Star Wars Weekends

(Article found on chipandco.com)

2013 Dates Revealed for Star Wars Weekends at Disney Hollywood Studios

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2012   ALJON   0 COMMENTS

Gear up fanboys and fangirls for the triumphant return of Star Wars Weekends! Disney Parks just released the dates for set for every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 17 – June 9 2013!

The celebrity guests who make appearances in parades, special programs and autograph signings have not been announced at press time however Disney has named two stars who will be there during the event’s duration. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” voice actors James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano) are scheduled to return as celebrity hosts. Taylor will be the official emcee while Eckstein will reprise her role as host of “Behind the Force,” a live show that takes fans behind-the-scenes in the Star Wars universe.

2013′s Star Wars Weekends may be the biggest one yet with Disney’s recent acquisition of Lucasfilm and the announcement of new Star Wars Episode VII. Be sure to check back for more announcements regarding the various stars and special events taking place at this year’s Star Wars Weekends! May the Force be with you!

Disney Buttons

I found this article on Chip & Co (chipandco.com). I love getting the buttons. They make you feel a little extra special. 

One of the most popular pieces of advice given by savvy Disney travelers is to get your “Disney Button” .  You may ask what could possibly make you want to look like you work for a restaurant chain while visiting Disney?  Well, Disney is its own little “World” and wearing Disney Buttons and Mickey Ears on your head are all OK.  So here is the dish on Disney World Buttons.

What are they?

Well, they are a 3 inch round button provided by Disney at no charge to you.  They promote different occasions you might have come to Disney to celebrate.   Currently there are buttons available for the following:

• First Visit (Can be personalized)
• Happy Birthday or Feliz Cumpleanos (Can be personalized)
• Happy Anniversary
• Just Married
• Just Engaged
• Family Reunion
• Generic “I’m Celebrating”

More info after the jump…

Where do I get one?

• If you’ve notated your special occasion on your resort reservation its likely they will have ready for you when you check in.  If not, ask at the concierge desk and they will make up a button for you.
• Guest Services at Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios or Epcot.
• City Hall at the Magic Kingdom

What do I get with my button?

A little extra pixie dust is all I tell everyone to expect.  Everything after that is a bonus!  Cast Members will go out of their way to wish you a “Happy Birthday” or other occasion when they notice your button.  Here are some other perks we’ve gotten over the years:

• The button itself makes a cool souvenir, make sure they redo the writing as you finish your trip.  It can get a little rough-looking after a few days.
• A special dessert (cupcake, ice cream, etc.) at a table service meal.
• Signed birthday cards from the characters at a character meal.
• Stickers handed out randomly by cast members.
• Fast passes to a particular ride
• Balloon Bouquets from the resort
• Extra attention during a live show

What are the rules?

There are no hard and fast rules for getting a button.  While Disney gives them out freely I think it ruins the magic if you take a button just to get free stuff.  That being said, I don’t think it has to be your actual birthday or anniversary to get a button.  If you are in Disney celebrating the occasion then make sure everyone knows it!  My son’s birthdays are 6 weeks apart and when we celebrate at Disney we go in between both their days.  They both get a celebration button of course!

Anyone have a button I didn’t mention above?  They’ve changed over the years and some come and go.  Want to share your button stories?  We would love to hear from you!

Mickey Mom is a mom to two boys, loves going to Disney for their birthdays and has never worn a button at Disney World.

Favorite Christmas Decor

I thought I would share some photos of my favorite decorations from the holidays in Disney. The last time I was there for Christmas decorating season was in January of 2011. Here are some pictures from that trip.

This is the tree at Downtown Disney. I love the board games surrounding the base of the tree.

Stars in Hollywood Studios

Christmas Carol in the windows of the Emporium in the Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom Wreathes

Front entrance to the Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom tree

The Animal Kingdom tree

Nemo tree at Camp Minnie Mickey in Animal Kingdom

Disney By the Numbers

I found this on Pinterest a while back and thought that it was something really cool to share.

(click to enlarge)

A Message

Thank you to all of my readers! I love writing this blog, even if I'm not as consistent as I would like. 

I hope everyone has a safe, happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

If you are in Disney for the holiday, say hi to Mickey for me! ;-)

Hotel Review: Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village

My family became Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members in 2011. We were able to use our points, in our home resort, this past June. Our resort is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We stayed at the regular version back in 2008. This was when Kidani Village was still being built. 

This hotel is tied for first (along with the Polynesian), in my top hotels list. I love the atmosphere and I love being able to see animals outside my balcony.

Below are some photos and more details about the hotel.

Below is the lobby. The decorations are authentic pieces from different parts of Africa. It always amazes me how detailed Disney is in everything that they do.

This is the view from our balcony. Since we had a DVC villa, we had two balconies. Our hotel consisted of a master bedroom/bathroom, a kitchenette, couch bed, dining table and a second bathroom. It was huge! For 5 people it was just perfect. 

This is what we saw everyday. All of the animals came around here throughout the day.

I love towel animals!

Everything was themed to the Lion King. This is the master bed's headboard. 

The massive master bath.

This Lion King scene was around the shower.

Even the curtains were themed!

Animals around the lodge.

Kidani Village has a lot of things to offer. There is one restaurant, called Sanaa. We did not eat there, so I can't give you a review on that. The pool was really nice, we don't spend much time swimming on our vacations anymore though. 

There is easy transportation to the other half of the lodge, Jambo House. You just have to get on the bus and ride it over to the other lobby. That way you can access the other restaurants and pool. 

This hotel is fairly expensive (even more if you want a Savannah view room to get better views of the animals). I believe that it is well worth it. It is such a unique experience to wake up and see such exotic animals. It is something only Disney can do and they do it so well.

Disney's PhotoPass Review

    This is strictly my opinion about the Photo Pass options. I will not be going into every single detail about the packages and all that. If you want all of the logistics, here is the website.

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/

    Disney's Photopass is a photo system that you use throughout the parks. You are given a card from the Photopass photographer.

  The photographer scans this card after every picture that they take. This is only used with characters and the iconic photos in front of the castle.... You do not have to use the card, the photographers will still use your personal camera.

  There are also things called magic photos, which incorporates a character into the photos.

  This is my photo with Tinkerbell. The photographer poses you and you see the final outcome on the computer. 

   Once you get home, you register on the Photopass website to see your photos. They also add extra ones in there of the characters by themselves. A big issue with the website is that your photos only stay on the website for a limited amount of time. Once that time is up, your photos are gone. 

     Now, my big issue and the reason why I will never by my professional photos are the prices. For a photo cd of all of your pictures, it costs $169.95!!!  Not going to happen, when the photographers will use my own camera to take the pictures. 

     The picture above, I print screened on my computer. Doing this, means that my photos will come out a little blurry and smaller than if I bought the real picture. I am aware that it is essentially cheating, but I am not paying an insane amount of money to buy my photos. I meet all of the princesses and the photos taken with my camera came out the exact same ways as they did on PhotoPass. 

     The pictures are beautiful and the extra characters are awesome, but not worth so much money. I will stick to printing my own pictures at home. 

Below are comparisons between my photos and a PhotoPass photo.

Above: This is the photo taken with my camera

Above: This is the PhotoPass picture. Remember, I took this from print screen so it is blurrier than it would be. But still, the same picture.

Photo of the Day

Elephants on Parade.

The topiaries at the entrance to Epcot. This was for the Flower and Garden Festival and it was stunning!

Some Things I've Learned

I am in the middle of planning my first ever trip to Disneyland CA, and my first time in California. I will be going in August with one of my best friends for the D23 Expo. (Expect a bunch of fun updates). We are doing 2 days at the Expo and 3 park days. I wanted to get the most out of the parks since I do not know when I will get there again.

Here are some of the biggest differences I have seen so far:
(all photos found on Google)


1. You can only ride the Monorail if you have park tickets! This is because the Monorail has a stop in Tomorrowland.

2. You have to get a Fastpass to get a seat for The World of Color. That is just crazy, so we will be getting that first thing! Not to mention, it is standing only. 

www.disneytouristblog.com

3. In my guidebook, they label the food as, Table Service, Fast Food and Snacks. Walt Disney World labels are Table Service, Quick Service and Snacks. The fast food part is confusing because it could be a sit down place or a quick service place.

4. Everything is so compact that you can see everything right next to each other. If you stand in the middle of the map (below, on compass) you see, Disneyland on your left, Californian Adventure on your right and Downtown Disney behind you. It's crazy to me that you really don't have to travel much to get everywhere like Disney World. 

5. The last point is that I am learning just how different the two parks are. There are a lot of the rides that are the same but even more that a very different. I can not wait to go on everything!

Photo of the Day

This mural is located in Once Upon a Toy in Downtown Disney. It is a life-size Monopoly board and I think the balloon counts as a hidden Mickey ;-)

My Favorite Hidden Mickeys

One of my more recent favorite activities is finding Hidden Mickeys. I bought the book a few years ago and now I have updated to the newest addition. I have used it on the last 3 trips to Disney. Here are some of my favorites.

This one was found in Test Track. I took this the day before it closed. That means, this Mickey will be gone when the new ride is revealed in December.

This one is found on Spaceship Earth in the Renaissance section. 

On the mural of the Star Traders shop in the Magic Kingdom. There are a few more on the mural, but I did not find them all.

This one is my favorite. This is right outside the Morocco pavilion, in a little gift shop.

On the ground in Animal Kingdom. This is right outside the entrance to Primeval Whirl. It is between that entrance and the character meet and greet spot.

This one is found inside the Animal Kingdom Lodge. You have to walk right past it (down the stairs) in order to get to the Boma restaurant. 

Photo of the Day

Parades! This was taken during the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade back in January of 2011.

Princess Meet & Greet (Magic Kingdom)

The busiest meet and greet is located in Magic Kingdom in the firehouse building. Mickey is also there too!

The Princess line is always the longest! When I waited it was later at night, after dinners hours. The line was probably about 20 minutes. It can vary a lot, so the time posted really does not matter. I would add 5 or 10 minutes to whatever is posted. This is only because, these are real people and its more unpredictable as to how they will interact with you.

I went on this trip by myself so it was a little weird waiting for the princesses by myself. Oh well, you can only meet the princesses at Disney and you are never to old! The CMs will take pictures with your personal camera. Since I do not buy the photopass packages, this is great.

The princesses were so sweet and they all commented on my birthday button. It was nice to get all that attention. Belle was the best character, she is my favorite so I'm being biased. I would check this out if the line is shorter than 30 minutes. There is a fastpass available though I'm not sure how fast they run out. If anything I would go later at night when families with little kids aren't as present.

It is well worth the wait though. I loved it and it brought back lots of memories and now I have new ones. 

Below are my pictures with the princesses.

Restaurant Review: The Coral Reef

The Coral Reef is located in Epcot, to the right of the Finding Nemo seagull statues. It is tucked away in the corner, which is kind of nice. It is one of the more expensive restaurants, which is why we decided to do it while we were on the dining plan.

This is the decor inside the lobby area. I felt like we waiting a little while for our table. Maybe 30 minutes or so. There were a few groups that went in before us while we were still sitting around.

Our table was perfect! We were sitting in front of two windows to see into the tank. There is a card at your table that lists all of the fish in the tank. It also gives facts about the tank, which is huge!

For dinner, my brother and dad got steaks. My mom, sister and I got the lobster mac and cheese. The steaks had really good reviews. The lobster mac and cheese was amazing, but it was kind of a small portion size for the price. 

The desserts were amazing! The one bellow is a Baileys and Jack Daniels mousse. The Jack Daniels was kind of strong but really good. 

Below is the "Chocolate Wave". It was a molten lava cake and raspberry sorbet. Amazing! 

I tried a little bit ;-)

Here is the family. 

I really loved the Coral Reef. Everyone agreed that it was the best non-buffet place we ate at. I would only do it on the dining plan. I can't see myself walking in there and paying the full prices right out of pocket. Looking at the fish and the sharks while eating is really cool too. I really am happy that a card was left so that we could identify the animals. I would recommend this restaurant to everyone! The food is very good without being too fancy and the atmosphere has to be the most entertaining and interesting in all of Disney.

Here is the dinner menu that I found on allears.net

Coral Reef
Living Seas
Epcot
Dinner

Menu Date: March 2012

One of the most unique Disney Dining experiences, the Coral Reef restaurant allows you to dine with the fishes.  Among those you might see include:  Brown Shark, Stingray, Grouper, Tarpon, and the Green Sea Turtle.

Appetizers

Appetizer for Two - Crab Cakes with tropical fruit salsa, tequila aioli; Crispy-fried shrimp with Jicama slaw and spiced remoulade; and a taste of our Creamy Lobster Soup $16.99

Crispy-fried Shrimp - with Jicama slaw and spiced remoulade $11.99

Crab Cakes - with tropical fruit salsa and tequila aioli $11.99

Steamed Mussels - with cilantro sofrito, fennel, tomatoes, and toasted ciabatta $11.99

Creamy Lobster Soup - tarragon and brandy $7.99

Seasonal Soup - Chef Inspired creation $6.99

Caesar Salad - with shredded parmesan and croutons $7.49

Winter Green Salad - blue cheese, fresh pears, candied walnuts and blood orange vinaigrette $6.99

Fish Tostadas - with Napa Cabbage, avocado-cilantro cream and fresh lime $8.99

Entrées

Pan-seared Sustainable Seasonal Catch - on mushroom risotto with bay scallops and celery root nage and parsley-truffle oil Market Price

Lobster Ravioli - with Rock Shrimp, fresh Tarragon, and Lobster Cream $26.49

Seared Rainbow Trout - with warm salad of white beans, arugula, tomatoes, crispy bacon, aged balsamic vinegar and brown butter $19.99

Seared Chicken Breast - served over spaetzle finished with Applewood smoked bacon - chicken broth $21.99

Vegetable Potato Strudel - with a tomato compote and basil oil $18.99

Grilled New York Strip Steak - served with horseradish smashed potatoes, and marketfresh vegetables $31.99

Seared Scottish Salmon - with black rice, fennel, and Cardamom-Cashew Butter $22.99

Grilled Mahi Mahi - with rock shrimp, heats of palm, jasmine rice and a coconut lime sauce $24.99

Shiraz-braised Pork Shank - with rainbow chard and a spiced butternut squash puree $25.99

Desserts

The Chocolate Wave* - served with raspberries $7.99

Key-Lime Mousse - with roasted pineapple, mango glaze, and chocolate pearls $7.99

Cheesecake Napoleon - with berry compote (no sugar added) $7.99

Baileys and Jack Daniel's Mousse* - topped with caramel crisp $7.99

Classic Vanilla Cremé Brulée $7.99

*contains alcohol

Photo of the Day

This is my last photo ever of Snow White's Scary Adventures. I am am kind of sad that Disney is tearing this down for a princess meet and greet. The concept art looks really cool, but I am kind of past the age of meeting the princesses. 

I was happy that I got to ride it one last time in April. I waited probably 30 minutes for it, which I wouldn't normally, but that was my last chance to ride. 

Hotel Review: Saratoga Springs

Saratoga Springs is located in the Downtown Disney area. There is actually a boat available to transport guests to Downtown Disney. This resort is listed as a Deluxe Villa resort. When I stayed in April, I had a Disney Vacation Club room. It is not listed on the website, so I had no idea what to expect. I was thrilled with my room and its location. 

Saratoga Springs is themed around horses and horse racing. There are 6 sections of hotel rooms;

The Springs, The Paddock, Congress Park, The Carousel, The Grandstand and the Treehouse Villas. I stayed in the Paddock area. Every section has its own pool, which is really nice. The Grandstand is the general area, which seems to be the most crowded. It is also where the main pool is. I am pretty sure that my section was DVC only, so it was very quiet and there were very little people around. 

Saratoga also has a golf course on the property. I crossed the gold course on the way to my section of the hotel. There is a Hidden Mickey sand trap as you leave/enter the hotel on the buses. So keep your eyes open! Along with the golf course, Saratoga offers other amenities such as, The Spa and The Health Club. The Spa is advertised in all of the rooms and the brochures look very nice. 

There are also bike rentals, jogging trails and a play ground. The rentals are all located at Community Hall. If you are a DVC member you can rent movies for free. My room had a DVD player in it, but I could not rent any because I am not the registered DVC member. Only the people with the official DVC cards can access all of the DVC perks. Kind of a downside for the rest of the family members, but oh well. 

The Carriage House is the lobby area. It includes the check-in desks, a DVC meeting area, a gift shop and the quick-service restaurant: The Artist's Palette. 

The Artist's Palette is pretty fancy for a quick bite to eat. The one time I went there, the only thing that looked normal was the chicken tenders. 

There is also a sit-down restaurant called The Turf Club Bar and Grill.

The decorations are really well themed. There are statues right outside the Carriage House.

Below are all of the photos of my room. The first picture shows the seating area, the pull-out bed and the doors to the patio. 

Here is my bed. It was the standard Disney bed, nothing special.

The sink was located outside of the bathroom.

The small kitchen area. There was a microwave and fridge plus a coffee pot and toaster. There were plates in my cabinets but I'm not sure if they were left there since they were just paper plates. I also had dish soap, a towel and sponge but again not sure if those are always provided. 

Here is the shower, it had great water pressure so I was happy.

This was the pool that was right outside my room. The main pool is not pictured, what is pictured is out of order. It was themed like a derby race, so that was pretty nice. Even though the pool was so close, if there were people in it I couldn't hear.

I also could see the bus stop from my room. That was perfect! There is no bus stop at the main lobby, but one is located at every section. Depending on what section you are in, you could be on the bus for 10 minutes before you even leave Saratoga Springs. I had to leave early everyday to compensate for that, but once you learn the system its not a problem. I was lucky enough to be the first drop off spot every night though. 

I greatly enjoyed this hotel. I was in a secluded area due to my DVC status, so it was nice and quiet. There were never more than 5 people waiting for the bus with me. This could be because of the April crowd level or the hotel. I had an amazing room location and the room itself was perfect. 

The only thing that I did not like was the extra time on the buses and the food choices at the Artist's Palette. 

I would stay at this hotel again for sure!