For those of you who are new to the Hide and
Squeak game, it features Remy from Ratatouille.The tiny rat has hidden ingredients that correspond with a map and as you spot each ingredient, you must match the sticker with the spot on the map. It takes place during the Food and Wine Festival throughout Epcot.
Those who wish to help Remy gather his ingredients by matching
them up on his map can purchase the maps at one of these locations: Disney
Traders, the Festival Center, Pin Central, or World Central.The 2018 map cost is $6.99+tax.
This year’s Hide and Squeak maps were bigger
than in years past!All 11 pavilions in Epcot have a hidden ingredient, and now 4 ingredients are hidden in the Future World side of the park.These maps are a fabulous way to engage your
kids as you sample food around the Food and Wine Festival.
The Stickers
As we made our way through the park, my kids
had fun looking for the ingredients with me while my husband grabbed the various
food and beverage items we wanted to sample.Of course, the kids sampled quite a few delicious bites, as well!
When you’ve found the ingredients and filled
your maps with stickers, you can head to the Port of Entry shop in the front of
the World Showcase and collect your prize! If you get tired or have to leave before your
map is complete, you can still go and collect your prize.They’ll just stamp your map and you can
finish it later or just put the stickers wherever you want to.
What is the 2018 Prize? It’s a lenticular cup!
You can choose one of four different designs: Mickey, Minnie, Figment, or Remy.
I highly recommend you give the Hide and
Squeak a try! Personally I think it would be best for ages 5+ and would enjoy splitting up into two teams and seeing who can complete their map first!
Here is what it looks like when you find Remy with an ingredient!
I love Disney with my kids, but Disney without my kids is also incredibly fun! I was lucky enough to sneak away with some friends last year for the opening month of the land of Pandora. We had a great time... The last night of our trip we rode Flight of Passage four times! It's worth the crazy long waits. My dear daughters were not as happy about my little escape as I was, so I promised I would bring them there, too.
We finally got to the Animal Kingdom in February and my girls (7, 8, and 9 at the time) were all incredibly impressed with the landscape. They had not seen the movie before the trip, so there was no frame of reference, but they were all very enamored with the plants and the Hallelujah Mountains (the floating islands).
Na'vi River I highly recommend you ride the Na'vi River ride before you hop on Flight of Passage. If you ride Flight of Passage and then go straight over to the Na'vi River, you'll be underwhelmed. BUT if you ride it first, you'll appreciate the glowing, peaceful, and overwhelming beauty of the attraction. This ride is family friendly, so long as your kids are comfortable with dark levels similar to Peter Pan. There are no drops or anything that pops out at you, so I'd even bring my 11-month-old nephew along on it. My girls were absolutely enthralled with the creatures they saw and the gorgeous river scenery. They didn't want it to end!
Flight of Passage
I first heard it described as similar to Soarin', and I'll say that the viewing screen is somewhat similar to that, but this ride is so much more intense than anything else at Disney. The ride requires 3D goggles (which do stay on, even though the ride moves quite a lot). You sit in a row of people and all face the same direction. Though you may not notice it, there are 3 levels of people in 3 V-shaped rows. The ride is more of an experience or a journey than just a ride and it does have some intense moments and movement to it, so I recommend being sure they can handle it before you force them into it. Before you get onto the attraction, a scientist explains the linking process between humans and Avatars. Once we stowed our belongings in the lockers behind the seats, we all got situated and settled into our seats. They did have a momentary panic when the back support closed against them, but they were so excited that they did not care after a bout 5 seconds. When I rode the ride on my own, I was totally mesmerized by it, but watching the girls' responses was even more thrilling! Not only does it feel like you're truly flying, totally enchanted by the beautiful world of Pandora. The girls were so overwhelmed by the attraction that they wanted to get back onto it as soon as it ended, even with the line length at 180 minutes!! My kids don't stand in line for anything, so this is a HUGE endorsement.
Pongu Pongu
Once we were done shopping in the gift shop at the end of Flight of Passage (and about $150 poorer), we headed over to Pongu Pongu to use some snack credits on Night Blossoms. These are delicious, frozen drinks that are layered with apple, pear, and passion fruit flavors and topped with delicious Boba balls. It's a great way to keep cool while you explore Pandora.
After we finished exploring and drinking our Night Blossoms, we left Pandora and rode a few rides outside in the rest of Animal Kingdom. We watched Rivers of Light - new to the girls, as well. They were thrilled by it! Then, once it was dark, we headed back to Pandora to explore it in the dark and have dinner at the Satu'li Canteen.
Satu'li Canteen was one of the first Disney locations to test mobile ordering, which saves a lot of time during peak times. It wasn't busy when we were there, so we just ordered at the kiosk and then seated ourselves. Everyone liked the food - even my picky, middle child! All of the bowls can be customized and the desserts are beautiful and delicious, as well!
Check out this video of the girls after they rode Flight of Passage!
Contact me if you'd like help planning a visit to Pandora of your own at info@Wishdrawals.com !
I recently had a friend ask me why Disney cruises were SO expensive... and all I could tell him was that he clearly had not been on one. First of all, there are times of year and good deals to be found if you know what you're looking for (hint hint, call me - I can help you find one in your budget). Secondly, where some cruise lines end up doubling their fees, port expenses, and other miscellaneous charges, Disney is very upfront about your price. Once you book, all you pay is your gratuity which is $12/person/day. Last, but NOT least, there is a long list of features that set the Disney Cruise Line apart from other lines...
Kids Clubs - where some cruise lines have a nice, comfy room where kids can hang out, Disney's kids clubs are actual CLUBS. My kids spent an entire day exploring and playing in the Oceaneer Club with their friends before they even realized that there was a tunnel that led to another whole play area called the Oceaneer Lab! They enjoyed character experiences (which I didn't waste time standing in line for), played games, heard stories, participated in science experiments, and had a great time! In all honesty, I had to bribe them with free ice cream to get them to come out and play with me!
Let me take a brief mom time out and explain that I'm a **bit** of a control freak and I don't like the idea of my kids not being able to reach me or not being safe. Not only did I feel 100% comfortable leaving my kids in the clubs with all of the cast members who got to know each kid, but I also witnessed a child who came up to the desk and asked a cast member to call her mom. There was no hesitation - the cast member immediately grabbed a phone and dialed the girl's mother. That made the overprotective mama bear inside of me very happy.
Bonus points for being able to check the kids into the club and go enjoy the adult only hot tub AND relax together with a couples massage AND we got to do a beer tasting... there's no way we would have been able to enjoy those special things if our kids were in a comfy room on another cruise line... The kids club created the perfect balance between time for my husband and I to relax and enjoy each other and our family to enjoy lots of time together.
Dining Experiences - Cabanas (the buffet) has lots of amazing food, including all you can eat crab and peel and eat shrimp when you board the ship. Each evening, you'll be on a dining rotation to try each of the 3 main restaurants and you'll have the option for a sit-down meal for breakfast and lunch on a rotation, as well. Many people like to grab food quickly at Cabanas or one of the kiosks, but some people like to sit down and enjoy a fancy breakfast. It's nice to have options.
What makes Disney truly stand out are the servers. Every evening, you'll have the same two servers - one main server and one beverage server. They'll get to know you and try to have your favorite drinks waiting for you when you arrive. Of course, you can add or change your drinks to suit your fancy, but our kids loved to have chocolate milk waiting for them when we arrived at each restaurant. The servers will also cut your child's food for them so that you don't have to let your food get cold while you do it. Our servers even did magic tricks and puzzles and kept our kids busy when we adults had indulged in too many desserts. There simply isn't anything like the level of dining service on a Disney Cruise and the food is AMAZING!! We especially liked the fact that most room service items were also free, so that we could order french fries and cake of the day while the kids napped or in the evening while we enjoyed a glass of wine in our cabin.
Room Attendants - when we arrived at our cabin, we were surprised to find that our room was ready early. We were also surprised to meet a very friendly woman who introduced herself as our room attendant. Her job was to come into our room in the morning and make the beds, fold the fold-down beds up and tidy the room. In the evening, when we went to dinner, she came back into the room and cleaned again. This time, she did a turn-down service and prepped our room for bedtime so that all we had to do was change our sleepy kiddos into their pajamas. If you've ever traveled to a sandy, wet place with kids, you can probably guess how much we enjoyed the twice-a-day room servicing.
Castaway Cay - I'll write an entire post about Castaway Cay soon, but for now suffice to say that the experience was truly unique. The water is gorgeous, the island is gorgeous, the food was delicious, and we never ran out of fun things to do. We were crazy enough to go out on a paddle boat, but my youngest daughter was terrified half the time, so it was rather short-lived. There is an adult only beach called Serenity Bay and we found a huge starfish out there! My only recommendation here is that kids (and adults) with sensitive feet may want to invest in water shoes, since the beach is both sandy and rocky. We saw lots of fish in the water, but those with shark concerns will be glad to hear that the bay is blocked from large waves and that prevents sharks from entering the swimming areas.
Entertainment - evening shows are great, but Disney cruise line offers so many other entertainment venues... our most recent cruise was a Disney World/Disney Cruise combo, so we only cruised for 3 nights. During that cruise we enjoyed the main evening shows, the sail away party, the pirate night show and fireworks, crazy fun bingo (I think it was $40 for the 9 of us to play), live music entertainment, super insane 80s music trivia fun, movies by the pool, and current/recent movies in the FREE movie theater on board. There were also character meet and greets, various family activities, movies by the pool, and all kinds of adult beverage tastings.
Adult Only sidebar... if you've got adults in your traveling party who don't have kids, have no fear! There are so many amazing things to do on board even if you don't have kids of your own or your kids are grown. Plus, the adult only areas are truly kept as adult only. No kids will splash you in the beautiful swim up bar areas or Serenity Bay (the adult only beach). And traveling groups where some families have kids and some don't can check their kids into the kids club and spend time with their adult companions doing adult things without feeling guilty or paying for extra childcare!
Contact me for a FREE, no-obligation Disney Cruise quote: Emily@Wishdrawals.com
I'll help you find the perfect cruise within your budget!
Those who wish to help Remy gather his ingredients by matching
them up on his map can purchase the maps at one of these locations: Disney
Traders, the Festival Center, Pin Central, or World Central. The 2018 map cost is $6.99+tax.
