SUYL: Walt Disney World

This week Kelly's Show Us Your Life post is all about "favorite vacation spots". While we've taken some fun trips in the past few years, Walt Disney World is probably one of my favorite spots to visit.


Now, I'm not one of these crazy Disney people, whose home is filled with Disney memrobelia and has several Mickey Mouse sweatshirts in her closet (not that there is anything wrong with that) but with young kids it really can't be beat.

Since this is a food blog, I'm going to post the links I did after our last trip to WDW that has a info on where we ate and what we ate. If anyone has any specific questions about where we like to stay, what we like to do, $$ saving tips, please leave a comment below. Enjoy!

Magic Kingdom

Epcot/Future World

Epcot/World's Showcase

Animal Kingdom

Downtown Disney

Epcot Resort Dining

WDW Resturant Review- Bongos Cuban Cafe (Downtown Disney)

(Pechuga de Pollo a la Plancha - grilled chicken breast marinated in garlic and lemon topped with grilled onions served with white rice and sweet plantains).

For our last day at WDW, we went to Downtown Disney and ate lunch at Bongos. We've eat at this Gloria Estefan owned, Cuban themed restaurant before and really enjoyed it. After almost a week of mostly burgers and fries it was nice to eat some authentic Cuban cuisine. In fact, my son actually said it was his favorite meal of the entire trip. Ha! simple grilled chicken with onions, rice and plantains was preferred over Kraft style mac n' cheese...I'm so proud :)

The restaurant is themed to evoke old world Havana in the 1940's and 50"s and I believe they play live Cuban music during dinner---I love dinner and a show! The restaurant also features a walk-up window and outdoor tables, which is great if you want a more casual lunch. Just order yourself a Cuban sandwich, sit back, soak up the Florida sun and enjoy....you're on vacation!!!

We also ordered Ropa Vieja , aka "Old Clothes". It's shredded beef in a light tomato sauce with onions and peppers...a classic Cuban dish.

Bongos Cuban Cafe in Downtown Disney.

My son playing the bongos outside of Bongos.

WDW Resturant Review- Beaches and Cream (Beach Club Resort)

(Classic burger and fries)

We love Beaches and Cream. It's one of the few places we try to go to every time we visit Disney. Beaches and Cream is an old fashioned soda shop at the Beach Club Resort. The food is classic American; burgers, fries,hot dogs, ice-cream and such. What they are most famous for though is an ice cream sundae called "The Kitchen Sink". It is basically a banana split on steroids and easily feeds 6 grown adults. It comes out in this giant kitchen sink shaped bowl and is such a crazy dessert, you can't help but smile.

Another reason why we like this place is that the Beach Club (and Yacht Club) is such a beautiful resort. We usually go for a walk around the boardwalk outside to work off some of the fries and ice cream. The grounds are so lovely and relaxing you really feel like you are on vacation there.

Silly kids...I hope they weren't calling Guam.

Strawberry shortcake.

They brought my son a b-day balloon and everyone sang happy birthday to him.

My son sharing his ice cream with his sister.

WDW Resturant Review- Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom)

(Pizza, side salad and drink combo)

The menu selections are very limited at this Animal Kingdom counter service eatery. I had the pizza (shocker), salad and drink combo. It tasted pretty blah....but I kind of expected that from just the look of it. The salad was only romaine lettuce (no tomatoes, onions, cucumbers or even croutons!) with a Wish Bone type of dressing...pretty lame.

There was one thing I really liked about Pizzafari though....it had lots and lots of indoor seating! Which was perfect because the day we visited Animal Kingdom it was very cold and windy! Honestly, we were so happy to eat inside that day that we didn't care too much about our lunch at Pizzafari.

Here are some pictures from our fun (and cold) day at Animal Kingdom.

WDW Resturant Review- Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café (Magic Kingdom)

(Blast-off cheeseburger with eclipse chips)

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe is a counter service eatery in the Tomorrowland section of Magic Kingdom. I had the "blast-off" cheeseburger and "eclipse" chips. The burger reminded me of something you would eat in a high school cafeteria. The chips were pretty good, though I'm sure super-unhealthy...but what the heck....it's vacation right.

My kids had the chicken nugget meals and they quickly gobbled those up. I was happy their meals also included fresh grapes and baby carrots. The fixings bar had a nice array of toppings and condiments. I don't have anything else exciting to say about Cosmic Ray's. This is a casual place for a quick lunch. Don't expect great food but it's not bad either.

Here are some pictures from our fun day at the Magic Kingdom.

WDW Resturant Reviews: Boulangerie Patisserie (Epcot/ World's Showcase)

(Ham and Cheese Croissant)

We ate at Boulangerie Patisserie, a casual counter service french cafe our night in Epcot. I had the ham and cheese croissant, my husband had the cheese quiche and my son and daughter split a ham and cheese french baguette sandwich. We all shared a chocolate mousse for dessert. The weather was nice that night and we ate outside, which made us feel like we were really in France! Everything tasted good and we especially liked the baguette and mousse.

A view of France...beautiful!


Some of the pasteries.


Mmmmm...viva la France!!

WDW Resturant Reviews:Coral Reef (Epcot/Future World))

(Grilled mahi mahi topped with a spicy pineapple chutney over cashew-jasmine rice finished with a coconut rum beurre blanc)

We ate at Coral Reef for lunch our day in Epcot. Even though this was our fifth trip to WDW in the last 6 years, we had never eaten at this restaurant am so glad we got to try it this time. This restaurant is truly unique and a feast for the eyes.

It is part of the Living Seas exhibit and has one large wall that is an aquarium view. We got to watch all sorts of tropical fish, rays, turtles and even sharks swim around while we ate lunch....very cool! This is a great restaurant for both kids and grown-ups. Advanced reservations are a must though as this place is very popular.

The view from our table.

This is what makes Disney a magical place....they brought out this dessert for my son.

A blurry family picture. We all really liked this restaurant.

The kids LOVED the make-your-own ice cream sundae.

Rockland Bakery and Thanksgiving Recap

I am back after being away for a couple of days in NJ visiting family for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. We spend each Thanksgiving with my in-laws and even though it's usually only immediate family for dinner, it's always a full house. This year we had 22 at the dinner table.

My SIL usually divvies up dinner duties. Someone does the turkey, another person the sides, another the wine,another the appetizers and someone does the desserts. This year, she assigned me to picking up bread and desserts. I went to the Rockland bakery in Nanuet, NY (just 10 minutes from my SIL's house in northern NJ).

The Rockland bakery is a staple in this area and for good reason. Even before you get in the door, the aroma of fresh baked goods wafts through the air. It is always busy, but so worth it. What makes this place so special and unique is that you get your breads, rolls and bagels right off the conveyor belt in the back "baking room". I brought both my kids and they were allowed to eat dinner rolls for free while in the baking room...how great is that?! If you are in the area, this place is definitely worth stopping by.

Rows and rows of fresh breads!

Fresh hot bagels!

They also have amazing cakes and pastries.


Here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving.

My little Jersey girl.

My son loved visiting with his grandparents, aunts, uncles and many cousins.
Some of the sides...sweet potato, squash and green bean casserole.

No, I'm not drunk yet :)

With so many for dinner, we didn't fit in the dining room. We had to set up 3 large tables in the family room and kitchen.
Canolli cake from the Rockland bakery...so, so good!