Amy Beatrice: February 2018

, by Amy Beatrice

My Top Walt Disney World Dining Locations

Whilst of course I love the overall magic of the Disney parks, meeting characters and going on my favourite rides, I have to admit that one of my favourite parts of visiting a Disney park is the food. Even though some people seem to think that the food at Disney is just overpriced, generic theme park food, I personally think that some of the best food I've ever eaten has been eaten in Disney restaurants. I'm going to Walt Disney World this autumn and honestly two of the things I'm most looking forward to are having the Disney Dining Plan, and experiencing the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot (please let me know if you're the same and I'm not an incredibly sad individual!) Having spent two and a half months in Walt Disney World last summer, I was able to visit almost all of the restaurants that I wanted to go to and ate some incredible food, so I wanted to share some of my favourite restaurants, both in the parks and the resorts, to help any of you who might be planning a holiday of your own and want some inspiration for your dining reservations.

Quick Service Locations

Whilst people might not put that much thought into what quick service restaurants they go to as they don't require reservations, there are definitely some that I think shouldn't be missed, and that I always make an effort to go to. Even though these restaurants are the ones that sell the 'overpriced, generic theme park food' like hot dogs and chicken nuggets (although who doesn't love a Disney World chicken nugget?!) some of them provide great quality food unlike what you would normally expect from a theme park.

Yak and Yeti - Animal Kingdom (Asia)

I'm fairly certain that every single time I have gone to Animal Kingdom, I have eaten something from the Yak and Yeti quick service (this restaurant is also a table service but I've never been there). There are plenty of quick service options available in Animal Kingdom, but I just love the food here so much that I feel I would be disappointed if I went anywhere else! My favourite meals from this location are the honey chicken and the teriyaki beef bowl, which are both served with rice and vegetables. If you're wanting something a bit smaller, the chicken fried rice side is also absolutely delicious, and it's a really big portion for just one snack credit on the dining plan! The only downside to this location is that all of the seating is outside and with little coverage, meaning it can get pretty hot eating there at lunchtime in the summer!

Lotus Blossom Cafe - Epcot (China Pavilion)

This is potentially my holy grail quick service in the whole of Disney World; if I could only go to one quick service location for the rest of my life this would be it. Why? Two words: orange chicken. I first tried this orange chicken during my first visit in 2013 and then had it at least 5 times throughout my almost 3 month long program last year and it was one of the first things I put down on our dining plans for later this year. Honestly, I don't even know if it's good orange chicken in the grand scheme of things, but it's not something that we have at Chinese restaurants in the UK (or at least not in any near where I live) so going here is my only chance to have it. I have also tried the Mongolian beef which I did really enjoy, however it doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore. Unfortunately, this location has the same problem as Yak and Yeti; whilst this restaurant is covered, it is not fully inside and so it can get pretty hot during the day.

Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza - Disney Springs (Town Center)

Of course, how could I talk about Disney quick service locations without talking about Blaze? I'm sure if you know anything at all about Disney World you will know about Blaze Pizza. I went there a couple of times over the summer and thought the pizzas were absolutely delicious. There are quite a few places that you can get pizza in Disney World, from room service, to quick service and full service, so it's not the food offerings that makes this place stand out, but rather the quality of the food itself. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of pizza and believe that any pizza is good pizza, but Blaze is definitely a step above all of the other quick service pizza that I've had. Whilst they have a menu, you can also create your own and customise your pizza with any toppings and sauces that you want and the results are incredible.

Honourable mention: The Mara - Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House)

Whilst this location is pretty out of the way for guests who aren't staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, I of course had to give The Mara an honourable mention as this was my work location during my program! This location provides the standard chicken nuggets, flatbreads and burgers, but it also offers amazing and more unusual food for a quick service such as African stew and rice, ribs and mashed potato and hand carved sandwiches. Because of its location some of the food served here is the same as what is served in Boma, the buffet service restaurant just next door, as they share the same kitchen, meaning you can get full service quality food for a much cheaper price (including the famous zebra domes which I cannot recommend enough!)

Table Service Locations

Whilst you can get some amazing food at quick service restaurants, deciding which full service restaurants to go to is definitely a much bigger deal, with these restaurants needing to be booked in advance, and some of them being very hard to get reservations for at all! Being in Disney World for a whole summer meant that I was able to be pretty flexible with my dining so I was able to go to some of these very elusive restaurants, and I completely understand why they are so popular. Not only do they have incredible food, but the atmosphere and theming at them is second to none. Whilst I visited a lot more than just these 4 locations and would thoroughly recommend them all, these ones are my absolute favourites that I know I will go back to again and again.

Trattoria al Forno (Bon Voyage Breakfast) - Boardwalk Resort

It was announced earlier last year that Trattoria al Forno would be getting a new character breakfast, and this opened about a month before my program started. We were incredibly lucky and managed to get a reservation for our very first day in Florida and it was such an amazing start to the summer. Whilst it is not a buffet like most other character breakfasts, the food is such good value for money; before you even have your main dish you get a big frying pan full of different pastries for the table and a choice of either fruit salad or yoghurt and granola. There is also a great choice of food for the main dishes, from scrambled eggs and frittata to a tower of pancakes (which are delicious). Of course, though the food is amazing, the main event really is the characters. At this location you can meet Ariel, Prince Eric, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, some of who you cannot meet anywhere else in the parks. They make a big announcement when the characters enter the restaurant and they interact with each other as well as with the guests, with Rapunzel and Flynn singing and dancing along to Under The Sea when Ariel was being announced! We had really good interactions with all four of them and it didn't feel at all rushed, with them all spending a good amount of time talking with us and taking pictures.

Be Our Guest - Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland)

Of course I had to mention what is potentially the most elusive restaurant in the whole of Disney World. Even though I'm not a massive Beauty and the Beast fan, the atmosphere and theming of this restaurant is absolutely incredible and I would recommend it for that alone. The restaurant is split into three different sections; the ballroom, the west wing and the castle gallery. We were sat in the West Wing which is quite dark but you soon adjust to it, and it's quite a small area so it feels a lot more intimate than the other rooms which I actually really liked. There's quite a lot of choice on the menu, with dishes such as steak, ratatouille and roasted lamb and all of our food was absolutely delicious (I still think about my shrimp and scallop pasta to this day). For dessert they have an assortment of cupcakes which do seem a little bit out of place in a table service restaurant, but it does mean that you can try the famous grey stuff! After your meal, you get to go to the library and meet The Beast which is a really nice addition and something you can only do at dinner. This location is a quick service for breakfast and lunch, and whilst it is easier to get a reservation for these times, I personally didn't think the food was anything special at lunchtime, and some of the atmosphere definitely got lost.

Trails End - Fort Wilderness Resort (The Settlement)

From the outset, this restaurant doesn't seem like it's anything special; it's not character dining or a signature restaurant, just a buffet and it is a bit out of the way. But oh my goodness, the breakfast buffet here was one of the best I had. Whilst they have the usual offerings like eggs, bacon and Mickey waffles, their non-standard dishes like the breakfast hash, French toast custard pudding and bananas foster sauce are to die for. I also tried American biscuits and gravy for the first time and whilst I had always thought they sounded disgusting they were actually really delicious. Even though it's a buffet, the servers here were all lovely, making sure we had plenty to drink and encouraging us to go up for more and it was definitely good value for money. After having breakfast here, I was so full that I didn't eat anything else until about 10pm!

'Ohana - Polynesian Resort

I can 100 percent say that I am saving the best until last with this restaurant. I don't think there are enough adjectives in the world to describe my love for dinner at 'Ohana. We went here for dinner on my birthday, and because of the time of our reservation we were sat right by the giant window and could see the Happily Ever After fireworks from our table whilst they played the music through the speakers (we all cried). Whilst this made it a truly unbelievable experience, the food alone makes this my favourite restaurant without any of the magical extras. Obviously, Ohana means family, and so all of the servers call you 'cousin' and the food is served family style, meaning they bring all the food to your table and they keep it coming until you tell them to stop. To start they bring out a green salad and pineapple coconut bread (which kind of tastes like you're eating Malibu but in a good way) and then for appetisers you have pork dumplings and chicken wings with dipping sauces. For the main they bring teriyaki noodles (which I would happily eat everyday for the rest of my life if I could) and stir fried vegetables to the table, and then the servers come round with giant skewers of chicken, steak and shrimp all of which were incredible. Even though by this point you're absolutely stuffed to the brim, you need to make some room for dessert; bread pudding with caramel sauce and bananas that is every bit as good as the rest of the meal. After we ate, we were taught how to hula dance, and were each given a lei which added even more magic to the experience. Can you tell how much I love this restaurant?! I honestly think I could write an entire blog post just on this alone!

We are planning on getting reservations for all of these restaurants for our trip in the autumn, but being on the dining plan we are also hoping to go to some signature restaurants like the Yachtsman Steakhouse, as well as some more buffets like Boma. Also I'll finally be 21 during this trip so I'll be able to drink and I'm so excited for all the cocktails I plan to have now alcoholic beverages are included in the dining plans!

I hope this gave you a bit of inspiration for your dining reservations and let me know in the comments what your favourite Disney World restaurants are!

Love Amy xx

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, by Amy Beatrice

In degree, education

Life Is For Living

If I had a pound for the number of times people have asked me what I want to do when I graduate, it feels like I'd be rich enough that I wouldn't have to do anything. And when I say people I mean everyone; from lecturers and tutors to friends and family, and even the nosey nurse I saw at my annual pill check up at the doctors. I now that they are just interested in my future and what I want to do with my life, but it can get quite frustrating when it's the opening to every conversation you ever have. For a long time I would make something up, say I was looking at various different things or that I was interested in something I didn't even really know anything about. And whilst I am looking at various different things, the honest answer to that question is 'I don't have an effing clue'.

I was watching one of Brogan Tate's recent weekly vlogs (which you can watch here) whilst at the gym the other day and something she said really stuck with me; 'life is for living'. It's a phrase I've heard multiple times before but at that moment it was exactly what I needed to hear; I seemed to have some kind of epiphany whilst running on the treadmill. It made me realise that I should live my life exactly how I want to live it, and do things that I want to do rather than simply what is expected of me. If all goes to plan I will be graduating this year at the age of 20, which is still pretty young (the average is 21-22), even if just the idea of graduating makes me feel absolutely ancient. I've definitely felt over the past few years that I'm then expected to get a 'proper' office job and start my career as soon as I finish university. But I've realised that I don't want to go straight into a 9-5 office job after spending the last 17 years of my 20 years of life in full time education.

A lot of people take a gap year between finishing school and going off to uni, doing anything from working and saving money to travelling the globe. Whilst going straight to uni after finishing my A Levels was 100 percent the right decision for me at the time, I now feel like I need to take a gap year once I graduate. Though I definitely won't be going off travelling the globe any time soon and I'll need some kind of job, I want to be able to take a year where I have very little pressure on me. The last year of university has been so incredibly stressful with multiple essays and deadlines all happening at once, and I would like to have some time where I don't have to think about deadlines and word counts and referencing before I then become part of the real world and have to worry about the stresses and deadlines of a 'proper' job.

Whilst it will hopefully be a year of less stress and worry, I don't plan on doing nothing for a year. I plan on taking the year to reflect and figure out exactly what I want to do in life, and travel more and visit my friends in all the far reaches of the UK that I don't currently have time to go and see. I have already started applying for work experience placements so I can figure out if what I've been thinking about doing career-wise is actually what I really want to do, and I will hopefully be getting a part time job somewhere (fingers crossed for an opening at my local Disney store because I would love to be a cast member and part of making the magic once again).

It's taken some time but I've finally realised over the past month or two that it's okay to not know what you're doing in life, and probably more people than you realise are going through the exact same thing. Whilst there are some lucky beans out there who know exactly what they want to do and have done since they were 7, and have all the relevant experience they need and a 10 year life plan, it's okay if you're not one of them.

Thanks for sticking with me with this very rambly stream of thoughts. I'm determined to make 2018-19 my year and hopefully putting my thoughts and plans out there in the world instead of having them just in my head will help me to make sure that happens... Just 6000 words of assignments, a dissertation and an exam to go before then though!

Love Amy xx

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, by Amy Beatrice

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Week Four | Working For The Mouse (CEP/DCP)

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