, giving us the opportunity to stroll down Main Street, get some uninterrupted photos and absorb all the early morning magic before we made our way to our fabulous breakfast booking, which you can read more about here!

°o°

May 29, 2015Lottie 2 Comments

RunDisney 2016: Training Week 11

We’re over the halfway point of our training programme, which seems beyond crazy – I swear we’ve only just started?!

I’m gonna keep it relatively short this week as I updated you guys on quite a lot earlier this week. The key point this week is that we’ve registered for both of our Disney World races (5k and half marathon), so everything just got totally real, although registration for the Star Wars weekend at Disneyland California doesn’t open until June, but even that’s only 5 weeks away now!

Running wise it’s been a fairly boring week; we only ran twice because we couldn’t find the time until towards the end of the week, and we really didn’t push ourselves much at all. Personally I’ve had a week of ups and downs, the ups being all the excitement of registration and planning, and the downs being fitness-wise; with all the running, plus all the time I’m spending at the gym at the moment, I think my body’s been a bit overwhelmed and needs recovery time, so I’m going to take it easy this coming week. I’ve also been getting a lot of headaches, especially in the last few days which I’m putting down to dehydration, so I just need to keep an eye on things.

Rest is just as important as training!

°o°

May 3, 2015Lottie Leave a comment

Disney World in Large Groups

Disney World is the perfect location for a big family trip, but its not always easy being a large group!

1. Save a fortune on your phone bill by utilising the free wifi

There’s free wifi throughout the parks, so set everyone up on a group message on Facebook or Whatsapp to communicate without the cost.

2. Be prepared to split up

Splitting up the group at times can mean you can cover more ground, get better seats or just give you a much needed break from the madness!

3. Use Memory Maker

The last thing you want after a big family trip is going through photo after photo with someone missing in every one. Memory Maker is great value for money, but in a large group its even more so; just get everyone linked to it and you’ll have hundreds of photos of the whole family.

4. Link everyone

As a large group, we were split into 3 rooms and therefore 3 separate bookings, so our My Magic+ wasn’t linked, but one trip to guest services, and we were all connected for all our Fastpasses and meal bookings.

5. Utilise free transport

In a large group, taxis or car hire is gonna get really pricey, so be sure to use Disney World’s expansive bus system to move around.

6. If you don’t book in advance, eat at unusual times

With Advanced Dining Reservations, you’ve got no problems, but if you haven’t made bookings, try and eat at off-peak times; we were a group of 9 and managed to walk in to the usually super busy T-Rex at about 4.30pm and were seated almost straight away!

7. Allow a little extra time

Being a bigger group is always going to slow you down a little, so be sure to leave a little earlier if you need to be somewhere for a specific time.

8. Try and be a little early too

Especially when it comes to shows and parades, being early gives you the added advantage of not having to split up to fit into remaining seats

9. Be considerate to others

The parks can be packed, so try to think about your impact on those around you eg. if you walk in a long chain, you might be blocking other guests who want to get around you etc

10. Just have fun!

You’re lucky enough to be in the most magical place on Earth, with a whole load of your favourite people, so just appreciate it and have a magical time!

May 1, 2015Lottie Leave a comment

RunDisney 2016 Update – we’re in!

Today I am happy happy happy!

If you’re up to date with me and my Disney life, you’ll know that today was registration for the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend, which is our first event of our RunDisney January tour, and we got our places in both races! Aahhh! So we’ll be running the 5k on Thursday 7th as a sort of warm up, before we do the half marathon on Saturday 9th!

This was really the feather in my cap of a great last week or so. Last week not only did we book our flights for this trip, but we also scored a room at the main Tokyo Disneyland hotel for our July holiday, even though the website said they were fully booked, so that’s all super exciting, and meant the only thing that was really left to do was book our resort and park tickets for January, and securing our race places.

Well yesterday I finally made my mind up and paid the deposit on our Disney World resort/park tickets/dining plan etc. We’ll be staying at Port Orlean’s French Quarter, which I chose because it looks beautiful, and is really well positioned for us; our races all start in Epcot, which is just across the road basically! We knew we wanted to stay at a Moderate Resort because of the great deals they have for 2016 – free quick-service dining plan, $200 gift card and free Memory Maker – and given that we stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort last year, which is the cheapest moderate, and didn’t want to spend too much more, POFQ seemed ideal!

So yeah.. Its still a while before we can really finalise specific plans for January (ADRs, Fastpasses and such), but everything now is really complete for the Florida side of our trip, and we don’t need to worry about California until June, so we’ll just keep running, and see where we get!

Anyone else running in January? °o°

April 28, 2015Lottie 1 Comment

Guess who’s planning again?!

This week I’m starting to get my Disney buzz back as our Tokyo trip is less than 3 months away, so we’re starting to get into details like itineraries and booking hotels, and also because with sign up a week away, Dad and I are starting to make our arrangements for our Run Disney trip in January.

Buzz buzz!

So as far as Tokyo Disneyland goes, its totally un-chartered territory for us. Planning-wise, my expertise are in Disney World, so I really am a fish out of water, which is exciting and a little scary for me as I’m terrified of not being able to fit everything into the 3 days we’ve got set aside for the parks. Now I’m very much a DIY person, and have never been one to turn to guidebooks for advice, but in this instance I decided to, so I bought two – Top Tips for Visiting Tokyo Disney Resort, and Elijah’s Ultimate Guide to Tokyo Disney Resort 2015 – just to be on the safe side!

Quite honestly, I chose them because they were the first options that came up on my Amazon search, but I’m pretty happy with my choices having them read through them; they both cover different things which is ideal. Top Tips is very much a planning guide, which covers everything from picking a hotel to useful Japanese phrases. Its full of great information on the important park stuff like Fastpasses, dining, transport and shopping; for a little book its packed to bursting!

Elijah’s Guide is more of a breakdown of the parks: rides, restaurants etc. It covers a little about choosing when to visit the parks and other planning basics, and then launches into a blow by blow review of each attraction. It splits everything into its area (Disneyland>Area>Attractions/Restaurants/Shops>individual reviews) and Elijah gives every attraction a rating, a bit of information (when it opened, who its aimed for etc) and a short description.

Our main issue at the moment however is the language barrier. While you may not think it, speaking English isn’t a priority for the Japanese, so we’re struggling to book hotels as not all the staff at the other end of the phone are capable of understanding my dad.. We’ll work it out though!

BUT..

Dad and I booked our flights for January today! Eeeek!

I am so excited. Now we’ve booked flights, we know how long we’ve got in each place, which means planning can begin! We’ve yet to pick and book our Florida resort to stay at as we’re waiting to see if we’re booking through the Run Disney travel company, or just directly through Disney, but by the end of the week we’ll have a plan and right now we’re in no rush to worry about the California leg of the trip just yet, but I am BUZZED.

This is happening, stay tuned for more!

°o°

April 23, 2015Lottie 2 Comments

Photo Parade – Festival of Fantasy

If you’re following me on Instagram (@lottiedoesdisney) or Twitter (@lottieanddisney), you’ll see that recently I’ve been suffering major Disney blues in the last week or so. I realised the other day its been over 6 months since I was last at Disney World, and that seems like too long to me, especially as, at the moment, I won’t be going back until January.

So to cheer myself up I’ve been reading my Disney Trip Diaries and going through my endless photos, which inspired this post, the first of a mini series where I’ll be re-living my favourite shows and parades in my photo memories, starting with my absolute favourite: The Festival of Fantasy.

Ok, so I know its a long post, but considering each time I watched this parade I took around 200 photos, I don’t think I’ve done a bad job of cutting it down! To call it amazing would be a total understatement, it honestly brought me to tears, but then again so did quite a few of the parades and displays..

I just love Disney World..

°o°

March 5, 2015Lottie Leave a comment

We’re up to something!

So I’ve strayed from routine posting once again this week, but I have a valid reason, promise!

This week, as well as having to work overtime at work, I’m spending my precious free time working with a couple of different brands on upcoming posts and competitions. That’s right! By the end of this week we will be hosting our very first brand sponsored competition, with a great haul of goodies, so stay tuned for more!

Fret not, usual scheduling will return next week, as well as some more Disney World Tips and Secrets as I take on covering Downtown Disney and Caribbean Beach Resort. I’m suffering major park withdrawal symptoms at the moment, so in an attempt to cheer myself up I’m looking forward to our upcoming Tokyo Disney trip, and will begin research and planning!

Keep dreaming! °o°

March 4, 2015Lottie Leave a comment

Preventing Disasters

As much as everyone hopes for their trip to run smoothly, you can prepare yourself for any problems you may have!

°o°

Keep receipts for any souvenirs you buy in the parks – if anything gets broken during your stay, they’ll replace it.

As soon as you get your park tickets/magic bands, take photos of them making sure to get all the important information in the shot. This way if anything gets lost, cast members can help you more easily.

If you’re carrying a phone in the parks, set your lock screen with an image of your name, resort/room number and another contact number in case you lose it.

Take pictures of your kids every morning. Its great for documenting your trip, and you’ll be able to find them better in crowds if you can remember what they’re wearing!

Prepare your children for getting lost – make sure they know what to do if they ever get separated from you. Label them with a contact number, have a designated ‘lost spot’ to wait, and tell them to find cast members.

Stock your bag with plasters for blisters and minor scrapes, and don’t forget each park has a first aid center with cast members happy to assist with anything.

Bring spare camera batteries and memory cards, and store them in a waterproof compartment.

°o°

February 5, 2015Lottie 1 Comment

RunDisney 2016

Right, so one of the items on my Disney Bucket List is to participate in a RunDisney race. These event weekends happen about 3 times a year at both Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California, and each weekend consists of a marathon, half marathon, 10k, 5k and a selection of races for kids.

I’m not a professional runner, but Dad and I took up running last year with the target of running a 10k, which we did back in October in a very respectable 1 hour 7 minutes. So I got a little excited when the first races of 2016 were announced, and the Disney World Marathon Weekend and Star Wars Weekend at Disneyland fall just a week apart, and a crazy idea popped into my head.. Why not do both?

I mean, if I’m going to fly out for one, I might as well.. I proposed the idea to Dad, a 10k at each weekend, and rocking the parks in between, and he’s in, but today he offered an alternate plan..

A half marathon at each.

That’s right 13.1 miles, twice in two weeks. That’s a whole marathon altogether, and the longest we’ve ever run to date is 10k.

There is a little method to the madness; first of all we have 11 months to train, which is plenty of time (RunDisney provides training programmes, and to go from beginner to half marathon takes 20 weeks), and second, and more importantly, it means we complete the Coast to Coast Challenge; completing a half or full marathon at both Disney World and Disneyland in the same calendar year gets us an extra medal!

The race entries don’t open til later in the year, so our plans aren’t 100% finalised, but we start training next week, and I’m going to be starting a new series following our journey.

Wish us luck!

°o°

January 28, 2015Lottie 2 Comments

50s Prime Time Cafe

Take a ride back in time to a decade where food was good, family was everything, and kitchens were retro!

If you need to wait for your table to be ready, you can hang out in the attached Tune-In Lounge until your ‘babysitter’ seats you around your kitchen table.

SONY DSC

Choose from a wide selection of classic family recipes, from Aunt Liz’s fried chicken to Grandma’s pot pie, and be sure to eat all your vegetables, or your babysitter might just shout about it to the whole restaurant!

If you’re into themed dining, then stopping by is completely necessary; kids will find the setting totally comical, and almost every adult will remember some relative that used to have a kitchen exactly like the set-up – my nan and gran in our family! The servers make everyone feel welcome, and while in my personal opinion the food left a little something to be desired, overall it was a fun family dining experience.

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December 23, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Pizza Planet Arcade

Love Toy Story? Eat here.

The Pizza Planet Arcade is a Quick Service restaurant, located in hollywood Studios, and is set up just like Pizza Planet from Pixar’s Toy Story.

Once you’ve ordered your food from the counter, take a seat at a table, either on the ground floor, surrounded by arcade games to entertain the kids, or upstairs with the aliens!

As the name suggests, the main item on the menu is pizza, but there’s also a few subs and salads available as well as a range of desserts; you can’t really go wrong!

Fun for all the family and a great place to eat, don’t give it a miss!

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December 23, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Sci Fi Dine In Theater

Disney is packed with unique dining experiences, but this one is fairly up there.

Located in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the entire restaurant is set up as an old school drive in movie theater; you sit in classic cars, two by two, all pointed towards a huge projection screen playing a combination of black and white/colour movie clips, ads and classic cartoons.

Each row of the car has a little countertop style table across the row, just large enough for your meal, and comfortably fits two adults or three smaller bottoms. Sit back and enjoy the meal, the friendly diner staff take care of the rest!

The food is classic American diner style – burgers, sandwiches etc. I had the steak, which came with garlic mash potato, vegetables and two fairly huge onion rings. Now I’m not a huge connoisseur of steak, but it was cooked to my liking and I enjoyed it very much, especially the blue cheese butter dressing, and the portion size didn’t leave me hungry – in fact, I could hardly touch my hot fudge ice cream sundae after all that.

There were a few cons though..

1. While it may work for some people, we found the atmosphere of the restaurant a little un-family friendly; while some tables are family style (where you sit around the table), most were in rows of two so felt a little unsociable, and as the whole room keeps fairly quiet so as not to disturb the reel on the screen, its difficult to feel part of a group, so I wouldn’t recommend it for families of smaller or more restless children.

2. The clips being played aren’t entirely kid-friendly. There were a few Tom and Jerry moments, but otherwise it was mainly adult sci-fi, which although part of the theme of the restaurant, didn’t appeal to the kids as much.

3. None of the tables are designed for groups of over 8. As a group of 9, we were given the option of trying to squeeze on a table of 8 (no chance would we have fitted seeing them), or to split between two cars. This meant that 2 of our group had to sit in a separate car, adding to the unsociable aspect.

DSC01959 - Click to view full size photo

It was however a great meal, and while we, the adults, had our minor complaints, the kids didn’t seem to care too much, and in fact they thought it was the coolest place we ate!

°o°

December 23, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

HS Tips and Secrets

°o° Crowds tend to head to the big rides first (Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock’n’Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror etc), so if you don’t want to be stuck in hour long queues, save these for later in the day, or get your Fastpasses early as they’re snapped up quick.

°o° In midday heat or pouring rain, head to one of the many indoor attractions: Muppets 3D, Animation Academy etc.

°o° Try not to rush around, there are a tonne of tiny details you’ll miss otherwise!

°o° The gas pump when you enter the park represents the opening date of the park.

°o° Pull the rope of the well by Indiana Jones Stunt Show, you might just hear something!

°o° Watch out for the fire hydrant near Muppet Vision if you don’t want to get wet!

°o° Get a photo ‘Singing in the Rain’!

°o° Each limo in the Rock’n’Roller Coaster plays a different Aerosmith track.

°o° In Muppet Vision 3D, there is a sign saying ‘back in 5 minutes, key is under the mat’. Why don’t you check for the key?

°o° The nautical flags above Dockside Diner actually spell out Dockside Diner!

°o° The back of the Tower of Terror is designed so that when you see if from nearby Epcot, it blends in with the Morocco Pavilion.

°o° Outside The Great Movie Ride are a load of hand prints in the ground, have fun finding which famous person you match with.

°o° Young wannabe Jedis can try their skills out at Jedi Academy, and even face Darth Vader himself!

°o° The Fantasmic lake is only 18 inches deep.

December 19, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom

So you don’t have to visit Disney World to experience The Rainforest Cafe, but why not dine with the animals before/after visiting some real ones?!

We planned to have breakfast here, as the Downtown Disney branch doesn’t open for lunch, but by the time we got there they were just about to open for lunch, so we had a bit of a browse of the huge gift shop area before being seated at our table.

I’m no stranger to a Rainforest Cafe, but this one was enormous! They don’t even the whole restaurant for lunch its that big.

Without a doubt, it was the best meal I had during our stay. I had Parmesan Chicken; the portion size was huge, but if I had a bigger appetite I would have eaten every last bite!

I cannot fault anything about this place; its so family friendly, our server was great, and the chimps sat next to us were great company!

°o°

December 13, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Finding Nemo – the Musical

Yep, you read it right, Disney Pixar’s classic tale has been brought to the stage in the Animal Kingdom!

The musical tells an abridged version of the movie story; it skips the unnecessary to cut the show down to a manageable 40 minutes, great for restless little ones.

Its staged like the hit Broadway and West End musical The Lion King, with actors handling incredible puppets and scenery, and a total phenomenal set.

We got a Fastpass+, which got us seats about 1/3 of the way from the stage, but the theater seating is raised and staggered, and the large characters and props mean that no matter where you seat, you’re going to be able to see.

My one (very minor) criticism of the whole show it that the songs aren’t up to Disney’s usual standard; they’re not particularly catchy or memorable, but they serve fine during the performance. I guess for those who hate having songs stuck in their head for the rest of the day it would be a relief, but for me it took a little something away..

Aside from this super minor blip, Disney have well and truly hit another one out the park. A definite must see for anyone of any age!

°o°

December 13, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

AK Tips and Secrets

°o° You can enter the park 15 minutes early, and Mickey and the gang greet you by the Tree of Life.

°o° Grab a map and schedule; there are so many unique character meets in the Animal Kingdom such as Rafiki, Baloo, Russell and Doug etc.

°o° Crowds tend to head for Kilimanjaro Safaris first thing as the animals are usually more active in the morning. That being said though, you’re likely to see animals any time of day, so if you can, hold off til the afternoon when queues will be shorter.

°o° Be sure to wear comfortable shoes; while walking is a given, AK has lots of adventurous trails to explore.

°o° If you’ve stopped off at The Rainforest Cafe before heading into the park, use the secret entrance at the back of the gift shop to skip the queues at the main entrance.

°o° At Adventurer’s Outpost, you can meet Mickey and Minnie in their safari gear. This is the only place you can see the two of them in these outfits, so is a totally unique photo opportunity.

°o° At various stations around the park, kids can receive stamps in a ‘passport’ for completing activities – collect all of them for a special prize!

°o° There are red, yellow and white pipes found on Dinosaur, each with a chemical formula on them. The formulas are actually the real formulas for ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise!

°o° See if you can spot DiVine – she’s a fabulous live act, but hard to find as she’s usually part-tree!

°o° The highway sign Route 498 symbolises the park opening in April 1998.

°o° You can squirt riders on Kali River Rapids from the bridge near the exit. Don’t feel guilty, they’ll already be soaked!

°o° If you’re a coffee addict, the Kusafiri Coffee Shop is the place to get your fix.

°o° Don’t rush from attraction to attraction, there are so many things to see as you walk around the park!

°o° You can hop on the Wildlife Express Train in Africa, which takes you across to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.

December 13, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Epcot Tips and Secrets

Future World

°o° One of the best ways to meet characters is at the Epcot Character Spot. Its just past Spaceship Earth on the right of the park, and if you head there as soon as the park opens, you’ll get to see Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy all in one go, with a wait time of under 15 minutes.

°o° Innoventions East and West are full of tonnes of interactive activities to entertain all ages.

°o° Complete habit heroes in Innoventions East, and you’ll get a free rubber wristband!

°o° If you’re susceptible to motion sickness, there is a separate queue for Mission: Space which leads to a version of the ride which isn’t so spinny!

°o° Take a trip to Club Cool for free samples of international Coca Cola brands – trick your family into trying Beverly, its gross!

°o° The large fish tank in The Living Seas is the second largest tank in the US, and could fit Spaceship Earth inside it with room to spare!

World Showcase

°o° Only one of the totem poles in Canada is real, see if you can work out which one it is.

°o° The Rose and Crown pub in the UK is so named as ‘rose’ and ‘crown’ are the two most common featured names of English pubs.

°o° Although it may not seem like it, each country’s pavilion is the same width, to give all countries equality.

°o° Between the UK and France is a path that leads out of the park via the International Gateway. From here you can take a quick 15 minute walk across to The Boardwalk, or explore some of the resorts gathered around the lake. There is also a footpath that leads to Hollywood Studios; its about 30 mins walk, which at times is quicker than other transportation.

°o° Sometimes Chef Remy will visit you at Le Chefs de France.

°o° The Morocco Pavilion was actually built by and paid for by the Moroccans.

°o° In the Japanese pavilion, you can purchase a range of souvenirs from authentic tableware to Pokemon toys.

°o° The statue on the right as you enter Japan was a gift from the Japanese government.

°o° While the American Adventure building appears to be only 3 stories high, it is actually 5!

°o° Check out the big clock in Germany. On the hour a wooden boy and girl pop out and twirl around a bit.

°o° If you buy a fan or parasol in China, you can have it personalised for free with your name in traditional Chinese writing.

°o° The acoustics of the temple in China are so perfect, if you stand in the centre of the room, your voice will echo back to you!

°o° Buildings in Norway have grass growing on the roof, to reflect traditional Norwegian buildings, but a lack of Epcot goats to munch on the grass means cast members have to trim it!

°o° La Cava del Tequila in Mexico has over 200 tequilas in its cellar, hello margaritas!

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December 12, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Coral Reef

Tucked round the corner from The Seas with Nemo and Friends is a real underwater dining experience.

Coral Reef in Epcot shares a wall with the enormous fish tank from the ride next door, so you can enjoy dinner with fishy company!

While the food was really good, with options from fish dishes to chicken to steak, we didn’t have the best time here; they forgot to book us in when we arrived, so after a half hour wait, we were told we’d have to wait a bit longer for our table due to their mistake. We were also sat on the back row of tables, furthest from the tank, so the whole experience was kinda lost on us, except the occasional swim-by from a turtle or ray.

The restaurant setup wasn’t overly family friendly either, so unless you’re sat right by the fish, entertaining small children is a little tricky, and the restroom isn’t actually situated inside the restaurant; its outside in the waiting area.

I would recommend Coral Reef for families with older children, or as a place to eat if you want to use up table service credits on a dining plan, but if visiting with small children, I’d opt for somewhere a little more kid-friendly

°o°

December 12, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Be Our Guest

It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight..

Be Our Guest is the restaurant inside the elusive Beast’s castle, in the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland. It is open for lunch, which is quick service, and dinner which is table service, and absolutely must be booked in advance (180 days for the best chance of getting a table).

After a failed attempt at trying to get in for dinner, on our last day in the Magic Kingdom we were lucky enough to get there just in time to queue for the lunch opening..

Wow. One step inside and you can understand why it is such a sought after place to eat; its just stunning. For a quick service lunch, you stop off at a counter to order on your way in, and then take a seat in either the ballroom, the gallery, or the out of bounds West Wing, which contains the enchanted rose. We sat in the ballroom, near the large glass window so we could watch the ‘snow’ fall outside the window. The settings in all the rooms are so accurate to the films, its like you’re actually in the film.

As if by magic, your food is delivered to your table, wherever you choose to sit, without you having to tell a cast member where you are (they track your Magic Band, or give you a tracker if you don’t have one). The lunch menu ranges from soups to sandwiches to salads, all with a French theme, and desserts are mainly cupcakes, including The Master’s Cupcake that is topped with ‘the grey stuff’ – delicious!

I can’t fault the food, it was perfect. The whole place totally did it for me, and the family loved it too! On my next trip I’d love to try dinner here.

If you get a chance, do not miss this fabulous opportunity, you’ll never forget it!

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December 12, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Pinocchio Village Haus

Tucked behind the castle in Fantasyland is a little cottage serving fabulous Italian food..

Ok so its not little at all, but the food is so good we ate there twice! With inside and outside seating on both ground floor and a tiny first floor, you’ll bound to find a table to sit at once you’ve ordered your flatbreads or subs, and if you can, sit by the large windows on the left of the restaurant: you can watch riders on Its a Small World – wave!

One of our quick service eateries of the Magic Kingdom; plenty of space for our large group, good food and a nice setting.

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December 12, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Columbia Harbour House

This fishy eatery is located in Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom, and serves up a selection of sandwiches, platters and salads.

Its a standard quick service place, order at a counter, collect your food and grab a table in the spacious seating area – don’t forget there’s more seating upstairs!

This was our first quick service experience, and honestly was one of the worst. Although the food was decent, there was a lot of mix up when our order was placed, resulting in a few of us getting the wrong sides or desserts, and the servers didn’t seem that motivated to help us resolve it.

A spacious place for a good bite to eat, but nothing to write home about.

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December 12, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Crystal Palace

Tucked into a corner of Main Street USA, Crystal Palace is the fave place to eat of Winnie the Pooh and some of his very best friends. As the name suggests, the building is a stunning structure of glass and framework, and is decorated with displays of hanging baskets and impressive topiary centerpieces.

We booked for breakfast on the first day of our trip. While the park isn’t open to the public until 9am, breakfast bookings start from 8am, giving a unique opportunity to see the Magic Kingdom first thing; an empty Main Street leading up to the castle: totally beautiful.

The food is all you can eat buffet-style, with a range of options from classic Mickey waffles to an omelette station, cereals and fruit to full cooked breakfast options. Mixed in with classic choices like bacon and eggs are unique specialties such as ‘breakfast pizza’, pizza base with an omelette style topping with vegetables, meat etc, and ‘breakfast lasagne’, layers of fruit, custard, and sponge, topped with granola.

Once you’ve got a plateful of food, you can head back to your table and wait for your favourite childhood classics to come and say hi, and make sure you have your autograph books at the ready as Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore will all make an appearance!

The characters make the rounds of the restaurant, one at a time, but they only visit once so you need to keep an eye out for them, not that you can easily miss them! They space out their visits nicely, so you’ve got time to go up and get food between each character. Make sure to have your autograph books ready, and to make it easier for the characters, stack them up ready for signing as they’ll do that first before posing for any photos.

We absolutely loved Crystal Palace; it was the perfect start to our Disney trip. The food was incredible, the setting was classic Disney beautiful, and who doesn’t love Pooh and friends?! An absolute must place to eat for all.

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December 12, 2014Lottie 1 Comment

MK Tips and Secrets

Main Street USA

°o° On your way in, grab your park map and schedule; sometimes parades and shows happen at different times due to the day/season/occasion.

°o° All the shops are conjoined – when Main Street is packed, like park closing, make a dash to the nearest shop and cut through there, you’ll save a load of time!

°o° The shops don’t shut until an hour after park closing, so if you’re not in a rush to get to bed, you can take your time browsing souvenirs.

°o° If you need any help, pop into City hall, or if you have any Photopass problems, Town Square Theater is the place to go.

°o° With any luck you won’t need to, but should you have any medical problems, First Aid is just next to Crystal Palace.

°o° If you can, watch the Main Street Electrical Parade on a Friday – they make it longer with additional floats.

°o° Sneaky devices emit the scents of cookies and vanilla onto Main Street.

°o° There’s a secret apartment above the fire house to reflect Walt’s apartment.

Adventureland

°o° Most people head to Fantasyland first, so Adventureland is really quiet in the morning – hello queue times under 5 minutes!

°o° Most attractions and shops are indoor or undercover, great for avoiding middle of the day sun.

°o° Watch out for spitting camels!

°o° On Pirates of the Caribbean, look out for Ab Lincoln disguised as a pirate – when Hall of Presidents was updated, the retired animatronic was moved here to live out the rest of his career!

°o° The skeletons playing chess in the queue for Pirates of the Caribbean are at a stalemate – how ironic!

°o° The front half of the plane on Jungle Cruise is the one used in the Casablanca scene of The Great Movie Ride

Frontierland

°o° Most people don’t like doing Splash Mountain first thing, so its pretty quiet, but if its hot, its a great way to keep you cool.

°o° While a lot of the queue for Big Thunder Mountain is under cover, its still very warm during hot seasons, so don’t get stuck in a long queue around the middle of the day.

°o° From Frontierland, you can catch a ride to Tom Sawyer’s Island to explore, and look for hidden paintbrushes.

°o° Sometimes parades run reverse routes and begin near Splash Mountain.

°o° From here you can hop on the Walt Disney World Railroad to get across to Fantasyland, Tomorrowland or Main Street USA

°o° You can meet Woody and Jessie near the queue for Splash Mountain.

°o° If you’re a Vinylmation collector, Frontier Trading post trade and sell figures.

Liberty Square

°o° During the heat of the middle of the day, Liberty Square is an ideal place to be; all the main attractions are indoors, and hold a lot of people.

°o° Many of the displays in the waiting area for Hall of Presidents are authentic items that belonged to former presidents and their families. Disney also needed special permission from the US State Government to have the Presidential Seal on the carpet.

°o° Tucked into a small corner of Liberty Square is a year-round Christmas store: Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe.

°o° In the queue for The Haunted Mansion, you pass a pet cemetery where you’ll see a tombstone for J. Thaddeus Toad, a nod to the former attraction, Mr Toad’s Wild Ride.

°o° Each building in Liberty Square has a 2 digit house number – put an 18 in front of each number, and it gives you the year from which that style of building came.

°o° There are no restrooms to reflect a lack of plumbing during that period in history.

°o° The Liberty Tree holds 13 lanterns, to represent each of the original colonies.

°o° Ask to pilot the Liberty Belle!

Fantasyland

°o° As you start your trip on It’s a Small World, look up and wave at diners in Pinocchio’s Village Haus!

°o° You can ride Cinderella’s horse on Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel – its the one decorated with purple flowers.

°o° You’ll find another nod to Mr Toad on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride; Mr Toad appears in several pictures to mark the fact that this ride replaced his own.

°o° Ride the lilac teacup on the Mad Tea Party – it goes fastest!

°o° Try and pull the sword from the stone; you just might succeed.

°o° Through Storybook Circus is another stop of the railroad, continuing road to Main Street.

°o° Dumbo the Flying Elephant Ride has a new interactive queue – inside the Big Top is a play centre where you can wait, and a pager will let you know when its your turn to ride.

°o° In Pete’s Silly Slideshow, you can meet your favourite characters in wacky circus outfits – great unique photo opportunities!

Tomorrowland

°o° Tomorrowland is an ideal place to go at all extremes of weather: hot, cold, wet etc, as almost all the attractions are indoors, as are the queues. Even the TTA Peoplemover is fairly safe in rain – we took cover on it during a horrendous rainstorm, and stayed pretty dry!

°o° You can skip fighting through the busy castle area to get to Tomorrowland by taking the shortcut past Plaza Ice Cream Parlour and walking through the Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant

°o° Get a Fastpass for Space Mountain, whether its busy or not. The Fastpass queue leads to the track on the righthand side, which is longer and faster, with more bumps and turns.

°o° There’s a quiet path round the side of Space Mountain, which leads to Fantasyland through the Storybook Circus – also a good way to get to the railroad.

°o° The TTA Peoplemover runs through the top of a few rides, look out into Buzz’s Space Ranger Spin and Space Mountain, and also spy on shoppers in Mickey’s Star Traders.

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December 12, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Celebrating in Disney World

Whether your trip was planned for a special celebration, or a special event just happens to coincide with your trip, Disney World is the perfect place to celebrate!

So here are my top tips for adding more magic to your special day:

1. You absolutely must ask for a celebration button!

Tell a cast member you’re celebrating something, and they’ll give you and your party a free celebration button. They come in anything from first visit to birthday to family reunion, or just a plain simple ‘I’m Celebrating!’. Ok so its a free souvenir, but not such a huge deal, right? WRONG. Our last trip just so happened to contain my aunt and uncle’s wedding anniversary, so they got their buttons. From then on every cast member we saw wished them a happy anniversary, and some even gave special treatment: one day my uncle got two snacks for the price of one!

2. Order a cake!

There are many places throughout Disney World where you can order a special celebration cake, but if you don’t want to go too far out of your way, I strongly recommend the Boardwalk Bakery. It’s less than a 10 minute walk from Epcot via the International Gateway (located between England and France on the World Showcase), so you can easily pop across while you’re at the park. The bakery keeps generic cakes in stock at all times, but you can stop by and order a unique one for your special day, or give them a call on their direct cake hotline. More notice is required for special requirement cakes, but when I went in on a Wednesday I only wanted a small basic cake with ‘happy anniversary’ on it for the coming Friday, there were no problems.

3. Do something cheesy!

Just engaged or married? Get bride and groom Mickey ears to wear for the duration of your trip! Family reunion? Wear goofy (not necessarily Goofy, though!) matching shirts. Go on, cheese it up, you’re not hurting anyone!

4. Get personalised!

From monogrammed Mickey ears to engraved ornaments, commemorate your big day with a keepsake that will last past the end of your stay, and remind you of magical moments every time you look at it.

5. Plan in advance to avoid disappointment

So as not to ruin your happy day with long waits or failed plans, be sure to book certain things in advance. You can make dining reservations up to 180 days prior to your trip, and Fastpass+ reservations for rides, shows and character meets can be made 30 days in advance. Think about all the things you want to do to enjoy your day, and book to avoid disappointment.

6. Make sure you get a celebration phonecall!

Let the front desk staff at your resort know you’re celebrating an special occasion, and you might just get a call from Mickey and Minnie. On our trip they phoned my aunt and uncle and left a message in which they congratulated them on their anniversary, and even sang a song!

7. Don’t over-plan!

So many people over-plan their days in the parks, and while in some cases this is good, the last thing you want to worry about while you’re trying to enjoy yourself is rushing around to do things on time. Take a step back, walk at your own pace, relax, and the fun with come by itself!

8. Speak to cast members

If you want to do something really special, speak to cast members for help or advice – they’re great at pulling strings!

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December 11, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Meeting Characters in Disney World

Character meets can be a truly magical experience for everyone involved!

Make your memories more magical with these top tips:

1. Go to character meals

A great way to meet loads of characters without having to queue or fight through crowds is to book character meals. These are available in restaurants all over the parks and some deluxe resorts, from princess meals to Mickey and friends to the Winnie the Pooh gang. They’re also great for children who tend to be a little more shy as you’re not being taken out of your comfort zone.

2. Do your research, find out who you can meet and where.

You’ll be amazed how many characters you can meet throughout the parks, sometimes its just a case of going slightly out of your way to find them. Who are your favourites? Park maps and schedules tell you who you can meet, where they are and what time they’ll be there, from Russell and Doug in Disney’s Animal Kingdom to Mary Poppins in the UK Pavilion at Epcot.

3. Make your meetings special.

While preparing for your Disney trip, why not have your kids make gifts for their favourite characters? Characters aren’t allowed to accept tips, but you can make their day with drawings or small handmade items; you might even get an extra minute out of it! Alternatively, why not do something different during your character meet? Ask princesses to dance with you, show Mr Incredibles your crime fighting skills!

4. Prepare a few excuses.

This sounds bad, I promise its not! Kids are curious, and everyone knows how much they love to ask questions, so prepare a couple of white lies for why certain characters don’t speak (‘Goofy’s got a big show later, he needs to save his voice’), or why they take so many breaks (‘I think Pluto’s had a bit too much to drink, toilet time!’).

5. Get autographs

Get yourself an autograph book, or some kind of alternative (I’ve seen people have characters sign t-shirts, pillowcases etc). You’ll be able to look back at all the characters you’ve met during your trip. Be sure to have a large pen, like a sharpie, as they’re easier for characters with larger hands.

6. Book Fastpasses

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Some characters, especially Elsa and Anna in the Princess Fairytale hall, will have a long queue time if you don’t Fastpass them (Elsa and Anna Fastpasses book out up to 60 days in advance, plan ahead!). You don’t want to take away from the magical experience of meeting your favourite characters with an hour long queue for a 5 minute meet.

7. Decide if meeting characters is something you really want to do

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Character meeting can be time consuming, so if you’re on a tight schedule and you’re not that fussed, don’t waste your time, or a place in a queue that someone else would appreciate more. For younger kids who can’t do as many rides though, characters are the true magic of Disney World.

8. Amaze yourself

You will truly be amazed by how well characters play their part, so play along with their conversations, or test them by introducing a new topic and see how brilliantly they can cope. On my last trip, Princess Aurora offered to set me up with one of Prince Phillip’s handsome single friends!

9. Appreciate the cast members

Characters need to take breaks, so sometimes your queue time will be lengthened as they do so. Remember that characters are real people too, so be patient with them.

10. If you only see one character, make it Magician Mickey!

In the Town Square Theater, you can meet Mickey at his most magical. Take a trip to backstage of Mickey’s magic show, and meet the main man himself in a way you’ve never seen him before, or heard! That’s right, Mickey speaks to you! It is the only opportunity in Disney World to meet him where he can speak to you, answer questions and even show you his latest magic trick!

December 11, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Shopping in Disney World

Like it or not, you will not be able to stop yourself from shopping in the Disney parks; there’s just too many cute must-haves available!

That said though, there are a few ways you can be sensible to avoid blowing your budget, as well as not missing out, so here’s a few top tips:

1. Don’t buy generic products!

There are a lot of Disney products that can be found all over the place, from Amazon to Walmart, as well as Disney stores, so don’t spend all your money on items that you could buy any time, any place.

2. If staying on site, get your shopping delivered!

Did you know that if you’re staying at a Disney World resort your items can be sent back to your hotel free of charge? Well you do now! Just ask the cast member at the checkout, and they’ll give you a quick form to fill out, and with a sprinkling of fairy dust, all your souvenirs will be available for you to collect at your resort next day, so say goodbye to lugging large stuffed toys or fragile decorations around the parks all day!

And if you’re not staying in a resort, you can still have your items sent to the park exit for you to collect as you leave.

3. Don’t buy everything straight away..

Many items can be found in a vast array of shops, so don’t rush into buying all your souvenirs on day 1, because chances are you’ll be able to find them elsewhere later in your stay.

4. But don’t regret not buying when you had the chance!

There are a few places with unique souvenirs eg. Animal Kingdom and Epcot’s World Showcase, and the last thing you want to spoil a holiday is falling in love with something, only to find you can’t get it elsewhere and don’t have an opportunity to go back for it.

5. Get personal!

Many items can be personalised or monogrammed in several locations throughout Disney World, so why not make your souvenirs extra special?

6. Take a trip away from the park

If you’re on a budget, leave the shopping for outside the parks. There are two Walmarts that are about a $10 taxi ride away from Downtown Disney which have designated Disney souvenir sections; great items at great prices!

7. Disney’s Character Warehouse

If you’re going to Orlando Premium Outlets, find the Disney Character Warehouse. Yes, a Disney outlet! We stumbled upon this on our trip, and its a goldmine! I’d been looking at a Pascal toy in the parks which was $16.95, and I found the exact same one there for $9.95!

8. Don’t forget your baggage allowance!

When considering souvenirs, don’t forget that important question ‘how am I going to get this home?’. The last thing you want is to get stuck with an extortionate extra bag charge on your flight home, just because you wanted that extra large Mickey.

December 11, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Queuing in Disney World

Right from the offset, queuing is an integral part of any Disney trip. You queue to get into the park, you queue for rides, you queue for food; its inevitable, but it definitely doesn’t have to be a chore!

So cut down and brighten up your queue times with these top tips:

1. Get a queue time app!

The My Disney Experience app, as well as a few other queue time apps, can save so much unnecessary queue time; say goodbye to trekking from one side of the park to the other only to find the ride you want to go on has a 90 minute wait.

2. Prepare yourself, and, more importantly, the kids!

If your kids aren’t used to long waits, throwing them in the deep end will only end in tears. Speak to your little ones and explain to them that there are lots of other people at the parks, and its something everyone has to do.

3. Make queuing fun!

Prepare some activities to make queue times fly by, whether its something as simple as Eye Spy or bringing along entertainment. Although normally I can’t stand families sticking a phone or tablet in front of a child, in this case it can be for the best. There are loads of great Disney game apps, from my favourite Tsum Tsums to Disney Trivia quizzes.

4. Set your queue limit.

As a group, decide the maximum time you’d ideally want to wait for a ride. That way you can make quick decisions when you get to each attractions as to whether you join the queue, or try again later.

5. Fuel yourself.

At all times, make sure you’ve got a full bottle of water and something to snack on. If travelling with little ones, this is no doubt something you’ll do anyway, but you’d be amazed how peckish a long wait can make you. Similarly, in Florida heat, you’ll need to stay well hydrated.

6. Some rides have good queues!

There are some rides that have interactive queues, so even if there’s a long queue time it might be worth joining. The Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train has a great queue, as does The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant has a unique system where you’re given a pager, and you can go into a large indoor play area until you are buzzed for your turn!

7. Make the most of Extra Magic

If you’re staying on site, be sure to check which parks have Extra Magic hours (either an hour early, or up to 3 hours late), and use this time wisely; it gives you a great chance to ride when the park is quieter. That being said, however, you’ll normally find that parks that had extra magic the night before will be quieter the following day, as most people were there yesterday!

8. Queue right up until park closing

Provided you entered the queue before the park closing time, you will still be allowed to ride!

December 11, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

I’ve been beavering away..

Ok, ok, so the last few weeks have been pretty quiet on the blogging front. I’ll be honest, I don’t have an excuse other than my wrist is still playing up and my work life being a bit of a rollercoaster..

BUT life goes on, and every good Disney princess knows the best way to deal with hardship is to have a big breakdown sob..

And then get up and get on with life.

So moving on, I’ve powered through a load of writing over the last two days, knocking out reviews for all the restaurants we visited during our Disney trip, and plan on spending the weekend finishing up show reviews, and then next week I have the whole week off work to put together my full LottieDoesDisney guide to Disney World!

I’m really excited to finally see some results from all the hard work I’ve been putting into this site, then once its out of the way, I can focus on blogging away in the new year!

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December 5, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Tusker House

Located in Africa in the Animal Kingdom, Tusker is a fabulous themed dining experience for all the family.

We booked for lunch here based purely on a recommendation from a friend about the quality of the food, so it came as a wonderful surprise to find that breakfast and lunch are both character meals, with Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Minnie all visiting on a break from their safari adventures.

The food is all you can eat buffet, and the restaurant is set up like an authentic African marketplace, with scarfs and trinkets hanging from every available space, and as I was admiring this one of the cast members told me that all of the masks on one of the balconies are genuine, and belonged to Joe Rodhe, the imagineer who designed the Animal Kingdom, how cool?!

As for the food.. Wow. The selection available was huge, with a carvery station, salad bar, curries, vegetables, authentic African recipes and a delicious selection of desserts.

As a family, we agreed this was probably the best meal we had on our trip. It was family friendly, especially with the unexpected character visits, and the food was incredible.

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December 4, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Sunshine Seasons

For a selection of Asian inspired cuisine, definitely hit up Sunshine Seasons in The Land pavilion at Epcot

A quick service restaurant with tonnes of seating, it has three counters, each serving a different range of mains, desserts and snacks, with good portion sizes and something for all the family.

And you absolutely have to have a red velvet Mickey Whoopie Pie!

So if you’re heading towards Soarin’ or Living with the Land, definitely do it around lunch time and stop off here for some fuel!

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December 4, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Located in Norway in Epcot’s World Showcase, Akershus is one of the lesser know princess character meals, probably because you don’t often see princesses outside of the Magic Kingdom. Nevertheless, I’d read about it on DisneyFoodBlog.com, and I can’t deny they had me at words ‘cheapest princess meal’ (not that it mattered much to us on the Disney Dining Plan), and when travelling with young girls, princesses are super important.

You’ve gotta hope you visit in good weather, cos you’ll be waiting for your table outside until your ‘Royal Family’ is announced. Before you’re seated, you have the opportunity to have photos taken with one of the visiting princesses, we had Belle. Don’t miss this, you’ll get 3 poses, which during your meal are printed up and presented to you by the end of your meal, all included in the price much to our surprise!

The dining style is a little odd.. Once seated, you’re invited to serve yourself appetisers from a buffet style selection of bread, sliced meats and cheeses etc. You then select your main from the menu of Scandinavian style options, sit back and enjoy as the princesses come to you!

We were visited by Aurora, Snow White, Ariel and Cinderella, having already met Belle on our way in. They chatted to the girls, signed autograph books and posed for photos, it was a great way of meeting lots of princesses without having to queue elsewhere. Following your meal, there is a prince and princess procession where kids can line up with the princesses and parade around the restaurant to music and applause from everyone else, little ones will love it!

Following the main meal, dessert is served family style; a selection of options are presented on a single plate for you to pick and choose from.

Overall the food was alright, but definitely wasn’t the best meal we had. That being said, the experience of the meal was great as it meant we got to spend a lot of time with princesses, and the included photo prints were a fab plus!

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December 4, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Ohana

Its a DisneySide Saturday, the day of the week I allocate to general ramblings about my life and Disney, and today I thought as I talk about them all the time, I’d introduce you to my family, without whom I don’t think Disney would be such a huge influence on my life.

First of all there’s my dad, Peter.

An absolute Disney pro, he’s been visiting Disney parks since he was 10 years old, his first trip being to Disneyland California in 1975.

Around Disney World you’ll find him snapping pictures, mainly of the iconic monorails, and getting endless compliments for his awesome Disney and minion themed tshirts.

His year of birth Disney classic is Mary Poppins (1964)

I don’t have many memories from early trips to Disney parks, so my favourite Disney memory of my dad was on our August trip to Disney World, when the two of us spent an afternoon photographing Epcot’s World Showcase 🙂

Then there’s Mum, Sue.

She was introduced to the world of Disney parks by my dad in 1991, just over a year before my sister was born.

If you ever need to find my mum, you’ll most likely find her going round and round Buzz Lightyear’s Spaceship Spin, forever attempting to beat her high score (that the rest of us aren’t allowed to come near to beating!), and avoiding any rides that might make her chuck!

Her year of birth Disney classic is The Jungle Book (1967), which is the only Disney film my grandparents have on video/dvd.

My mum is probably the biggest supporter of my Disney dreams, from following my blog to nagging her friends in the states to send me US items to save on international shipping!

I have one sister, Hannah.

That’s her on the left dressed as Belle (we’re about 5 and 3 in this photo).

She’s been visiting Disney parks since she was in the womb (not an exaggeration!), and I will forever have to catch up with the number of trips she went on before I was born!

If she’s not hanging out on Main Street USA, she’s probably sneaking in another showing of Finding Nemo: The Musical in the Animal Kingdom!

Aladdin was the Disney classic that came out the year she was born (1992).

While she may not be quite as obsessed as her darling younger sister, Disney plays a big part in her life and work as a merchandiser for childrens toys for a large supermarket chain, and she’s forever full of exciting news and gossip!

My auntie (mum’s sister), Lesley.

She made her first trip to the happiest place on Earth in 1996 when she joined us on our adventure, and likes to remind me that whenever I fell asleep during/after an exciting day in the parks, it was her who always got lumped carrying me!

Her birth year Disney classic is The Aristocats (1970)

On our most recent Disney excursion, a trip to Enchanted Tales with Belle had us all in stitches as she was chosen to play Madame Bouche (the large, opera singing wardrobe) in our little re-enactment of the story!

wd001wdw2014229110085387_19 And her husband, Uncle Vito.

Vito joined our Disney team on our 2000 trip to Disney World, Florida, two years after he married into our crazy family.

An absolute shopaholic, you’ll find him scouting out goodies in the gift shops, recognisable by his signature hawaiian shirts.

He shares his year of birth with Disney classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

You can always guarantee that if there’s an audience participation moment, Vito will be featured, the most recent example being when he was picked on during the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor by one of the monster comedians!

Bella is the oldest of my cousins. wd007wdw2014227109218350_19

She loves The Little Mermaid and Lilo and Stitch.

The Incredibles came out the same year she was born.

Like her daddy, she tends to seek out the limelight, taking part in Enchanted Tales with Belle and Turtle Talk with Crush.

For a 10 year old, she was oddly obsessed with The Carousel of Progress, asking to go on it several times, although I think it may have been her sneaky way of getting out of the heat of the day!

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Sophia is the middle child.

She has long blonde hair, so is basically Rapunzel.

She loves Olaf, and all things Frozen.

She was terrified to the point of tears by the thought of The Tower of Terror, but actually loved it from the first drop, silly girl!

She was born the year Cars hit the big screen.

Despite no one else wanting to, she queued for half an hour to meet Mr Incredible and Frozone, and had a rocking time with them!

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Liv is the youngest of our crazy crew.

She joined the family the same year Wall-E and Bolt were released.

For a 5 year old, she was a total adrenaline junkie, going on all the rides she was tall enough for, and chose Space Mountain and Expedition Everest as her favourites.

The girl can sleep through anything if she’s tired, including a show as loud as Fantasmic!

Like every other young girl in the world, she loves Frozen.

My absolute favourite moment from our Disney World holiday was when after keeping the girls up and waiting for the Main Street Electrical Parade (hello grumpypusses!), at the sight of Tinkerbell on the first float, her face totally lit up with excitement!

This is my family. I wouldn’t change them for the world and I am so lucky to have so many magical memories of our lives together. Here’s to many more, starting with Disney on Ice this Christmas Eve!

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November 8, 2014Lottie 2 Comments

My Disney Bucket List

So this is gonna be a working progress, I’ll be adding new things when I think of them, and crossing them off when I’ve completed them. Absolutely comment if you can see anything big I’ve missed or you can think of something new for me 🙂

1. Stay at every Disney World resort

~~2. Run in a runDisney event (January 2016 here we come!)~~

3. Be a parade Grand Marshall

4. ~~Visit every Disney park~~ (~~Disney World, Disneyland California, Disneyland Paris~~, ~~Tokyo Disney~~, ~~Shanghai Disneyland~~, ~~Hong Kong Disneyland~~)

~~5. Own all 52 Disney Animated Classics on DVD/Bluray~~

~~6. Own all Pixar films on DVD/Bluray~~

~~7. Disney World 4 park challenge~~

8. Eat at every restaurant in Disney World

~~9. Own an Annual Pass~~

10. ~~Epcot Food and Wine Festival~~

11. Collect autographs from every Disney character

12. Go to a dessert party

13. ~~See the rope drop~~

14. Go to a Star Wars weekend at Hollywood Studios

15. Bowl at Splitsville, Downtown Disney

16. ~~Go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party~~

17. Go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

18. Attend Dapper Day

19. Ride Characters in Flight

~~20. Meet Flynn Rider~~

21. Try every Disney cupcake

22. Be the last guest in the Magic Kingdom

23. Spend Christmas in Disney World

24. Spend a birthday in Disney World

25. Try to finish the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream

26. Become a D23 Gold Member

27. Go to a D23 Expo

28. Visit the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival

29. Watch Cirque du Soleil La Nouba

30. Collect a complete Vinylmation series

31. Stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite for a night

32. Buy a margarita at La Cava del Tequila

33. ~~Watch the Electrical Water Pageant~~

~~34. Watch Wishes from behind the castle~~

35. ~~Become a Disney Vacation Club member~~

36. Find the courage to do Summit Plummet at Blizzard Beach

~~37. See a Disney On Ice show~~

~~38. Give a funny fake name at Starbucks~~

~~39. Own at least five Tsum Tsums~~

~~40. Spend a day in a park without going on any rides~~

~~41. Meet a fellow Disney blogger in a Disney park~~

42. Ride every outside ride after dark

43. Spend all day in the Animation Academy

44. Ride every colour of Monorail

45. Spend a day resort-hopping

46. Get a Magic Band in every colour

47. Meet all the characters around Epcot’s World Showcase

~~48. Get 1000 followers on @lottiedoesdisney on Instagram~~

49. Decorate at least one room of my house in a Disney style

50. Order pizza to a hotel pool

51. Spend an entire week watching Disney movies

52. Go on a totally spontaneous Disney trip

53. Own more Thomas Kinkade Disney canvas prints (I am in love with my Tangled one!)

54. Convert a non-Disney believer into a true fanatic like myself

October 19, 2014Lottie 6 Comments

Last Disney Day :(

With a 2.25pm Magical Express waiting to take us to the airport, we didn’t have a whole lot of time left for park action (although I think everyone else was feeling a bit Disney’d out), so we spent our morning enjoying one final character breakfast at Ohana, in Disney’s Polynesian Resort. The breakfast was served family-style, where a selection of food was brought to the table and we all helped ourselves, while we got visited from Mickey and Pluto, as well as Lilo and Stitch, and drank way too much ‘Stitch juice’ (yum!).

We then headed down to the dock and took the boat across to the Magic Kingdom for a final trip down Main Street USA, last minute souvenir shopping, and a last viewing of the Move it, Shake it Street Party, before making our way to the buses for the last time 😦

See ya real soon Disney World!

°o°

August 30, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Day 13: Last Park Day :(

So this will be my last post from the happiest place on Earth 😦

Looking at the positive side, from here this blog will blossom into a beautiful site of Disney World planning, tips and more!

It did mean that today was my last day in the Magic Kingdom, my home away from home. So today we had a chilled day of meeting characters, getting autographs, snapping pics etc, as well as having our last few trips on our favourite rides.

It also meant last Festival of Fantasy for me, a parade I would watch every day if could. We stood on the other side of the road this time, purely for Flynn Rider (he winked at me omg), and while I said I wouldn’t take as many photos, I took more..

We had dinner at Chef Mickey’s before heading back into the park for a last Celebrate the Magic and Wishes *sobs* and now as a family we have the phenomenal task of attempting to pack all our suitcases to include all our fabulous Disney purchases!

Tomorrow we’re having a final character breakfast at Ohana with Lilo and Stitch before catching the Magical Express to the airport for an exciting (not) 8 hour overnight flight back home..

Catch you on the other side dreamers!

August 28, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Days 11 and 12: Well, all over the place really..

Yesterday was another Universal day, mainly for the minions, so kept short and sweet and wrapped up with dinner at Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney. I personally didn’t eat but that’s a whole other story..

After a much needed lie-in, we started the day with a trip into Epcot. While we’d covered all the rides we wanted to do, I was seriously lacking in the photo department and wanted to have a proper look round the World Showcase during the daylight hours, so had some quality photo-snapping time with my dad, while Mum browsed Innoventions; that place is a magnet to science teachers!

Also dropped into the Art of Disney store there and treated myself to a total beauty of a canvas: a print of a stunning painting of a Tangled, gah!

We then monorailled from Epcot into the Magic Kingdom (via the transportation center as there’s no direct line) to meet up with the rest of the group for lunch at Be Our Guest, but unfortunately we’d left it too late to chance a walk-in and they were at full capacity 😦

After another lunch at Pinocchio’s Village Haus, we headed across to Tomorrowland for a Space Mountain. The previous few times we’d done it we were lucky enough to have short wait times without a Fastpass, but the standby queue time had hit 85 minutes when we arrived, so we were very grateful that this time we did! Shooting past a queue of slightly disgruntled people, we boarded the ride on the opposite track to the regular riders, and to our surprise had a totally different ride experience.. The right side track was much faster, but felt longer, and had more wild twists and turns, it was great!

We also rode the Liberty Belle around Frontierland and caught a bit of Dreams Come True and the Move it, Shake it Dance Party Parade before heading out of the Magic Kingdom.

Oh, and fall/autumn has begun in Main Street!

So beautiful °o°

August 27, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Days 9 and 10: Typhoon Lagoon and Festival of Fantasy

Another two in one blog.

Yesterday started with cake, wahey! On my adventures the other night, I’d made a trip to the Boardwalk Bakery and placed an order for a cake for a certain special occasion..

So following cake for breakfast, we headed over to Typhoon Lagoon, where we spent the day swimming with sharks, catching some waves and generally splashing around! We had dinner at T-Rex in Downtown Disney; an absolutely fab meal in an awesome location where the Jurassic era is brought to life!

We also headed across to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade, Celebrate the Magic and Wishes.

Today we had a lazy morning before heading over to the Magic Kingdom in time to camp out for the Festival of Fantasy Parade, which we’d missed due to rain before.

Wow, wow, wow! Well worth sitting out in scorching heat for 30 mins!

°o°

August 24, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Day 8: One Day, Two Parks

Today we had a mission: get on the Seven Dwarves Mine Train.

The Magic Kingdom had an early magic hour, so we got into the park at about 8.30am and marched straight over, expecting to find a relatively short queue.. We found a queue working all the way round the outside of the ride, as far as Ariel’s Grotto. Luckily (sort of), however, the queue was this length due to the fact the ride wasn’t open yet, and therefore no one was in the main queue area, so once the ride opened we flowed fairly quickly. Once inside, the queue was fairly entertaining, with plenty of interactive activities and fabulous surroundings. The ride itself was a nice combination of rollercoaster (think Big Thunder Mountain), and classic ride along (Winnie the Pooh style) inside the mines, and the whole time we spent at the ride was about an hour; queuing and the ride itself.

Mission completed, we had a wander around Main Street USA, stopping for a treat in the confectionery shop and grabbing a drink from the Main Street Bakery, and even managed to squeeze in seeing the Move It, Shake It Street Party before hopping on a bus to the next park..

Hollywood Studios afternoon!

We had all our Fastpasses for the day booked for the studios, as well as dinner, and got into the park just in time for the first: Indiana Jones stunt show. Personally I enjoyed this a lot more than Lights, Camera, Motion! as it was more personal; volunteers were picked out of the audience, the cast of the show explained how stunts are shot for real movies etc. We headed straight from there to Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, our second Fastpass. Another great production, it summarised the film (one of my favourites!) into a short and sweet 30 minute show while keeping all the key aspects of the story, and most importantly: the songs!

Onto dinner: 50’s Prime Time Cafe!

The restaurant was a great atmosphere, and we had a fabulously funny waitress, Mary Ann, who made sure we enjoyed our meals as well as maintaining our manners – no elbows on the table, pleases and thank yous etc. At this point in our trip, a major flaw in the dining in Disney World is really emerging: absolutely no variety in kids meal choices. Our poor youngest two of the group are being subjected daily to three options in almost every restaurant – mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and burger/hotdog/pizza with either fruit salad, apple slices or ice cream for dessert.

With everything at the park completed, we’re drawing a line under Hollywood Studios for the rest of our trip; its not quite as kid friendly and there’s nothing else we’d go back for now.

°o°

August 22, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Day 7: A Not Entirely Disney Day

Today we went to Universal Studios, cue the booing and hissing of die hard Disney World fans..

But I like to think anyone who has the good taste to love Disney can appreciate the pure brilliance of Harry Potter, and enjoy the truly marvellous experience of the Harry Potter worlds that have been created there. We were incredibly lucky to get all of it done in one day, only possible as we got into the park as it opened so didn’t get stuck in a minimum hour wait for the castle, but we did have to queue for just over 2 hours for the new Gringotts Bank ride, mainly due to it breaking down several times during our wait!

The heat of the day got too much after we’d finished in the magical world, so we headed back to the hotel, via Walmart, so everyone could chill out by the pool for a bit.

Except me. I chose to use this down time to make a solo excursion for some intense exploring/research. I bused from our resort to Epcot, from the park itself cut across to the Boardwalk by the International Gateway, then once I was done scouting that out, hopped onto another bus to Downtown Disney, wandered there for a bit and caught another bus back to the resort: about a 2.5 hour round trip, and I’ll be sharing some of my findings in later posts 🙂

August 21, 2014Lottie 1 Comment

Days 5 and 6: Hollywood Studios, Blizzard Beach and Spirit of Aloha

Beginning to realise there just isn’t quite as much time for blogging while I’m out here, given the amount of sleep I need anyway!

But still, I can squeeze a few days together 🙂

So yesterday we hit up Hollywood Studios for a real scorcher of a day! When we got into the park we were greeted by the glorious Olaf Distribution Center, where Olaf fans were being handed out, and we would not have survived without them!

The beauty of this park is while there are fewer rides, there are more indoor, air conditioned activities like Muppet Vision 3D, Star Tours etc, so we saved those for the middle of the day heat.

We grabbed early lunch at Pizza Planet, an absolute must-do for Toy Story fans, and had bookings for an early dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater (full reviews to come), so we really didn’t go hungry..

We also encountered the longest ride queue we’ve had so far: Rock’n’Roller Coaster, 75 minutes, and at over an hour and a half, we weren’t going to attempt Toy Story Midway Mania, so we’ll save that for another day. Other activities included The Tower of Terror and Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and the evening was wrapped up with Fantasmic, which we would have never got into without a Fastpass, it was phenomenally busy.

Today we had a lazy Blizzard Beach day; the girls could just swim all day and be perfectly content, but we didn’t need more than a few hours before we’d done most things and the heat had got to us, but that was fine because we had a booking for the 5.15pm Spirit of Aloha Dinner show at the Polynesian Resort.

Absolutely cannot deny the service and the food were fantastic! The show itself left a little to be desired; it could have easily just been song and dance performances, but it had been scripted into a story of a group of dancers throwing a party (I’m not even entirely sure what the story was if I’m honest), but overall it was a great meal and the Samoan fire dancer really stole the show, although my aunt and uncle did give him a run for his money!

°o°

August 20, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Day 4: Animal Kingdom, and a little Downtown Disney

Finally getting adjusted to the time difference, wahey!

Today we tripped it over to the Animal Kingdom first thing to take advantage of Extra Magic hours, so we got into the park around 8.30 before it opened to the public at 9am. This was perfect timing as it meant we could dash over to Expedition Everest, which we hadn’t managed to get a Fastpass for, and queued for less than 5 minutes as the park was almost empty! So empty in fact, we rode it twice a) cos we knew it’d be a long wait if we came back later, and b) because it was awesome!

By the end of our second go it was just coming up 9 so we shot across to the Kali River Rapids just as it opened and managed to sneak another incredibly lucky short wait. The ride comes with the warning ‘You will get wet, you may get soaked!’ and well, soaked is what we got..

Like, literally wringing out clothes sort of soaked.

We then wandered across to Africa and completed the Pangani trail before out Kilimanjaro Safari Fastpass then after a quick shopping break got in line for The Festival of the Lion King performance. This 30 minute tribute to the Lion King was a great production (full review to follow) involving acrobats, floats and live singers.

Lunch was at Tusker House (table service), another Advanced Dining Reservation, which we’d originally booked just based on a recommendation from a friend of the great food, but it actually turned out to be a character meal as well, so we dined with Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy, all kitted out in their safari gear! Food lived up to its reputation, and the atmosphere was great.

Lunch was followed by another show, this time Finding Nemo, the Musical. Similar to the traditional Lion King Musical, the show was done in large scale puppetry, with live singers, and was an excellent condensed (40 minutes) version of the film. The puppets themselves were incredible, but the music lacked the classic Disney catchiness.

From there we finished up our day in Dinoland, and left the park surprisingly early with everything done by around 4/5pm, so we caught a bus across to Downtown Disney for a little look around (NB. No buses ran directly from Animal Kingdom to Downtown Disney, so we had to bus over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort and switch buses there).

First stop, obviously was World of Disney, the largest Disney store in the world, although it didn’t seem overwhelmingly large. Due to the offer we had when we booked our trip, we went to collect out $200 gift cards from the information desk inside, which was a bit of a faff but got there in the end. Our group then split in two for the shopping bit as 9 is too large a group for a smooth shopping experience. Our group got a taxi across to Walmart as well for some essentials before we all re-convened at the resort pool for dinner by the poolside with Tarzan on the big screen, and a quick swim!

Tomorrow we’ll be heading to the fourth and final park, Hollywood Studios!

°o°

August 18, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Day 3: Epcot

What makes a good morning? Well today it was a lie in and a swim in the hotel pool 🙂
One Mickey shaped Rice Krispie treat later and we jumped on the bus to Epcot and were soon greeted by the familiar sight of Spaceship Earth.
Gonna keep this one short and sweet as it’s been a long day, and I’ll stick photos in later on, but here are the main points:
1. Soarin’ totally lives up to the hype. We were lucky enough to get an early fast pass, and Disney well and truly put in a phenomenal effort to make it a true experience for all senses.
2. Akershus Royal Banquet Hall was a booking well worth making – 5 princesses, 3 course meal, 1 table service credit
3. Great lunch at Seasons in The Land
4. Bella got to ask a question in Turtle Talk with Crush.
5. Illuminations was a perfect end to the night 🙂

Final Fitbit stats:
Steps: 16388
Distance: 6.86 miles
Calories burnt: 2197

Full posts about various activities will go up once I have some time, but for now, goodnight dreamers!

August 17, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Day 2: Magic Kingdom

Today was the day I’d planned to be totally magical; for a first day in Disney World you’d want nothing less, and I was going to make sure of it.

Although it may seem crazy over-organised, we booked our first day breakfast almost 6 months in advance to ensure we got it: Crystal Palace, 8.15am. The beauty of this is that the park doesn’t actually open until 9am, and therefore our reservation granted us early access to the Magic Kingdom, so we could make the first turn onto Main Street and see this..

Main Street leading up to the castle, almost entirely uninterrupted.

Well worth and early morning (left our resort on the 7am bus to get to the park in plenty of time).

Breakfast was fab, and we were joined by Winnie the Pooh and his friends who visited and signed our autograph books before posing for numerous photos in varying poses.

Tummies (and bags) full of food (buffets are great), we headed into the park.

I won’t list all the rides we went on, cos quite honestly we didn’t get a chance to do them all in the one day, especially not with Snow White’s Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Magic Flight wait times never dropping below and hour (we’ll Fastpass them on our next day in MK), but we were incredibly lucky with queue lengths, not waiting more than 30 minutes for any ride.

In between rides we caught a few shows, and set up camp on Main Street for the Festival of Fantasy Parade, only for it to be cancelled last minute due to the threat of rain, which was a bit of a disappointment 😦 but we made up for it with snacks!

If I’m honest, I was a little let down by the Main Street Bakery, expecting it to be what it says on the label, but really it was just a glorified Starbucks, which I’m really not a fan of, but I managed to pick an Olaf Cake Pop up from a few shops down.

More rides, more time passing, girls are getting more and more tired..

By 9pm, the Main Street Electrical Parade, Liv was unconscious and Soph not far behind, so despite my hopes of them staying for the whole parade and the following fireworks, they headed back to the hotel for the night.

(I’ve spent all day alternating between my camera and my phone for photos, and as my phone takes better night time photos, I’ll sort those out another time to fully glorify the beauty of the evening)

After the parade ended, we simply turned to face the castle and plonked ourselves on the floor, and I think I’m going to struggle to describe the beauty and true magic of what followed..

Celebrate the Magic was everything and more. Don’t believe me? See it for yourself.

The show consisted of a series of projections, set right onto the castle itself, and wow. Just wow. It had me tearing up, mouth gaping open, eyes fixed on the beauty before me, and totally speechless afterwards.

It was followed by the Wishes fireworks show, but unfortunately we were sat a little too close to the castle to fully appreciate it as the fireworks are mainly fired behind it, but it was still beautiful, and a man sat a few rows in front even proposed right as the show was going; totally beautiful.

Drained, we called it a night after that spectacular end to a magical first day of our trip.

Final stats:

Steps: 18159

Distance: 7.58 miles

Calories burnt: 2365

Stats provided by my Fitbit Zip

°o°

August 16, 2014Lottie Leave a comment

Day 1: A Very Long Day

I am not a morning person, not in a million years. For Disney, however, I can make an exception.

Alarm goes off 5.15am GMT, rush around doing the last of the packing and sorting the house before piling into the car for the 2.5 hour car ride to the airport.

Lots of waiting in queues and sitting around before boarding our plane at about 10.30ish for an 11.15 departure.

We felt pretty excited to be travelling Virgin Airways from previous experience well in the past, but man were they a let down! While the entertainment system was fairly decent and the films weren’t awful, the food was. I know plane food isn’t highly rated but this was a real poor effort..

With the majority of passengers being families travelling to Disney, you’d expect kid friendly meals, right? Nope. Beef chilli, chicken in some form of a sauce with liquid mash potato, or mushroom pasta as a veggie option. Our girls aren’t fussy, but the poor things hardly touched it.

But who cares?! Its Disney time!

Once past security, baggage claim etc, we simply skipped on down to the Magical Express bus terminal at the airport, hopped onto a bus, and about 25 minutes later arrived at our home for the next two weeks: the Caribbean Beach Resort!

For a big group of us, with some complex arrangements, the girl who checked us in was lovely; explaining everything clearly without patronising, got us celebration buttons and even arranged for our rooms to be moved closer to each others before bring out our Magic Bands..

From there we got dropped to our rooms, did some settling in and exploring before The Disney Fairy visited to deliver goodie bags for everyone (see here), and as our bodies were set to around 10/11pm GMT, while it was only 5/6pm EST, went to grab some noms at the resort food court and test out our dining plan!

Wow. Quick service meals are huge.

For one QS credit, I got:

8 large chicken nuggets and a decent portion of fries, a bottle of Fanta and a Monkey Cupcake, as well as filling up my refillable resort mug!

By this point the girls were itching for a swim, so after a quick twilight swim (the resort is gorgeous!) we called it an early night: 8.30 EST, 1.30 GMT and body clock, bringing us to the end of our 20 hour day!

To top it off, while I’ve been writing this I’ve been darting in and out of my room because you can see the fireworks from just over the pool 🙂

Tomorrow we hit the parks hard, starting with the Magic Kingdom! °o°