Where in the World?

My favorite parts of Disney World are the often overlooked parts!  Take the time to slow down.  See if you can spot a Hidden Mickey, stop and talk to a cast member, interact with other guests.  You won't be disappointed!

This fantastic mural features a goat with an extra leg.  Have you ever spotted him?  Do you know where you have to stand to catch a glimpse of this sweet guy?

Next time you're rushing to get to your fast pass or advanced dining reservation, take a minute to stop and look around you!  You might spot something extra special!

The Wave...Of American Flavors

Our first meal was a memorable one and a restaurant we will be sure to visit again, hopefully soon!  We had breakfast at The Wave on the first floor of The Contemporary.  The Wave is tucked in the back left hand corner of the lobby, just beyond the check in desk.  It was quiet, not very busy during our breakfast.  The Wave has a menu of ala carte items as well as an impressive buffet.

 Our server, Debi was fantastic.  She was very personable, and had lots of great tips for us.  She offered us a champagne toast to celebrate our anniversary.  It was a great way to start our vacation.  We opted to try the buffet and were not disappointed at all!  The buffet offers some very different, fresh and unique breakfast items.  I tried a fantastic honey yogurt parfait and some fresh tropical fruit that had lychee, which I had never tried and really liked.   There were several different breakfast meats, an egg souffle, potatoes and cheddar grits that were super yummy, and of course Mickey waffles.  There was a great maple syrup carafe, it was constantly churning and heating the maple syrup and there was a spout on the side that allowed you to pour your own syrup into the little pitchers they provided.

One of the things that Debi mentioned to us was that All Star Sports offers cinnamon Mickey waffles with ice cream in the quick service restaurant.  That sounds so good!  I was getting close to finishing my breakfast and I had not eaten my waffle yet when Debi stopped by our table with a bowl of ice cream for me.  It was the perfect finish to my breakfast, a Mickey waffle with ice cream and warm maple syrup, which being a Vermont girl, I can tell you it's the real deal!

If you haven't tried The Wave yet, it's one of my new can't miss restaurants!

Where in the World?

My favorite parts of Disney World are the often overlooked parts!  Take the time to slow down.  See if you can spot a Hidden Mickey, stop and talk to a cast member, interact with other guests.  You won't be disappointed!

Do you look at the finer details Disney Imagineers have added to everything in Disney World?

Where in the world can you find this super cool light?  It's probably not as hidden as you might think!

Where In The World?

My favorite parts of Disney World are the often overlooked parts!  Take the time to slow down.  See if you can spot a Hidden Mickey, stop and talk to a cast member, interact with other guests.  You won't be disappointed!

Do you ever slow down while you're at Disney World?  Do you take the path less traveled?  Do you look for the little hidden magic? Have you ever looked for Hidden Mickeys at Disney World?  Can you tell me where you might find this Hidden Mickey?

I'll give you a hint, it's in a deluxe resort.  There are fantastic dining options and entertainment in an absolutely gorgeous setting!

Pressed Pennies

Pressed pennies are a fantastic, fun, inexpensive souvenir!!

Pressed penny machines can be found in every resort and every park.  They feature all kinds of characters!  You might find the Fab 5, Princesses, Fairies, Pixar characters.  Have a favorite character?  You can probably find a pressed penny machine where you can create your own souvenir.

Pressed pennies cost 51 cents.  You'll need your own penny and 2 quarters.  Shiny new pennies work best.  You'll put the penny and both quarters into the tray, slide the tray into the machine and push the button for the image you want.  Your penny will be pressed and stretched and stamped with your desired image.

Disney sells pressed penny collection books.  But I've seen pressed pennies made into jewelry and displayed in shadow boxes.  A fun way to carry your pennies and quarters around the parks is in one of those cylinder M&M mini's containers.  They are the perfect size for quarters, just stack your penny with 2 quarters and you're ready each time you see a pressed penny machine.

Our oldest princess Catherine lost her first tooth one year while we were at Disney World.  That night the tooth fairy and Tinkerbell worked together and along with her $1 came a cool pressed penny!

The Contemporary Resort-Atrium Club Level

This was a different vacation for us.  Not only was it an adults only vacation, but we decided to resort hop with a split stay at three different resorts.  Southwest kept having great sales, so we kept adding days to our trip. In July Tim mentioned that he really wanted to stay at The Contemporary.  The lure of leaving your room and hopping on the monorail to enter either Magic Kingdom or Epcot was strong!  When I checked out the prices, I was surprised that the prices really weren't as much as I expected and the difference between a lake view room and a theme park view room was minimal.  Of course using Disney math, we went for the theme park view room and I was really excited about it!

Fast forward to our arrival on September 28th. We had a fantastic Magical Express driver!  He was so funny and really made me feel the magic of our Disney vacation beginning.  It was obvious Geoffrey loves his job!  We entered the gorgeous, modern lobby of The Contemporary and headed for the check in desk.  I had already done the online check in so I expected this to be quick.  We were greeted by Jennifer and right away she let us know that we had been upgraded to the Atrium Club Level.  This was a dream upgrade and I started crying (I'm such a girl!)!!  We generally don't spend a lot of time in our resort, so I was never really sold on club level being a good option for us.  I will be seriously considering it in the future.

We were escorted up to the concierge desk on the club level floor.  When we got there we were greeted, given pins as I had noted our reservation with our anniversary and my birthday, and shown to our room where we were offered the signature club level drink, which was a Monorail Mule.  It was served in a champagne glass and was so fantastic!

Our room had a king sized bed that was so comfortable.  There is a day bed that pulls out for additional sleeping, a big flat screen tv and a glass desk.  There are two closets in the room entry as well as a fridge and coffee maker.  Across from the closet area is the bathroom.  The commode is separate from the shower and vanity, which has two very stylized sinks.  The sinks are large, very shallow squares.  They are modern and attractive, but there isn't much additional space on the vanity for a cosmetic bag. The view from our balcony was amazing!!  We looked right out over Magic Kingdom.  Cinderella's Castle is breathtaking and I woke up looking right at it!  I also never realized how big Space Mountain really is.

The lounge on the club level was wonderful!  There's a fridge with cold drinks as well as coffee and tea all the time.  In the morning a continental breakfast is served, in the early evening appetizers, snacks, beer & wine and in the later evening, desserts and drinks as well.  We only took advantage of the early evening appetizer offerings when we returned to our room for a rest and shower before our dinner reservation at California Grill.  The offerings in the lounge included corn chowder, cheeses, assorted meats, crackers, veggies & dip, prosciutto wrapped melon, quesadillas, and macaroni & cheese.  Everything we tried was very good.  The lounge area is very spacious and there are cast members on hand to care for your every need.

The other great thing about The Contemporary is the Wishes viewing areas.  There are several areas to choose from, but we had a reservation at the California Grill so we went to the observation decks on the roof outside of the California Grill.  The Wishes music is broadcast over speakers, and the perspective is so completely different then being on Main Street.

I totally feel like we were spoiled staying at The Contemporary and I would love to stay there with our girls.  Club level is a whole different level of pampering that I could get very used to!