It's cocktail o'clock at Walt Disney World

This post isn't entirely about cocktails, but I love to alliterate.

I've already blogged about my favourite snacks, quick-service restaurants and table-service restaurants from this year's trip. As those posts were obviously very food focused, I decided to write a separate post all about the drinkilicious beverages we tried at Walt Disney World this year.

Most non-alcoholic drinks at your resort and at the parks are included on the Disney Dining Plan as a snack. Each person gets two snack credits per day on the regular Dining Plan, so these drinks are a great way to use up your credits as well as quenching that humidity-induced thirst. 

You also receive a free refillable mug as part of the Dining Plan which means unlimited soft drink refills at your resort for the duration of your stay. 

As well as all the free non-alcoholic drinks, the Disney Dining Plan recently announced an exciting upgrade.  Your table-service credits now include one alcoholic drink along with your main meal and dessert. We like to have an alcoholic drink with our evening meals and have previously just paid the extra for them, so this was a welcome addition for us. 

Here are my top ten non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks from this year's holiday. Enjoy! 

We had two LeFou's Brews from Gaston's Tavern this year. They're absolutely massive and great value as a snack credit on the Dining Plan. 

We visited Dockside Margaritas in Disney Springs many many times. The cocktails are really tasty (I always order the Rum Runner) and the outdoor seating area boasts this amazing view. 

I ordered the 'It's Showtime Mojito' at Planet Hollywood. I was expecting it to be a bit watered down but it was actually very potent! 

South Sea Breeze cocktail at Nine Dragons in Epcot's China pavilion. Always a winner.

I don't even like tequila as a general rule, but this Frontera Margarita from Frontera Cocina was pretty spectacular. 

Night Blossom from Pandora: The World of Avatar. Basically a huge tumbler of colourful slushy sugar with edible beads on top, so obviously I loved it. 

No visit to the Flower and Garden Festival is complete without a Violet Lemonade. 

We love wandering around Epcot in the evening with either a Prosecco from Italy or a glass of wine from France. 

My standard cocktail order whenever we go to Shula's Steakhouse. Blueberry Martini! 

Glow-tini at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. You'd have thought the lure of this cocktail was all in the souvenir glowcube (some of it definitely is), but it does taste really good too. 

What are your favourite drinks at Walt Disney World? I'm forever on the hunt for tasty (and instagrammable) beverages! 

My favourite meals at Walt Disney World

After blogging about my top 5 snacks and top 5 quick-service restaurant last week, it's now time to salivate over my favourite table-service restaurants from this year's holiday.

As we were on the Disney Dining Plan again this year (read more about the plan here), our table-service restaurants came in two categories. The majority of restaurants at Walt Disney World fall into the standard category and are worth one credit per person. The remaining restaurants have the esteemed 'signature' label and are worth two credits per person as they're generally more expensive.

After much deliberation, I've chosen my top 5 standard table-service restaurants for 2018...

We discovered Animal Kingdom's Yak & Yeti last year and it was a firm favourite again this year. I would pay good money to eat this whole meal again right now. 

Nine Dragons in Epcot's China pavilion. Always a holiday staple for us! 

Frontera Cocina in Disney Springs was one of the new restaurants we tried this year. It was Mexican-themed and we'll definitely be going back there at some point. 

Via Napoli in Epcot's Italy pavilion is one of my favourite restaurants in the world. It never ever EVER disappoints. 

Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge was another new restaurant for us this year, and the starter alone catapulted it into my top 5. Best naan bread I've ever had, and I've eaten a lot of naan bread in my time.

Moving swiftly on to my favourite signature restaurants! Signature meals have to be planned very carefully as they're worth two credits each, and we decided to go to three this year. We also visited one restaurant which isn't on the Disney Dining Plan but is well worth paying for. All four restaurants were amazing so I'm going to feature them all, just because I can. 

I had steak at California Grill which isn't always very photogenic, but it tasted amazing nonetheless. And just look at that view from the observation deck! 

The Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club is one of the restaurants I get most excited about since trying it a couple of years ago. I think it might be my absolute favourite. 

We went to Citricos at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on our last evening for a lovely three course meal. Everything about it was spectacular and it was the perfect place to spend our last night. 

We always love to visit Shula's Steakhouse at the Dolphin Hotel. It's not on the Disney Dining Plan and it's pretty pricey, but it's well worth it for such an amazing meal. 

Are you hungry yet? I'll be blogging about my favourite Disney drinks next week... watch this space! 

Using our table service credits at Walt Disney World

I've already blogged about snacks and quick-service dining since coming back from Walt Disney World last month, so you've probably guessed that it's time for me to focus on the Disney Dining Plan's table service credits!

We had 14 table service credits each over the course of our two weeks in Florida. Most restaurants in Walt Disney World take one credit per person per meal, but there are a few 'signature restaurants' which are more expensive and worth two credits per person per meal. These restaurants are clearly marked on the website, and your server will also make you aware of this before you order to make sure you don't have an unwelcome surprise at the end of your meal.

With each table service credit (or two at a signature restaurant), you receive a refillable soft drink, main meal and dessert. It's important to remember that the standard 18-20% service charge isn't included in the Disney Dining Plan, and you'll also need to pay for any alcoholic drinks, starters or sides.

I'm going to blog about the restaurants where we used one credit each for today's post, and I'll be blogging about the signature restaurants we visited next week. There were way too many photos to include them all in one post!

Tony's Town Square Restaurant

Our first table service meal on our first full day at the Magic Kingdom. This was MASSIVE but really tasty! I'm disappointed that I apparently forgot to take a picture of my dessert... I must have been too excited about being back in the most magical place on earth. 

Rainforest Cafe 

Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs isn't somewhere we eat every time we visit Walt Disney World as it isn't one of our absolute favourites, but we always enjoy it when we do eat there. We treated ourselves to cocktails too as they have such a fantastic selection. 

Yak & Yeti 

Yak & Yeti is a table service restaurant in Animal Kingdom - a new restaurant for this year and one of my favourite meals of the holiday! I'm honestly still dreaming about this amazing meal and would highly recommend this restaurant. 

Tutto Italia

Another first for this holiday - Tutto Italia in Epcot's Italy pavilion. A lovely quiet meal in authentic Italian surroundings, and I particularly enjoyed my panna cotta dessert. 

Via Napoli 

Via Napoli is also in Epcot's Italy pavilion and is one of the restaurants I absolutely have to visit every time. I still maintain that they serve the best pizza I've ever had, and the pistachio ice cream is out of this world!

Nine Dragons

Nine Dragons is situated in Epcot's China pavilion and is always a holiday staple for us. I order the Canton Pepper Beef every time as it's too good to miss out on!

Teppan Edo 

Another new restaurant for this trip, situated in Epcot's beautiful Japan pavilion. Eating at Teppan Edo was such an amazing experience! Guests sit in groups of 8 around a table, and each table has its own stove and its own chef. Your food is cooked in front of you using the simplest of ingredients, and it all tastes spectacular. 

Jungle Navigation Skipper Canteen 

Yet another new restaurant for this trip. Although this wasn't one of our favourite meals of the holiday, it was still delicious. We skipped dessert on this occasion as we wanted an ice cream from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor instead... perils of eating a table service lunch at the Magic Kingdom. 

What's your favourite table service restaurant in Walt Disney World? Keep a look out for my next blog post on our favourite signature restaurants! 

Quick-service dining at Walt Disney World

If you've read last week's snacktastic post, you'll already know that the Disney Dining Plan was tagged on to our holiday booking this year and we took full advantage of all the delights it offered us.

We had 14 quick-service credits each to use up over the two weeks. A quick-service restaurant is usually a cafeteria-style or counter-service venue where you order or take the food items that you want, pay for your food then sit down to eat your meal. A quick-service meal for two can range from roughly $20 to $40.

14 quick-service credits for a fortnight might sound very manageable if you've never seen the size of the average quick-service portion... they're pretty big, even for me. Bearing in mind that we also had 14 table service credits to use during the two weeks, we had to do some serious meal planning! Luckily, food is always one of our highlights on every holiday which means we love meal planning and talking about where we're going to eat next.

Here's a photographic summary of the quick-service restaurants where we used our credits this year...

D-Luxe Burger in Disney Springs is one of our favourite quick-service restaurants which is why we ate here three times! You get a burger and a drink with your quick-service credit and we used snack credits for the chips. 

You really can't go wrong with an Earl of Sandwich and we ate here three times too. Although we should technically only have a sandwich/wrap and a drink with our credit according to DDP rules, Earl of Sandwich also throws in a snack (such as a fruit pot or a packet of crisps). 

Orange chicken from the Lotus Blossom Cafe in Epcot's China pavilion. Amazing quality! 

Quick-service credits are always useful when you want to eat a quick breakfast at your resort. Here's the amazing bacon and egg croissant from The Artist's Palette at Saratoga Springs! 

My standard breakfast at The Artist's Palette on our first and last day... I promise you that Mickey-shaped waffles taste better than normal-shaped waffles. 

Pepperoni flatbread from The Artist's Palette for lunch.

Our first meal at PizzeRizzo in Hollywood Studios. PizzeRizzo replaced Pizza Planet in 2016 but the pizzas in both restaurants are suspiciously similar!

We also ate at the Flame Tree Barbecue in Animal Kingdom but I didn't take a photo as we ate our meal outside and it was dark... I'm far too much of a perfectionist when it comes to my beloved food photos. 

In spite of our careful planning and excessive eating, we had two quick-service credits left at the end of the holiday. When this happens, you're given the option to exchange each quick-service credit for three snack credits. This enabled us to choose six big bags of Disney sweets to take home with us, free of charge. 

What's your favourite quick-service restaurant in Walt Disney World? I'll be blogging about table service restaurants next time so keep a look out for that! 

Snacking, Disney style!

It's been two weeks since we got back from Walt Disney World and I'm still suffering from an extreme case of holiday blues. For all the reasons I detailed in my last blog post, it's so difficult to leave such a spectacular place behind at the end of an amazing fortnight. It really does get a little bit harder to leaveevery time.

I thought blogging about our holiday might make me feel better and, after posting a quick poll on Twitter because people haven't had enough voting opportunities recently (!), I've decided to start with some blog posts on the food we ate at Walt Disney World.

The Disney Dining Plan was included with our booking which meant we had 14 table service credits each, 14 quick service credits each, and 28 snacks each. Today, I'm going to focus on the snacking element of the plan.

Snacks generally cost up to $6 and are widely available across all parks and resorts - just keep a look out for the purple Disney Dining Plan icon to find out what's eligible. We quickly realised that 2 snacks each per day is a huge amount of food on top of the other meal credits, so we used a few of our credits on bottled drinks in the parks rather than on food items or more fancy drinks. However, we still managed to fit in a substantial number of fun snacks as you'll see below, as well as some boring fruit snacks which I didn't photograph!

It's amazing to think that all the food and drink below was completely free and didn't chip away at our spending money. Although I don't think we'd ever pay outright for the Disney Dining Plan, it's a definite perk when it's tagged on to your booking.

Scroll down to find out what we decided to spend our snacking credits on this year...

A Disney snacking classic. Mickey pretzel!

One of my favourite snacks of the lot - churro!

Ice cream from the legendary Plaza Ice Cream Parlor at the Magic Kingdom. 

A giant cookie with little sugared Mickeys from our resort's selection of snacks.

Another Disney classic. Mickey ice cream lolly!

Dole Whip on our first morning.
This is like a meal in itself and requires both a spoon and a straw!

One of my favourite pastries - a hefty cinnamon roll from Epcot. 

A new snack choice for this holiday - giant pink doughnut!

Frozen strawberry lemonade on one of the hottest days of the holiday.

Definitely NOT the only apple danish pastry I ate over the two weeks. 

Giant Oreo chocolate cupcake from Candy Cauldron in Disney Springs.

Cookies 'n' cream and strawberry ice cream from Beaches & Cream at the Beach Club.

This frozen Violet Lemonade from Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival was

another first-time snack for this trip. 

LeFou's Brew from Gaston's Tavern - terrible photo but amazing concoction. 

Yes, it's just a diet Coke, but look at the label!

Unfortunately, I was too parched to walk to the castle for a more suitable backdrop. 

Are you hungry yet? Keep a look out for my next food-filled blog post!