the 5 lb post

this is the post where i show you my favorite part of disney
and also the reason why i'll be wearing yoga pants for the next few weeks

we were on the dining plan for the first part of our trip
this meant that with every meal we EACH got a dessert
PLUS
we each had a snack credit for every day that we were there

our meals were all amazing
BUT as usual
the desserts were my favorite!!

this birthday cupcake from contempo cafe was one of my favorites



it was FABULOUS
a confetti cake
with a frosting center
and light buttercream frosting

if i could figure out how to recreate these

and make them look anything like what they did

i would do it in a heartbeat

they also had dirtcakes at contempo cafe -

a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting

and gummy worms mixed throughout

they were a hit with the boys 

 

 

 and we thought they were pretty good too ;)

overall ... the contempo cafe had a lot of really good options
for desserts and meals.
stacey and i shared the honey lime chicken sandwich
which comes with pepper jack, a salsa ranch dressing, and fresh pico on it
and a flatbread

 

YUM!

:  :  :

another favorite counter service of ours was earl of sandwich
and part of it being this delicious brownie sandwich

you can get a vanilla, chocolate, or peanut butter frosting center
and they are SO good!!

i wanted desperately to try the peanut butter but they were out of them

the 2 times we went

so we tried the vanilla and the chocolate.

our consensus is that vanilla is the best.

i also have to mention how great their sandwiches are.

if you are headed to disney - 

i HIGHLY recommend checking them out!

AND

if you are on the dining plan ...

know that kids can order ANYTHING off of ANY menu.

they aren't just limited to the kids menu.

the boys LOVED this 

and it makes earl of sandwich high on my list

of places to use the dining plan!

:  :  :

one of our mornings we ate at crystal palace

they had my 2 favorite breakfast items

besides the white chocolate mocha from ghirardelli ;)

we LOVED the

french toast puffs

which is deep fried cinnamon and sugar goodness

and of course ...

we couldn't get enough of our all time favorite

MICKEY WAFFLES!!!

we finished that night off with a dinner at the liberty inn
which is found in america at epcot
they had these smore mousse brownies

YUM!

:  :  :

another snack that we just this year discovered
but quickly took one of the top spots on our list of favorites
was the stuffed cheese jalapeno pretzel from animal kingdom -
inside of the warm pretzel was a cream cheese type spread
with just a little bit of kick.
OH. MY. WORD.
thinking i might need to find a copycat recipe for this one as well ;)

another great use of a snack credit
was found right at our resort
the ice cream cookie sandwich

you choose any flavor of giant cookie
and then you choose 2 or 3 flavors of hand scooped ice cream
depends on the cast member working
and they make it into a sandwich for you

 

 

as you can see we had an ice cream sandwich more than once

and tried different flavors

the pictures don't do it justice

but it was HUGE

and it was a great snack to share

:  :  :

as we ate our way through the parks

and through the resorts

we came across so many different things

and really i can't complain about any of them.

chef mickey's is always one of our favorites -

partially for the character interaction

partially because you can't go wrong with a disney buffet

chef mickey's will get a post of its own

but from a dessert standpoint -

these were my favorites

a key lime tart, a mini cheese cake, and a mini chocolate mousse mouse

:  :  :

as always ...
wolfgang puck express NEVER disappoints
they are a GREAT use of a counter service credit
their food is fabulous
and their strawberry cheesecake is to die for!

another great use of the dining plan in my book is a fantasmic package -
at hollywood studios there are a few restaurants that participate
you go for a lunch or early dinner
and then they give you a pass to get into a reserved section
of the fantasmic theater for later that night.
this limits your waiting time
and doesn't cost a penny extra.

we chose to eat our dinner at mama melroses

the food was great -
the service was great -
our server went out of his way to get us anything we wanted
and even created this fun hat for drew when he heard his birthday was coming up

 

they had a wide variety of desserts

the little chocolate dome cheesecake was good
but my REAL favorite is what ben ordered off of the kids menu

the spaghetti and meatballs cupcake

this cupcake shares the top of the dessert list
with the birthday cupcake
it was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting 'spaghetti'
a chocolate cake pop 'meatball'
strawberry 'sauce'
and
white chocolate 'parmesan cheese' shavings

SO FUN!!

and almost as cute was the seasonal st pattys day cupcake
that we got from starring rolls cafe



it was a chocolate cupcake
with a mint buttercream frosting
chocolate mint wafer ears
and a white chocolate hat
mmmmm.

while at starring rolls
 i also picked up a chocolate peanut butter cupcake

it is a chocolate cake
with a chocolate peanut butter filling
chocolate frosting and chocolate shavings

definitely good.  but not one of my top choices.

disney has SO many fun things to try!
did we need 1/2 of what we got -
not really.
BUT ...
we were on the dining plan
so it was the perfect time to try

i've created a new list of favorites
and now ...
i just need to find a time that i can go back

pause

we are taking a short break in my disney trip blogging

to announce that although i haven't met him yet
there is a baseball coach out there that i owe BIG time!!

this random coach drafted ben to his majors team as a 10 year old

and picked up drew as well!!

both boys will be playing on the SAME baseball team this summer!!

that means that in addition to alex's team

we only have TWO schedules to follow!!!

YAY!!!!

our first day

as always
our first day was spent at the magic kingdom

we woke up to it raining on and off
so we bought ponchos
and were on our way

 

our first ride was our favorite
the TTA or peoplemover

followed up by another favorite -
buzz lightyear

 

and drew's #1 at magic kingdom
space mountain!

 

by then -
it had rained just enough to keep people away
and keep lines low for the entire day
but we still had a good chunk of our day left
and we covered the entire park

 

 

 

because it was the beginning of spring break
certain parks were open until 12 or 1 every night.
we would have the boys swim in the afternoon
have them sleep for a bit
eat some dinner
and then head out to a much emptier park
 we could get on almost any ride we wanted
with a very minimal wait!
it was FABULOUS!

 

 

 

 

 

whispering canyon

we have found that on our first night at disney
it is fun to kick the trip off
with dinner at a fun restaurant

SO ...
this year we chose whispering canyon

we've been there before
but since it has been a few years
the boys didn't remember all of the fun that it had to offer

 

 

things like ...
bottomless milkshakes

getting to ride around the restaurant
and act like the loud and crazy kids that you are

asking for ketchup
and getting EVERY bottle in the restaurant
delivered to YOUR table!

asking for a little water
and getting a LITTLE water ;)

 

and
an unlimited family style platter of fabulous food
and dessert

 

it was a fabulous way to kick of our trip!

down by the riverside

each time we have gone to disney we have stayed on site.
our favorite spot has always been the beach club.
it was hard to deviate from that
BUT
we decided that it might be fun to try someplace new
AND
we decided that if we chose a resort at the moderate level
we could stay twice as long!
what a perfect plan.

seeing as though port orleans riverside is the only moderate resort
that can accomodate 5 people in one room
it made our choice of which moderate to choose an easy one.

i was skeptical going in.
we LOVE the location of the epcot resorts.
we loved being able to walk and not have to depend on the buses.
we loved the ambiance
AND
we LOVED the pool!
wasn't sure it could be beat
but wanted to try

in the end ...
we were pleasantly surprised with port orleans!

the resort itself is beautiful



it is set on the sassagoula river  

 

and is a boat ride away from downtown disney

 

we were in the alligator bayou section



so the theme is rustic louisiana bayou

 

alex even had his own secret murphy bed

 

there was a beautiful pool
with a waterslide
*you will see pictures in an upcoming post*
a park
a campfire
a GREAT food court



a working water wheel

and beautiful paths EVERYWHERE

anywhere that we needed to go was just a short walk away -
including the bus stop
AND
i have to mention that the buses were fabulous!
we felt as though someone had implanted us with a chip
because 9 out of 10 times
when we would walk up to the stop
the bus we needed would either be there or just pulling up
we have NEVER had such great timing with disney transportation
EVER.

we loved every part of the resort!
so much so that 9 nights wasn't enough and we ended up booking a 10th ;)
and it had nothing to do with the fact that the mn forecast
was showing 3 degrees and windy
;)

third place!

in addition to ben's 3 games on saturday
drew ALSO had 3 games for his season end tournament!

they did REALLY well
and
drew played better defense than i've seen from him all season!

 

 

 

he even took a half court shot that everyone thought was going in
but bounced just off the inside of the rim

 

they ended up with a 10-2 season record
and took 3rd place in the final tournament

 

way to go falcons!!