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Mama Monday : Be Our Guest Quick Service Review

By Melissa on February 18, 2013 in Be Our Guest, Mama Monday, Quick Service

Today I am taking you to Be Our Guest. This is Disney’s newest restaurant in the Magic Kingdom and it is inside Beast’s Castle. There are many special features of this restaurant that make it a favorite for the Mamas. This is a new approach to a dining concept for Disney. The restaurant is a quick service for lunch and a table service for dinner. I was lucky enough to try it for both on our last visit in January. I think the concept is brilliant!

Let’s start with lunch first. Lunch is served here between 11 and 2:30 daily and you can start lining up at 10:30. The average wait during a non peak time has been about 30 minutes. We got in line right around 11. During peak time it has been running 45+minutes. Don’t let the wait times deter you. It is definitely worth the wait especially if you didn’t make dinner reservations early enough to secure this coveted spot. For lunch this is one quick service dining credit on your dining plan if you have opted to go that route.

The line is managed outside. Park your strollers at stroller parking as they are not allowed in the line or inside the restaurant. If you have a sleeping baby, wear them as they are pretty strict about this rule. You line up along the bridge and wait for a cast member to let you in. They will not let you inside if your entire party isn’t there. Once inside you approach a second line to order. There are screens showing you the lunch menu as you wait. There are also Knights lined up greeting you. Hopefully you have made your choice before going up to the ordering counter. You will use the touch screens to place your order then you will pay the cashier.

You are given a Rose to take to your table and the food will be brought to you. I don’t know about you but this is one of my favorite parts of this concept. It makes juggling the kids, diaper bag, etc, all so much easier when the food is brought to you. The drinks are self service. At lunch you have the option to dine in one of the three dining rooms. The West Wing (where the enchanted rose awaits); Belle’s book filled library; or the Grand Ballroom that is two story and has a view of falling snow outside. The West Wing can be scary for some kids and I will tell you more about that one next week. We opted for Belle’s library at lunch as it was quieter than the main dining room.

We grabbed a drink and took a seat. We waited about 10 minutes for the food to arrive from the time we left the ordering counter. And like magic, the server knew exactly where we were seated. The food arrives in a covered cart for those of us that are germaphobes. After they give you the food you do have to relinquish the rose. This caused great trauma for our three year old and I am sure this is common so be prepared for that.

The sheer beauty of the restaurant was an extra treat for a quick service. There was so much to admire and look at. It kept the kids and adults entertained checking out the art work and finishings.

One of the other nice touches for this restaurant is the real silverware. A lot of quick services have plastic ware and it is nice to enjoy a good meal with real silverware.The price is also right for this quick service especially for the quality of food. Kids’ meals ranged from $7-$8.50 and adults entrees ranged from $10-$13.50. Very reasonable.

My husband had the Carved Turkey Sandwich with Pomme Frites. His sandwich was actually a little dry but the frites were extremely tasty and he had to fight the rest of the family off to enjoy them. He wishes he would have tried the Steak Sandwich so opt for it if you go.

I had the French Onion Soup and the Quinoa Salad. The Quinoa salad was exceptional. It was a nice healthy option which is refreshing when dining out for all of your meals. I also liked the French Onion Soup but it was not as heavy on the onions as you would expect.

The kids both had the Mickey Meatloaf which was a turkey meatloaf in the shape of a Mickey head with broccoli. Another healthy option for the kids! They both at all of it so I assume it was quite tasty. I didn’t even get a bite. This mama was happy and so were the kids!

To counter balance all those healthy choices we had the Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcake and the server also brought us a Triple Chocolate Cupcake to make up for the rose debacle. Totally unnecessary but our son loved it. The Strawberry Cream Cheese cupcake was the best cupcake we had at Disney. Truly amazing! I tend to be a cupcake snob. You won’t be disappointed. Get your own though because you will not want to share.

Overall, this has moved into my top list for quick service meals. It is a Mama’s dream come true for a quick service meal- healthy, tasty options, food is delivered to your table, good price, spacious enough to not feel crowded, yummy desserts, and amazing theme.

Stay tuned for next week when I take you to dinner at Be Our Guest!

Mama Monday : For the love of Rides

By Melissa on February 11, 2013 in Mama Monday, Rides

Hi Mamas(and daddies)! It’s Valentine’s week. The week of love! I have found that a lot of mamas put aside something they love at Disney for the sake of their children. Any guesses? The RIDES! Just because a child is too young or too small to ride a ride is no reason for the parents to not enjoy them. (pictured below is my favorite ride!)

Disney has a program called Rider Switch just for this situation. It has been explained on the internet all kinds of wrong ways so people don’t seem to understand how it actually works. I have found there are two ways it works-the official proper way and the unofficial way.

The first way, is the OFFICIAL protocol from Disney. One parent is to either have a fast pass for a ride or plan on waiting in the line to ride the ride. Before getting into line for either approach, you go to the Fast Pass entrance and tell the attendant you have a child that is too small to ride and you would like a Rider Switch pass. The attendant will want to see your children and other adult so you point out your spouse /friend/grandparent/other traveling companion and your children. Then they give you the Rider Switch pass (pictured below). It will have a date but no time on it. Then the first parent can enter the ride using their fast pass or the regular line. That parent comes out and “Switches” the children and the other parent goes in the Fast Pass entrance using the Rider Switch pass.

Things to know :

The Rider Switch pass is good for three people.
If you have multiple children and one is tall enough they can ride it with both parents.
There will be plenty to do with the non-rider while you wait.
There is a way to maximize your fast pass availability. You are only allowed one fast pass per hour. Since you only need to use one fast pass to enter the ride, the other adult can use their ticket for a different fast pass. Genius!

The second way is how it has worked for our family and others we’ve witnessed. This is not the OFFICIAL way so do not expect it to work this way. I do not want people to think this is a way to cheat the system, as it isn’t intended to do that. At some point the cast members will have a meeting and be retrained on Rider Switch. Until then you might get lucky and be able to eliminate a step. When we have approached the Fast Pass line to ask for the Rider Switch we tell them we have two adults that need to ride and they almost always have given out two passes. Then there’s no need for the fast pass. This has not always been the case but I would say more times than not, this is how it worked. There were a few that only handed us one. Remember the passes are good for three people but all three people have to enter at once. On our last trip there were four adults and they still handed us two passes in most cases. We only needed one pass because the official way would say one person waits in line then the other three ride on the Rider Switch. I truly believe that the cast members are not all trained properly on this feature and that is why some will hand out more Rider Switch passes than you need. I could tell you that you should give back the extra, but I don’t give back the extra pass. I don’t ask for the extra pass but if it is handed to me, I will use it.

Don’t wait until your kids are older for you to enjoy the rides. Ride them now and have fun too! Your kids will not be bored waiting on you. Things we’ve done with our kids while one parent rides: saw a character, danced at the dance parties, had a snack, just stopped and people watched, looked in a shop, rode another ride. There is no way the kids will be bored! Yes, at some point they will realize that you are doing something really cool and fun. Our oldest can’t wait to ride Space Mountain. He doesn’t even know what all it does as he’s only three. He just knows Mommy and Daddy love it so of course it must be fun. It’s ok to build their anticipation on when they are tall enough to do different things. We even have a growth chart that tracks their height based on what rides they are tall enough to ride! That is part of the fun of some rides!

It’s not selfish or wrong for mamas (and daddies) to get to enjoy the parks and the rides too. Everyone will have something fun to do while this happens. Enjoy! Use Rider Switch and get those thrill rides in now (assuming you aren’t pregnant of course!)

Mama Monday: Mama Stays in the Picture

By Melissa on February 4, 2013 in Mama Monday, Memory Maker, Photopass Plus

In case you missed it, the inspiration to today’s post stems from an article published last fall called The Mom Stays in the Picture It spoke to me a great deal. I remember when my first son was born everyone wanted a picture with him. I did too, but really does anyone look flattering right after child birth?? During that first year my husband made a conscious effort to make sure there were photos of me with Mason. For me, it would be a reminder to him how much I loved him and how happy I was that he was my son. I have felt the same with our second son Reed and my husband has continued to make sure we have pictures together.

The thing that helps me do this the most at Disney is letting the Disney Photopass Photographers do their job. No matter where you are at inside the parks, there are Photopass Photographers everywhere! This is what they look like:

They are professional photographers, have a camera better than most guests, have a brown vest that is easy to identify, and always have a name tag on as well.

You will be given a Photopass Card that has a number on the back of it that you will enter in on the www.disneyphotopass.com site.

There are two options I think are fantastic values. One is the prepurchase CD offer. Until recently this is the option we always opted for. It saves you money and we take a lot of pictures with the Photopass Photographers. Order it in advance and then when you return home you will order the CD or download it if you prefer that option. All of the photopass pictures will be there. You can also alter them with borders, etc.

The option we have been doing more recently is the PhotoPass Plus. Your Disney Vacation Planner can add this to any vacation package and it will give you the CD plus photos at select rides(the images only on your CD) and the prints and images at select dining experiences. You can also purchase it on your own, however it is less expensive through your vacation planner. We’ve never really been ones to purchase the ride photos but the dining ones make this completely worth it! Every family Disney trip in our future will include this add on. Here’s a picture of what your Photopass Plus card will look like.

So mamas( and daddies), there’s no excuse to not be in the pictures at Disney. Your kids will love seeing you in them when you get back home. You will not regret the opportunity to captures these memories with your kids. And you never know, the Photopass Photographer just might add someone special in the picture too(besides you that is).

Let’s create some magic together and get you IN the picture!

Mama Monday : Ditch Perfect

By Melissa on January 28, 2013 in Mama Monday

This is for all of you overachieving Mamas, which means all of you. When you invest as much time and money into a Disney vacation, it is very hard not to expect it to be perfect. It is Disney and you worked hard for this, of course you have an idea of exactly how Magical and how PERFECT it has to be. Let me tell you a little secret, it isn’t going to be perfect. Something will go wrong. Take the pressure off of yourself before you ever go. Ditch the idea of perfection fast!

If you haven’t and you catch yourself screaming at your kids “YOU ARE GOING TO DO _________________ AND YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT BECAUSE I WORKED SO HARD ON THIS TRIP!” take a break, step away from the children, and take a look around at where you are at. You are at Disney! The happiest place on earth! I assure you our definition of perfect is different than our children’s definition.

My child has refused the ideal family photo opp on more than one occasion. I could force him to be in the picture or I could let him sit in the stroller while we get a picture with us and our other son. I usually opt for the second. I have been known to say, “All I ask is for a photo, get in here and smile.” Then I hear myself and realize, forcing the issue isn’t going to make anyone smile. He would sometimes prefer to sit and people watch or see mommy and daddy acting goofy for our pictures.

On our last trip there were several unperfect moments. Both kids got sick at different times. That definitely altered our plans so the sick child could rest. I am pretty sure that the well child had a ton of fun watching the old school Disney cartoons though and having breakfast in the room in their PJs too though. And they probably learned a little something from Goofy too in this cartoon.

And on our last full day at the parks, we went from Dumbo all the way over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the sole purpose of allowing our oldest to ride the “big” ride again. We get there, get the rider swap, and he announces he’s not riding it today. UGH. That’s fine. We happened upon Woody and there’s no way around missing him so I took the kids to do that and Daddy went to go ride Space Mountain. I was just about to give away our rider swap for Big Thunder Mountain when the oldest announced he had to ride the ride. Seriously?? Space Mountain simultaneously broke on Daddy. I texted him to let him know to head back over when he was finished with his ride. Take a look at your park map. It was quite comical after the fact. None of these scenarios fall into my definition of perfect. But if you asked the kids, they loved every minute!

Ditch the idea it has to be perfect and just let the magic happen and it will be perfect in its own way. I promise!

Mama Monday: Date Night is a Must Do!

By Melissa on January 21, 2013 in Date Night, Mama Monday

I think a must do for any mama(or daddy) is to schedule a Kid’s Nite Out (in) and an adult night out! Date night is one of the best things for our entire family. Ideally I schedule ours for halfway through the trip. We do this for any trip that is six nights or longer. The kids get a quiet night in and some time to recharge and get a longer night’s sleep. The parents get some adult time and a chance to eat a meal without a character, and to not have to rush through eating. I always use Kid’s Nite Out. They are a sitter service that comes to your room. They have an exclusive with Disney so if you ask Disney who they recommend this will be who they give you. They background check their sitters and you can be very particular about your request. When my oldest was just a year old, I had very specific requirements and they honored them all. They show up in their purple shirt with a name tag. They can’t bathe the kids or take them to the pools but I don’t mind that. They also arrive with a ton of age appropriate toys that have already been cleaned along with some books. These were a big hit with our kids. Their rates are very reasonable at $18.50 per hour for two children. We leave one of our cells with the sitter for text and picture updates as needed. Then we are off! Our sitter’s name was coincidentally Melissa. She was fantastic and I highly recommend her!

We went to Narcoose’s Friday for our date night. We took a cab over so it was like a real date night out. We enjoyed a leisurely meal with wine, appetizers, and entrees. This is one of our entrees.

It was all delicious! And the restaurant even honored our request to be away from any tables with children. We were polite enough to leave ours at home for a later in the evening reservation. We skipped desert and decided to go into Epcot for extra magic hours.

We returned home to children already snug in their beds, the dishes cleaned up, and everyone happy. This morning our oldest even asked where the sitter was and if she was coming back!

I make recommendations like these and more for my clients.

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