33.1 Disney Springs Fantasyland Draft (Magic Version)

[00:00:00] Hey there M&Ms, welcome to a Magic Version episode where we revisit content that helped build this podcast. The conversations our listeners still reference, the advice you still message us about, and the moments that created the community we have today. This isn't a replay, this is a reimagining. The same heart with more experience and yes, still the same opinions. What's up everyone? Welcome to another episode. This is Allie. Today I'm here with Carla and Katie.

[00:00:30] Hello ladies. Good morning. Hello. I'm excited to be back. We took a little break, a little family time break. So we are back and I'm just feeling rested and excited for the new year. And actually New Year's is sort of like a sad time to me. Do you all like New Year's Eve? Is that a fun time for you? Is it like a holiday you enjoy? Yeah, New Year's Eve is great. You break out all the board games with the kids, euchre, things like that, right?

[00:00:59] No, that's not correct. Euchre is Thanksgiving, not New Year's. Ah, I didn't realize we had a protocol for this. Allie, were you going to say that New Year's Eve is sad for you? Yeah, I think New Year's Eve has always been sad for me. We always have fun. Like we're always with friends. We're always either hosting or attending a party. Tons of kids around. It's not like we're not doing any fun things. I just get sad. Like when that ball drops and you know the year that you're ending will be gone forever. You know, I get really just...

[00:01:28] I think what it is for me, like if there's any sadness involved with it, it's just the sadness that the excitement of the holidays is coming to an end. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The break is ending. The holidays are ending. That extended time home where I'm not running to different kid activities. Like we're just home. There are times like during our break where I don't start my car for like six days. You know what I mean? It's amazing. And then I don't know. I just, I do love it and it is fun, but there's always a twinge of sadness for me, but I'm

[00:01:58] excited for the year ahead. Definitely. I cannot believe that that's where we are. New year fills me with optimism. I'm like, I made a tradition that I wear my, there's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow. I made a tradition that I wear that shirt every year on New Year's Eve because I'm so optimistic for the new year ahead. I love thinking about what we're going to do. What new goals are we going to crush? Where are we going to adventure as a family? I love that about

[00:02:26] New Year. Yeah. I, I love that as well. I mean, I really do. And I feel all of that. I just think, I look at my kids counting down and I don't know, we're all, you're all so different and so much older in a year and the year you've had will never happen again. And I just get that sense of, I don't know if nostalgia is the right word. That first week of January is always kind of hard because the holidays are over, but your kids are still home. Those six days or 10 days or whatever

[00:02:53] it is always feels like months. It's like a whole nother year goes past in that one week because you're done and your trees up and your kids have already indulged themselves in all the technologies and treats and all that stuff. And it's like, okay, but when is this over? Yeah. When, when can I tap out of this? When can my kids go back to school? And the funny thing is about Hillsborough County. They're actually not doing it this year, probably because of all the

[00:03:23] hurricanes we've had, but in past years, they'll even give that Monday off. So that Monday where you think your kids are going back to school, it'll be like a teacher planning day. And I'm like, but what, but just take my kids back. Just please somebody take my kids. So you're not participating in dry January very often? You know, I always try and I, I, I make it like seven, eight days and I don't even know how I make it those, those seven or eight days. I always do try though.

[00:03:52] Yeah, you try. I, I know that was a thing. Oh, of course it's a thing. It's a huge thing. Carla, I know you so well. If I, if I wouldn't have asked you, I would have just said, my guess is that you try to participate in dry January for the health aspect of it. And then the kids are home for those days and you're like, forget about it. Forget about it. I've never even tried. I'm still enjoying the spiced gingerbread mimosa. I don't need to let that go with the rest of the holidays. I actually like that my kids are still

[00:04:22] home because we take that time to like, get all of the holiday decor down, get the laundry done, get situated. I mean, they're out of their minds. And so we try to like, get grounded before we go back into normal life. And then that's tough. But yeah, I don't know. I like it and get a little emotional, but also excited on New Year's. What about, what about gifts? What kind of stuff do you guys like to get? My son's in eighth grade. So I would have thought this would have been well over by now, but you know, the holiday market they do? Oh yeah.

[00:04:50] Where you're, you know, you give your kids $20 and they spend like 17 on themselves. And then you get like the $3 mom of the year, number one mom key chain. Yeah. Or one year my daughter got me like an angel necklace. Yeah. Actually last year, Liam bought me something from the market. I feel like some of the teachers or staff people just brought a bunch of stuff from their house that they didn't want anymore. And

[00:05:16] it's like this really beautiful turquoise necklace. And I actually wear it. It's, I even got a compliment on it the other day. Somebody was like, that's actually a good gift from that market. And I was like, it kind of is. I think I've actually talked about this on the show before, but we had, ours was called Santa's workshop. I'm glad they call it the holiday market now, but we, cause that's what my kids is called now too. But we had Santa's workshop when I was little and the best thing I ever bought

[00:05:40] and it became a thing in my family was for my grandpa. I bought him a wicker bunny with a jelly beans inside, like knock off jelly beans inside, you know, not, not jelly belly brand or whatever. And, uh, he kept that wicker bunny in his office, you know, forever. And then jelly beans became our thing. But yeah, just, I don't know, walking through that market, wicker bunny screamed grandpa. I felt good about it. I felt good about it too. Like I was like, I've nailed it for him.

[00:06:05] The random toolkit that my kids come home with for my husband who honestly like can't fix a thing. I have to talk like quietly because he's gotten these tools over the years. And I just, I think I probably, if anything use them more than he does. Yeah. I did get my dad like a mini screwdriver set once. And my dad's like, not, he has like one small toolbox. He's not this big handyman. And I got a mini screwdrivers with like different tops. I don't know. That's funny. Okay.

[00:06:33] Well, I got the best gift that I've ever gotten for my birthday and it was a massage chair. So I really don't need like any more gifts ever in life. That's the way to make me happy. That sounds pretty great. Okay. Well, I'm excited because we are doing, we're throwing it back today to roots here early on. If you've been a loyal listener for a long time, you've probably heard these, or if you've gone back and listened, you've probably heard our fantasy land drafts. I'm so excited to bring it

[00:07:01] back today. It's such a fun, unique, awesome way to dig into a topic. Today we are drafting Disney Springs and we thought it was perfect because as we were talking about Disney Springs and everything there is to offer, we wanted to find a unique way to get the information out, but also make it a little fun and competitive, which is a great way to start the new year. So we're going to be drafting Disney Springs. We're going to take a quick break and we come back, we'll go over the rules, pick the order and get into it. The way this works for those of you that

[00:07:30] have never listened, this was inspired by like a sports draft. And now that my team is like officially out, out, out. It's been a heartbreaker for me here. I need another thing to be excited about and this is going to be it. So the way this will work, we will draft this snake style. And what that means is we will have a one, two, three, three, two, one order that we're going to pick here in a moment. And we have different categories. We have table service, quick service, store or shopping,

[00:08:00] snack or dessert experience, and a wild card pick. So six rounds that we'll be drafting in. Once something is drafted, you of course cannot take it. Only one person can take a thing at a time. And then you're going to join us on our social media communities on which of us you think has done the best. Now, Carla and I have done a few of these together, but Katie has never drafted here on the pod. So I'm excited. I'm excited. Yeah. It's going to be so fun. So first thing we're going to do

[00:08:27] is pick the order. Now I'm going to share my screen to my friends here so that they know that there's no funny business, no cheating. I better not get number two like I always do. Okay. Can you see this? I can see it. I can see it. Go ahead. All right. We are, we are going to spin here. Here we go. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Of course, of course it goes to Allie. Of course it's Allie. I knew that would happen.

[00:08:51] Okay. So this is not rigged. Okay. I will be drafting first. Here we go. Let's see who's up second. Katie's number two. All right. That makes me number three. I'm on a bookend finally. All right. So the draft order will be me, Katie, Carla, Carla, Katie, me, me, Katie, Carla, Carla, Katie, me, and so on and so forth. We are going to dive in. Here we go.

[00:09:17] I need a pen. Okay. Let's see. I am going to start with my sit down restaurant. I am going to draft the boathouse because I'm going to start with something that is very true to me. I have talked about the boathouse on many episodes. This is a Thomas family staple. The boathouse is a steakhouse and a seafood restaurant. Kind of, they have an oyster bar, some of the best steak you'll ever have.

[00:09:44] If you can get a table out on the deck, on the water, it's a wonderful experience overlooking Saratoga Springs resort. You can see the water cars going by. The food is out of this world. The experience is out of this world. And a lot of people go to Disney Springs to eat. And if that's the biggest draw of Disney Springs, then this is the best restaurant in Disney Springs. And I'm very happy to have it in my list. There we go. I knew you were going to pick the boathouse. I just

[00:10:14] knew it. I think everybody knew that if the order, if the order let me, I was going to snag up the boathouse. Yeah, for sure. I feel good about that. And Katie, that's going to go to you. Okay. I'm excited. I'm going to pick quick service first, and I'm going to take Gideon's Bakehouse, which is of course the place where you can get all of the amazing cookies, all of the, gosh, how many flavors do they have? Like they're always changing and everything too. They have these huge, incredible

[00:10:43] cookies that you can just devour. They're so good, but everybody loves Gideon's Bakehouse. I'm almost a little shocked that you didn't take it. Are you sure, Katie, that you're picking Gideon's for your quick service and not your snack? It's an interesting, interesting strategy. I would have never considered Gideon's a quick service. Well, okay. Then I guess what we have to talk about, what, what are you calling quick service? I think it counts. I think it counts. Yeah. For sure. You do get it quickly. It's not a meal, but they are.

[00:11:12] You do not get it quickly because that line is sometimes hours long. Okay. You get it without a reservation. You get it. You get it, walk up, stand by cue. And they are the best cookies at Disney World. It is so, they are so good. If you go in the early morning, I've never made it in the early morning, but they have a special cinnamon snickerdoodle coffee cake cookie that's only available while supplies last only in the morning. And I, it's always been

[00:11:42] my goal to make it over there. And I just never have. So I normally end up like with this salted chocolate chip and like an Oreo and they're just out, they're out of control. Good. And the

[00:12:06] Okay. I am probably going to go table service because there's only one other sure winner and it might even overtake your pick, Allie, for the boathouse. And that is Chef Art Smith's Homecoming, which is probably the hardest restaurant to get reservations for at Disney Springs. This is going to be all your

[00:12:31] down South, Southern cooking, best brunch easily at probably all of Disney. Their drinks there are amazing. They sell these little thermoses and you can get inexpensive refills. You can keep bringing it back with you. If you could remember that, I never remember to, even though I purchased them. Anyways, it's just always a good time. Highly recommend it. Delicious food, great atmosphere,

[00:12:56] homecoming. Yeah, it's a good one. Definitely on my list. Definitely not over boathouse, but really good. The fried chicken and donuts are like worth going to this restaurant for. All right. So that you get another pick. I do. Okay. I'm going to go quick service and I'm going to go to my favorite quick service, which is the polite pig. This is going to be an idea like fast casual.

[00:13:22] So you order at a counter and the food is going to be barbecue and amazing barbecue. You can get kind of like these family style platters. It's normally comes out very quickly. There's a great bourbon bar for the guy. Like if you're trying to convince your husband that Disney, like you want to go back to Disney every year, take him here to the polite pig because he's going to love it. It's for sure top

[00:13:49] pick for me for quick service. It's a good one. I have a bad experience at the polite pig where my kids, one of my kids ran away. I couldn't catch them. They were really little, but we were having a great meal until that happened. And it's a super popular spot. People love it. Pretty good. Okay. Katie, you're up for a pick. I am going to choose my experience now. I'm stuck between two on which

[00:14:14] to pick. I'm going to go with my gut. I am choosing a Rebus Brothers, the crystal store in Disney Springs. You can build your own, they call them crystal wish keepers. Most people make a wand, but there are other things besides wands. Like you can fill a, you know, Cinderella's glass slipper, or they have like a carriage or an Aladdin's lamp, et cetera. They have these different souvenir things that you can make,

[00:14:44] but they have this magic wand also that you can build. And basically they have all of these different colored crystals, every color you can imagine. And each color has its own, what it means for you or what it will give you in your wish keeper. Right? So like maybe the blue sapphires are like hope and

[00:15:08] wisdom and the red ones are like love and friendship, things like that. So it's a very meaningful souvenir that you can basically personalize however you want to make it. And where else can you make a magic wand on your most magical vacation? Right? I feel like kids and adults alike will find this to

[00:15:31] be a nice experience. So I am choosing the wish keepers crystal experience at a Rebus Brothers. I have never even heard of that. I've never done that. Carla, have you? I was going to say, Allie, haven't you talked before about getting something crystal-y on Main Street and Magic Kingdom? Yeah, that's funny because that's what I was thinking when Katie was talking. One of my favorite shops on Main Street is the Crystal Shop because you can get, like I have

[00:15:59] custom wine glasses and champagne flutes and beer mugs that we had engraved while we were there. I have a team Happily Ever After wine glass that was a gift to me. So just special things. And that's one of my favorite shops in Magic Kingdom. So that sounds like something I would really like. Which makes it me. And I'm going to get two picks. So, okay. A couple things that I love are off the board. Well, really just one big one. This is hard. I'm going to go to experience next as

[00:16:25] well. I want to say it right. There are these really amazing vintage cars at Disney Springs. And this is just such a unique experience. They're called the Vintage Ampicar Tours. And they are part of the boathouse experience. You can make a reservation, kind of like a dock there right in front of the boathouse. And they are these really old school looking cars that start up on the

[00:16:53] dock and they literally drive into the water and become a boat. And you kind of just boat around the water there at Disney Springs. And it is one of the most unique experiences you can have at Disney World. It's a little bit more on the expensive side. It's about $125, I think, as we're recording this to take one of those cars. And they seat up to four people, I believe, which is really cool. But I just think it's one of the more unique things you can do at Disney in general. It's one of those

[00:17:21] hidden gem type things. This is such an iconic thing. They've been around forever. And every time you see them, you just said that you thought it was like a little more expensive. I was thinking it was like four or 500 bucks because I just feel like the people that are using them are out there experiencing this attraction, like their royalty. And I feel like they should be like giving us princess waves. And like, that's what I would do. Like if I was on the Ampicar, I would just be going around

[00:17:49] the edge of the land and just princess waving at everybody. I do think that this is just kind of one of those, it's kind of like the balloon at Disney Springs. It's just one of those icon attractions that that's what you think of when you think of Disney Springs. I agree. Yeah. You know, one of my favorite things to do when I get to my Disney vacation is watch that, you know, that channel in your resort hotel room that just shows you what's going on all over Disney. The first time I ever saw these cars was on like the Disney Springs video

[00:18:19] in my resort room. And my kids were just like, what is that? And how do we do it? And I was like, I don't know. I've never seen it. And this is years and years ago, obviously. And we were just drawn in like, that is like the clip they show to get you to go to Disney Springs. It's so, so unique. I love that it starts on land. You actually drive into the water and just watching it from land is cool, but experiencing it, I've actually not done it. So it's, it's on our list to do. I'm a little anxious about it, to be honest, but it's, it's an unjustifiable anxiety.

[00:18:48] So I'm going to fight that and go do it at some point. I'm excited to have that. Okay. All right. My next one is going to be, I think a little surprising, but it means a lot to me. And I do like being true to me in my drafting. Okay. So Disney Springs is a lot about shopping. That's why people go. I am not somebody that likes to go to Disney Springs to like go to a chain store that I could just go to anywhere. It's just not what I like to do. So I was going over my draft

[00:19:16] picks with Zan with my wife this morning. And I was like, do you like my picks? Like, what do you think? What would you pick? And when I asked her about store, she literally said Zara. And I was like, dude, you can't draft Zara. I mean, I guess if y'all want to go for it, but I need something that's uniquely Disney. Right. And so when I think about that, there are like three stores that we go to every single time that mean a lot to us. And I narrowed it down. The one I'm going to take might be surprising, but I'm going to draft ye old Christmas shop.

[00:19:43] It's very cliche that our family always gets an ornament every trip, but these things mean so much to us. And we write the, we always get one that is very specific to the trip we're on. So we wait to go to the Christmas shop at Disney Springs until the end of our trip. When we've maybe had, maybe we had like a really specific character encounter that we didn't expect or enjoyed a ride that we didn't expect or something that happened on that trip that we can define the trip by. And that's the ornament we get. And I'm not kidding when I say that there are

[00:20:13] thousands of ornaments. If you have one specific character or experience or moments of your trip that you want to replicate in an ornament, it will be in this shop and you can get them customized. They're beautiful writing and it doesn't matter what you need. It's going to be there. You know, we have the most perfect ornament from every trip from the shop. And in addition to that, they have other decorations and trains and monorails and, and just other things you can really enjoy.

[00:20:38] So I love that it's there. It means a whole lot to me personally and my collection of Disney trip ornaments. Just, it's just part of our family DNA at this point. So I'm happy to, I'm happy to draft that one. I love the Christmas shop over at Disney Springs too. And gosh, I love going in there and just looking around, but I hate going in there with my kids. And so I never get a chance to, but it is, I think that they probably have more selection there even than the one in magic kingdom. Do you think?

[00:21:05] Definitely. Yeah. The Christmas shop at magic kingdom is cool and we've gone in there, but it's pretty small. The Christmas shop at Disney Springs. I'm not kidding when I say thousands, I've gone in with the most outlandish idea. Like we had a really great experience on the three caballeros, which is funny, you know, the remarkable ride. And I was like, that's the ornament we have to have this year. I was like, they've got to have it. If they have it anywhere, it's going to be in sure enough, they had it, you know, anything you want, it's going to be there and mark your trip so

[00:21:31] wonderfully there. And I just, I love it. It's in, it's in a convenient spot in my opinion. It's kind of like off in the corner out of the way. I really like it. I love that. Okay. Well, that brings it back to me. And I was also thinking of drafting my store for this round. I'm taking world of Disney because you're crazy not to take world of Disney, right? With the ditch. What is he like a stitch

[00:21:57] statue on top and he spits water at people going by? That's great. But world of Disney is a giant store of every Disney souvenir you could ever imagine. And for me, if I'm going to Disney Springs, it's usually because we need to go to world of Disney for something. I'm not usually buying souvenirs terribly often as a local, right? But it's like, oh, the kids need a new pair of Crocs. Okay,

[00:22:24] let's go to world of Disney. Yeah. Yeah. I'm taking world of Disney because it's just a giant store with everything Disney you could ever imagine. Yeah. It is the biggest, biggest Disney store of all time. And when I said we only go to like two or three shops, world of Disney is always one we go to, but honestly, I am hit with the worst anxiety when I go and this one's more justifiable than the cars. That is such a busy store. It is chaos from the moment you walk in. It is typically where I let my

[00:22:51] kids pick their souvenir from the trip. You know, it's just easier to get it there than in the parks and lug it around. And the selection is broader. But man, that is a, that is a crowded room. It is for sure. Is it my turn? Yeah. And you get your round two and, or your round three and four picks coming up. Okay. World of Disney is the Walmart super center of Disney souveniring, right? It's going to find pretty much everything that you find in the parks at world of Disney. But for my

[00:23:21] real Disney style girlies, and I know you're one Allie, where are you shopping? We're shopping at the Disney co-op. These are going to be like the special designer collections that they do with like Tommy Bahama or Lily Pulitzer. This is going to be a mix of a dress shop. These are going to be things for your pets. This is going to be like great denim with Mickey and Minnie all over it.

[00:23:47] This is the place you want to shop. If you're looking for something super unique, it literally has something for your home, for your pet, for your phone, for you, for your husband, everything. This is a great store. And I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something just more on the stylish side. Yeah. So I mentioned, I go to three stores and this is the three of them. Oh, but wait, I was going to wrap it back to world of Disney is Walmart and the Disney co-op is

[00:24:14] target. Totally. The marketplace co-op is really unbelievable. You do find the coolest things in there. I do find it a little hit or miss. Like sometimes I go in and I'm like, there's nothing in here for me. And other times I go in and I'm like, I need to drop five grand in the store right now. Like it's, it's great. It's, it's vintagey and it's cool. And it's, yeah, I, I love it in there and it's not enough people know about it. Marketplace co-op. And I like these three,

[00:24:39] these three choices because they're not big store brands. They're, they're very Disney, but they're very uniquely Disney. And that's what I think is best of Disney Springs when it comes to shopping. Okay. I get to go again, my wild card. I'm going to be super broad with this because it encompasses so many amazing things. And it's one of my favorite times to go to Disney Springs and that's Disney Springs during the holidays. And here's why the trail of trees,

[00:25:07] all of these seasonal offerings that are like at the, the kiosk at Amarette's bakery. It just feels like a super special place to go to, especially it's very heightened during the holidays with the lights everywhere, the music playing, hopefully the weather's a little bit cooler. Jock Lindsay's hanger bar does a holiday overlay Christmas bar, basically where you can sit

[00:25:34] under Christmas lights and enjoy seasonal cocktails. It is the best time to go. I mean, don't get me wrong. It's very people-y and you kind of have to strategize when you're going to go during that time, but it it's fantastic if you do. There's even a virtual queue for Santa at Disney Springs. So that, I mean, like it's, it's legit. That's such a great, that's such a great pick. I'm kind of angry about it because it was on my, it was on my list here. Um, but I didn't go early

[00:26:04] enough. So kudos to you. Good job. Disney Springs at the holidays is a wonderful thing to experience. If you're going to be there, I wouldn't underestimate it. All right, Katie, that's going to go to you. All right. Well, I am going to pick my snack or dessert now. And whenever I'm thinking about a day at Disney Springs, whether I'm there with friends, whether I'm there with my kids, or even if I'm

[00:26:27] just hanging out by myself, the one thing that I want every time, you know what I'm going to say. Woody's Pop-Tart. The one thing, no, they don't even have those. I wish they did. But even if they did, I would still choose what I'm about to choose. So if you go to Everglazed, which is a donut shop at Disney Springs, and it's like situated right beside Splitsville. It's actually, I believe they're

[00:26:55] both on the vegan menu. There's a purple rain donut and a purple rain chai. And they're actually purple colored because they're made out of purple ube, like purple yams. And they taste completely amazing. I personally am not vegan, but hats off that vegan food can taste that great. Um, I love

[00:27:19] the purple rain donut and I get the purple rain iced chai. And I just sit my giant donut on top of the cup and enjoy. That is going to be my pick is the purple rain donut and iced chai. I'm just going to mention this because I don't feel like people know about it. And it probably won't make our list, but I do think it's something super cool. Have you guys ever heard of Aaron McKenna's? Have you Allie? Cause I know that you used to own a bakery at Disney Springs and

[00:27:48] it's all vegan, soy, gluten-free, dairy-free. Like if you have allergy people in your family that still want something sweet and unique, you should definitely check it out. And you can even order things to be delivered at a lot of the, like, you know how you can order cakes and stuff ahead of time. You can actually order from here for your allergy people to be delivered to restaurants all over Disney property. Yeah, that's cool. I didn't, I didn't even realize that. Say the name of it

[00:28:16] again. Aaron McKenna's. Aaron McKenna's. Interesting. I love that you casually just dropped that. I own a bakery. I did own a bakery. Maybe I'll share some pictures of my, my stuff. My wife and I owned a cupcake shop for years. I'm on a little bit of a health journey. So I just think it's cool that like if I do want to indulge in something sweet that there's still something for me. Yeah, that's great. Um, but I'm going to go somewhere. Not that I am going to,

[00:28:41] I it's my turn. So I'm going to go to dessert. Gideon's was going to be my number one pick here. That's gone. So my next pick I'm equally excited about. I feel good about drafting this for dessert and it's Amaretz Patisserie. Dang it. This is a great, great place for a couple of reasons. Number one, they have a cake decorating experience about like an hour and a half long. And I think it's another

[00:29:08] one of those unknown things that you can do at Disney. People are always looking for clients are always asking for the unknown, rare experiences that people may not know about. And I think the cake decorating class at Amaretz is a really cool, unique thing. My wife loves decorating cakes. This is perfect for her, you know, and at some point when it's just the two of us on a trip, we'll probably do it. Although I think the kids actually are at an age now where they would like it.

[00:29:34] So Amaretz Patisserie cake decorating is great, but also the menu, they do these limited time offerings. They will follow times of year and movie trends. Currently they're offering a Moana to cake bar as a recording Moana to is out and all the rage. And so they have a special dessert to pay homage to that. And then they also have their holiday exclusives going on right now, which I just think is great because if you're going to be there this time of year, you want to go to a really great

[00:30:00] dessert shop. They have a Christmas snickerdoodle cookie croissant. That's right up my alley. And if that's not the type of thing you like, they have like peppermint swirl cheesecake, gingerbread, hot cocoa, along with their signature things. They have the Mickey domes and the mini domes and things like that. So Amaretz Patisserie for experience, for desserts. This is a staple of Disney Springs as well. I feel great about it. So excited. You are specifically picking it for your snack. For my snack

[00:30:26] slash dessert category. Yeah. Okay. Hold on, hold on, hold on. I thought you had to pick a specific product in the snack and dessert category. No, but you go, you move forward with your ube, gingerbread, whatever you just said, donut. I would still choose it, but I'm just trying to clarify. Yeah, clarify that you have ever glazed and you're, and specifically. Allie, I want to mention that Amaretz is also a

[00:30:51] place that you can order cakes to be delivered to your resort, restaurants, et cetera. Those dome shaped Mickey cakes. I mean, who doesn't want one of those on their birthday? I think they just need 72 hours notice or something to do that, but you can order them there or you can call ahead. So I think that's pretty cool. The other cool thing about it is you can do a mobile order. Like if you're at Disney Springs and they also have, this is not part of my selection, but they also have like a food

[00:31:18] menu really limited because they are a dessert place, you know, primarily, but you can get like a really good sandwich, like a roast beef sandwich on mobile order. So I am taking it in dessert, but I think it's important to know that that's also part of what they offer. Okay. I am going to, I get another pick. There's not a lot left. I've got, I know where I'm going. I just don't know

[00:31:43] what I'm taking. I'm going to wild card. I am down to two that I would like to take in my wild card. Actually three. I think I'm going to take, oh man, this is hard. I'm, I'm definitely going to draft what I think, but if all of the things on my list aren't mentioned, I'm definitely going to mention them at the end of the show to make sure they get some love. I think for experience, I mean, excuse me for wild card, I'm going to go ahead and take the hot air balloon, the hot air balloon

[00:32:13] for wild card. This is the Disney Springs emblem. You know, the hot air balloon is what you see floating. You can see it from all over Disney world, you know, specific locations. You can see that air balloon in good weather. I think it's something like 10 mile radius. You can see when you, when you find a place with a good view and you can see maybe tower of terror, the top of tree of life or summit plummet over at lizard beach, when you can see Disney world from up above, I know riding in a hot air

[00:32:41] balloon is typically something that a lot of people want to do. And this certainly doesn't take the place of that, but it's a less expensive way to at least get in one and go up and see Disney world and have a really unique experience. I can't think of much that would be more memorable than that for your family. So I'm going to take the hot air balloon and I'm excited about it. My husband and daughter just did this while Liam and I sat on a stoop basically and watched them

[00:33:05] go up into this, this hot air balloon. I'm not into heights and apparently neither is my son, but Matt and London had a blast. Yeah. And did they say what they could see? Like what was their favorite thing they saw? They could see our house from up there. Are you serious? You're joking, right? No, I don't know. I don't know. I didn't ask them what they could see. I'm, I'm sure they could see a ton. Every time we go to Disney Springs, Matt is like, all right, Katie, today's the day we do the Aerofile. And I'm like, no, today's not the day because I'm also afraid

[00:33:35] of heights, but he's like dying to do it. I was actually surprised how reasonably priced it was. Yeah. Yeah. It's only like 24.99. I think for kids as we're recording this always check when you're, when you're doing things because you want current pricing things change all the time, but it is an inexpensive experience in Disney terms. I think that's going to go to go. Does that bring us back to me? I am also going to choose my wild card now, and I'm kind of surprised

[00:34:03] that you didn't choose this one, Allie, but maybe it was one of those ones on your short list. I am choosing Drawn to Life, the Cirque du Soleil experience at Disney. Cirque du Soleil is world renowned, right? For their performance and how incredible they are. It's like acrobatics, it's dance. It's like, it's all of these wonderful, beautiful art forms in this show,

[00:34:28] but you can see a specific Disney show at Disney Springs and that's drawn to life. And they have these, it makes it look like animation and, ah, it's just, it's incredible. It's jaw dropping. It's so whimsical. The entire show is just great. So I am taking Drawn to Life from my wild card pick because it is such a good show. You got to get over there and see it. It's a great, it's a great pick.

[00:34:57] And it was on my short list. And the only reason I didn't go with it is because I felt like the air balloon was a bigger draw for all ages in my family specifically. And the experience for my family would be better. But for me personally, yes, Cirque du Soleil and Disney, the Walt Disney company are two of my favorite companies that exist that I think just do what they do better than anyone. And to merge them into this show with this theming, I haven't seen Drawn to Life,

[00:35:26] which is a big problem. And part of it is because I don't know that my littlest ones, they're older now, they might, they might appreciate and enjoy it, but it's more expensive, you know, to get tickets to a Cirque show. And so we haven't, we haven't done it, but it is everything that I want in life. It's Cirque and it's Disney and it's dance and it's performance. And it's, it's awesome. All right. Okay. So just to clarify, that was your wild card, Katie,

[00:35:49] and not your experience. Yeah. She drafted the crystals from that. Oh, that's her, that was her experience. Okay. Yeah. So Carola, this is going to be your last two picks. You are down to two categories remaining. So I'm, I'm going to go forward with my experience and I was really going to talk up Amaretts cake experience, but I know you already mentioned that. So I don't want to harp

[00:36:14] on it some more, but I do think it's like, I feel like pretty often we get questions about what to do with those older teenager kids. And that to me is like number one for them is to take them to Disney Springs, but also to do this experience. But I'm going to go with a very popular experience. I have never done it, but there was definitely a time when my, both of my children would have loved it.

[00:36:40] And that is the Lego experience at the Lego store, which we haven't mentioned yet. I'm sure that's on somebody's store list, but you can build your own person. It's super inexpensive and kids that love Legos, boys, girls, they adults. This is a super fun, very unique experience. And I definitely think it's worth mentioning. Have you guys done this? Yeah, we haven't done the custom Lego,

[00:37:07] but when we go like on our work trips and things, the Lego store is almost always where I go and get like a very unique Disney Lego set for my kids. And that's what I like to bring back for them. It's right over near world of Disney in that area that I really like to be anyway. And the Lego experience is something I have clients asking me about all the time. They want to know, how do I get to do it? How do I reserve it? How do I get in line? It's popular. Not only that, but how iconic are the figures outside the Lego store? Like your boyfriends in Legos,

[00:37:36] Kylo Ren's out there, Elsa's out there. I think, isn't the diet, is the dinosaur still in the water or am I thinking of like, yeah, right? I mean, those are things I remember from when I was a kid. Yeah, it's awesome. Like a store experience is really cool. Yeah, I love the statues. Okay. And then my last pick has to be a snack and you guys picked some really good ones. I'm going to

[00:38:03] pick one that is super nostalgic to myself. And that is the Ghirardelli soda fountain because it was there when Disney Springs used to be downtown Disney. I just remember going there and waiting a really long time for a really amazing ice cream sundae with all the toppings. And that is my choice for snack. Don't you think that it's Ghirardelli? Ghirardelli. What did I say? Ghirardelli?

[00:38:30] Yeah, I have never had that, but it does look delicious. Ice cream is not really my thing, but I mean, Ghirardelli chocolate is my thing for sure. Yeah, you can't argue with chocolate, right? Yeah. I'm sure Stacey will tell me how to properly pronounce it. Oh, for sure. By the way, you guys, you should hear number one, Stacey was super worried about us doing this episode and only talking about shopping, which we have barely done. And she hates to shop.

[00:38:57] So she's like, you guys have to, you know, make it known that it's not just a shopping center, right? Okay. I think we've done that. But she also tells us how many ums and likes we use. And she, she harps on us about that. I can't spell, I can't say things right. Yeah. You know, shout out to Stacey. We love you. Making us sound good all the time. All right. Katie, your last pick. You got one more to grab.

[00:39:23] My last pick is table service. And I strategically left it last because I feel like Disney Springs has so many amazing table service places that I knew that even if I didn't get to choose at first or second, I'd still have lots to choose from. But that being said, I'm going to choose true to me.

[00:39:45] And I'm going to pick a fan favorite, a family favorite, a kid favorite, and you can only do it at Disney Springs. I'm taking T-Rex Cafe. And I'm glad you did. I'm glad you did. Yeah, go ahead. Love it. So if you've never been to T-Rex Cafe before, it is kind of like a rainforest cafe. Like you have the animatronic animals and stuff, but at T-Rex Cafe, they're dinos. They have a meteor shower

[00:40:15] that comes in every like 20 minutes or something like that. And it's great. It's wonderful. My kids love the atmosphere of the restaurant. They're content to sit there in the restaurant. Let me repeat that again. My kids never sit still and behave in a restaurant and they will sit in T-Rex Cafe, which is one reason why I love it, right? Because they're so entertained by the atmosphere. The bar looks so cool. It looks like a big giant, like octopus looking thing. Like it's so cool.

[00:40:43] On top of that, I personally, as an adult have gone to T-Rex Cafe myself without kids. I have gone there just with friends because- Allie, what do you think about that? I would never go there with friends. I wouldn't ever. I would absolutely never, but I love to. So the thing is about T-Rex is there's too much good food at Disney Springs for me to ever want to eat there. Although when we walk by,

[00:41:10] my son is just like giddy. Like he's just so happy walking by and seeing the big skeleton. They do have a little dig area and you can go. And so we've, we've done T-Rex as like just an experience of going in, seeing the gift shop. They have some really unique little dinosaur gifts, letting my kids do the little dig site, but then not eating there and just kind of seeing and experiencing it that way, but then going and having a meal at the boathouse, which is just right

[00:41:37] down the road. So yeah, I, it's hard to get behind it. It's hard to get behind it as a meal. No, no, no, no. If you've never eaten there, you don't get to have that opinion anyway. Yeah. I like the dig site. They also have like a Build-A-Bear right there in the store that your kids can do with the dinosaurs and stuff like that. But I really love it for the food too. I have never been unhappy with the food that I've gotten there. They give you really giant shareable portions.

[00:42:07] We're usually getting like the nachos, which my whole family of five can share for an appetizer. And sometimes on the menu, they have the, this it's like French onion ravioli and it is amazing. I love the French onion ravioli. I, I love T-Rex whether I'm there by myself or with kids. And so I am wholeheartedly picking T-Rex. I will say for those parents with kids that might have like sensory

[00:42:35] issues, be careful with both rainforest and T-Rex because it does get dark at times and the loud noises. I never realized that one of my children had some sensory issues and we had big meltdowns at both of those restaurants. Yeah. So just a heads up as cool as it sounds and looks sometimes isn't the greatest option. No, I agree. It's definitely something you have to be. That's something to be aware of.

[00:43:02] Yes. It's great experience. Not for me for the food, but yeah, good call. And I'm glad it's mentioned. But the dig site, we have spent hours at that dig site, whether we've eaten there or not. That dig site is bomb. An episode about Disney Springs would absolutely not be complete if we did not discuss T-Rex. People want to go there, you know, but I would just encourage going and then eating somewhere else. People want to go. All right. That's going to lead me to quick service. And I left this for last because I kind of felt like there were a lot of good options that I would be happy with. Did you all know that

[00:43:29] Morimoto Asia has a quick service option? Yeah. Morimoto Asia street food is the quick service option. And it's a lot of ramen and different sort of like apps and things that you can take to go. And to me, if I'm going to eat quick service and it can resemble a meal that would be sit down and be that good of quality. I mean, Morimoto Asia is one of the best sit down restaurants at Disney Springs. So the fact that you can get a quick service version

[00:43:58] is amazing. I absolutely love it. And I'm really excited and thrilled that nobody else took it and that I'm going to end up with it as my quick service. So again, it's called Morimoto Asia street food. That is the quick service. It's like a kiosk and there's like a Korean corn dog, which if you're an adventurous eater, kind of sounds gross, but also good. You can get dumplings and egg rolls and teriyaki. So I just think it's a great real, like a real meal, but in quick service

[00:44:25] form. There's so much good food at Disney Springs. We're going to take another break and then we're going to kind of talk about some of the things we missed, wrap up where we ended with this draft and can't wait to see where we fall. Okay. Let's review where we ended up. In table service, I took the boathouse. Katie took T-Rex cafe and Carla took chef artsmith's homecoming.

[00:44:48] In quick service, I took Morimoto Asia street food. Katie took Gideon's bakehouse and Carla took the polite pig. For store, I took the ye old Christmas shop. Katie took world of Disney and Carla took the Disney marketplace co-op. For snack or dessert, I took Amaretz patisserie. Katie took

[00:45:12] everglazed, specifically the purple rain donut and ice chai. Carla took the gear deli shop, specifically the chocolate soda shake thing. For experience, I took the vintage amp car tours. Katie took crystal wish keepers from Aribus brothers and Carla took the Lego experience. And in wild card, I took the Aerofile hot air balloon. Katie took drawn to life and Carla took

[00:45:39] Disney Springs experience during the holidays. Those are good. I mean, there's so much food, shopping, dessert, fun. We didn't even get to all of it. Obviously I'm excited because you are going to see our picks in our social media this week. You're going to get to vote on who you think won each category and then ultimately who drafted the best Disney Springs overall. Uh, so that's so exciting. I can't wait to hear where y'all fall. And if we miss something, you'll have an opportunity to let us know that as well. So make sure if you're not already following you're there. Some things we

[00:46:08] did not mention. This is a silly one. And this is just for me. I said, we always get a holiday ornament. We also always get, you can go to the Joffrey's coffee shop at Disney Springs and you can buy bags of coffee that are specific to different resorts. You can buy like the Riviera blend, the Tusker house blend. So if you had a restaurant or a resort coffee that you really loved, you can get a bag of it at Disney Springs at the Joffrey's. And then I always get a mug. And so when I get back from my trip, I like, it lasts a little longer because I'm in my new

[00:46:37] coffee mug with my blend of coffee that I enjoyed on my trips. That's something I really love. Some other stuff. We didn't talk about the churro cart. Disneyland is known for their churros and Disney world is known to have the inferior churro, but at Disney Springs, they actually have a churro cart that is more similar to Disneyland. Like they have rotating flavors and things like that. So if you're a Disneyland lover, that might be something you could kind of get a taste of home. I don't know that they're as good as Disneyland, but it's a cool thing and it's only there. What about you guys?

[00:47:05] To say some other big ones we didn't mention was all the entertainment, the stage shows there, there's a movie theater. I mean, how cool is it to go to Disney Springs to see Moana 2 right now, like in theaters. Bowling, there's live music at House of Blues, there's happy hours. To get deals on drinks and appetizers, there's so many options at Disney Springs. I just feel like some of these

[00:47:30] things, like, you know, there's a movie theater there, but you don't necessarily know about some of these other things. So I think it's pretty cool. It's a pretty cool place to hang out. It's a pretty cool place to either go with your kids or go without your kids. Like if I lived as close to Disney as Katie does, and now that she has a babysitter, I would be heading to Disney Springs all the time. Yeah. Heck yes. I have to give a shout out to some of my honorable mentions too.

[00:47:56] So I'm going to give a shout out to Chicken Guy because if I had known that we weren't choosing specific snacks ahead of time, I would have put Chicken Guy in my quick service spot. But it is really good quick service chicken. My kids are always really happy there. They have like dozens of sauces and it's by Guy Fieri. It's really good. Good quality, good portions and everything. I love

[00:48:19] Chicken Guy. Listen, I don't know if this is just the millennial in me or what, but I love Vera Bradley. I have always loved Vera Bradley. But the reason that I like shopping at the Vera Bradley store at Disney Springs is they have the Disney patterns, like the exclusive patterns that you can't get anywhere else. They have the Disney characters. They have the Star Wars. They have like the Harry

[00:48:45] Potter ones and stuff too. And they change out those exclusive patterns. I want to say probably quarterly or every six months or so. Usually if I want something like for my birthday or something like that, my husband's probably getting me a Vera Bradley. So I love the Vera Bradley store at Disney Springs. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I think Disney Springs is a little underrated and I think there's a right and a wrong way to do it. If you find those Nietzsche shops and the best food,

[00:49:13] you know, don't end up eating somewhere that's not going to be great quality because there's so much good to offer at Disney Springs. And if you do it right, you've got a great night to hang and a great place to find these really unique experiences like we talked about. If you just show up to shop, it's not going to be as fun as if you like show up to decorate a cake and ride in the amp a car, you know, I forgot to mention in my little holiday push is the Douglas fir talking tree.

[00:49:36] It's the Christmas tree that is somehow being remotely controlled. And it, it literally is a walking talking Christmas tree on a stand and it goes around playing music, talking to people. It's pretty amusing. I have not seen that, but really cool. The holidays at Disney are super fun. In Florida, you can't go like sledding, you know, like you miss out on those types of fun things,

[00:50:02] but the things you can do at Disney Springs during the holidays, like see those Christmas trees and experience those treats are super fun. That's going to do it for us on another episode of the Moms Behind the Magic podcast. Make sure you're joining us in our social media feeds on Facebook, Moms Behind the Magic podcast, get all of your questions answered. So you feel even more like a pro and until next time we are sending you some fun love and joy and you send us back

[00:50:29] some five-star reviews on Spotify or wherever you listen, hashtag FLJ, and we'll see you real soon.