Dining at Disney

Happy National Pizza Day

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Did you know that every hour at Disney world, they are cranking out 1200 pizzas an hour… at several locations!?!?  That’s a lot of dough!  The quick service restaurants use a machine called the “pizzamatic” and can be found at Pizzerizzo (Hollywood Studios) and Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom).

Check out this video of the pizzamatic in action (From the show Unwrapped on the Food Network)-

If pizza is one of your favorites no worries, you can find TONS of places to get a slice of your favorite pie at Walt Disney World!

Check out Trattoria Al Forno at Disney’s Boardwalk, Pinocchio Village Haus at Magic Kingdom, Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom, Any of the Wolfgang Puck restaurants at Disney Springs, Pizzerizzo at Hollywood Studios, Catalina Eddie’s at Hollywood Studios, Tony’s Town Square at Magic Kingdom, Splitsville at Disney Springs, Mama Melrose’s at Hollywood studios, and of course- my all time favorite- Via Napoli at Epcot!

Via Napoli

Our pizza from Via Napoli!!!!!

If none of these options sound like the type of pizza you’re in luck.  Within a reasonable drive from Disney World Property you can hit up Giordano’s Pizza (THEY ALSO DELIVER TO DISNEY RESORT HOTELS)!  They’re a Chicago based pizza chain with STUFFED pizza!  It’s one of our all time favorite pizza places.  They just added a location 2 hours south of our home and we totally drove 2 hours for pizza.  If you are a pizza lover it’s definitely worth checking out!

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Ready to check out all of these amazing pizza places?  Be sure to contact Ashley at Charming Travels LLC for all of your Disney Planning needs!  Her services are free of charge and helping people plan their magical vacation is her favorite thing to do!

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Review of Ohana (Dinner)

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Okay, so it’s been a while since I’ve written, but today I am hungry and thinking about dinner at one of my all time favorite on property restaurants, OHANA!

So when you view the Disney website and visit the Ohana menu, I don’t think it quite does the restaurant justice. It is an all you can eat, family style restaurant. If you leave this place hungry, there might be something wrong with you. Also, I should warn, this is a meat eaters paradise!

When you get to Ohana you’ll be welcomed to your table, and you’ll be served with some delicious pineapple coconut bread and a mixed green salad. I will start by saying a like salad. I’ll even eat it for lunch, but man do I LOVE carbs… I’ve even described myself as a “Carbiterian” on more than one occasion. So with that being said, I will say their bread is absolutely outstanding. It’s not too heavy, and the flavor of the pineapple and coconut is not too much, it’s subtle, but just enough!

Then comes my FAVORITE part, the appetizer. Now, don’t get me wrong the main course meats are amazing, but the pork dumplings… oh the pork dumplings. Along with the pork dumplings you’ll also get honey-coriander chicken wings. Both are amazing, but the pork dumplings keep me craving them in between trips. I’m a big fan of potstickers, but nothing compares to these. I’m salivating even as I type this, just thinking of them. They are without a doubt my favorite part of Ohana. And guess what… it’s all you can eat, so you can always ask for more!


Along with the appetizers you’ll also be served the side dishes of stir fry veggies and teriyaki noodles! Both are great, but now it’s time for the meats. For your main course, a server will bring you skewers of all you can eat meat. Your options are chicken, steak, and shrimp. All are grilled over a wood fire and delivered to your table on a skewer. Your server puts it in a bowl for you to enjoy. You can have one, two, or all three meats. I usually go for all three, at least a few pieces of each. With the the meat you’ll also get some amazing dipping sauces. It’s definitely worth trying it all!

So you’ve eaten your dinner and you’re about ready to roll out of the restaurant, but oh wait… there is dessert! And it is in my top 5 favorite desserts on Disney property- Ohana’s bread pudding. It’s absolutely delectable, and is served with a caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. So as amazing as the dumplings, and meats are, don’t forget to save room for dessert, because you won’t regret it!

So my official statement about Ohana- “Be sure to check out Ohana. Your tastebuds will be tantalized from the bread at the beginning of the meal, to the bread pudding at the end of your meal. ”

If you’re ready to check out Ohana for yourself, be sure to contact Ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com for your free no obligation quote. Her services are always free of charge, which means you pay the same as you would booking on your own, and you get her expert planning services for free!

Happy National Pizza Day- Fun Fact Friday

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Did you know that every hour at Disney world, they are cranking out 1200 pizzas an hour… at several locations!?!?  That’s a lot of dough!  The quick service restaurants use a machine called the “pizzamatic” and can be found at Pizzerizzo (Hollywood Studios) and Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom).

Check out this video of the pizzamatic in action (From the show Unwrapped on the Food Network)-

If pizza is one of your favorites no worries, you can find TONS of places to get a slice of your favorite pie at Walt Disney World!

Check out Trattoria Al Forno at Disney’s Boardwalk, Pinocchio Village Haus at Magic Kingdom, Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom, Any of the Wolfgang Puck restaurants at Disney Springs, Pizzerizzo at Hollywood Studios, Catalina Eddie’s at Hollywood Studios, Tony’s Town Square at Magic Kingdom, Splitsville at Disney Springs, Mama Melrose’s at Hollywood studios, and of course- my all time favorite- Via Napoli at Epcot!

Via Napoli

Our pizza from Via Napoli!!!!!

If none of these options sound like the type of pizza you’re in luck.  Within a reasonable drive from Disney World Property you can hit up Giordano’s Pizza (THEY ALSO DELIVER TO DISNEY RESORT HOTELS)!  They’re a Chicago based pizza chain with STUFFED pizza!  It’s one of our all time favorite pizza places.  They just added a location 2 hours south of our home and we totally drove 2 hours for pizza.  If you are a pizza lover it’s definitely worth checking out!

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Ready to check out all of these amazing pizza places?  Be sure to contact Ashley at Charming Travels LLC for all of your Disney Planning needs!  Her services are free of charge and helping people plan their magical vacation is her favorite thing to do!

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Fun Fact Friday- Food by the Numbers (Chef Mickey’s)

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Chef Mickey’s is very popular dining location.  Located in the Contemporary resort, it is just one monorail stop away from the Magic Kingdom, and add in Mickey and Pals for character dining, and ALL YOU CAN eat dining, it’s no wonder the reservations for this location are snatched up so quickly!  (If you want to go be sure to get your advanced dining reservation!  Reservations open up 180 days prior.)

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At breakfast Chef Mickey’s specialty is of course the famed Mickey Waffles! Here are some fun facts about how much food is served at Chef Mickey’s Daily-

4000 Eggs (That’s 333.3 dozen eggs!)

1600 Mickey Waffles

1500 Pancakes

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That’s a LOT to chew on 😉

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Interested in traveling to Disney World?  Send an email to Ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com for your free quote!  Her planning services are always free of charge to her clients!

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February 1st- Resolution Follow Up

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So many of us start the year with New Years resolutions and goals.  I began my year with 6 specific goals in mind, many of them are Disney Related- Click here to read my original Resolutions post.

To stay on track, I think it’s important to do a check every so often to see where you are.  So today I want to check in and hold myself accountable to my 2017 goals.

  1. Be Healthier in 2017.  For me this was about both physical and mental fitness.  As far and physical fitness has gone, I have logged my food that I’ve eaten on “MyFitnessPal.com” for the past 31 days, and am down about 13 pounds since I weighed myself on New Year’s Eve.  I am proud of this accomplishment and plan to keep going on my path to a healthier weight.  As far as mental fitness, I’ve definitely taken some steps to improve my mental health.  I am working on being less apologetic (for things that I don’t need to apologize for), being more assertive, and have even said “no” to a few things.  These are all still works in progress, but things that I’m committed to sticking with and continuing to work on.
  2. Blog More- I slacked off A LOT towards the end of 2016 with my blogging.  In January I did 11 posts, where between August and December of 2016 I did 1 post… so I’m off to a good start!  I just need to keep my momentum up.  Talking about Disney is one of my favorite things, so I just want to keep making sure that I make the time for what I enjoy!  As part of my recommitment to my blog, I also started an Instagram account to go along with the blog! You can now follow @TheMouskaholic for photos and other fun goodies!
  3. Earn More Swagbucks for Disney Spending Money- In January I was able to cash in 7500 Swagbucks for $75 Sam’s Club Giftcards, which I will use to purchase Disney Gift cards with.  On average in 2016 I saved $48 per month with Swagbucks, so in 2017 I’m doing better than last year’s average. I’ve got a about 800 swagbucks going into February, so I’m hoping to stay above last year’s average and keep saving!  If you’re interested in learning more about how to save money for your own disney trip using swagbucks click here!
  4. Continue to have new experiences at Disney in 2017- I haven’t had my first Disney trip of the year (I say first because I’m always hopeful that they’ll be more than one lol!)  I have however booked my summer 2017 trip!  I’m super excited because not only is it going to be a nice long trip AND Mr. Mouskaholic and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary while we are there!  One aspect of our trip that we have planned is eating at all new restaurants!  Every single dining reservation that we have is at a restaurant that we’ve never eaten at!  We will be eating at the Spirit of Aloha dinner show, Storybook Princess Dining at Akershus Royal Banquest (Norway at Epcot), Bongos Cuban Cafe, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Yak and Yeti, Chef Mickeys, Cape May Cafe, Rose and Crown Dining Room.  I’m sure in addition to all of these new dining experiences I will find some more new things to experience while on our trip 🙂
  5. Book more trips for Charming Travels LLC-  In addition to having my own Disney blog, I am also an independent agent for Charming Travels LLC.  I have been with CT since January 2015.  I’ve gotten a few more bookings each year.  As I look at my stats from last year, I booked 16 Disney trips for various families in 2016.  So far for 2017 I have booked 6 trips for different families.  I would love to hit at least 20 for 2017, so I’ve gotta keep plugging away and promoting my business!  I’m not off to a bad start 🙂
  6. Run a Half Marathon-  I haven’t even started to work on this goal yet.  I live in Ohio, so I will blame the weather lol!  I have gotten 13 pounds off so that’s less to carry around when I run. This month I want to decide which half to run, and then maybe in March the weather will be better enough to start training!

So that’s my resolution update!  Here’s to keeping at it!  How are you doing on your resolutions?

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Check out this Deal- $200 + Savings for a family of 4.

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Let’s say you’re a family of 4.  The average quick service meal is $10.  So you’ll save about $40 per day… multiplied by 5 days is a savings of $200!!!!  Sounds like a great deal to me!!!

Contact Ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com to book your trip between 5/30 and 8/24 at a Value resort!  You must book by 2/12/17 to qualify for this deal!

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A taste of Disney… at home

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Okay, so one of my FAVORITE quick service meals that we enjoyed at Disney during our July trip was the “Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese” from Bill and Min’s Dockside Diner.  This is located at Hollywood Studios.  As I mentioned in a blog post during our trip, this was our very first time at Bill and Mins. We often opt for air conditioned locations for our quick service meals because lets face it… its HOT in Florida during the summer!  With that being said, I had heard about this delicacy and was determined to try it, despite the outdoor dining area.  All I can say was that it was epic!  The only quick service meal that I think I enjoyed more was the pulled pork, cornbread waffle sandwich from Typhoon Lagoon.  (Yes… I will admit, I have a thing for pulled pork!)

  
So when I was grocery shopping at home and saw “Appleton Farms” pulled pork just staring at me from the meat case at Aldi, I knew what had to be done… I needed to recreate this awesomeness!

This recreation tastes remarkably close to the one at Disney and is very simple-

I used Stouffer’s Mac n Cheese, Appleton Farms Pulled Pork, and Tuscan Garden Crispy Onions.  If you don’t have an aldi nearby I would imagine you’ve got prepared pulled pork available, and French’s crispy onions.

   
 Mmmmmm… Maybe I will pretend I’m at Disney while I eat it 😉

  
Interested in visiting Hollywood Studios to check out Bill and Min’s for yourself?  Be sure to http://www.facebook.com/charmingtravels the travel agents  at Charming Travels are experts in Disney Vacation planning and will make your trip magical!

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Day 5 in review

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Today was another exciting day at Disney! And we had an amazing time even though we weren’t in the parks today!

We started by heading to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort. This was a wonderful character breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice, Tigger, Pooh, and The Mad Hatter! They had a great food selection at the buffet, the Mad Hatter Juice was AMAZING (Orange, Guava, and Passion Fruit). The Mad Hatter was absolutely hilarious! He had us in stitches!

In our original plan we were going to head to a water park today, but after all that food, and the adventures we’ve had the last few days (and the weather didn’t look so “magical”) we opted to head back to the French Quarter for some R&R! We napped and while we were napping the most magical thing happened, the weather cleared and it got beautiful outside!!! We were able to spend some time at our amazing resort pool!

For the evening we went to Downtown Disney and saw Cirque de Soleil La Nouba. It was so incredible! Amazing artistry, acrobatics, and something I didn’t expect- funny!!! Super fun show!

We ended the evening with dinner at Cookes of Dublin (attached to Raglan Road) and some shopping!


A low key day was just what we needed… The next two days are park days, so the rest was needed!

Today’s step count-

30 Day Disney Challenge- Day 14 “Favorite Table Service Restaurant”

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Confessions of a Mouskaholic's 30 Day Disney Challenge

Confessions of a Mouskaholic’s 30 Day Disney Challenge

With SO many different options to choose from this is a very another difficult choice to narrow down.  I’ve had some amazing meals at all of the parks.  They all bring something unique to the table (pun intended).  Many offer unique experiences with entertainment, or characters, and some just dazzle with amazing food, and atmosphere.

We try every visit to experience new dining, and I have certainly not been to every restaurant.  I’ve been to quite a few, but not all of them.  The location that we visited last summer that has stood out in my mind is Biergarten in Germany.  We loved the live entertainment that happened during the meal.  It was fun to watch people abandon their seats and get up and polka with the live band!  We also enjoyed the seating.  We were seated with another family and had the opportunity to visit with them and get to chat.  (This isn’t for everyone, but we really enjoyed it)  and then there is the FOOD!!!!  It’s a buffet, so you get the chance to try many different foods, and if you don’t like something you’re not stuck with it.  I enjoyed just about everything I tried!

While we try to visit as many new restaurants as we can on each trip, this is one that we are revisiting on our upcoming trip because we enjoyed it so much last time!

Biergarten Restaurant

Biergarten Restaurant

Thinking about planning your next Disney vacation?  Be sure to email ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com!  She can help with all of your planning needs, and best part is that her services are free of charge!  Email today for your free quote!

ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

30 Day Disney Challenge- Day 13 “Favorite Quick Service Restaurant”

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Confessions of a Mouskaholic's 30 Day Disney Challenge

Confessions of a Mouskaholic’s 30 Day Disney Challenge

Today is another tough choice.  Walt Disney World is sprawling with places to eat, many of them being quick service locations.  I am going to highlight a few of my favorites, just because there are SO many options between the parks, and resorts.

Magic Kingdom- Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe.  If you’re on the dining plan, you can’t beat their chicken and ribs combo at dinner time.  The cost is about $16, and by the time you add in your dessert and drink you’re easily looking at a $21 value.  The meal is HUGE and very sharable if you’re one who likes to share your quick service credits.  This location also has indoor seating which is a plus when it’s hot outside and you want to sit in the AC.  There is also animatronic entertainment in the seating area.  It’s always fun to watch “Sonny Eclipse” with his stand up comedy and music!

Sonny Eclipse

Sonny Eclipse

Hollywood Studios- ABC Commissary.  I love this location because it has a unique selection of food.  Many locations have your typical hamburger, hotdog, and chicken fingers.  ABC has unique selections Salmon, Steak, Shrimp (Yes this is a quick service location!!!) Salads, and a unique twist on burgers.  Another perk here again is the indoor seating and air conditioning.

ABC Commissary Menu

ABC Commissary Menu

I know this isn’t at WDW, but the best meal that I’ve ever consumed at a quick service location was at Disney’s California Adventure Park- Flo’s V8 Cafe.  When I visited in 2012, the Radiator Springs part of DCA was brand new, and was just WONDERFULLY details!  I loved every part of it, and we made sure that eating in radiator springs was part of the plan!  I am going to have to make this my #1 choice as far as best quick service location I’ve eaten at.  I had the turkey breast meal.

Flo's V8 Cafe- Disney's California Adventure Park

Flo’s V8 Cafe- Disney’s California Adventure Park

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The best quick service meal that I’ve enjoyed from a resort was at Pop Century’s court-“Everything Pop.”  They have unique selections at all times of the day, including a breakfast sandwich that uses pop-tarts as the bun.  I enjoyed lunch there during my last stay, and it was delicious (I had just run a 1/2 marathon too, so I was REALLY hungry!)  I had their turkey sandwich (Oven-roasted Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread Stuffing, Cranberry Mayonnaise, and Watercress on Texas Toast served cold with House-made Chips, Pasta Salad, or Coleslaw)… my mouth just watered thinking about it again!  It was so yummy!

Everything Pop Food Court

Everything Pop Food Court

With so many choices at WDW and DL you really can’t go wrong!

If you’re interested in planning your next trip to Disney World or Disneyland, be sure to contact Ashley@Charmingtravelsllc.com and she will get you set up!  Her services are free of charge and planning Disney trips is one of her FAVORITE things to do!

ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com