Week 48 - 2011 Osborne Family Lights Disney Studios (Dec 7)

OK... so I'm having to fudge a little on my weeks and dates matching up. We learned our lesson a long time ago to avoid the Orlando theme parks during peak holiday times. So... we avoided Disney and the other parks during the weeks just prior and after Thanksgiving.

After our short "break" from the parks, we headed back to Disney Studios for more of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights.

In between light shows, we dropped into the bookstore to warm up with some cocoa and desserts. The carrot cake sandwich cookie is awesome!

The dancing lights are our favorite. We'll be back before the Disney World holiday season ends!

Week 47 - Epcot Rose & Crown Pub English Bulldog (Nov 18)

Today we decided to split our time between Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios. We wanted to end our day at Studios (to see the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights) so we parked at Studios and took the walkway to the World Showcase entrance of Epcot.


The walk along the water between Studios and Epcot takes about 20 minutes at a leisurely pace (and believe it or not can actually be quicker than taking the water taxi certain times of year:

Epcot - U.K.
Rose and Crown Pub
We heard many good things about the English Bulldog (even though it sounds a bit odd) that we decided to finally share one. We also added a Pimm's Cup and an order of house made crisps.

The English Bulldog is a split banger with mashed potatoes, cheese and bacon topped with mustard. I guess you could say it is a sandwich version of "bangers and mash". The sausage was tasty and overall we liked the sandwich but wouldn't rush out to get it again. It came with chips (french fries) which were hot a delicious. We've had the fries from the fish and chips cart outside the Pub and always agree they are the best fries at Disney. We added a side order of crisps (potato chips) which were equally yummy!


The Pimm's Cup was interesting and while we enjoyed it, wouldn't rush to get this again either. It was worth it to try something different. Pimm's is a citrus and spiced flavored gin. This drink mixes the Pimm's with Sprite and sliced fruit.


On our way back, we stopped by the Beach Club where Disney pastry chef's were assembling a giant gingerbread house. We even got a sample of gingerbread. We always thought they just pulled these out of storage every year. Didn't realize they make these giant gingerbread house displays fresh:

We ended our day by visiting Disney Hollywood Studios for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights:

More on this amazing display of Christmas lights in a future blog entry. This is by far one of our favorite holiday experiences at Walt Disney World. We last saw it during Week 1 of this blog and will see it many times more before the holidays come to a close.

Week 44 - Disney Studios Hollywood and Vine Review (Oct 25)

Today we visited Disney Hollywood Studios including a dinner reservation at the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Hollywood and Vine restaurant. We visited here as a "make-up" anniversary celebration because of our disappointing experience at Yak & Yeti over at Animal Kingdom.

Hollywood and Vine offers character meals for both breakfast and lunch. The dinner buffet does not include characters.

We had reservations for the opening of dinner. There are two sides to the buffet, however, only the right side was immediately opened. The food items are identical on both sides. We were seated on the left side of the restaurant. Everything we sampled from the original right side was moist and delicious. 

About half-way through our meal, the left side of the buffet opened. When we tried the left side, many of the items were dried out. I assume from being held for a longer period at a hot temperature.

Here is a sampling of what we put on our plates:

My husband chose from the large selection of cold appetizers including a variety of salads including a very delicious cold bowtie pasta and chicken salad. The bowtie chicken is the only item I took from the cold side (except for 2 green olives I plucked from one of the salads).

As a picky eater, I mostly bypassed the cold section and headed straight to the main entrees where I picked up two different kinds of baked chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, prime rib and a crusty (in a good way) dinner roll with whipped butter. Everything was super.

The second time around I grabbed second helpings of my favorites (the prime rib and garlic mashed), and tried some new items including Parmesan crusted chicken breast, pasta with meatballs, rice, mac and cheese from the kid's buffet and roasted pork loin. This time I topped by prime rib with a red wine demi-glaze sauce - awesome!

My husband's favorite entree selection was the salmon. He also raved about the green beans and broccoli. Other items on his plate that I did not try included a cornbread spoon bread and a seafood pasta. 

Let me just say, there was hardly any room left for dessert, but I managed to take a few tiny bites of a chocolate mousse, a red velvet cake square (my favorite) and cookie and an apple cobbler with vanilla sauce. There were several other options including carrot cake, a berry cobbler and self-serve soft-serve ice cream.

We were much happier with our meal at Hollywood and Vine. The food was well prepared and plentiful with lots of options. Be aware, that the menu for this buffet is always changing so you are unlikely to have the exact same items shown above.

Prices for the buffet vary by meal time and season but hover around $28-$36 per adult. Our final bill after taxes, tip and a small Disney annual passholder discount was just under $70 for two of us. While the dining room is not very romantic (it feels a bit like a diner/cafeteria inside) we both agreed that we had a much better experience at Hollywood and Vine than Yak & Yeti.

Week 14 - American Idol at Disney Studios (Apr 7)

Before heading off on the bus to the American Idol Experience at Disney Studios, we stopped at Pop Century to share a chili cheese dog with fries.

Sure... we could have had hot dogs at Disney Studios (Herbie's Drive-In has them) but Pop Century provided a quieter and more comfortable place for lunch. And, lucky for us, the meal we were served today at Pop was awesome. The fries had just come out of the fryer so they were HOT, fresh and plentiful and our server was generous with the chili and cheese. In fact, it think there was more on our dog than we recently had on our chili cheese fries at Disney's Caribbean Beach.

After lunch on this fine Disney vacation day, we hopped on bus to Disney Studios. A Dance Party was winding down the streets just as we arrived. It is always so much fun to arrive at a park during a parade with all the singing, clapping and music. It just immediately puts you into the theme park mood.

Disney Studios was super busy today. The wait time for Toy Story Mania was 120 minutes long! See my tips for visiting Toy Story Mania without much wait time. We skipped it today...

Our favorite event of the day was the American Idol Experience.

If I could actually sing, was younger and wanted to be a contestant on American Idol, I would definitely audition for a chance to sing on stage at Disney Studios. Throughout the day, contestants compete for audience votes. The winners from each round then compete in the final competition of the day where the big winner receives an American Idol golden ticket. This ticket grants the winner front-of-the-line privileges at any audition location for the next season of American Idol. Talk about a time saver.

My husband and I really enjoyed today's American Idol Experience at Disney. The audience warm-up guy was full of energy and really got the crowd excited. The "Ryan Seacrest" host plays the part well (with look-a-like hair and suits). Now that Simon has left the on-air show, I wasn't sure what the Studios judges panel would look like (in the past, there was a Simon-like character). Today, the panel of judges did not include a Simon, but all 3 on the panel were very kind at at times silly (calling one young contestant a chicken nugget).

Best of all, we had practically no wait to get in. We arrived close to door opening time and still had plenty of time to grab a good seat. If you're hot and want to sit down for a while in air-conditioned comfort, try out the American Idol Experience. It's a good time. 

Week 9 - Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney's Hollywood Studios (Mar 1)

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that this was our very first time to ride Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This really, really fun attraction opened in May 2008. Why did it take so long? Easy... the long, long lines.

When we go, we typically arrive at Disney's Hollywood Studio late in the day. By that time, every FastPass has already been distributed. In fact, I've heard that if you're looking for a FastPass after 10:00 am, you're likely too late. At least on busier days. So... if the Toy Story Midway Mania ride is on your must-do list, make sure you arrive early in the day.

Unlike someone on vacation at Disney World, we have the luxury of bypassing long lines and returning any other day. Well, that's what we've been doing with Toy Story for nearly 3 years. Crazy, right? Never before have we seen a Disney attraction sustain extra long wait times for this long after opening. It is not unusual for us to walk past lines with stand-by wait times of 90 minutes or more. I think the longest we saw for Toy Story Midway Mania was 240 minutes.

We finally decided that if we really wanted to experience the ride (and we did) than we'd have to plan an early morning trip. We arrived sometime before 10:00 am and headed straight to the FastPass distribution lines. It was a light day at the park (as we expected) but our FastPass return time was still for 3-4 hours later - we could return any time between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm. Return time was later than we hoped.

On this morning, the stand-by time was 40 minutes. The line seemed to be moving quickly so we decided to hop in line (we usually refrain from waits longer than 15-20 minutes). Inside was filled with everything you'd expect to see - oversized versions of childhhod toys from Candyland to a Barrel of Monkeys... and, of course, a fully animated Mr. Potato Head. Sadly, I heard recently that a new toy version of this playful spud has been slimmed down. Really? It's a toy potato. Potatoes naturally come in all shapes and sizes. But I digress...

After about 15 minutes in line, we were whisked off to the side by cast members to the disability entrance. No one needing special assistance was boarding at the time so we very luckily shaved about 15 minutes off our wait time (at least by our estimate). As we headed off to a ramp on the right, other guests filed off to the left and up a stair case. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I guess it pays to wait 3 years.

We entered our car, put on our 3-D glasses and began our journey down the Midway. It was an exhilarating (almost exhausting) ride filled with fun arcade games and a little spinning. Fun, fun, fun. For a few minutes, we smiled and giggled non-stop (exactly the reason we love to escape to Disney). We wish we hadn't waited so long. In the end, I even scored a little higher than my husband - which NEVER happens when we ride the similar Buzz Lightyear attraction in the Magic Kingdom.

I see now why Toy Story Midway Mania is such a popular attraction. Hopefully, it won't be another 3 years before we return!

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.

Between "shows" of Dancing Lights, we step inside the shop and browse the extremely tempting and oversized 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.