Table Service Dining for Families with Young Children

"We've decided to add the Dining Plan to our Disney vacation."  

On the heels of this announcement comes the ever-popular planning question, "
What is the best way to use my credits?

While there are virtually thousands of options and opinions on this topic, I have my list of favorite places to utilize Table Service Dining Plan credits within The World.   

Most table service restaurants are delightful and offer tasty food.  In fact, I have not eaten at a table service Establishment within WDW and been overly disappointed.  These are my current favorites for families with young children:

• Whispering Canyon Cafe
• Location: Disney's Wilderness Lodge
• My Favorite Dish:  Canyon Skillet (all you can eat): mixed greens with apple vinigrette, cornbread, smoked pork ribs, pulled pork, oven-roasted chicken, pork sausage, masked potatoes, coleslaw, beans, and corn on the cob. 
• Thoughts: Bottomless milkshakes!  Need I say more?  Mid-dining activities for kids.  Witty servers. Ask for ketchup!
• Garden Grill
• Location: Epcot Future World/ The Land
  
• My Favorite Dish:  Garden fresh vegetables, smashed potatoes, turkey and dressing on the Family style Dinner
• Thoughts: This restaurant rotates! Farmer Mickey, Farmer Pluto, Chip and Dale greet you during dinner with ever-changing views of the Living with the Land attraction. 
• Ohana
• Location: Disney's Polynesian Resort
  
• My Favorite Dish: Mesquite Grilled Turkey Skewers (prepared over an oak fire) dipped in chimichurri sauce
• Thoughts: Overlooking the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney's Polynesian Resort, the Hawaiian entertainment includes singing, ukulele playing, limbo contests and coconut races to complete the Polynesian atmosphere.  
• Chef Mickey's Buffet
• Location: Disney's Contemporary Resort
  
• My Favorite Dish: The fabulous sundae and dessert bar!  
• Thoughts: The Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Donals, Goofy, Pluto) greet you as you dine.  Monorails zoom above through the Contemporary Resort atrium.  Picture windows of Bay Lake capture attention as you wait.  

• Trails' End
• Location: Disney's Fort Wilderness
• My Favorite Dish: Breakfast! The buffet has all the country fixin's, but I love the biscuits and gravy best.  
• Thoughts: while this location is one table serivce credit, I suggest paying for this one out of pocket.  The less-than-$20 per adult price is certainly a bargain for a Disney meal!  The quiet ambiance will help you recharge your Disney-overloaded batteries.  

• 1900 Park Fare
• Location: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
• My Favorite Dish: Chicken Marsala on the dinner buffet, and The Kid's Station
• Thoughts: Laid-back dining with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella and The Fairy Godmother (characters subject to change).
  
  

Prolonging the Excitement of the Big Trip

It's tax season, which can only mean two things in our household.  First, spring is around the corner!  The extra-snowy winter this year has really contributed to our spring fever.  I'm not sure I have ever been more ready to change over to warmer temperatures and sunshine!  The second is that our tax refund is on its way and we can finally book our summer Disney vacation!  

We are not the family that can keep secrets well.  When we are excited about something we tend to tell the world!  As soon as our taxes were filed, we shared the news with our kids -- it's time to start planning our vacation!!  Per usual, we are all in a deep state of Disney-Fever.  

So, what to do with our unbridled excitement with nearly 3 months  still left until we depart?  The only antidote for true Disney-Fever is, of course, a visit to see The Mouse.  In the meantime, one can only treat the symptoms.  

Here's our top ten ways to treat the symptoms of Disney-Fever.

10: Disney themed dinner-time conversations.  We chat our mealtimes away dreaming about all that we will see and do on our vacation.  My children will talk of rides and pool time at the resort, while my husband and I get giddy about seeing the joy on our children's faces as they catch a glimpse of their favorite "friends" in the parks.  We each tell our favorite parts of each park and our resort, and what we are most looking forward to.

9: Movies! We pull out our extensive Disney movie collection and have a few extra family-movie nights.  Our van is stocked with our favorites so the kids begin to immerse themselves in the magic of Disney long before we begin packing our bags.  My husband is sure to set our DVR to record showings on TV of movies that we do not own.  

8:  Disney Store shopping.  Our local mall has a small, yet adequate Disney store, where my children think they are part owners.  We rarely purchase items, but frequent the store after church many weekends to let them play with the toys, squeeze their favorite stuffed characters, and give high-fives to the cast members.  Oh, those poor, unsuspecting cast members never see my crew coming.  They burst into the store with huge smiles on their faces and bound to the back to take in the entire place - dripping with the "Fever."  I step back and let them infect others as my daughter belts out "Let it Go" with Idina Menzel's voice ringing through the tiny store.  I collect my Disney-rabid children, and politely tell the cast members that we are planning our next Disney trip, and they give me an understanding smile and nod.  I think it is part recognition, part pity.  

7: Sorcerer Radio Station.  I often quip to my husband that I wish my life had a soundtrack playing on little speakers hidden in the bushes everywhere I went, just like at Disney.  I make this dream a reality with Sorcerer Radio.  Found at live365.com, Sorcerer Radio plays all of the music from Disney parks and resorts.  I turn it on and let it play throughout my day, allowing me to beckon Disney memories and plan new ones!

6: Mickey-inspired Food.  Mickey pancakes are our favorite, and easy to create, but other Mickey-inspired food is fun too!  We put popcorn in paper bags, and pretend its from our favorite popcorn stand in Hollywood Studios - near Toys Story Midway Mania.  Mickey-shaped cookies, and ice cream sandwiches are easy to create and devour, although they are not at all as good as the parks versions!  A little soft-serve ice cream in pineapple juice gives a similar, albeit sub-par, taste to our favorite Dole-Whip, and a concoction of juices sends our memories to Tusker house Restaurant's Jambo Juice.

5:  We practice our Spanish.  "Please stand clear of the doors.  Por favor, alejado de las puertas."

4:  We start a countdown chain.  Most families begin their chains when the countdown to vacation time is within site on the calendar - 30 days or less.  Ours is more non-traditional when it comes to this tradition. When our trip has been booked, we start the countdown.  We typically book about 80 days in advance, having already booked all of our dining reservations safely ahead of schedule at 180 days, so it is not uncommon to see an 80-link chain hanging in the chandelier of our dining room.  Each link has a different Disney Parks experience that we are looking forward to, so when we snip off a link each day, we reminisce and dream!   

3: Hidden Mickey Hunt: My son is the best at spotting Hidden Mickey's both at Disney World, and off property.  I tell you, he has pointed out Hidden Mickey's at the grocery store, arranged in the food on his plate, and even on the patterned fabric on the inside lining of my purse.  To a Disney family, one need not be at The most Magical Place on Earth to experience Disney magic.  You'll be surprised how they begin to pop out to you in the most mundane situations.  Just this morning, my daughter and I noticed that the flowers on her jacket were 3 concentric circles - Hidden Mickey! 

2: YouTube Videos.  There are fantastic videos that families have loaded on YouTube.  Many attractions from WDW can be experienced through these family videos.  My children take turns choosing a favorite ride and cuing up the video to "ride" along via the Internet.  Ah, the power of technology!  I am secretly using it as a way to show them that Splash Mountain, a ride that they have not been brave enough to try, is not scary!
 
1: Pretend, pretend, pretend!  Every dinner eaten out, or car-ride becomes an opportunity to pretend that we are on our way to Disney World.  Our family drives to Disney World each year, instead of flying and we typically enjoy the journey.  The drive in itself is another way to prolong the excitement!  While in restaurants in our hometown, we have found ourselves telling the kids, "We only have 2 more hours until we are there!"  This imagination game will send the kids into a giggle fest while we remind them of the first things we will do when we get there.  Of course, it's a bit of a let down when we load up the van after lunch and head home. 

There are many ways to begin planning your vacation to Disney World, and most families will find themselves in some variation of Disney-Fever once they make the decision to travel to central Florida.  For my family, that planning takes on a life of its own, once the parents say that, indeed, we will be visiting Disney World.  We have found that beginning the journey earlier rather than later is a great way to prolong the excitement.  

99 Days.  We'd better start the paper chain!