DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris

DisLove E6 Character Dining and Guest Christy from Pack Your Pixie Dust

November 29, 2018 Vanessa Ferguson and Kris Johns Season 1 Episode 6
DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris
DisLove E6 Character Dining and Guest Christy from Pack Your Pixie Dust
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Learn all about character dining at Walt Disney World from Vanessa and Kris.  They will also be joined by special guest Christy from Pack Your Pixie Dust.  She will give tips for planning your next vacation including how to travel with someone who suffers from Celiacs Disease.

For all the latest news about our episodes follow us on Instagram @dislovewithvanessaandkris.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the DisLove podcast with Vanessa and Kris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson and we'd like to welcome you to date for our sixth show. Later on in today's show, we will be joined by Christy pudyk with pack your Pixie dust who can help you with all your Disney vacation planning needs from setting up your trip to helping you pick the right resort and even giving you some tips on dining, which is what we are going to be talking about today. So first we want to spend most of today's time talking about character meals, but we want to divide this up a little bit because there are those in part character meals in those resort character meals. And we've been to quite a few of both of those. Kris, Yes, we have. I think almost everyone we can go to. Yeah, we always like to do. That saves us time from not having to stand in line to visit the characters at the parks, but it also gives us a chance to see and get pictures with different characters throughout. So we're gonna break this down. As I mentioned, we're going to start off with looking at the park character meals in. First off we're going to go to magic kingdom and one of the ones there is crystal palace which has poo and friends and we used to go to this one quite a bit. Used to be a favorite, but I kinda think the quality has gone down a little bit. What did you think when we went in March of this year?

Speaker 2:

I just think for the price that you pay for the food, it's just. It's not comparable. I mean and when you expect what Disney has to offer. Crystal Palace, just the quality. I mean again, the food is good but when you kind of see the bill and kind of what the things that are available in the buffet, it doesn't quite match up.

Speaker 1:

It used to be much better. I love the carrot cake that they had there and we even had one of their entrees for our wedding menu. It was a Caesar, a chicken Caesar Pasta. They don't have that anymore and we were quite disappointed. We went earlier this year but it is nice. It has poo and friends, so you do get that in. It's right in magic kingdom. Great spot if you're coming out for a parade or fireworks. Now another one that is in magic kingdom is be our guest and if you are there during breakfast and lunch there are no characters, but at dinnertime you get to meet somebody that Kris enjoyed meeting and who was that? The beast. The beast. What did you think about meeting?

Speaker 2:

Oh, that was awesome. I think you go through the line and then you have the chance to have your photo with biggest. I think that's wonderful and you know what? My favorite thing, having a dining are the robots that bring you your food?

Speaker 1:

Not Quite, but yes it was. It was nice where he's talking about at the lunch service where you're able to just carry that rose to your table and they bring your food right out at dinner. Of course when you get to see beast, it's a little bit more formal. You have the sit down meal, but that again is one. We've been a few times now it's the two credits. I don't know if I would spend two credits on it, but if you've not been, it's definitely worth a visit and as Kris mentioned, you do get to see beast. Another one of the character meals that is at the magic kingdom is Cinderella's royal table. Now, that of course is two credits and we went there the day after our wedding. Do you remember going to Cinderella's royal table? Do you remember going the two of us? Oh yes, because it was up in the castle. Yes, yes, yes. So we went the day after our wedding just as a chance to have a nice meal by ourselves. It was very nice. I know that during some of the special parties that we've talked about in other episodes, they do have special dining experiences there, so you get the pictures with Cinderella, fairy godmother, all of that sort of thing, and I can tell you a character meal that ideally miss at Magic Kingdom, and this is going to date me a little bit is when they used to have characters that liberty tree tavern. Do you remember that at all? I do not. We. That was always a family favorite. We would go and set a reservation for later on and really great character interaction and they were addressing colonial where of course that's been gone for awhile, but that is when that's yearly missed. Now moving from magic kingdom over to epcot, you have a couple of different character meals as well. One is the garden grill and we were there a few years ago. It's in the land and it's revolving and I also just recently went there with a friend. Yes you do. We went there for my mom's birthday a couple of years ago and then I just recently wrote back with a friend and I have to say this is becoming a fast favorite. I know you haven't been in a few years, but when I went, um, in October of this year, my friend and I had excellent service. The food is great. She had gluten allergies and they were able to accommodate her really well and the characters were really awesome. They're in their farm wear, and it's definitely something I plan to add to our agenda on our next trip together. Now another one that we've not been to is in Norway, the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. That's where the princesses are there for breakfast. We have not made it there. I've had a few friends that have gone and said that that's a nice time. So those are those round out the character meals at epcot. Moving over to Hollywood studios. There's Hollywood and vine, which earlier in the day they have the Disney jr characters, but at lunch and dinner they have minnie and friends and they are typically in some sort of holiday garb. I was there for Halloween not too long ago and they had really cute costumes. There was Donald and Mickey and Minnie and goofy and they were all indifferent Halloween costumes. That's at the Hollywood studios. I don't think you've been there. I've been there with. I've eaten there with my family and then I just recently went with a friend. I have to say the food had gotten some bad raps the last few years when I went. It was better than it has been recently, but I'm not a huge seafood fan and seafood kind of rounded out a lot of the dishes, but they had great desserts and really cute ones. Theme for the Halloween theme that when I was there. Another another character meal that we enjoy is over at animal kingdom and this is tusker house now. Do you remember going to this one? We've been there a couple times with family. No. Tusker house is. We went in animal kingdom. We just went when we were there for our vow renewal. We had a big group. It's an Africa. Yes. The food's very good. They're a couple years ago when we were there earlier this year for our vow renewal and we had a big group. They accommodate as well. They have nice flavors and dishes. A couple of years ago we were there for my aunt's birthday and there was about 10 of us and we went right at that sweet spot between lunch and dinner and we got a group picture with all of the characters together, which was really awesome. So if you're going at a slower time of year, if you'd go in between meals, you can get a little bit better character interaction. So those are just some of the different meals that you can check out when you're at the parks. Now some of our favorite character meals are in fact in the resorts and starting out our favorite restaurant, but not our favorite character meal is at Ohana and I don't think you've ever been to this character breakfast with me. I think you've only been to Ohana for dinner. Correct. So I've been there with a friend. They have Lilo and stitch and I believe Mickey is there as well. And they serve the breakfast family style. It was okay. I don't remember anything particular that stood out to me, but if you're looking for some of those characters is a great chance to get them. Now we have also done chef Mickey's on several occasions at contemporary resort. We've been there for breakfast on quite a few occasions with family and bigger groups. I also just recently went there for lunch and the food is really good. I'm nice character interaction. It is a little busy and a lot of people coming and going, but you do get kind of those, the main characters, you get Mickey and goofy and chip and Dale and Pluto, so it's nice to be able to get some of that interaction. Now. There's also Cape May, cafe over at, over at yacht and beach club. I'm pretty sure Kris has not been to that one. I've been there with my family before. They are dressed in their beach wear and it is a fun experience now. Something that I've heard about and haven't gotten to go. I've seen some great pictures from friends. Is that boardwalk at Trattoria al Forno. It's a bon voyage adventure breakfast. It has Ariel and Prince Eric Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder. I'm sure you probably are not very familiar with most of those characters. I don't even know those people are in, you know, rapunzel. Yep. So for instance, that's the prince and Rapunzel and then prince. Eric is. Yeah. Yeah. So those are over at boardwalk. They do offer option to dine without the characters. That's a lower price. So if you just want to go for the food, which I hear the food is great there as well. Um, you can do that. Another great character meal that's also at a resort is at the Grand Floridian at 1900 park fair. Now we've done this one several times there. We've been at breakfast, we've been at lunch and I think dinner as well. Mad Hatter, Mary poppins, alice do remember that we do have some cute pictures of you. So we'll have to put some of those pictures when we post on social media. And of course I'm over at Fort Wilderness. There's also Mickey's backyard bbq. It has been temporarily closed while there's some construction going on over there. That's a fun time. It is considered a dinner show, so it counts as two table service credits if you are on the dining plan. It is kind of there's music going and they're all dressed in their country. Western fair or outfits. And I've done that with a friend many years ago in my family and we enjoyed it a lot. I typical barbecue fair. And from what I understand, it's very similar to what is at the hoop dee doo review as well. Now there's a couple more that we've never done either that are at some of the good neighbor and other resorts that are on Disney property. At the Swan Hotel, there's the garden grove, it's not on the dining plan. They have dinner every night and they have a good morning character breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays. And there's always a duo of characters now. I've had a friend go there recently and they kind of had some random characters so it's a little bit different. That's over at Swan Hotel. So we've never made our way over there. We've eaten at some other restaurants at this one, but not at garden grove. Four seasons has a Ravello good morning breakfast with goofy and pals on Thursdays and Saturdays along with Tuesdays during school breaks. So they have some kind of weird rules in terms of when they have character meals over there. So make sure that if you're checking out at the four seasons to look at their schedule, see what days they're having at that time. So with all of these meals, which we always enjoy, I think we, there's some that we have some favorites with favorite foods and then there's also some that we go just because we liked the character interaction. What would you say has been your favorite character mill? Kris?

Speaker 2:

I'm going to go back to beauty and the beast because I just, I love the food. The food was so good. And then beast. I mean he's here. Picture exactly. And again, get the guy who signed up. So the podcast your beauty and I'm the beast and so for me it's a fun movie. I always love kind of that area of the park where you have a guest on that's always fun to see him. So I think for me it was always just a fun one and plus I think we'd been there a handful of times so I'm a bit more familiar with it and I loved that little robot that brings out your food

Speaker 1:

and I would say probably for me I would go with either chef Mickey's or garden grill. I enjoy both of those quite a bit. And if you're looking for some different characters and a little bit nicer food. 1,900 park fare is nice as well. So we've talked a lot about dining and of course with dying there comes a lot of planning and with planning it's always can be a lot of work to try to do everything on your own. So today we're going to have one of the authorized Disney vacation planners in. One of the best things about using them is that they can help you make your plans, they can help you make those choices and those difficult decisions about what restaurants might be the right choice for your family. If you have any special dietary needs, our guests can help give you some suggestions on where to go. She can help you really find the best restaurants to meet your families needs, all while helping you plan your Disney vacation. She will help with your reservation, helping you pick your resort. And of course the great thing about their services is there is no cost to you. So I would like to welcome our next guest who is a frequent guest on the Disney cruise line podcast, the DCL podcast, but today she's going to be a guest on the does love podcasts. We have Christy pudyk of pack your Pixie dust, who is going to share how she can help you with all your Disney vacation planning needs. So one of the best things about having an authorized Disney vacation planner is that they can help you make some of those tough decisions when it comes to dining and character dining. Help you figure out what's going to be the best to make, meet your family's needs. What are the restaurants at your family's going to enjoy the most. And then especially if you have any family members with special dietary needs. And like our next guest, Christy, she's an attorney and travel agent and she's also suffers from celiac's disease and she has a small five-year-old in so she not only can help you with planning for small kids, but also if you have some of those dietary restrictions. And when we look at Walt Disney travel, she's going to be able to help us give some tips on that. So to start off, we want to ask you an icebreaker that we ask all of our guests because not only today where we talking about food, but when we go to Disney, one of our favorite parts is always the dining. So we want to ask you a quick icebreaker. What is your favorite restaurant at Disney and why?

Speaker 3:

Uh, my favorite restaurant overall has to be Ranglan road. It might be my favorite restaurant in the entire United States. Oh my God. Yeah. So it's partially because I feel the activities that they can make fried onion rings that are safe for me to. Yes. And they do chicken tenders. I don't eat seafood, but they make a fish and chips. That is amazing. Their chicken tenders are amazing. It's not like those Tyson just regular out of the box. These things are freshly prepared and so. And the entertainment is awesome.

Speaker 1:

Oh Wow. See, we've not been there now. I have a couple of friends that have gone there several times and they always rave about it. It just always seems like when we go to Disney springs we have a bigger group and we haven't been able to get in there, so we'll definitely

Speaker 2:

have to add that to our list. That's for sure. So to kind of get started, we want you to tell us a little bit about your business and what sorts of services you offer for people who are planning a Disney vacation.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So, um, as you said, I am a travel agent. I am a full service agent, which means that I can book anything Disney or outside of his knee are avid. We are avid travelers and my family. Um, my son has been on 13 cruises, for example, been to Disney world, I think about the same number of times and we just absolutely loved travel and so I can help other people plan their perfect vacation even based on my own experience. But what has worked, what hasn't worked? Obviously I can give advice. I'm dining with a gluten allergy or sensitivity or other food allergies because I'm well versed in it. Right,

Speaker 2:

and we've traveled with. I have a good friend who has gluten sensitivity and I know it's a much. It's a learning experience to try to find those restaurants that are going to have the best options for them and not just with that. We've had some family members that are diabetic and different things where you do have to take some time to investigate in within

Speaker 3:

the learning. Oh, I was just gonna say it's learning for me too. Even as I've done it now for four years, it's still I have to try to figure out what it is I'm supposed to do and not do

Speaker 2:

and I have to give credit to Disney. We traveled with a friend who has some sensitivities in every restaurant that chefs came out. He explained how things were prepared, all the questions, and I think that's just another wonderful thing about Disney is that every question she had was answered by the Disney chef.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, they are great. They really are the best in terms of somewhere to travel to with food sensitivities or allergies nowadays. The shop won't always come out that in the last year or so they have. They've sort of put that aside and done an allergy menu which has some advantages and disadvantages, but the good part about it is that the staff or the waitresses and waiters, they know what can be prepared for the most part, gluten free and what can't and they'll go and ask. So they really are the best.

Speaker 2:

Wonderful. And what that. Christy, tell us more. What led you to start your business?

Speaker 3:

So you know, my husband and I did what would we do if we won the Lotto Games about seven, seven years ago and we did not win the lotto. And I was. I've already, I've been an attorney for 16 years, so I was already an attorney and I have my own practice and I was just like, man, I love planning vacations. I love traveling. I want to write a blog, which I'm working on slowly and I want to help people plan their travel. So I knew a business owner in the area and I hooked up with him and am an outside agent, it's called. So I'm an agent that does not work. And their main office. Okay.

Speaker 2:

And what's been done and what is the name again? We want to give us the, of how people can

Speaker 1:

find you.

Speaker 3:

So my blog is pack your pixie dust and that is um, an handle on instagram and on twitter and on facebook so you can find me. Oh. And uh, what's the other one? Pinterest. So we're on all of those, run all those sites. Um, and I post pictures of my trips. I post tips, fun tidbits about traveling, traveling with a young person or even adult only travel. My husband and I get away at least every year on one little trip. Sure. Um, with just the two of us. So that's nice. Um, and then I am an agent with just cruises indications which is in Clinton township. So I am one of their affiliate agents so that I book under them. But then I have my blog which is the packet pixie dust.

Speaker 1:

So what are some of those services that you can do to add Disney Magic to somebody's life? If they were wanting to plan a trip with you, what are some of those extra things that you're able to help them with or how does it ease their vacation

Speaker 3:

planning? Well, just today on facebook I was having a discussion with somebody about where to stay and they were trying to decide between several different a one bedroom or family suite type location and because I have so much experience, I was actually able to say here's what I would. Here's the pros and the cons of each one because if you have somebody that really understands Disney and knows Disney, they can say, all right, this hotel, the boardwalk is awesome. It's in a great location, but you are going to have to walk up two flights of stairs if you are leaving with a stroller. Right? Something to keep in mind because you have to go up one end and down the other and you have to do this every time you're trying to leave the resort or get back to your room. People just need to know that and so that is what I provide. I provide the information that they wouldn't otherwise get and the advantages that doesn't cost them any extra money. So the only thing, um, and people can still, a lot of people still want to make their own path path reservations or their own dining reservations and that works out fine. They can do that. The only thing they can't do is make a payment to their trip. We have to, as agents make that for them. If they wanted to move rooms, we'd have to do that. We log in the days the sales are released and there's always rumors. So we know about windows promoting coming out for Disney and we log in at 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM and we do the phone call. We sit on hold for four hours or three hours to see if, yeah, to see if we can apply the promotion to somebody booking. They don't have to do that themselves.

Speaker 1:

So there's no cost to that. That's really awesome. So if I were traveling with a group of friends, can you help handle reservations for more than one family on a trip?

Speaker 3:

Yes. So usually what I do is I advise on how to do it because there are different agents that do different things and I just say this is the way, this is the, the way you'd want to do it. Now for the agents that different agents, some will make the reservations for those. They usually only want to make the reservation for the bookings that they have booked.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So you. But if my parents wanted to travel with you could book our trip

Speaker 2:

and you could book their trip?

Speaker 3:

Yes. Oh yes. For sure. We do that all the time.

Speaker 2:

Perfect. And then so when you are working with your clients, what is, what would you consider to be your top tip that you'd give to people when they're first planning a Disney vacation?

Speaker 3:

Well, I wasn't prepared,

Speaker 2:

but you were given so many great tips or what is maybe some of the common tips that you, you tend to give people?

Speaker 3:

Well, the first step is when did they were the first discussion is when do you want to go? Sure. So that is the first discussion about where did, when did you want to go and then where do you want to stay and so it's maybe less of a tip and more of a we just go through those pinpoints will help guide them. Craziest the craziest number one tip, which seems so simple that I have for every person taking a trip. And I post this on instagram regularly and facebook too. If you are dining our guests for lunch or breakfast, make your um, your food selections in advance.

Speaker 2:

Yes. That is really great.

Speaker 3:

Yes. The line for if you haven't picked your meal prior to your reservation is so long and it winds inside the building and if you've already picked your meal, you go right to the front and pay and yes, I understand you might not want to pick your food in advance, but I would still figure out how to do it at least a few days before the trip because. Or before your dining reservation because you will save so much time, not waiting in line

Speaker 2:

and we've done that before and it is so nice to be able to go right in and already have it picked out and I saw that line before. So that is an awesome tip. That is for sure. So Kristie, we live roughly about an hour away from you up the road in flint and so we're in the north and so we have roughly six months of winter knowing that this week. But knowing for. Let's just say we'll use an example of Michigan in the Midwest and you want to go. What would you recommend in regards to our spring breaks? Traditionally, what would be a good time for folks in the Midwest to go down to Disney? Just from your experience?

Speaker 3:

Well if you go from mid are from early March to early April, depending on when Easter is, you are going to hit a lot of crowds. However you're also going to hit really nice leather. Right? And so beginning of March is a little bit questionable and for us it's not spring break but it is for the people in the south. Okay. So you will hit their spring break so you will hit crowds but the weather will be an improvement. Um, but frankly every time, anytime going to Disney is, except for the summer is better weather than here.

Speaker 2:

That is true because we've gone down because we got married in March. We did our dedication again in March. And I can, you know, being from Michigan, if it cracks 50, maybe even 45, I'm wearing a hoodie and shorts and crocs. Like it doesn't matter when I go to and we'll go down there again. You're paying for the weather because you know, mid to late March we've had snow for solid months of, of cold. And so I think that's a great tip about wind for folks from the Midwest go down there. And I think with that another piece,

Speaker 3:

yes, still dress in layers though because I think his parents with little kids at the bus stop that are freezing because they think they're going to Florida and they're supposed to be warm. Now remember we're not in Miami, we're not. We're in the middle of the floor so the weather is not quite as warm. And we always bring layers. When we went in January this past year, we wore long pants and long sleeve shirts, much much of the trip. It was just a little bit of a cooler week.

Speaker 1:

And we invest in a locker. Sometimes it's worth being able to put those sweatshirts and stuff in earlier in the day and then be able to go back and forth and then you can use it throughout the day and as those temperatures change or if it rains or whatever, you can put everything in there. So thank you again. We wanted to find out where are some of the places that our listeners can find out more about you and follow you.

Speaker 3:

So my blog pack her pixie dust, has a whole quip about me. So if you want to read about me and you know all of that, you can read that they're in the about section and like I said, I am on Instagram, I am on facebook and I'm on twitter and I probably spend too much time so it's just so fun to like read and the Disney community is so fantastic. So it is fun to share pictures and to share tips and people reach out to me and all of those areas. I checked the private messages so if somebody is checking me, sending me a message, I can see that.

Speaker 1:

Well thank you so much for joining us. We'll make sure to put all of your information in our show posts and in our notes and we'll promote you on all of our different social media channels. But Christy, thank you so much for being with us and joining us today.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for having me. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2:

Thank you again to Christy for joining us today. And again, if you want to hear more from her, check her out on the DCL podcast, the Disney cruise line podcast. She's a frequent guest. She has lots of information about it on her website as well, and we'll make sure to share all of her information with the show notes and also in our social media posts. So over to you Kris. Thank you know Vanessa. It's time for Disney Trivia. Okay. Let's see if you stumped me this time. Okay. So now this is about a character who definitely has a character dinner. Okay, so we talked about that earlier. I did, yes. So, um, have you seen the movie Cinderella? I have, but it's been awhile. While have you seen about the cartoon in the live action? Yes. Okay. Here's the question. Everybody knows that she lost her glass slipper, right? Correct. What foot was it? Did it fall off her right or left foot? Ooh, that's a tough one. So just think of the movie. Think of the scene. I'm going to try to think more of like the Christmas ornaments that I have that are the slipper. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the left foot. You are right. It is the left foot. I was about all those hallmark

Speaker 1:

ornaments that I have that are Cinderella slipper. There you go. Wonderful. Congratulations. Awesome. Well, that one was a little easier than the last one you gave me, so thank you so much. I actually got it correct this time and as always after we do our trivia, we like to end with a little wisdom from Walt and since we spent a lot of time talking about characters today before we spoke to Kristie, this quote is about Mickey Mouse and again, Walt said, all we ever intended for him or expected of him was that he should continue to make people everywhere chuckle with him and at him. Mickey with simply a little personality assigned to the purposes of laughter. And that's very true. Not only does mickey bring a smile to people's face when they meet him in the park, see him on a cartoon or especially when you get to meet him at one of his character meals. So thank you again for joining us on this episode of does love with Vanessa and Kris.

Speaker 4:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney company or its holdings, and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.