Travel with the Whitakers

Last week talked about our amazing road trip from Texas to Pennsylvania and back again at the beginning of the month! Now we’re back to Disney and today we have a review of Enchanted Garden. We talked a little bit about Enchanted Garden in our Star Wars Day at Sea post. Located on deck 2, Enchanted Garden is the third main dining room onboard the Disney Fantasy. Here enchanted flowers hang from the ceiling and bloom over the course of your meal. The walls of the dining room feature paintings of walking paths through European gardens. The lights along the paths begin to turn on throughout your meal as well. The lit up ceiling also makes it feel as though you are dining under the stars. My favorite part of the restaurant, besides the food, is the stone path that leads to the fountain in the middle of the entryway that features Mickey! Speaking of food, let’s talk about the delicious meal we enjoyed here on the second and fifth nights of our sailing. On both nights in E...

It has been a couple of week since we posted, but we are back! We had an amazing two weeks of traveling and fun. We meant to post while we were away from home, but we constantly doing something that there was just no time to sit down and write. That’s a good thing, though, we had an amazing time and we can’t wait to go back and see our Pittsburgh family and friends again. Today we have for you a post that’s all about our trip and all of the fun stuff that we did! On the first day of our trip we drove through a whole lot of Texas (seriously, Texas is huge) and into Arkansas. We spent the night in Little Rock. While in Little Rock we explored the Riverfront Park. Located along the Arkansas River, which while we were there was flooded, the park has two playgrounds, a sculpture garden, a Splash Pad, and is home to Le Petit Rouche which tells all about the little rock that the city is named after. Both kids enjoyed the playgrounds, but sadly because of the flooding the Splash Pad ...

If you’re looking for a filling and delicious meal with an Indian and African flair, look no further than Sanaa. Located on the first floor, just below the lobby at Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Kidani Village, Sanaa offers great food and views of the savanna and the animals that roam there. If you’re lucky and get a table near a window you’re in for a treat! Sanaa is Swahili for art, and the restaurant celebrates both visual and culinary arts! On our most recent trip we had a table not far from the window and were able to see quite a few animals while we dined. It was a lot of fun. The atmosphere is great, but the real reason we were here was the food! We started off by ordering the Indian-Style Bread Service for everyone at the table to share. At many restaurants the meal starts with complementary bread, but here at Sanaa this Indian Bread Service costs extra, but it is TOTALLY worth it! *It is not included on the Disney Dining Plan, you will have to pay the extra cost for it,...

We’ve mentioned more than a few times that each of the four Disney ships has three main dining rooms. All four ships have the fun Animator’s Palate that we talked about a couple of weeks ago, as well as a themed dining rooms on the Magic and Wonder (Rapunzel’s and Tiana’s) and Enchanted Garden on the Dream and Fantasy. We’ll talk about Enchanted Garden in our next Disney Cruise Line focused post! This week, though, we’re excited to talk about the third main dining room on the Disney Fantasy, Royal Court. Royal Court, like Royal Palace on the Dream, Triton’s on the Wonder, and Lumiere’s on the Magic is the most upscale of the three main dining rooms. Located right off the main lobby Royal Court is a grand dining room that celebrates Disney’s royal couples. Throughout the dining room there are mosaics of Disney Princess and their princes including Belle and Beast,  Jasmine and Aladdin, Tiana and Naveen, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Aurora and Phillip, Ariel and Eric, and Sno...

Each trip we like to try at least one new place to eat, and on our last trip on of those places of The Electric Umbrella at Epcot. If you’ve been to Epcot you’ve walked past this quick service eatery and might not even know it! It is located in the central hub of Epcot near the Fountain of Nations and across from Mouse Gear. If you haven’t eaten here before you should at it to your list for your next trip – it’s worth it. Step inside and you’ll find lots of indoor seating, neon lights and delicious food. The menu here features a variety of different options including burgers, Three-Cheese Flatbread, chicken nuggets, a Chicken Prosciutto Mozzarella Sandwich and healthy options like Vegetable Quinoa Salad, and an Energy Salad with or without chicken. On our trip we tried the Mojo Pulled Pork Burger, the Brisket Sandwich, and the Kid’s Three-Cheese Flatbread. The Mojo Pulled Pork Burger – a 1/3lb Angus burger topped with tender, marinated Mojo Pork – is sweet and savory, an...

When I think of Disney the first thing that comes to mind is Mickey Mouse. After all, the company is what it is today thanks to the main mouse. Disney has come a long way in the 90 years since Mickey and Minnie were born! The next thing that comes to mind is the Disney movies of my childhood, most of which were animated features. Since so much of my love for Disney came from these movies I have a special place in my heart for Animator’s Palate. Animator’s Palate is one of the three main dining restaurants and can be found on all four of the Disney ships. In addition to delicious food Animator’s Palate celebrates the art of animation. On the Disney Fantasy the entrance to the restaurant showcases drawings of Crush, Marlin, Dory, and Nemo, Dalmatian puppies, Belle and Beast, Aladdin and Abu, Genie and Eago, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip, the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, Mrs. And Mrs. Incredible, and Sorcerer Mickey! Once you come into the restaurant the walls are full...

Some people like to fly to their destination. Some people like to take the train to their destination. Some people like drive to their destination. There are certainly times and places that we have and will fly to because of time constraints or distances. For the most part, though, especially lately we have become a road trip family! So today, we’re going to take a break our normal Disney discussions to talk about road trips and some tips and tricks that we have come up with over the years. The great American road trip – great stops, music, snacks, friends or family! We’ve all seen it in movies, we’ve all heard about other people that have taken them, but are they really like they are in the movies? No, but they’re still a lot of fun! We’ve taken quite a few short, weekend road trips from where we live in San Angelo to Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas for things like Disney on Ice, Paw Patrol Live, Pittsburgh Penguins games, to visit the zoo in Fort Worth. This week we took a ...