Orlando, Florida plays host to uncountable conventions and other business and sports events in addition to being a vacation destination for families the world over. As such, there are numerous hotels, resorts, condos, villas, timeshare accommodations, and rental homes from which to choose when planning a visit. Our first choice is always a Disney resort even if our activities are not on WDW property We are in Orlando annually for a national youth sports championship in which our kids participate. Although it is not held on Disney property, we always make a point to visit the World during our visit. Usually we stay at a Disney resort and enjoy a few days in the parks as well. However, on our most recent trip we stayed at the resort the activities were in, the Rosen Shingle Creek. (more…)

As a family of five, we have fewer resort options – especially affordable resort options – than the typical four-person family. The one resort that best meets our needs for sleeping space with a below-deluxe price tag is Port Orleans – Riverside. Caribbean Beach Resort, Port Orleans French Quarter, and the non-suite Coronado Springs rooms only allow 4 plus one child under 3 in a crib. Riverside, however, allows 5 plus the additional child under 3. (more…)

We have spent two memorable vacations at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World Resort. Our first was our honeymoon in 1994 and more recently in September of 2008 as a family of five. As honeymooners CBR offered a good value for the money, and we loved the tropical beach theme. We enjoyed a corner room on the second floor in the Trinidad North section which was very convenient to Old Port Royale which houses the main pool, shops, arcade, food court, and full-service restaurant (now Shutters). Since that time, rooms in the sections of North Trinidad and Martinique have been designated as preferred rooms meaning you will pay $25-$30 more per night for that convenience. When we returned in 2008, (more…)

As a fan of Spoodles I had mixed feelings about checking out Kouzzina which took its place in 2009.  I hated losing Spoodles, but you can’t stop change – especially at Walt Disney World.  So recently I and my family finally made our way over to the Boardwalk to check out Cat Cora’s Mediterranean-style cuisine.

Even though it was the week between Christmas and New Years, things seemed to be running smoothly.  We had an ADR for dinner and were seated in a reasonable amount of time.  We were planning a light meal as we had eaten a late lunch, so we decided to share a couple of appetizers between three of us and get kids meals for two of the kids.  A couple of the kids meals are pretty familiar – cheese pizza and meaty macaroni.  There is Greek Lasagna as well as a chicken skewer with tzatziki and gilled pita bread for the more adventurous tykes.  They include a drink and two sides or an appetizer and dessert all for $8.99. (more…)

Recently, my family made our second visit to Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.  We dined there about a year ago not too long after it opened and were anxious to return to see if it was as good as we remembered.

We had a late lunch reservation for 1:40pm and arrived with time to spare.  At check-in we were given our buzzer and headed out to look over the Sunset Savanna.  We had just enough time to enjoy spotting some of the residents before being alerted that our table was ready.  Waiting to be seated here is not a chore.  In fact, it would almost be a disappointment to have to go to your table if it weren’t for the beautiful view of the savanna that most tables afford.  We were seated right next to one of the large windows and had a perfect view of graceful giraffes and an occasional zebra as well as other birds and beasts during our meal. (more…)

Our family of 5 ate here for dinner last Friday night. We had eaten at the Animal Kingdom location several years ago and weren’t overly impressed, but our kids really wanted to eat here, so that’s how we ended up here most recently.

We put our name in at a bit before 8pm and were told it would be a 2 hour wait. We were told we could eat on the deck at the side of the restaurant overlooking the lake with a wait of about 15 minutes. However, we decided to wait it out, since this restaurant is really all about the “show” inside. (more…)

Our family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children) ate at Sanaa for lunch this past Friday. We arrived almost an hour early for our 2:25 ADR but were told the wait would not be too long if we wanted to stay and wait for a table. We probably waited at least another 40 minutes, but with so much to see, the wait wasn’t too painful – even with 3 kids. We enjoyed watching the animals on the savanna outside and appreciated the comfortable benches inside in the waiting area which also overlooks the savanna when we had had enough of the heat. (more…)