The Photographer's Wife Parenting, Disney, Travel, Reviews & Other Randomness

We’ll be sure to tell/show you how he did after the trip!

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Time for another Disney post – woo-hoo! Our minds have been exhausted thinking about the contest we are in for $10,000, so much so that lately, we haven’t even paid much attention to it because we just couldn’t handle thinking about it any longer. The giveaway for a $50 Amazon gift card is still open until Friday, April 5th, so if you want in on that, click the link!

Instead, we want to think about Disney! T-minus 20 days until we are at our happy place. I have several posts that I want to start working on now that we have freed up our minds to start concentrating on Disney. But before I get to those, I wanted to share this list of food kiosks (“marketplaces”) at this year’s Epcot Flower & Garden Festival.

It’s the first year that the Flower & Garden Festival has featured food kiosks similar to the Food & Wine Festival (aka the Festival of Yummy Deliciousness – I totally made that up, but it should be copyrighted, no?). We haven’t made any food plans for our Epcot day(s) and just plan on noshing around the world. I decided to take this list of food items (courtesy of DisneyFoodBlog.com – aka website of yummy deliciousness) and highlight what I want to make sure I try.

On a sidenote, Brett has a long list of food items he doesn’t like. So he won’t be noshing on these items as much as I will. He’ll be more likely to pick a few things here and there in addition to an actual meal from a quick-service restaurant.

Happy eats!

THE COTTAGE: Savories, Trifles and Tea

United Kingdom

▪   Potato, Chive and Cheddar Cheese Biscuit with Smoked Salmon Tartare and Sour Cream

▪   Baked Goat’s Brie with Kumquat Chutney

▪   Waterkist Farms Heirloom Tomatoes with house-made Mozzarella, Minus 8 Vinegar and Basil

▪   Chocolate Trifle

▪   Berry Trifle

▪   Ginger and Tea Trifle

▪   Trio of Trifles

▪   Hot Teas (Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Lemon Green Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, Spiced Apple Chai, Pumpkin Chai, Mixed Berry Black Tea, Pomegranate and Raspberry, Camomile Honey & Vanilla, Honeybush, Mandarin and Orange, Pure Peppermint, Lemon & Ginger)

▪   Peach Cold Brewed Iced Tea

▪   Mixed Berries Cold Brewed Iced Tea

▪   Poema Cava Brut Rosé

▪  Chilled Rose Blush Lemonade – Non alcoholic

BAUERNMARKT: Farmer’s Market

Adjacent to Germany

▪   Savory Bread Pudding with Spring Peas and Wild Mushroom Ragout

▪   German Meatloaf Sandwich with Sweet Mustard and Fried Shallots

▪   Potato Pancakes with house made Apple Sauce

▪   Florida Avenue American Wheat Ale

▪   Krombacher Hefeweizen

▪   Goose Island Brewing Company’s Honker Ale

▪   Blue Point’s Toasted Lager

▪   Beer Flight

▪  Hugo – Charles De Fere “Organic” Brut with Elderflower and Mint

FLORIDA FRESH

World Showcase Promenade, Mexico side

▪   Watermelon Salad with pickled Red Onions, Baby Arugula, Feta Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

▪   Shrimp and Stone Ground Grits with Andouille Sausage, Zellwood Corn, Tomatoes and Cilantro

▪   Angel Food Cake with macerated Florida Berries

▪   Florida Orange Groves, Hot Sun, Tomato Wine

▪   Florida Orange Groves, 40 Karat, Carrot Wine

▪   Orange Blossom Pilsner

▪  Strawberry Slush – Non Alcoholic

PINEAPPLE PROMENADE

World Showcase Promenade, Canada side

▪   Dole® Whip

▪   Dole® Whip with Siesta Key Spiced Rum

▪   Pineapple Upside Down Cake featuring Dole® Pineapple

▪   Dole® Pineapple Fruit Cup

▪   Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade – Non Alcoholic

▪  Samuel Adams® Cream Stout

JARDIN DE FIESTAS

Mexico

▪   Tacos de Carnitas (Pork Tacos topped with Tamarindo salsa, served on a flour tortilla with Chicharrón)

▪   Tostada (Crab tostada served with Chipotle Mayo and Valentina Salsa)

▪   Flan de Guayaba (Guava Custard)

▪   Conga Fruit Punch – Non Alcoholic

▪   Corona Light Draft Beer

▪   Rosita Margarita

▪  Organic Tequila Flight

LOTUS HOUSE

China

▪   Beijing-Style Candied Strawberries

▪   Spring Pancake with Grilled Chicken and Green Apple

▪   Pan-Fried Vegetable Bun

▪   Peach-Oolong Bubble Tea

▪   Kung Fu Punch (Vodka and Triple Sec with Mango and Orange Juice)

▪   South Sea Storm (Guava with Light and Dark Rum)

▪   Plum Wine

▪   Tsing – Tao Beer

▪   Lychee Aerated Water

▪  Peach Aerated Water

PRIMAVERA KITCHEN

Italy

▪   Asparagi con Aragosta all’Ortolana (Green asparagus, lobster, garden cocktail sauce)

▪   Lasagna Primavera (Spinach Lasagna, green peas, zucchini, mushrooms, broccolini, béchamel and fresh tomatoes, with garlic and basil leaves)

▪   Panna Cotta al Limoncello (Limoncello flavored Panna Cotta, wild berries)

▪   Fontana Candida, Pinot Grigio

▪   Castello di Querceto, Chianti

▪   Bosco del Merlo, Prosecco

▪   White Peach Bellini

▪   Strawberry Rossini

▪   Italian Primavera

▪   Birrificio Del Ducato – Nuova Mattina (Spring Saison Ale)

▪   Birrificio Le Baladin – Nora (Specialty Ale)

▪   Birra Del Borgo – Rubus Lamponi (Specialty Wild Fruit Ale)

▪  Beer Flight

THE SMOKEHOUSE: Barbecue and Brews

The American Adventure Courtyard

▪   Pulled Pig Slider with Cole Slaw

▪   Smoked Beef Brisket with Collard Greens and Jalapeño Corn Bread

▪   Rocky Road Brownie Mousse

▪   Mama’s Little Yella Pils (Czech style Pilsner)

▪   Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing Company, San Francisco, Ca. (India Pale Ale)

▪   Red Ale from Orlando Brewing, Orlando, Fla. (Red Ale- Organic)

▪   Blackwater Porter from Orlando Brewing Company, Orlando, Fla. (Stout- Organic)

▪   The Original Rib Shack Red Wine

▪  Beer Flight

HANAMI

Japan

▪   Frushi (Fresh strawberries, pineapple and cantaloupe rolled with coconut rice, atop a raspberry sauce sprinkled with toasted coconut and whipped cream)

▪   Chirashi Hanazushi (Grilled Salmon, cooked shrimp and crab stick served over a bed of fragrant ginger rice with Volcano and Dynamite sauce)

▪   YakiSoba Pan (Fresh grilled carrots, onions and cabbage with Japanese noodles and teriyaki sauce served on a bun with mayonnaise and Beni Shoga)

▪   Green Tea Flan (Silky custard with macha green tea and caramel glaze)

▪   Yuzu Rita

▪   Fruit Sake

▪   Hana Awaka

▪  Frozen Kirin Ichiban

TASTE OF MARRAKESH

Morocco

▪   Spiced Lamb Kebab with Vegetable Couscous Salad

▪   Harissa and Lamb Confit Chicken Drumettes with Chermoula and Cucumber Salad

▪   Baghrir (Moroccan pancake with honey, almonds and Argan Oil)

▪   Desert Rose

▪   White Sangria

▪   Guerrouane Red

▪   Casa Beer

▪  Mint Iced Tea

L’ORANGERIE

France

▪   Tarte à la ratatouille et fromage de chèvre (Zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onions and tomato tart with goat cheese)

▪   Terrine Campagnarde, baguette et compote de cerises (Country style pâté served with baguette and cherry compote)

▪   Verrine charlotte au pèches (Caramelized peaches and rosemary and light vanilla cream)

▪   La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush (Grey Goose Vodka Orange, St. Germain liquor with White and Red Cranberry Juice)

▪   Muscat Pétillant, Sparkling Muscat Charles de Fère

▪   Chardonnay, White Burgundy, Macon Village Georges Duboeuf

▪   Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux Beau-Rivage

▪  Kronenbourg Blanc 1664, (Fruity White Beer with Citrus Notes)

FRUITS BY THE GLASS

World Showcase Plaza

▪   Watermelon Passion Fruit Cocktail

▪   Wild Berry Slush – Non Alcoholic

▪   Sea Dog Blue Paw Wild Blueberry

▪   New Planet™ 3R Raspberry Ale (Gluten Free)

▪   Florida Orange Groves, Mango Mama, Mango Wine

▪   Florida Orange Groves, Blueberry Blue, Blueberry Wine

▪   DeLoach Vineyards Heritage Reserve Chardonnay

▪  DeLoach Vineyards Heritage Reserve Pinot Noir

INTERMISSIONS CAFE

Festival Center

▪   Beet Lollipop

▪   Grapes

▪   Fruit & Cheese Plate

▪   Vegan Trio

▪   Southwest Chicken Wrap

▪   Tuna Salad with Pita

▪   Italian Salad

▪   Asian Tuna Salad with Noodles

▪   New Planet™ 3R Raspberry Ale (Gluten Free) (12 oz.)

▪   Blue Point’s Spring Fling (12 oz.)

▪   Florida Orange Groves, Mango Mama, Mango Wine

▪   Florida Orange Groves, Blueberry Blue, Blueberry Wine

▪   DeLoach Vineyards Heritage Reserve Chardonnay

▪   DeLoach Vineyards Heritage Reserve Pinot Noir

▪  Poema Cava Brut Rosé

If you could pick one item to try, what would it be? Tell me in the comments!

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I just realized it’s been coming up on a month since my last Plan With Us post…sorry friends. But I have a good reason! Thanks to my wonderful job, I am also planning ANOTHER Disney World trip for June! Holla!

Since I am a CPA, I need 80 hours of continuing education every 2 years to maintain my license. And because I was a slacker all last year, being pregnant and having a baby, I have to get 77 of those hours by June 30th this year. Yikes!

Luckily, there is a MEGA (yes, that’s the actual name) Conference in June in Disney World that will give me over 30 hours in 3.5 days. Of course, Brett and Trent will be tagging along and will be off having fun all day in the parks while I sit in a conference room all day. Hmph.

The best part: it’s being held at the Contemporary Resort, so that’s where we’ll be staying. We’ve never stayed in a Deluxe hotel, let alone a monorail one. I surely hope this won’t ruin us forever and force us to never look at our usual Value resorts the same. We’ll also be adding on a day before and after so I can have fun too. I look forward to sharing more details on that trip as we get closer. I haven’t planned much personally, because I just tell my job I want to go and they book everything for me, so there was no decision-making on my part. Which is probably a good thing. I did, however, book one breakfast so far for Chef Mickey’s since I know that gets booked up quickly. It will be Brett’s birthday, his first Father’s Day and Trent’s birthday…so exciting!

There is a downside to the trip, though. It occurs a week into the blackout dates of a seasonal annual pass, so we will need to upgrade to a regular annual pass, which is quite a bit more. On the plus side, we won’t ever need to wonder whether we are able to go or not…we can go whenever!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming…our April trip.

So, guess what? Sticking with our usual tendencies, we just couldn’t resist adding another day. So we will be staying 7 days and 6 nights. The extra night was added onto the beginning of the trip in the Little Mermaid Standard room.

We decided to keep it light on the ADRs since we don’t know how Trent will be during the trip and we didn’t want to restrict ourselves too much. Here are the few we have planned.

Sunday: We’re considering eating at T-Rex at Downtown Disney for dinner. It’s amazing how going from a table for 2 to a table for 3 reduces the availability. We’ll keep checking and it nothing opens up, we’ll probably eat at our usual DTD favorite, Earl of Sandwich.

Monday: No meal ADRs but we do have reservations for the Tomorrowland Terrace Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party. We’ve done this in the past and loved it. At that time, we had eaten dinner too soon before the party and vowed we would leave much more room in our stomachs next time to fill up with all the yummy treats. We thought this would be perfect for Trent to have a much less crowded first fireworks viewing experience.

Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party

Tuesday: 50′s Prime Time Cafe for an early lunch. Some good ol’ fashioned mom’s cooking, with a little humor thrown in. We’ve dined here twice. The food was great both times, but we’ve had different waiter experiences. To be honest, and I hope I don’t get flamed by all you mommies for saying this, but I preferred our male waiter. He just fit the theme and his jokes felt more authentic. Our female waitress felt forced and sort of bitchy and whiny. It could have just been her, but we’ll see how it goes.

50′s Prime Time Cafe Waiting Area

Viewing the dessert menu at 50′s Prime Time Cafe

Glow drink at 50′s Prime Time Cafe

Wednesday: We are getting picked up by a limo and taken to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian for a character breakfast buffet courtesy of GetYourGuide. We’ve never eaten at 1900 Park Fare, but we imagine that most breakfast buffets serve similar dishes. We’ll then get dropped off at Magic Kingdom. We may venture over to Epcot for some Flower & Garden Festival food goodies. I am so excited that they’ve added food to this year’s festival. Check out these drool worthy food photos from the Disney Food Blog. I plan on making a list of must-try items.

Thursday: Nothing planned here yet. We are checking out of one room and checking into another, so we’ll play it by ear, but we plan on being in Animal Kingdom that day. We will probably go to another park at night, but we haven’t determined which one.

Friday: Early breakfast at Crystal Palace, a favorite of ours, to reunite with my main man Tigger. It’s before the park opens, so we’ll be able to snag some good photos before we eat. May head over to Epcot at some point.

Tigger at Crystal Palace

Saturday: Check out day. Boo! No particular plans here. We’ve messed ourselves up before by planning late meals that give us a late start on the drive home, so we won’t do that this time.

We normally pick parks first based off of hours and crowd calendars, but we had to do it a little differently this time. We knew Magic Kingdom would be our first day. Our Wednesday and Friday breakfasts were planned before anything else, and then we planned around that.

While making ADRs, I noticed Disney’s site changed and they have now added the MyDisneyExperience portion of the site. While the Magic Band hasn’t been rolled out yet, allowing guests to preplan rides and other activities before their trip, they have created a way for you to see more details of your entire trip all in one spot, like resort and dining confirmations, park plans based on where you’re eating and park hours. I haven’t yet decided if this will negate the need for my usual Excel spreadsheet, so that’s why I skipped that item on my to-do list for now.

At least we got to cross a few things off!

-Pick dates Done!
-Pick a hotel Done!
-Book hotel Done!
-Request off from work Done!
-Create an Excel sheet with all the information we’ll need
-Decide where to eat and when and make ADRs Done!
-Make special event reservations Done!
-Decide which park to go to each day Done!
-Pick specific things to do in each park
-Schedule house/pet-sitter
-Make a packing list
-Write a pre-trip report to share on the blog and various Disney forums
-Make a list of must-do photos and videos
-See ya real soon!
-Brett: edit thousands of photos; Me: write up our trip report and reviews and everything else we have planned to share (so excited for this part! We’ve got some surprises in store…including videos and giveaways!)
-Get ready to plan the next trip!

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Recently, I shared the beginning of our trip planning process for our Spring 2013 Walt Disney World Trip. You can read that post here: Plan with us: Walt Disney World Trip Spring 2013 – Introduction.

Next up on our list? Pick and book a hotel!

I actually thought this was going to be simpler than it was. Ever since we knew of the plans to build the Art of Animation resort, we knew we were going to stay there during our first trip after it was completed. After all, we’ve been admiring it from across the bridge at our usual Value Resort, Pop Century. We were so glad that they finally decided to do something about those empty buildings and couldn’t wait to stay somewhere nice and shiny and new.

Art of Animation has two types of rooms, Standard Rooms and Family Suites. The Family Suites are in the Finding Nemo, Lion King and Cars buildings. They offer room for up to 6 people, which is a great option for larger families that may not be able to afford a room at a Deluxe hotel (although the price can be quite close depending on discounts and times of year…so it’s definitely not a super value in that sense). The Standard rooms are in the Little Mermaid building and are your typical Value rooms, 1 King bed or 2 Double beds. They are a few dollars extra than your typical Value standard room and have yet to allow a discount.

There’s just 3 of us, so we really only need the Standard Little Mermaid room. But when looking at our dates and the available discounts, we were enticed to do something we hadn’t done before…split up our stay between 2 rooms. We are going to stay for 3 nights in a Little Mermaid Standard room and 2 nights in a Finding Nemo Family Suite.

Who the heck wants to pack up their stuff and transfer it somewhere else in the middle of their vacation? We sure as heck don’t, but with the discount on the Family Suites, we wanted to take the opportunity to experience both types of rooms and give a thorough review of what Art of Animation has to offer! I hope Brett is prepared…that camera is going to definitely be utilized!

We were worried we’d become super spoiled if we stayed at the Family Suite first and wouldn’t want to transfer to a smaller room, so we will stay in the Standard room first and then end our vacation in the Family Suite. We were also told that Disney will transfer our luggage for us, so we can go about our day as usual other than heading to Check-In at some point to pick up new room cards.

We don’t usually go in the hotel pools, since we have a pool at home and would rather spend our time in the parks, but I may just have to go in just to experience the music that plays underwater. You know, for review purposes. Every time I called to book (from scheduling and rescheduling 3 times last year) the underwater music was a major selling point from the cast member’s point of view. I may have to practice my breath-holding skills so I can stay underwater longer to hear more.

I’m also looking forward to the Landscape of Flavors Food Court. One of the reasons we like Pop Century is because of the convenient food court, so we are hoping we like this one as well. Some days, we like just grabbing a quick meal before going about our day and the food court always has plenty of options. When you start getting into the Moderate and Deluxe resorts, they have more sit-down options (which are fantastic – don’t get me wrong) but sometimes we just want something quick. The Art of Animation food court is supposed to have more options, with a focus on unique and healthy offerings. Not that I am necessarily healthy at Disney World…oh heck, who am I kidding? Healthy isn’t even in my vocabulary as soon as we drive under those magical gates. Although, now that Trent is eating solid food too, and hopefully more so by the time we go, I will probably be more likely to think about what’s on my plate, since we will be sharing most of the time.

Along with booking the hotel, I also requested off of work. Not that that makes it official or anything, because I can change it at any time, but I told my boss to not let me change it so I won’t reschedule haha.

We’ve started booking our ADRs, but we’re not sure if we want more or want to keep this trip light on sit-down meals with a unpredictable baby in tow…

We’re making our way down the to-do list!

-Pick dates Done!
-Pick a hotel Done!
-Book hotel Done!
-Request off from work Done!
-Create an Excel sheet with all the information we’ll need
-Decide where to eat and when and make ADRs
-Make special event reservations
-Decide which park to go to each day
-Pick specific things to do in each park
-Schedule house/pet-sitter
-Make a packing list
-Write a pre-trip report to share on the blog and various Disney forums
-Make a list of must-do photos and videos
-See ya real soon!
-Brett: edit thousands of photos; Me: write up our trip report and reviews and everything else we have planned to share (so excited for this part! We’ve got some surprises in store…including videos and giveaways!)
-Get ready to plan the next trip!

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This trip report is from our Royal Caribbean Western Caribbean cruise onboard the Freedom of the Seas. If you’re just joining us, start from Day 1 by clicking here: Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas Cruise Day 1.

Today was our last full day on the ship. We started with breakfast in the Windjammer, then did some shopping in the Royal Promenade. We caught the end of the Captain’s Corner Q&A session, then went back to the Royal Promenade for the FreedomFEST. They had tables set up to demonstrate making towel animals, napkin folding, fruit carving and ice sculptures. It was a big party gathering with food and drinks set out (food = free, alcohol = not free, but discounted and very pretty).

Then we met our dining room table mates for our At Sea salad bar in the main dining room. De-lish!

Salad bar fixins

Salad bar fixins

Salad bar fixins

After lunch, we saw Shrek 4 in 3D in the Arcadia Theater. Afterward, we caught the end of the Best of the Best competition at the Flowrider and then stuck around to watch stand-up surfing. This guy was in serious need of a ponytail holder.

It was a pretty relaxed day of just wandering around the ship until dinner. For tonight’s appetizer, I had spinach/cheese dip with tortilla chips and shrimp cocktail and Brett had 2 shrimp cocktails (notice how we are eating more and more as the days go by…almost like our stomachs were stretching before our eyes and could hold more food!).

Brett’s Appetizer

Lynn’s appetizer – 1

Lynn’s appetizer – 2

For dinner, I had tempura shrimp and mahi mahi and Brett had turkey.

Brett’s dinner

Lynn’s dinner

For dessert, I had banana parfait and ice cream and Brett had Key Lime pie.

Brett’s dessert

Lynn’s dessert

By the time dinner was done, we were right next to Miami, so we went to catch the sunset. There were clouds in the way, but it was still very pretty. And oh my goodness, it was windy out!

I couldn’t help but do multiple Michael Jackson impersonations

Windy

Miami Skyline

Miami Skyline

Miami Skyline

Miami Skyline

Miami Skyline

Miami Skyline

Just a side note regarding the new poolside screen. About once a day, they played a movie on it and other times, they played music videos. However, sometimes they were playing something on the screen but something different over the speakers. For example, they were playing Grease on the screen but Jimmy Buffet music was playing over the loudspeaker. Other times, they just had tropical backgrounds. I think it definitely could have been utilized better. However, I was not poolside often enough to benefit from it. They did play the NBA finals on it twice, which prompted a largely male audience around the pool.

Tonight’s main show was the Farewell Show Spectacular. Graham, the Cruise Director, sang a little and there was also a comedian.

After the show, we went back to the room to pack up our luggage to place outside our room by midnight. For departure, you can either elect to carry out your own luggage if you leave really early, or they will transport it off the boat for you if you leave at designated times depending on the numbered luggage tag you request. We elected to have them take it for us so we could sleep a little later. I didn’t want to get off the ship any earlier than I had to.

Nightly towel animal.

Day 8: Debarkation

Because we didn’t take any photos on debarkation day, I’ll just include it along with this post.

On the last day, we woke up and had our last breakfast in the Windjammer. Oddly enough, I only had oatmeal. Lame, I know. I had big dreams of stuffing my face with as much cruise food as I could in order to remember all the yummy goodness, but I just wasn’t that hungry and didn’t want to feel like a stuffed cow on the 4 hour car ride home.

The departure process was super easy. They called our number early, but since you can leave at any time after they call your number, we continued eating and just left when we were done. We went through customs, found our luggage, loaded up the car, paid for parking and left, all in less than 30 or so minutes.

We had debated going to the Kennedy Space Center before going home, but decided against it so we could get home earlier and have time to get things back to normal.

Overall, we really enjoyed our vacation and Royal Caribbean. I hope you enjoyed our trip report! Remember, you can start from Day 1 if you’re just joining us!

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