We go to Disney World a lot. A. Lot. And every time we go, it’s inevitable that someone says to us, “You’re going again? Don’t you get bored? How can there be anything left to do?” Our answer is always no and yes. No, we’re not bored and yes, there are still things left to do.
My husband and I recently took our oldest son on a trip to Disney to celebrate his 9th birthday. Our goal is to take each kid on a solo trip with just Mom and Dad before they turn 10 (the magical age of Disney adult prices). His birthday is smack in the middle of December, which is a fairly busy season at Disney. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. At the Magic Kingdom, the lines for the rides were so long and the streets were so crowded that we found ourselves looking for other ways to spend our time. That led us to discover three new favorite things.
1) Garlic Pesto Bread Knots
First of all, read that name again. Garlic + pesto + bread? You know these are going to be good. We were planning to eat lunch at Columbia Harbour House, which is one of our favorites, but the line went out the door and wrapped all the way around the building. So, we turned around and decided to eat at Pinocchio Village Haus instead. We saw the Garlic Pesto Bread Knots on the menu and said to each other, “Garlic and pesto on bread? We need to try those.” Well, I’m here to tell you that they lived up to their name. These are $4.49 for an order of three good-sized rolls and they were delicious! They’re not big enough for a meal, but pair them with the Caesar side salad or the tomato basil soup and you’ve got a nice, filling lunch.
The other secret gem here is the tables overlooking the it’s a small world ride. Our kids love to look out at the boats starting their journey around the world and see how many people they can get to wave at them. This visit was no exception and our son kept a tally of how many boats waved. I think he ended up with something like 27 out of 30 boats waving back. It was a fun way to relax and get out of the crowds, plus we found a new favorite snack! So much so, that we ended up going back twice just to eat the rolls and wave at boats.
2) Watching caramel corn be made
Since the parks were so busy on our trip, we spent extra time wandering through the stores and looking at all the details. Our younger son LOVES Dumbo, so we spent a lot of time in Big Top Souvenirs in Fantasyland, hoping to find a unique gift for him. The smell of the hand-made treats in the center of the store became too much for us to resist and we headed over to the show kitchen, where a cast member was just starting to make a new batch of caramel corn. We ended up standing there for quite a while, talking to her and asking her questions as she worked. We learned all about making the treats and it was such a neat experience! Our family tends to have more of a commando touring style, so we don’t always take time to stop for these little experiences. We definitely appreciate that they’re there, but we don’t often take time to see them for ourselves. This cast member was so engaging and happy to share her knowledge and we really enjoyed ourselves. On our next family trip, we will make it a point to stop and enjoy some of these smaller moments. Not only can you learn something new, but it’s a great chance to let your kids interact with the cast members. (I’ve mentioned it before – my husband is a Communication teacher, so we’re always looking for those moments of interaction!)
3) Tom Sawyer’s Island
Obviously, this is not something new to the park. But remember when I said we were commando park people? Tom Sawyer’s Island really doesn’t fit into that mentality and we have never made our way over to the island! I had been there as a kid, but never as an adult. We loved it! It was quiet and peaceful; you would never know that the park was as crowded as it was. Since we weren’t in a hurry, we just wandered. My husband and son sat and played a couple games of checkers at Tom’s Landing. We sat and watched the riverboat from the porch at Aunt Polly’s. We “got lost” in the cave and jumped on the barrel bridge.
Over at the fort, we shot rifles out the windows and explored all the nooks and crannies we could find. We ran into a PhotoPass photographer and noticed he was from St. Louis, which is about 3 hours from our home. We’re Chicago Cubs fans, so Jacob started teasing him about the Cardinals. It turned out that he was a huge baseball fan, so he and Jacob spent about 20 minutes going back and forth trying to stump the other with baseball facts. It was so fun and definitely one of the highlights of Jacob’s trip. All of us really enjoyed Tom Sawyer’s Island and we’ll be back on future trips when we need to take a little break from the busyness of the park. We even found picnic tables for a quiet lunch spot! We live only an hour from Hannibal, Missouri, which is where Mark Twain grew up. As a child, we always went there to see all the tourist spots, and after visiting Tom Sawyer Island at the Magic Kingdom, I think it will be really fun to take the kids there so they can see the story’s beginnings.
So, those are our “new-to-us” findings. What about you? Have you discovered anything you’ve been missing at the parks?
