Alexander has been hard at work on our trip to Walt Disney World, writing down his observations and tips for other kids. Here are his most recent new KidTips!

Alexander is the 8-year-old contributor to PassPorter’s Walt Disney World 2013 guidebook.

Just a reminder to everyone! The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival officially opens tomorrow!

The shrimp taco was one of my favorite treats last year. What was yours? Don’t forget to check out this year’s new booths:

Florida will be offering shrimp ceviche with fire roasted veggies, fried plantains and cilantro, as well as a white corn arepa with pork rillette and sweet corn salad. There are local brews and cocktails available too! The Florida booth is located in the American Adventure Pavilion!

Terra is the new vegetarian both to check out! There will be a veggie chili and a veggie “chicken” curry! The Terra booth is located at the entrance to World Showcase from Future World.

Those will be my first visits tomorrow and then I’ll probably head to Mexico for my crispy shrimp taco fix!

If you have a Chase Visa there is a card holder’s lounge in the Festival Center–I’m going to check that out tomorrow as well!

Don’t forget that Epcot’s 3oth anniversary is on Monday! There are special events being hosted all day. The limited edition Epcot 30 merchandise hits the shelves tomorrow! (Some of it is very limited–the iPhone case I have my eye on is an addition of only 300 pieces!)

Dining Out Disney Goes to Universal’s Islands of Adventure!

Mythos from Across the Lagood

I know! I know! Sacrilege right? Well after the debacle at Bistro de Paris I decided I needed to check out the other restaurants that have won Theme Park Insider’s Best Theme Park Restaurant. I know that I love Chefs de France, so I didn’t need to venture over there. It’s a little bit far for me to just pop into Blue Bayou, so that left just one restaurant.

 
Mythos at Universal’s Islands of Adventure has won Best Theme Park Restaurant six times! I’m pretty sure I understand why. This restaurant is a winner in four out of four categories required to receive the Heather Stamp of Approval!

Category One is Ambiance and Décor. Mythos is beautiful both inside and out. The outside of the building is visually appealing and upon entering the restaurant you feel like you are being led through a series of caves. Those caves open up into a large room, though while noisy, provides stunning views and interesting architecture. Make sure you take note of the light fixtures in the bathrooms when you visit. They feature a famous mythological creature you might not want to look too closely at! I certainly don’t want my readership to turn into stone statues!

Up next is Service. Our waitress was brand new and it showed, but it didn’t stop her from being wonderfully efficient. It was

Amazing Decor Inside Mythos

extremely hot the day we dined at Mythos and my girlfriends and I were slugging back water, well everyone but me. I had decided on club soda and when our lovely server realized how fast I was drinking it she came back with a water pitcher in one hand and a club soda pitcher in the other. Food and checks arrived in both a correct and timely fashion! Needs were anticipated before being asked for: ketchup arrived on the table before the french fries.

Third Category is Food. Everyone at the table was pleased with their meal. We ordered a Mediterranean veggie flat bread to start out. It was nice and crisp and the veggies were fresh. I had the tomato soup next and it was absolutely wonderful, rich and creamy without being overly so.  I couldn’t decide between the crab cake sliders and the chicken sandwich, so when others at the table ordered those, I went with the buffalo chicken wrap. It’s an interesting sandwich with spicy fried buffalo chicken, greens and mashed potatoes! Also appearing on the table were the risotto of the day, the chicken sandwich, crab cake sliders and blackened fish tacos. No one had a single complaint about any of the food, which is impressive at a table of five! The menu identifies which items are gluten free and which items can be prepared vegetarian or vegan. I truly believe there are options for every member of the family here.

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Finally, my last category is Value. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the affordable prices at Mythos.  It’s much less expensive than comparable restaurants at WDW for some things and about the same for others.  Mythos offers a cocktail of the month for only $5.00. I’m not sure you can get a mixed drink anywhere on Disney property for only $5.00. Appetizers ran from$4.99 for soup to $9.99 for shrimp cocktail. Sandwiches were between $9.99 and $12.99. Salads included a house mixed greens for $5.79 and a tuna Carpaccio salad for $12.99. I was really impressed with the entrée prices with the filet running $16.99 and the cedar planked salmon for only $19.99.

We had a lovely meal in the middle of the day at Mythos. It’s a great way to get out of the midday summer heat in Orlando. The views are wonderful and the inside of the restaurant is just spectacular. Food was good all the way around, perhaps not as gourmet as you might find at a WDW Signature Restaurant, but certainly as good as most of the theme park restaurants. Mythos is open for lunch and dinner. I highly recommend making a reservation through the Universal Orlando website before you go. They were taking walkups on the day I visited, but the quoted wait time was 45 minutes. It would be well worth your while to save yourself the wait.

Mythos at Universal Islands of Adventure get the Heather Seal of Approval!

Would it be beneficial for us to join the Disney Vacation Club? That’s a question that no doubt many people have agonised with over the years, and one that I was asked by Les and Jill Taylor on one of my recent blogs.

The first, and most important, thing is to understand exactly what the Disney Vacation Club is, and that’s something I covered in a previous blog. To sum it up, essentially it’s Disney’s version of a timeshare, but it’s a much more friendly version. You’re certainly not going to get any high pressured sales if you do want to learn more and take a tour when you’re next at Walt Disney World or Disneyland – and in fact, I’d encourage you to do that, if it’s something that appeals to you.

Disney's Saratoga Springs, the biggest Disney Vacation Club resort to date

Of course, the other thing I would say, as the co-author of PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide, is that this will be essential in making your decision on whether to buy in or not. It’s packed with answers to every question you may have about how the DVC works, and probably questions you didn’t even know you had!

There are some other useful sources in previous blogs as well. I posed the question does the Disney Vacation Club make sense for us? and also looked at what to know before buying into the Disney Vacation Club, both of which should give you more information.

Now going back to Les and Jill’s question to me, they explained that they’d like to take the entire family to Disney in the next few years, a total of 15 people. With that big a group, you’d certainly need a huge accommodation! Even the three-bedroom villas available at many of the Disney Vacation Club resorts only house up to 12 people, so even those wouldn’t be enough. However, perhaps a couple of two-bedroom villas, which each sleep at least eight people, might be an option.

Larger rooms, such as a one- or two-bedroom villa at the Beach Club Villas will drain your points allocation

Those will take a lot of points though, with the number varying, as always depending on the time of the year you visit, the property you choose, and what nights you say, with Fridays and Saturdays pricier. Two-bedroom villas range in price from 54 to 98 points a night, so that’s something worth knowing before going ahead with any purchase of points to buy into the Disney Vacation Club, as you need to know roughly how many you’ll need to use.

Something else Les and Jill mentioned, and I hope they won’t mind me saying this, is that they’re retired seniors. The Disney Vacation Club has a minimum contract length of up to 2042, with contracts now going up to 2062. Of course, if you’re making a purchase of this length, you want to know that either you, or your family, can enjoy it. As it’s something that you own for the length of the contract, then you can bequeath it in your will for other members of the family to enjoy.

What I would say is that the Disney Vacation Club can give you some amazing savings on Disney vacations over the years, but it is a long term commitment, and you need to know that you, and your family will be happy to travel to Disney for many years to make the best of it.

You can now Like Dining Out Disney on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/DiningOutDisney

Look for a new blog post this week on the different Mexican Offerings in Walt Disney World. Think about which one is your favorite and we’ll see if I agree!

Bistro de Paris in Epcot’s France Pavilion has won the Theme Park Insider’s award for Best Restaurant three years in a row. Since 2002 only three others have won this distinction: Blue Bayou at Disneyland, Mythos at Universal’s Island’s of Adventure and Chefs de France right down stairs from Bistro. (Mythos managed to win six years in a row.) Best theme park restaurant is certainly subjective. I think the best restaurant in a theme park is the Hollywood Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. However, the people have spoken, which meant that I needed to go eat! (You can find out more about the Theme Park Insider at http://www.themeparkinsider.com/)

Bistro de Paris is a Signature Dining restaurant at Walt Disney World. There are only a handful of them and they are supposed to have the highest level of service and the best quality of food. This also makes them small, popular, and expensive. As we will soon see, just because it’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s good. If you are going to head to Bistro de Paris and you are using the Disney Dining Plan, be aware that your meal will cost you two Table Service Credits. The only discount available at Bistro is the Tables in Wonderland card and Bistro de Paris is only open for dinner.

I absolutely love Chefs de France, so I assumed that I would love it’s big brother. We all know what happens when you assume, right? I already knew the wine list was impeccable. If you ask nicely they will let you order from the Bistro by the bottle list at Chefs. I headed into the France Pavilion quite a bit early for my reservation and found the small sign and hostess stand that barely announces that there is a restaurant to be found within. It was no problem to be seated early and I was whisked away up the stairs. It’s a good thing too, because there isn’t any waiting area down stairs. Once up the stairs I was met by another host who told me they would be able to seat me in just a few minutes. About five minutes later I was being led through an almost empty dining room to a table for two in the center area of the room.

My waiter greeted me shortly there after and I ordered a bottle of sparkling water and asked for time to peruse the wines by the glass list. My waiter explained that they only had liter size bottles of sparkling, did I want something else? I also explained to him that I had noted on the reservation that I had an allergy and since he hadn’t mentioned it, I wanted to make sure he knew. He looked vaguely confused. My sparkling water appeared while I looked at the menu, although a chef from the kitchen did not.

My waiter came back to the table to take my dinner order and I let him know what I wanted. He took the order and went back to the kitchen to talk to the chef. He was back fairly quickly to let me know that everything I had ordered had nuts in it. One of the dishes they could take them out of, but not the others. Okay then. It took three trips back to the kitchen to determine what I could and couldn’t have. I would have been a lot happier if they had just sent someone who knew the menu out to talk to me in the first place. Turns out that five of the seven appetizers on the menu have nuts in them. I was so frustrated that I didn’t even bother with asking about entrees. It would have taken another year. I decided to go with two appetizers and dessert.

After all of this happened, the glass of wine I ordered, a Pouilly Fumé appeared at the table along with a French baguette, butter and as amuse bouche of vichyssoise (cold leek soup) with a Parmesan froth. I wondered, as I ate, why there wasn’t a French cheese used for this, however it might have been the best bite I had for most of the evening!

My first course of Serrano ham with celery root remoulade and artichoke hearts arrived, after about twenty minutes. I can only assume that my waiter had to grab the dish from some crazy French chef and pick the nuts off of it himself. It looks tasty and it was. The saltiness of the ham pared well with the delicate flavors of artichoke and the celery root, which was almost a slaw, provided a nice textural balance. The dots of balsamic glaze placed around the plate added another element of both sweet and sour to the dish. Unfortunately, or not as would later seem to be the case, this dish is enormous. It is definitely big enough for two people to share if they have entrees following. I was almost full when I finished. While I was waiting for my next course I noticed fairly large sized entrees going out to other tables. I would be prepared for larger than normal French restaurant portions. Bigger, however, is not always better.

My next dish was to be a fresh goat cheese terrine with tomato aspic and zucchini salad. The dish looked lovely upon arrival, all topped with tiny micro herbs. Alas, I had two bites and sent it back to the kitchen–it was too rich to eat. Everything on the plate from the cheese to the vinegar dressing on the zucchini was acidic and altogether unpalatable. I really wanted to love this dish because I love cheese, but it was not to be. I would steer clear of this one.

I probably should have just wrapped it up there, but a French restaurant can’t possible ruin dessert. Thankfully Bistro de Paris lived up to it’s reputation when it came time for my raspberry soufflé. It was perfectly cooked with red raspberries running throughout and a warm chocolate center. The red berry sorbet that came along side it was delightfully refreshing against the chocolate. Beware, however, that this is a blond soufflé base with chocolate inside, not chocolate and chocolate. Sadly, a bad restaurant experience cannot be saved by dessert. Between the very slow service, the lack of menu knowledge of the waiter, the absence of the chef in the dining room, and an inedible course, I don’t think I’ll be rushing back to Bistro de Paris unless they change the menu. I’ll have to be content with Chefs de France.

Hooray, it’s that time of year again, when the latest edition of the Disney Files magazine rolls up for Disney Vacation Club Members, and this one is excellent. If you haven’t already received it, and as always we’re behind the States, living over here in the UK, then it’s well worth the wait.

As you may remember, when the spring 2012 issue showed up, I reviewed that (insert link) and I wasn’t overly impressed with the contents. Well, it’s almost as if Disney listened to what I said, and really upped their game for this issue. Wow, what an improvement!

Unsurprisingly, the first thing that struck me when it came through the letterbox was the front over. It’s a photo montage, made up of Member photos, illustrating the new Cars Land at Disneyland. That piqued my interest immediately, as ever since this was announced, we’ve been desperate to experience it – and finally we will later this year.

The front page is followed up by a four page spread about this amazing new land, with lots of new information that I hadn’t come across before. In particular, I loved the information about the covered queue, and how you get to learn more about Stanley, a character only shown as a statue in the original film. I also hadn’t appreciated that the new Radiator Springs Racers are also competitive, adding a little something different. The fact that Cars Land is the largest rock work project outside of Tokyo DisneySea also fascinated me, and I can’t wait to see it in person.

Aside from Cars Land, there’s plenty more to enjoy in this issue. Even before I read the report on the results of a survey about the magazine, I’d noticed they’d changed the content. Sure enough, towards the end of the two pages, looking at the comments from Members, and I noticed that they’ve made a point of reducing the Disney Diversions section, which looked at news from the Disney studios, and publishers. In its place more Member news, which to me is a really good move.

This issue, that covers the renovations that are being carried out inside the rooms at Saratoga Springs. Although we’re not going to be staying there on our next visit, I may have to try and sneak a look at the rooms, as from the photos, they look lovely, with some wonderful touches. While we’re over there, we’ll also have to check out the new fire pit at that resort, with Old Key West also getting a similar addition.

Turning back to Disney destinations, the Disney Files looks at the other major work taking place at Disney parks around the world. Of course, that has to include the expansion of Fantasyland, with the focus very much on the Beauty and the Beast theme to it, including the Be Our Guest restaurant. Now that I’ve seen the menu for that, we are so going to have to try that out in December!

However, I was probably more interested to read about the massive expansion that’s taking place in Hong Kong Disneyland, as since the plans were first announced, I haven’t heard that much more about that. Having read the article, I think I definitely need to plan in a return visit back to that park to sample the new additions there.

There’s so much more to this issue, including a fascinating read about Epcot’s creation by Disney legend Marty Sklar, which you have to read, the neighbourhood notes (boy have they been busy at Hilton Head!) and lots more updates from the Disney parks around the world.

If you haven’t had your summer copy of the Disney Files yet, then you’re in for a real treat. If you already have received it, hopefully you’ve read, and enjoyed it, and if not, then why not?!

With the publication of the latest update to PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide for Members and Members-To-Be, you may be wondering what’s changed. After all, it can’t be that much, can it? Well, you’d be surprised….

It’s six months since the last update, which saw the addition of all the 2013 points charts for the Disney Vacation Club resorts. Things like that are headline news, so you’ll be aware of them, but here are some things that you may not have spotted….

More Member perks

More Member perks have been introduced at Aulani (copyright Elaine Masters)

There have been so many member perks added that we’ve had to put more pages into the book… seriously!

The vast majority of the new additions are at Vero Beach, Hilton Head, and especially at Aulani. Perhaps that’s not as much of a surprise, as it’s a brand new resort and Disney have been busy arranging as many special offers as they can for members who are lucky enough to visit. Hopefully we’ll be able to sample some of those offers someday soon….

Even at Walt Disney World and Disneyland there are constantly changes to the offers available to members, with some added while others are removed.

The addition of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel to the Member portfolio

Recognising that the Villas at the Grand Californian’s 50 two-bedroom-equivalent villas may not be enough for their members, the Disney Vacation Club is now allowing members to stay in the Grand Californian Hotel itself on points.

Members can now use their points at the Grand Californian Hotel

To my mind, it’s a great change, as it is tough to get into the Villas, but is it a great deal, and what is the hotel like compared to the Villas? Well, we’ve added a brand new section into PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide covering exactly that topic. That means even more pages again!

Changing prices of DVC resorts

With the Disney Vacation Club raising its prices three times in the last six months, we’ve recalculated the break-even point for people considering joining DVC, with some interesting results. The resale price of each resort is also constantly changing, and we’ve gone back and double checked all those figures to give you an idea of how much buying through resale will set you back.

Adventures by Disney

Adventures By Disney have announced their 2013 itineraries, including new ones for DVC members only in Scotland, South America, and Southeast Asia. I’ve already covered this in detail in a previous blog.

We’ve added all of those into the book, along with the new points charts for 2013. All I’m going to say is if you want to go to places like Australia, you’re going to need a lot of points!

More 2013 points charts..

The Disney Vacation Club is literally changing all the time, and within the last few days, the 2013 points charts have appeared for the Walt Disney World resorts other than the DVC resorts. We’re talking the likes of the Polynesian, Yacht Club, Fort Wilderness, and Port Orleans here, and those details have been added into PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide.

2013 points charts are now out for Tokyo Disney

Equally, the World Passport Collections points charts are out for next year, so we’ve checked for any changes in those. In fact, we delayed publishing the latest edition, as at first only Tokyo Disney had their 2013 charts out, with no sign of those from Paris, and Hong Kong. However, as soon as those appeared we added them in, holding publication for a few extra days to ensure you had the most up to date information.

And, just in case you’re thinking is that it?, those are only the major changes in the latest edition. There are also a huge amount of small changes, so small you may not even notice them, as they’re not highlighted in the way that changes to PassPorter’s Walt Disney World and PassPorter’s Disney Cruise Line are.

In fact, since the first edition of PassPorter’s Disney Vacation Club Guide was published back in 2009, now we’re on the tenth edition, and a total of 23 additional pages have been added, bringing the page count up to 191. Soon, the way the Disney Vacation Club is growing, we’ll be way over the 200 page mark…. and we’ll ensure that it’s fully updated with the latest changes for all Members and Members-To-Be….

That’s the question posed this week on the Owning The Magic forums on the PassPorter message boards,  and wow, what a great question!

Hilton Head is one of those I'm not including, although you can in your replies, if it's your favorite!

It’s one that’s certainly got people thinking, and many are discovering it’s not that easy to give an answer. Of course, with Disney theming, you’d expect it to be tough to make a choice between which resort is your favorite. I’ll say here that Vero Beach, Hilton Head, Aulani, and the Grand Californian at Disneyland, wonderful as they all are, are out of the running here. The criteria is going to apply to Walt Disney World, and I think that’s probably only fair. After all, how can you compete with having four Disney theme parks on your doorstep?!

I’ll say straight off that Old Key West, and Saratoga Springs don’t appeal that much, simply down to location, although I noticed from the response to the original question that Old Key West was mentioned a number of times. It’s certainly got its fans, and I can’t deny that it has a lovely, laid back atmosphere, perfect especially if you’re planning that much park time, and the huge rooms are a definite bonus.

Now that's what you call a great location! Bay Lake Tower, as seen from the Magic Kingdom monorail station

Let’s look next at the Magic Kingdom resorts. Of those, we prefer Bay Lake Tower for its location – nothing beats being able to walk back to your home for the night from the park or walk to one of our favorite restaurants, the California Grill, and the views are quite something, especially if you can snag a theme park view. However, the rooms are on the small side, and there are problems with the wear and tear on the furnishings in some of the rooms, although thankfully we’ve never experienced that ourselves.

The Villas at Wilderness Lodge get a lot of fans, because of the rustic theme to them, and I enjoy that, but our stay there was marred by being located in the furthest possible room from the main building. Not a great introduction to the place!

Another Disney Vacation Club resort with a real feeling of nature are the Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Now how can you compete with having a savannah right outside your room? Well, in fairness, you can, because location wise, understandably, they’re pretty much on the edge of Disney property, which can be a pain, something which was pointed out in answer to the original question.

The lovely lobby of the BoardWalk

So it’s over to the Epcot resorts finally, home to the BoardWalk Villas, and Beach Club Villas. Location wise, you can’t really beat them, within walking distance to both Epcot, and the Studios. The difference really comes down to the theme of each, with the Beach Club Villas perhaps being slightly quieter, and a little bit further away from the evening action on the BoardWalk. We enjoyed our stay at the BoardWalk, although I’d really hate to be in one of the end villas, as a bit like the Wilderness Lodge, they’re so far from the action.

Not a problem you’ll encounter at the Beach Club Villas, where even the end villas are either close to the parking lot or the walkways to Epcot. Ah, now this is home to us! Why? Well, location, location, location first off – as someone said on the message boards, you can dine out every night on World Showcase. What finer endorsement can there be? But, perhaps more than that, this is the place that always feels like home to us, and isn’t that what we’re all looking for from a Disney Vacation Club resort?

Of course, the final thought to leave you with is one response to the original question, which is probably also a key consideration. Your favorite can change, depending on what your plans are for your trip. Want to spend time away from the parks? Saratoga, Old Key West or Animal Kingdom Lodge all may suit… If your focus is Epcot, perhaps during the Food and Wine or Flower and Garden Festival, then your attention will turn naturally to the BoardWalk and Beach Club Villas. Got young kids who want to spend all their time in the Magic Kingdom? Then perhaps Bay Lake Tower or Wilderness Lodge will work better…

So, how about you? What’s your favorite Disney Vacation Club resort, and why?

As you’re no doubt aware, Disney ticket prices have recently gone through their annual increase, but there was good, and bad news for Disney Vacation Club Members.

Perhaps one of the better perks that Members enjoy is the discount on a Walt Disney World Annual Pass. I still remember being delighted when it was first announced, immediately realising how much it would save us, as we usually spend at least 10 days a year, and preferably more if we can, at the resort.

The Premium Annual Pass adds in water park admission

For as long as I can remember, the discount on an adult Annual Pass has been $100, with $125 off the adult price of a Premium Annual Pass, which adds in admission to DisneyQuest at Downtown Disney, both water parks, and general admission to Disney’s Wide World of Sport.

As usual, there wasn’t much notice of the ticket prices increasing, and I wasn’t around to take advantage of buying them at the lower price, so when I discovered that an adult Annual Pass had gone up by $55, I groaned, not having yet purchased ours. Just as I was about to start calculating this increase into the cost of our December vacation, I discovered that for Disney Vacation Club Members, there was at least good news. The saving on these passes had been raised from $100 to $149, effectively meaning adults only pay a few bucks more after the price rise.

That’s great news for us, as we don’t have children, but for families, the news wasn’t quite so great. The discount for Members remained the same as it did previously, despite these prices going up as well.

Children now pay the same as adults to play in the parks at Walt Disney World

With Disney Vacation Club discounts, Annual Passes for both adults, and children are now $425 plus tax, while the Premium Annual Pass is $559 for anyone aged three or over. That’s the same price as adult Annual Passes. However, this is in line with all Annual Pass prices, with those available to the general public following exactly the same pattern.

Essentially, everyone is now going to be paying the same amount of money for a price, once you’re over the age of three, regardless of whether you’re an adult or a child. Is this fair? Perhaps not, but that’s the way Disney have decided to go….

On the other side of the States, there was no protection for any Disney Vacation Club Member from the increase to the price of Disneyland tickets. Members don’t fare particularly well with perks on Disneyland tickets, and never have done. The only discount available at present is $20 off the price of new Deluxe, or Premium Annual Passports, not really any use if you’re only heading out there for a few days.

The changes at the California Adventure, including the addition of World of Color, mean admission prices have seen a steep rise

The price increases at Disneyland were also more eye watering, perhaps not surprisingly, given the massive investment that’s been made in the California Adventure. That’s culminated in the newly opens Cars Land, which will no doubt draw the crowds, but over the last couple of years, there have also been improvements to much of the rest of the park, with upgrades to existing attractions, along with completely new ones, like the Little Mermaid.

Of course, Disney needs to recoup that money, and part of that’s going to come through increased ticket prices. The Premium Annual Pass, which Disney Vacation Club Members get their $20 discount off, rose from $499 to $649 – an extra $150. This gives you access to the park year round with no blackout dates.  Even the Deluxe Annual Passport, which gives you 315 days access to the parks, is up almost $100 from $379 to $469. Somehow the Member discount isn’t going to help much on purchasing either of these….

I’m just relieved we won’t be paying anymore for our adult Annual Passes at Walt Disney World for our next trip, although that relief is offset by the fact that we’ll also be visiting Disneyland. Ouch, those increases are going to hurt!

So what did you think about the latest price increases and what it means for Disney Vacation Club Members? Over to you….