Wine Girl Mommy’s World

Tag: Disney

• Christmas tree trail

  Posted at 12:26 pm by CS, on January 2, 2020

  If you’re looking for something fun and free to do in the Orlando area, and are a lover of Disney, look no further than the Christmas Tree Trail they have at Disney springs.

  This is slowly becoming one of my favorite things to do around the holidays so I really hope Disney continues to put it on. Really would hate for them to take it away. I do believe it’s getting more and more hype, they’ve been doing it since 2016, so I’m taking that as a positive that it will stick around.

  It’s pretty simple in what it is, it’s a trail of beautifully decorated Christmas trees that are themed to the Disney movies, characters, attractions around the parks. Each tree is decorated with items and designs that showcase the theme of the tree. Throughout the trail as well you’ll see fun posters depicting play-ons from different movies. And if you catch it right, you’ll even see snow in Florida. (Side note, it’s really just snope, but still fun to see) This would make a great date night, or family outing, and because it’s at Disney springs, which is free to park, it won’t cost anything to go see.

  While they have the same trees each year, they really put effort into updating the tree so it’s just a bit different each year. They are also adding new trees each year which I always find wonderful.

  I personally think they should add a Tinkerbell/Pixie Hollow tree. And some sort of Pixar tree for other movies other than Toy story. So maybe next year Disney will surprise us.

  

  You can see below how they update the trees over the years. The left is from their first year 2016, and the right is from this year. Both of the tangled tree. My personal favorite.

  

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged characters, Christmas, Christmas trees, Disney, Movies, trail, tree

• Meltdowns at Disney

  Posted at 11:45 am by CS, on December 12, 2019

  You have planned this wonderful and most likely expensive trip to Disney. You have spent the time planning out the flights, the hotel, the dining, the fast passes, then packing and arriving to your destination. Everyone is excited, whether this is your first or one millionth trip. You get to the park, you start having fun, and all of a sudden a infant/toddler/child meltdown happens. If you are anything like me you get a tad embarrassed as your child screams and people start to stare. Here’s a few tips to try and remedy the situation and get your trip back on track.

  Check if they need to be changed, fed, or down for a nap. When at Disney, it is easy to lose track of time, so for a child that may be on a stricter schedule at home, that can easily go out the window while on vacation. If your child is having a meltdown, may be time to take a sight step back and just double check that everything is still on track for them. While most parents try to keep to a similar schedule, it just sometimes becomes a lot and we need to just get back to central mode.

  Remove them from the situation. Does your child want to stay on a ride but there is a big line, do they want that bubble toy/Mickey balloon/etc that everyone seems to have, or in my child’s case play with rocks on the ground and embedded into the wall?! Well time to leave that specific area and distract them from what caused the meltdown. They want to ride small world again-try to take them to the other side of fantasyland, they want that toy-leave the store, they want to play with rocks-leave the entire area with rocks. I realize some of these are easier said than done because carrying a screaming and moving child is very difficult. But in our case, I just picked her up and booked it as fast as I could to a different land. I do find it easier to deal with the meltdown not in the area it was started.

  Babycare centers. I’ve mentioned these as a god send in a past blog, but they definitely help. On our last trip, Cameron had a few issues and we were on the brink of calling the day early and leaving but I decided to try one last ditch effort and take her to the baby care center for a cool down and to blow off some steam indoors to see if that would help. We also bought some children’s Advil because Cameron had just started teething her back molars and I think that was part of her reasoning for her meltdowns. So these centers are great for a quiet place to regroup, and to buy some much needed or somewhat needed baby items.

  Now when all else fails, it may be best to go back to the hotel or head home, depending on if you are here on vacation or a local. It’s never fun to be that parent with the screaming kid, but I’m almost positive every parent has gone the same thing at least once, so they are probably throwing good vibes your way, while also being glad it’s not their child.

  Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged baby, child, Disney, Disney world, meltdowns, toddler

• What I drank November 2019

  Posted at 11:25 am by CS, on December 5, 2019

  There was a lot going on this last month. Between vacations and weddings and holidays, it’s not a shock that the month flew by. Luckily I did still find time to try some new and interesting drinks.

  Baileys espresso crème- Now I may have “cheated” just a little with this one as I have had this prior to November. But it was only once and it wasn’t a large amount so I’m not counting it. But I treated myself this month to a bottle of it to bring down to Tampa for a wedding. Figured it would be great in coffee or hit chocolate. I was right, and it was delicious. This is good by itself in a glass with ice as well.

  Key Lime Sparkling wine- this has been something I’ve wanted to try for years, every time I see it on a menu for the food and wine festival at Disney. I never had gotten around to actually trying it until this year. I was pleasantly surprised how not sweet it was. I was expecting it to be a lot sweeter than it was so I’m glad I was wrong. This is another drink that is good by itself, or made into a mimosa. We were able to find a bottle of it at a fruit stand in central Florida, and although it was a bit pricy, I’m happy to have finally been able to try it.

  Cider flight at the Epcot experience center at Epcot- this was a hidden gem found at the food and wine festival. People know about the new Epcot experience that shows all the updates coming to epcot, but there is also a counter where you can buy snacks and drinks inside. They offer a cider flight with 3 kinds of cider. The 3 daughters brewing spicy cinnamon hard cider, ciderboys strawberry magic hard cider, and Florida beer co caribé blood orange hard cider. All three were great, but I think the strawberry magic was my favorite. After I had drank enough of all three, I did pour them all together into a single cup so I could walk around the showcase a bit easier, and all of them mixed wasn’t terrible. I’m hoping this isn’t just a festival offering so I can order them again.

  

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, drinks, favorites, November

• Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival “Best of the Fest”

  Posted at 11:10 am by CS, on November 25, 2019

  Now that the Epcot food and wine festival has ended, I wanted to write about what I considered to be the “best of the fest.”

  This is all my opinion and what I thought was the best of all I tried at the festival. And with that, I did not try everything, I did not have the time or money, but I would like to think I tried a good bit.

  And yes I realize the festival is over so you can’t try anything on this list. But hopefully they will bring them all back in 2020 so that you have a chance.

  My best for the food would be the Lump Crab Cake with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Avocado-Lemongrass Cream from coastal eats. This crab cake was amazing, and the avocado-lemongrass cream just added something that I didn’t know needed to be added to a crab cake. This was the first thing I tried at the festival so I was sure I would find something better, but nothing ever seemed to top it. I will be getting this every year they bring it back.

  

  Winner for the drink portion of the festival is the Ciderboys Lemon Cello Hard Cider from the Appleseed orchard booth. I don’t know if it was because this booth was indoors at the Canada pavilion or if it was just that good, but I got this cider a total of 4 times throughout the festival because I just kept thinking about it. I am now trying to find where I can buy it.

  

  Now some other favorites of mine both food and drink.

  Mimosa flight from the Shimmering Sips booth.

  Smoked Corned Beef with Crispy Potatoes, Cheese Curds, Pickled Onions and Beer-Cheese Fondue from the Flavors of fire booth.

  Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Pomegranate Beer from the Brewer’s collection booth.

  The IMPOSSIBLE™ Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and spicy Asian Slaw on a Sesame Seed Bun from the Active eats booth.

  Italian Margarita with Limoncello and Tequila and Ravioli Carbonara: Parmesan and Pecorino Ravioli, Egg Yolk, Cream, and Bacon from the Italy booth.

  

  Did you have any other favorites? What do you hope they bring back next year?

  Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, drinks, Epcot, favorites, food, wine

• Parents night out fancy version

  Posted at 3:50 pm by CS, on November 20, 2019

  Back in August, my husband and I had a parents getaway weekend to Disney. I wanted to do another fun parents evening at Disney so I somehow talked my husband into doing so. In November, we took ourselves on a parents night out to do something I personally have been wanting to do for some time. David has been wanting to do it as well, just not as long as myself since he hasn’t been a Disney fan as long as I have.

  We treated ourselves to dinner at Victoria and Albert’s inside the Disney Grand Floridian hotel. Let me tell you, if this is something you have been wanting to do, and you can spare the cost of it, as well as snag a reservation, I would 100% recommend it.

  Yes, we went back in November, and yes it’s taken me some time to pull together my thoughts on the meal which is why they post is so late.

  First off, I felt very out of place there, but not in a bad way. It is definitely a fancy place, and I myself don’t consider myself to be fancy. I felt like a kid in an adults only area, like I had to whisper and be on my very best behavior. And, while yes you should act appropriately, you don’t have to be stiff and “proper” like I seemed to have been the entire time. Luckily after the first course or two, I was able to loosen up a bit and enjoy myself.

  Secondly, it’s a tasting menu that comes with 7-8 courses, depending on the season/timing/allergies/etc, but they courses aren’t extremely large in portion so it’s not like you will be feeling overly full leaving the restaurant. You will for sure be full because it’s plenty of food, but you won’t be feeling sickly and like you over ate. Now the menu does change with the season, and what’s fresh, and what the chefs choice to make will be. Which is good, if this was something that you could afford to do often, you would be able to try a lot of different menu items. You also have the option to do a wine pairing that is an additional cost. We opted to do that as well as added on a few additional menu items that were available just to get a greater sense of what was offered, plus it all sounded amazing.

  

  The service was amazing, and I mean at a five diamond restaurant why would it be any less. Our server made us feel comfortable the entire night, she made sure we had whatever we needed, that everything was explained to us as we were being served a new dish, she made sure to share stories about the chef, and also share some personal stories of herself so that we really got to know her.

  Now I will be the first to admit that I’m a fairly picky person when it comes to food. I have been trying to get better as an adult and as a mother to set a good example for my child to at least try new things. So I swore to myself that I would try everything I was served this evening. I am so glad I did too. I got to have caviar, a black radish, Japanese beef, amazing chocolate, and what shocked me the most was the fish I had that I actually enjoyed. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not one for fish, but the way it was prepared by the chef, I ate the entire thing. The only few things I didn’t finish were some of my main entree of the beef, and a few chocolates so I could take it home to share with my parents who were gracious enough to watch Cameron while we went out to enjoy this meal.

  

  Sadly I didn’t take pictures of all the courses, for two reasons. One, I was enjoying them so much I almost forgot I wanted a photo of it before I dug in, and two, with it being such a nice place, I didn’t want to be that person who was constantly taking out my phone to take pictures. I wanted to sit and enjoy the food, and enjoy the moment and atmosphere.

  All in all, it was one amazing meal. Amazing food, amazing service, amazing company. I for one, would love to go back and try other items in different seasons. Need to start saving up for another treat.

  

  Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged dinner, Disney, fancy, five diamond, meal, parents night, victoria and alberts

• A toddler in Hollywood (Studios)

  Posted at 11:30 am by CS, on November 14, 2019

  Most people, when they think of Disney think that’s its only just for kids. And while a good bit of that is true, there are plenty for adults to do. Case in point, Hollywood Studios park seems to be the least kid friendly Disney park in Orlando. When you look at what is offered as far as rides and attractions and shows, there seems to be more aimed towards older kids and adults, with the thrill rides, Galaxy edge and toy story land.

  So what do you do when you want to go to Hollywood studios but have a toddler in tow? The short answer would be to just suck it up and wait for another time when you may be kiddo free for a quick trip, but in some cases, when you’re on a family vacation, and there is no other option, you make the best of a park that may not have a lot to offer a younger kid.

  Here are my must do’s when you have a toddler tagging along. And these are my must do’s because this is what we did on a recent trip to Hollywood studios.

  Disney Junior Dance Party– if your child remotely enjoys any part of Disney juniors and the shows they show on the channel, this is a must stop and do. Two DJ’s, favorite characters, and lot of fun music, what more would or could your child ask for? Cameron loved dancing and laughing along to all the songs. Bright colors, lights, and bubbles/confetti/streamers also bring in the fun too.

  Disney Junior character meets– just outside the dance party, you and your child can meet a few of their favorite characters. Now these characters could change based on time of year and popularity but the ones that were there when we went were: Doc McStuffins, Pluto, Vampirina, and Fancy Nancy. We only met Doc and Vampirina and Cameron wasn’t having either of them. Normally she’s pretty into character meets, but she just didn’t seem super excited that day. It was still fun to see the different characters and their bright sets.

  Frozen sing-a-long: Frozen is still going strong since 2013, and with the release of the second coming this I don’t see the hype going down any. Cameron is a big Elsa and frozen fan so I knew we should try this out. Especially with there not being a whole lot at the park for her to do. Boy we were not disappointed. She loved it because of the songs, I loved it because the story tellers were actually quite hilarious, and I’ll admit the songs are pretty catchy. We were lucky enough to catch the holiday show so they also sang a few songs from their Christmas/holiday short that came out a while ago. All in all, would definitely go see it again.

  

  Honorable mentions: these are things I think she would like, but that we didn’t get to do.

  Voyage of the little mermaid show.

  Toy story mania and walking around Toy Story land.

  Other character meets, especially citizens of Hollywood.

  While this park may continue to not be geared toward the smaller crowd, I think there is definitely things that they can do and see to be entertained.

  Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged dance party, Disney, Disney Junior, doc mcstuffins, fancy Nancy, frozen, Hollywood studios, Mickey, park, vampirina

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort-kid friendly review

  Posted at 11:06 am by CS, on November 7, 2019

  I want to preface this with I’m not being paid or sponsored to make this post. Although I would love to be sponsored by Disney because I mean who wouldn’t. All opinions are my own.

  For Cameron’s second birthday, we had lots of different celebrations because family was in and out of town and we wanted to celebrate with everyone. One such celebration was that we treated myself, my mom, and Cameron to a weekend stay at a Disney resort when some out of town family was coming to visit Disney for the Columbus Day weekend.

  Now due to pricing and timing, we knew deluxe resorts were way out of the question. A few moderate resorts were reasonably priced, but knowing we wouldn’t be spending a lot of time in the room we weren’t completely sold on them. Then a Florida resident/annual pass holder offer popped up for our dates and a value resort opened up and I knew that was probably the best route to take. Granted the resort was still close to 200 a night, with it being a holiday weekend and all, we still made it out pretty well for a 3 night stay on property. We ended up staying at all-star movies, in a preferred room in the 101 Dalmatians section. Here are some pros and cons and findings from our stay.

  Let’s start with the room. Now as a value resort we knew the room wasn’t going to be huge or super fancy. But I was delightfully surprised that ever since they refurbished the value resorts the rooms were nicer than expected. Laminate floors, better lighting, and a Murphy bed to get more space within the room were really nice. It helped in the morning when we were trying to get ready. I also enjoyed the space of the room as a whole because we brought Cameron’s pack n play and we had plenty of room to set it up and have space to walk around. The beds were comfy, pillows great, AC worked wonderfully, so all in all a good room to be in. My two biggest issues with the room were the coffee maker and the bathtub. The coffee maker was a small single cup maker which just for me being spoiled with a full pot grinding beans coffee maker didn’t exactly cut it. The coffee just wasn’t as strong as I would have hoped. But we made due, and just grabbed more coffee inside the parks. The bathtub situation wasn’t completely horrible either. It’s just that it had a sliding door instead of a shower curtain. And while it looks nicer, probably easier to clean, and sleeker it just was harder to bathe Cameron because the door only stops halfway so you’re either stuck between the toilet and the bathtub or you’re far away from the faucet. But once again we made due for our short stay.

  Amenities, while the value resort may not have as many as some deluxe and moderate resorts, for our length of stay we had just what we needed. We never really ate in the food court, but they seemed to have some decent options. I did try mobile ordering for the first time at the food court, and my experience with that wasn’t terrible but I think it could have been better. I don’t know if they were overly busy, or if the person working mobile order wasn’t paying attention, but I feel like we waited a lot longer than we probably should have from the time I clicked the “I’m here” button on my app to when the food was actually ready for us to pick up. We weren’t in any rush as we were just going back to the room to eat, but it still was a bit of a let down to still have to wait around at the window. The only other amenity we really experienced was the kiddie pool/interactive splash pad area. Cameron had the best time playing there and meeting some other kiddos. Luckily we had no issues getting her away when it was time to go.

  It was so great to take Disney transportation while we were there. So nice to park the car at the resort and then not have to drive again until we left. The biggest con I found was that we had to share a bus with some of the other all-star resorts. This wasn’t every occasion, like early in the morning, or to certain parks, but in the middle of the day, or to places like Disney springs, we did find ourselves sharing a bus with the all-star music resort which made for busier busses in the middle of the day and more stops before being dropped off or picked up.

  All in all I think it was a great resort stay. Being a value resort I knew we wouldn’t be getting a super fancy stay, but having a kiddo and only being there for a few nights and mostly using it for sleeping it definitely did the job. I would definitely stay there again if it came to it!

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged all star, Disney, hotel, Movies, resort, review

• Packing for Disney

  Posted at 11:26 am by CS, on October 24, 2019

  So you’ve planned your trip to Disney. You know when you’re going, for how long, where you are staying. You booked your dining reservations and your fast passes. Your magic band or tickets have come in the mail and you’re ready to go. Now it’s time to figure out what to pack.

  For us, the first time we went to Disney I was not 100% sure what I wanted to bring. I had watched a couple videos of what other packed for their kids to get an idea of what I wanted to bring for Cameron.

  Packing for adults is one thing, you bring a few outfits, some comfy shoes, toiletries and you pretty much call it a day. But packing for a child is definitely different. This is what we packed for Cameron for the first trip. I have found it a lot easier the subsequent trips we’ve taken because we learn each time.

  Outfits and changes of clothes. I planned out what we would wear each day, and yes I was that mom who matched with her daughter some of the days. So I made sure Cameron had an outfit every day of our trip, and then a backup or nighttime outfit for each day as well. This way if she spilled, or got dirty, or sweaty during the day she had another outfit ready and waiting. We also packed pajamas because of course she needed to wear something to bed.

  Swimsuit. I did pack a swim suit in the off chance we went to the pool. We never made it but it was nice to have.

  Diapers and other changing items. We made sure to pack plenty of diapers, wipes, lotions and anything else we needed for changing her throughout the day.

  Blankets, toys, nighttime items. We packed as much as we could for her to feel as comfortable as possible when it came to naps and bedtime. We brought her toys, sound machine, blankets so she felt like she was at home.

  Feeding items. Made sure to pack snacks, bottles, cups, plates, and anything else she used at home when eating. She was still mostly eating with her hands so a lot of stuff we didn’t use.

  Miscellaneous. I’ll admit I overpacked and anything I though we could use I brought. We got a fan and cover for her stroller. Books to read. Extra clothes on top of her other clothes. Also of course we packed her stroller and pack n play for the hotel room. You could rent these but we weren’t sure how she would do in rentals so we felt better bringing our own.

  She was the smallest in our group and had the biggest bag just because of everything I felt she needed. As first time parents taking a baby on vacation for the first time it was better to be over prepared than under prepared.

  It’s nice that now we know a bit better and can pack a lot less. It also helps that we live a lot closer and don’t need to pack as much anyway.

  Was there anything you packed and regretted? Or didn’t pack and wish you had?

  Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged baby, bedtime, blanket, clothes, Disney, food, luggage, packing, trip

• Disney planning tips

  Posted at 11:25 am by CS, on October 17, 2019

  Obviously I am a lover of all things Disney. I think some of my recent blog posts have shown that. One topic I had some people tell me I should write about is planning tips for Disney with a family. Now I’m not a Disney travel agent. And while planning for a trip to Disney takes a lot and is different for everyone, I wanted to give some tips on what has worked for us in the past. Now there are plenty of great other sites, and lists, and tips out there I’m sure, but I figured one more blog post could certainly help because things are ever changing with how things can come together.

  I think when you first start planning your trip, the first big decision is when you are going to go. Depending on your family this may be easy or hard. You’ll have to take into account school breaks and holidays, vacation time at work, family obligations, and time of year. Then you will want to take into account how crowded the parks will be and how you feel about that and if you could handle crowds. I personally love visiting during the holidays because of all the decorations but I understand it will be a bit busier than other times of the year. Granted it’s Disney and there seems to be more busy times than not busy times now with all the new lands and attractions and festivals and special events that happen all around the parks and throughout the year. Early in the year in January and February are good times to go, and late September and early October are also some good times as well.

  Once you decide when you’re going to go, it’s then time to decide how long you want to go for. Is it a long weekend, a week, two weeks? Is this a big once in a lifetime holiday, or is this just another trip that you and your family do all the time. For us we tend to take long weekends because we are able to go to Disney quite often.

  Next up will be the hotel and ticket options. Of course you’ll want to decide if you want to stay on or off property and weigh the pros and cons of both. You’ll also want to figure out what hotel will be best for you and your family. Do you want one with a great pool? One with lots of activities? One a little more quiet and made for adults? Do you want to splurge on the hotel or have something more value?

  There are also plenty of options when it comes to buying tickets. Do you want a single day ticket or a multi day. Do you want single park each day or upgrade to a park hopper so you can go more than one park a day. Or would it make more sense to buy an annual pass. If you’re a Florida resident you can get deals on tickets as well. Then you have to think about extra events, party tickets if you’re wanting to do other things while you’re on vacation.

  Once you decide when you want to go, for how long, where you’ll stay and what sort of tickets you’ll buy, you’ll also want to decide how to get to the parks and around the parks. Do you live close enough to Orlando to drive? Is it easier to fly and rent a car? Or fly and utilize the free Disney transportation if you’re staying on property?

  Then once all the big planning is out of the way, you have the miscellaneous things to think about. I’ve written a whole post on what to pack. You’ll also want to think about any dining reservations you may want to book, and fast passes you want to book as well.

  There is so much to think about and goes into planning a trip. It’s not like just jumping in the car and going for a quick trip. But I think having some sort of plans does make the trip better. Do you have any specific tips on best ways to plan?

  Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, hotel, planning, tickets, travel, trip, vacation

• Beat the heat at Disney

  Posted at 12:16 pm by CS, on September 26, 2019

  We can all agree that Florida is hot most of the year. We can also agree that during the summer months that heat can become unbearable. Even with those summer rain storms that can cool down the weather just a tad, we still have those high temps and the humidity.

  Disney is a popular vacation spot in the summer due to school breaks, available vacation time, and events that can take place at the parks.

  Because of that, it’s nice to know how to beat the inevitable heat at Disney. You could also use a lot if not all these tips to beat the other weather issues at Disney. Such as the rain that Florida sees just about every day in the summer.

  First thing first is to stay hydrated. Disney is great about having water fountains around the parks and all counter services will give you free ice water if you ask, some even have them sitting out on the counter so you can just go in and pour yourself a cup. You can also bring in your own water bottles and continue to fill those up as well. It’s so important to stay hydrated and not get overheated.

  Water rides are your friend. Now I know not everyone loves water rides because they hate getting their clothes wet. But when it’s creeping towards 100 degrees then water rides are very very good. Splash mountain in magic kingdom, and kali river rapids in animal kingdom are some of the best. There is also a splash pad for the kiddos back near the dumbo ride in magic kingdom.

  Hotel/pool breaks. I know sometimes you think you have to, go, go, go but when it’s super hot and/or rainy, sometimes it’s best to take mid-day breaks. This is a great time to explore the hotel, go to the hotel pool and recharge for the rest of the day. Some of the resort pools are absolutely amazing. There are also some great activities you can do at the hotel that can help pass the time too and help beat the heat.

  Indoor activities. There are a lot of great rides and attractions at Disney that you can go on to beat the heat or get out of the rain or any other bad type of weather. Mickeys Phillarmagic and Carousel of Progress in the Magic Kingdom, Spaceship Earth in Epcot, Frozen sing a long in Hollywood Studios, and Its tough to be a bug, Finding Nemo musical, and the Lion King show in Animal Kingdom are some great examples of attractions that take you out of the heat for a little bit of time. These are not all of the attractions that you can do when you need to get inside and away from heat, but this is a good list to start with.

  Do you have any other tips to beat the heat at Disney?

  Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, Florida, heat, hydrated, rides, summer, water, weather

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