2015 is a year that I was ready to put behind me. I had experienced more stress that year than any other in life from changing companies while my mom was in the hospital sick to losing her and getting involved in the most toxic relationship of my life. I was more than ready to start 2016 off on the right foot, so when a friend asked if anyone wanted to join on a trip to Disney, I jumped at the chance to start the celebration of turning forty off in the happiest place on Earth. Although nothing will beat the magic of telling my daughter the first time in 2012 that we were going to Disney World, this came pretty close. Every year as it gets closer to the holidays, I reminisce about the past trips. This year has been a financially challenging year in many ways, so I am quite confident my daughter doesn't have a clue about what will be waiting for her under the Christmas tree this year.
As we get excited, I am here to share some of the wonderful dining experiences we have had at Disney. We change it up every year, but the first two times we went, we got the Disney dining plan. The next few posts will be covering all of the goodies we enjoyed with the plan. On both occasions, we chose the plan that offered the variety of table service, quick service, snacks, and the refillable cup.
For the quick service, especially for the kids' meals, your basic choices are burger, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, or pizza at most restaurants. They have the basic quick service kids' meals covered. Pecos Bills is a restaurant that actually adds other options with a rice bowl, chicken salad, or a burger for the adults and rice bowl or burger for the kids. The toppings bar can be an issue with cross contamination of course, so you're better off requesting specific fresh toppings when you place your order.
When it comes to snacks, the Dole Whip is an absolute must!! You can get them in Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom. This is one classic we definitely get to participate in enjoying.
One of my requests when my friend set up the trip was that we do as much character dining as possible, given that we had about a month's lead time during one of the absolute busiest times of the year. Not a tough request, right? I am grateful he knew when to get online and snag those reservations. Minnie's Holiday Dine at Hollywood & Vine was so much fun! I enjoyed it so much that I actually forgot to take pictures of the food. Oops!
And this happens to be one of my most exciting things to share! We were in Magic Kingdom when the clock struck midnight and they were handing out hot chocolate and cookies. I knew better than to get my hopes up on this one, as I figured we would likely be left out on the cookie enjoyment and to just be happy abut the hot chocolate. This is where Disney won even more brownie points with me. Yes, they had us covered and we got to eat the cookies. Don't ask me how many times my daughter might have gone back for extras. I will just say that I am grateful they were generous!
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