Posts Tagged ‘Walt Disney World’

Walt Disney World visitors looking for a different kind of souvenir might consider posing for a caricature.  Unlike the traditional portraiture available at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, caricature artists showcase their subjects in a truly unique way.

One of the most well-known permanent locations is at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, but other kiosks can be found at all four parks as well as Downtown Disney, the Boardwalk, and many of the other Walt Disney World resorts.

Guests can choose black-and-white or full-color portraits, and there are options for heads only, or head and body with a playful background.  Artists’ hours vary by location but are typically longer in the parks and run from late afternoon through the evening at the resorts.  Prices can change at any time but currently, they range from about $18.00 to $56.00 for one subject .

Located at the beautiful Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort, Roaring Fork is definitely one of the better quick-service stops.  Diners will find the usual selection of burgers and pizza as well as the familiar children’s menu items.

But Roaring Fork also offers some delicious choices which are unique to this venue.  For a welcome change from the typical fast-food fare, try the Territory or Wilderness Salad or the Ham and Tillamook Cheddar Sandwich.  There’s a nice bakery section featuring the popular magic cookie bars, and little individual chocolate bundt cakes.  Breakfast items range from a hearty Bounty Platter to Create-Your-Own Yogurt Parfaits and assorted pastries.

There is a seating area inside, or guests can choose to dine under an umbrella at one of the tables outside with pleasant views of the courtyard. Roaring Fork is also convenient to the main pool area and has seasonal hours that generally run from about 7:00 a.m. to midnight.

Familiar dishes, simply prepared; pleasant surroundings and prompt, cheerful service; the Turf Club Bar & Grill is another relatively unknown restaurant tucked away in a Disney Vacation Club property.

While it’s popular with the guests staying at Disney’s Saratoga Springs and Spa, the Turf Club is often seen as little more than a default choice when other, more popular, venues are not available.  In fact, the food is as good as, and often quite a bit better than, what is available at other locations in the Downtown Disney area.

Guests enter through a charming lounge that exudes a sense of clubby goodwill in keeping with the racing theme of the resort.  It features comfortable seating, a pool table, and the equestrian art and memorabilia found throughout the property.

Well-placed mirrors make the deceptively small dining space appear larger, and there is a covered, outdoor terrace which is a nice option during good weather.  Seldom busy, it offers a haven for those looking for a change from the chaos of character buffets.

Review: Dining at the Turf Club is an event that seems to polarize guests.  We seldom hear moderate reviews of this restaurant.  Instead, people are typically extremely positive or negative.  And yet, it is a moderate experience in almost every way.  The menu is strongly “American” with the somewhat bland offerings and seasonings that the term often implies.  The ambiance is relaxing while lacking the unique personality many of us look for in a Disney restaurant.  During my last visit, I found the service to be excellent and listening to others around us, it was clear that guests who made the trip more than once during their stay were greeted and treated like old friends.  If not for the food, it may be worth a special trip for the quiet, unhurried surroundings.

Menus

Lunch

Dinner

Dessert

The Turf Club Bar and Grill

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa

Lunch 12:00 p.m. to 4:55 p.m.

Dinner 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

It was a theming opportunity too good to miss – Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort has gone pirate!  Not all guests will take advantage of the wonderful Pirate Rooms with their masted headboards, shipping-crate-and-barrel furnishings, and walk-the-plank carpeting.  But, everyone staying at the resort can enjoy the atmospheric Old Port Royale complex based on the “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction and movies, with its amazing pool.

Styled after a Spanish fort with domed turrets, “crumbling” stone walls, rambling staircases, and hidden passageways, the pool now has a zero entry feature making it easily accessible to all guests. Rustic window grilles, balconies, iron gates, and lookouts add to the fortress ambience.  Significantly larger than the previous theme pool, it boasts hot and cool spas, two slides, a shower, and ample seating.

A “shipwreck” feature in the children’s play area includes three slides and some extra water fun as the large barrel fills and then dumps its contents.

Each of the six villages that make up Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort also has its own quiet pool.  Main pool and spa hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. with the lifeguards, slides, and aqua play area available until 8:00 p.m.  The quiet pools are open 24 hours.

It is a month of contrasts.  The beginning of December is a favorite of Disney veterans who take advantage of the great weather and lower crowds during the first couple of weeks.  The week between Christmas and New Year is the single busiest one of the year.  During this holiday period, it’s not unusual for the Magic Kingdom to reach full capacity and close the gates to new arrivals as early as 10:00 or 11:00 a.m.

It is festive and beautiful – perhaps the single most beautiful time of year to visit Walt Disney World – with parks and resorts dressed to impress and the daily schedules a whirlwind of special events, activities, and holiday performances.  There are so many different things going on it’s impossible to list them all!  As the calendar counts off the days until Christmas, each resort begins to add its own roster of special holiday happenings.

Fast Facts

Special Events: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party continues, typically until about December 19th, at which time the Christmas Parade replaces the daytime parade in the Magic Kingdom for the remainder of the season.  The Castle Dream Lights sparkle and Wishes becomes Holiday Wishes for a few special days.  There are regular performances of the Candlelight Processional and the storytelling of Holidays Around the World in EPCOT.  Visitors to Disney’s Animal Kingdom can enjoy Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade.  The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights draws the crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Festival of Seasons offers seasonal entertainment and Santa meet-and-greets.  In fact, Santa really gets around the Walt Disney World Resort!

The Voices of Liberty don their holiday finery for concerts of seasonal music at the American Adventure and many of the resort lobbies ring with good cheer as various choruses, choirs, bell ringers, soloists, and musical groups serenade guests.

Attendance levels: From the sublime to the ridiculous – expect lower attendance for the first couple of weeks escalating to the highest numbers of the year during Christmas week.  Guests visiting for the first time after the middle of the month should understand that crowds will be fierce.  The parks are crowded, the parking lots are jammed, the roadways are busy, the buses and monorails are full; it’s difficult to overstate just how massive the crowds are.  Expect long waits for attractions and transportation; be prepared to wait at every turn.  Be certain to make dining reservations well in advance and plan to visit with a relaxed attitude, knowing that this will be a time to slow down and enjoy each moment as it comes.

Weather: It can be breezy and balmy or crisp and cold.  In the past few years, the temperatures have climbed well up into the 80’s and crashed into the 20’s.  December of 2010 was the coldest ever recorded for this area.

Packing: If there was ever a time to pack for all possibilities, this is it.  As the departure dates nears, we suggest checking the ten-day forecast at weather.com!

Stepping into Olivia’s feels like a warm hug – sunny and bright and, well, just plain homey.  Patrons can expect the friendliest of welcomes and a casual, relaxed atmosphere.

Disney’s Old Key West is the original Disney Vacation Club resort and many years ago, the members began bringing their family photos.  Today, some of the walls are still covered with frames of every conceivable shape, size, and color, featuring the faces of loved ones – newborns and grandparents, kids and characters, weddings and birthdays and Grand Gatherings of every sort.

Few guests who aren’t staying at this property make the trip to the “Keys” to eat here, so walk-ins are typically seated quickly.  Happily, at a time of increasingly homogeneous offerings at many of the other Walt Disney World restaurants, Olivia’s menu has retained some of its original Conch Flats flair.  Many dishes feature a dash of the Caribbean: tropical fruits, jerk spice, conch and shrimp, mojito marinade, beans and rice.   A number of the more interesting menu items have come and gone through the years, only to return, perhaps in response to guests’ complaints.  The conch fritters are back and perhaps we will see a return of the coconut shrimp.

Diners can choose to eat indoors or at one of the tables outside on the shady patio.  And the restaurant’s namesake still smiles from the top of the menu!

Review: I have always been particularly fond of the Po Boy which was off the menu for several years, so I was delighted to see it had returned when I was last there.  It’s a shrimp version and doesn’t have the wonderful french bread that the purist would demand, but the shrimp are always cooked perfectly – a simple and satisfying sandwich.  During the period when it wasn’t offered, the chef was always willing to make it especially for me, which may account, in part, for my very positive review!  While many returning Walt Disney World guests have started a tradition of a first or last meal at a character dining venue, my family and I will often make the trip to Olivia’s at the beginning of our vacation.  Somehow, the cheerful ambiance and friendly smiles seem infused with that special “Disney feeling” we love so much.

Menus

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Dessert

Olivia’s Café

Disney’s Old Key West Resort

Breakfast 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Dinner 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

While the majority of the more than 25,000 Walt Disney World hotel rooms feature the standard floor plan, there remains an astonishing variety of unique accommodations.  Guests can enjoy their own little cabin in the woods; sleep in a tree house, or a turret.  There are extravagant multi-room suites and villas with kitchens.  Some rooms boast large covered porches, generous seating areas, or quirky and interesting floor plans.  There are double beds, queen beds, king beds, Murphy beds, Sico beds, trundle beds, day beds, sofa beds, and even sleeper chairs.  Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, alone, has more than twenty different room categories!

But perhaps none is more intriguing that the lovely Cottage Suites at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn.  The vast majority of visitors never venture down the stairs to the secluded and peaceful courtyard which features flowers and fountains and the pleasant quiet pool.  White picket fences line a dappled walkway and gates invite guests into small, charming gardens that grace the entrances to most of the individual suites.

Although several of the units don’t include a private garden, these actually have a superior floor plan with a broad balcony rather than the small seating area outside the front doors of the “garden” accommodations.

Guests who stay during the more temperate months will enjoy sitting outside surveying their own private little world.  Otherwise, as cute as the gardens are, we recommend requesting one of the balcony units.  These have a downstairs living area which is really a room; spacious and inviting. While not closed off with a door, the bedroom upstairs is quite private and leads out through French doors to a very large balcony.

The lower floor of the units with private gardens is much more shallow and feels like an entrance area tucked under the open loft bedroom above, rather than the living room it is meant to be.  All living areas includes a sofa bed, desk and chair, tables, and armoire with flat-screen television.

It’s important to note that the Cottage Suites may not be fully family-friendly.  There is a half-bath downstairs as well as a kitchenette that includes a small sink, refrigerator, and microwave.  While the toilet and shower room in the master bath upstairs is enclosed, the vanity and whirlpool bath are open, making these suites more of an adult retreat for anyone planning to use the tub!  Some of the rooms have a small interior window over the whirlpool tub; others feature tall shutters that open into the bedroom area.  Also, children will be sleeping on a sofa bed rather than a standard bed.  Maximum occupancy is four guests.

The master bedroom has a king bed with flat-screen television in an armoire.  Again, for those who enjoy watching tv, the balcony rooms have beds which face the screen; the armoires in the garden units are off to the side.

Cottage Suites are Concierge-level accommodations with access to the Innkeeper’s Club located on the 4^th floor of the resort.  Although not as convenient to the lounge as some of the other Concierge rooms, their peaceful location is part of the appeal.  A walkway leads directly to the elevators for those not wishing to take the stairs.  All the suites are just steps from the quiet pool, one of the nicest at any Walt Disney World resort.  Because the courtyard is only accessible from the interior of Disney’s Boardwalk Inn and has no “through” traffic, it remains a hidden gem!

Read more about the Cottage Suites at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn or get the details of our exclusive package, Honeymoon Dreams!

The beginning of each new year is traditionally a time to look forward, and many people start dreaming about vacations.  It’s easy to forget that the actual trip is just a small part of the overall vacation experience.  You may only travel for a few days, but the planning process can last for many months, and the memories will be with you for a lifetime.  Disney vacations are a great source of family fun and there are lots of ways to involve everyone in the process and keep them excited about the trip, which may seem very far away:

As soon as your make your reservation with Whimsical World Travel, your Concierge will arrange to have a Disney Vacation Planning DVD delivered to your home.  We suggest setting aside an evening, making some popcorn, and watching it with your entire group.

Have each person make a list of their must-see attractions at the different parks.  Particularly when you’re traveling during peak times, following our top tips, and having a plan to visit these attractions first, will keep everyone happy.

Download a countdown clock for your computer to keep abreast of the exact time until your departure   disneytime15

Wrap up a number of small gifts for the kids.  Once a month, give them one to open.  These can be practical items they will need for the trip, or Disney-related treats to help make the vacation special.  Your final document package from Whimsical World Travel will also contain a special surprise or two!

Print out these special coloring pages for a Disney fix on a rainy afternoon.

Fabulous Art Deco design details both inside and out make Hollywood & Vine a visual delight.  Both breakfast and lunch feature the Play ‘n Dine program with Playhouse Disney friends.

Along with the Hollywood Brown Derby and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, dinner here can also be booked as part of the Fantasmic! Dining Package which includes a voucher for a designated seating area at the show.

What it is: a fun and boisterous stop for the under-five set.  Meet, dance, and sing with Handy Manny and Little Einsteins Leo and June.  There’s lots of great character interaction and the children are invited to jump up and join in; often!  Be sure to attend with an appropriately-aged companion.  As I sat waiting for my table to be called, there were dozens of conversations swirling around me, and it was clear that not a single person had a clue as to who these characters were!  Little children are definitely the “stars” who dine at Hollywood & Vine.

What it isn’t: a top choice for adults and older kids.  Because of the target age group, during breakfast and lunch this restaurant has a much higher percentage of very small children than most other dining venues; very small, very excited children.  It is understandably noisy and hectic and the buffet is sub-par; few choices and poor food quality.  Depending upon the time of year, the adult meal can cost more than $30.00; very pricey for mediocre food and a frantic atmosphere if you are not on a Disney Dining Plan.

Hollywood & Vine

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

8:00 a.m. to park closing

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

No characters appear at dinner; Play ‘n Dine is breakfast and lunch only