Be Our Guest!
Dec 9, 2012 Travel
Last week I travelled to Disney World for the grand opening of the expanded areas of Fantasyland. And while the new rides are awesome, my favorite part wasn’t a ride, it was a restaurant. Specifically, the building.
The Be Our Guest restaurant is housed in The Beast’s Castle, from Beauty and the Beast, high on a hill.
The walk over the stone bridge to the castle does an excellent job of setting the mood for what’s to come.
And once inside, you’re transported into the world of The Beast. There are three dining areas: the beautiful Rose Gallery, the dark and mysterious West Wing, and of course, the Ballroom.
The Ballroom is one of the most beautiful rooms I’ve ever been in. From the gorgeous ceiling to the mosaics on the floor to the “view” of the French countryside with falling snow, no detail has been left out.
The Rose Gallery is just as beautiful, but more intimate. The centerpiece of the room is a giant music box, with Belle and The Beast dancing on top. The same music from the ballroom can be heard in the Rose Gallery, but re-scored for a music box and in sync with what’s playing in the other rooms.
The West Wing is dark and mysterious, and the music has a foreboding, sad tone. Details from the movie are everywhere.
For lunch, which is more casual, guests put in their orders on touchscreens and the food is brought to them at their tables. The evening meals are more formal, without the touchscreens, and it’s worth noting that the Rose Gallery is closed during dinner.
The menu includes dishes inspired by Beauty and the Beast, and everything is made to order. Freshness is a focus, with even the ketchup being made from scratch.
And I’m thrilled to say that I was able to try the gray stuff, and it’s delicious! Rather mousse-like.
I also ran into The Beast on the way out, and told him a secret in his furry ear.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 7 and 16. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Be Our Guest, Disney World, New Fantasyland
The New Test Track Is Open!
Dec 8, 2012 Travel
The original version of Test Track was one of my favorite rides at Epcot. I was sad to see it go, but was excited for what was to come. I got to try out the brand new Test Track Thursday night, and it did not disappoint.
Where the old version was all about safety – lots of crash test dummy imaging – the new Test Track – presented by Chevrolet – is about design, power, speed, and efficiency. In fact, designing a concept car is a big part of the experience.
When you first enter the main part of the ride, your party (up to three people) is given a little white card you can wear around your wrist. You swipe this card at a design station, and then you can make choices for your car ranging from the cosmetic, like shape and color, to what kind of engine. (As fun as this was the first time, it’s worth noting that the FastPass lane bypasses most of this, letting you make just a few simple choices.)
The most awesome car ever, designed by me and my friend Heidi
After you’ve designed a car you get into a Test Track vehicle, and away you go! There’s a lot of neon and wild turns, and a fast ending that had everyone in our car – me, Heidi, her husband, and son – squealing.
We’re all such dorks – as soon as we saw our reflections we had to get a picture!
Here’s the final run of the ride, the speed test:
Just as I predicted (yelled) in the video, when the ride snapped our picture I was holding my camera in front of my face – but I wasn’t the only one!
After the ride we got to see how our concept cars scored. The green car – designed by Heidi’s seven-year-old son Danny – beat our car by twelve points!
Then we got to make a commercial starring our car, and email it to ourselves.
We even got to drive our little car around a virtual track!
And, of course, check out some shiny Chevrolet cars.
We all agreed that the new ride seems longer – and faster – than the original version, and all of the interaction is a fun addition. Great job, Disney! Thanks so much for letting me be part of the grand opening.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 7 and 16. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Disney World, Test Track
Jordin Sparks & Ginnifer Goodwin Cut The Ribbon For New Fantasyland
Dec 6, 2012 Travel
This morning was really special: it was the official grand opening of the new Fantasyland! “Once Upon A Time” actress Ginnifer Goodwin and “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks teamed up to cut the ribbon to officially open the biggest expansion in Magic Kingdom history. They were joined on stage by Tom Staggs, Chairman of Disney World Parks and Resorts, and Mickey Mouse (natch!).
I’m such a dork, but I couldn’t help myself: I saved some of the confetti!
My friend Molly and I were totally stalking Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (USA and France) President Meg Crofton. And her purse.
After the ceremony, Jordin Sparks sang a medley of Disney Songs in front of Cinderella’s Castle.
And yes, I saved some confetti from that ceremony too. :-)
Such a fun morning!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 7 and 16. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Disney World, New Fantasyland
Why I’m At Disney World (Other than, Because I’m Really Lucky)
Dec 6, 2012 Travel
One of the great things about working with the wonderful people at Disney is that they don’t do anything half way. I didn’t just get an invitation to come down to Disney World for the grand opening of the new, expanded Fantasyland, I got an entire storybook.
Disney is all about the details, and the new Fantasyland does not disappoint. I was able to check it out last night, and was completely blown away by what they’ve done. They’ve doubled the size of Fantasyland, and added some amazing experiences.
The change that will probably excite the most people is the new Dumbo ride. There are now two of them! Which means twice as many kids getting on this beloved ride. Plus, the waiting area is now out of the sun.
Goofy’s Barnstormer ride has been open for a while (we went on it in the spring), and it’s a fun coaster for kids not ready for a bigger coaster.
How cool is it that you can see Space Mountain in the background?
And a bigger coaster is coming, being built right now. Modeled after a ride through a mine with the Seven Dwarfs, I can’t wait for this (coasters are my favorite).
Future roller coaster!
There’s now a place (indoors!) devoted to getting pictures taken – and goofing around – with four favorite Disney characters:
The new ride devoted to the story of The Little Mermaid is just wonderful – you get to relive all of your favorite scenes and songs from the movie as you travel around in a big clam shell!
And your old favorites are still there, like the carousel.
I haven’t gotten to do Enchanted Tales with Belle yet, but everybody who has has raved about it. Kids get to be part of the experience, acting out scenes from Beauty and the Beast!
And I’m saving the new restaurant, Be Our Guest, for a separate post, because it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
Can’t wait to tell you more, this has been so exciting!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 7 and 16. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Disney World, New Fantasyland
Disney’s Tangled Royal Family 5K
Mar 5, 2012 What's Going On
Heading over with our group to the Tangled Royal Family 5K on Saturday morning I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do. It was the first day all week that I was feeling myself, my really bad cold having finally exited my body. And while most of the people in our group were taking it easy (Colleen was even doing the race with her six-year-old daughter) I kind-of wanted to do a test run for the half marathon, which would be the next day. I’d felt sick and exhausted the day before after stumbling along for just two miles, so I was curious how I would do if I tried to go at my half marathon pace of 4 miles an hour.
This was also the first time that I’d be using the vibrating run-walk-run pacer I’d purchased from Jeff Galloway at the Fit for a Princess Expo the day before. It ended up being the best $20 I’ve ever spent. I’d been doing Jeff’s run-walk-run method for a while, but it was annoying to have to constantly look at a watch or my phone. This timer can be programmed for a single pace or two alternating paces, and it can beep or vibrate to tell you when to switch from walking to running and back.
It was awesome! I could finally just enjoy moving and not concentrate on the timing. Switching paces became automatic each time the beeper-sized device vibrated on my waistband. If you do any kind of interval training, I highly recommend this timer.
The Family 5K was a blast. There were so many kids participating, and a lot of fun costumes. For the first time since getting to Disney World I wished my kids were there – they would have loved this!
This couple just cracked me up. I want to be them when I get older. Of course, I may have to trade my husband in for someone a tad more whimsical.
Disney’s Fit for a Princess Expo
Feb 28, 2012 What's Going On
In my last post I mentioned how terrible I felt when I woke up on Friday, but things improved rapidly from there as the cold finally started to leave my body – just in time, since the Tangled Royal Family 5k was the next morning! After our early run with Jeff Galloway (more like a crawl for me) I went to sleep, and woke up feeling better than I had all week. I headed to the Fit for a Princess Expo with the rest of the group, and engaged in some retail therapy – a sure sign that I was on the mend.
I picked up a couple new pairs of running pants, an arm band case for my phone, a sparkly skirt and headband to wear for the half marathon, and a vibrating timer that Jeff Galloway had told me about that morning.
I also found some more shirts that I related to:
And, I got an inspirational look at a whole bunch of metals you can earn for running Disney races. I could see how this could become an obsession.
We also picked up our race bibs for the Tangled Family 5K and Princess Half Marathon. That’s when things got very real for me, when I saw my race number. That makes it very official.
I even caught a glimpse of Cinderella’s coach and footmen!
One more long nap later, and I was feeling about 90%. Everyone on our press trip met up for the big Pasta in the Park dinner at EPCOT. This is a great opportunity for carbo loading, dancing, and watching Illuminations from a special spot reserved just for the pasta partiers.
I, however, missed everything but the pasta, because I was exhausted and went back to my hotel after eating! Yes, lame, I know. But I tried to make up for it by eating two helpings of two different delicious (and vegetarian) pasta dishes. And, at least I got to see Spaceship Earth all lit up – I love the way it looks at night!
I got to sleep at a decent time Friday night, and managed to get six hours of sleep before the 5K. I’m so relieved that I didn’t spend the whole trip sick and miserable, that would’ve been such a waste!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 7, 8, & 16. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Want to catch up on my runDisney adventures? Here are the other posts (newest first):
Disney’s Tangled Royal Family 5K
From bad, to worse, to great with runDisney
And then a few zebra wandered by
A half marathon that fits on a t-shirt
From couch potato to 26K with runDisney
Diary of a Disney Princess Half Marathoner – Part 2
Disney Princess Half Marathon: Done
Diary of a Disney Princess Half Marathoner – Part 1
So this is what Disney does to me
Tags: Disney Princess Half Marathon, Disney World, exercise, Tangled Family 5K
From bad, to worse, to great with runDisney
Feb 25, 2012 What's Going On
I’d been sick for several days before heading down to Disney World on Thursday for the Tangled Family 5K and Princess Half Marathon. By Friday morning, when my alarm went off at 5:30, I was feeling terrible. I’d woken up every fifteen minutes or so all night until 4:30, then finally managed to get one solid hour of sleep. And even though I just had a cold, it was a bad one, and I wasn’t sure I could walk to the lobby, let alone do a two mile walk/run.
Our meet-up that morning was with Jeff Galloway, a training consultant with runDisney and someone I have a huge amount of respect for. I first met him before last year’s Princess Half, and he introduced me to his Run-Walk-Run method. This was a revelation to me, because I know a lot of runners and they all seem to see it as a failure of some kind if you have to walk part of the way. But here was this amazing athlete, who in the early 1970s competed in the Olympics and ran 10 miles in under 48 minutes (only slightly longer than it takes me to “run” 3 miles), telling me that it was OK to alternate walking with running, that it’s a completely legitimate way to complete a half or full marathon.
Jeff Galloway
We gathered just inside of EPCOT as the sun was coming up.
Jeff led us on an easy run/walk through EPCOT as the park’s workers were getting things ready for opening. Well, it would’ve been easy, but I was feeling awful. By the end of the two miles I felt like I was going to pass out. I was getting really worried about the rest of the weekend.
I stopped to take this picture on the way. Partly because it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen, and partly because it gave me an excuse to stop for ten seconds.
We were met at the end of the run with tiaras and breakfast, and really, I’d like someone to arrange for that to happen when I get back to my house from a run. OK? Every time, please.
As we ate we got to hear from an interesting group of speakers: Rachel Booth has won the Disneyland Half Marathon twice, and is going for a win at Sunday’s Princess Half Marathon. We also heard from Betty Wong, editor in chief of Fitness Magazine, Lori Stultz Lovell, the current runDisney mom on the Disney Moms panel, and Suzy Favor-Hamilton, an elite runner who has battled depression and anxiety and is now a motivational speaker.
Rachel Booth
Honestly though, it was kind-of a blur because I felt so awful. But I couldn’t pass up some very special Disney photo opps.
The best part of these Disney press trips is the private time with the characters. You’ve never seen a bunch of grown-up women so excited. We were beaming. And the characters made each one of us feel special, just like they would have with little kids. :-)
When I got back to my room I crawled back into bed, sweaty and exhausted. I really started to think that I had made a big mistake getting up so early and heading out sick. When I woke up from my nap, though, I started to feel better. That was the turning point, and things got better very fast.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 7, 8, and 16. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Want to catch up on my runDisney adventures? Here are the other posts (newest first):
Disney’s Tangled Royal Family 5K
Disney’s Fit for a Princess Expo
And then a few zebra wandered by
A half marathon that fits on a t-shirt
From couch potato to 26K with runDisney
Diary of a Disney Princess Half Marathoner – Part 2
Disney Princess Half Marathon: Done
Diary of a Disney Princess Half Marathoner – Part 1
So this is what Disney does to me
Tags: Disney Princess Half Marathon, Disney World, jogging, Travel
Tangled Family 5k: Done!
Feb 25, 2012 Posted From My Phone
Originally posted on Selfish Mom, from Amy’s cell phone (so please excuse any weird formatting). All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 8. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Want to catch up on my runDisney adventures? Here are the other posts (newest first):
Disney’s Tangled Royal Family 5K
Disney’s Fit for a Princess Expo
From bad, to worse, to great with runDisney
And then a few zebra wandered by
A half marathon that fits on a t-shirt
From couch potato to 26K with runDisney
Diary of a Disney Princess Half Marathoner – Part 2
Disney Princess Half Marathon: Done
Diary of a Disney Princess Half Marathoner – Part 1
So this is what Disney does to me
Tags: Disney World, exercise, run disney
