Wordless Wednesday (Almost)--Hidden Mickey at Epcot's Spaceship Earth!

Can you see it? The Hidden Mickey is a set of mouse ears incorporated into the 3 in the mural just as you enter Spaceship Earth in Epcot! Finding Hidden Mickeys is an adventure and fun visual sport. Capturing a photo while the line moves forward can be quite an adventure in itself!

Copyright 2012 Magical Mouse Tales

Can’t Miss Disneyworld Restaurants (And the ones we will skip next trip)

We enjoyed our fifth trip to WDW this past summer and although that might not seem like many to those who live in the southeast, for a Minnesotan it is more unusual. We love Disney vacations! We always stay on-site (well one time there was a side trip to Universal/Hardrock Hotel). And use the Disney Dining Plan!

It is perfect because we don’t have to worry about the bill no matter which restaurant we eat at! If the kids want a steak at the Coral Reef, we don’t have to be concerned about living on P&J for the rest of the trip.
At Disney World there are lots of great places to eat but only a few make the "must go" list when it comes to ride and event fun over restaurant time. Here are the ones that make the cut and a few that didn't measure up.

Our 3 Can’t Miss Disneyworld Restaurants are:

1. Coral Reef/Epcot (Those steaks are awesome!)
2. The Garden Grill/Epcot (Love that fried fresh catfish!)
3. 50’s Prime Time Café/Hollywood Studios (Fun servers and great food but eat all your food or it could be fed to you!)
   

Also worth noting:

• Tusker House/Animal Kingdom (Wonderful Breakfast Buffet…When we have time to eat breakfast!)
• Hoop de doo Revue/Fort Wilderness Campground (Great food and awesome show!)
• Aloha Dinner Show/Polynesian Resort (Fire dancers are astounding and the pineapple bread was a treat!)

Skipping next trip:

1. Chef Mickey’s/Contemporary Resort (Fun for kids, but food as good as at other restaurants.)
   
2. Mama Melrose’s/Hollywood Studios (Service and food just okay...worth going if you get Fantasmic Priority seats.)
   
3. Le Cellier/Epcot (I know this is on many others, 'don’t miss' lists but we just weren’t impressed…The moose mousse was cute though!)

Copyright 2008 Magical Mouse Tales

Disney Pin Trading—It’s Not Just a Hobby…It’s an Addiction!

It started innocently enough. A trip to Walt Disney World booked through Disney Travel gave each of us a free pin to keep or trade.It was the infamous 2000 Ribbon Dancer Pin. My husband and I gave our sons our pins so they could keep one and trade the other. The dancers were traded and after many more pin purchases, our family was hooked.

By our next trip my kids were official Disney pin traders and armed with a dozen or so pins purchased on sale at the Mall of America Disney Store. They loved trading with WDW cast members and had all of the pre-bought pins traded away by the end of the first day. After that we were back to the pin stands and spend a bundle on new pins for their collections.

By our next pin trading…I mean vacation, I had about two dozen pins for them each to trade bought from online sales at Disneyshopping.com and a dozen extras for the boys to trade for me. Again, most pins were traded within the first few days but we had discovered Hidden Mickey pins. So the kids were searching for specific pins on the cast member lanyards. This took more time and made the vacation a hunt. We did have to buy a few souvenir pins but not as many as on previous trips to the world.

Last summer we had another Disney adventure and the boys (and Mom) were well stocked with about 35-40 pins each. Again, they scoured the park to complete Hidden Mickey sets and add to their collections. Even though they had enough to last the trip, they think maybe 50 each is a good number for next time.

Pin trading adds to the fun and anticipation of a family vacation but heed this warning: It is very addicting!

Copyright 2011 Magical Mouse Tales