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Favorite Disney World Resorts

Posted on March 19, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Over the years, I have stayed at a lot of the resorts at Walt Disney World. This Spring, we will be adding two more to my list. Growing up, I stayed at The Contemporary Resort (multiple times), Dixie Landings (multiple times and now called Port Orleans Riverside), and Caribbean Beach (multiple times). Since I have been married, we have stayed at The Beach Club Resort, Pop Century (three times), The Polynesian, and The Grand Floridian. Thanks to Disney dining, we have also visited Port Orleans French Quarter, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Boardwalk, Wilderness Lodge, and Fort Wilderness campground.

Deluxe Hotels:

I don’t think I could just pick one of the deluxe hotels. If money were no option, it would be tough to select which one. There’s monorail convenience, great overall location, and never stayed there before dream.

If I had to pick a resort on the monorail, I would immediately pick the Contemporary. I love that you can simply go down to the ground floor and walk to the Magic Kingdom along a palm tree lined walkway. It isn’t usually crowded, plus you always have the monorail to jump on and get back with relative ease. In addition to this, The Contemporary has Chef Mickey, The Wave, and The California Grill (never been there yet).

After staying at the Beach Club Resort on our honeymoon, I fell in love with the location. Not only is it simply gorgeous with an amazing pool, you can walk or take a boat to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. TechyDad and I often walked into Epcot for dinner, or over to the Boardwalk for a snack or another meal.

A deluxe hotel that I have not stayed at, but visited many time to dine there is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I would adore waking up one morning and opening my door to view animals like giraffes while sipping my cup of coffee. Another perk would be having Boma and the other great restaurants located steps from our room.

Moderate Resorts:

Looking back I loved the quaint, quiet feel of Dixie Landings. We stayed in the mansions there twice and it was fun to bike, boat, and walk around the resort. Since our stay there, the name has changed. I know the the kids would also adore Port Orleans (either section), but would probably prefer a stay at the newer Pirate Themed rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort.

Value Resorts:

We adore Pop Century as a fun filled value resort at Walt Disney World. We have never stayed at any of the other value resorts to date. Our last three visits have included nights at this destination.

The rooms are smaller and you do not have a sit down restaurant, but it’s extremely fun, kid friendly, and they a great food court that includes the infamous Tie Dye Cheesecake. We have adjusted to the value resorts by saving money on the room to use for our dining plans and to extend out stays.

So where do you love to stay or dream of calling your home while at Walt Disney World? There are a lot of Disney posts on my blog from trips during the last few years, so check them out if you are interested.

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop! The link will be within this post the day after it is published.

Categories:
Disney family food glorious food looking back me moments photos TechyDad travel vacation yummy

Disney Store Blues

Posted on March 17, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

The two of you love heading to the Disney Store. Neither of you recall that we used to have one here in our area. Now, we have to travel to the outlet, go to New York City, or see them in another location. Thanks to this, when we go to any Disney Store, it’s like a holiday for all of us. The two of you certainly are NDK when you see this in front of you.

Then the real challenge begins. Where do we begin our tour? Do we look at new shirts for the two of you, check out the toys, or . . . . wait, what is that over there?

We had to convince you that getting Animal and Kermit was not crucial since we are heading to Walt Disney World soon. Then, around the corner from the Muppets display was something else that caught your eye.

You ran to the Jake and the Never Land Pirates area. This was the first time that you had seen the stuffed friends. Again, we told you it was best to wait to see what we may find in Orlando. Neither of you were thrilled with this idea.

An amazing cast member came and heard what was going on. She gave you each a special sticker and coloring sheet. When it was time to leave, they noticed you were both Perry fans. We were asked to stay a minute. In the back, they still had some of the special Perry hats that they gave away on Platypus Day.

We were lucky and managed to get all of us out of the store without buying too much. We bought a few things for our trip, and a few extras. Now I just wish we had a store closer to keep the magic near us for special times like this.

Love,

Mommy

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Disney fun jsl looking back nhl photos shopping

Favorite School Projects

Posted on March 16, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Yesterday, I shared a big project that my preschooler made at school. Over the last few months, the kids have made individual craft projects to put together an amazing Shabbat Box for our family. The week or so before that, another part went home because it would not fit into the box.

FYI – Tzedakah means charity. In Judaism, it is considered a fundamental part of life. The boys know that we send in tzedakah each Friday or to Hebrew School because helping others is important.

I love that JSL has learned about Shabbat, about giving, and more. By allowing the kids to make items that they will use when celebrating Shabbat, it becomes more personal to them and they embrace this part of their identity.

So my question to you this week is inspired by all of JSL’s projects:

What is your favorite project that your child has made in school and why? As a teacher on hiatus, I am always curious about projects that other children have completed in certain levels of their schooling. Oh and if you do not have kids, what was your favorite project from when you were in school?

It's Me

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #195

Categories:
Aloha Friday arts and crafts Educational holidays jsl looking back photos school

Disney Dining Memories

Posted on March 12, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I love Walt Disney World and have since I was a very young child. During one of our vacations, my relationship with the Walt Disney World Resort changed. We were introduced to the new Food and Fun plan. We had vouchers to do things like parasailing, renting boats, and bike riding. In addition to this, gourmet meals beyond my wildest imagination were included. Walt Disney World suddenly became a dining destination that was not simply for Mickey Ice Cream bars and Dole Whips – it was a lot more.

One of our family meals during that trip was in Epcot. We had reservations at The Coral Reef. Back during this time it was in The Living Seas Pavilion (before Nemo took over). With the dining plan back in the day, we were able to get an appetizer, meal, drink, and dessert. For a small price extra, you could upgrade and order the full lobster dinner. My younger brother was intrigued with this, but had no clue how to attack his meal when it arrived. I still remember the amazing waiter, he pulled up his sleeves, stood behind my brother and guided him on how to get meat out of the places within his lobster dinner.

The Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue also has memories that still bring laughter to our family. My mother had gotten us a table up front. My father had his new camera with us. He was so excited to take photos of the show. Well, at one point the entire group was on the stage and paused since they saw my father was ready. Then, one of them quickly noted “Hey it may help to take off the lens cap!” Remember, this show is a musical comedy and now my father was part of the act. For the rest of the show, they kept picking on him and reminding him about the lens cap.

On our honeymoon, TechyDad and I had another package that included a dining plan. We tried foods from lands and places that we will always remember. We fell in love with Spoodles (now where Kouzina is located on the Boardwalk) and Le Cellier in Canada at Epcot. This was almost 11 years ago when you could actually walk up to Le Cellier and get a table without one of the highly desired ADR.

When we took the kids back for their first trip, we knew that character meals had to be in the mix. The night that we arrived I made reservations for our first sit down meal at Chef Mickey. What I did not expect was both of my children to cry, hide under the table, and be mortified of the characters. The people at Chef Mickey were great and made sure to warn the characters. One of the sweetest memories I have is Chef Mickey standing over a sleeping JSL reminding us to be quiet. When Mickey saw that he was asleep, he came over to get a photo even though it was not our turn.

Over the years, we have tried a lot of restaurants and each has a special memory associated with it. So many of those have been captured here on my blog and I know many more will come in the future.

Do you have a most memorable Disney food or dining experience? Please share them below or let me know if you have written about them so I can stop by. If you want some great information about specific Disney Dining topics also check out The Disney Food Blog.

P.S. A huge thank you to Mariana from The Domestic Buzz for creating this magical Blog Hop! The link will be within this post the day after it is published.

Categories:
Disney family food glorious food jsl looking back me moments nhl TechyDad travel vacation yummy

Time for an Eye Exam

Posted on March 9, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Eye health is very important to me. Growing up, I always knew that I would one day need glasses because both of my parents and everyone in my family had them. Mom and Dad each got their first pair of classes when they were freshman. At the start of 9th grade, I noticed that I was not seeing the overhead projectors in biology. I told my mother and we set up an appointment to get my eyes checked. Sure enough, I was on my way to my first pair of glasses.

When TechyDad and I started our family, we knew that our boys would one day get glasses. I asked him when he got his first pair, and knew it was when he was in second grade. With our oldest now in third grade, I knew things could change for his vision at any time.

Over winter break, NHL continued to complain about headaches. Nana asked me one day if we had checked his eyes recently. We had in September when he had his physical, but nothing since. NHL never complained that he could not see in school, but then again he probably did not know the difference. Little things noticed by NHL’s gym teacher, his headaches, and our suspicions made us want to check this out.

After break was over, I called the school nurse to see if she could do a quick check. I knew that something was going on because he was not seeing quite right. Nana was definitely onto something and I felt horrible for not putting the pieces together before that. We were lucky that they were screening the entire school for sight and hearing that week. The screener said she would call me immediately since I was concerned about things. The next afternoon, I received a call. NHL’s vision was definitely off according to their quick exam. I quickly called and made an appointment for the early morning weekend day to check when NHL’s eyes were fresh and less likely to be strained.

NHL did an amazing job and the place we took him to was fantastic with children. In the end, we found out that he does in fact need glasses and hope this will help to make all of the recent headaches vanish. Tune in tomorrow for a letter to NHL where I share a photo of his new glasses (Harry Potter watch out) and show how a jealous little brother reacts.

So my question to you this week:

If you or your children needed glasses, how old were you when you first got them?

It's Me

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #194