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! 

Hollywood Studios

I had no idea what to expect from Hollywood Studios when I went to Walt Disney World for the first time 18 months ago, so it wasn't on my list of top 5 things I was most excited about. I wasn't particularly interested in how films are made back then, and I thought that would be the main focus of the park. However, this year I knew exactly what to expect so I was very excited about going back. You can never fully grasp the scale of Hollywood Studios (or any of the Disney parks) until you've experienced it in person!

Hollywood Studios is home to two of my favourite rides in Walt Disney World - Rock'n'Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. Both these rides usually have a substantial queue, but they're totally worth the wait. Rock'n'Roller Coaster isn't a very long ride, but it's brilliant while it lasts. It also has the bonus of blaring Aerosmith music the whole way around. The Tower of Terror is just a whole different sensation... I scream with genuine terror on this ride, but I absolutely love it. It also gives you a great view of the park...!

Pixar Place is one of my favourite areas in Hollywood Studios. The design of this area is phenomenal, but then I wouldn't expect anything less from the geniuses at Pixar. Toy Story Midway Mania is (obviously) situated in Pixar Place. Midway Mania is an interactive 3D ride based on classic carnival games. I'm not actually very good at these games, but the ride is great fun whether you get a high score or not. And everyone loves to wear 3D glasses once in a while! You can also meet Buzz and Woody in Pixar Place if you're prepared to queue for a very very long time...

I also love the landmarks at Hollywood Studios. I did think the Sorcerer's Apprentice hat could have done with a bit of a spring clean this year but it's still an impressive sight as you walk in to the park.

I went to see the Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage show in Sunset Boulevard for the first time this year. I was expecting great things, but I was genuinely blown away by the half hour production. Everything was spectacular, from the set to the costumes to the very enthusiastic singing and dancing. Belle and Gaston sing live throughout every show, and the Beast's characterisation is fantastic. I was humming my favourite songs from Beauty and the Beast all day after watching this show!

Fantasmic also takes place in Sunset Boulevard, in the open-air amphitheatre. Fantasmic is Hollywood Studios' night show and, although it's my least favourite of the three night shows at Walt Disney World, it's still pretty amazing. The show features fireworks, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music and projections on to large mist screens featuring scenes from the Sorcerer's Apprentice and other classic Disney films. Fantasmic is actually quite scary at times as it depicts a battle between good and evil taking place in Mickey's dreams/nightmares, but Mickey Mouse obviously triumphs over evil in the end. You get to see loads of your favourite characters in this show and there's always a great atmosphere in and around the amphitheatre, so it's definitely worth a look.

Hollywood Studios went all out to promote Monsters University this year, and I especially loved the Monsters University display outside the main entrance. Just like everything else in Disney World, it was massively intricate and totally flawless!

Although I didn't get to meet Sulley and Mike Wazowski from Monsters University at Hollywood Studios as the queue was too long, I did get a hug from Pluto. Pluto is one of my favourite Disney characters so I was extremely excited about this. He's so cute!

Just like the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, I can't write about everything I love about Hollywood Studios or the blog post would take four days to write. So again, this has just been a flavour of the main things I love about Hollywood Studios.

What do other people think of Hollywood Studios? Is it your favourite Disney park?

Frantic about Florida #9

My holiday to Florida is edging ever closer, so this is my penultimate Frantic about Florida post! As you can probably guess, my excitement has now reached fever pitch and it's difficult to remain calm at times. I haven't quite started packing yet, but I have written my packing list. Eeep! 

You can read all the previous posts on the links below:

Frantic about Florida #1
Frantic about Florida #2
Frantic about Florida #3
Frantic about Florida #4
Frantic about Florida #5
Frantic about Florida #6
Frantic about Florida #7
Frantic about Florida #8

So here goes... another five things I'm looking forward to!

1. Character statues at The Magic Kingdom

So cute!

2. Hogsmeade at Universal's Islands of Adventure

You genuinely feel as if you've stepped right in to a scene from Harry Potter... 

obviously that's the aim of the whole thing

3. Pretzels

Quite possibly the best snack in the world (apart from churros)

4. Mission Space at Epcot

One of the weirdest sensations I've ever experienced, but I still

want to go back for more!

5. Gorillas in Animal Kingdom

I wanted to give him a big hug! He probably wouldn't have liked that...

Look out for the last instalment in a fortnight's time!