My Annual Pass expires on May 14th…so I knew I had to take one last, quick trip to Disney! My good friend and fellow travel agent, Chrissy, joined me. I was able to find one night with my DVC points, and a travel agent rate for the next two nights at a different Disney Resort. Our flight left Philadelphia at 5:30 a.m., and once we landed, another fellow travel agent texted and asked if we wanted her to pick us up from the airport and stop for breakfast.
We checked My Disney Experience for dining availability and landed on Cape May Cafe, which is located at the Beach Club, where we were staying for the night. This used to be a character dining experience, but that has not yet returned.
Disney’s Beach Club Resort
The restaurant is located right off the main lobby of the resort.
Right inside the entrance to the restaurant is an omelette station.
They have returned to a regular buffet style meal. There are four different sides with food. This side had the fresh sliced ham and rolls.
It also had fresh fruit, yogurt, and oatmeal with toppings.
The first dish on the left was a steak and egg scramble, then regular scambled eggs, bacon, and sausage.
Also on this side was a poached egg on top of hash, asparagus, breakfast potatoes, and something with tofu/vegetables.
The third side featured the kid section…Mickey waffles, chocolate chip pancakes, and tater tots.
And CREPES! There were also a few toppings for the crepes that are not pictured here.
The fourth side has eggs, bacon, sausage, and biscuits with sausage gravy.
My FAVORITE item at this buffet were the Salted Caramel Beach Buns that were brought to our table. This was also served with a vanilla sauce not pictured. This was like cinnamon roll texture. Super soft and squishy on the inside!
Overall, we all loved the meal and would definitely return. It was $25 per person for an adult. Our waitress was great!
Posted at 10:28 am by taryngirl, on April 20, 2022
12/29/2022
Today was our first Hollywood Studios day! Park hours were 8:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Because we were staying at a Disney resort, the park opened at 7:30 a.m. for us. We were at the gates at 7:00 a.m. Our plan this day was to try Genie+. We purchased it and right at 7 a.m. logged on to reserve our first attraction. We were trying for Slinky Dog Dash and the first return time we could get was 5:15 p.m.!
Once the gates opened, we went immediately to Rise of the Resistance. We did not want to pay for Individual Lightning Lane to ride it, so we chose standby. We were on the ride by 7:45 a.m.
After Rise of the Resistance, we went to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. A 30 minute wait was posted, with an actual wait time of 20 minutes. Next was Star Tours. At this point, some of us were hungry, so we mobile ordered from ABC Commissary for pick up at 10 a.m. Our dinner reservation was at 3:50 p.m., which was an odd time. So we had to plan our food times accordingly for the rest of the day.
Side of fries:
Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese with Fries:
We have ordered this before, and it’s the only reason we come back here to eat…it’s SO GOOD! A great change for a counter service meal.
Chicken Club Sandwich with Fries:
This was also very good!
While on our “lunch” break, at 10:30 a.m., we were able to get our next Genie+. The pickings were already slim, and we chose the Frozen Sing Along. We did hit some other attractions…Muppets, Millennium Falcon, Indiana Jones, and then had dinner at Mama Melrose. A separate review will be forthcoming for that meal!
Here are some random pics from around DHS throughout the day!
(One of my favorite spots to sit and people watch or grab a quick snack, is Baseline Taphouse!)
After dinner, we went on Toy Story Midway Mania, Slinky Dog Dash with our Genie+ return time, Alien Swirling Saucers, and then hit the shops on the way out. We were on the bus at 7 p.m. Some people from our group went to Magic Kingdom, and the rest went back to the resort for the evening.
Overall, it was a great day. Crowded and super long lines everywhere, and Genie+ didn’t really help, but we got on most of the rides we wanted to. A large part of our time, we spent refreshing the app to see if we could get a better return time. We did have great weather though!
After a day full of classroom training and resort tours, we had the opportunity to spend the next day at Volcano Bay! We had the whole day, AND a private family cabana. I was very excited to check it out firsthand since I had never been there before.
This park also has early hours. We made it to the park before the gates opened for the early guests. You do go through security here and then it’s a little bit of a trek to get to the actual gates.
Once at the gates, you scan in with your ticket, and everyone is given a Tapu Tapu wearable.
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The Tapu Tapu has many uses throughout the day. It’s used to ride most of the attractions through a virtual line, activate interactive surprises throughout the park, open rental lockers, make cash free payments and more!
These are just some shots I got on the walk in before it became too crowded with people!
The Volcano! With tons of empty seats for the moment. These filled in quickly once the gates opened for all guests. A definite advantage to staying on property…the early entrance time!
One of the eateries:
A bar:
Restrooms and lockers (with Cabana Bay Beach Resort in the background!):
Another eatery:
Another view of Cabana Bay Beach Resort from inside Volcano Bay:
Finally! We made it to our Family Cabana!
This cabana was HUGE! Tons of seating…
A little goodie basket:
Towels (towels otherwise are NOT provided! So you should bring some from your resort!), a safe, minifridge stocked with beverages:
Also included is our own personal Tapu Tapu station. Instead of having to go to an attraction to get a return time, we could do it right from our cabana! So super convenient.
Another advantage was having the ability to order food and drinks right in the cabana. We had an attendant who came around frequently to check up on us. Lines for food and drink at the regular eateries were long! So it was nice to sit in the shade and be waited on.
Here are just a few pictures of some of the attractions:
Krakatau…I actually went on this one! Our cabana was right next to this, so this is the first place we hit. The line for this got super long right away. We basically walked on it.
I also went on this green slide!
Here’s one entrance to the “lazy river:”
I did take some time to relax by the wave pool. We were looking for seats right as some people were leaving, so we got the front row!
I did order a fantastic drink while in our cabana.
And a Longboard Pepperoni Pizza!
It was good!
Overall, we had a fabulous day! I will definitely be returning here with my kids. I love the Tapu Tapu system so you don’t have to stand in lines and wait for every ride. I also think I will definitely get a cabana. Not having to worry about our personal belongings is a huge plus! The staff was all super friendly and helpful. I don’t have anything bad to say!
For our big family trip, we were so fortunate to stay at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge! This is hands down my favorite resort during the Christmas holiday season. I LOVE THE LOBBY! The tree, the garland, the wood…it’s all just perfect! I stopped in for a half hour earlier in December when I was in the area, and literally just sat in this lobby and relaxed.
We were booked in a Nature View Room. This room features 2 queen beds. There is an option for a king bed Nature View Room also. These rooms were very recently renovated and I was super excited to check them out!
This is the view when opening the door to the room:
To the left was our closet area:
There was so much storage space in this closet.
To the right was the bathroom area:
The double sink and mirror were separate from the toilet and shower.
The shower had a rainshower type faucet, as well as a regular faucet.
Also near the closet area was the coffee station.
Underneath was the mini fridge, and to the left was the hair dryer, safe, and more shelves for storage.
View of the 2 queen beds:
Television, drawer storage, 2 chairs with nesting tables that can be moved around:
The view from our balcony:
Overall, I loved the room and my stay here! The location is great for Magic Kingdom, as it’s a quick boat ride away. I love the food options here, the lobby ambiance as I’ve said before, and the outside atmosphere. You forget you are at Disney and think you are at a National Park! I would definitely stay here again. I would love to get into a Copper Creek Cabin with our DVC points sometime!
As my luck would have it for this trip…I was also able to score a reservation for 4 to Topolino’s Terrace, which has been on my bucket list for the last several trips! There was so much going on this day with food, so people had to pick and choose what was important to them. This was first on my list!
Topolino’s is located at Disney’s Riviera Resort. The easiest way for us to get there for breakfast was to take a Lyft from our resort.
This resort is absolutely gorgeous! It kind of reminds me of a mini Grand Floridian in its style and decor.
The lobby is kind of on the smaller side.
This is one view out the back from the lobby area.
We took the elevator up to Topolino’s Terrace.
We were seated promptly right in the middle of the restaurant, which was busy, but not too busy.
We were brought this delicious basket of pastries, and condiments. Crossaints, muffins, and fabulous maple?? turnovers. All of it was SO GOOD!
I had read many different reviews while deciding if I truly wanted to eat here. A majority of them said that they would do this meal again hands down. It also varied on what you could order. Because you are paying a set price per person, it was assumed that you could get one entree, however that is not true. You can order one entree and then ask for sides or small orders of other things if you wish.
I knew for sure I wanted the Fruit Plate–Seasonal Fruits, Honey Yogurt, Seed Granola, Toasted Sunflower Butter. It arrived and it was fantastic!
My daughter chose the Sour Cream Waffle–Roasted Apple, Chantilly, Orange-Maple Syrup, and served with Sausage. I was also torn between this and what I ordered. Luckily I was able to try this, and it was SO GOOD! I would order this again for sure!
My niece ordered the Quiche Gruyere–House-Made Pancetta, Roasted Potatoes, Gruyere, Lemon Vinaigrette, Sausage. She really liked this, especially the potatoes.
I went with the Two Eggs Any Style–Roasted Potatoes served with Sausage. This was your standard (real) scrambled eggs. The potatoes were really good! I knew I was going to be tasting my daughter’s waffles, so I wanted something somewhat “healthy.”
While we were eating, the characters took turns coming around. They did make an announcement with music so you knew someone was coming. They did not get close to the tables, but did stop next to us so we could get pictures or videos. I loved Minnie’s outfit!
A look inside the restaurant:
When we were finished eating, we were able to go outside on the terrace to have a look around. The views were amazing! It was pretty windy, but the weather besides that was perfect.
I would 100% do this breakfast again, even for the cost. It’s a character meal, with delicious food, a gorgeous resort, and spectacular views. I would try to align it with a Hollywood Studios or Epcot day so you can take the Skyliner after eating.
Our server here was meh. She wasn’t very personable and didn’t ask if we wanted anything extra. She was also nonexistent for a majority of the time.
Posted at 10:53 am by taryngirl, on February 18, 2022
1/3/22
By some miracle, I was able to score a reservation to the brand new restaurant in Epcot…Space 220! It was only for 4 people, so our group of 14 had to draw straws. Kidding, kidding!
I had read reviews, looked at food pictures, checked the menu, and reallllllllly wanted to have this experience! So I was very excited that I was one of the “chosen ones.”
The restaurant is located right near Mission Space. The entrance is kind of tucked away on the right hand side of the building. Once you check in at that desk, they send you through the doors to another check in desk.
This is where we received our boarding pass for our visit to the Centauri Space Station.
We lined up with another party against the wall, waiting for someone to escort us to the elevator.
Everyone stood around the center and looked down. We were blasting off and heading to space!
Once we made it to the Space Station, we walked down a very neat hallway.
The restaurant itself is amazing! When you walk in, to the right is the “lounge” where you can also order food. It’s a separate menu, and the seating area is small. You CAN make reservations for this area now, or you can wait in line for a walk up. Note, the full dinner menu is not available in this area.
All throughout dinner, things would go flying across…astronauts, shuttles, satellites, etc. It was neat!
Lunch and dinner here are a little bit different. For dinner you get to choose one appetizer, one entree and one dessert for $79 per person.
Here’s a look at the dinner menu:
One thing I forgot to get a photo of was the incredible drink menu! The drink menu was great and we all had a hard time deciding what we wanted.
You can’t tell by this photo, but my drink was bubbling like crazy!
Someone else ordered this one…that is cotton candy!
First appetizer:
Centauri Caesar Salad–Miniature Romaine, Classic Caesar Dressing, Parmigiano Reggiano
Next appetizer:
Blue Moon Cauliflower–Tempura Fried Cauliflower, Housemade Hot Sauce, Blue Cheese Dust
This was my appetizer and it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I want to try to recreate it at home in my air fryer! It was perfectly cooked and the sauce was not TOO spicy for me. I would 100% order this again.
I didn’t taste this either since I don’t eat seafood, but was told it was good. Just your normal calamari. The tuna was better than this according to my group.
Next up were our entrees.
Entree #1:
8 oz. Filet Mignon–Cabernet Butter, Potato Leek Croquette (I substituted with mashed potatoes!), Haricots Verts
This was amazing! And I’ve very glad I subbed for the mashed potatoes, because they were excellent!
This also had a great presentation. I didn’t taste this one, but it was reported to be good.
Dessert #3:
Lemon Mousse–Lemon Mousse Sphere adorned with White Chocolate Rings, Lemon Custard, Marinated Blueberries, Lemon Curd
This is what I ordered. I LOVE lemon! So I was excited to try this. It was very good! (I did prefer the chocolate cheesecake to this though.)
Dessert #4:
Chocolate Gelato
This was a giant serving! And very good.
Overall, we really loved our experience here. Yes, it’s pricey at $79 per person. But that includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. It’s really not THAT much more than a two credit Disney table service restaurant. The atmosphere was really cool, and the service was great. I definitely would come again for lunch or to sit in the lounge area!
Posted at 1:29 pm by taryngirl, on January 14, 2022
10/2/21
After checking in at Art of Animation, we wanted to head to Epcot. We had secured a virtual spot in line for the brand new ride, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. One of my main priorities was getting a late breakfast in France.
To get to Epcot from Art of Animation, you have to take Disney’s Skyliner transportation. There is no bus service available unless for some reason the Skyliner is down.
Here we are over top of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
We arrived sometime between 10 and 11 a.m. One of my favorite quick service dining locations in Epcot is Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie. Entering at the International Gateway is super convenient because France is the first country next to the entrance.
The line was out the door and down the walkway!
My favorite is the Crossaint Jambon Fromage–Ham, Cheese, Bechamel in a Crossaint. You can get it warmed or not. SO GOOD!
And my new found love…the Baguette! Fresh from the oven and served with butter on the side.
Some views of the France Pavilion:
The entrance to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
We just briefly whizzed through some countries when our return time was called for the virtual line for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Once your group is called, you have one hour to return to the entrance of the attraction.
Inside the ride!
The ride was SUPER CUTE! A great addition to Epcot. I do get somewhat motion sick and had to close my eyes at one part, but it wasn’t terrible.
At the time of this post, the virtual line method has ended for Remy and it’s just a regular standby line!
Posted at 2:26 pm by taryngirl, on December 13, 2021
10/1/21
Once we were finished with lunch at Steakhouse 71, we headed back to Magic Kingdom. Just as we were entering, we were able to catch a cavalcade. Our number was called to go back to the Bigtop shopping tent. I sadly did not get any pictures there because it was a madhouse! After shopping, the wait times for rides were still low, so we got on: Pirates of the Caribbean, People Mover, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear, and Pooh. We also were meeting for a big group picture in front of the castle.
After that, we decided to mobile order our dinner since we had been hearing the wait times were so long. We chose Pinocchio Village Haus. We were expecting a long wait once they said our order was ready, but it wasn’t! We shared the Margherita Flatbread. It was delicious!
After eating we decided to find a spot to watch the brand new Disney Enchantment show. It was already super packed around the hub. We settled into our spot around 8:00 p.m. We got this message at 8:30!
Here a shot of the castle before the show started:
These are some of my favorite pics from during the show:
Tinkerbell!
Overall, I thought the show was good. I personally love Wishes and it will always be my favorite! I thought it was odd, that for the 50th, there wasn’t any mention of the big 5…Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, etc. I like the projections on the castle. But I feel you definitely need to be in the hub to be able to see them!
After the show, we did ride Peter Pan and Big Thunder Mountain before heading home.
Posted at 11:22 am by taryngirl, on November 11, 2021
10/1/21
Somehow I was able to score a lunch reservation at the BRAND NEW restaurant, Steakhouse 71, located at the Contemporary Resort where The Wave used to be. This was the grand opening day and we were very excited!
We left Magic Kingdom and took the monorail to The Contemporary Resort. We checked in at 11:40 a.m. and they told us they were running a little bit behind from breakfast. At 12:15 p.m. we were paged.
Compared to The Wave (the restaurant this used to be), I thought the decor was much brighter, which made the dining area look much bigger.
Like I said before, this was opening day, so I knew there may be some hiccups. We sat, and waited and waited for our server to come. She did not, but a manager did. He took our drink order and then our food order as well. Our drinks came and we had ordered appetizers, and those eventually came as well. (We still didn’t see our server!)
I ordered the Fork & Knife Caesar Salad $10. This was delicious and possibly one of the best salads I’ve had!
My friend ordered the Baby Iceberg Wedge Salad (house-made bleu cheese dressing, toy box tomatoes, pickled red onions, bacon, hard cooked egg) $11.
At some point during appetizers, our waitress appeared. She explained her last table (during breakfast service) was super complicated and had a bunch of different payments. We also noticed that they had random people bringing out food and managers were busing tables. Nothing seemed organized and it seemed like they were struggling!
At one point, someone else brought us two more salads, and we told them we were already served.
For entrees, my friend ordered the Crab Cake Sliders (lump crab cakes, old bay remoulade, tomato, pickled slaw on a brioche bun, served with parmesan fries). You could also choose a petite wedge salad or pasta salad as your side. $19. She really liked these. She smashed them down so she could fit them in her mouth.
I ordered the Steakhouse 71 Stack Burger (signature blend of beef, American cheese, lemon aioli, red onion, house-made pickles, on a brioche bun served with parmesan fries) $20. This was amazing! I asked for the lemon aioli on the side because I wasn’t sure I would like it, but it was really good.
Overall, the service was not that great. We didn’t get out of here until 2:00 p.m. But the food more than made up for it. The staff was very apologetic and friendly, they were just overwhelmed. I will 100% be back here again. I think this is a great alternative to a table service in Magic Kingdom, especially at lunch time.
Posted at 8:41 am by taryngirl, on October 22, 2021
10/1/21
Originally our plan for the day was to just wake up leisurely, and not get there for rope drop since we knew it was going to be a late night. We didn’t have any specific shopping we wanted to do as far as the 50th merchandise was concerned. We had no plans to ride anything specific. We were expecting huge crowds and long waits. Our main goal was to just see the new nighttime fireworks show, Enchantment.
Imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes, and Jamie was already awake and on her phone to absolute craziness! The park was supposed to open at 7:30 a.m. to resort guests, but instead opened much earlier. The lines for merchandise were already hours long with a virtual queue, which also appeared to be full already. It was 8-8:30 a.m.! So we decided to get up and get ready to go! We got to the bus stop at 9:30 a.m. and the bus came right away.
Let the celebration begin!
Everyone was given one of these special commemorative guidemaps.
These were a hot commodity, as immediately there were some up on eBay for sale!
We spent a little bit of time taking some photos around Main Street. It was super crowded right in this area. People were lining up for one of the cavalcades, and the lines for the shops stretched all the way down the sidewalks. It was very organized though.
Many views of the castle! (I personally love the colors!)
We decided to check wait times for the attractions, and ride a few things with no wait. We were pleasantly surprised that wait times were super low! We did want to check out the Big Top store near Dumbo, as that had special October 1st merchandise only. Once we got back to that area, there was a sign with a bar code that you could scan to get on a virtual waitlist to shop. It was absolute chaos. People were crazy! This is everyone trying to scan the barcode:
Once you scanned the barcode, you were put into a virtual line. We were number 1193, which meant that’s how many people were in front of us.
From there, we went to Under the Sea–Journey of the Little Mermaid (which was a walk on), It’s a Small World (which was basically a walk on), and then decided it was time to make our way over to the Contemporary Resort for our lunch reservation at Steakhouse 71.
View looking down Main Street from the castle:
After lunch, we did some more photo taking. These special statues are all over the parks!
And we were able to watch one of the special cavalcades.
Overall, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I was expecting. Most rides had a maximum 20 minute wait, with many being 5-10 minutes. Everyone was in line for the merchandise or crowding around Main Street and the castle. Some people even had their blankets out and were camping out for the evening fireworks. We decided we were NOT doing that and wasting our whole day!
Up next, Lunch Review of Steakhouse 71, and more from around the Magic Kingdom!
Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures 