If you have a talented son or daughter and want to scramble to Kansas City for Memorial Day weekend!
Disney Channel Auditions 2012 and Disney XD Tryouts | Auditions Free | 2012 Auditions and Casting Calls
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Author Archives: Mouse Ear Momma
Favorite Quick Service Restaurants
There are great counter service restaurants to try at WDW. Don’t be limited to hamburgers & pizza! We have gone an entire vacation without eating one cheeseburger (it was our goal that trip).
First, you would be surprised how often you will eat the quick service at the resort. So if you are deciding between hotels, look at the restaurants available to you. You never know when the kids are going to melt down and your original plan will be altered.
Port Orleans French Quarter only has a quick service restaurant, but the food there was wonderful. They have a New Orleans inspired menu with sandwiches, nightly specials, along with beignets.
Last Chance for Free Dining
This week is your last chance to book with FREE Dining!
Free Standard Dining Plan with Moderate, Deluxe, & Deluxe Villa resort packages for stays August 25-September 29. Free Quick Service Plan for packages in the Value resorts for the same dates. If you choose a value resort, you can upgrade to the standard plan for the difference in cost. The same applies to upgrading to the Deluxe Dining Plan.
Star Wars Weekend
I will admit…I am a huge nerd. On top of being a Disney nut, I LOVE Star Wars. It isn’t just me, my husband and girls are equally crazy!
Star Wars Weekends is an event at Hollywood Studios that consists of 4 weekends (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) in late May & early June. This isn’t a special ticket event like Magic Kingdom’s Halloween Party and Christmas Party. Basically, Hollywood is taken over by Star Wars characters, scenery, parades, etc but all the rides and shows operate normally. There are different Star Wars celebrities each weekend, speakers and Q&A sessions. Fastpasses are distributed for celebrity autographs and all the Jedi Training Academy shows are filled in the early morning. A specialty store near Rock N Roller Coaster is full of the normal Star Wars merchandise, specialty items & only found at Star Wars Weekend things. There is a stage set up for a Jedi Quiz Show for kids in the afternoon and the Hyperspace Hoopla to cap off the night. Continue reading
Update: Disney’s Photopass Service
I love Disney’s Photopass Service. I think that it is totally worth the money if you utilize it correctly and plan ahead. Our first few trips, we didn’t use photopass and I regret that because we have so few pictures of our whole family. The photographers will take pictures with your camera, but their photos will be better! 
To get the most bang for your buck, stop at every photographer you see in all the parks. Let’s be honest, you can’t have too many pictures of your family in front of the castle! There are photgraphers in every park. Here is a map and some tips of all the photopass photographers. Disney Photopass Map Continue reading
Table Service without Characters
I am a foodie! Disney has tons of great places to enjoy. I do love the character meals, but there are just times you want to sit down and have someone serve you a great meal. You also want the kids happy to give you time to enjoy the food without popping up out of you seat every 10 minutes for pictures. I want to write about a few of my favorites that the kids love too.
One our last trip, my daughter was in line making friends with another little girl. The next thing I hear is “You have to eat in Japan, the chef cooks at your table!” After one meal, Teppan Edo became her favorite restaurant at Disney. It is a hibachi grill in the Japan Pavillion of EPCOT. The food is delicious and the kids were entertained by our chef the entire meal. I was shocked that my 4-year-old at an entire chicken breast along with the veggies, noodles and rice. That is a testament to how wonderful the food is at Teppan Edo!
Traveling with a Large Group
Traveling with a big group of family or friends takes planning and patience. Even with if you are going with one other family, you will be a “Magical Gathering” with a group of 8 or more. Remember that you will be with people who have a different schedules, different tastes in food, want to rides things you wouldn’t. We have traveled with one other family of 4 with girls the same ages. Our group of 15 people included elderly, teenagers & preschoolers. It is a lot easier to travel with girls the same age than with the range in ages.
My recommendations for group travel: Continue reading
Dates Announced for New Fantasyland Expansion
The dates were recently announced for the openings of the new Fantastyland expansion.
July 2012:
- Second Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Casey Jr. Splash n’ Soak Station
- Air Conditioned Interactive Queue
Holiday 2012: (this can be any time up til 12/20)
- Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
- Enchanted Tales with Belle
- Be Our Guest Restaurant (quick service lunch, sit down dinner)
- Gaston’s Tavern
2013:
- Princess Meet and Greet (in former Snow White Scary Adventures)
2014:
- Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train (dark, tame roller coaster)
Disney Dining Plan – Updated 2013
Disney Dining Plan can be confusing. If you don’t do the background research, you definitely will not get the best value for your money. It can be a very positive experience and save you a ton of money on an already expensive trip. I like the Dining plan because our meals are paid for before we leave. We don’t come home from a trip having spent more money that we wanted to spend (except on drinking maybe).
Disney Dining standard plan costs $58.66 per adult and $18.88 per child (3-9) for each night of your stay. Yes, Disney considers children “adults” from age 10. There is a less expensive quick service plan, which doesn’t include table service restaurants. The Deluxe plan gives you 3 meals each day, either quick or table service, but this is upwards of $100 per person. Continue reading
Traveling with Food Allergies
One of the reasons we have gravitated to Disney as our vacation destination is because they are so accommodating for my food allergic child. Our first trip when she was 20 month old was terrifying!! At that time, she was allergic to egg, peanut, pea, tree nut, & shellfish. Luckily, we stayed at Boardwalk Villas and felt more in control with the use of a kitchen. I thought we would make all her meals here and bring them with us to the parks.
Little did I know that Disney restaurants would be so helpful and make eating out less of an ordeal. Continue reading
Mouse Ear Momma 