January 28, 2019

Dole Whip Mama,
or Rubbin’ Elbows with Mickey

My secret is out!
It’s true! I am a two-fisted Dole Whip eater; a real Dole Whip Mama! :o)

Happy January!  (Or happy end of January, I should say. :o).) My year happily began at  Walt Disney World.  In addition to enjoying all of the fun that WDW has to offer, I was there to cheer on my hubby, daughter, and her friend, as they participated in this month’s Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. (We also got a chance to meet my Florida son and family for part of our time there.)  Our home away from home for the week was Disney’s Art of Animation.

We stayed at Disney’s Art of Animation this January.

Da doo run run

I know, the song’s lyric’s actually go “da doo ron ron”, but you get the idea…
(If you are now in the mood to hear this 1963’s tune, click here.)

I am so proud of my running crew!  In a weekend where 30,000 runners descend upon the “Happiest Place on Earth”, my hubby, Dale, completed his first half marathon, ever! Running along side our daughter, Martese, and friend, Natasha, he ran 13.1 miles! Congratulations! 

Dale, Martese, and Natasha pose in front of the Cinderella Castle
during their half marathon run.
January 12, 2019

The trio is all smiles, while racing through Epcot.

The half marathon medal

My daughter, Martese, and her running buddy, Natasha, completed the ambitious Disney
 Dopey Challenge this year.  This challenge consists of four consecutive race days. Participants run a 5k, then 10k, then half marathon, and finally a full marathon (a marathon is 26.2 miles)! Congratulations X 4 to this Disney running duo!

Martese and Natasha, after finishing the marathon, display their medals.

The Dopey Challenge Medal

This shirt, that was for sale, sums up my race participation. :o)

Our granddaughter, and future runner (?), inspects the medals.

Rubbin’ Elbows with Mickey

I always love it when we run into Mickey at WDW.  Back when my kiddies were young, finding Mickey around “the world” was often difficult.  Happily, today it is more common to meet up with this spry 90-year old while at the parks.

A Mickey memory from 1987 with my two oldest children.
(Trevor is the one wearing the Mickey mouse ears.)
If I remember correctly, this was a Winnie the Pooh character breakfast
at the now defunct Empress Lilly on Pleasure Island (currently Disney Springs). 
I believe that this was the location of the first, and for awhile,
only character breakfast at Walt Disney World.
You can read more about the Empress Lilly, here.

Dale and I enjoy a photo op with Mickey during our Ohana Character Breakfast
at the Polynesian Resort.

Mickey proudly poses with the half marathon finishers.

Our granddaughter plays the “nose game” with Mickey at our character dining experience at The Garden Grill in Epcot.

Dining with Disney and Fun

I love the Duo (White Chocolate and Chocolate Mousse Cake) from
Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie  in the French area of Epcot.

If you follow this blog, then you are aware that I am a foodie, especially when it comes to Disney fare.  In addition to the yummy Dole whip concoction (see the first photo, above), Disney has a jillion dining options. Here are a few photos of some of our dining fun, and activities, this trip.

Animal Kingdom

Thanks to our fast pass, we quickly got on our ride for the “always fun”
Kilimanjaro Safari.

We saw many wonderful animals, but my favorite are always the giraffes!

Dinner at Yak and Yeti was a new and yummy experience for all of us.

I had the Lo Mein Shrimp.  It was good!

Epcot

I was excited to try out La Hacienda de San Angel, located across from one of my favorite rides, Three Caballeros. (You can see the ride, here.)

I loved the shrimp tacos!

Enjoying a quick bite of Guacamole with Chicharrones
(these chicharrones are vegetarian and made from flour) at Choza de Margarita.
Very tasty!

 

A little fish and chips to tide us over at Yorkshire County Fish Shop.

Had to check out the jumbo pretzel at the German Pavilion.

The character breakfast at The Garden Grill was a hearty, family style meal of roast beef for our marathon runners, who had just completed their race.
For added fun, the restaurant slowly rotates through The Land.

The dessert of Berry Shortcake was a great end to the meal.

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

The Disney character breakfast came complete with yummy Mickey waffles.
For the source of Mickey waffle mix, click here.

 

Disney Springs 

Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ was a delightful lunch place.  

I had the Thigh High Chicken Biscuits; fried chicken on biscuits.
They were delicious.

The decor was comfortably interesting, too.

 

While the two marathoners got their sleep before the next day’s big race,
Dale and I went out to dinner with our oldest son, Trevor, and his wife, Tanya, and their little one.  We enjoyed eating and visiting at Terralina Crafted Italian (formerly Portobello) This spot has special meaning, as this is the place where they were engaged.
You can read about their engagement here, and their wedding here.

A couple of stops during the week at the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Chocolate Shop is a must! :o)

 

The Boardwalk

Dale enjoying Ample Hills “homemade” ice cream.

Hollywood Studios

Although, we did not have time to have a complete meal at the Sci-fi Cafe, we did stop in for some hot tea and fried pickles. I have to say that the fried pickles were over-salted, but were nice and crispy.

I sit in the seat of a “convertible” in the restaurant.
I love the theming of the Sci-fi Cafe.

I enjoy the clips shown of all the 1950’s and early 1960’s sci-fi movies.

The hot tea tasted good on this cool Florida night.

 

Souvenir

My favorite souvenir from this trip is this colorfully whimsical print.
I fell in love with this David Perillo print at the Polynesian Resort gift shop.
Can’t beat sitting in the Tiki Room
(one of my early memories from my first trip to Disneyland in the late 1960’s)
and eating Dole Whip!

Calling it Quits,
with the Cooking with Mickey Cookbook, that is

 

Bye bye, Cooking with Mickey

Call it the end of an era.  After a year, of “playing” with Cooking with Mickey around our world, I have decided to move on to other things.  Of the several recipes that I have tried, only one “new” one has tickled my fancy.  Three other, tried and true recipes, from over the years were also blog worthy.

Read about first blog post, using this cookbook, here.

Cookies

  I remember these cookies when they were once sold in The Land.
They were a delicious chocolate chip cookie.
I attempted this recipe last week, and a couple of times in the past, but never with good results.

Fail!

 

Recipes worth repeating

See the Tavern Sherbet Punch recipe, here.

For the Contemporary French Toast recipe, click here.

Check out the Cinderella Soup recipe, here.

Find the Fettuccine Alfredo recipe, here.

Check out My Other Disney Posts!

 Check out My Other Walt Disney World Posts!

Disney Food and Wine Festival–Here

Disney World Family Reunion-Here

Disney World Recipe-Here,

Here,  

Here

 Check out My Disneyland and Disney Studios Posts!

Disneyland–Here

Disney Studios–Here

Disneyland and Disney Studios–Here

 

A big thank you to Martese, Natasha, Tanya, and Dale for contributing photos for this blog post.

Thanks for reading,
Annette

I’m Annette Stuff

I typically post my blog once per month.
Look for my next blog post on, or around,
Thursday, February 28, 2019

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A colorful evening view of Spaceship Earth in Epcot, Walt Disney World.