Disney Vacation- Crystal Palace

 

During our trip we were luck enough to eat at four different character dinner restaurants. Our last breakfast was at the "Crystal Palace" at Magic Kingdom.

 

 

 

 

 

The place was beautiful and we sat by the window, so we had a nice view of the castle. This was also the cheapest one of the character places. But I have to be honest, this is the on place we will not visit again. The food was not at all as good as the other places, and as nice as it was to see Pooh bear and his friends, he was much more popular when I was a kid than they are now. My kiddos knew who they were but they were not very excited to see them. After seeing the princesses and all the Disney Jr. friends, including Mickey and Minnie, Pooh became a little lame by comparison. If this was our first stop, the reactions would probably have been better, but as our last stop, it was not as fun.

 

Find out more about our Disney experience here.

Disney Vacation- Art of Animaton Resort

Our trip to Disney was so much fun and the room we stayed in added at lot to the fun.

 

 

 

This Couch turns into the bed bellow 

This table becomes the bed below

At Christmas time, Truett saw something on TV about "Cars Land" at Disneyland in California. That was all he talked about for months, but since California was not in the plans, or budget, we found a compromise. We decided to stay at the Art of Animation Resort, in one of their Cars Suites. It was Truett's personal Cars Land.
Everything in the room looked like something from a garage or from the movie itself. The lamps were traffic cones, the couch looked like the seat of an old car and the bathrooms (yes, there were two) looked like car washes.
We loved staying at the cars suit, but it was an splurge on our end. So, next time we plan on staying on just a room instead of a suit (like the "Little Mermaid" rooms) so we can pay less on the room and stay a little longer.
What are your favorite Disny resorts?
Check out more about our vacation here.

Disney Vacation- Hollywood and Vine/ Play'n' Dine

 

 

 

 

 

Hollywood & Vine was great. My husband said it was his favorite of all the four sit-down restaurants we visited. So here is a little bit about our experience there.

The kids were super excited even before we got in. We had breakfast reservations, so when we got to the park we did not have to wait the line. They had a separate entrance for people with reservations to get in. It was a really good feeling to walk right in as everyone else was staying in a long line waiting for the park to open, I won’t lie.

Once in the park, we gave them our names and sat on cute benches as we waited for our table to be ready. As we walked, there was a Disney Junior backdrop for the kids to take pictures, but no character. As soon as we sat down, Jake came by and Truett was in heaven. He loved telling Jake "I have your picture on my shirt!"

We went to the buffet line and got the best frittata we ever had and omelets to order. The kids were happy eating Mickey shaped waffles.

Every few minutes the characters would gather up from and sing a few songs and the kids got to sing and dance with them. Truett went up front for the pirate songs, but stayed by the table during the Mickey Mouse Club House part.

The kids got to meet Jake, from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates", June for "The Little Einsteins", "Handy Manny" and "Special Agent Oso". Surprisingly, Truett had a moment with Oso. It was really cute- he closed his eyes, hugged the bear and didn’t let go until I told him to. I didn’t even think he liked Oso that much!

 

All in all, we had a great time. Hollywood & Vine is without a doubt on the list of things we want to do again.

Anyone else enjoy that place? What other character places do you like?

 

Check out more about our vacation here.

Disney Vacation- Chef Mickey's

 

Our first night there we had dinner at Chef Mickey's. Here are some picks and our thoughts on it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was one of the best restaurants of the week. The food was great and the service even better. One of the great things about eating at Chef Mickey's, is that it gives you a reason to check out the Disney's Contemporary Resort, if you are not staying there already. It also gives you a reason to ride the monorail, again if you are not already at one of the resorts that use the monorail. For Truett, the monorail was, surprisingly, one of Truett's favorite things.  

The Buffet has a section just for the kids, with Macs'n'Cheesse, pizza, chicken nuggets, corn and peas and other kid-friendly food.

The regular, or adult buffet had a great salad selection and lots of Italian food, such as Mickey shaped raviolis. The best part of it all, in my opinion, was the dessert buffet. Ice cream, chocolate moose Mickeys, individual Cheese cakes and the best key lime pie I've ever had in my life.

This trip was to celebrate our seventh anniversary, or at least that was the excuse for the trip ;)So we the waiter at Chef Mickey's brought us as adorable cup cake to celebrate and sang "Happy
Anniversary to you" for us. It was a truly magical experience.

The last photo, is Truett's reaction when I told him it was time to leave.

Check out some more about our little Disney Adventure.  

DIY Travel Tote

This past week we went on Vacation to Disney. We had a great time and there will be more pictures and little tips and details of our trip coming the next few days.

We drove, from Ohio to Florida. And with a sixteen hour drive ahead of us, I knew that it was going to take a lot to keep the kids occupied and entertained. Here is the solution I came up with- Travel Totes!

Each tote had two CapriSun juices, two fruit snacks, three activity packs I picked up at the dollar store (they came with stickers, crayons and a coloring book), two matchbox cars, two stuffed toys, a book and their IPods.

The totes worked great for hours. Unfortunately, no tote can hold enough entertainment to keep two preschoolers occupied for over 16 hours, so I also had their movies and a bag with their LeapPads, MobiGo and Leapster. They did a lot better than I expected for such a long ride.

There is more on our little adventure coming in the next few days.