Toddler Travel Archives - Page 2 of 15

Jul 07 2016

Surveying Scotland: Introduction

Two kids creates more than twice the work. That holds true for regular life and travel. Nonetheless, we took it upon ourselves to travel to the United Kingdom to celebrate our son’s first birthday. Just kidding, it’s just when we were free.

As always, we paid for the majority of our flight with points. We even booked our first transatlantic flights in coach for the first time in five years. Slumming it! Just kidding, I’m just practicing what I’ve been preaching in my family travel hacking guide.

Read below for details of what we booked and the thought process behind it all.

Flights for Four

I wrote about booking our flights to the UK awhile back. Man, can’t believe I booked this trip back in August 2015. Either way, Delta availability still remains great. We elected to book in Delta One (aka business class) for the extra space. We figured since it was a redeye it’d be good for the kids to have “beds” overnight. I had to pay about $560 for the infant ticket: on international flights you pay 10% of the base fare even on award tickets. So overall call it 187.5K miles + $600 in taxes and fees for the four of us.

I'm convinced screen time is half the reason she flies — I’m convinced screen time is half the reason she flies

On the way back, the decision was between buying three business class tickets on United or four coach seats. Like I said, we haven’t flown coach across the Atlantic in years (though we did fly it to Aruba). That being said, we would fly our kids to California in coach and Europe only takes an hour longer.

Here’s how the pricing broke down:

Business Class (3 seats plus lap infant): 172.5K miles + $819 taxes and fees + ~600 for infant fare

Coach (4 seats): 120K miles + $384 taxes and fees

So basically, flying coach would save us 52.5K miles and a thousand dollars.

This ended up being a much easier decision than expected. You can do a lot of things with $1000… Plus 52.5K Ultimate Rewards points is like another $500. Anyway, we decided to fly in the back on the way home: it’s a day flight anyway. Gonna be interesting!

Not gonna lie: was pretty tired after this flight. We'll see how the return goes — Not gonna lie: was pretty tired after this flight. We’ll see how the return goes

We also used some Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards points to book a quick hop from London to Inverness, not much worth writing about there. Miss you Wells Fargo!

Lodging

While we use miles and points to save money, at this point we have committed to traveling to where we want to go – not necessarily where we can get everything for “free” (note: not free). Thus we decided on Scotland knowing full well that the Scottish Highlands are mostly devoid of chain hotels that we could use points redemptions on.

I’ve written about the importance of having a separate room, especially for my one year old. We can do without but then lose access to the bathroom. Only two of our stops have chains we can even redeem at: London and Edinburgh. I decided to book a room with a confirmed Diamond Suite Upgrade in London at the Hyatt Regency The Churchill. I figured we’d really need that second room to recover from jetlag.

Our first and last hotel room on this trip - not complaining — Our first and last hotel room on this trip – not complaining

We booked everything else through airbnb, Trip Advisor, or directly from websites. For the rest of our trip we will not be staying in chain hotels. Though in this case we’re only giving up staying at a Club Carlson or Hilton in Edinburgh – but I really wanted to avoid getting stuck with a small room. Maybe when H is older. If only this kid would sleep in bed with us!

Ground Transportation

Our one final cost was ground transportation. We bought round trip tickets on the Heathrow Express and then took a taxi to our hotel. We’re planning on doing the same in reverse but will eat the sunk cost and take a cab if we are running low on time for our departure (still recovering from jet lag).

We rented a car for a week in the Scottish Highlands. No tricks or gimmicks just looked for the cheapest price I could find and called it a day. Too much running in the background to worry further.

We’re planning on taking a train from Inverness to Edinburgh, though that is subject to change as well. Everything depends on the kids!

Final Thoughts

When we traveled with one kid, I’d say she only affected about 60-70% of our decision making. Maybe even less (40%?) once we had gotten used to traveling with her. With two under four, about 95% of our decision making has revolved around them. That’s just life for us now. So we’re flying coach, not worrying about saving every last penny, and thus far, having a great time. Will update with thoughts as we go along!

Apr 07 2016

Hyatt Regency Aruba Report Spa and Casino Impressions

Now that I’m a family man, we’ve been gravitating towards the Caribbean more and more. Shorter flights, nice beaches, and less hassle overall. Last year we visited Turks and Caicos, so we wanted to try a new island this year.

We settled on Aruba partially because of our magically attained Hyatt Diamond status. I really wanted to see what a diamond suite upgrade could get us at the Hyatt Regency Aruba. We also spent two nights in a standard room using award nights from the Hyatt Card. Here are my impressions of the hotel.

Hyatt Regency Aruba — Ready to check in!

Standard Room

While it was a bit tight for the four of us, we really enjoyed the standard room. Our view was whatever but what was really helpful was the ability to push the two beds together. While we did have a crib, it ended up just being easier having the four of us in bed. Two beds together gave us a LOT of space.

Other than that the room was pretty standard. The bathtub was great and perfect for bathing the kids. What stood out the most was when I asked them to clear out the minibar they sent up a separate mini fridge instead! Definitely one of the best amenities I’ve ever received at a hotel. I have to think that is because we were diamond but I don’t know that for sure.

One piece of evidence that it wasn’t because we were diamond was that a very helpful hotel worker named Jose (who was great throughout the entire trip) suggested we get one when he saw us entering our room. He didn’t know we already had one so maybe it’s just something they do there.

Bottom line – the standard room is nice enough that I would definitely go back. Yes, it’s a little small for four, but there still is enough space to make it work. The family suite, though, is even better.

Family Suite

While the standard room was adequate, the family suite was amazing. Our last four nights were booked on points and cash which made us eligible to use a diamond suite upgrade. The extra space made a huge difference since we could use the living room after the kids went to bed (instead of going to sleep at 9 PM with them!). There was plenty of space for the crib and in the family suite it was much easier to get our son to sleep in there because we weren’t five feet away.

There is a queen sized bed and also a sofa bed, so the room would definitely be comfortable even if you had bigger kids. There is a nice hallway where you can leave all your shoes and beach stuff, and we even had a nice view of the pool (albeit through a tiny window).

I’d say the biggest drawback of the family suite for a family with young kids is there was no bathtub. Showering kids can be tough and sometimes a little dangerous, but we made do. All in all we definitely preferred the suite, as you would expect!

Regency Club Lounge

The club lounge at the Hyatt Regency Aruba isn’t fancy, but it makes up for that with incredibly friendly and accommodating staff. Breakfast in the lounge was a decent spread, there were cold cuts, bread, bagels, and the like along with two hot items (usually oatmeal and something else).

The evening cocktail hour featured a decent salad and veggie spread along with another two hot items. Just due to scheduling and overall exhaustion we actually skipped dinner two nights – the food at the lounge was enough to sustain us so that saved us quite a bit of money.

Unlike other Hyatt lounges I’ve been to, the lounge never seemed overly crowded even at breakfast. The staff was amazing. They were always attentive and helpful and probably the highlight of the hotel (not just in the lounge). Also, for parents, the lounge has milk boxes (organic!) for kids, just ask the staff. Those same milk boxes go for like $4 in the hotel store so it’s a big deal!

Pool and Beach

The Hyatt Regency Aruba has three different pools though they are connected in various areas. It’s great having a variety so things never feel old. Though nothing is zoned off, there are parts of the pool that feel more adult oriented (like the swim up bar) and kid oriented (like the super shallow “baby pool”).

There is also a pretty awesome looking water slide that I’d say is great for all ages (if you’re tall enough).

The beach in Aruba isn’t as picturesque as Turks and Caicos but it’s still pretty great. Beach chairs are free but if you want a palapa (kind of permanent hut/umbrella thingies) you need to get there early or use the convenient online sign up system. Basically at 4 PM every day the system opens up and you can reserve palapas or pool umbrellas for the next day.

We never had a problem logging in at 4 PM and finding one, though we also found if we made our way to the beach at like 8 AM there would be some good choices for palapas (not all palapas are on the online system as some are reserved for walk ups). My wife observed that there were much longer lines for beach palapas in the morning at other resorts – maybe they don’t have an online system?

Anyway we had a beach in the morning/pool in the afternoon schedule that worked quite well most days.

Food

Like any beach or island hotel, food was overpriced but decent. Since there are so many resorts in a row we mainly wandered around looking for meals though we took lunch at the pool restaurant and at our beach palapa a few times. Don’t expect anything amazing, healthy, or inexpensive and you will be fine. Neither the cost nor the quality was at a level that made us NOT want to eat at the hotel, if that makes sense. It’s just food.

Casino

Alas, I did not find a way to make it inside, but it looked clean and fun from the outside. I decided if I went in it was a black hole that I might never escape, so self control prevailed.

Final Thoughts

We really loved this hotel and thought it seemed the nicest of all the hotels on Aruba’s main drag. The most mediocre part was the food, which was passable, but the pool, beach, and room were good. The staff was definitely top notch and this hotel would be at the top of our list if we ever were to return to Aruba!

Mar 14 2016

Daring to Disney: Things I wished I knew before I went to Disney

For someone who hadn’t been to Disney in a long time, the trip seemed daunting. So much has changed since I was a kid and of course I wasn’t planning the trips then. People fill literal books with all the things there are to know about Disney. Over the course of our week in Disney, I picked up some things that I thought might have been useful to know or better understand before I went. What better way to end this mega trip report than to share what you need to know before visiting Disney World? This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s my list. I’d love to hear what others wished they had known before they went to Disney, so drop some tips in the comments if you have them!

1) If you’re not using magic bands, your ticket cards are linked to your name

When I received my ticket cards in the mail, they looked like this.

So you’ll understand that I thought any card could be used for any person in my party. You assign tickets to people on My Disney Experience, but since there was no clear indication on the letter whose card was whose, I figured as long as I sorted out who got the 7 day and 6 day passes it wouldn’t matter.

Turns out it does matter. We found out towards the end of our trip that I had been using my wife’s ticket and vice versa the whole week. This caused us some hassle that isn’t worth going into, but this is something I wish I had known beforehand. I couldn’t find anything online about how to find whose ticket is whose but I think you can call Disney and give them the card numbers and they can tell you. Obviously if you have magic bands this won’t be a problem. That leads me to the second thing I had no idea about before I got to Disney.

2) Your ticket is matched with your fingerprint at park entrances

I did quite a bit of research before we went, so I’d say this is the one and only obvious thing that really caught me by surprise. Tickets are matched to people’s fingerprints! When you enter, you tap your ticket or magic band against an RFID reader and then you put your index finger in a fingerprint reader. This is double checked every time you enter the park so you can’t borrow your mom’s ticket to park hop one day or anything like that (not that I tried :P).

Disney says they aren’t storing your fingerprint information, apparently they convert your fingerprint into a unique digital number that is linked to your ticket. Which…sure sounds like they are storing your fingerprint information, at least for the duration of your visit! (If they can convert from your print => number how hard can it be to go the opposite direction, even if they don’t have the tech for it yet they could probably work that up really quickly if they wanted to I’m guessing).

Also, if you have a “bad” fingerprint, like my wife, be prepared to have your ID checked from time to time. She was ultimately taught the tip to rub her fingerprint on her jeans before the check, which worked out most of the time.

3) You can upgrade your ticket as long as you have at least one day left on the ticket

This ID stuff really matters because you can upgrade your ticket at any time you’d like, applying the value of the old ticket to the cost of the new one. That means if you have a day left on a three day ticket you can upgrade that to a seven day ticket with park hopper or even an annual pass as long as you haven’t swiped in on your last day. This can be very useful when you come to big realizations such as “Hmm an annual pass is better value than my 7 day park hopper.“

Now I’m not sure how upgrading tickets will work if you bought a ticket under the old prices, but at the very least you can apply the cash value of your old ticket to any upgrades to new prices. Disney expert Haley said that traditionally Disney has honored old prices when upgrading old tickets but YMMV.

4) Baby Care Centers can be very useful

If you’re traveling with infants or toddlers, Disney’s dedicated Baby Care Centers can be a lifesaver. Whether you forgot supplies, need a place to change a diaper and nurse, or just need some peace and quiet, the Baby Care Centers are there for you. They are also conveniently located next to the First Aid Centers which I’ve also heard great things about. There is one Baby Care Center located in each park, so make sure you know where it is before you get there!

5) You can get a pin at Guest Relations for special occassions

If you’re celebrating anything: honeymoon, birthday, anniversary, first time visit, you name it, you can get a special pin at Guest Relations (the ticket booth). These pins cue cast members into the fact that you’re celebrating and they are generally nicer to you (and they’re already pretty nice). Plus, you get to take it home as a keepsake yada yada yada. Maybe not so special for a 30 year old, but you bet it’s something that a 3 year old would cherish.

6) If someone in your party has an annual pass you can skip the Memory Maker

I haven’t confirmed this, but I’m pretty sure this would work. If you have an annual pass you get free access to photopass photos linked to your account. The difference between that and Memory Maker (Disney’s ~$170 catch all photo service) is that Memory Maker allows you to add all your family and friends’ photos. As an aside, for a good debate on the merits of Memory Maker Leslie has a nice post.

Anyway, if someone in your party has an annual pass, just make sure you grab the Photopass tickets from each photographer you get tickets from. Then you can add those Photopass IDs to the annual passholder’s account and you should be able to download all those photos. I didn’t find anything against this in the terms and conditions or anywhere so it should work just fine.

7) Row #s in the parking lot are unique, regardless of lot name

This might only work for more number oriented people, but it saved me a ton of headaches once I figured it out. While each parking lot is divided up into sections (Scar, Hook, Aladdin, etc.), if you have trouble remembering the name of your section just remember the number of your row. All row numbers are unique and as long as you know that you can find your car.

This is probably one of those things that only applies to me, but once I figured that out I never had trouble figuring out my car. It also got Jess and I to stop arguing whether we were in Scar or Hook or wherever – the lot is so enormous I got easily confused. What can I say, I’m a simpleton. Regardless, Row # is all you need!

Bonus: Some rider switch tickets are good for longer than one day

If that’s the case (I didn’t get enough evidence but I feel like it is), you can store them up and have one magical day without your kids!

Final Thoughts

I learned a ton on the trip to Disney and had lots of fun. My daughter and I are ready to go back ASAP, just gotta wait for the right time to trick mom into going! 🙂 Hopefully this series is helpful for anyone trying to prep a trip. If not, I hope it at least made you want to go to WDW!

Other Posts in this Series

Flights, Hotel, and Car

Making Disney Dining Reservations

Saving Money on Disney Tickets

Using Touring Plans (the non-touring plan parts)

Optimizing a visit using Touring Plans’ touring plans

Saving money by staying off site

When a Disney annual pass makes sense

Touring Epcot attractions with a toddler

Touring Animal Kingdom with a toddler

One perfect day at the Magic Kingdom

Dining Reviews

Tips for parents of toddlers and infants

Things I wished I knew before I went to Disney

Mar 01 2016

Daring to Disney: Tips for parents of toddlers and infants

When I started this series, I talked about how there is so much to absorb when going to Disney and that I was looking forward to figuring things out. As a parent of a toddler and an infant, over the course of the week we learned some things that I thought might be useful for parents of young children going to Disney. Hopefully you can learn something new like I did from these Disney tips for parents of toddlers and infants!

Kids under 3 are free

With the news of the ticket price increase on Sunday, here’s your friendly reminder for what you should already know: kids under three don’t pay anything to go into the parks. I’m not sure if this information is outdated, but if you’re staying on site and your child is 2 at check in apparently their park visits are free for the length of stay. Anyway, I was happy getting M into the park before she turned 3, and she had a blast. So if you think under 3 is too young, you have at least one data point that says otherwise!

There are nursing centers in every park

If you’re traveling with an infant and need to breast feed (or just someplace quiet), every Disney park has a nursing center. We found that they vary in quality (and they all have different types of chairs for feeding, if you’re worried about that sort of thing). When we were there, we never had to wait, found the areas to be clean and comfortable, and really appreciated having a quiet place for Jess to feed H. I even planned our days around being near the nursing center at the right times. While there are other good places to feed in the park, it’s good to know there is always some place to fall back on.

The changing tables in the nursing centers are probably cleaner than your house (disposable liners)

Disney’s kindness towards kids is meant to be taken advantage of

It’s pretty tough to describe how nice and thoughtful Disney cast members are towards kids, especially little ones. They are pretty nice and thoughtful to all humans but they seem to go out of their way to make kids feel special.

I specifically wrote “to be taken advantage of” because the way I was raised and am wired, I generally either am cynical about people’s intentions or avoid feeling awkward when people are extra nice to me. Well, Disney is not the place to be that kind of curmudgeon.

If your child (or anyone in your party) is celebrating something special like a birthday, you can get a pin from the ticket center. Then that person will get treated even better throughout the entire trip. Characters are super friendly – EXTRA friendly – towards kids. Yes, they are all acting but when you have a toddler it is real to them. Let them experience and enjoy the magic and go out of your way to let that happen. M still sings happy birthday 5 out of 7 days a week reminiscing about when Mickey sang it to her.

Be flexible with naps, but go in with a plan

Everyone knows that overstimulated toddlers are the bane of every parent’s existence. Since Disney World likely be the most exciting experience of a young toddler’s life, they will probably never want to sleep. And of course since they are so overstimulated they will get tired even faster.

Obviously every toddler is different and you know their schedule. The general recommendation is go home after lunch and go back to the park at night, which mostly works. But be flexible – we made game time decisions on stroller naps, on not returning to the parks, etc. etc.

Really the whole sleep situation will be in flux on your trip especially if you are trying to do a night in the park. My suggestion? Consider the entirety of your trip when planning out naps. Negotiate some stroller naps, some return naps, etc. etc. with your toddler. Build in days to sleep in, days to stay out late, etc. Then be prepared to roll with the punches when your whole plan goes to crap!

Don’t bother with FastPass+ for the rides your toddler will enjoy

If you have a normal toddler, they probably wake up pretty early. What that means is you should be able to rope drop with them – get into the park before park opening (even 8:55 is good enough).

Wow...this ride is so empty at 9:15 AM — Wow…this ride is so empty at 9:15 AM

At that time of day the rides your child will want to go on are wide open. If you get into the park at 8:55, for example, you can go Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, Tomorrowland Speedway, Astro Orbiter, and Buzz Lightyear all before 10:00 with little to no lines. We managed that with no issue on our first day in the Magic Kingdom (on Touring Plans the crowd was assessed as an 8/10 that day so it’s not like the park was empty).

Name a toddler ride (I’m assuming your less than 3 year old is too short to ride any of the roller coasters) – you can probably get on it with a pretty short line all the way up to 11:00, aka close to your child’s lunch time. If you are in the Magic Kingdom multiple days and get there at 9:00 each day you will not miss a single ride your toddler wants to go on.

The Astro Orbiter has long lines most of the day, but not before 10 AM!

The only toddler ride I think really needs a FP+ is Peter Pan. That ride has crazy wait times all day, though if you get there before 10:00 I think you’ll be fine anyway. Buzz Lightyear and Enchanted Tales with Belle might warrant FP+ every once in awhile, but other than that if you’re getting into the park early you should be good.

If you only have like, one day in the Magic Kingdom, then consider using your FP+ in the afternoon for toddler rides if you must, but even then you’ll probably be okay. Or you can FP+ in the afternoon and take your toddler on the rides for a second time (if you didn’t already loop in the morning, which you’ll have time to do with the line situation!). We found we rarely used that fourth FP+ for rides for our kids – after 5:00 PM a lot of the little ones have already cleared out. A better use for FP+?

Use FastPass+ in conjunction with rider switch to create the greatest date night ever

If you can find a babysitter, this is what you do:

FP+ Seven Dwarves Mine Train and two other height restricted rides (Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, etc.).
Walk with your child and spouse to the ride. At the FP+ desk, ask for a “rider switch”, they will give you this big placard to put around your neck.
Send spouse 1 on the ride, when they get to the front of the line you will exchange the placard for a rider switch ticket – good for a FP entrance to that ride for any THREE people.
Send spouse 2 to the closest toddler ride nearby, you should be done at the same time if its early enough in the morning
Rinse and repeat until you have three rider switches in hand
Find a FP+ kiosk and add a reservation for something like Pirates of the Caribbean of Haunted Mansion (or a fourth coaster if you can swing it)
Abandon your children at 5:30 PM
Arrive at park by 6:30 PM
RIDE RIDE RIDE RIDE RIDE! NO LINES WITH YOUR RIDER SWITCH PASSES!
Watch parade and fireworks, go home happy

Rider switch placard (you need to take it with you to the front of the line)

One added note: the rider switch passes we were given in early January said they were good until the end of January. This was true for both Space Mountain and Rolling Thunder. Man, if that’s the case and you are at Disney for a week or something, you can build up rider switch passes all week and then go INSANE one night. WHEE!

Rider switch ticket (you need it to cut the line and get back on later. Note expiration, ticket was received on 1/11/16)

(In case you’re not totally familiar with rider switch, feel free to read this primer by Leslie. It’s about Disneyland but the concept is exactly the same. But really all you have to do is drag your kid to the place where the line starts, blurt out “rider switch”, and then watch as magic happens).

There are plenty of eating options, both healthy and unhealthy

There is not much to add to this statement, but we never really were wanting for healthy options for our daughter when we felt like she really needed them. That’s important when planning a trip.

Budget extra time for character meet and greets, or just make dining reservations

This one really surprised me. As I have stated elsewhere, M got obsessed with meeting like everyone. That meant I had to pivot mid-trip to start making our plans revolve around meeting the most characters in the least amount of time.

Make sure you set clear expectations and hold up your end of the bargain. Dining reservations are a great way to kill two birds with one stone, and they are plentiful. Watching toddlers meet characters is wonderful, since like I said before, they think everything is real.

Just do it

Is it worth it to take a young toddler “who will never remember the trip?” H to the yes. That doesn’t just apply to Disney World, but it does apply doubly for that magical world of wonder. I also have a child who is living proof that they do remember, at least for awhile! And pictures do a great job of filling in the gaps. So my last bit of advice? If you’re thinking about it, just go!

Other Posts in this Series

Flights, Hotel, and Car

Making Disney Dining Reservations

Saving Money on Disney Tickets

Using Touring Plans (the non-touring plan parts)

Optimizing a visit using Touring Plans’ touring plans

Saving money by staying off site

When a Disney annual pass makes sense

Touring Epcot attractions with a toddler

Touring Animal Kingdom with a toddler

One perfect day at the Magic Kingdom

Dining Reviews

Tips for parents of toddlers and infants

Things I wished I knew before I went to Disney

Feb 23 2016

Daring to Disney: Dining Reviews

180 days before our trip, I made some advanced dining reservations (ADRs). Out of those, I kept Via Napoli, Biergarten, Chef Mickey’s, Be Our Guest (lunch), and I made a new reservation for the Coral Reef restaurant. I ended up canceling Le Cellier just because Jess and I didn’t want to spend half of our date night at Epcot at dinner.

Just as a refresher, Disney allows you to make ADRs at most of their sit down restaurants up to 180 days in advance. If you are staying on site, you can book for your entire trip 180 days before the first day of your trip. Here are my impressions of the five places we hit up with reservations in chronological order, and a few thoughts on some of our favorite counter service experiences at the parks as well.

She pretty much faced that direction the entire time

Coral Reef Restaurant (Epcot)

Located outside of The Seas with Nemo and Friends, the Coral Reef restaurant is essentially what you would expect if you were dining in an aquarium. Seating is set up across four levels, all with views of the gigantic ocean tank of The Seas. You’re definitely making this reservation for the view, not for the food – which is passable but nothing spectacular. We arrived at our 5:30 PM reservation to find the restaurant already quite full. We were seated on the second level – I wonder how early you have to get there (or who you have to know) to get seated at the tables right up against the glass. Still, we had an amazing view and M spent most of the time staring at fish and sharks instead of eating.

IMG_20160105_181551973

The food is general seafood fare, portions are decent, and if you or your kid likes eating fish everything will be fine. M doesn’t really order from the kids’ menu so I can’t speak to that, though you pretty much can get chicken fingers anywhere you want in Walt Disney World. I thought this was a nice restaurant for the view, but if you’re pinching pennies or not into aquariums this is definitely an easy place to cut off of your list in my opinion.

Biergarten (Germany Pavilion, Epcot)

Ever since we visited Bavaria two summers ago, I’ve been craving some good schnitzel. I figured the Biergarten in the Germany pavilion would have some decent German fare, plus I was interested in checking out the musical performance. The Biergarten was a bit of a mixed bag, I really enjoyed it but my wife and parents were a bit cooler on the whole thing. It is a buffet and thus it can feel pricey (about $30 for adults for lunch), but think of it as paying for the show as well.

Speaking of which, the show only happens at certain times – pretty regularly but if you are scheduling around a naptime or don’t think your kid can sit for forty five minutes to wait, make sure you note those times. (I want to say they happened on the :45s, but don’t quote me on that. I’m pretty sure the show we saw was at 12:45 because we had a 12:00 reservation and I was like how are we gonna kill 45 minutes).

I thought the food was great – fried schnitzel, sausages, and spatzle are enough for me! Soft drinks are included, though you have to pay extra for beer – I got a flight and was quite pleased (maybe that’s why I enjoyed it the most?). Everyone agreed – the show is great, there’s a lot of fun to be had plus they showcase some unique instruments like gigantic horns that stretch from the stage to the floor that keeps things light and fun. Plus M got to hit the dancefloor at the end which is always a plus. You’ve also got the added benefit that the Germany pavilion is further inside World Showcase so you can work off the calories on your way back to Future World!

Via Napoli (Italy Pavilion, Epcot)

While I wasn’t blown away by those first two restaurants, I’d have to say that Via Napoli might be one of the best restaurants on all of Disney property. Good pizza? Check. Good pasta? Check. Low price? Check in spades. The great thing about Via Napoli is you are ordering pizzas to share, so while they still run on the expensive side (like $30), two pizzas for four people at $60 is way cheaper than four $25 entrees at other restaurants.

We were so excited about eating the pizza I forgot to take a picture before we started

We ordered the Candele pasta and a Mezzo Metro sized pizza ($41, supposed to feed 3-5 people). Add a salad and it was plenty of food for all of us and our cheapest non counter meal in all of Disney. What makes this all even better is that the pizza is excellent and the pasta was very good as well. Generally the food at Disney felt marked up, but it felt like average food marked up to the prices of excellent food. This was excellent food marked up to excellent food prices, and it still was cheaper than everywhere else. Make a reservation for Via Napoli 180 days in advance and ENJOY.

The Italy pavilion is beautiful at night

Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom)

Be Our Guest gives you the chance to eat in the Beast’s castle. This is another restaurant worth the reservation with an added benefit: at lunchtime it’s counter service so the prices are only a little higher than you’d pay to eat anywhere else in the park. After you order, you are given a “magic beacon” of sorts and then your food magically appears 5-10 minutes later. Think of it as the most beautiful cafeteria you’ve ever eaten in. There are three distinct rooms – each with their own themeing and feel. We ate in the ballroom so that we could take in the Christmas tree that was still up.

The fanciest cafeteria I've ever eaten in — The fanciest cafeteria I’ve ever eaten in

If you have a reservation, one super clutch thing you can do is order online beforehand. This gets you past the lines to order at the counter (and your reservation gets you past the line to get in). So you’re basically going straight to your seats and waiting for your food. You can also amend/add to this order when you’re paying, so I’d highly recommend it.

Croque Monsieur = fancy grilled cheese. Though I'm not sure if they forgot the bechamel or what... — Croque Monsieur = fancy grilled cheese. Though I’m not sure if they forgot the bechamel or what…

I thought the food was a notch better than regular park counter food – it’s all French themed. French onion soup, croque monsieur, coq au vin, that kind of stuff. We all thoroughly enjoyed our food. Dinner is an even hotter ticket, as the restaurant transforms into a sit down restaurant – see Tiny Urban Kitchen’s review for that (and better pictures!).

More visual trickery from the Imagineers

Chef Mickey’s (Contemporary Hotel)

We saved our best ADR for last. I wrote about Chef Mickey’s in my last post, so I won’t go into it too much here. But I had a super happy three year old and I had eaten three Mickey waffles and like 15 chicken fingers by the end of it so I’d say it was a rousing success all around. The one downside is you don’t get to spend too much time with the characters, but it makes up for lack of depth with tons of breadth, plus in our experience they were fairly nice about taking extra pictures later on anyway (some of our original pictures got washed out from bad sunlight).

Counter Service restaurants worth mentioning

Here are a couple of counter service highlights we had.

Columbia Harbor House

One of the best options for healthy-ish food in the Magic Kingdom. You can get grilled salmon with a ton of broccoli to help balance out all the french fries and chicken finger you’ve been eating. There were also serving a pretty sweet looking seafood (lobster?) macaroni and cheese when we were there if you’re not feeling healthy. I took my wife on a date there Friday night and then took my daughter on a date there the night after – both enjoyed it!

Harambe Market

Flame Tree Barbecue is supposedly the place to go in the Animal Kingdom and I totally buy that. But for shorter lines, check out Harambe Market in Africa. The themeing really was top notch (apparently Dia’s talked to the people behind it) and there was a good variety of food to choose from. I’d say the only thing to avoid are the corn dogs, there were two Spaniards who bought some and didn’t seem too pleased, haha.

L’Artisan des Glaces

Really, it’s tough to go wrong across the entire World Showcase, it will pretty much have something to suit your tastes if you just poke around. I want to give a special shout out to L’Artisan des Glaces though. We love eating ice cream and the ice cream there was top notch. Jess and I stole away thirty minutes when the kids were napping to go enjoy this place one afternoon and we ended up going back on another day. I will just leave you to think upon these pictures of the Croque Glace – any flavor of ice cream in a warm brioche bun.

IMG_7379-COLLAGE

Final Thoughts

Obviously, it would take months to review all the Disney food out there, so take everything I said here with a grain of salt, PUN INTENDED. I would say from my experience and what I’ve read though, I am quite confident in recommending Via Napoli and Be Our Guest. Also – Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. Bon appetit!

Other Posts in this Series

Flights, Hotel, and Car

Making Disney Dining Reservations

Saving Money on Disney Tickets

Using Touring Plans (the non-touring plan parts)

Optimizing a visit using Touring Plans’ touring plans

Saving money by staying off site

When a Disney annual pass makes sense

Touring Epcot attractions with a toddler

Touring Animal Kingdom with a toddler

One perfect day at the Magic Kingdom

Dining Reviews