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Drink Around the World Showcase – Mexico Pavilion
I don’t know if its the spirit of the Mexico pavilion, the ambiance when you walk into the temple, the smell of peppers that wafts through the air, or the ever changing range of flavors… but I can’t seem to walk through Epcot’s Mexico pavilion without stopping for a sip. A sip of one of those yummy margaritas, that is. I have tried most every flavor from strawberry, mango, lime raspberry, and even the fiesta which mixes the flavors currently available at any current location. My favorite so far: Passionfruit with sugar on the rim!
Take it from me there is nothing better to compliment a stroll around the world or to refresh you after a hot summer day in Epcot! Next time you are in Epcot stop in La Cava de Tequila or the Margarita Drink Cart try one for yourself and you will see- no one perfects a classic like Disney!
Salud!
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Family Magic Tour at Walt Disney World
This February my family and I signed up to take the Family Magic Tour at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
We called 407-WDW-TOUR and signed up for four people. The cost is only $34.00 per person and let me tell you that it is totally worth every single penny!
This tour is ok for all ages and takes 1.5 to 2 hours and is a walking tour so make sure you wear comfy shoes and check the weather. Park admission is not included in the price so make sure you have tickets also.
So let me run down the experience for you, because I definitely think you will want to book this tour!
You will check in at the Chamber of Commerce. When you come into the park the Chamber of Commerce is on the far left. When you go in they will check your reservation and give you this cute name tag.
We only had one other family with us, but I don’t think they get much bigger than three families in order to keep it manageable. There is free water and coffee for you to grab before you get started and make sure you go to the bathroom next door before you get started.
Once everybody is there your tour guide will tell you about what you are looking for. Captain Hook has been up to no good in the Magic Kingdom and has been stealing some of the characters favorite things and hiding them all over the park. Mickey needs us to help retrieve the items and bring them back so he can get them to the characters.
There are clues that take you from item to item and they’re NOT easy. They really take some thought, but its fun to solve as a family. 
The clues take you all around the Magic Kingdom park, but it doesn’t have you crossing the park more than one time. You move sequentially through the park.
Our tour guide was AMAZING!!! She’s great at getting the kids to play along! But all of you fuddy duddy 
parents who NEVER play along like you are supposed to (like the ones who wont participate in Monsters Laugh Floor or Turtle Talk with Crush… really what is your problem people?!?) you need to play along in order to get your kids to!
Its fun to because there are random people in the park who have clues and hints to get you further in your journey! You never 
know who is going to help you next.
As a part of the tour you also get to ride a ride to look for a clue. Your tour guide will have fast passes for everybody so you will go directly into the ride. Our ride was Winnie the Pooh. This would potentially save you some time during your trip! 
AND, there’s a surprise Character Greeting with PETER PAN! Oh yeah! So no need to stand in line and waste all your time to meet him. You’ll get to play a game with him, get autographs a
nd take photos!
You can even take a second and CROW with Peter! Pretty cool!
Right after this we got to take a break as it was right around the one hour mark. We ate a little snack (we had brought one with us, one is not provided) and went to the bathroom.
As we continued on our hunt we suddenly heard someone talking to us about our quest. I turned around 
and it was PUSH THE TRASH CAN! I’m not going to lie, I squealed as I had never seen Push before!
Then we started playing a follow the leader game which was so fun! (Again, fuddy duddies… get with the program!)
Finally we had collected all of the items Hook had stolen and thought our tour was about to end when our tour guide informed us that we were going to get to return the items to the Big Cheese himself.
We went into a secret entrance and waited for a few minutes. We decided to take a picture with all of the kids and our guide because we had really all bonded at that point.
And then it was time! Our guide told Mickey and Minnie we had found all the items and we got to spend a good 10 minutes or so with them taking pictures, getting autographs and just going around all together! Talk about saving some time! Meeting Mickey, Minnie, Peter Pan, riding a ride, AND getting oriented to all of Magic Kingdom while having a great time as a family!
I highly recommend this tour to ALL of you! I was absolutely amazing and so super fun! Absolutely worth the money PLUS some and I feel confident your family will LOVE IT! Call 407-WDW-TOUR to book your Family Magic Tour! You won’t regret it!
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Top 3 Snacks at Magic Kingdom
Been awhile since lunch and too early for dinner? Snack time! There’s one thing you definitely won’t have to worry about on a Disney trip—going hungry. In fact, there are so many options, it’s often hard to choose. Some fan favorites, like the Mickey Premium Bar ice cream treats, are available pretty much anywhere on property. Other goodies can be found only at select locations. Here are our top three snack picks at Magic Kingdom:
1) This relatively new treat debuted just last year an instant crowd pleaser. It’s somewhat nutritious and very much delicious! The Nutella Waffle Sandwich can be found at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments, which is just to the left of Cinderella Castle as you enter Liberty Square from the Hub. This one’s easy to replicate at home when you need to satisfy that homesick-for-Disney longing. Other waffle “sammies” are available as well.
Nutella Waffle Sandwich
2) With over a million-and-a-half of these sold annually across Walt Disney World Resort, the Giant Smoked Turkey Leg is certainly satisfying. Each weighs about a pound-and-a-half—yes, I said a pound-and-a-half! It used to be sold as a Disney Dining snack credit, but is now charged a full Table Service credit, as it is indeed a meal of its own. You can get them at kiosks in Frontierland along the Rivers of America.
TV's Andrew Zimmern enjoys Giant Turkey Legs too!
3) And of course, the Dole Whip. You didn’t think I’d leave that one off, did you? Aloha Isle at the entrance to Adventureland is one of very few WDW locations that offer this delightfully refreshing pineapple softserve. It’s creamy and smooth, yet light and fluffy. You can also get it as a Dole Whip Float—the famous ice cream served in pineapple juice. It comes in other flavors too, but who gets those?
Dole Whip, photo courtesy Focused on the Magic
Were your favorite Magic Kingdom snacks on this list? If not, tell us what you like!
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Disney World Quick Tips – Saving Money at Quick Service Eateries for Adults
I just returned from Walt Disney World after being there for 9 days, and I wanted to make sure to tell you about something that can save you BIG on your Disney vacation… ordering off the kids menu.
If you are really wanting to save some cash on your next Disney vacation then when eating quick service (aka counter service) order off of the KIDS Menu instead of the adult menu. You can read more about counter service HERE. Let me see if I can break it down for you with an example:
Pecos Bill’s in Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite places to eat! I love love love the burgers.
The adults meal is a little pricy. It is an Angus burger, about 1/4 pound and the smallest version of the adult drink goes for $11.58 (pre-tax).
The meal comes with a burger and fries. That’s it. You have to pay for that drink separately.
The kids burger meal goes for $5.40 (pre-tax). It includes a burger, fries (if you want them), an additional side item (I had grapes) AND a small drink.
So lets compare.
- Both have burgers. You can see from the picture that the adults is larger, but not by all that much.
- Both have the same amount of fries (you can see they’re on the same size plate).
- Kids meal comes with an additional side item.
- Kids meal comes with a small drink. (Pecos does not have re-fillable drinks but there are many others that DO have refillable drinks so size doesn’t matter there at all).
- Adult meal costs $11.58, Kids meal costs $5.40
So for those of you who are not math genius’ (like me) that’s more than DOUBLE for the adult meal than the kids meal.
If you were really hungry you could actually buy TWO kids meals if you were really hungry and have:
- - TWO drinks (which would equal the same amount of one adult)
- - TWO burgers (which together would be significantly more than the adult burger)
- - DOUBLE the amount of fries
- - AND get a bag of grapes AND A COOKIE
AND YOU’D STILL SAVE .78 on the adult meal!
This applies to breakfasts too!
The adult version of the breakfast I wanted was a single mickey waffle (which was smaller than the two individual ones combined) with bacon and it was $5.69.
The kids version? 4.99 which is .70. No big deal alone, but you missed something. With an adult you’d still have to buy a drink unless you’d pre-paid for a resort mug. With the kids meal I got that chocolate milk, AND applesauce, along with my bacon and mickey waffles. I got more food for less money.
And this is the norm. It’s not that much difference in amounts of food and a big difference in the price. So this is a great tip especially for people who are light eaters.
So why don’t more people do it? Well I think they’re worried they’re “going to get in trouble”. Let me reassure you… (because I eat off the kids menu all the time), the people checking you out don’t REMOTELY care what you’ve ordered or how old you are. The table-service people do because they make a tip off of your ticket, but they wouldn’t let you order off the kids meal anyhoo!
So, you want a big value that will save you a lot at Walt Disney World and Disneyland? Order off of the kids menu when eating quick service and then if you’re still hungry spring for one of these bad boys!
PS. This doesn’t work if you’re using the Disney Dining Plan. They’re going to take adult credits anyway so you might as well eat “bigger” (but this also makes me question if the dining plan is REALLY worth it. (to be discussed HERE at a later date so stay tuned!
You can get many more money saving tips from the Disney Diva by clicking HERE!
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2012 Princess Half Marathon Royal Family 5K race review!!
The First Race of the 2012 Princess Half Marathon has finished and we are eagerly anticipating the start of the kids races and the Princess Half tomorrow morning. I’m so excited to be covering it for my site www.tipsfromthedisneydiva.com, Chip and Company AND doing live updates for Sorcerer Radio. You can also follow my photo updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tipsfromthedisneydiva or Twitter @wdwdisneydiva
The race started, as always, WITH A 
BANG!
We just happened to be in a GREAT SPOT as all the runners were coming PAST us! So I was holding up this sign as 5000 runners came past! And there were a ton of them! All in great costumes and many pushing strollers.
This year’s race was hosted by Rapunzel and Flynn Rider and, my husband tells me, began with Flynn riding MAXIMUS! Very cool!
Along the race route characters are stationed for runners to take pictures with and my husband tells me this year had Shang and Mulan together as well as other “sweethearts”.
As we waited at the finish line for the first finisher to cross 1000s of friends and family members cheered from the stands and the announcers kept us posted on where the lead runners were in the park.
Finally we had our winner, a male, finishing in 17:14.
I kind of felt sorry for him to be honest because the weekend is so heavily women-centered the announcers almost seemed irritated that it was a male and not a female crossing the line first. Especially when he was a full minute faster than the second place runner.
But I did think it was interesting that they noted that the first finisher and the last finisher ALL get the same race medal.
Not long after we had our first female to cross the finish line and they made a celebration of it!
She WAS fast! And look, not a hair out of place. That’s how we Princesses roll! 
Both the second and third place females also got a big round of applause
second
third
We even made a big deal about the first woman to cross in a tu-tu!An
d, of course, the finishers just kept on coming. Can you find someone you know in these shots?
nd then….
As I was taking a random picture of people crossing the finish like I realize.
THAT’S MY SON!!
This is made even more amazing by the fact that it is STILL UNDER THE 30 MINUTE MARK!!!!
AND that means he is running sub-10 minute miles in a huge crowd. Pretty impressive for a 9 year old. Wouldn’t you say?
And then I got REALLY EXCITED because they announced about 30 seconds LATER that JEFF GALLOWAY, official run Disney marathon training consultant, was just crossing the finish line.
Which means HE
<———-
I faster than HIM
<—————–
Which pretty much MAKES MY LIFE COMPLETE!!
Oh and by the way he SMOKED his papa (dad) by as much as 4 minutes!
So a good time was had by all! The race was a huge success and I’m loving doing coverage for my site, Chip & Co and Sorcerer Radio. Tune in to Sorcerer Radio online to get live updates from all the races from me! http://srsounds.com/joom_15/
Wish me luck as I run the Princess Half Marathon Tomorrow! Wish you were here!!
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