Favorite Snack Friday: Treat Yourself

I've finally made it to my #1 treat at the Walt Disney World resort!! My all time favorite treat: Mickey Mouse Rice Crispy Treats! I always buy these treats at the Disney Resort Food Courts.  I'm not a big breakfast fan, so this is a typical breakfast for me at Disney World. 

These treats come in 2 varieties: the plain Mickey treat (my husband's preference):

My husband's first Mickey rice crispy treat as a married man

Or my favorite: the chocolate dipped Mickey treat:

My first Mickey rice crispy treat as a married lady

If you are on the Dining Plan, these count as a snack credit. In fact, the last time I was at Disney World, I had about 8 snack credits left right before I was going to leave the park. What did I do? Stock up on Mickey Mouse rice crispy treats, of course, so that I had plenty to munch on while driving back to Cincinnati!

Favorite Snack Friday: I Scream, You Scream...

...We all scream for Mickey Mouse ice cream!! My #2 pick for favorite treats at the Walt Disney World Resort is a classic the Mickey Mouse ice cream bar! This is one of those iconic treats; when you think of Disney World, you think of Mickey Mouse ice cream!! It's vanilla ice cream covered in a rich chocolate shell. It can be found all over the Disney park and hotels, plus, if you are on the Disney Dining plan, it also counts as a snack credit!

This particular Mickey Mouse ice cream bar is from my December 2008 Disney Cruise.  My husband and I both celebrated our birthdays on the cruise (our birthdays are 3 days apart).  For his birthday, our waiter brought out just a regular Happy Birthday cake- white cake, white icing and some sprinkles.  I joked with our waiter when my birthday rolled around 3 days later, I wanted a better cake with sparklers because my birthday was more important.  He very seriously told me there was absolutely no fire allowed on the boat, including sparklers. So on my birthday, instead of sparklers, he stuck a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar on top of my cake and added the chocolate and strawberry syrup so that it looked festive.  I thought this was even better than sparklers!!!

Favorite Snack Friday: The Best Bakery in EPCOT

I'm back to another country in EPCOT for my #3 pick for my favorite treats at the Walt Disney World Resort.  An absolute MUST every trip to EPCOT includes a trip to the bakery in France. The bakery has a great selection, from savory (ham and cheese croissant sandwiches) to sweet treats of the chocolate and fruity variety. 

My personal favorite is the chocolate mousse. I get it just about every time I go.  It is so rich though, that even I can't finish it!!

Chocolate Mousse

The Hubs likes to go for the fruit-filled treats (and yes, he had these in the same visit):

Strawberry Tart

Apple Turnover

When my whole family goes, we each like to get something different so that we can sample a little of everything from France!!

Before- Strawberry mousse, Peach tart, chocolate croissant

After

As a bonus, if you are on the dining plan, each of these treats counts as a snack credit! So you can load up on all kinds of delish sweet treats!

Favorite Snack Friday: Aloha to you, Pineapple Float

Welcome to the another Favorite Snack Friday!! My #4 pick for favorite treats at the Walt Disney World Resort is the Pineapple Dole Whip.  This delish refreshment can be found in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom, as well as Captain Cook's at the Polynesian Resort.

This is such a popular item at Disney World, that there is actually a Facebook page dedicated to frozen pineapple delight.  An alternate to the straight-up Pineapple Dole Whip is the Pineapple Dole Whip float, which is Pineapple Dole Whip with Pineapple juice. Or if you are a wimp, and don't like super-sweet things, you can get Vanilla Dole Whip with Pineapple juice. Either one is delightfully refreshing on a hot summer day!

Pineapple Dole Whip + Pineapple Juice = Heaven Pineapple Float

Favorite Snack Friday: Easy Cheesy

It’s another Friday so you know what that means: My #5 Favorite Snack Friday pick! I don’t know if this actually qualifies for a “snack” in the eyes of the Disney Dining Plan, but I would defiantly eat it as a snack: make-your-own CHEESE FRIES!!


Here’s how it works: Many of the quick service restaurants around the parks have topping bars that have lettuce, tomato, ketchup, etc to put on your burgers. If you are lucky, there will also be a dispenser next to the ketchup that has HOT CHEESE SAUCE too. I love to take the ketchup containers and pump them full of cheese then dip my fries in them. The best part is, the cheese fries cost the same amount as regular fries!!

I’m not much of a condiment person-or a toppings person for that matter- I usually like everything PLAIN, but I get super pumped whenever I go to one of these topping bars because I know I can have deliciously cheesy fries.

Sister also enjoys cheesy fries

Pecos Bill's and Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, both in the Magic Kingdom, feature the hot cheese sauce topping bars. I actually don't like anything on the Pecos Bill's menu except for fries, but I'm always willing to go there so that I can have my cheese fries!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Today starts my favorite time of the year...and I'm not talking about candy season, although I do love candy!!! I'm talking about:

3x Disney Dream Reward Dollars from my Disney credit card!! It is THE best way to rack up those Disney dollars! Of course first I have to spend $750 on dining, gas, airlines and/or groceries, then I get 3 Disney dollars for ever $1 I spend.  Woooo!

 For all my Disney Rewards Visa friends, don't forget to sign up so you can also rack up the rewards. Note> I'm not advocating spending lots of money or going into credit card debt. I'm just saying that if you normally put gas, dining, and groceries on your credit card, now is the time for some bonus rewards!

Time to get shopping...

Favorite Snack Friday: Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut

Welcome to the another Favorite Snack Friday!! My #6 pick for favorite treats at the Walt Disney World Resort are the sugar coated almonds.  These can be found at food carts all over the parks, but my favorite spot to get them is at the American Adventure in EPCOT. Because nothing says "Colonial America" like something fatty covered in sugar. They also offer a sugar coated pecan, which are also good.
I especially enjoy these warm treats on our trips in December, when it is a little cooler outside. I never want these when it is 90 degrees outside, but it does get quite cold at night in December, and these are the perfect warm treat for those chilly nights.

The reason I missed this post last week was because I couldn't find a digital picture of me with these almonds, so I had to go to my printed pictures and STILL couldn't find a picture. Shame on me! Looks like I need to take a trip so I can get a copy of me enjoying these!!

courtesy of Google images

 If you want to try this recipe at home, head on over to Food.com . You can make these along with your churros and congos!

Favorite Snack Friday: Mexican Treats

Welcome to the Favorite Snack Friday!! Last week I missed Favorite Snack Friday, so this week, I'm bringing you #8 and #7 on my list of favorite treats at the Walt Disney World Resort. Both of these snacks can be found at the Mexico Pavilion in Epcot.  (Are you sensing a theme here? The EPCOT World Showcase has some seriously yummy snackage.)

#8: Conga Fruit Drink

On our honeymoon, my husband and I ran across this by accident when we were on a mission to find the #7 snack (below).  We were waiting in like at the Cantina De San Angel in the Mexico Pavilion for a sugary snack, and saw an orange frozen concoction mixing behind the counter. We asked the girl behind the counter what it was and she said "It's a Conga...orange fruit drink." We ordered 2, and she looked at us funny and told us they didn't have alcohol in them.

These fruity delights were from the Cantina De San Angel was recently renovated into La Hacienda restaurant.  (Are you sensing another theme? Snacks from former restaurants...*sigh*).  That being said, I don't know if these are still available in the Mexican Pavilion.  However, I did find a recipe that claims to be the same as these fruity delights:

Conga Juice

5 cups orange juice (pulp free)

2 cups pineapple juice

1/2 cup lime juice

1/4 cup Maraschino Cherry juice

Best served over crushed ice, or put in freezer to create a slush type drink.

#7: Churros

Churros are fried dough rolled in cinnamon sugar. Tell me something about that sentence that doesn't sound delish. Fried dough? Bring it.  Cinnamon? Yum. Sugar? Can't get enough. Think of it as Taco Bell cinnomon twists, except warm and soft and without that stale taste.

Churros stands are apparently a lot more frequent at Disneyland.  For awhile, I think Mexico and a stand at Downtown Disney were the only 2 places that had Churros at Disney World, although that list has expanded some.  There is a stand near "The Great Movie Ride" at Hollywood Studios that give out free churros to honeymooners, at least the day/time we were there!

Next time you are at the Mexico Pavilion, take a break for a cold frosty drink and some warm sugary goodness.  If you can't make it to Mexcio, just use the Conga recipe above and this Churro recipe from Food Network. That is the same thing, right?

Happy Labor Day

Wishing everyone a very Happy Labor Day!! (Especially my fellow hard-working accountants!!)

The most talented performer in the business

Favorite Snack Friday: What's Poppin'?

Welcome to the Favorite Snack Friday!! #9 on my list of favorite treats at the Walt Disney World Resort is a simple snack that can be found all over the 4 parks: POPCORN!

Popcorn stand in Canada, eh?

It is not the most glamorous of Disney snackage, but unlike ice cream- which quickly melts in the hot Florida sun- or Italian pastries- which you have to sit down and eat- popcorn is is one of the best portable snack. Just try not to drop too much popcorn, because according to a certain former EPCOT janitor that I know, popcorn is the custodial staff's evil nemesis!!

Me = enjoying my popcorn. Sister = not enjoying it...

If you are on the dining plan, then a small popcorn like the one about counts as a snack credit.  I prefer to get the souvenir mug full of popcorn. It comes with a lid, so you can munch on it a little at a time while reducing the risk of spillage.  I REALLY like when the popcorn stands sell souvenir mugs that match the souvenir buckets (what I call collectively "mucket") because I am a total sucker for souvenirs!!

Souvenir Mug + Matching Souvenir Bucket = Mucket!

Give me my Mucket!

Favorite Snack Friday:The Delizioso Desserts of Italy

Welcome to the Favorite Snack Friday!! For the next 10 weeks, I'm going to count down my favorite treats at the Walt Disney World Resort.

#10 on my list is the collection of desserts I've had over the years at L’Originale Alfredo Di Roma. Alfredo's was a restaurant located in EPCOT's Italy Pavilion.  It was best known in Rome as the place where Fetticine Alfredo was created. Yes, the Fetticine Alfredo there was the BEST EVER there but the desserts were pretty awesome too.  I'd place these desserts higher on my list if it wasn't for the fact that Alfredo's close a couple years ago.

Don't know what this is, but it looks delish. ( Dec 2004)

Some sort of chocolate mousse (Dec 2004)

Double-spooning! (May 2007)

My all-time favorite dessert from Alfredo's was from my trip in March of 2004 while visiting my husband (boyfriend at the time) while he was working in the college program.  It was a strawberry mousse with little chocolate icing piping and M'n'M's on it to make it look like a little lady bug!!

Ladybug Strawberry Mousse

Tragically, the lady bug was never on the menu again, but I always hold a special place in my heart for it.  That is probably why Alfredo's closed!! A new restaurant in the Italy Pavilion opened recently, but I have yet to try it.  Next time I go to EPCOT, I'll have to check out the dessert menu to see if it is as good!!

The Rainforest Cafe Safari Club

Let me share with you a pretty sweet deal that I discovered 3 years ago:

The Rainforest Cafe's Safari Club

 The Walt Disney World property has 2 Rainforest Cafe locations- one at Downtown Disney and one directly outside the gates of the Animal Kingdom.  I happened to sign up for it at the Animal Kingdom location, although the Safari Club works at ALL Rainforest Cafe locations throughout the U.S. 

It's a lifetime membership and only costs a one-time fee of $15, but I got a FREE appetizer (a $10 value) the day I signed up. So really, it only cost me $5 which I easily made up my next trip to Disney World. Every time I visit the Rainforest Cafe, I get a choice of 10% off up to 4 entrées OR a free appetizer.  The only downfall is the list of free appetizers is limited to a certain selection, not the entire appetizer menu. 

To the right: Smiley Face Chicken Quesadilla. For FREE.

 You will also get coupons via e-mail for special prices and promotions throughout the year, including a free sundae on your birthday!

 FREE ice cream is so worth the embarrassment of having Happy Birthday sung to you.

Perhaps even more beneficial than free food is the priority seating. If you and your party of six or less walk-in any day or time of the week, you are guaranteed  quick attention and the earliest available table.  Anyone who has been to Downtown Disney knows how busy the Rainforest Café is any time of the week. You can show up at 7 P.M. on a Wednesday and still have a 2 hour wait. I think some of this traffic has been reduced thanks to the T-Rex Restaurant, also located at Downtown Disney, but the Rainforest is always a hoppin’ place.   You can completely bypass this 2 hour wait with the priority seating!!

Here’s an example: A couple years ago, I was at a conference at Disney will a colleague of mine.  We were hanging out one night at Downtown Disney, and we were trying to decide where to go for dinner. I had my Safari Club card with me, so suggested that so that we could save our company 10% off our food purchase. THAT IS HOW MUCH I CARE ABOUT MY COMPANY. So, we go and my colleague gives her name to the lady behind the giant purple elephant. The giant purple elephant (GPE) lady says the wait will be about 90 minutes. I pulled out my card and said “oh yeah, I’m a Safari Club member.”  GPE lady says, “in that case, it will be 10 minutes.” Boooo-yah!

Another example: Last December, my husband and I were at Downtown Disney one night and decided to go to the Rainforest. We gave our name to the lady behind the giant purple elephant and told her we were Safari Club VIP’s. She gave us a little ticket that said our wait time would be approximately 10 minutes (we heard that the normal wait time that night was around an hour).  No more than 2 minutes later, we hear “Sarah, Safari of 2”. That MUST be us, we thought. So we went back to the giant purple elephant lady and told her we were Sarah, Safari of 2. She looked it up in the system and said it was a DIFFERENT Sarah, Safari of 2, but we should just go ahead and step on over to the Gorilla paw prints and she would seat us right away. Because we are V-I-P’s.

There is also a 10% off retail merchandise, which isn't a perk I use very often, but it is just an added benefit.

This deal gets even better if you are a member of MyPoints, which offers $25 or $50 Rainforest Café giftcards.  I always save up enough points to redeem a giftcard. Combine the Safari Club discounts with a Rainforest Café giftcard and you could end up with a nearly-free meal!! Most entrées will cost between $15 and $20, but the break down to the right is a typical bill for my husband and I.  Note that this is also a dinner bill and lunch entrées are less expensive.  Sometimes we also forgo the 10% discount and go with the $10 value appetizer! Whatever combination you go with though, you just can't beat a $5 or less meal!!

Tips for Staying Hydrated

One of the most important things to do at Disney World is to STAY HYDRATED.

However, you need to be careful not to break the bank in doing so.  A couple years ago, my husband and I had spent close over $125 on beverages alone.  A 20 oz Coke or bottled water will cost around $2.50, which adds up quickly.  The two of us average about 5 beverages a day when we are at Disney World- breakfast, lunch, dinner and a couple throughout the day. Let me break it down for you, excel style, on how the beverage bill can add up:

• Scenario #1 is buying every single drink on Disney property, assuming 2 people drinking 5 Cokes or waters a day.
• Scenario #2 is buying a bottle of water every morning, then refilling the bottle throughout the day.  There are water fountains located throughout the parks, so it is very easy to refill and best of all, refills are FREE!
• Scenario #3 is BMOW- bring my own water.  My grocery store is always running a 3 for $10 sale on 24 packs of water, which averages to $0.14 a day.  If I'm driving, I just throw a couple cases of water in the back seat and have all the water I need for the week at for less than $10.  If flying and you rent a car once you get to Orlando, you can always hit up a grocery store once you get there instead of trying to fit 50 bottles of water in a suitcase. 
• Scenario #4 is a smaller version of BMOW.  If I'm flying, I just pack 1 bottle per day, then fill up the bottles at water fountains.  It is by far the cheapest option,, leaving you $123 to spend on food or souvenirs!

The only problem I personally have with water fountain water is it has that Orlando swamp-water taste.  On our last trip, my husband and I went with scenario #4, packing 10 bottles in our suitcases, but we also packed several Crystal Light on-the-go packs to cover up the tap-water taste.  With the Crystal Light packs, it still was only about $10 for a week of beverages.

If you must order fountain drinks at the quick service restaurants, ask for little to no-ice. You’ll end up with more beverage for the same price.  I’ve also read that you can ask for a cup of ice for no charge, so two people could share one fountain drink.


 One other FREE way to cool down is to head over to Ice Station Cool at Epcot.  It is like a mini-World of Coca-Cola, featuring carbonated beverages from around the world.  The entrance to Ice Station Cool is right past Innovations West in Future World.  Once inside, you can help yourself to tiny little cups of Coca-Cola products from around the world.  There is even a Chinese soda flavored like watermelon!! Under no circumstances what-so-ever should you try Italy’s Beverly, which is extremely bitter.

So keep those cold beverages flowing and don't let yourself get 99.9% parched! 

Geography of Disneyland

This is a very cool article my brother-in-law found on the real life inspirations for some of the landmarks and rides at Disney World and Disneyland.

The Geography of Disneyland

Welcome from the Disney Shutterbug

Welcome! I've started this blog to share my tips, stories, and pictures from my 19 Disney World Vacations and 3 Disney Cruises. I’m a big fan of anything Disney. I’m a new member of the Disney Vacation Club, a D23 member, and a former (and hopefully future) Disney World Annual Passholder. I will not rest until I have photographs of every square inch of the Walt Disney World parks and the Disney Cruise Line ships.

1989 and 2009

I’m also starting this blog to inspire a friend of mine and her family- I’ll just collectively call them JAC- to go to Disney World so that her daughter can meet Mickey and Minnie. There is no greater joy than to see a little girl’s face light up when she first walks down Main Street, sees Cinderella’s Castle, and gets to meet her beloved Disney characters in person. I was blessed to have that experience at a very young age- 4 years old- and it is something I have cherished the rest of my life.

Enjoy!