For a luxurious stay with top-notch service, try the Four Seasons Resort Orlando The Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World is the best deluxe resort in the area, with comfort, amenities, and personal service that far surpass anything of the Disney Deluxe resorts. The Spanish revival–inspired architecture calls to mind Florida’s grand resorts of…
Author: Liliane Opsomer
Liliane Opsomer is the coauthor of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids and a freelance writer.
She is passionate about travel, Disney, fairies, hobbits and all things magical. Some of her favorite destinations are Orlando, Anaheim, Middle Earth, Belgium, Sydney, Dresden, Patagonia and Hawaii. Liliane lives in Birmingham, Alabama and visits the parks several times a year.
Cabana Bay Beach Resort: Universal’s First On-site Value Resort
Cabana Bay Beach Resort where Nostalgia meets Modern Times Cabana Bay Beach Resort is Universal’s first on-site value resort. The theme is mid-century modern, with lots of windows, bright colors, and period-appropriate lighting and furniture; and vintage cars parked in front of the hotel. The lobby is huge offering multiple lounges, a business center and…
Disney’s Hollywood Studios Live Entertainment
There have been lots of closings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and indeed the current offerings at Disney Hollywood Studios are meager. Sure there were the big announcements at the D23 Expo, but it will take a while before we will be able to enjoy eith Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land. Sadly no opening…
Grey Stuff for the Master’s Cupcake – A Recipe
We all remember the famous lyrics “try the grey stuff, it’s delicious, don’t believe me?, ask the dishes!” from Beauty and the Beast. You may even have had some grey stuff at Be Our Guest restaurant, but did you ever try to make some at home? I had the grey stuff in form of what…
Prince Charming Regal Carousel – What’s in a Name?
A look at Prince Charming Regal Carousel Prancing horse comes to my mind when I think about the carousel and only because of the scene in Saving Mr. Banks when Walt makes the author of Mary Poppins, P.L.Travers, ride the carousel. “Get on the horse Pamela “ he said, and quite frankly this is what generations…
A Celebration of “National Days” Featuring Our Favorite Disney Goodies
You know how every day is some “special day.” Recently we’ve celebrated National Cat Day, National Hug Day, and even National Donald Duck Day! However, there are also many great days revolving around food! We all know that Disney is full of great snacks and other goodies that are stand outs. We all have our…
An Overview of Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is spread out over 200 acres surrounding Barefoot Bay Lake. This mid-priced resort is modeled after resorts in the Caribbean –Trinidad North, Trinidad South, Martinique, Barbados, Aruba and Jamaica. Each village has its own quiet pool and buildings are painted blue, lime green, and sherbet orange. Check-in is at Custom House near Barbados. In…
Kicking Off Summer or How to Survive 24 Hours at the Magic Kingdom
Kicking Off Summer or how to survive 24 hours at the Magic Kingdom The fourth edition of the 24-hour event at the Magic Kingdom started with the Frozen team opening the park at 6:00 a.m. as this year’s round the clock madness introduced the “Coolest Summer Ever,” a promotion that includes all sort of “Frozen”…
Star Wars Weekends – May the Force be with you!
Help me Obi Wan I am Stuck in a Tractor Beam Full disclosure: I am a Star Wars fan and Disney’s annual Star Wars Weekends attract me like a moth to the light. I can’t seem to get enough of the shows, celebrity appearances and especially the character sightings. I will forgo any thrill ride…
Pixie Dust Challenge – Review of the Inaugural Race
Review of the inaugural Pixie Dust Challenge at Disneyland 2015 Pixie Dust Challenge: 2 races and 3 medals later First a bit of history: Walt Disney World staged its first long-distance road race – a full marathon in January of 1994. The event drew over 7,00 runners and their families to the Kingdom of the…
Magic Kingdom Kodak Moments
The Magic Kingdom has plenty of Kodak moments but it is also one of the most difficult parks to photograph. The biggest problem is that the park is crowded shortly after it opens. I usually arrive 30 minutes prior to opening and move to whatever area I want to shoot as soon as the rope…
Character Watching at Epcot
Character watching has become a pastime. If meeting characters is important to your family, arm yourselves with a camera and an autograph book and let’s get started. While Epcot has super headliner attractions such as Soarin’ and Mission: Space, the park does not have nearly as many attractions as the Magic Kingdom. It is…