Category Archives: Dining

What to do when the dining plan doesn’t work for your family…

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Today’s article is a guest post from Disney Vacation Specialist, Chelsey McGee
of Magical Memories Travel

There are tons of articles out there about whether or not to use the Disney Dining Plan and if its right for your family and travel needs. This is not one of those articles. This is what happens if the answer is no, it’s not right for you family.

First off, its okay, the Dining Plan is not for everyone, my family included (I have 2 young boys so the day will come where I will need it). On our last trip in January of 2011 we went for my husband to run the Marathon. Our family at the time consisted of my husband and I as well as our 3 year old daughter and 7 month old son. For our 10 day trip we successfully ate for under $600. This included 3 Character Meals: Chef Mickey’s, Norway’s Storybook Princess Breakfast, and the Crystal Palace. 3 Table Service Meals: Via Napoli, Le Cellier, and Rainforest Cafe. All other meals were counter service both in park and at our resort.

So, how did we do it?

Set ground rules with our entire travel party before leaving on what our budget is and how often we planned on eating. If possible determine the restaurants before going. This will save money as well as arguing over what’s for dinner while there. We also set rules for snacks with the kids. How often and how much? Part of our success is we rarely get snacks.

Bring breakfast and some snacks from home. Nearly every hotel has or has the option of a small in room fridge. We purchase milk and yogurt from the resort store upon arrival for cold cereal. I pack granola bars, small boxes of cereal, prepackaged muffins/donuts, instant oatmeal, small bags of chips, fruit snacks, goldfish, and small packages of cookies/candy, paper plates, and plastic utensils. By eating in room we save time and money and it’s nice to have it available should anyone get hungry when we get back from touring. If you don’t have room to pack, or the bag fees are too high, you can order groceries from Garden Grocer and have them delivered right to your room.

Set your budget before going and put it on a Disney Gift Card. The gift card allows you to see your balance after every meal and snack purchased. To see how much to put on there does require some planning. First determine what, if any, Table, Character Meals, and Dinner Shows you want to do on your trip. Then approximately how many counter service meals and snacks you will need. For our family we planned for 3 counter service meals, 2 kid’s meals, and 3 snacks per day for our entire family. My husband and I would split a counter service meal at lunch due to the sizeable portions. Depending on the day did the same thing at dinner, but always planned on having our own. A counter service meal will run $8-12 give or take with a drink. The second benefit of a Disney Gift Card is any extra money at the end of your trip can be used for souvenirs (our souvenir budget was also on gift cards for each person and once it was gone it was gone).

Share. The portions in the parks are quite generous and easy to split. My husband and I would get a combo and share. If one of us was extra hungry we’d add a salad or extra side. At locations like the Yak and Yeti counter service we made ourselves a nice little take out buffet. We did wind up splitting one Table Service meal as well at the Rain Forest Café, mostly because we’d snacked that day and were getting dinner pretty late, neither one of us wanting anything too filling.

Buffets. When dining at a buffet such as Chef Mickey’s I booked it for later in the morning (last seating) so the meal covered both breakfast and lunch that day. Then since we passed on lunch we snacked to get us to dinner, saving us the cost of a counter service meal. Now, if our daughter was hungry we would get her a kid’s meal, we would never make her go without. But we did control her snacking and not let her have every treat she saw and wanted.

Give yourself a ‘Carrot’. Choose a special treat for the last day of your trip, and tell yourself we have to come in UNDER budget to get it. We choose lunch at the Crystal Palace and had plenty of money to spare. Your ‘Carrot’ can be a meal, extra souvenir, or special photo. Our savings came from snacks being kept to a minimum and we either skipped or split more meals than we had planned.

While this plan works for us, we are very aware it won’t work for everyone. If you would like advice and help on planning your own Disney vacation,  please contact me chelsey@magicalmemoriestravel.com or contact me at 1-888-908-7718 ext. 109.

Good luck and happy dining!

Ohana: A Polynesian Inspired Dinner

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Today’s article is a guest post from Magical Memories Travel
Disney Vacation Specialist, Christina Moore.

In the Hawaiian culture, Ohana means family and the Ohana restaurant in the Polynesian Resort  completely grabs hold of this sentiment by bringing together Disney guests with delicious food, fun entertainment, and an unbeatable atmosphere!

Ohana RestaurantYour Ohana experience,which is served family style, begins with a loaf of bread that, in appearance, seems quite plain.  However, as you soon as you indulge in your first bite, you immediately realize that this is definitely not the case.  This wonderful coconut bread, referred to as Ohana’s Welcome Bread, is extremely tasty, soft and the perfect beginning to your meal. Fair warning, you do not want to fill up on bread because there is much, much more to come!

Soon after the bread is served, your server brings a large mixed green salad with a honey lime dressing that is out of this world!  It is the perfect tang with the crunchy (yes, crunchy—not wilted) greens.  No sooner do you wipe the corners of your mouth, when the next course is delivered.  And although the entire meal is just fantastic—this upcoming course is my favorite!

Dinner at OhanaThe honey ginger chicken wings and pork dumplings could be a meal in themselves.  The chicken is tender, flavorful, and has the perfect combination of sweetness and spice.  The pork dumplings are served with a very tasty dipping sauce and are the highlight of the meal for me.  The pork and veggie filling is packed with flavor and the wonton wrappers are prepared perfectly, to avoid that chewy texture that you sometimes find in Asian-style restaurants.

At this point of your meal, you may be lucky enough to partake in some of the entertainment that adds to the wonderful atmosphere.  Children are encouraged to play games, such as limbo or coconut shell races, there are storytellers, and talented Hawaiian singers-usually adorned with a ukelele.  And, depending on the time of your dinner reservation, you may be lucky enough to witness Wishes Fireworks taking place at the neighboring Magic Kingdom.  They dim the lights and play the same music that is playing in Magic Kingdom.  This is a real treat!

Hopefully, the entertainment gave your stomach a rest, because at this point—we’re not even half way through the meal!  Hard to believe, isn’t it?!  Your server will now start bringing out the lo-mein noodles and steamed vegetables.  The lo-mein noodles are the perfect texture and taste great.   The steamed veggies consist of snow peas, broccoli, and shredded carrots and are cooked just right.  Now, let the overabundance of meat skewers begin!

The assortment of meat skewers are cooked on a 18 foot long oak burning fire pit.  You will be served Marinated Sirloin Steak, Spicy Grilled peel and eat shrimp, Asian BBQ Pork Loin, and Oak Grilled Chicken.  They also bring you a trio of sauces consisting of a peanut sauce, a mustard sauce, and a sweet and sour sauce.  They are all excellent–none of the meats are dried out, they are juicy and each one is seasoned perfectly.

Ohana Bread PuddingAt this point of the meal, you’re wondering if anyone will notice you loosening your belt and honestly, that might not be too bad of an idea because here comes dessert and is it ever yummy!  Your server brings a large serving of warm bread pudding with a banana and caramel sauce, a la mode.  The warmth of the bread pudding melts the ice cream which then seeps into the bread pudding, mixing with the caramel banana sauce creating Heaven on Earth!  This is one of those desserts where after every bite you just have to go on and on about how good it is.

You’ve completed your meal and you’re more than satisfied.  Your children had a wonderful time and you’re already talking about your next visit.  THAT is the sign of a fantastic restaurant and I highly recommend it!  Enjoy!!

Ohana is one of the most popular restaurants at Walt Disney World so Advance Dining Reservations are highly recommended!

Christina Moore is a life-long Disney fan. She has been traveling to Walt Disney World since childhood and even honeymooned with Mickey! She and her husband enjoy frequent visits to Walt Disney World with their 2 children. Contact Christina at christina@magicalmemoriestravel.com or by phone at 1-888-908-7718 ext 110 or click here to request more information and find out how Christina can help you plan your next DIsney vacation!

 

 

 

New Walt Disney World Dining Reservation Policy

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Character dining at Walt Disney WorldIf you’ve ever planned a relatively short notice (think 3 months or less notice) vacation to Walt Disney World, you know it can be a real challenge to book some of Disney’s most popular restaurants. Disney’s current reservation policy allows guests to begin making dining reservations 180 days in advance of their arrival…and there are some restaurants that are full very shortly after that date. I have a family of 5 and it’s hard enough for us to decide where we want to go for dinner TONIGHT, much less 6 months from now but a few of their favorite restaurants require that much advance planning.

Since many people aren’t sure what their plans are 6 months in advance so they book multiple reservations until their plans are more definite. Those extra reservations aren’t always canceled which makes it even tougher for other guests to find availability. Disney has recently started to implement policies to prevent this from happening.

Beginning on October 26, 2011, a new cancellation policy will go in to effect for all character dining. signature dining locations and other popular locations. Disney will now require a credit card guarantee for reservations at the following restaurants:

  • 1900 Park Fare
  • Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
  • Artist Point
  • California Grill
  • Cape May Café
  • Chef Mickey’s
  • Cítricos
  • Crystal Palace
  • Flying Fish Café
  • Garden Grill
  • Hollywood & Vine
  • Jiko – The Cooking Place
  • Le Cellier Steakhouse
  • Narcoossee’s
  • ‘Ohana
  • Tusker House Restaurant
  • Hollywood Brown Derby
  • Victoria & Albert’s (cancellation policy is $25/per person)
  • Yachtsman Steakhouse

A credit card will be required for guarantee at the time you make a reservation for these locations. Guests who fail to cancel at least 1 day in advance will be charged a $10 per person penalty if they do not show for their scheduled reservation.

The following restaurants will continue to require full pre-payment at the time of booking:

  • Cinderella’s Royal Table
  • Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
  • Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
  • Mickey’s Backyard BBQ
Disney will also be emailing dining reservation reminders with a link to allow for online cancellation or a dedicated phone number for dining cancellations (407-WDW-CNCL). Guests may also cancel dining reservations by calling 407-WDW-DINE.
So what do you think? Good change or bad change?
See ya real soon!
Lori Hardegree
lori@magicalmemoriestravel.com

Yummy new special offer at Walt Disney World! More FREE Dining!

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The wait is over for those hoping for a fall special offer from Walt Disney World! They have extended their extremely popular FREE dining special offer to cover travel on select dates through March 31, 2012! There are a number of blackout dates included. The available dates are:

October 1- October 6, 2011
October 22 – November 3, 2011
November 12 – November 17, 2011
November 26 – December 1, 2011
December 10 – December 15, 2011

January 8 – January 12, 2012
January 21 – February 2, 2012
February 11 – February 16, 2012
March 3 – March 8, 2012
March 24 – March 29, 2012


Here are all the juicy details:

  • receive free quick service dining plan with all value resort stays
  • receive free Magic Your Way Plus Dining plan with all moderate and deluxe resort stays
  • you may upgrade to a “higher level” dining plan, including the Deluxe Dining Plan by paying the difference between the two plans
  • minimum 3 night stay required
  • minimum 2 day ticket purchase required
  • availability is very limited with this offer, particularly for 2011 travel dates
  • Suites, camp sites and 3 bedroom villas are excluded from this offer.

This free dining offer must be booked by 10/29/11. Excludes gratuities and alcoholic beverages. Children ages 3-9 must order from the children’s menu if available. Some table-service restaurants may have limited or no availability at time of package purchase.

Free dining is a fabulous opportunity to try some new restaurant options at Walt Disney World. Your Disney vacation specialist will be happy to make restaurant recommendations to help you maximize the use of your dining plan credits.

Contact me or request a quote for more information!

See ya real soon!

Lori Hardegree
lori@magicalmemoriestravel.com
@DisneyMomATL

Top Counter Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World

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Walt Disney World has no shortage of dining locations or variety of food. With the most popular of their dining plans, the Magic Your Way Plus Dining package (often called the “Disney Dining Plan”) offering each guest a quick service meal credit for each night of their stay, I am often asked for restaurant recommendations.

Here are my top recommendations for counter service locations at Walt Disney World:

Columbia Harbour House

photo by the Restaurant Fairy

Magic Kingdom: Columbia Harbour House

Located in Liberty Square just down from the Haunted Mansion, Columbia Harbour House offers a great alternative to your typical theme park fare. You’ll find a delicious tuna sandwich (my favorite!), fish, fried shrimp, hummus, a BLT salad, chowder and other favorites. For a nice, quiet location to eat, go upstairs to find a table. If you can get one near a window, you’ll enjoy some fairly picturesque views of the Magic Kingdom!

Honorable Mention: Pecos Bills in Frontier Land – home of my favorite Magic Kingdom counter service meal, the chicken wrap!


Tangerine Cafe

photo by Around the Mouse

Epcot: Tangerine Cafe

I consider the Tangerine Cafe to be the best theme park counter service option available! Located in the Morocco pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase, this little gem of a restaurant has terrific Moroccan and Middle Eastern food. The portions are huge, not to mention delicious. The top recommendation is the Shawarma Lamb Platter. Don’t like lamb? The Shawarma chicken platter is good as well. The desserts here are divine as well. To make your experience here even better, check the Times Guide to see if the group Mo’Rockin will be performing around your meal time. If so, look for a table outside where you can enjoy the show while you eat!

Honorable Mention: Sunshine Seasons downstairs in the Land Pavilion. With the huge variety of offerings, there is sure to be something here to please everyone in your group.


Starring Rolls Cafe

photo by DisneyDreams.net

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Starring Rolls Cafe

Counter service options at Disney’s Holywood Studios are not as impressive as options at other locations. Starring Rolls Cafe is a tiny bakery/sandwich shop tucked away on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. It’s easy to miss, but definitely worth a stop! Serving fresh sandwiches, sushi, pastries and some quite decadent desserts, they often run out of food by late afternoon so don’t wait too long to stop by! Everything I have tried here has been delicious. Make sure you have a chocolate butterfinger cupcake for me while you are there. The only drawback is it’s very limited seating.

Honorable Mention: Toy Story Pizza Planet grabs honorable mention not for fantastic food, or even variety on it’s menu, but because it’s a popular one for the kids. Just like the Pizza Planet in the movies you’ll find arcade games and lots of fun. Sometimes Mom and Dad just need somewhere to sit and rest for a bit and let the kids burn off some of that extra energy and this is a great air conditioned spot for that!


Anandapur Local Cafes

photo by Disney Shawn

Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Anandapur Local Cafes

Animal Kingdom has a couple of great counter service options so I had a bit of a hard time picking my favorite! The Anadapur Local Cafes won out because of the fact that it is the same food as served around the corner at the Yak and Yeti table service restaurant…but it’s priced about 30% less! Offering generous portions of Asian food and plenty of outdoor (mostly shaded) seating, this is a great way to get table service quality food for less or without burning a table service credit!

Honorable Mention: Flame Tree Barbecue. Ask me on a different day and Flame Tree could easily take the top spot at Animal Kingdom. The food is good and the location is quiet and beautiful (my husband heads up an award winning competitive barbecue team and this one gets his stamp of approval too!).


Wolfgang Puck Express

photo by Visit Mickey

Downtown Disney: Wolfgang Puck Express

If you are looking for the best bang for your buck on the dining plan, this is it! I’d consider Wolfgang Puck Express at the Downtown Disney marketplace probably the top counter service location in all of Walt Disney World. It’s borderline table service. You order at the counter but your food is brought out to you. Fresh salads, sandwiches and gourmet pizzas make up the menu. I highly recommend the barbecue chicken pizza! My family teases me that dining at Walt Disney World for me becomes “the creme brulee extravaganza” because if it’s on the menu, I’m probably going to order it! This is one of the only counter service restaurants to have my favorite dessert, and it doesn’t disappoint! The drawback here is that seating is very limited so you may want to send someone out to scout for a table while the rest of your party places your order.

Honorable Mention: Earl of Sandwich – sandwiches and salads and wraps, oh my!

So there you have it, my top recommendations for counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World! You’ll find more than just hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken nuggets at all of them!

Did your favorite make the list?

Stay tuned for my top table service recommendations as well!

See ya real soon!

Lori Hardegree
lori@magicalmemoriestravel.com
@DisneyMomATL

Free Food and Photos – Oh My!

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Disney has just released their popular Free Dining offer for travel 8/28/11 – 9/24/11. This special pacakage offer is being called the Memories Vacation Package and includes a Disney Photopass Photo Book (a required package component at a cost of $99.95).

Here are all the juicy details:

  • guests booking a stay at one of Disney’s value resorts will receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for free
  • guests booking a stay at one of Disney’s moderate, deluxe or deluxe villa resorts will receive the Disney Dining Plan for free
  • you may upgrade to a “higher level” dining plan, up to the Deluxe Dining Plan by paying the difference between the 2 plans
  • minimum 3 night stay
  • minimum 2 day ticket purchase
  • Photopass photo book is a required package component
  • the number of rooms available with this offer is very limited

If you are interested in travel during this time period (8/28 – 9/24) and would like for me to place a room on a courtesy hold for you as you consider your vacation options, please contact me and let me know! A free, no-obligation courtesy hold can lock in availability and pricing for 7 days while you have a chance to talk over your options. If you want to confirm the reservation, Disney would require a $200 deposit.

Have questions? Contact me or ask away in the comments section!

Disney World Character Meal Roundup!

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The opportunity to dine with your favorite characters is something that is unique to a Disney vacation. Character meals are often considered one of the highlights of a Disney vacation for many families. For first time visitors it is often difficult to decide which character dining option is right for your family.

Not all of the Disney characters can be found at a character dining location. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto are the easiest to find as they frequent several locations but you can also dine with the Disney princesses, Pooh and friends, Lilo and Stitch, Timon, Rafiki and some of your pals from Disney Junior.

Most character meals are covered by the Disney Dining Plan or Deluxe Dining Plan. The exception is the Garden Grove restaurant at the Swan and Dolphin. Garden Grove does not participate in any of Disney’s dining plan packages.  With the exception of Cinderella’s Royal Table, all character dining options are available for 1 table service credit per person age 3 and up on your Dining Plan. Cinderella’s Royal Table inside of Cinderella Castle is considered a “Signature Dining” location and requires 2 table service credits per person (unless you are not planning many table service meals, you will usually come out better paying for this meal out of pocket and using those credits on 2 single credit locations for other meals during your trip).

Character Dining in and around the Magic Kingdom:

Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom Park): Guests at the Crystal Palace will dine with friends from the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore are typically on hand for photos, autographs and hugs. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available and all are served buffet style. Food is consistently good at all 3 meals. Continue reading →

Advance Dining Reservations a must for Walt Disney World vacations

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Over the last 12-18 months, it has become evident to those of us in the travel industry that the prevailing trend is that families are not planning their vacations as far in advance as they used to. With the current state of our economy, travelers are booking somewhere around an average of 90 days away from their anticipated travel dates. For guests planning a vacation to Walt Disney World, this can present on teeny little problem – dining.

Walt Disney World currently accepts reservations for dining 180 days in advance. There are a number of popular restaurants that will be completely and totally filled by no later than 120 days in advance, some even sooner. For guests planning their vacations 90 days or less in advance, this may mean forgoing some of the more popular restaurants.

First time guests are often a bit surprised when I say to them “we will want to go ahead and get some dining arrangements made for you. Have you given any thought to what restaurants you may be interested in?” I know that for my family, we often have a hard enough time figuring out what we want for dinner tonight, much less months from now so I understand the surprise. With the popularity of Disney’s Dining Plan where guests have pre-paid for their dining, you do not want to run the risk of arriving for your vacation and having a hard time getting a table at a reasonable time for those meals. Continue reading →