Travel with the Whitakers

Can you believe that 2017 is about to end already? Since it is the end of the year we thought that we should look back on the changes that were made at the parks this past year and look ahead at what is coming in 2018! This year saw the much anticipated opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The land includes two attractions. The first, Na’vi River Journey, is a slow moving dark ride, boat ride combination that takes you on a sightseeing tour of natural beauty of Pandora. The second is Flight of Passage which allows you to ride a banshee through Pandora. Pandora also features two dining options - Pongu Pongu and Satu’li Canteen. The land is truly beautiful. Epcot added a new festival at the beginning of 2017, the Epcot International Festival of the Arts . This festival celebrates all things art, visual and performance, and like all Epcot festivals – food! This festival will be returning in just two weeks and will run from January 12 – February

Have you ever thought about taking back to back cruise? Did you know that that was even a thing?! Well that’s what we did at the end of November and into December and we’re here to tell you ALL about it! **Important, there are some times that back to back cruises are not an option.** -- “The Jones Act (also known as the Passenger Services Act) prohibits ships of Non-U.S registry from embarking and debarking guests at two different U.S ports. Such travel would constitute point-to-point transportation between two U.S ports, which is prohibited on foreign flagged ships.” We’ve talked a lot about cruising before because it is the perfect family vacation – well, it’s the perfect vacation for our family. There is a ship and an itinerary for everyone! If you’ve ever sailed with Disney you know how amazing it is! Now imagine doing two cruises in a row. Double the fun, double the magic! We spent a total of 14.25 days onboard the beautiful Disney Wonder – the quarter of a da

Our last to the Walt Disney World Resort was shorter than what we normally do, but we were able to spend time with family and have a lot of fun. We were also able to try a few new restaurants during the trip that we really enjoyed. One of those restaurants was Sanaa. We had seen Sanaa in a couple of Disney specials on TV and read reviews of it online over the last few years and it had been on our list of places to try since we first heard about it. Located in the Kadani Village section of Animal Kingdom Lodge Sanaa offers delicious eats with African and Indian flair and a view of the savanna. That’s right, you can watch the animals from your table! Be sure to ask for a table near the windows so that you can dine with a view! Sanaa means art in Swahili and beautiful art work and proverbs adorn the walls. Be sure to check out all of the various lamps that hang from the ceiling. Food Sanaa offers a bread service, that is not complimentary, but is actually an appetizer

A Disney Cruise Line vacation is all about having fun, being comfortable and relaxing! What you’re wearing plays a big part in being comfortable, and Disney knows that! We’re sure that you’ve wondered, at least once, what exactly you should wear during your cruise vacation. Today we have for you the answer to the question of “Is there a dress code on Disney Cruise Line?” Over the last few years Disney as relaxed their dress code a bit, but we tend to stick to the old standards for the most part. For dinner, we personally change from shorts to pants for dinner and we avoid flip flops unless we’re going to the pool. Most locations on the ship are cruise causal – this means whatever you’re wearing that day, shorts and a t-shirt are perfectly fine. Swimwear and tank tops are not permitted in any of the dining rooms. There are special theme nights, that while participation is not required it is highly encouraged. Most sailings include a Pirate Night and longer cruises include s

Food allergies have become more and more common in the last ten or so years, and with them it has become more common for someone to miss out on something amazing because they aren’t allowed to enjoy it because of one or more ingredients. None of the three of us Whitakers have food allergies, but my sister, Christian’s aunt has an abundance of allergies (we’re talking somewhere around 50 different foods), and we’ve seen how hard it can be for her. I have also seen firsthand, though, how amazing the Walt Disney World Resort is at handling food allergies big and small. That’s what we’re going to talk about today – the Walt Disney World Resort and their magic when it comes to working with those with food allergies. Walt Disney World is all about magic, and that extends from the rides and attractions to the quick service windows and table service dining rooms. The culinary staff really goes above and beyond to make sure that everyone has a magical dining experience. The experience star

Cruising is our favorite way to vacation! We’ve said it before, and we’ll definitely be saying it again because there’s fun, food and travel all in one place. You only need to unpack once and on most occasions, especially on longer sailings, you can see multiple destinations all one of trip all while getting to return to the same room each night. Another reason we really enjoy cruising is because so much is included in the cruise fare! It is important to note that there are offerings onboard that are not included in the price of the cruise – these include specialty and adult beverages, adult only dining, onboard photo packages, souvenirs, the nursery, packaged foods or snacks at the theater, shore excursions or gratuities. There is, however, so much to see, do, explore and enjoy onboard the Disney Cruise Line ships that won’t cost you any extra and today we’re going to tell you all about them! Dining Main Dining Rooms – Each ship has three main dining restaurants, e

The annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is in full swing! We attended for the first time last week and loved it. If you’re not familiar with the festival, it takes place at Epcot every fall and showcases food and beverages from around the world. This year, to celebrate the 35 th anniversary of Epcot there are 35 festival marketplaces. Since we had to change our trip dates we only had one day to spend at Epcot and because of this we only tried a few things. Everything we tried and saw, though, was and looked delicious. The 35 festival marketplaces are found throughout the park, but many of them are located within World Showcase. The Festival Center, where you can meet great chefs, shop and more is located near Mission: Space. In addition to the great eats there are also live demonstrations and seminars as well as live music throughout the day at the Eat to the Beat concerts. These concerts take place at the American Gardens Theater in the American Adventure P

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of any Disney vacation is the food! There are so many amazing dining choices on property, both in the parks and in the resorts. We’ve talked about a lot of different restaurants on property before by talking about our experiences and we’ve also talked about character meals. Today we have some of our favorite experiences – ones where you get the most bang for your buck. These are the All-You-Care-To-Enjoy meals on property. All-You-Care-To-Enjoy is Disney’s version of All You Can Eat. Some of these meals are buffet style, where you can pick as much or as little of whatever you want from the buffet and you can go back as many times as you like! Others are served family style which means that the food is brought to the table in big serving dishes. If you love one, or more, of the dishes don’t hesitate to ask for more – it will be brought right to your table! Parks Garden Grill – Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served family

We love to take photos throughout our Disney vacations – on land and at sea – and we thought that it would be fun do challenge our readers, and ourselves, to a photo scavenger hunt for Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line! We have plenty of photos from all of our Disney trips, but we also have trips coming up. We just took a trip to Disney World this week and we have Disney Cruises, yes cruises, in November and December. Sadly, we don’t have any Disneyland trips planned for the near future – so we’ll just have to use old photos for that hunt. This week’s post is all about Disneyland! As you make your way through the through the ships and Castaway Cay, if you itinerary calls there, snap a photo of these places and things! Also be sure to enjoy your time with friends, family or yourself if you’re experiencing the magic of Disneyland alone! Can you find them all? This is also a fun way for those that are planning a trip to get excited for everything that you’re

We love to take photos throughout our Disney vacations – on land and at sea – and we thought that it would be fun do challenge our readers, and ourselves, to a photo scavenger hunt for Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line! We have plenty of photos from all of our Disney trips, but we also have trips coming up and so we’ll be taking part in these scavenger hunts during our Disney World trip next week and during our Disney Cruises, yes cruises, in November and December. Sadly, we don’t have any Disneyland trips planned for the near future – so we’ll just have to use old photos for that hunt. This week’s post is all about Disney Cruise Line! As you make your way through the through the ships and Castaway Cay, if you itinerary calls there, snap a photo of these places and things! Also be sure to enjoy your time with friends, family or yourself if you’re experiencing the magic of a Disney Cruise alone! Can you find them all? This is also a fun way for those that

We love to take photos throughout our Disney vacations – on land and at sea – and we thought that it would be fun do challenge our readers, and ourselves, to a photo scavenger hunt for Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line! We have plenty of photos from all of our Disney trips, but we also have trips coming up and so we’ll be taking part in these scavenger hunts during our Disney World trip next week and during our Disney Cruises, yes cruises, in November and December. Sadly, we don’t have any Disneyland trips planned for the near future – so we’ll just have to use old photos for that hunt. This week’s post is all about Disney World! As you make your way through the parks and resorts snap a photo of these places and things! Also be sure to enjoy your time with friends, family or yourself if you’re experiencing the parks alone! Can you find them all? This is also a fun way for those that are planning a trip to get excited for everything that you’re going to se