On thing that was quite different on the last day was the caffeine meet up scheduled for our group on Deck 11 at the Cove Cafe. Any drink you would normally get with milk or cream can have soy milk substituted in place of the dairy! I got a frozen caramel thingie with soy milk, while Kevin got a soy latte! The drinks here must be paid for separately from the cost of the cruise.

Dinner was again at Royal Palace, but with a different menu, since the previous night had a special pirate menu. We’d ordered the night before for tonight, a simple side salad to start, and the same brownie sundae per usual to finish. I loved the pasta from the night before so much that I just got it again! It was gluten-free, vegan pasta with roasted garlic and olive oil for the sauce with broccoli and spinach. Kevin got grilled tofu on top of roasted veggies, like red peppers, eggplant and zucchini. It looked really good, but I don’t usually go for something like that, so I took his word for it that it was delicious!

It was Wednesday night, so we headed up to Deck 11 where Lou said he would be broadcasting the show! Kevin and I were the only ones there at first, then, as time went on, more and more Box People started joining us! The reason we were there so early is because we left dinner early to be there! It was all very exciting, especially when one of us logged into UStream and saw Lou coming down the steps right towards us! I’m proud to say I finally escaped the Box!

Angie has been a WDW addict since her first visit at age 8, and since then her life has never been the same! She lives in southeastern MA with her boyfriend, Kevin (fellow Disney lover), and their 3 dogs, Flip, Josie, and Hildy, where she is currently training to become a professional dog trainer.  Please join Angie every week in “Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Eating Vegan in WDW!” Angie believes that WDW is the most magical place for people with special diets, so, should you have any special diet questions (especially about vegan and gluten-free dining) she’d be happy to help! Angie is also an artist, and you can see her work at www.angiecarreiro.com!

The post Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Being Vegan on the Last Day of the WDW Radio Cruise appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

The WDW Radio Cruise was a blast this past week.  A lot of new things were tried, like the AquaDuck, seeing Villain’s Tonight! (which my family had skipped on our previous cruises), and the most important thing, food.  This blog is going to be a review of the three rotational restaurants: Animator’s Palate, The Enchanted Garden and the Royal Palace.

The first night of the cruise, our dining rotation led us to Animator’s Palate.  I had been to the Animator’s Palate on the Magic and the Wonder, but never to the one of the Dream.  I heard this one was a little bit different than the others, and that I was in for a treat.

Décor
The décor in the restaurant on the Dream is much more colorful than on the Magic and Wonder.  The storyline is also different.  On the original 2 ships, all the artwork started out as sketches in black and white.  As you started to eat and continued through the courses, everything slowly started to get its color.  The paintings on the walls look just like the movie they came from and your servers come out in different uniforms.  On the Dream, there wasn’t really a storyline.  Around you were shelves that showed original concepts from Pixar movies, models and statues of your favorite characters, and more.  The structure of the restaurant is basically the same – paintbrushes and pencils are holding the ceiling up and painter’s palates are on the ceiling.  The chairs looked like Mickey’s pants, which I just thought was a little detail that made the restaurant.

Entertainment
This restaurant is most famous to kids for the interactive aspect.  There are big screens scattered around the restaurant in front of some tables.  These screens become the home of Crush, the 150 year old turtle from Finding Nemo, who interacts with guests near the giant screens.  When he came to a screen, the palate in that area would turn red, indicating his location.  It was fun to sit back and watch Crush talk to unsuspecting guests.  When this social sea turtle wasn’t talking to humans, there was a game going on with the moonfish.  They would make a shape and you had to guess what it was before it was completed.  It was a cute idea and held the attention of younger children.

Food
As an appetizer, I got the Sesame – flavored Rock Shrimp and Caramelized Onion Cheesecake, which I thought tasted better than I expected.  It tasted a little bit like bacon to me, then later on you tasted the cheese part.  I couldn’t eat too much though, because it was very filling.  Next was the Lemon-thyme Marinated Chicken Breast, and I thought it was nothing short of delicious.  For dessert, I ordered the Cookie & Cream Sundae, which wasn’t anything special, but it was really good.

Other
Another thing that you should know about me is that I am very shy – unless I am at a Disney event.  In between courses, I would look around for yellow lanyards (every person in the WDW Radio Group got a yellow lanyard), leave my table and talk to other people with yellow lanyards on.  My point in mentioning this was that I found this restaurant easy to walk around in and follow the table numbers if I was looking for a specific table.

The second night was formal night.  We ate the Enchanted Garden, which was very beautiful.

Décor
I was pleasantly surprised by the décor in this dining establishment.  I walked in only knowing that select tables rotated.  Unfortunately, we had too many people in our party (7) and the tables are for 4 so we were seated at a stationary table.  The light fixtures descended from the ceiling and looked like flowers scattered around.  Each one was different – some were just little buds while others were in full bloom. In the center of the restaurant was a beautiful water fountain with Mickey at the top that changed colors throughout the evening.  There were no tables RIGHT next to the sculpture, so you had room to take pictures (probably a 5 foot radius around the fountain).   The closest tables to it are the rotating ones, then the stationary tables follow suit.  I liked the feel of this restaurant.

Entertainment
As you eat in this restaurant, slowly the color scheme of the room changes to simulate “sunrise” and “sunset”.  Besides this change, there isn’t really a lot that entertains you besides talking to the other people at your table.

Food
Romaine Wedge was the appetizer that I choose which consisted of romaine lettuce with Romano Dressing and Homemade Spiced Croutons.  I thought it was great, but it needed more Romano dressing. Then again, I always go overboard with salad dressing!  As a main course, I ordered the Pan-seared Sea Bass.  This might have to be the best fish I have had my whole life, let alone this trip.  For dessert, I ended up getting vanilla ice cream because I was halfway across the restaurant talking to other families when my table was supposed to be ordering dessert.  My mother ordered ice cream for me, but I am not complaining!  It was really good, but vanilla is vanilla.

Other
I found moving around in this restaurant to be VERY difficult.  The tables were very close together and there were little stations for the waiters all over the place.  I am pretty sure you aren’t supposed to go behind the counter, but I had to cut through a few of those to get to the other side of the restaurant. The Enchanted Garden was very anti-social (although I did fight my way through the tables to socialize).

The third night was Pirates night (which will be its own blog) in the Royal Palace.  There is a special menu for that night so we didn’t see the same menu for two days.  I am going to skip pirate night for now and go right to the final night at the Royal Palace.

Décor
The Royal palace had little tributes to each of the Disney princesses.  The bread basket looked like Cinderella’s carriage, your napkins were folded into rose petals when you first arrived at your table, and the chandelier had glass slippers attached to it.  The back of every chair had a princesses’ symbol, some including an apple, a rose, Aurora’s crown and a glass slipper.  There were paintings on the walls of the princesses in their loveliest moments.  The one near us was Beauty and the Beast walking down the steps in the ballroom before they started dancing.  I like the idea of the restaurant and I thought it was very well done.

Entertainment
Once again, there wasn’t much that the restaurant itself can do to entertain you.  You have to entertain yourself by talking to the members of your party and other people in the restaurant.

Food
I ordered the Iced Lobster and Jumbo Shrimp as an appetizer and the Oven-Baked Salmon as my main course.  I didn’t eat a lot of my salmon because I never eat a lot the last day (I get too upset), but it was very good.  For dessert I actually asked for a small Caesar salad, because I love Disney’s Caesar salads and I hadn’t had one all trip.  Sadly, once again I couldn’t eat too much of it because I was sad.  From what I remember it tasted like every other Disney salad, meaning that it was amazing.  The plating was as amazing as always.

Other
This restaurant was very easy to move around in.  The setup was kind of like a circle, with a huge center table on an elevation (where you could find our fearless leader, Lou Mongello) surrounded by other tables and then two more outer rings of tables.  I liked it because this restaurant was the easiest one to find table numbers in, which meant that I could find people faster.

If I had to pick a favorite out of all these restaurants, I might have a hard time deciding.  Each of them had their pros and cons. Décor and entertainment wise, I would pick Animators Palate.  Food wise, Enchanted Garden was the way to go but the ability to move around was easiest in the Royal Palace.

Since I was just onboard the Dream for the WDW Radio 2.0 cruise, the next blogs are going to be about cruising.  Some will be specific to WDW Radio events, and others just about the cruise in general. If you don’t like the Disney Cruise Line, I apologize for the next few weeks, or even months.

Two weeks ago, there was a “Where in the World?” winner by the name of Sheila who  guessed correctly.  The photo was taken from the Kali River Rapids attraction in Animal Kingdom.  This week’s picture takes place somewhere outside of the four Walt Disney World parks.

See ya REAL soon!
~Makena W.

The post Dreaming of Dining: A Review of the Restaurants on the Disney Dream appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Did You Know?

August 15, 1999 – The Disney Wonder, Disney’s newest cruise ship, makes its maiden voyage.

• The Disney Cruise Line ships are painted to resemble Mickey Mouse: black, white, yellow and red
• The Disney Cruise Line was the first cruise line to have yellow lifeboats, instead of the traditional orange
• Steamboat Willie stands at the bow of The Disney Wonder; Donald Duck and his nephew, Huey, are painted on the stern A statue of The Little Mermaid stands in the lobby
• Disney Cruise Line ships feature the only “fireworks at sea” display during its “Pirates IN the Caribbean” deck party
• The Disney Wonder, as well as The Disney Magic, are longer than Main Street U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World

Other Notable Disney Dates:

August 12, 1929 – Walt Disney is granted a trademark to use the image of Mickey Mouse in motion pictures.

August 13, 1942 – Bambi, Disney’s 5th, full-length animated film, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

August, 13 1954 – Excavation of Disneyland begins

August 14, 1958 – Disneyland’s Alice in Wonderland dark ride has its grand opening

August 14, 1998 – The recording Association of America certifies the Mulan soundtrack as gold – selling 500,000 units!

August 16, 1943 – Walt Disney is selected by the Mexican President, Avila Camacho, to receive the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle – the highest decoration awarded to foreigners – for his achievements as an American film producer

August 17, 1981 – A WEDway PeopleMover opens in Texas at the Houston National Airport – it’s the first use of a Disney system outside of the theme parks!

August 18, 1986 – Crocket’s Tavern, part of Trail’s End Restaurant, opens in Walt Disney World’s Fort Wilderness Resort and campgrounds.

Question of the Week:                 

Where was the Disney Wonder built?

Candra Spirtoff and Megan Voisard are identical twins, born and raised in Cincinnati,  Ohio. They both graduated from the University of Cincinnati, Candra with a Bachelor’s degree in Legal Assisting and Megan with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.  They currently work as a paralegals for a local law firm.  Their passion is anything and everything Disney, and they have visited WDW almost every year since 1988, at the age of four.

The post THIS WEEK IN DISNEY HISTORY: Week of August 13 and DCL Trivia Question appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

To help build the anticipation for an amazing four days at sea, we are now coordinating a fish extender exchange while we are on the ship.

What IS a fish extender exchange??  Remember in elementary school when you gave out Valentine’s to all your classmates and left them in handmade mailboxes?  Think of a fish extender exchange as a kind of Valentine’s Day card  exchange with a Disney Cruise twist!

This is how it works:  when you are on the cruise, you hang a small mailbox outside your stateroom door.  There is a hook shaped like a fish outside your door where you hang the mailbox—hence the term “fish extender.” Other members of the WDW Radio family who have also signed up for the exchange will come by your mailbox during the cruise and leave small gifts, tokens, mementos in your mailbox—just like you did with those Valentine’s back in elementary school.   In return, you also will bring small gifts to leave in the mailboxes of other registered participants.   That’s it!!  It’s great fun and an entertaining way to get to know one another and share some of your love for Disney with the other members of the cruise.

Please note: participation in the exchange is completely voluntary but loads of fun.  You MUST register in advance to participate in our exchange…  More information about registration can be found on the blog later this week and also will be announced in next week’s show.

Watch the blog each day this week, where you can learn much more about the exchange, including how to create your own mailbox, what kinds of gifts are typically used, and how to register for OUR exchange.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:  As Lou explained in the show, all members of the WDW Radio group WILL be provided with a fish extender courtesy of MEI/Mouse Fan Travel, and must be hung on your fish in order to receive important updates, notes, and notifications about the group events, etc.  The blog post on creating your own fish extender is ONLY for those who would like to flex their creative muscles and create one of their own.  You do NOT have to create your own extender to participate in the exchange.  Please stay tuned for more information in future blogs.

We hope you consider joining us for this additional source of Disney magic while on the cruise!  If you have any questions about the fish extenders, please feel free to email me at Christy@WDWRadio.com

The post WDW Radio Cruise 2.0 FISH EXTENDER EXCHANGE: An Introduction! appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Sit Down Dining

The Dining on the Disney Cruise is always amazing! I look forward to dinner every day when I’m aboard the ship.  The food is always great and the waiters are so much fun to be around.

The Magic/Wonder

There are 3 main restaurants that you rotate from every night–this way you can experience every restaurant. Those three restaurants on the Magic and Wonder are: Animator’s Palate, Lumiere’s, and Parrot Cay on the Magic/ Wonder.  I would say that the most liked restaurant by kids and teens would be either Parrot Cay or Animator’s Palate because they are the most fun and enjoyable for a kid/teen. Lumiere’s is the fancier of the three, when you dine at Lumiere’s you should usually wear something nicer than shorts and tank top. Most people wear a pair of jeans and nice shirt or a sun dress (you don’t have to look to fancy but you should look nice.)  Animator’s Palate is the most fun for younger kids because at one point during the night the walls and pictures light up around you. Parrot Cay is very colourful and fun to be in, everything is very vibrant; including the chairs, napkins and tables. My personal favourite restaurant is ‘Animator’s Palate’ because I always find it fun, another great thing about this restaurant is that it is one of most air-conditioned. This is great when you are coming back from a hot day at the pool or island, but on the other hand it can get very cold, so I suggest bringing a sweater. In the end, all of the restaurants aboard the cruise are great!

The Dream

The sit-down restaurants aboard the Disney Dream are amazing! There is ‘Enchanted Garden’, ‘Royal Palace’ and ‘Animators Palate’. I loved all 3, but my favourite has to be ‘Animators Palate.’  There is an ‘Animators Palate’ on the Magic and Wonder, but the one on the Dream is totally different and amazing! The one on the Dream has interactive screens all around the room where Nemo and his friends can talk to you while you are eating dinner. You can interact with Nemo and his friends; it’s a lot of fun for everyone. Enchanted Garden is a Tinkerbell/Fairy themed restaurant.  It has a lot of blues and greens in the décor, and it is a very pretty place with a big fountain in the middle. I love this restaurant because you feel like you walked into a fairy tale when you step inside. Royal Palace is the fanciest restaurant on board the Disney Dream.   It has pictures of princesses along the walls. All in all, every restaurant on the Disney Dream couldn’t be better.

On all of the ships they have themed nights during dinner, one night it could be formal and then next night it could be Cultural. Whenever there is a themed night, they do some sort of parade/show in the restaurant. Once in a while the characters might make a surprise appearance, which is always fun!  I would suggest never missing dinner on a Disney Cruise because all of the restaurants are amazing!

Jessica is 13 years old and lives in Toronto, Canada. She has been going on Disney Cruises since the age of 5. So far she has been on 13 Disney Cruises which include; two transatlantic cruises (from Barcelona to Florida), two Christmas cruises and a Mexican Rivera cruise. She was also aboard the Maiden Voyage of the Disney Dream last January.  In April she will be going on the 15 day Disney Cruise to Hawaii.

The post WDW Radio Kids & Teens Day: Cruise Line Sit-Down Dining Overview appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Hello and welcome to The WDW Radio Show – Your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host, Lou Mongello, and this is show #266 for the week of March 18, 2012.

To help you plan for, and hopefully appreciate all of the stories, details and opportunities available on your next Walt Disney World vacation, I’m going to open up the inbox again this week and answer more of your emails. Topics include: An extinct themed restaurant in the parks, getting ready for a Disney Cruise, eating vegan in Disney, on-ride photos, rides for an infant, free resort campfire and movie nights, taking a toddler on a Disney Cruise and much more. We’ll also discuss our thoughts on the Best Buffet in Walt Disney World and ask you to share yours as well.

I’ll have the answer and winner for last week’s Walt Disney World Trivia Question of the Week, and pose a new one for your chance to win a Disney prize package.

I’ll have a few announcements and then play more of your voicemails at the end of the show. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s episode of the WDW Radio Show.

Information and Links from This Week’s Show:

Question for YOU: What is your favorite buffet in Walt Disney World?

Send your Trivia Question of the Week answers to Contest@WDWRadio.com

Video Tour of Storybook Circus in Walt Disney World

• Lou Mongello’s Private Tours of Walt Disney World
• Disney Fan Meets and WDW Radio Meets of the Month in Walt Disney World – Get dates and locations at DisneyMeets.com
• WDWNewsCast – Watch & chat during our LIVE NewsCast Wednesdays at 7:30pm ET – Be part of the broadcast & discuss live in the chat room at http://WDWNewsCast.com
• WDW Radio on YouTube – Watch past episodes, subscribe to the show and comment on the WDWRadio YouTube Channel

The post Show # 266 – March 18, 2012 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Disney Cruise Line 101 for Kids & Teens

1)    Youth Clubs – I think that first thing that kids and teens should know are about the youth clubs, these clubs are awesome! I am 13 years old which means I am in ‘Edge, they also have the Oceaneer’s Club and Lab and the Vibe. The reason that I love going to these clubs are because of the amount of activities there are to do, I have been in Oceaneer’s Club, Oceaneer’s Lab and Edge, and each time I love it even more. The planned activities are so much fun and I guarantee that you will find something you like. For example; the Oceaneer’s Club offers programs such as; ‘Hats off to Peter Pan,’ this particular activity has Peter Pan come in and you play games with him. Oceaneer’s Lab has ‘Kim Possible: Cruise Control’ this is a scavenger hunt around the ship, trying to save the boat and get us to Castaway Cay, Edge offers a Pool Party and Pajama Jam where you play games in the pool and then watch movies and play games in your pajamas. Last but not least, Vibe offers a program called ‘Ship Factor’ this is where you have to eat a bunch of different mixed up foods to win a challenge. I would suggest checking when these clubs open and close because it changes every day, it would also be a good idea to check where some activities are, sometimes they are on the sports deck, Studio Sea, etc. I literally spend my whole day in Edge when I’m on my cruise because there are so many activities and things to do. My favourite activity to do in Edge is Gender Wars, this is a competition between the boys and girls, the girls get asked boy questions and the boys get asked girl questions, I love this activity and others like this because the counsellors make it so much fun! These clubs on the Dream are so much fun! The first day of the Dream I spent 3 hours in the Oceaneer’s Club and Lab because they had so much to do and so much to see! I loved the Monsters Inc. room and Andy’s Room! I strongly suggest checking these clubs out.

2)    Pirate Night – I love this night and I’m pretty sure that every kid likes it to, Pirate Night is a night where there is a deck party, buffet, game shows, character meet and greets, + more! All of the youth clubs offer programs all night that have to do with pirates; they have game shows, trivia, movies, parties, etc. The deck party happens on deck 9 ad lasts for around 2 hours, it includes characters, dancing, singing, and the best part; fireworks! They also have a buffet with everything; Cake, fruit, turkey legs, cookies, chocolate, etc. The dinner on pirate night is also very themed to Pirate Night, the waiters dress up like pirates and each guest gets a pirate bandana. This is a very fun themed night for everyone!

3)    Mickey Mania – This is a game show for any age but it is so much fun! Eight people get chosen to play and they have to wear these funny hats and get a team name and colour. This is a game show about all things Disney; movies, theme parks, and characters. They usually show you a video of something and the first team to buzz in gets to answer first. Sometimes they show you a movie clip and you have to write down what happens next. I would recommend getting to the game show 10 minutes early because Studio Sea can fill up very quickly. The youth clubs also do these game shows where only that club is allowed to play. This game show is so much fun and I recommend it to anyone!

4)    Food – This one might sound a little funny but trust me, I go up and get food from Pluto’s Dog House and Pinocchio’s Pizzeria all the time! These are located on deck 9 and are usually open all day.  Pluto’s Dog House offers chicken fingers, hotdogs, hamburgers, tacos, chicken burgers and fries. The fries and chicken fingers are my favourite and I also love the hamburgers. Pinocchio’s Pizzeria obviously offers pizza but they usually have 5 or 6 selections. They always have Cheese, Pepperoni and Hawaiian, but they have daily specials every day, sometimes it is a 3 meat pizza, a nacho pizza etc. I absolutely love the pizza from here and on average have 3 slices a day, the slices are pretty small but you can get as many as you want. The pizza is always being made, so it is always fresh. Deck 9 also has a place called Goofy’s Galley, they have sandwiches, fruit, veggies, etc. Next to Goofy’s Galley is the ice-cream machine, they always have chocolate, vanilla and swirl ice-cream but they have a special flavour every day, like mango or banana. I would suggest checking what time they open and close because you don’t want to go all the way up to deck 9, just to find out that they have already closed. The Dream is a little different, instead of Pluto’s Dog House, Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, and Goofy’s Galley; they have Flo’s Café and Eye Scream. Flo’s Café has three places within it; Luigi’s Pizza, Doc’s Grill and Fillmore’s Favorites. Luigi’s Pizza obviously has pizza, Doc’s Grill has burgers, hotdogs, fries, etc. and Fillmore’s Favourites has fruits, sandwiches and salads. Eye Scream is the place where you can get ice cream, the theme for this one is Monsters Inc. and the theme for Flo’s Café is themed to ‘Cars’.

5)    Movie Theatre – The movie theatre aboard the Disney Magic is awesome! They usually have a movie showing every 2 hours and the movies are for all different ages, the movies are usually newer and sometimes the movies are still in theatres when they are showing. There is a cart outside the movie theatre that sells popcorn, candy, water, etc. and you can bring any kind of food into the theatre. My favourite time to go to a movie is at midnight because there is usually no one else in the theatre. The movie theatre on the Disney Dream is fantastic! I did not get a chance to watch a movie on the Dream, but I did get to see it. It’s huge and the seats are so comfortable and they have so much leg space! On the first day of the cruise you will receive a piece of paper that shows you all the movies and times that they are playing the whole week. I love going to the movie theatre!

I hope that you enjoyed reading my first official post; I look forward to sharing the rest of them with you!

Jessica is 13 years old and lives in Toronto, Canada. She has been going on Disney Cruises since the age of 5. So far she has been on 13 Disney Cruises which include; two transatlantic cruises (from Barcelona to Florida), two Christmas cruises and a Mexican Rivera cruise. She was also aboard the Maiden Voyage of the Disney Dream last January.  In April she will be going on the 15 day Disney Cruise to Hawaii.

The post WDW Radio Kids & teens Day: 5 Things Every Kid & Teen Should Know about a Disney Cruise! appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.