Tag Archives: Disney World

Day 7- Beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter & Magic Kingdom

Posted on by
3

Today we headed for a snack at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter.  They have the best Gluten-Free Beignets!  What’s a beignet?  It is like a square, fried donut hole with powdered sugar sifted on top.  Best things ever!  Got to meet the chefs, including the one who created the original recipe to make these!  Too fun!

Arriving at the Resort…
Smile!
Great costume!
Inside…
Sassagoula
Check out the decor…
Beignets!
Chefs!

Next, we went to Magic Kingdom.  It is always new!  As we walked into the park, we were greeted with happy music as we watched the last of the Festival of Fantasy Parade.  Then, we headed off to ride my favorite ride, Peter Pan’s Flight.  It feels like you are in the movie. We three are sitting in a ship and fly over the story being told in a most unique way.  It is truly magical.

Maleficent’s Dragon
The Dwarfs!
The parade!
Pinocchio
Donald!
Mickey and Minnie!
Minnie!
Peter Pan’s Flight!
Outside…
Another detail…
Boarding the ride…

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin: it is always a must do for fun!  See how many points you can rack up as you are shooting targets and turning your space cruiser to get optimal aim to defeat Emperor Zurg!  Nope, I am not the winner this time; Tooti and Twinkie totally know which targets gain you the most points.  I am in training.  Twinkie was helping me today, but she won today!  😀

Buzz’s Entrance…
FastPass+
Whee!
Twinkie’s high score!

The PeopleMover is right outside of Buzz Lightyear’s.  It is a great way to see many rides on that side of the park.  Love!

PeopleMover…
Going up!
The Cars…
The Castle!
Cars!
Tommorrowland Speedway!
Orange Cars!
Space Mountain…
It’s the CLAW!

Getting hungry… what shall we do?  Oh, I think we will grab a bite at Tony’s Town Square; it is near the entrance/exit and it is a fantastic place to eat.  I love this time of the year.  We could walk up and a table was available.  (During the busier seasons, you almost always have to have a reservation.)  Right after we were seated, before our waiter could even take our drink order, the Chef was already there!  Totally surprised me!  He is a great Chef and in no time we were served GF bread.  Then, our food came and it was superb.  The waiter?  Superb.  Needed that nice dinner.

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant
Inside…
Our Hostess…
Desserts!
Great seating!
Hi!
Pretty view!
The Menu
GF rolls and olive oil
GF Chicken Parmigiana
GF Spaghetti & Meatballs
GF Pistachio Creme Brulee
Our Chef today!

Also, the little girl next to us was named Mae.  Tooti met her and her mom.  Pretty cool since we three have May in our name too!  A nice treat to meet a Mae!

Then we were off to the Monorail and headed home!  On the road home, we were nearing the Contemporary Resort, two deer were galloping across the grassy hills near the monorail track.  We slowed to see if they were going to cross the road.  The oncoming traffic slowed too and we got to enjoy seeing them enjoy the cool evening!  Nice little treasures.

Main St…
See ya real soon!
Hopping the Resort Monorail…
Monorail Blue!
Closing early for the Not so Scary Party tonight!
To the tram!
Parked in Hook today!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day 6- Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris & Sanaa

Posted on by
2

Animal Kingdom!  After a good strong rain, we headed for Animal Kingdom.  The animals are so active and so fun to watch.  When you enter into Animal Kingdom there is the area called The Oasis, full of birds and various animals.  We were heading for Kilimanjaro Safaris!  Oh look!  What’s down the stairs in that cave?  I found myself looking at otters!  I love otters!  There were also some really big black fish.

On the way!
Discovery Island…
Pretty bird!
Scarlet Macaw
A fun bridge…
The Tree of Life area is being refurbished
Entrance to see the otters…
Otters!
Closer to the water…
Almost in…
Just keep swimming…
Underwater
Climbing out of the pond…

We stopped to trade a pin with a cast member; if you don’t know about pin trading, don’t worry!  We can tell you later.  The cast member was telling us that it had rained earlier today, but now it is less “mushy” wet.  Perfect!  Now, on to Kilimanjaro Safaris.  This time we were on the very back seat.  I liked being seated there, it’s perfect if you need a picture of an animal, (or several!) following you.

Kilimanjaro Safaris Main Entrance
FastPass+ Entrance to the far Right
Regular line is on the left…
Loading area…
Our row!
#SafariSelfie
Leaving!
The truck behind us…
Whee!

My favorites are the giraffes, and they were really close to the road.  One was so close I could have reached out and touched it, but, “Please keep your hands and arms inside of the vehicle at all times,” is a rule I choose to follow.  The other favorite is the rhinoceros, but today, there were rhinoceroses!!!  They, all six, were galloping and running; a couple were heading for the road!  We just got past them and four began following us and watching the water on the road right behind us, it was so cool!  SO COOL!

Sleepy Rhino…
Giraffes in the distance…
Closer…
Beautiful!
So close!
Mirrored… 🙂
Another one!
Love it!
Ankole Cattle
Sable Antelopes
Elephant
Bontebok
Bontebok
Flamingo
Rhino!
Lion

After the safari, we headed for Yak and Yeti Restaurant in the Asia section and admired all of the detail in the building.  I love architecture and how detailed the Africa section was, and now admired Asia.  We had a good sit down snack of Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Chicken and a GF Cheesecake!  Oh, yum!

Africa to Asia…
Yak & Yeti
Lots of tasty options!
The front doors
The Menu
GF Sweet & Sour Chicken
GF Cheesecake and a hidden Mickey
In Asia
Time to head to AKL!

Animal Kingdom was closing early today (6pm), so we went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge- Kidani Village to eat at Sanaa. They have great Gluten-free Naan available with their amazing Indian Style Bread Service that includes 9 tasty dips. We tried to get last minute reservations and the only one was kind of late, so the only place available was the lounge. We had a wonderful visit with the bartender and a young family sitting at the bar with us. Had a blast! I love rainy days, which are most days in the summer in Florida! Be prepared.

Arriving at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Kidani Village
Sanaa Hours
Sanaa!
Great tea menu!
Loose-leaf Thunderbolt Darjeerling tea
Tea time!
GF Naan and dips!
The lounge area of Sanaa
Just outside…
a fire pit!
You can watch the animals!
Tooti and the fire
Rocking chairs by the fire
View from Rocker
Twinkie relaxing…
Heading back inside…
Lobby of Kidani Village

Day 4- Animal Kingdom

Posted on by
2

Animal Kingdom!  Wow, love this place.  We parked in the Dinosaur parking lot and caught the tram, a quick trip up to the gates.  First, there is your bag check, as with all parks.  Disney’s security looks through your bag and then lets you in.  Today the young man asked how I was doing, I responded with, “Great!  How are you doing?”  He stopped, almost frozen and said, “If I had called you on the phone, I would have thought you were 15!”  “Wow, thanks!!! Most people that call think I am 5. ‘Is your mom home?’  No!?!”  The people behind me couldn’t help but chuckle!

Off World Drive…
Almost there!
The Entrance…
Parking Lot… Not too busy!
#tram #selfie
At the gates…

We scanned our Magic Bands and I honed in on…where is the Vine Lady?  She is beautiful, she is graceful, and she is really tall!  DeVine is my favorite meet and greet in AK!

DeVine
DeVine and Me

The Kilimanjaro Safari ride is my other favorite thing to do at Animal Kingdom, but it will have to wait for another day.  We wanted to see the new baby gorilla, born on August 7th.  I love the Africa area of the park. I had to take a minute and really look at Africa, with its cracked streets, the waterway and music.  Then, a hike down the Pangani Forest Expedition Trail and see where the gorillas live and the surroundings are amazingly beautiful… like walking through the jungle.  We found the momma and baby cuddle and hoped to get a glimpse of its little face.  So very sweet!

Look close by her feet…
You can see the baby gorilla!
Heading to Africa
Africa
Almost to the trail
Pangani Forest Expedition Trail
Yay!
Heading to see the gorillas…
Me and Twinkie
Waterfall
Gorilla!
The oldest male gorilla
The oldest again…
The hut…
Zebras!
Gorilla
Mom and Baby
Wow!
A peeking gorilla…
Trail Marker 8
A fun bridge!
See the face in the rocks?
Map

We found a new place that we haven’t been to: Rafiki’s Planet Watch and the Wildlife Express Train.  Yes, there is a train in Animal Kingdom!  It is so cool to see it with stuff piled on top just like they would in Africa!  It takes you to the Conservation Station.  We looked at the various small monkeys, lizards, bugs, snakes, and petted the Blue-tongued Skink. Fun! They even have a window where you can watch the veterinary staff if they happen to be taking care of animals while you are there.

Rafiki’s Planet Watch
A tiny Tamarin
The Wildlife Express Train
It has arrived!
Behind the scenes…
Conservation Station
Love the animals!
Rhino love!
Twink and the Skink
The Skink and me
Tooti and the Skink
The veterinary room…
They can fix shells!
Another pic of the vet room…
Toads!
Active little creatures!
Twinkie and Rafiki (and some little girls that were there, too)
Tooti, Rafiki, and Twinkie
The train!
Back at the Harambe Station
Headed back into Africa

It was a very nice morning and early afternoon. Before we left, we stopped by the “Gardens Kiosk” where they offer many food allergy friendly treats. Babycakes NYC has a few of our favorites… including donuts! So, we grabbed a gluten-free donut and glass of iced water and hit the trail home.

Leaving Africa…
Pretty!
The Gardens Kiosk
The Allergy Friendly Menu
Gluten-free Donut by Babycakes NYC
The Exit…
Leaving on the tram 🙂

Tomorrow marks the start of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. It’s going to be so much fun!

Day 3- Epcot

Posted on by
Reply

We headed for Epcot today and had a perfectly wonderful afternoon and evening.  The day is cooler with cloud cover and the park was less crowded.

On the way…
to Epcot!
Getting close!
The entrance
Parking lot
Monorail

The first ride we went to was Maelstrom in Norway!  So, after passing through Future World, you go past Mexico and before China, you find Norway!  The line was pretty long and with the FastPass+, you just walk up, scan your magic band and walk in to ride the ride.  Best thing ever!  We took pics and enjoyed Twinkie’s favorite ride.  Maelstrom will be closing down for refurbishing and a redesign into a Frozen themed ride that will open in 2016.  We are SO excited to see what it looks like!

Norway Pavilion
At the entrance…
About Maelstrom
In Line…
Part of the ride goes backwards and looks like you are about to go over a waterfall… eek!
Troll hugs!

On the way to France, I stopped and got a strawberry shaved ice (Kaki Gori) with sweet milk in Japan.  We took pics for couple that asked as we passed by them… just a part of being at Disney.  Fun!

In Japan
The Menu
Strawberry & Sweet Milk

There are the most amazing crème brûlée in many of the restaurants, but if you don’t have a reservation, then Les Halles Boulangerie & Pâtisserie (in the France Pavilion) is a great choice!  The chef came out and made us some freshly torched crème brûlée. There are many beautiful desserts and breads to choose from, so we ask for some that have not been near any of the other bakery treats.  If you are gluten-free or have food allergies, you totally understand… The chef there is wonderful!  After great thanks and appreciation for our special sweets, we headed out!

Heading into France
The bakery
The treat menu
Creme brulee!!
One of our faves!
Rainbow of Macarons
Drinks
A place to sit
French themed merch…

We took a break and sat by the water fountain in France and a little girl was going to throw pennies when her mom and grandmother said they were out.  “Oh, I have some!”  So, I pulled out my change and found 5 pennies!  She readily took them and had fun throwing them in as her grandmother and I talked, she said that she usually has to give her quarter and dimes.  I told her a story, “when mine were little, we would get a roll of pennies and go to the mall.  Of course, they shared most of them with the other little kids there, but it was a lot of fun!”  She said that that was really a good idea…  we smiled and said our goodbyes.  Cute little kid!

France Pavilion

The sun was beginning to set so we started back to Spaceship Earth, i.e. the Epcot ball.  That ride is packed in the mornings, but in the evenings you can just about walk straight up and get on quickly, just a hint if you plan on riding that ride.

Pretty clouds!
A garden full of birdies!
Ducks and birds coming to rest at the beach…

We are looking forward to the opening of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival that opens on this Friday, September 19 and runs until November 10, 2014. There will be feasting, festivities and special events, including awesome concerts.

Almost ready to begin!
The 3 of us
Woohoo!
Yum!

Finally, here are some of the places to eat at around the world…

A definite fave!
Ireland
Greece
Puerto Rico has a big area to eat in…
Scotland
They uncovered the menus!
Happy day!
Veggie Haggis? Twink is happy.
Even a menu needs a hug!
Concert list! Yay!
‘Til later!