Accidental Magic

One key to enjoying a trip to Disney World is to be flexible and sometimes to let all your plans to be laid aside. True, the trip is easier if you make at least a rudimentary plan. Certainly, the plans found in guidebooks make sure you experience the maximum number of attractions in the shortest amount of time. However, there is something to be said for going with the flow and letting an attraction or a plan go.

During my last trip, the plan was to see The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, then hop over to Playhouse Disney Live on Stage, see Handy Manny at a character meet and greet and then move on to a less toddler orientated stage of the overall Plan.

What happened instead was that by the time we got out of Voyage, Playhouse Disney had cut off their line for allowing people in, forcing us to wait for about 30 minutes for the next showing. Handy Manny's handler took him in for a break. Randomly, a Castmember came by sweeping the courtyard and mentioned that Mickey was seeing people in the Art of Animation. We must have looked like we were at a loss for what to do. So off we went to check out Mickey.

Mickey's line was short, even when he took a break. As we left we went where we thought was the way out and instead entered a room filled with row upon row of animation light table desks and no crowd. We had walked right into a room where we could be allowed to be animators and given a lesson on drawing a Disney character! Even those in our party who claimed they couldn't draw ended up with a respectable Goofy and it was quite fun using an animator's desk with my scribble happy daughter. When we exited we were right in time for walking right into the next Playhouse Disney Live performance.

Sure all other plans for the day were bumped by about forty minutes and we never saw Handy Manny, but it was well worth it. Sometimes the best part of a vacation isn't special treatment by a Castmember or getting picked to participate in an attraction or parade, but finding something unexpected and unplanned that turns out to be just as entertaining as what was originally on the schedule. It happens to me at least once every trip and I have never regretted the missed attraction or rescheduled plan.

So don't wear yourself rushing from here to there with your fast passes and ADRs. Just go with the flow and remember you're on vacation. Flexibility is essential in order to avoid being those people you see who look cross and irritated, snapping at each other and rude to the Castmembers because their day isn't going as planned or they've become overwhelmed. Not only will you be able to ride out any snags with a cheerfulness that won't diminish your trip, you will often discover something even better.

Come Inside, It's Fun Inside!

Being twenty-three years old when I managed my very first trip to Disney World, I bypassed character meals. They are obviously for children, right? Secretly though, I wanted to try them and having a child, even one too young to actually appreciate them, gave me the perfect excuse. I could retain what grown-up dignity I had left remaining to me-which, since this was Disney World where the adult me stays home wasn't much.

Now, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that anyone who can afford it and has the ability to leave their adult side at the airport to try one. Any one. Except maybe this one; The Play n' Dine at Hollywood and Vine in Disney's Hollywood Studios. This particular character meal is all about the children. The smallest of them at all.

You won't find Mickey or Princesses here. In fact, unless you have the Disney Channel and a little one to watch it, you may not even know who the heck these characters are. That's because this is a Playhouse Disney themed meal. Playhouse Disney is the Disney Channel's champion against the toddler programming juggernaut of Nickelodeon Jr. And they fare very well against their rivals.

The characters here are from Jojo's Circus and Little Einsteins. Jojo's Circus is not marketed on the channel as much any more and little kids may be only passingly familiar with it. However, the Little Einsteins are currently highly popular with the toddler set and likely to garner as much excitement as a meeting with Mickey and Cinderella themselves.

As an adult, the draw of this meal is watching how much fun your preschooler is having dancing around and singing along to the Playhouse Disney line-up's songs and themes. The breakfast buffet is the usual fare, so there are no problems finding food to please everyone. But sitting there enjoying your breakfast quiche, coffee and ooey-gooey cinnamon roll while groups of toddlers bounce off the walls around you with their heroes may make you realize that you brought a lot more grown-up with you than you thought.

This one is excellent if you have small children. The photo-ops are unforgettable and shear childhood delight permeate the air, making it very worth it. If you are without children, you are better off skipping over to the 50s Primetime where you can really be made to feel like a child again and choose another character breakfast for yourself.

The Original Smoking Area

While true, that this isn't a character breakfast, the San Angel Inn at Mexico in Epcot is cool. Or hot...at the very least it's smokin'. A reality mind bending look at Mexico, anyway. You go inside away from blazing heat and sun only to be made to feel that you're once again outside at night and the air is cool. You go inside to be outside. Trippy.

There in the background is a sizzling volcano and outdoor dining by a river. Except-it's still really indoors. The river is El Rio del Tiempo-The River of Time, which used to take you on a tour of Mexico's history from Aztecs to modern tourists in dated 80s hair and bikinis. It was a much milder version of the Maelstrom over in Norway. Since then it has been changed to El Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros.

This means it went from being mildly the "Mexican Small World" to the "Mexican Small World with Donald Duck." Still, if the line is short, it's air conditioned, a place to sit for awhile and it entertains small children.

Now, the San Angel Inn, however, that's more for adults. The atmosphere would be really lost on a kid and the darkness if it doesn't inspire a bit of fear, may at least inspire mischief. I can't say that I've ever seen many families eat there. My memory may also be inventing things due to the overall mood of the pavilion, but it's never really all that noisy either. The food itself is fine. Mexican food being rather common means you'll pretty much know what you're getting. So this isn't for those looking for an adventurous exotic meal. Some of the menu items such as the Tacos Al Carbon are no different than what is served outside at the Cantina.

If you are looking to get away from the crowd for a bit and perhaps from kids, this may be the place to do it easily. Sure, lots of people like Le Cellier and Chefs de France. Any restaurant with French in it seems to evoke romantic, quiet dinner get-aways from kids. However, San Angel Inn is easier to get into. It also has that volcano in the background. Nothing says a good time like a threatening volcano.

Disney World with Diabetes

I am a type 2 diabetic and have to really watch the carbs. Since I’m not on insulin I have to control my disease with diet, exercise, and oral medication. Disney World can be a challenge as it offers quite a lot of tempting treats and meals that may not be appropriate for a diabetic. There is an excellent article on All Ears Net that relates to Type 1 diabetics. There are many tips for the insulin dependent and some of them work for the non-insulin dependent as well. Here is the url: http://allears.net/pl/diabetes.htm#9 It is an often amusing and informative article.

I will give you a few tips that are not included in the article that I’ve garnered over my many trips to Disney World.

Most of the quick service restaurants now offer a no sugar added dessert with their combo meals. At the ABC Commissary at Hollywood Studios, they have a tasty no sugar added Strawberry Parfait. At the Electric Umbrella in Epcot, they have no sugar added chocolate brownie and I have seen this available at other sites as well from time to time. The bakery at Norway in the World Showcase has a delicious no sugar added Chocolate Mousse. The bakery on the Boardwalk offers no sugar added cheesecake. All of these are delicious! You can find sandwiches made with multi grain or whole wheat bread pretty much anywhere. There are candy shops that sell sugar free peanut butter cups and a few select sugar free candy options. They are expensive, but the peanut butter cup is big enough that you don’t even eat the whole thing in one sitting. At least I don’t. I have also bought sugar free gummy bears. There are also sugar free Mickey chocolate candy bars available in the resort gift shops. You have to of course be careful of the sugar free candy because it contains mailtol or other sugar alcohols which can have a laxative effect if eaten in abundance.

In addition to the specific items above, you can always ask at any restaurant if they have a sugar free or no sugar added option for dessert. I have also heard that you can ask the people at the ice cream carts if they have sugar free ice cream and if they don’t have it with them, they will send for some. I prefer to get a little cup of ice cream at Gertie’s, the dinosaur shaped concession at Hollywood Studios.

All in all, due to careful choices and lots and lots of walking around at the parks, I have not had any problems with diabetic control at Disney World. Actually, while some people complain that they gain weight at DW due to all the food choices, I usually maintain and sometimes lose a little weight while there because I’m basically exercising all day long and very careful of what I am eating.

Cape May I, Please?

My brother teases me that I can't be satisfied with the regular and mundane, that I always seek out the different and exotic. That was in regard to the Japanese snack of Pocky. While I won't say no to the original chocolate version, I will shout in triumph when I find a pumpkin, blueberry or chocolate banana flavor.

It works with characters too. Everyone else is narrowly focused on Mickey and I delight in spotting a rare character or in running up to less popular characters. Which brings me to Cape May at the Beach Club Resort. The Cape May character breakfast has neither Mickey nor Cinderella, the rulers of the character meals. It has Minnie. A mouse only sought out when she's paired with Mickey or when Mickey's line is too long and the Castmember has closed it off. And Goofy. A character who never has a line at all. Chip N' Dale are there too, but they are everywhere, so no one is ever really interested in seeing them much either. All in beach attire.

Compared to other themes and decor, some might be put off by the rather plain looking butcher paper table cloths used at Cape May. It has a purpose. Each table is provided with crayons and invited to draw all over the table until the time comes to go up to the buffet or while waiting for a character to visit. Each table cloth is replaced after a party leaves. It's a brilliant idea that's tailored for kiddie clientele, but it's not so bad as a way for an adult to pass the time either.

The characters spend a decent amount of time with each party, even coloring on the table cloth with the kids. The buffet is one of the better ones. The selection is as extensive as the more crowded Donald meal in Animal Kingdom, but everything is much quieter and less crowded here.

One of the best parts of the meal, is that when it's all over you can just take a leisurely walk over to Epcot and enter through the International Gateway rather than the more crowded front of the park. That puts you straight into the World Showcase, which is perfect if you plan your breakfast to be at around 9:30 and get to the World Showcase when it opens at 11 am. Everyone else will have to traverse the length of Epcot to get there, and in the meantime you can stroll around relatively free of crowds going the contrary counter-clockwise direction. Guidebooks say to start with Mexico and go clockwise, but that's always been the more crowded way in my experience. Then, once World Showcase has filled up, you'll be able to go see Future World and get any Fastpasses you want for late afternoon crowd free. This is the time to ride Space Ship Earth (aka Giant Golf Ball) without much of a line.

All thanks to Minnie, the mouse who gets less love than even the sewing Cinderella mice in the hierarchy of Disney characters. Perhaps you just May broaden your own character hunting horizons beyond the mundane and regular as well.