Magical Monday...on Tuesday!

Hey everyone!!

So our holiday weekend was crazy busy and I forgot yesterday was Monday, so I am a day behind on the blog.  :-)  Sorry about that!

We had such a great family weekend, minus the crazy snow storm that ended our week last week!  We had soccer and dance fun on Saturday and then Sunday we headed to the circus in Philadelphia!  It was really neat!  I hadn't been to the circus since I was a little kid, so it was fun to see it again and to witness it through my children's eyes too.  Boy though their water, food and souvenir prices rival Disney!!  $14 for cotton candy that came with a flimsy hat?!  What???!!!  LOL  Ah well, it was fun!  Then we spent the day with friends on Monday, all in all a winner of a weekend!

Our area has been slammed with one winter storm after another, I don't know about your neck of the woods, but I am ready to pack it up and move it all south, at least for the winter!!

In Disney news and tidbits this week - dining review will be posted ASAP, and a fun Thursday tip is also on the horizon as well.  I have also started writing up a review on Art of Animation Resort.  Coming soon at Disney - the Flower and Garden Festival!  You can find a full write up from me right here on the blog, so be sure to check it out and learn more!!  Also Disney has introduced a package offer for the late, late spring and early fall - the Intro to Disney PLUS Memory Maker package.  I will  do a post all about the memory maker this week as well.  The room discount is ok depending on the resort you choose, but the memory maker is free and is a $149 value.  I do believe there will be a better discount offered for the fall sometime mid summer.

The Food and Wine Festival is in the fall and is held at Epcot.  Disney has extended this very popular festival by 2 weeks and has it starting mid September.  Beware of higher crowds with locals on the weekends!  :-)  But definitely a yummy event!!

The current promotion from dates through June 15th is still available to book!  Blocked out around Easter break, but other than that rooms are filling up fast!  You must book by March 31st.  So be sure to contact me and let me help you plan your perfect Disney vacation!!

Lastly - did you know the Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet held in Norway in Epcot is the most popular attraction on Disney property right now?!  Wait times have exceeded 4-5 hours!!  Would you wait this long to meet your favorite character?  I think they need to come up with  new plan on how to fix this issue, but until then I will wait and meet my two favorite Disney sisters another time!  :-)

That's all for now Disney friends!!

Make this Monday....err Tuesday Magical!!!

~Teresa

Resort Review - Pop Century

Let's take a look at POP Century Resort!  What is your favorite decade - 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s?  Looking to relive some of your childhood?  Check out the Pop Century Resort!!

Welcome to....

Home of tye dye cheesecake, large icons from several decades, groovy tunes, and fun times!


Here is a great video tour from AllEarsnet.com

Some Facts:

• Website: Disney's Pop Century Resort
  
• Online Overview Flier: Pop Century Flier
• Category: Value
• Location: Hollywood Studios Resort Area
• Rooms Available:
• Standard
• Standard Pool View
• Preferred
• Preferred Pool View

Resort Map:

This awesome map is courtesy of a great thread on disboards.com dedicated to Pop Century.  It shows the details of the different room locations!  I used this exact map in planning my last trip!

Have I personally stayed here?
Yes - Our family has stayed there on our last four Disney vacations.

What I like about it:
I love the location of the resort.  Although it is listed as being in the Hollywood Studios resort area it is so very centrally located.  It takes no time at all to get to most parks on property.  I enjoy that it does not share a bus with another resort, which when utilizing the bussing system at Disney is a huge plus!  The rooms work for us, as we are only there minimally to sleep and midday rests.  The quick service restaurant - Everything POP - has a large variety to chose from and can accommodate even picky eaters.  We really just enjoy the resort and the theming!  Definitely my favorite value - which is another thing we love - the price is right!!!

What I don't like:
It's a value and with that comes some downgrading.  For us the pros outweigh the cons.  For some the cons may be - double beds instead of queens.  We are so tired we don't seem to notice!  The rooms are smaller and there is only one sink vs the two you get when you upgrade to a moderate.  The pools, while fun with the theming, do not have water slides or hot tubs.  Definitely has a bit more of a motel feel.

Would I stay here again?
Of course!!  In fact we are planning our next trip now and while I am pricing other options I know we will end up here!  It really is becoming "home".

Thursday Tip - Meeting Merida

Switching it up and moving Tuesday Tip to Thursday!

Meeting a favorite character can be REALLY difficult, especially if they are a popular character that only meets in one location!  I will give my tips for meeting Elsa and Anna after I have gone and had that opportunity, but for now I am going to tell you how to meet Merida from Brave!  This was a must do for Princess E on our last trip, so we made sure to get there, even if it was on our last day!!!

Where is she?  How do I find her?

• Merida is to the far right of Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom.  You want to take Main Street straight up, staying to the right side.  Do not cross into Tomorrowland, but follow the path that will take you towards the tea cups - Cosmic Rays will be to your left.

When:

• Merida starts her Meet & Greet at 9:15am and goes throughout the day until 6pm.  See a Times Guide for exact meet and greet times as they are subject to change.  And know that they may close her line before 6pm because they will account for the people in line and the timing that her area is to close.

Tips:

• The BEST time to go to meet Merida is FIRST thing in the morning.  This means rope drop.  Be at the park at least 30 minutes prior to opening.  Stay to the far right.  Magic Kingdom will open at 9am after the opening show.  Once it opens walk briskly, no need to run (you can if you want of course!) and stay to your right.  It's quite fun as you may be walking in behind some of the characters that opened the park.  We followed in Alice, Peter Pan and Wendy in.  It was a really neat experience!
• Get in line at 9am.  The line forms quickly.  Within 10 minutes it was already at least 50 families deep!  We were 5th in line.  They only take a couple families back at a time as it is an experience not just a quick help, sign and move on.

The Experience:

• It lasts all in all about 5-10 minutes.  Lots of fun!
• First you enter into a themed area.

• Then you get up to meet Merida!  There is a Photopass Photographer there!  You can use your Memory Maker, if purchased.

• Then you can shoot a bow and arrow through a Target just like Merida does!

After that it's all over, but memories are definitely made.  You can visit any time during the day, but my understanding is the line never dies down and is always about an hour at least, even in not so busy times.  So try to get there early!  

Have a Magical Day!!

~Teresa

Flower and Garden Festival 2014

It's coming to be that time of year again!  The Flower and Garden Festival is getting ready to begin on March 5th at Epcot.  If you never have been it really is quite amazing.  The first time I went I had no idea I was at a special event!  I thought maybe Epcot just always had all those beautiful topiaries and floating flowers, but then we went back a few months later and it was all gone!  That's when I realized I had been there for one of the most beautiful special events held in WDW and I didn't even know it!  It has been years since I have been, but I do hope to go again soon and take more advantage of some of the great activities they have including the Flower Power Concert Series held on weekends throughout the festival and featuring music of the 60s, 70s and 80s!

Tasty Tuesday - Chef Mickey's

At the request of some of my Facebook followers I am going to start a new feature called Tasty Tuesday!  Thus moving my original Tuesday tip post to Thursday.  :-)  I just liked the sound of Tasty Tuesday!  :-)

So here's the first - Chef Mickey's!

Chef Mickey's is open for breakfast and dinner.  During the busy holiday rush it has been known to also have a lunch offered.  This is one of the most popular meals to be had in Walt Disney World!

Details:

• Location: Disney's Contemporary Resort
• Meals Served: Breakfast & Dinner
• Breakfast: Daily from 7am-11am
• Dinner: Daily from
• Style: Buffet; Character Meal
• Price: $$$$
• Dining Plan: 1 credit
• Characters Featured: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto (characters are subject to change per Disney's policy)

ADR Need: HIGH

• Disney allows you to make reservations 180 days before your vacation.  If this restaurant at normal eating hours is important to you, you may need to plan that far out!  It's not always the case, but this really depends on when you go.  If you have your trip planned and book far out then I would definitely recommend booking far out.  

Would I recommend it?

• YES!  Absolutely!  The food is not the best, but the atmosphere CANNOT be beat!  Between the napkin waving, singing fun, the characters (no where else has the FAB 5 all in one place!), the ambiance, and just feel of the Contemporary with the monorail coming right through the hotel, you just can't get it anywhere else!!  This is definitely one of my kids favorite restaurants.  We haven't been doing plus dining plan our last few trips, so it has been a bit since we were last there - September 2011, but it was always a must do and will be on our next trip for sure!!

The Menus (courtesy of All Ears):

• Breakfast
• Dinner

Some pictures of our visits to Chef Mickey's! (I'll share these on all the Tasty Tuesdays if I have photos to share!)

Meeting the Chef!

Donald is always a hit with my little guy!

Matching Minnies!!

Goofy being well....Goofy!!

So is this a must do for your family???  Tell me about your experience!  Comment below!

Magical Monday

Hi everyone!!

I hope you all had a happy weekend!  Mondays are always rough, but here in Chester County, PA it is especially hard this Monday!  Last week was a LONG one, heck this whole winter has been long and it's not even close to over yet!  We were hit with a pretty nasty ice storm and 87% of our county was without power.  By the grace of God my little community was not effected by the power outage, but several friends were and they went without power for DAYS.  Add to it freezing temps and it has been a crazy situation up here.  Thanks to all the states that sent workers from all over and as far as Canada to help get good old Chester County back up and running!!

The kids did not have school last week due to weather barely at all!!  My son, who is in half day kindergarten was completely off and my daughter went one day for only a partial day.  So with that we lost days off throughout the year and have had at least one day added on to the end of the year!  Needless to say we are all hungry for structure and excited to get back to school - well I am anyway!!

I have been sending out quotes like crazy, even with our weather craze!  The Facebook Page has grown exponentially the last few days!  We are loving all our new fans!  Facebook on the other hand seems to hate pages anymore and wants to keep us hidden from you all!  The best way to make sure you see what is going on is to interact with the page.  But how can you do that if you don't see the posts....well make sure you see them and here's how:

Coming up on the blog this week - I will be starting a new series called Tasty Tuesday!  It will cover a restaurant on Disney property.  This week I will be talking about Chef Mickey's!  I also just restarted the monthly series of This Month in WDW.  That post came out a couple days ago, so be sure to look back and take a peek!  I'm continuing the Tuesday Tip, but it has been moved to Thursday.  This week - how to meet Merida!  Check back for information on current promotions and be sure to check out our newly redesigned website!!

Have a great Monday everyone!  Make it Magical!!

~Teresa

Spring 2014 Deal!!