Today we spent an afternoon in the Caribbean. Well, close to it. We spent the afternoon at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. This moderate Disney hotel transports guests to a lush tropical paradise patterned after these popular vacation destinations - Aruba, Jamaica, Barbados, Martinique and Trinidad.
It's hard not to smile among all the brightly colored buildings and the upbeat island-style music playing throughout. The Caribbean Beach Resort holds some very special personal memories for us. Our first visit to this resort was 18 years ago when we were newly in-love. While sharing a meal of chicken fingers in Old Port Royale (the town center for food and shopping) another guest stopped at our table and asked if we were on our honeymoon (nope, just dating).
At that time, Old Port Royale was one of the very few places in Walt Disney World to enjoy the generously sized and perfectly battered and fried chicken fingers with a side of Ken's honey mustard dressing - delicious! We often returned to Caribbean Beach specifically for the chicken fingers. Later, they were much easier to find as the same chicken fingers became available at nearly every counter service restaurant throught the theme parks and hotels. So far so good.
Fast forward to today... the chicken fingers we once loved have been replaced with much less attractive chicken nuggets. While the fingers were (almost) always fresh and meaty, the nuggets seem to be more coating than chicken and are cooked so far in advance they are nearly always cold. And the delicious honey mustard? It has been replaced too by a Heinz product which is far less sweet - making it less appetizing as a dipping sauce.
My husband and I have had so many bad experiences with the chicken nuggets, we won't even order them any more. For today's visit to Old Port Royale, we simply shared an order of fries. The nuggets were introduced about two years ago followed by the switch to the Heinz mustard. We really hope Disney returns to the chicken strips and Ken's honey mustard.
At least the spirit of Caribbean Beach has not changed. Strolling along the tropical pathways along white sand beaches and hammocks still makes it a favorite place to enjoy a mini Disney vacation.
Week 3 - EPCOT (Jan 18)
Our annual passes expired today! It is always a sad day when your tickets to Walt Disney World expire. Once again, we struggled with the decision to renew. All things considered, a Disney annual pass is a true bargain. We always get our money's worth. Even so, it still stings to part with that much dough each year.
Last year Disney made the decision a little easier for us by offering a 3 months free promotion (we LOVED that special offer). This year Disney offered a payment plan. While I'm sure many passholders appreciate a monthly payment plan, we'd rather just get it over with and forget about the large sum for another year. For us, it would take away a little bit of the magic to make a payment each month.
Disney tickets feature characters on them and the ticket agents are not able to specify characters. You simply get what you get. Sometimes it can be a little disappointing, but this year we have good news. When the tickets appeared out of the printer, my Disney ticket featured Minnie Mouse (my poor husband has had Minnie the last two years).
Viva la Mexico, at Epcot, that is. After getting our tickets, we headed straight to Mexico for a bite to eat. This was our first visit to the newly refurbished La Cantina de San Angel, a counter service dining option featuring an overhauled menu and new waterfront seating. Many of the food options looked good to us... which is surprising because I'm a picky eater.
We decided to share Empanadas de Queso - fried fresh corn masa filled with Chihuahua cheese topped with fresh green sauce served with corn tortilla chips. You'll notice we share food a lot. At Disney prices, it is the only way we can afford to eat at the parks throughout the year. With a soda, our total cost was over $13.00. At first, we both thought the wrong meal was placed in front of us (it looked like tacos). After a closer look, we saw that we had the little pockets of fried dough we were expecting. The meal included 3 cheese-filled empanadas and while very tasty, the filling was sparse and unevenly distributed. In fact, when I cut the last one in half, my side was a completely empty pocket - void of all filling. My very kind husband let me have the last bite of his cheese-filled side. The chips were fresh. We enjoyed both the mild and hot salsas available for dipping.
As we exited the restaurant, we spotted Donald Duck wearing a sombrero and serape. He's typically located between the Mexico pavilion and the Margarita stand - our favorite mini vacation place to share a frozen drink on a hot night.
Last year Disney made the decision a little easier for us by offering a 3 months free promotion (we LOVED that special offer). This year Disney offered a payment plan. While I'm sure many passholders appreciate a monthly payment plan, we'd rather just get it over with and forget about the large sum for another year. For us, it would take away a little bit of the magic to make a payment each month.
Disney tickets feature characters on them and the ticket agents are not able to specify characters. You simply get what you get. Sometimes it can be a little disappointing, but this year we have good news. When the tickets appeared out of the printer, my Disney ticket featured Minnie Mouse (my poor husband has had Minnie the last two years).
Viva la Mexico, at Epcot, that is. After getting our tickets, we headed straight to Mexico for a bite to eat. This was our first visit to the newly refurbished La Cantina de San Angel, a counter service dining option featuring an overhauled menu and new waterfront seating. Many of the food options looked good to us... which is surprising because I'm a picky eater.
We decided to share Empanadas de Queso - fried fresh corn masa filled with Chihuahua cheese topped with fresh green sauce served with corn tortilla chips. You'll notice we share food a lot. At Disney prices, it is the only way we can afford to eat at the parks throughout the year. With a soda, our total cost was over $13.00. At first, we both thought the wrong meal was placed in front of us (it looked like tacos). After a closer look, we saw that we had the little pockets of fried dough we were expecting. The meal included 3 cheese-filled empanadas and while very tasty, the filling was sparse and unevenly distributed. In fact, when I cut the last one in half, my side was a completely empty pocket - void of all filling. My very kind husband let me have the last bite of his cheese-filled side. The chips were fresh. We enjoyed both the mild and hot salsas available for dipping.
As we exited the restaurant, we spotted Donald Duck wearing a sombrero and serape. He's typically located between the Mexico pavilion and the Margarita stand - our favorite mini vacation place to share a frozen drink on a hot night.
Week 2 - Disney's Pop Century Resort (Jan 13)
Confession... you're probably going to see a LOT of visits to the Pop Century Resort in this blog. We have stayed at almost all of the Disney hotels on property from the value hotels to the luxury resorts on our vacations, but we always go back to Pop Century. Even if our "vacation" is an afternoon strolling the grounds and getting a bite to eat at Everything Pop (shopping and food court area). It is a place we like to visit just to get a taste of Disney without crowds or bigger attractions.
As locals, we see (and visit) the Walt Disney World Resort differently than when we were simply vacationers. We don't race from one top attraction to another or even try to grab fast passes. We just like soaking in the magic of simply being there and that's exactly what we did today at Pop Century.
When we first arrived, we immediately headed to the Hippy Dippy pool for a favorite cold weather pastime: to see how many vacationers from colder climates were swimming. The lifeguards on duty were bundled up like they were on ski patrol. We can relate. As soon as the temps drop below 60 we can barely stand to be outside. To our surprise, no one was in the pool - we usually see at least one or two kids who are determined to go swimming. I don't care if the pool is heated to a balmy 82 degrees, it is still way too cold to consider jumping in. So, we did what many other Floridians do on a cold 50 degree January day, we hurried inside and ordered up two hot chocolates. Of course, hot cocoa needs a sweet treat to go with it so we also shared a delicious crumb cake. A couple hours of relaxing in a booth and listening the the sounds of hit music from decades gone by made for another perfect Disney afternoon.
As locals, we see (and visit) the Walt Disney World Resort differently than when we were simply vacationers. We don't race from one top attraction to another or even try to grab fast passes. We just like soaking in the magic of simply being there and that's exactly what we did today at Pop Century.
When we first arrived, we immediately headed to the Hippy Dippy pool for a favorite cold weather pastime: to see how many vacationers from colder climates were swimming. The lifeguards on duty were bundled up like they were on ski patrol. We can relate. As soon as the temps drop below 60 we can barely stand to be outside. To our surprise, no one was in the pool - we usually see at least one or two kids who are determined to go swimming. I don't care if the pool is heated to a balmy 82 degrees, it is still way too cold to consider jumping in. So, we did what many other Floridians do on a cold 50 degree January day, we hurried inside and ordered up two hot chocolates. Of course, hot cocoa needs a sweet treat to go with it so we also shared a delicious crumb cake. A couple hours of relaxing in a booth and listening the the sounds of hit music from decades gone by made for another perfect Disney afternoon.
Week 1: Downtown Disney (Jan 4)
So far so good... it's only the first week and we've made it to Disney twice already! Today we visited Downtown Disney.
Downtown Disney is one of our favorite places to stroll on a weekday for Disney shopping, dining and movies. Today we stopped by World of Disney... the largest shop on property for all things Disney. We had a 20% off coupon that expired today and we really had hoped to buy something we've had our eye on for a very long time. Something we like to call the "big fig". The big figs are very large Disney character figures. The one we wanted is the pie-eyed Mickey and Minnie pair holding ride tickets in their hands. Unfortunately, they were sold out. Maybe next time.
With no mice to buy, we headed to Earl of Sandwich for lunch. Earl's is one of Disney's best buys for a quick bite to eat and I highly recommend stopping by. Don't let the long line scare you - I promise it moves real fast. I LOVE the Original Sandwich - roast beef with cheddar and horseradish sauce and order it almost every time we visit this shop. Today, however, we decided to share a sandwich so that we could also get soup (yes, it was still chilly). Earl's has the best tomato soup, served with croutons. My husband isn't a huge fan of the Original so we ordered the Ham 'n' Swiss with Earl's mustard sauce to split. It's no Original, but a very good sandwich just the same.
Last, we headed over to Downtown Disney AMC Theaters. Wow... we haven't been here in a few months and boy have things changed. In fact, one entrance was closed for construction. At the other entrance, a new concession area has been converted to more of a self-serve area. We found it a little confusing (and it seemed other guests did too). Case in point - I accidentally poured myself a very large Coke with LIME and didn't know it until I had already reached my seat. The soda dispensers were cool looking machines but I guess I need to look at them more closely next time. The popcorn was just OK. We've been going to this theater for more than 10 years and they never have good popcorn. It looks like they're getting ready to serve "dinner" with movies as part of the redesign. Not sure how that will work out. Just exactly how much will a move-priced burger cost? Yikes! I like when things change and improve, but I'm already concerned what the self-area will look like during a busy movie night. With just a handful of people on a Tuesday afternoon it was already feeling too close for comfort. What movie did we see? Tron. My husband's choice...
Downtown Disney is one of our favorite places to stroll on a weekday for Disney shopping, dining and movies. Today we stopped by World of Disney... the largest shop on property for all things Disney. We had a 20% off coupon that expired today and we really had hoped to buy something we've had our eye on for a very long time. Something we like to call the "big fig". The big figs are very large Disney character figures. The one we wanted is the pie-eyed Mickey and Minnie pair holding ride tickets in their hands. Unfortunately, they were sold out. Maybe next time.
With no mice to buy, we headed to Earl of Sandwich for lunch. Earl's is one of Disney's best buys for a quick bite to eat and I highly recommend stopping by. Don't let the long line scare you - I promise it moves real fast. I LOVE the Original Sandwich - roast beef with cheddar and horseradish sauce and order it almost every time we visit this shop. Today, however, we decided to share a sandwich so that we could also get soup (yes, it was still chilly). Earl's has the best tomato soup, served with croutons. My husband isn't a huge fan of the Original so we ordered the Ham 'n' Swiss with Earl's mustard sauce to split. It's no Original, but a very good sandwich just the same.
Last, we headed over to Downtown Disney AMC Theaters. Wow... we haven't been here in a few months and boy have things changed. In fact, one entrance was closed for construction. At the other entrance, a new concession area has been converted to more of a self-serve area. We found it a little confusing (and it seemed other guests did too). Case in point - I accidentally poured myself a very large Coke with LIME and didn't know it until I had already reached my seat. The soda dispensers were cool looking machines but I guess I need to look at them more closely next time. The popcorn was just OK. We've been going to this theater for more than 10 years and they never have good popcorn. It looks like they're getting ready to serve "dinner" with movies as part of the redesign. Not sure how that will work out. Just exactly how much will a move-priced burger cost? Yikes! I like when things change and improve, but I'm already concerned what the self-area will look like during a busy movie night. With just a handful of people on a Tuesday afternoon it was already feeling too close for comfort. What movie did we see? Tron. My husband's choice...
Week 1: Disney Studios (Jan 3)
It was a cold and snowy night. OK... maybe it wasn't really snowing, but it certainly felt cold enough for the real stuff to fall. And, honestly, I'll take the snowflakes made of pure Disney magic over the accumulation of icy crystals any day.
Standing on the Streets of America at Disney Studios at dusk marked our first magical moment of the year. Ironically, our first night out was actually the last showing of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights for the season. This special show of lights, music - and yes - falling snow is by far one of our most favorite must-do things on our Disney vacation list. If you're planning a Christmas family vacation at Disney World, make sure you arrive in time for the ceremonious turning on of the lights. You'll be awestruck.
Standing at the end of the street, the Writer's Stop bookstore and coffee shop is in our view. We stare, because inside we know we'll find exactly what we need to stay warm. While looking longingly at the shop, we think back to vacations gone by when this little shop had a different name - Ellen's Buy-The-Book. The old store, of course, was themed around Ellen Degeneres and the title character of the ABC television show "Ellen."
We miss the old shop, but that's progress. Times change. Ellen is now a talk show host. If this little hideaway was still Ellen's Buy-The-Book, I'm sure "Unbearable Lightness" by Portia De Rossi would be sitting front and center in the store's window. At least, that's where Ellen would have placed the wildly popular book.
Standing on the Streets of America at Disney Studios at dusk marked our first magical moment of the year. Ironically, our first night out was actually the last showing of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights for the season. This special show of lights, music - and yes - falling snow is by far one of our most favorite must-do things on our Disney vacation list. If you're planning a Christmas family vacation at Disney World, make sure you arrive in time for the ceremonious turning on of the lights. You'll be awestruck.
Standing at the end of the street, the Writer's Stop bookstore and coffee shop is in our view. We stare, because inside we know we'll find exactly what we need to stay warm. While looking longingly at the shop, we think back to vacations gone by when this little shop had a different name - Ellen's Buy-The-Book. The old store, of course, was themed around Ellen Degeneres and the title character of the ABC television show "Ellen."
We miss the old shop, but that's progress. Times change. Ellen is now a talk show host. If this little hideaway was still Ellen's Buy-The-Book, I'm sure "Unbearable Lightness" by Portia De Rossi would be sitting front and center in the store's window. At least, that's where Ellen would have placed the wildly popular book.
Between "shows" of Dancing Lights, we step inside the shop and browse the extremely tempting and ov
ersized bakery items at the coffee counter. The line is long and filled with a mixture of those guests trying to warm up and the frazzled who simply look like they could use a jolt of caffeine. We decide that we can hold out and exit the store to take one last tour of the lights. Feliz Navidad plays loudly and fills our hearts with the Christmas spirit one last time... until later this year.
ersized bakery items at the coffee counter. The line is long and filled with a mixture of those guests trying to warm up and the frazzled who simply look like they could use a jolt of caffeine. We decide that we can hold out and exit the store to take one last tour of the lights. Feliz Navidad plays loudly and fills our hearts with the Christmas spirit one last time... until later this year.
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