If you listened to Episode 129 of the Podcast you heard all about Amanda & Kevin’s amazing Walt Disney World wedding. Check out some of the details in the post below to see some of the things we talked about!
Ceremony:
Reception (slideshow):
And my personal favorite (because… WOW!!) the in park portrait session, click to enlarge:
Ever since I heard of it’s opening in late 2015 I have been dying to get to Disney Springs’ The Ganachery. This is more than just a chocolate shop, it’s a decadent chocolate experience. The Ganachery is a small shop, but packed full of awesome. As soon as you enter you are able to see the chocolatiers creating magic in the kitchen through a giant show window, working on each of the 16 flavors offered here.
Experienced employees wait behind the counter to help you narrow down your choices in chocolate. I decided to go with a box of 6 of the ganache collection, for a cost of $15. There are also boxes of nine for $21, boxes of twelve for $27, boxes of sixteen for $36 or individual pieces of ganache for $3 each. When I was there a few of the chocolate choices were: Chipotle Pepper, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Cinnamon Apple, Egyptian Sea Salt, Caramel, Passion Fruit, Raspberry, Gianduja (hazlenut), Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Vanilla, Peanut Butter and 65% Dark.
Each bite of chocolate was more amazing than the last, but I think my favorite was the Egyptian sea salt! I can’t wait to go back to the Ganachery and try more flavors.
Have you been to The Ganachery? What did you try and what did you think? We’d love to hear!
For our November Dole Whippies girl trip kickoff we started with dinner at one of the newer Disney Springs restaurants. We’d heard a little of the buzz of Morimoto (including from Tara, who’d been lucky enough to try it this past summer!) but were excited to try it ourselves. Morimoto is Japanese master chef Masaharu Morimoto’s first pan-Asian (Japanese, Chinese and Korean) cuisine restaurant featuring open kitchens and 20 foot chandeliers in the 2 story dining room. From the menu you can choose from sushi, dim sum, different meats, noodles/rice, and vegetables. For dinner we each got something of our own, and a few things to share. Here’s our take on the food from Morimoto!
Jamie: I ordered the Kanikama Rangoon- krab meat and cream cheese spring roll, apricot sweet chili sauce. These were like crab rangoon but in a spring roll. They were really good, but the sauce was even better! I could have eaten that sauce on everything. I also shared the Pad Thai (sweet tamarind sauce, stir-fried flat rice noodles, egg, bean sprout, scallion, fried tofu, pickled turnip) with Shannon and it was pretty good. The tofu in it was much better than I expected it to be! Overall I thought the meal was great, and a very good way to kick off our trip!
Jillian: I started with the chicken dumplings, something I will usually order at Chinese restaurants and there were great! Better than your average, but not out of this world. I also had the spicy tuna sushi roll. This was really good! My only wish it that I had ordered two! These are easy to share or have as an appetizer! I really enjoyed this meal! It is a great addition to Disney Springs.
Shannon: I ordered the vegetable Pad Thai. It was delicious! Not the best Pad Thai, I’ve had, but very very good. I am not a fan of tofu in general, but as Jamie said, the tofu in this dish was very enjoyable.
I had wanted an order of egg rolls for an appetizer, but sadly, they were all out for the day. Our server said they make the egg rolls fresh in house and they only make a certain amount per day.
Overall, I thought this restaurant was pretty good. Maybe a bit on the expensive side and not necessarily somewhere I would take my passel of kids, but a good date night place.
Tara: Morimoto is a good option for Disney Springs. This was my second visit there in the past few months and both times found it good. I will say this trip the food was yummy and I enjoyed the food more this visit but the service could have been better. I think this was a one server issue though and not a restaurant issue. I was disappointed they were out of all egg rolls (I mean this is an Asian restaurant in the US – I would think egg rolls would be a staple!) I did have yummy sesame balls though and lived them. I give it overall a solid B.
This September I was lucky enough to stay in a recently refurbished one bedroom villa at Disney’s Beach Club Villas. If you’ve followed any of my room reviews before, my family tends to like their space in hotel rooms, meaning we seek rooms that are different from the standard 2 queen beds. From the family suites at Disney’s Art of Animation to the cottage suites at Disney’s Boardwalk we’ve tried some amazing alternative rooms at different Disney resorts and have loved them all. But Beach Club was something truly special!
The bathroom in this one bedroom consisted of 3 separate areas: a toilet behind a door, an area that held the tub and a sink/mirror combination, then the third area where the glass door shower and a second sink/mirror set was. I loved this area, so several people could be getting ready for the day at once. And that tub was perfect for the little one’s bath! If we’d had more time in this room I may have just taken a bath in here myself too.
Another great thing about these one bedroom villas is how they truly feel like home. The sitting area has a comfy couch, chairs and large screen TV and a table and chairs for meals just like at home.
From a full size fridge to a stove, dishwasher and all the cooking utensils and silverware you might need, these kitchens are perfect for those who’d like to eat some meals at “home” while on vacation.
Some other major benefits to staying at the Beach Club were the super comfy queen bed in the bedroom (plus more than enough room for the pack and play we used for my daughter), the location (all that entertainment on the boardwalk!) and access to the amazing Stormalong Bay pool shared by the Beach and Yacht Clubs. That pool is worth the price of admission alone, friends!
Today’s blog post is going to be a little different! You’re going to “hear” from my 16 month old daughter about her vacation on the Disney Dream. The best parts of our trip, from a baby’s perspective. Enjoy!
Stateroom: My mom sprang for a room with a verandah! Let me tell you, this thing is great. There’s not a whole lot I enjoyed more than sitting on the verandah with my apple juice early in the morning in my jammies, watching the water and feeling the ocean breeze in my hair. Opening and closing the balcony door over and over was a pretty fun game too. Disney gave my mom a pack and play for me to sleep in (I saw her queen bed and I have to say… mine was fine, but hers was better) and a diaper genie to dispose of the dirty diapers. There was a curtain that separated my sleeping space from mom’s so that my room could be nice and quiet and dark, just how I like it. I even slept in a few mornings! Figured it was the least I could do for my mom as a thanks for the trip. I’m a great daughter!
Food: A+. My dinner server Andre kept the cookies coming (once I was finished with my dinner, of course!) I have a dairy allergy and they were very careful to make sure I didn’t get sick. Some of my favorites were the whole wheat penne pasta with red sauce that made a fantastic mess, the grilled chicken skewer with sweet potatoes, and cheese-free pizza! There was a high chair waiting in my spot each night, and a fresh cup of water with my name right on it. Talk about service! For breakfast I sampled a bit of everything from the buffet including: cereal, Mickey waffles, pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs (my favorite!), hash browns, yogurt, and LOTS of fruit. One day we even got room service and I ate my hot dog and french fries right there in our room!
Activities: When we first got on the ship there was a small sheet waiting in our stateroom that said “Toddler Activities”. How did they know?! It was full of things tailored just to my interests. My very favorite thing to do on the ship was play in Nemo’s Reef. As I’m not yet potty trained (no judging please!) I’m not able to use the pools on the ship. At first I was a little sad, but then we went to Nemo’s Reef. This is WAY better than a pool! I spent so much time here while mom and Nana took turns enjoying fruity “grownup” drinks that they wouldn’t share with me. As a bonus, it was located right next to the Cabanas buffet, so when I was done playing and needed to replenish all that energy burned I could just pop over and have my mom get me some french fries (my favorite).
Ship: This is one big ship. The first day my mom let me walk everywhere, it was great! I even climbed the stairs when the elevators were very busy. After the first day, I realized this walking thing was a lot of work and I needed to conserve my energy for making trouble. After that I let my mom carry me around. I did quite enjoy pushing the buttons on the elevator though!
Castaway Cay: My favorite! I know what my mom means now when she says she’s going to her “happy place”! After getting off the ship and taking a tram to the beach my mom was able to snag one of the complimentary wagons available at Castaway Cay for me to sit in with all the stuff I needed for a successful day at the beach. The sand was perfect for digging, the water was bathtub temp and I got a kick out of the little fish swimming all around my feet! I could have spent all day there. Well, until nap time at least. And I did!
it’s a small world nursery: Horrible, will never return. My mom isn’t allowed to have any fun without me. Ever. (Editor/Mom’s Note: it’s a small world is staffed by some of the sweetest and most patient caregivers on the ship. They were able to calm my dramatic high needs child long enough for me to enjoy a lovely brunch at Palo, with smiles on their faces. The children in the nursery looked like they were having so much fun! Fiona is just a little… difficult 😉 )
There you have it folks, Fiona’s review of the Disney Dream! Do you have a baby that has sailed the Dream or another Disney ship? We’d love to hear what they thought of it too!
As I prepare for my young daughter’s first cruise I thought it might be helpful to talk through some of the ways I’ve tried to get ready for sailing with a baby! Anyone who has traveled with a baby knows it’s not easy, but something tells me all this preparation will be very much worth it in the end.
Have fun! If you go into your Disney Cruise knowing there’s no way you can be prepared for all situations your baby is going to throw at you, you’re going to have a great time. What could be better!
We’ve talked about Castaway Cay excursions for the adventurous, but what about those of us who’d rather take it easy on Disney’s private island? Well we’ve got you covered there too!
This is Part 7 of a 10 part series on the Disney Magic Mediterranean/Greek Isles cruise. For links to the rest of the trip report please visit here!
Today was our last Greek port day! Sad, but Mykonos really let us end this portion of our trip with a bang. What an amazing place! Unfortunately because of the long distance the ship had to travel back to Venice we had a short all aboard time of 2:45pm, but we still made the best of our time in Mykonos.
A quick Cabanas breakfast, as had become tradition, before we headed off the ship:
Can I just say? Those Mickey waffles with whipped cream and strawberries are completely addictive. Months later and I’m still dreaming of them!
After debarking the ship we were greeted by free buses (provided by Disney Cruise Line) into town. It was possible to walk that distance, but there isn’t a great sidewalk (or any sidewalk at some point) and we knew we’d be spending most of our time in Mykonos exploring so we absolutely availed ourselves of this service!
Once in town we decided to make our way towards the famous Mykonos windmills, the one thing I desperately wanted to see there. There were plenty of other things to see on the way!
Gorgeous church:
Church of Panagia Paraportiani
First view of the windmills!
I was blown away!
After hanging out by the windmills for a while we decided to walk through the streets of Mykonos and do some shopping. Even the streets here are just photo book picture perfect. See?!
And then grab some authentic Greek lunch food:
The view from our lunch spot:
VERY yummy! When we were finished it was very sadly time to head back to the ship for all aboard 😦
The same buses that took us in to town brought us back to the ship
We had a great view of the ship from the bus!
Luckily for us, we had a great way to distract ourselves from the sadness of leaving Mykonos and that was a tequila tasting! This tasting was held in Keys, and it was so much fun!
We were able to taste 3 different types of tequila and two different margaritas. We also learned about how the different amounts of sugar in each drink change the way the alcohol is metabolized and the best way to avoid a hangover 😉 This class was a TON of fun and I highly recommend trying to attend one if you can!
After class we were a little tipsy and a lot hungry so we thought room service might be a good idea. It wasn’t. Sadly the room service food wasn’t very good, and when I sail again I’ll probably only utilize it for Mickey bars 😉
It ended up being a good thing we didn’t enjoy our room service because dinner came up faster than we thought! Tonight was Pirate night and we were headed to Carioca’s! Brent borrowed a parrot from one of our awesome tablemates for his Pirate Night decor.
Pirate Golden “Pot Stickers” Oriental Pork “Dimplings” deep fried and served with a Tamarind-Ginger Soy Sauce and Pickled Vegetables:
Jerk Chicken Salad
Jack Sparrow’s BBQ Marinated Beef Short Ribs: rubbed Beef Short Ribs with Tamarind-Barbeque Sauce served with Onion Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes and Plantain Chip
The Dutchmen’s Dijon Crusted Sirloin of Beef: thick cut of Beef with Oven-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and a Black Spot Tomato , with a deep Red Wine Glaze
Sweet Temptations: A trio of Bounty Fruit Cobbler, Chocolate Cake and Coconut Cream Treasure:
Rum Soaked Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Glaze and Whipped Cream
It was fun to see our dining team doing the pirate show!
They did try to get us involved with the limbo but I was so not into it. Party pooper, I know, but I was full from such a good dinner!
We were greeted in our room tonight by a monkey! Then it was off to bed looking forward to a relaxing Day at Sea tomorrow!
This is Part 6 of a 10 part series on the Disney Magic Mediterranean/Greek Isles cruise. For links to the rest of the trip report please visit here!
Today was another one of my favorite days! I feel like I say that every day of this trip report because, really, it just kept getting better and better. Today is mostly going to be a photo overview. Old Town Rhodes is breathtakingly gorgeous so Brent and I really just wandered around taking photos in awe.
We did not have any excursions planned this day, so we slept in a little! It was probably close to 11:00 by the time we got off the boat, after having our typical breakfast at Cabanas. If I could go back in time I’d have had a sit down breakfast this morning! Not sure why we didn’t think of it before, and I regret that I missed doing so on our trip.
The view from our room, you can see the ship was “parked” right next to an old tower!
The port security building. I always got a kick out of seeing signs in Greek. Guess I’m easy to please 😉
Rhodes is a walled and gated city, so we walked along the road until we found a gate to enter:
The Mediterranean Sea!
Inside the city, we spotted some Mickey ears!
The view was breathtaking:
The inside of Rhodes Old Town was a mix of modern and ancient. All modern shops, surrounded by the ancient architecture!
We decided to climb one of the towers, to get a better view of the sea:
These are the stairs we used to get up to and down from the tower. I was terrified! No hand rails.
We found a small cafe to sit at and enjoy a drink. I got a soda but my husband, well… he got a giant boot of beer. I think it was 2 liters, so a soda bottle’s worth of beer. I don’t know how he did it!
Following the giant glass of beer I had to gently steer my husband back to the ship. At least the view was still pretty!
The drink stations were set up inside the ship again:
More reading and watching sail away from our balcony on the ship, before dinner:
Soon it was time to get dressed for dinner! Tonight we ate at Lumiere’s, and the menu was the Mediterranean menu.
Spanish Melon Cup: soaked in a Moscatel Wine and fresh Mint:
Tapas, Taste of the Mediterranean: Proscuitto, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Marinated Olives, and Parmesan Cheese with Grissini Stick:
Battered Soft Shell Crab: with wilted Spinach and spicy Tomato Basil Vinaigrette:
“St. Sebastian” Pan-seared Chicken Breast: topped with sliced Tomatoes and Emmentaler Cheese Gratinee on creamy Orichette Pasta
Sweet Temptations: A trio of Flourless Chocolate Cake, Kahlua Cheesecake, and Black Currant Napoleon:
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Contreau and Orange Compote:
Another day over! Back to our stateroom and to bed in preparation for our last port day tomorrow, Mykonos Greece!
Dole Whipped 