The Plaza Restaurant Review

Slightly hidden between the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor and the beginning of Tommorrrowland is the Plaza Restaurant in Magic Kingdom. It looks out on Cinderella Castle and a tiny smidge of Main Street, making it a small hidden gem based on location alone. But while the view may be why you visit, the food will be the reason you come back! This visit was the first for both Todd and I, and we will definitely be eating here again.

The Victorian influence of the decor is evident right from the entrance.

As you can see, the Plaza is located right across the street from Casey's Corner and the Crystal Palace restaurants. 

When your buzzer goes off, it's time to head inside! 

The main dining room is smaller than other table service restaurants, but the mirrors make the space feel larger.

Todd and I were lucky on this evening to be seated off of the main area in the solarium. I don't know that it's actually called that, but it was similar to a solarium.

These gorgeous light fixtures are throughout the entire main dining area.

Now, let's get to the food!

The menu is mostly burgers and sandwiches, but Todd saw the meatloaf and immediately chose that. I can't say that I blame him. It was delicious, and huge. I wouldn't order it for lunch, but it was perfect for dinner.

I got the Reuben and was not disappointed. The meat and dressing were perfectly prepared, and accompanied by thick cut fries. It was really good, but next time I don't think I'll be able to pass up the meatloaf. 

Many Plaza die hards will argue that dessert is the most important part of dinner here. And if you already noticed that the restaurant shares a name with the nearby ice cream parlor, you can guess the star of the dessert menu! 

We opted to go traditional and share the Plaza hot fudge sundae. And it didn't last long at all!

Thus ended a delicious dinner at the Plaza! Definitely a new favorite.

Review: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Villains Sinister Soiree: Part 2

If you haven't read the first part of the review, here it is.


After club villain, we went to Cinderella Castle to check into the dessert party.

Inside the castle we were instructed to wait in the foyer and mingle with some characters before heading up to the main dining room.

The foyer with a slight Tremaine makeover

The Queen of Hearts, Anastasia and Drizella teasing a girl dressed as the Cheshire Cat

This meet and greet time was one of the benefits of our 11:25 seating. The latest party of the evening is 11:45 with seating times between 11:25 and 11:45. Not only does this extend the Halloween Party, which usually ends at midnight, but our 11:25 seating time gave us a check in of about 11:10, which gave us a lot of time for character mingling before the party began.

 

We walked up to the main dining room and were greeted by Judge Frollo and Captain Hook. They made their way around to each table for photos, except Captain Hook just sort of skipped by.

 

At each setting of our table we found autograph cars and personalized menus. Unlike the usual dessert parties, each party is seated at their own table and served by a cast member.

Our poison apple centerpiece

 A cheese plate was served to us as soon as we sat down. There were little pieces of toast, blue cheese, cream cheese, baby gherkins, figs, cheese fondue, and salami. Also waiting was a souvenir Maleficent cup filled with candy, which was convenient because we didn't get to do any trick or treating.

 The drink of the evening was a delicious poison apple concoction, complete with poison apple glow cube and Maleficent drink stirrer, both souvenirs to take home with us.

 

Lady Tremaine welcomes her guests

 After we got settled into our seats, Lady Tremaine sang us a song welcoming everyone and introducing all of the other Villains that would be joining the event. After their introductions, the Villains made their way around to every table for photos.

 Throughout the night, an organ player played melancholy renditions of classic Disney songs. While the Villains were circulating, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella sang a hilarious mash up of "Sing Sweet Nightingale" and "Royals" by Lorde. After the musical number, each Villain introduced the desserts everyone was waiting for.

 The one I found most interesting was the Evil Queen's bleeding heart apple. It was a bright red apple with a white wine and cherry reduction inside, which "bled" when cut open.

 Next was Maleficent's Dragon Toasted Confection, a pistachio mousse topped with meringue. This was very good, if a bit odd.

Next up was Dr. Facilier's chocolate Tarot Card and flourless chocolate torte. The torte tasted like pure espresso cream, which was strange considering it wasn't mentioned as having any sort of coffee flavoring at all. Still, it was very good.

 Finally was Cruella de Vil's Spotted Mousse Cake, which was dark chocolate and white chocolate with raspberry. This was the most expected of the desserts, but it was absolutely delicious!

 Before we left for the evening, Lady Tremaine made her way over and insisted we take a photo with her. And then she sang "The Party's Over," and indeed it was. Then we made our way out of the park, which was eerily empty, as the party had been over for almost an hour. This was the other great part of the late party: how often do you get to see Magic Kingdom empty? That, coupled with the steam from rain and the party lights made for some pretty spook-tacular pictures.

 And thus closed an awesome evening at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party!

Art of Animation: Finding Nemo Family Suite

The Big Blue Pool (with underwater music!)

This time last summer, I was on vacation at Walt Disney World with Todd and a few members of our family. When we were planning this trip, we crunched and re-crunched the numbers until we figured out that Art of Animation was the best idea. And we are so glad that we did. It was awesome!

Say hello to your old pal, Bruce!

The theme in this area is just as awesome as the Cars section. Little details are everywhere! This is especially true at the pool area, where the music can be heard when you swim underwater, as well occasionally the voices of Nemo, Dory, Crush, Squirt, etc. At the pool there's the Drop Off, a drink and snack bar, which has mug refill and wash station. We were really close to the pool, so we walked over and filled up our mugs a couple times a day! At the furthest end of the pool (closest to the splash park) it's zero entry, which I always enjoy.

Mine!

Mr. Ray was swimming outside of our building!

Big "sketchpad" backing up to Hourglass Lake.

View across the lake of Pop Century.

Once we got into the room, the details only continued. Not to mention the extra space that was previously superfluous to Todd and myself was now incredibly useful to the bunch of us!

 The master bedroom had a standard queen sized bed, nightstands, etc. That you would find in a typical Disney hotel room, as well an en suite bathroom with a standing glass door shower.

 

 There is also the usual dresser / television stand combo, complete with reef design!

Closer look at the adorable headboard!

Bubble lights on the ceiling.

Jellyfish lamp.

 Out in the living room there is a Murphy bed that pulls down, making the headboard a picture of Nemo and Marlin! Too cute.

 This couch folds out into a full bed. Also, look closely: the fish above it is actually all the little silver fish shaped like Marlin from the film!

 The living area also has a bathroom with a bathtub and shark themed curtain.

 I wasn't able to get a picture, but in the living room instead of a short coffee table, there are actually two flat stools can be either sat on or used as a table. Pretty clever!

The splash zone area.

Overall, we had absolutely zero complaints about staying at Art of Animation! Of course, it's important to keep in mind that this resort is geared to families, and would probably not be terribly conducive to a romantic getaway for most people in couples (unless of course you're Todd and me, who came here on our Honeymoon!). But if your goal is to stay at a well themed Value Resort, this one will cost a little more for a standard room that at Pop Century or an All Star, but it's well worth it!