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Addicted to runDisney
Since the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January when I ran the 5k and was a spectator for the half marathon, I haven’t done much running. No guilt here – I was 6 months pregnant for Marathon Weekend and continuing running to that point was a huge accomplishment, especially from who I was in my younger days.
But, post race, running became nearly impossible – too much pain. And, even though I’ve completed 2 half marathons at 13.1 miles each (and all the training runs leading up to that), I’m not good with pain. However, now that I haven’t been on a run in over 3 months, I’m craving some time on the pavement. And, being due with baby #2 in a few short weeks, it’s looking to be another few months before I get in real run time.
Without my actual runs, I’ve been exciting watching runDisney announce their new race – the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10 Miler and move the Wine and Dine race to a different weekends – races I hope to someday partake in. And, I got to read all about the newest Disneyland Half Marathon inaugurate the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Plus, registration for the 2013 WDW Marathon Weekend opens soon and we can start planning our next trip – our first trip as a family of 4!
Of course, after not running for 5 months, I’ll basically be starting over, but I have until January to run 13.1 and thanks to Jeff Galloway, runDisney’s official trainer, I’ll be ready. Will you be running with me?
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Is Disney World Character Dining Worth it or is it Overpriced?
The 411 on Character Dining
Character dining meals at Walt Disney World are an opportunity for your child to meet some favorite Disney characters up close and personal. The characters are integrated into each meal’s theme. In some cases, the characters’ costuming is designed specifically for the meal’s character (pun intended) and other times the characters themselves are central to the location’s theming. Ohana’s Best Friends Breakfast with Lilo & Stitch at the Polynesian Resort is an example of both. Lilo and Stitch are a natural fit for this South Pacific inspired resort. They are joined by their good friends Pluto and Mickey who rock some trendy Hawaiian shirts.
Most of the character meals are buffets or family style meals with the notable exception of Fairytale Dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table. As a general rule, you can count on meeting four or five Disney characters in about 75 minutes.
How does it all work? Once guests are settled, the Disney characters will stop at each table for a photo op, to sign autograph books, and for some good-natured antics. They may also lead a parade or a little activity such as napkin twirling.
Defining Value
Value is relative, especially at Walt Disney World. In the case of character dining, I look at four main factors: atmosphere (this includes characters and entertainment), food quality, quantity, and of course cost.
Atmosphere
It’s all about the characters. After all, that’s why you frantically began dialing at 6:55 a.m. (sans coffee) 180 days out to get hold of a coveted Advanced Dining Reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table, isn’t it? There are two types of characters at the character meals – face characters like the princesses and costumed characters like Winnie the Pooh. For me, face characters have an advantage over their costumed friends. Face characters can speak and really engage their guests through conversation while costumed characters are limited to gestures as they do not have a voice. So, if you’re looking for the most value, I say go for character dining with face characters such as the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast or Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare or Princess Storybook Dining in the Norway Pavilion. You’re kids will get more than a quick picture, a hug, and an autograph. That being said, if your child is Handy Manny’s number #1 fan, there’s no doubt meeting him at Playhouse Disney’s Play ‘n Dine at Hollywood & Vine will b e a highlight of the trip, even if he doesn’t speak.
Let’s talk about venue next. Some are truly special such as Akershus Royal Banquet Hall or Cinderella’s Royal Table while others are run-of-the mill. Yes, Playhouse Disney Play ‘n Dine, I’m talking about you. If your food tastes better in pretty surroundings, then book a princess meal which take place in some of the prettier character dining restaurants. Something that is hard to put a value on is taking photographs inside an empty theme park. For a photograph of your kids alone in front of Cinderella Castle, book a breakfast character dining experience before the park opens; you’ll be able to enter early and get those special pictures.
Food Quality
Most Disney World character meals are buffets and I would rate the overall food quality to be mediocre – you’re really paying for the character interaction. Though it may be just average, there is a lot of variety and the food is plentiful. These buffets have kid-centric stations that are sure to please little ones. One of my favorite character dining experiences from both an atmosphere and food quality perspective is Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary Resort. To sum it up, if you weigh food quality heavily when judging value, then you’ll probably think character dining is overpriced.
Food Quantity
There’s no shortage of food at the buffets and family style meals. The problem is my family usually doesn’t eat our money’s worth. My kids are bouncing out of their seats waiting for their favorite character to stop by so it can be an exercise in futility to get them to eat their food. I’m so busy taking pictures and filling plates at the buffet that all-you-can eat often translates into all-you-have-the-chance-to-eat. This is compounded by long lines at some of the buffets since multiple groups are often seated around the same time. Where’s the best value? For my money, family style meals win out. The platters are brought directly to the table and mom and dad don’t spend a lot of time taking turns at the buffet filling plates.
Cost
If you’re paying out-of-pocket and compare restaurants based on price and food quality, you’ll pay more at most character dining. But really, you’re paying for your little ones to have a guaranteed opportunity to meet their favorite Disney friend one-on-one. Guests on the dining plan have the advantage of meeting characters for one table-service credit (with the exception of Fairytale Dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table), the same as other table-service restaurants. That’s a good deal.
What I don’t like is feeling obligated to purchase a photograph on top of the sometimes steep cost of the meal. At locations like Ohana’s a photographer will take your group’s picture before breakfast and then will give you the option to purchase it for about $30.
What’s the verdict?
As a mom, atmosphere (i.e., meeting the characters) is the most heavily weighted factor when I judge value. That means if my little guys have a favorite character or two, a couple of character meals are worth the money especially if the character is not so easy to find in the park. In fact, a character meal often means more time for the attractions since I don’t have to arrange our touring schedule to find and meet an elusive character.
What do you think? Is character dining worth the money?
Lisa M. Battista is the author of Beyond the Attractions: A Guide to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers. When she’s not chasing after her little ones, you can most likely find her at the beach or in the kitchen trying her hand at a new recipe. You call follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/DisneyExplorer.
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iPad App Review: Learn Chinese: Toy Story 3
I was recently given the opportunity to review an iPad app by Disney. This special app, called Learn Chinese: Toy Story 3, is part of their new Language Learning Read Along initiative, and is designed to help children — and adults, if they are so inclined — to learn how to read and speak Chinese with the help of your friends from Toy Story 3!
The folks at Disney deserve many kudos for this app — it is so incredibly detailed, it takes quite a while to get through all of it, and even after looking at all of the nooks and crannies, I still haven’t absorbed it all in, so don’t ask me to speak to you in Chinese, please!
The premise of the app is that you read the story first in English, and then you substitute some of the words for Chinese, then more of the words, and so on until all of the story is in Chinese. Take a look at these screen shots for more information.
All the words are in English.
1/4 of the words are in Chinese.
1/2 the words are in Chinese.
3/4 of the words are in Chinese.
All the words are in Chinese.
There are some other incredible features for this app. For example, do you see the little toy microphone to the left of these screen shots? If you tap that, it will open up the recording feature of the program, which will allow you to record your voice for practicing pronunciation of Chinese words — or, if you are learning English, English words. You can record the words as often as you want, and play back the recording to see how you compare with the narrator’s recording.
Tap the microphone -- I dare you!
See my recording!
Have you noticed that you can highlight the words? When you tap on it, it will briefly highlight and the narrator will pronounce the word. However, if you “flick” the word with your finger to the bottom of the screen, it will put the word at the bottom, but translated into Chinese (or if you are reading the word in Chinese, it will translate it to English). That is just one of the things that really documents how well designed this app is, and what a great job the folks at Disney did. Take a look at these two screenshots to see what I mean.
Just "flick" a word to the bottom of the screen!
See - "pictures" in Chinese is pronounced "zhao-pian"
I really can’t stress enough how incredibly well designed this app is. The cost of this app is $4.99, and for such a small fee, it really does pack a lot of learning into the app! My daughter Sophie has a book that talks about the Chinese language, and even shows how to write some common Chinese words, and she loves this app. If you are looking to get your children interested in a foreign language, this app may be just the ticket for you to make learning fun for your children. Give it some thought, you might just find yourself learning a new language!
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Disney World Quick Tips – Avoid the Morning RUSH
The early bird gets the worm right? This Disney World Quick tip is for all those non morning people out there. (Like Me)
If you aren’t the Disney Character Breakfast type, or need a little something to get you going in the morning (try coffee), you can avoid the morning rush by trying this easy trick!
In the evening when you arrive back at your resort from a long day in the parks, stop into the snack shop and pick up a muffin, granola bar, pop tart or pastry and bring it back to your room (many of these count as snacks on the Disney Dining Plan). Since all resorts have refrigerators you can even grab some milk and cereal and stash it in your room. We like to use Garden Grocer for all of our grocery needs.
When you wake up the next morning you have your breakfast ready to go, no muss, no fuss and no morning rush!
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Marvel Characters Will Arrive in the Disney Parks
Since the Disney acquired Marvel, many fans have wondered if we’d begin to see some of the famous characters like Spider-Man and Hulk in the Disney parks alongside beloved Disney characters such as Mickey and Minnie. At Disney’s shareholder meeting two weeks ago, Bob Iger addressed that directly, and the answer is yes.
There’s always been hints that Marvel would eventually make a debut in the parks, and who can blame Disney for wanting to add some of their 8,000 plus new characters into the mix of these ever growing parks. Bob Iger has said that preliminary design work has begun on ways to incorporate the comic legends into the parks.
“We’re working on some concepts. It’s our hope that in a few places around the world, Marvel characters will appear either in attractions or lands or in some form to provide entertainment, like our Disney characters do.”
Iger also mentioned they are looking for ways to incorporate Phineas and Ferb more fully into the parks.
“That’s a great suggestion. I know we are hard at work figuring out ways that we can bring Phineas and Ferb in particular into the parks. … We think there are some great opportunities there.”
In what form Marvel will show up though, we still don’t know. I’m guessing a few rides and shows are definitely on our way though. I for one think this is great news, and I really look forward to seeing how this plays out. With such great additions to the parks such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones, I can see the Imagineers coming up with some incredibly ingenious plans that make the heroes fit into the park the same way they were able to make the Lucas Films properties fit into their respected lands. It’s not hard to imagine that there will be some very excited kids seeing their favorite heroes in the Disney parks, that they’ve never been able to meet before. I can’t wait to see where Disney goes with this.
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