WDW Daily News

Often times you hear people say, “Don’t forget to slow down and enjoy the tiny details.” Okay, maybe you don’t hear it, but it is great advice nonetheless! On recent trips home, we have slowed our pace really trying to take in the details, and discover the secrets that only Disney can offer.

Disney Hollywood Studios…an incredibly close race for my most favorite of the four parks. Have you ever stopped and listen to street comedy? We have watched the ‘Citizens of Hollywood’ give performances on several occasions and always end up laughing so hard our bellies hurt!

Our first encounter led my brother-in-law to be pulled from the crowd to star in a commercial. We have watched them entertain us with a dating game show, and even a Disney Quiz Show where all 7 kids we were traveling with became part of the act.

From the goofy policeman, to the ageless studio starlet – you are guaranteed to be left shaking your head (and possibly even having to explain some of the humor and jokes to the younger members of the crowd). This is one discovery we will never forget.

Don’t miss out on discovering the ‘Streetmosphere’….slow down enjoy the fun – who knows, you may even become part of the show? ‘Do you trust me?’ disneydad1972@gmail.com

On my last visit to Disney World the Princess Half Marathon was going on and needless to say, getting around that morning was a little crazy. Many of the regular routes in and out of the resorts and parks were detoured or closed until the race concluded.

I was on my way to the Polynesian for my fix of Tonga Toast, that sinfully delicious combination of crunchy sourdough fried bread stuffed with bananas and rolled in sugar and cinnamon…but ended up getting rerouted to the Wilderness Lodge. I told the guard at the gate I was going to have breakfast and she just laughed and said “Honey, good luck if you don’t have a reservation, it’s packed.” We’ll just see about that, I thought.

The Whispering Canyon was, indeed busy but it didn’t seem that there would be a long wait if I had chosen to eat there. Instead I decided to head down to the food court to see what they had in the line of breakfast goodies.
In addition to the customary offering of the resort wide plate of scrambled eggs, pre-cooked bacon, biscuits and grilled red bliss potatoes and other regular staples…they had a waffle bar! Your choice of strawberry, chocolate or bananas foster style Mickey waffles accompanied by more of that precooked bacon.

I ordered up the banana combo , grabbed an orange juice and made my way to the exterior seating area at the pool/courtyard. There were only a few other tables of guests, the weather was absolutely perfect and the waffles were beyond delicious. I immediately started planning to recreate this at home!

A few weeks later back in Virginia it was just a miserable cold and rainy day. I thought what better way to brighten things up than to whip up a batch of waffles banana Foster-Disney style. I made due with my square waffle maker but have since found a Mickey Mouse shaped waffle maker as you can see below. “Just like downtown” as they say!

Try a little Disney food magic at home. It will brighten your day and hold you over until your next visit to sunny Orlando, which in my case is in 38 days from now! Many resort and restaurant recipes can be found online and most are scaled down for home use. Have fun and bon appétit!