Review: Via Napoli

Since our friends and family know (thanks to the countless Facebook posts, sorry everyone!) we go to Disney a lot, we get asked what our favorite place to eat is.  Without any doubt, my answer is always the same- Via Napoli! Honestly, it’s one of my top five restaurants ever (never mind Disney places).   That list includes Le Cirque, Le Bernadin, A16, Bern’s Steakhouse, Nobu, and now Via Napoli.  For those of you unfortunate souls, who have not had the immense pleasure of dining there, let me fill you in.  It is a sit-down, table-service restaurant in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot.  It is essentially a pizza place.  To just call it that doesn’t do it justice.  We’re not talking about the so-so neighborhood pizza place that you go to because they deliver and have BOGO Pizza Mondays (wait, maybe that’s just me again); no, Via Napoli has the kind of pizza that makes you realize what you’ve been eating along was an imposter.  The story goes, all of the ingredients for the pizza come directly from Italy (including water from Naples to make the pizza dough), and it really tastes totally different than any American pizza I’ve had.  The crust is crunchy but doughy, thin but not cracker-y, and caramelized from the pizza ovens but not burnt.   I’ve had their margarita pizza, which is phenomenal, but my favorite is the prosciutto.  It’s a traditional margarita pizza, topped with the most amazing prosciutto that is sliced so thin you can see through it.  My mouth is literally watering as I’m writing this (might be time for a lunch break!). 

Prosciutto pizza.  This is the small (4-slices).  Note- we don't take that many pictures here because we're usually too busy stuffing our faces

As good as their pizza is, the appetizers are almost as amazing.  Our favorite is the fritto misto platter which is a huge plate of fried vegetables (zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts), fried fresh mozzarella (like the most insanely good mozzarella stick you’ve ever had), fried calamari, and arancini (fried risotto balls filled with cheese and sausage).  Not the most heart-healthy appetizer, but our twisted philosophy is that calories don’t count at the most magical place on Earth.  I’ve actually never had dessert here; which if you know me at all, is very surprising.  The appetizers and pizzas are so out of this world good, you can’t help but complete stuff yourself way past the point of being full, that there is no way to eat dessert afterwards (unless it’s ice cream an hour later after walking off the pizza, but that’s different…haha).  The drinks here are really great too.  The wine, beer, and cocktails are all unique but overpriced ($10 a glass for the same prosecco you can get at the wine store in the Italy Pavilion for only $6).  My favorite is the sangria (although be warned, it tastes so good, you’ll forget there’s any alcohol in it!).  They also have house-made Italian sodas.  I’ve never had one, but they look good.  Now with all this positive, there has to be a little downside right? Well, yes of course, it’s only naturally.  I would say there are two major flaws with Via Napoli- slow service (then again we’re used to “American” style of service where everything is expedited) and the difficulty getting a reservation.  When we plan out our Disney trips, we book Via Napoli almost before anything else.  Even months in advance, you’re lucky if you can get a 3:00 pm lunch reservation or an 8:45 pm dinner (which is fun with a 3-year old).  My tip is to see if you can get a good time for a reservation the day before you go (a lot of people cancel last minute and it opens up more times).  Also, don’t plan on just walking in and waiting, a lot of time they will turn you away because it is so busy.  We have plans to go there in a few weeks, and I cannot wait! I hope you check this place out and enjoy! 

Traveling to Disney with a Special Needs Child

For the vast majority of guests at Walt Disney World, they don’t have to worry about the obstacles that come when traveling with somebody who have physical, mental, and/or developmental limitations.  Up until we had our son Carter that was us.  Before we had Carter, my husband and I would go to the parks and stay until closing and never really planned ahead except for maybe a few meals.  Now when we go, even if it’s just for a quick day trip, we plan everything out meticulously.  I think people traveling with kids, regardless of any special needs, should plan ahead for Fast Passes (a system that lets you pre-determine what time you want to ride a certain ride, and your line is less than a ten minute way, rather than an hour-plus), meals, and attractions they want to see/do. Every time I go to the park, I am shocked at how many people I overhear say they didn’t know about Fast Passes or they didn’t make any dining reservations (most of the busy restaurants don’t even accommodate walk-in diners).  Going to a theme park is a ton of fun, but it can also be incredibly stressful.  No matter which park you decide to go to, parking will take a little while and require you to walk 50 miles to the front gate (perhaps a slight exaggeration).  If the temperature in Orlando is 80 degrees, those parking lots will be about 105.  Once you arrive at the front gate, you have to wait for bag inspection and to scan/show your ticket to actually get into the park.  All of these things take a while and require waiting in lines.  Finally you are in the park and can take your child on a ride they’ve been so looking forward to, only to discover there is a 90-minute wait.  After a minor miracle, you’re able to entertain your little one for this length, it is your turn on a 3-minute ride and your child is suddenly scared of it and cries the whole time.  Let’s just say, even on a good day, things can get really stressful!

Happy Carter at WDW!

All of these stressors are compounded and multiplied when you have a small child who has special needs.  Our Carter doesn’t have an official diagnosis (he won’t until he’s 6), but as of right now he has general/global development delays and sensory processing disorder.  As of right now, he is still non-verbal (well that’s not fair, he does plenty of vocalizing, just none of it is “real” words) and has the developmental age of about a 18-month old.  When something is bothering him or he wants something, he has no verbal way to communicate this.  We have to take a guess when he’s hot, hungry, thirsty, tired, etc. much like you would with a baby before they started talking.  Carter also has an incredibly hard time waiting, sitting still, and doing what he is told (much like many toddlers). Pair that with sensory issues and not being able to communicate, is a disaster waiting to happen at a theme park.  While there is no way around it entirely, there is one tool at Disney that has made our lives so much easier- the DAS card.  The Disability Access Card (DAS) can be given to anyone with a family member with any type of disability.  It allows a family to skip the waiting in line for attractions.  For example, let’s say we want to ride the Little Mermaid ride with Carter but there’s a 30 minute wait.  We go up to the front of the line and tell one of the cast members we are using our DAS card.  They will scan our magic bands, and tell us to come back after a certain time (30 minutes later).  Once that time has come, we can go back on that ride and not have to wait in line.  It doesn’t mean you get to go on any ride and never wait in a line, you can only use it for one ride at a time, and you still have to wait the 30 minutes, but you don’t have to stand in the line for 30 minutes (usually we’ll take that time to use the restroom, get a snack, etc.). 

Our sweet boy! Top- at Magic Kingdom, Bottom- at Animal Kingdom

It has been a life saver for us, and makes Carter’s experience at Disney much like it would be for any other 3-year old.  That is probably the number 1 reason why we go back to Disney time and time again.  Having a place where your special needs child can be like anyone else and have the time of their life, is priceless!   

At Disney, Carter gets to be like anyone else- happy and making memories!

Review: Wilderness Lodge

Disney World Resort Review: Wilderness Lodge Resort & Villas

Up until about two years ago I had never even heard of the Wilderness Lodge Resort.  I had been to Disney many times, but it had gone unnoticed, even passing by on the monorail.  A few summers ago, we were looking for a Disney Resort to stay and wanted to stay someplace convenient to the theme parks and somewhere we hadn’t stayed before.  We chose Wilderness Lodge.  From the moment we drove up to the massive, mountain-themed resort, we had fallen in love.  Here we were in the middle of Florida in August, but were immediately transported to Yellowstone National Park.  The main lodge building is huge with an-open atrium lobby including an 80-foot fireplace.  Like any large resort, the walk from the lobby to your room can be a little lengthy, but there is so much to look at, no one minds! There is a geyser by the pool that is fed by a stream and waterfall that begins in the lobby itself.  Wilderness Lodge has a gift shop with mountain/lodge themed items along with the usual snacks and drinks.  On the opposite side of the lobby from the gift shop you’ll find the dining options.  There is the rowdy, family-friendly Whispering Canyon Café which features an interactive dining experience with games (“ketchup” anyone??).  Next door is the more upscale (and non as kid-friendly, at least not 3-year old friendly) Artist Point.  We have never eaten at the restaurant itself (features a Pacific Northwest menu), but we have had a good meal and drinks at the connected lounge.  Further down the lobby, heading towards the pool is the quick-service Roaring Fork.  I haven’t eaten an entire meal here, but we’ve gotten a few pastries and dessert things from there and it was very quick and convenient. 

View from pool looking back towards lobby

Once you go outside by the pool, it is a spectacular sight.  Like I mentioned before, there is a waterfall that streams down into the pool itself.  There is also a waterslide that leads into a large pool.  For a family with a toddler who can’t swim on his own yet, there is a kiddie-area of the pool with a large splash area and water playground with its own shallow pool.  All of this gorgeous pool area looks out over the geyser (based on Old Faithful) that actually “explodes” several times an hour.  Behind the geyser is Bay Lake.  Along the lakeside are docks, beaches, and a place to rent recreation items (bikes, boats, jetskis, etc.). 

View from hotel room looking over pool and resort

The rooms at Wilderness Lodge are perhaps the only less-than-stellar aspect of this resort.  There’s nothing wrong with the rooms or decorations necessarily, they just don’t match up with the beauty and uniqueness of the rest of the resort.  Our family has stayed in a regular room overlooking the pool that had a king bed, pull out couch, and fairly basic hotel bathroom.  We’ve also stayed in the Villas (part of the Disney Vacation Club) in a studio room and a 1-bedroom suite.  The studio was much like a traditional hotel room with the addition of a pull-down table that converts into a twin bed (worked great for our toddler, until he hit his head on the TV stand above and refused to get back into the bed).  The 1-bedroom suite was amazing.  That room really was stellar and fit in well with the overall style and level of the resort.  It had a huge separate bedroom with a king bed, giant Jacuzzi tub, walk-in shower, washer and dryer, full-sized kitchen with granite countertops, dining room, living room, and balcony.  It has completely spoiled us! Traveling with a child, it was such a luxury having a separate bedroom.  In a typical hotel room, we’re almost captive in the room because he will wake up anytime you put the TV on, go to the restroom, toss and turn, etc.! Plus once our son sees us lying in the bed next to us, he wants to join.  Sharing a queen bed with a three year old, doesn’t lead to the most relaxing night sleep!

View of lobby inside Wilderness Villas (right next door to main resort)

There is so much to do at this resort you really could just come here for a vacation and be completely happy.  But we all know, the vast majority of people who stay at Wilderness Lodge also come for the theme parks.  Along with the reliable and frequent Disney busses (that will take you to any theme park, Downtown Disney, water parks, etc. for free for resort guests), Wilderness Lodge has a boat that takes you directly to the front gate of Magic Kingdom.  For us, this is a huge perk.  Most of the boats are large enough, so you don’t have to fold up a stroller.  The ride is probably about 10-15 minutes and you get to go past the Contemporary Resort.  The boat ride experience on the way to the park is great, the boat ride home we’ve had some issues.  Inevitably when we go to leave, we just miss the boat and have to wait for the next one.  We’ve had to wait 30-40 minutes sometimes for the next one.  Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but when it’s 12:30 am and you have a young child, that extra half hour of waiting can be fairly tortuous!

Boat leaving Wilderness Lodge dock to head to Magic Kingdom

Overall, Wilderness Lodge tops my list for favorite resort.   I think one of the things I like about it is that it’s not over the top with “Disney” theming.  Of course there are the “Hidden Mickey’s” and a million kids running around everywhere, but the individual beauty of the place almost makes you forget that you’re a few minutes away from Cinderella’s Castle.  When you’ve been at the parks for 10 hours, it’s relaxing and calming to come back to this “lodge.” The absolute best time to stay is when they have the Christmas decorations up.  They have a 100-ft Christmas tree in the center of the lobby and a bunch more smaller trees throughout. It is utterly magical, and even the grinchiest of grinches couldn’t help get into the holiday spirit after walking through that lobby.  I’m already getting giddy thinking about our planned stay in December later this year.  Even if you don’t stay overnight at this resort, it’s definitely worth a visit or meal just to see how incredible this place is! 

Christmas tree in the lobby at Wilderness Lodge

Review: Swan & Dolphin Resorts

Ryan’s Review:

My wife and I with our 2yo always stay at a Disney hotel when we travel to Disney. I don't know why we didn't stay at Swan and Dolphin, just overlooked it, I guess. Well, we won't do that again! We stayed on the Dolphin side and it was super close to the water taxi and within walking distance to Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Epcot (took us about 15 minutes to walk to Epcot International Gate). The room was great, very spacious and clean...we could even see the Castle at Magic Kingdom from our room! At half the price of Beach Club, this was a great option and you will enjoy it!

Swan & Dolphin Resort- in between Epcot, Disney's Boardwalk, & Hollywood Studios

Madeline’s Notes:

Ryan wrote this review about a year and a half ago (before we have Disney Vacation Club) and since then we’ve been once more (when we ran out of DVC points) and every time has been such a positive experience.  We’ve been able to check in early each time too.  We haven’t really checked out too many of the resort’s amenities (pool, restaurants, etc.) because we’re usually at the parks all day/night, but they look really nice from the outside.  Ryan and I are staying here again during Food & Wine Festival and we can’t wait!

Review: Chefs de France

Ryan’s Review:

We ate at Chefs De France on a busy Saturday night, but got right into the restaurant (5 minute wait). My wife had the salmon, which was over cooked. I had the filet and potatoes, which were excellent! The dessert was profiteroles...the pastry shell was nothing great, and almost every plate I saw being cleaned up from dessert had the shells still on them. 

A couple of notes on the restaurant itself: The tables are very close together (like a real French cafe) and the tables are very uneven and wobbled (also authentic, but annoying). If I had to choose over, I think I would pay a lot less and just do the take away France option or The San Angel Inn in Mexico, that was a better meal.

Madeline’s Note:

 I couldn’t agree more than Ryan’s thoughts on the dinner at Chefs de France.  On the positive side, it is a really fabulous place for lunch.  The food is delicious (lobster bisque, croquet monsieur, champagne, etc!) and is a good value, especially for the fixed price option. 

View of Chefs de France in the French Pavilion in Epcot

Disney Vacation Club: Welcome Home!

Disney Vacation Club: Welcome Home!

Until recently, I had never heard of the Disney Vacation Club.  It was only when friends of ours, the Ryders, explained what the program was all about and how great it was.  From that point forward, my husband and I were totally intrigued.  Every time we walked passed a DVC sales person at one of the theme parks or hotels, we joked that we were total “marks,” and would be easily convinced to do it.  Finally in January of 2014, my husband went to a sales meeting at Animal Kingdom Lodge (I stayed behind with a napping toddler).  When he got back to our room a few hours later, I could tell he was already “sold.”  We calculated our expenses and budget, and determined that for our family, it would be a good deal.  We figured as many times as we had traveled to Disney and stayed on-property, we would actually end up saving money by purchasing “points” with Disney Vacation Club.  We purchased directly from Disney, but it was a “resale” (i.e. much cheaper!).  I’ve heard so many negative things about timeshares in the past (including my own family’s troubles with owning a timeshare in Mexico that no one has used in 20 years and just continues to pay enormous maintenance fees every year), that I was initially hesitant to purchase within DVC.  One of the biggest troubles with timeshares (IMO) is that you have to purchase a set week and it can often be difficult or unavailable to switch it out.  For example, my family owns a week in May.  Well with a family filled with teachers and students, which is a completely unrealistic time of the year for us to travel for a week out of the country.  The beauty of DVC is that you own points instead of a set location/time.  So you have a ton of flexibility to decide when to travel, for how long, and which resort (or even cruise).  I don’t want to sound like a salesperson, but for our family it really has been an amazingly positive experience and we don’t regret for a second that we decided to join.  I would say the only downside of DVC is the cost.  If you typically stay at the value or moderate Disney resorts, then it might not be as good of a deal.  For us, we got completely spoiled by the convenience and amenities of the deluxe resorts (Beach Club, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, etc.) and when you consider that a villa (i.e. a regular hotel room with a small kitchen efficiency and pull-out couch) can run $500+ for one night, it ends up being a good value.  You do have the option of getting a loan (basically a mortgage), so you can pay a monthly amount instead of all up-front.  So there are some nice options.  To give you an idea of what our points “got us,” here’s a list of the days/locations we’ve used our DVC points in the past year (July 2014-July 2015):

-          July 2014, 3 nights at Beach Club (studio)

-          August 2014, 1 night at Bay Lake Tower (studio)

-          November 2014, 1 night at Saratoga Springs (studio)

-          December 2014, 2 nights at Wilderness Lodge (studio)

-          January 2015, 2 nights at Wilderness Lodge (studio)

-          March 2015, 2 night at BoardWalk Villas (studio)

-          March 2015, 1 night at Old Key West Resort (studio)

-          July 2015, 2 nights at Wilderness Lodge (1 bedroom suite)

For us, living less than two hours away, it’s most convenient to do 1-2 night trips (as much as I would like to stay for weeks at a time!).  If you add up how much all those rooms would be at cost it would total over $7500, whereas we pay roughly $2000 a year.  Please let us know if you have any questions about our DVC experience.  It isn’t for every family, but it has been one of the best purchases we have ever made and we are so happy to be DVC members. 

Introduction

My whole life I've always been fascinated by Walt Disney World.  Even though I grew up in Florida and lived less than two hours away, I rarely had the opportunity to go (usually just went an out-of-state relative came to visit).  I dreamed about going to WDW and staying in the fancy, deluxe resorts, and eating at all the unique restaurants in Epcot.  As luck would have it, I married a man who grew up with similar wishes.  In a way, our childhood dreams have come true.  We are now annual pass-holders, DVC (Disney Vacation Club) members, and part of the Castaway Club (for Disney Cruise Line Passengers).  My husband, Ryan, and I started going to Disney right after we were married and went several times a year.  Once we had our son, Carter, we waited until he was a year old and then started taking him as well (*sigh I miss the days when he could go for free!).  We've stayed at nearly all the on-property Disney Resorts (and many of the nearby ones as well), dined at almost every location in the parks, go to the WDW parks at least once a month, and cruised on the Disney Dream.  While we are certainly not experts, we do get a lot of questions from family members, friends, and co-workers about tips and best ideas for Disney traveling.  We always have some suggestions for anyone traveling with a child with special needs (as our son has).  With my love of Disney, writing, and photography, I thought it would be fun to put it all together in one blog that hopefully is useful for people looking to get a good ideas about traveling to WDW.  Please check out the links on the right hand side for Disney tips and reviews of Disney hotels & restaurants. Enjoy!