Drinking Around the World (showcase)

I have had a lot of friends and clients ask me if Walt Disney World is a fun vacation for adults without kids.
OF COURSE IT IS!
My husband and I do not have children and we have been to Walt Disney World 7 times since New Year's Eve 2008/2009. We never run out of awesome and fun things to, but we're kids at heart so for my introduction to my "Disney, not just for kids" series I'm going to focus on an adult ONLY activity.

Welcome friends, to Drinking Around the World! (Referred to from here on out as DATW)

DATW is a fun game many adults (21 and older please) play at the World Showcase at EPCOT. The goal of the game is to drink an alocholic beverage in it's entirety at each pavillion. There are 11 countries total during standard operating weeks. (I will be doing a special DATW - Food and Wine Edition post in October)

There are no real rules, as it is not a sanctioned event. The goal is to have fun and to be safe. Some people use a check list they find online. Other's just drink a beer in each country. I did things a little differently.

I asked a cast member from each country the following question:
"If you had to suggest only one alcoholic beverage that best represents your country, which one would it be?"

Then I drank it. To make the event more fun I purchased an Epcot passport and had it stamped at the KidCot location for each country and I had the cast member who poured my drink sign the passport and write a fun message. 

I did all 11 countries in 6 hours, with a short break between country number 8 and country number 9 for the DVC Merry Member Mixer. I definitely could have done it quicker, but I probably should have done it a little slower. I was worried about the time. When I do it again in September/October I will be sure to start earlier and take my time especially since there will be 30 countries. 

My favorite countries were Mexico (shots of tequila), France (Grand Marnier & Grey Goose Orange Slush), and Canada (Torontopolitan). 

My least favorite countries were Japan (a horrible Sake, the name of which I forgot, but I also tried my husband's and his was gross too. While the feeling you get after drinking sake is quite nice, the torture to drink it was not worth it), China (Tsing Tao - a beer, totally average and nothing special), and Norway (Linie Aquavit - it's like a vodka except it tastes like all of the licorice in the world was put into a single shot. I hate licorice and that's the only reason this made my least favorite list, the price was right and the strength was great.) 

Germany also had a delicious beverage and earns an honorable mention. Apfelkorn Schnapps is a delightfully light and sweet schnapps that was perfect for a post Thanksgiving pre-Christmas holiday drink. (The fact that it was only $2 a shot made it even better!)

In the UK I had Magner's Pear Cider. Quite refreshing and enjoyable, I will definitely drink it again.
I drank the Sangria in Morocco which was fine, but nothing to write about ;-)
I was a bit disappointed with the choices at the USA pavillion. I drank a Frozen Red Stag Lemonade which was strong but not very tasty. If I could have broken the "rules" I would have had a glowtini from Coral Reef instead because the "American" drinks were boring by comparison. 

Here is a photo montage of all of my drinks with my passport stamped and signed. The photos are numbered so you can tell how I was feeling by the time I hit China. I did the countries a bit out of order because I had dinner reservations and the Merry Member Mixer to attend.
1- Mexico 2- Norway 3- Germany 4- Italy 5- USA 6- Japan 7- Moracco 8- UK 9- France 10- China 11- Canada

When I let the cast member in Canada know what I was doing and that I was on my last drink of DATW she got so excited that she came to pose for a photo with me. So did some random Canadian guy who was proud of me (and may have been doing a bit of drinking around the world himself!) it was a fun way to celebrate the end of my journey. 

So, the moral of this story is that yes Virginia, Walt Disney World is a fun destination for adults traveling without children. I will be sure to share more of my favorite activities in the near future.

If you have any questions about adult only trips to any of the Disney Destinations, I'm you're gal.
Contact me for more information or to book your trip today!
Kerri@MickeysDreamVacations.com
Twitter - @LadynWonderland
Facebook - Facebook.com/MickeysDreamVacationsbyKerri

Walt Disney World's New Fantasyland

Full review of New Fantasyland and Be Our Guest restaurant coming soon!
For now please enjoy this sneak peak!

Character Meals vs Character Meet & Greets

When it comes to visiting the Disney Resorts getting the perfect photo with your favorite character is usually at the top of the to do list.

There are two different ways you can go about creating these memories. Meet and Greets in the parks, or a character dining experience at one of the Disney dining locations.

My husband and I have done both and depending on the nature of our trip will do both again.

There are a lot of great things about the in park Meet and Greets.



My husband and I never go into the parks with a set plan. We used to, but after several years and several trips we are more "go with the flow" these days. I love randomly coming across a character we haven't met yet, and jumping on the line to meet them. I like the surprise aspect. I also like the type of interactions you can have in the parks.

When we met Lilo and Stitch it was almost like a full out show. Stitch played hide and seek using the guests as things to hide behind. They danced with everyone as a group and posed for photos with everyone without really having to wait on a line. They signed autographs and stole our pens and it was just a fun time.














 I like that you can get two characters at once depending on the set up which can create some great photo opportunities.


Meeting characters during a Character Dining Experience is great too!

It's air conditioned, you KNOW you will get to meet the characters regardless of how hot it is and you won't be stuck waiting on line only to be the one right as the character takes a break leaving you stand a few minutes before they come back.














You get to relax and eat and enjoy the fun interactions the characters have at your table. Piglet was appalled when he saw that I had bacon on my plate. Pooh tried to steal my honey!
I also love that at certain dining locations like Cape May Cafe, and Chef Mickey's the characters are wearing costumes you will not see them in anywhere else.








Meeting characters is always a highlight of any trip to Disney, whether we wait on line to do it or enjoy a relaxing meal while letting the characters come to us.

Which do you prefer?

Kerri
Kerri@mickeysdreamvacations.com
facebook.com/mickeysdreamvacationsbykerri

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I wish I was celebrating at Raglan Road or Cookes of Dublin today but since I'm stuck in bed in New York with a bronchial infection this is as close as I'm going to get.

Check out all the cool 2012 St. Patrick's Day merchandise! Isn't Irish Duffy just the cutest little bear?! I'm loving the Saint Patrick's Day Disney Pins/lanyard and I would totally rock those ears!

If you're still craving a taste of Irish cooking, check out this post from the Disney Parks blog. They'll teach you how to make an official Raglan Road appetizer!

Celebrating Special Events at Disney World

Disney is a fabulous place to celebrate special occasions in your life. From birthdays, to anniversaries, and family reunions, Disney World has the perfect touches to make any occasion magical.

I have been lucky enough to celebrate my cousin's, my husband's and my mother's birthdays, my 3rd wedding anniversary, and next year my own 30th birthday while staying at the Walt Disney World Resort.

One of my favorite things is the cute buttons that that Disney provides to let the world know what you're celebrating. It's a nice easy way to let the cast members know that you're celebrating and they are very good about giving you a personal shout out when they see you. Even the bus drivers have a special way of greeting you and letting the other passengers know there are people celebrating on board.

Another thing I love about Disney, is that if you tell them you are celebrating something special when you make a dining reservation, sometimes they go above and beyond to make that dining experience extra magical.  For our anniversary, Le Cellier made our desserts extra special and added just a touch of pixie dust to my day. It wasn't something huge, but sometimes it's the little things in life that make the biggest smiles. On another trip where we were celebrating an anniversary, we were greeted at our table by a heart of Mickey pixie dust and 2 glasses of champagne.When we were celebrating my husband's birthday I was very happy to find out that I could purchase a cake for $10 to have delivered at the table during his birthday dinner. This was such a nice touch because I was worried that he wouldn't have a birthday cake, and since it was his 25th birthday, I didn't want him to miss out that family tradition. Look how happy he was! The restaurant also gave him that awesome chef's hat because it was birthday. He wore it for the rest of the night and kept it when we got home. Again, it's all about the little things that can help make a vacation a magical experience. If you don't want a whole cake, don't worry. Disney has some other tricks up their sleeve as well. When we went to another restaurant during my husband's birthday trip the server surprised us after our meal with this fabulous cup cake. We hadn't made a note on our dining reservation that it was his birthday, but when we had gone to guest services at the beginning of our trip to change another reservation, Lord Hill was wearing his birthday button and the cast member made a note on the rest of our dining reservations to let the staff know we were celebrating. It was a very nice surprise and still one of my favorite Disney desserts. Best part? It was free, as was the champagne I mentioned earlier.


An important thing that I need to mention, is that other than the cake, none of the surprises were expected, and they should NOT be expected in the future. They are nice magical touches that are special when they happen but please do not get upset if you do not experience the same magical moments on your trip.






Have you ever experienced a little extra pixie dust while celebrating at Disney?

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Free Dining at Disney World Extended

If you purchase a non discounted Magic Your Way Package for 4 nights and 5 days at select Disney Value Resorts you can get the Quick Service Dining Plan for FREE!

If you purchase a non discounted Magic Your Way package for 4 nights and 5 days at select Disney Moderate, Deluxe, or Deluxe Villa Resorts you can get the Disney Dining Plan for FREE!

This offer is valid for arrivals most nights January 8 -12, February 2, February 11-16, March 3-8, and
March 24-29, 2012.

Changes to Disney Dining Reservation Policy

Disney is making a major change to their reservation cancellation policy for the Signature dining restaurants at Walt Disney World.

Starting on October 26 2011, guests will be required to provide a credit card in order to make a reservation for all signature dining restaurants on Walt Disney World property. If the reservation is not  cancelled at least one day in advance, the credit card on the reservation will be charged $10 per person.

Guests have frequently complained that they are unable to dine at their favorite restaurant due to no available reservations. Many guests have complained/speculated that this is caused by other guests not attending reservations they held.

Recent changes to the online dining reservation system made it impossible to book reservations at more than one location at times that were too close together.

It seems that Disney does in fact listen when guests complain and have concerns. Well, it's either that or they were sick of seeing empty tables at their best restaurant. ;-)

The is a list of Signature Dining restaurants that require a credit card guarantee:
• Artist Point
• California Grill
• Tusker House Restaurant
• The Hollywood Brown Derby
• Victoria & Albert’s
• Yachtsman Steakhouse
• Cape May Café
• Chef Mickey’s
• Cítricos
• Hollywood & Vine
• Jiko – The Cooking Place
• Le Cellier Steakhouse
• Narcoossee’s
• ‘Ohana
• The Crystal Palace
• Flying Fish Café
• The Garden Grill
• 1900 Park Fare
• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Locations that have previously required full payment to secure the reservation will continue to do so. They will still keep the full pre-paid amount if the reservation is not cancelled one day in advance.

These restaurants are:
• Cinderella’s Royal Table
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
• Mickey’s Backyard BBQ
• Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show

You can cancel your dining reservations at any table service restaurant podium, at any guest relations or hotel front desk, or by calling 407-WDW-CNCL. You may also change your dining reservations by visiting www.disneyworld.com/dining

Thank you to those of you who posted this across message boards and twitter in order to bring this to everyone's attention.

Will this change the way you make your reservations? Do you think this will help open up availability or simply cause less people to book at these locations?

Personally, I will be less inclined to book at these locations. I ALWAYS call to cancel a reservation if I know I will not be able to make it, however, there have been times where I need to cancel the same day or tweak our times based on how I am feeling and what the day has looked like. With my fibromyalgia I am never quite sure how I will be feeling come dinner time. Some days I need to push reservations back in order to take a break, and other days I need to eat earlier so that I can take a break while eating and not be out all night.

I'm really hoping to get a lot of feedback from others on this both prior to and after the change.

Disney Trip September 15th-22nd Itinerary

Please be sure to say hi if you see me! I will be tweeting about our adventures in Disney throughout the trip as well as taking photo requests. Please follow along @ladynwonderland

Date: Friday, September 16, 2011

Outlets and Food Shopping

Date: Friday, September 16, 2011

Tony's Town Square
Magic Kingdom® Park

Time: 5:25 p.m.

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party – 7:00PM

Date: Saturday, September 17, 2011

Fulton's Crab House
Downtown Disney® Area

Time: 2:00 p.m.
 

Date: Sunday, September 18, 2011

50's Prime Time Café
Disney's Hollywood Studios®

Time: 5:30 p.m.
 

Date: Monday, September 19, 2011

Les Chefs de France
Epcot®

Time: 5:00 p.m.
 

Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Raglan Road™ Irish Pub and Restaurant
Downtown Disney® Area

Time: 8:15 p.m.
 

Date: Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Cap'n Jack's Restaurant
Downtown Disney® Area

Time: 5:00 p.m.

Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2011
Check out. 

DTD or Magic Kingdom 

Flight Home

Disney Flashback Friday

Who says flashbacks have to take you way back?  Let's just for a minute flash back to March 25th, 2011.

My mother's birthday. It was also about the date that would have marked the longest point of the life expectancy that her stage 4 cancer diagnosis had given her several months before. My husband, my father, my mother, and I celebrated all day. The first thing we did was the Characters in Flight balloon ride. Like my mother, I am terrified of heights so I was surprised that she said yes when I jokingly told her that was what we were doing for her birthday. I admired her strength and bravery then, and now I admire the insight, and thank her for that memory. Later that night we had dinner at Raglan Road Pub in Downtown Disney. We watched the step dancers, we listened to the music, we ate fabulous dinner, and had some drinks. We had a grand ol' time.

It was the perfect way to celebrate my mother's life. Her 67th and last birthday. She passed away 3 months and 4 days later. This will always be one of my favorite and most cherished memories and I am pleased that Disney is involved in it.

I made this collage using My Memories Suite V2.0. This page was made the very first time I used the program and I did not do any retouching just to show how easy it is to use. I did a review of this software in an earlier post. Click HERE to learn more and to enter to win a free copy of the software.

Disney's Old Key West Resort

I thought I'd start the blog off by sharing a few photos from my last trip to Walt Disney World.
My husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary and my mom's birthday there this March.
We stayed at Disney's Old Key West resort and had an amazing time. I wish I was at the Gurgling Suitcase drinking a Turtle Krawl while chatting with my favorite Disney bartender Roberto right about now...

Disney's Old Key West resort is one of Disney's deluxe resorts. The resort features deluxe studios, one bedroom, and two bedroom villas, and 3 bedroom grand villas.  There are several pools (one with a great slide!), as well as a golf course, boating, arcade, tennis, community hall and more. This resort is the first resort in the Disney Vacation Club family. The theme is relaxing and definitely takes you to another place.

Even the trash cans were themed!

 The pond in the Turtle Pond section... I didn't see any actual turtles though.

 The Turtle Pond "quiet" pool.

The main pool. Sadly, I did not get to go down the slide but it sure looked like fun!

The weather was bad our last day there, but it didn't take away from the great view by the Hospitality House! There is a counter service food location a bar, and a restaurant all on the water. It was one of my favorite places to sit and enjoy a nice drink.

Olivia's is the Table Service restaurant at Old Key West Resort. They participate in the Dining Plan and accept the Tables in Wonderland card. We ate breakfast one day and then a quick snack before heading to the airport our last day there. Hubby had the banana bread french toast and I had the pancakes. DELICIOUS. The onion rings are amazing, and hubby really enjoyed what he got too, but I honestly can't remember it right now. I will have to ask him later. The Gurgling Suitcase (bar) also offers a full Olivia's menu and accepts the Tables In Wonderland card. We enjoyed an order of fries and conch fritters one sunny after noon. Went perfectly with my Turtle Krawl.

This is the lobby of the resort. Notice the balloon animals? This is where I got my fishy friend as seen in the photos in the beginning of this post. 

Ahh... look at this gingerbread architecture of the Conch Republic....  charming isn't it??

Well, that's it for now. I will be sharing photos of our Deluxe Studio room in an upcoming post.

Have you ever stayed at Disney's Old Key West Resort? Please share your experiences with me and my readers by leaving a comment!