Disney Treats You Must Eat

On our recent trip to Disney World we tried a few new food places and found some great must try snacks and meals. Every other trip we have enjoyed the Disney Dining Plan as a family. For our adults only trip we decided to ditch the dining plan and eat out of pocket. So we made a list of certain foods and drinks we wanted to try but never really had room for with the Disney Dining Plan. Here are a few examples of some awesome eats at Disney World, Animal Kingdom, Pop Century, Downtown Disney, and More.

Les Vins des Chefs de France Beverage Cart

(located across from Chefs de France in Epcot)

On the right is Grand Marnier Orange Slush and on the left is Grey Goose Lemon Slush

$9.34 sold throughout the day

We had heard so much about these great drinks that we had to try both of them. My favorite was the Grey Goose Lemon but both were AMAZING, especially on a hot day!

Sleepy Hollow in Magic Kingdom

(located in Liberty Square after the bridge across from Olde Time Christmas Shop)

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Waffle Sandwich 

This item is only served from 11am-5pm each day

$6.99

This is a fresh Belgian Waffle served with a breaded and fried Chicken Breast dipped in a sweet and spicy sauce, topped with a fresh coleslaw and arugula garnish. We arrived not much after 11am and witnessed the cast member making the fresh sweet and spicy sauce that the chicken is dipped in. All we know it has honey in it and is so good you could eat a show covered in it! The waffle was fresh and made to order as well. My husband and me split the sandwich and it was a great afternoon light lunch or snack. They also served waffles with toppings and syrup, they looked wonderful!

Everything POP Shopping and Dining 

(located in the Pop Century Resort)

Fresh Pop Waffle with Meat

$5.69

Served only at breakfast

This fresh made waffle with the POP logo was a must try for a waffle lover like myself! I heard about this great waffles from my friend Kerri's blog just a few weeks before we left on our vacation. I knew I had to try them. We are normally not breakfast eaters at Disney we wake up early and hit the parks running at rope drop and normally eat an early lunch. So we decided to wake up earlier and try Pop Century for breakfast and we weren't disappointed. This waffle is available as a waffle only, with meat, or with fruit topping. I chose it with meat, normally it comes with bacon and sausage. I don't care for sausage so I got an extra piece of bacon.Syrup and butter are located near the beverage station.

 Everything POP Shopping and Dining

(located in the Pop Century Resort)

Bounty Platter

$8.29

Served only at breakfast

John decided to try this great example of a large breakfast meal at Disney on the same day as I got my POP waffle. I tried a few bites and it was very good. It filled him up so much that we skipped lunch that day! It comes with a biscuit, 2 slices of bacon, sausage, eggs, breakfast potatoes, and 2 french toast sticks. 

Everything POP Shopping and Dining

(located in the Pop Century Resort)

Angus Barbeque Burger

$9.29

served during lunch and dinner

We decided to take a break from Star Wars Weekend and headed back to our resort, we were pleasantly surprised to find the resort almost empty! We decided to eat a quite lunch with the pop music playing in the background and got a seat next to the windows to enjoy the view of the 60's Hippy Dippy Pool. John got this monster of an Angus Burger topped with bacon, cheese, onion strings, and BBQ sauce. It is also served with fries. It was very good and John said much better than the burgers in the parks. 

Everything POP Shopping and Dining

(located in the Pop Century Resort)

Monster Brownie

$2.49

We tried this awesome Monster Brownie on our first day, and fell in love! It is available on the dining plan as a snack credit. You can find it at the dessert counter, where you can also get it made into a brownie sundae! You can also find it in the dessert self service area in between the counter service food locations. Another awesome treat to look for was a pack of Strawberries with chocolate sauce and whipped cream to dip them in! They also have tie dye cheesecake, cookies, plain brownies, and other great treats.

Flame Tree BBQ

(located in Discovery Island right before the entrance to Dino Land)

Pork Sandwich 

served with coleslaw

$8.99

Ribs and Chicken Combo

served with baked beans and coleslaw

$11.99

We had never tried this Quick Service location before and we thought for our last day at Disney that this would be a great choice, and it was! I grew up in Memphis with some of the best BBQ around, and I thought this was a great meal as well as a great deal. The pork sandwich came without sauce, but sauce is available at the condiment island inside the seating area. We really enjoyed the spicy and sweet sauce! We received the meal with desserts by accident but this is what the meal would look like if you if you used 2 quick service dining plans and a snack. Fries are not served with the meal but are included as a snack on the dining plan. The desserts are a chocolate mousse pudding and a key lime pie cup. John really enjoyed the coleslaw and baked beans. You can also substitute the coleslaw with the pork sandwich for baked beans.

Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom

(located on Main Street in Magic Kingdom)

Cinnamon Roll

$3.69

Butter Croissant

$2.29

After Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom we decided to stop at the Main Street Bakery at 2am for an after midnight snack! The Cinnamon Roll was huge and so good! The croissant was very good, warm, and flaky. I love to go to this location to use the most of my snack credits. They also have awesome ice cream cookie sandwiches, cookies, brownies, and chocolate croissants. 

Aloha Isle

(located at Magic Kingdom inside Adventureland)

Dole Whip Float

$4.49

This was also a first try for us! We wanted to try this for awhile but just never had the time. We tried it twice this trip and really loved it. First time we tried the float with vanilla soft serve with pineapple juice, the second time we tried the pineapple soft serve with the pineapple juice. You can also choose orange soft serve ice cream. You can try this delicious soft serve alone or as a float. They also do root beer and coke floats too. It was so good!

We tried many more things on our trip, but these were are all time favorites I though I would share with you. Hope you enjoyed this blog and it will encourage you to try the awesome treats at Disney World!

Star Wars Weekend in a Glance

We spent 3 days total at Star Wars weekend, but Friday was our only full day at Hollywood Studios. Here are a few tips to help you get the most from your Star Wars Weekend vacation. 

We meet every Star Wars character except Jango Fett, Ashsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress, and Captain Rex. We enjoyed many rides, meals, snack, shows, parades, and Fantasmic during our trip. Here are some of my must see things this weekend!

1.HyperSpace Hoopla- A dance party held on the main stage at 8pm. Grab a spot early because it gets really crowded. I grabbed a spot during the last Padawan Mind Challenge at 6:30pm and was super close to the stage on Sunday.

2. Darth Vader Meet and Greet- Darth Vader is located across from the Studio Catering company. He meets from 9am to about 7:30pm, but they will cut off his line around 11:45am for the parade and around 7pm for HyperSpace Hoopla. He will do many poses. I witnessed cute poses with kids with lightsavers as well as "the force choke hold". We lined up about 15 minutes after the parade and only wited about 20 minutes. Ask the cast members in the black Star Wars Weekend T-shirts and the will let you know when he will be back from the parade. 

3. Darth Maul Meet and Greet- Maul was in character throughout the entire day, even up to his eye balls with his red contacts. He was awesome, but I witnessed many children being afraid of him. He will also do many poses and children with the double lightsaber will get a kick out of him! He is located next to the Backlot Tour and if his queue is to long they will redirect the line behind the meet and greet area, inside the Backlot Tour queue. He will take 5-10 minute breaks every 20 minutes or so. He meets from 10:30 to 7pm. Meet him early as soon as you can.

4. Get There Early- We arrived each day at 7am, unsure of what to expect. I had heard rumors that they normally open the park early, and the rumors were true. Two Storm Troopers put on a show on the roof of the entrance gate at 7:15am and they released the turnstiles at 7:30am each day.

5. Ride all the best rides in the morning or at night after the Hoopla. Enjoy the character meets and parade in the afternoon. We immediately went to Toy Story Mania at rope drop and we were able to ride 2 times and get a fast pass within 30 minutes. We then headed over to Star Tours and had no wait again. At night we were able to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster with a fastpass from earlier and we decided against Haunted Mansion, but the wait was 20 minutes at the most all of the nights last weekend. 

The wait was listed at 30 mins but was less than 5 mins until 8:30am on Friday

6. Visit Darth's Mall- We waited until about 5pm to 6pm each night to head over to this location next to Rockin' Roller coaster. It is a tent, put up specially for Star Wars weekend. Exclusive Star Wars Weekend Merchandise, Art work, Star Wars Park Merchandise, and Character Meet and Greets can all be found here. Here are a few pictures of some exclusive merchandise for pass holders and limited edition stuff.

7. HAVE FUN- Enjoy your time at this awesome event weekend and try all of the awesome Star Wars Treats exclusive to the weekend. Darth Vader Peanut Butter Cupcake, R2-D2 mug filled with blue raspberry frozen fanta, or R2-D2 container filled with popcorn or kids snack pack!

All pictures are my own, shot with my own camera. Feel free to use but please link my blog. Thanks!

Trip Report and Highlights Day 1 and Day 2

We went to the opening weekend of Star Wars weekend and completely enjoyed our time in Hollywood Studios as well as the other Disney Parks. 

We arrived early afternoon at Pop Century Resort on Thursday. We were pleasantly surprised by the awesome themeing of a value resort. We had never stayed at a value before, but we instantly fell in love.

We decided not to go with the preferred room on a good review of a friend, which was really great advice. We were able to request a room in the 50's building and close to parking when we did our online check-in. We got exactly what we wanted and we also had a room pointing towards the parking lot which was extremely quite. People stayed in the pools all through the night into the early morning so I am very glad we did not have a room facing the pool and we were a short walk to the pool, laundry, and main building.

Lady by the pool at the 50's building! My favorite Movie!

When we checked in at noon our room was already ready, so we parked our car and took our bags to our room. We chacnged and went on our way to the parks. 

We decided on Animal Kingdom first and then hop to Magic Kingdom.We used the bus system and when we got to Animal Kingdom it was dead. Everyone had left and we had the parks to ourselves. We got Kali River Rapid fastpasses first, then went to Everest it was marked at 20 minutes and we waited about that, we then went over to DinoLand and went on Primeval Whirl. It was our first time, it has been on refurbished status every time we have gone. We really enjoyed the carnival type ride. Our wait was less than 5 minutes.

Here is a cute picture opportunity near the entrance of DinoLand

We then went to Dinosaur were we waited about 10 minutes and when we got off the ride we witnessed many kids crying to their parents. This ride can be hard to handle for young ones. We then went back over to Everest and rode it again with a shorter wait this time, about 5 minutes. 

We then were near our window for Kali so we headed in that direction. The wait was about 20 minutes so we decided to go and then go again and use our fastpasses the second time, since this is our favorite Animal Kingdom ride. 

We waited about 20 minutes, went on Kali and had a nice British family in line with us that we really enjoyed talking with. They really enjoyed the ride as well. 

The first ride we didn't get to wet, but the second time we were soaked to the bone. 

So instead of hopping we decided to return to our room and change our clothes.

We then took the bus to Magic Kingdom for the night. I needed to see the Fantasyland expansion progress and was dying to ride the new Dumbo and Great Goofini. 

I was amazed by this new area! I love the colors and the themeing is awesome! I can't wait to see the new Fantasyland! We then watched Magic, Memories, and You and Wishes.

We then did some shopping and went back to Pop Century to get a good nights sleep for the next long day to come.

Friday we spent the majority of our time from 6:30am-8pm at Hollywood Studios. We got most of the main SWW characters, rode a ton of rides, and attended characterpalooza at the animation building. We saw part of the parade and some of hyperspace hoopla. 

Picture of us at Characterpalooza at Hollywood Studios

We arrived at the gates around 7am. We drove our car and parked in the first lot with no waiting. They were not checking room keys and not charging for parking. We went straight to the front gates. We got in the center line which seemed like the shortest line, but then another turnstile opened and we moved into that lane.Around 7:15am two storm troopers appeared on top of the entrance roof and played a little opening show. They released the turnstiles at 7:30am. That was 30 minutes early. 

We then headed straight for Toy Story Mania since we did not want fastpasses for the celebrities. The line for celebrity fastpasses was almost to the charter bus stop at 7am.

It was posted as a 30 minute wait but it was really more like 5minutes. We got fastpasses first and then rode, we rode again right after. I had never seen this area so quite and not crowded. There was no line to get fastpasses the entire day. The fastpasses did not run out until almost 3pm on Friday. 

We then ran over to Star Tours and had no wait again. We saw the line for Chewy so we decided to get in line and wait.

Our first picture with Chewy

Our Fastpasses for Toy Story mania were almost up and we were in line waiting so I decided to give it to a little boy and his mother. He was super cute and dressed like Yoda with green face paint and all!

We saw Chewy, Vader, Darth Maul, Luke, Commander Cody, Storm Troopers, Leia Minnie, Trooper Donald, Jedi Mickey, Queen Amidala, visited Characterpalooza, rode rockin' rollercoaster. We had heard all day that Darth's Mall was crazy busy so we decided to try for later in the night. When we went at 6pm it was totally dead and we were able to get a few exclusives from Star Wars Weekend including John's Chewy Lanyard that sold out on Saturday!

We left when it started to rain and decided to go to Downtown Disney. We did some shopping, ate at Earl of Sandwich, and enjoyed the night. 

We went back to Pop and did some laundry and enjoyed the pool.

On Saturday we went to rope drop at Magic Kingdom. We meet the new Disney character from the new Movie Brave, went on Peter Pan, and Splash Mountain. We grabbed a fastpass for splash mountain, then ran over to peter pan (We were lucky enough for my friend Kerri to give us some fastpasses you can use anytime) so we walked right on, We then back tracked to Splash and then left the park.

Picture of the awesome present Kerri gave me!

We took the monorail over to Epcot and went on Soarin', also used a special fast pass. The fastpass was good for up to 5 people so we looked for a family of 3 to spread the Disney love with. This family walked up and were discussing how long the wait was and if they should grab a fastpass. You could tell they looked unsure of the whole process, I went over and asked if they want to ride with us. Their eye's lit up and they said "Sure!". We had a short wait were we discussed their trip and other must see things in Epcot. We went on the ride and we all had a blast! It was so great to share that experience with a Disney newbie family!

After we went for a cool down at the Coke Cool Station. We had never been there but have heard the horror stories of the "Beverly"! So I played a trick on John and made him take it like a shot!

It says it helps with digestion and he really did eat well that day! LOL

He he is pulling a Homer Simpson! 

Here are the different flavors they have right now. I was upset that they didn't have the lemon soda from Mexico that I heard everyone raving about.

We then went to France where we had to try Orange Grand Marnier Slushie and Lemon Grey Goose Slushie! I have heard about these for years and I had to try both so we split. I really loved the Lemon Grey Goose but the Orange was very good as well.

We then walked to the ferry boat near the France Pavilion to take the ferry to Hollywood Studios. I have never used this route before but really enjoyed the down time and quite boat ride! I almost fell asleep!

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios for our second Star Wars day. We knew we needed to meet a few more characters and wanted to do some more rides.We first headed over to see Vader Goofy, Anakin Skywalker, Kit Fisto, and Shaak Ti. We had an advanced reservation at 50's Prime Time Diner. We always enjoy the crazy waiters and waitresses ad great food. 

After we ate we went to ride rockin' roller coaster and waited to go into Fantasmic. We had never been and we were so glad we went. It was a great show! We went to the 10:30pm show and it was dead we had great seats and we got wet from all of the water!

To be continued for Monday and Sunday......

Star Wars Weekend Characters

So for my first post about Star Wars Weekend I will include General information and Character locations with pictures. 

For an awesome times guide please check out Kenny the pirates blog for a complete list!             kennythepirate.com

Star Wars weekend is an annual announced event held by Disney at Hollywood Studios. This use to be a very informal star wars party that would last a few weekends in June. I has now grown on a huge promotion of the new Star Wars ride at Hollywood Studios. 

Each weekend is hosted by a multitude of Star Wars Celebrities. You can get Fast Passes for Celebrity Meet and Greet Sessions, Meet and Greet dressed up characters from Star Wars Movies as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars Animated Cartoon, see a special Star Wars Parade, join in on a few awesome Star Wars special shows and interactive discussions by celebrity Star Wars Actors and Voices, Padawan Mind Challege, as well as my favorite Hyperspace Hoopla.

Star Wars Characters Who Meet During Star Wars Weekends 2012

Jedi Council Meet and Greet 

(at the end of San Francisco Street)

**These Characters Meet switch out in this location 3 total about every 20 mins**

Anakin Skywalker

Kit Fisto and Shaak ti

(They normally meet separately)

These characters start meeting at 9:45am and continue until about 6:30 

We got in line for Anakin and then meet him and got back in line and were lucky enough to meet Kit Fisto and Shaak Ti together so we were able to skip waiting in the queue again. They switch about every 20 minutes between characters.

Near this location Clone Troopers and Jawas will roam randomly, better chance to catch them in the early afternoon.

The Jawas like shiny things. John traded with hem a few times. First time he traded he got a empty, crushed soda can. The next time he was traded a Mickey sticker. They keep all of their "goods" in their container seen in this picture.

Clone Wars Meet and Greet

Next to Cars Meet and Greet past Muppet's 3D

This location is an easy transition because the characters rotate every 20 minutes or so and the line does not get very long.

Captain Rex

Commander Cody

Ahsoka Tano

Asajj Ventress

These characters rarely meet together in a mash-up. So you will have to wait in line a few times to meet all of the characters. You will also see Clone Troopers in this area roaming randomly at different times. This location is right next to the Premiere Theater where they hold "Behind the force", "Stars of the Saga", and other interactive audience performances.

They start meeting at around 10am and go until around 6:30pm. I thought it was much easier to meet them in the morning.

Characters inside of Darth's Mall

(Luke, Leia, R2-D2, C3PO)

This location can be hard to get into if the Mall area is very crowded. I suggest heading to this location after 3pm. After you are done with this meet and greet I would suggest heading towards the main stage to wait for Star Wars Hyperspace Hoopla. People start sitting and holding spots after the last Padawan Mind Challenge at 6:30pm.

CP3O and R2-D2

(These characters meet together or R2-D2 will meet with Leia in the afternoon)

Luke Skywalker

(Normally meets by himself)

Princess Leia 

(will meet alone or with R2-D2)

These characters will sometimes meet together in a mash-up if you are next in line during a transition of characters. I have seen some people getting all 4 characters together at the right time. It is very rare though.

Out Side Star Tours

(right across from Tantoone Traders)

This location will either have Chewbacca or Chewbacca with an Ewok

You can also find the Cantina Band roaming randomly around this area in the afternoon.

The first day we went to meet Chewy first but were unaware that he started meeting at 9:30 and without an Ewok, so we had to go back on Sunday around 6pm. Both times we went we only waited around 30mins or less, but I have heard from others that they had waited 45 mins to an hour. The Cantina Band only comes out in the afternoon during Jedi Training they roam around the Star Tours entrance. 

Disney Star Wars Meet and Greet

This meet and greet has Leia Minnie, Jedi Mickey, Storm Trooper Donald, and Vader Goofy

This Meet and Greet starts at 9am and ends around 6:45pm. They will cut off the line for the Parade and around 6:15pm for the Hoopla. 

They switch every 20 minutes. We got into the line and met Mickey. Then we got back in line, I met Minnie while John moved back in line to meet Donald. We then ran over to Characterpoloza at the animation building, so we can to meet Goofy the next day.

Leia Minnie

Storm Trooper Donald

Jedi Mickey

Vader Goofy

I would visit this location during the afternoon or right after the parade. 

This location is to the left of The Great Movie Ride on your way to ABC Commissary.

Queen Amidala

She meets by herself to the left of the ABC sound stage across from Indiana Jones Show.

She has a fairly fast passed queue and meets from 10am- around 7pm. Grab a fast pass for Star Tours and head over to get a picture and autograph.

Bounty Hunters Meet and Greet

This area is across from the empty building next to Toy Story Mania. Look for the sign saying "HOT SET"

This location is least busy in the morning. They meet from 10am to 6:30pm. The cast member at this location does not allow switching/skipping in line to meet certain characters, this is a general thing that happens in multiple meet and greet lines. She was the only one I had this issue with. Although there was many other very helpful and friendly cast members around that area. I personally witnessed for about every 15 to 20 people they would then change the characters, so position yourself in line accordingly. 

Boba Fett

Jango Fett

Roaming Characters Near The Backlot Area

These characters roam randomly during the entire day, most come out in the afternoons.

I have included this photo to show the area where the come in and out of during the afternoon. 

This location is across form the bounty hunters meet and greet and next to Darth Maul and Backlot Tour.

These gates are where the roaming characters come in and out of all day

Aurra Sing

(She will only pose for pictures and maybe sign an autograph for children and/or people in wheelchairs. Mostly to kids who don't really want their pictures with her! Lol! John tried the whole time she was out to take a picture and she remembered him at the parade and gave him and evil stare!)

Gamorrean Guard

You must ask nicely for him to pose and he will stare you down before he will do it

Storm Troopers

Storm Troopers will sometimes take pictures together but it is totally random. They will march Darth Vader in and out of the gate for his breaks as well. 

Tusken Raiders

There are 3 or 4 Tusken Raiders that come out in a group to take pictures. They will pose for anyone who asks nicely. They make there unique noises as well.

Zam Wessel

She will roam from Toy Story Mania to Backlot Tour and has the least amount of people around her

Darth Vader Meet and Greet

Vader meets from 9am to 7:30pm and has one of the largest queue lines. In the morning people will start to line up as soon as the park opens. I went there right after the parade and waited for about 30 minutes and I was about the 6th person in line. I would suggest this option. He takes a 5 to 10 minute break every 20 minutes.

Darth Maul Meet and Greet

This meet and greet is also extremely popular, mostly because of Darth Mauls appearance in the Clone Wars this year as well as Darth Maul being used as the main character in all the Star Wars Weekend Promotions this year.

He is in extreme character and does not talk. He is located right next to the Backlot Tour. If his line gets to long they redirect it inside of the Backlot Queue line. He meets from about 10am to 7pm. He does multiple poses. Takes 5-10 minute breaks every 20 minutes. He also has a shorter line after the parade.

I will be posting my personal character meeting schedule tonight. This helped me meet almost all of the characters in an entire weekend. I think it could be done in 2 full days as well. We did not attend all day Saturday due to crowds.