We were lucky enough to open a new door and experience Walt’s path to complete our before thirty goal of eating an orange in Florida.
Earlier this year we were given a very unique
opportunity. As circumstances would have
it, a room became available with our time share exchange at Disney’s Animal
Kingdom Kidani Villas for September. Of
course, this was a door we had to open!
We have been to Disney World a few (four) times before, but this was
going to be different. Like okapis,
elands, and gazelles different.
With our destination set, our room booked, we only had a few
things left to do. Over the summer
months we booked our flights ($262 round trip direct from Salt Lake City... incredible deal...I know!!),
bought our park tickets, and started an itinerary. We had everything planned out. What park we were going to, what day we were
going, and more importantly, where we were eating. For this trip we wanted to experience all of
the great dining Disney World has to offer. After
all, the entire purpose for this trip was to eat an orange, right?! So to satisfy our hunger, we signed up for
the Disney Dining Plan, which is basically pre-paying for your food. We took full advantage and were not
disappointed!
The DDP works like this: you pick a plan, pay for it, make
reservations at specific restaurants, and then you eat tons and tons of really
good food. That’s exactly what we
did. To make it special for all of us, we
each got to choose one place we really, really wanted to go to.
Burke was too young to choose where to eat, so we chose for
him. We ate at The Crystal Palace in
Magic Kingdom, which is a Winnie the Pooh and Friends character dining. A character dining is when actual real life Disney
characters visit you at your table while you eat. They take pictures, sign autographs, and basically
make your kids feel like they are the luckiest kids in the world. Even though Burke is only six months old, he
was all smiles J
Madilyn is two. She
loves princesses. Her favorite princess
is Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
Unfortunately, the Be Our Guest restaurant at Magic Kingdom is still
under construction so we were unable to go there. Instead we ate at the Akershus Royal Banquet
Hall at EPCOT. Madi loved it! She got to take a special picture with Belle
and meet all of the other princesses.
She even went on a princess parade with Ariel around the restaurant. The food was Norwegian. Even though they had a phenomenal breakfast
platter full of eggs, sausage, and potatoes, we were good sports and made our
best attempts at being Vikings. We can
now say we have had raw salmon, caper, peppered mackerel, and tomato herring for
breakfast!!
As a side note, we decided
to take the princess experience for Madi a step further. On our first day in the parks we had
breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table which is located in the iconic castle of
Magic Kingdom. To make the experience
extra magical, the servers address guest as “the Royal Family” and use titles
like m’lady and m’lord. They give the
princesses magic wands and the princes swords.
Madi and Mason took their souvenirs everywhere they went for the rest of
the trip.
Mason turned four years old on the trip. As part of his birthday celebration we had a big family dinner at T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family restaurant located at Downtown Disney.
By this time on our trip we were all exhausted. It was the last night before we flew back home. We were running on fumes. Or at least the grownups were... The kids however had plenty of energy. From the moment we
stepped out of the rain and into the restaurant, Mason, Madi, and cousins
could not stop having fun! I think they
would still be digging for dinosaur bones in the kids waiting area if we hadn’t
stopped them when our table was ready.
The best part of this experience wasn’t the cave-like dining area that
changed colors between blue and red as dinosaurs became interactive, or the
sixteen inch tall slushy drinks each of the kids practically inhaled, it was
definitely the volcano birthday cake they brought out for Mason and Grandma
Maxfield. What a great way to celebrate
the conclusion of our magical escape. 
Another choice of Mason’s was the classic Hollywood & Vine
restaurant in Hollywood Studios. This
was a character dining with Jake (of the Neverland Pirates), Special Agent Oso,
Handy Manny, and June (who I mistakenly thought was Dora the Explorer…not
Disney…my bad). Mason dressed up in his
pirate costume to make the experience authentic. He even danced with Special Agent Oso during
the interactive sing-along.
If you know Jennive, then you know she loves fish. Even though Nemo’s friends council us that “fish are friends not food”, the Coral Reef Restaurant in EPCOT has been on her list of to-do’s ever since she found out you eat with underwater views of dolphins, turtles, sharks, and what seems to be an infinite number of other fish in a 5.7 million gallon salt-water tank. For starters we ate crab cakes, crispy-fried shrimp, and creamy lobster
soup. Jennive’s white fish dinner was
almost as good as my steak (yeah, I know…why go to a fish joint if you are
going to order a steak…it won’t happen again!).
My favorite part of this experience was watching Mason and Madi stare at
the fish. The world is so much more
spectacular through their eyes.
Jennive’s second choice was Kouzzina by Cat Cora at the Boardwalk
Area. We have a mutual appreciation for
the cooks of The Food Network.
Unfortunately, we got on the wrong bus to go to the restaurant. By the time we realized where we were, it was
too late for our reservation. We ended
up settling for a quick stop with some orange juice, a muffin, and some
grapes. Hopefully someday we will get to
appreciate Cat’s amazing Mediterranean inspired menu.
Since this was a food themed vacation it’s probably
important to list all of the other places we ate at. We watch Mickey’s “Boo-to-You” Halloween
Parade from our dining table at Tony's Town Square Restaurant. Mason gave Donald a high five and Madi
freaked out (in a good way) when she saw Daisy at Tusker House Restaurant. We had by far the best service and ate what I
would call some of the best tasting food ever, at Jiko – The Cooking Place. We couldn’t get enough Africa inspired food
at the buffet of Boma–Flavors of Africa.
We never ran out of ketchup at Whispering Canyon Café. Mason, Madi, and Burke were all complimented
by other guests for their manners at the five star restaurant Citricos. And lastly, the best beef and broccoli I’ve
ever had at the Yak & Yeti Restaurant.
In all, the food was great. We
definitely had our fill (pun intended).
On to other fun activities and memorable events, our room being at the top of the list. When we booked our vacation we were able to get a Savanna View room. Only it’s not just a “room”. It’s almost a house. There was a full size kitchen, a huge master bedroom and master bathroom, a second bathroom, and a dinning/living area. The room was African themed. 
The dining table even had giraffe legs as the legs of the table. The bathroom had sunset imprinted tiles with trees and animals. Disney went all out on the room! In all, the best part was of course the savanna view. What this means is that from the balcony of our room we could watch various African animals grazing or being playful. Now I want to go on safari to Africa.
We were also able to get tickets to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary
Halloween Party. Mason was Woody, Madi
was Jessie, and Burke was supposed to be Bullseye, but we couldn’t get the costume
to work, so instead he was Mickey Mouse!
They were all adorable. Jennive
and I didn’t take costumes so we put on our workout cloths and went as “runners”. Included with the party was plenty of
trick-or-treating. The kids made a haul! I also want to share an experience we had on
the bus ride to the party. If you have
never had the opportunity to talk with our son Mason you need to. For twenty minutes on the bus he carried a
conversation with a fifty-something-year-old adult he had never met
before. They talked about all kinds of
things you would never think a child would even care about. As the couple got off the bus they
complimented Mason and were surprised to learn his age. I am proud of you Mason! You will touch so many hearts in your life.
The fireworks show was pretty cool too.
The weather was uncooperative at times. It didn’t really bother us any since Jennive and I had just spent a week in the rain of Alaska. Warm rain in Florida is much better! That said, the first day we were in Magic Kingdom everyone ran for cover when it started to rain. Everyone except Mason, Madi and me. Instead we played. Everyone watch from their cover as we ran in the courtyard enjoying the coolness the rain brought to the hot day. We played tag, Simon says, and puddle splashing. It was good to let loose and enjoy life just like the kids inherently know how.
The rain also meant we spent a lot of time indoors. It can’t be all fun and games, right? Indoors there were a lot of rides and
plays. One of the many plays we went to
was Beauty and the Beast. This was a
live twenty minute production with dancers, singers, and lots of movement. Madi was captivated. At the beginning of play there are three
Gaston admirers trying to get his attention.
Madi looked over at them and said “oh, they’re beautiful” in her cute two year old voice. She is such a precious girl. We love our Madilyn.
Burke, our youngest, really grew up on this trip. While it’s hard to customize any vacation for a six month old, we did our best with Disney. Burke was a trooper. Almost anything we did, he did. He experienced most of the week from a tummy pouch. You would not believe the looks he got from girls. What a womanizer already! I’m sure his squishy cheeks and chunky legs were too much for any girl to ignore!
Every time we have visited WDW we have taken a picture in this exact location.
Happy memories J
Thank you Maxfield’s (Bob & Jo Anne) and Brett, Melissa, and kids (McKinley, Annabelle, & Gavin) for sharing this experience with us.
We were fortunate enough to have a great time as a family. One we will never forget.
We hope to return again someday. After all, Walt Disney put it best when he said “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
"Now it’s time to say goodbye to all our company, M-I-C, see
you real soon, K-E-Y, why? because we like you, M-O-U-S-E!"
Oh yes, and the orange was delicious!!
