Tip Tuesday: The BEST Burger in the World

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

I've often heard various discussions about where the best burger in Walt Disney World can be found.  I've often wondered where I might find that delectable delight that is an outstanding burger.

It's time I entered this debate and render my own opinion about the best burger in Walt Disney World.

Since the Olympics are taking place in London -- let's grant some medals here.

Bronze Medal (tie):  Pecos Bills and Beaches and Cream

 

Now I'm sure that already some of you are saying "WHAT?!?!?"  Pecos Bills doesn't take the Gold??? Others are saying the same thing about Beaches and Cream.  Hear me out.

I think Beaches and Cream (located at the Beach Club Resort) offers a better burger (pictured above), but Pecos Bills (located in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom) has, by far, the best options for toppings -- especially the sautéd mushrooms and onions.  Both burgers are cooked to perfection - nice and juicy.  Taken together, they tie for third place.  I will give a side award to Pecos Bills -- best burger in the Magic Kingdom.

Silver Medal:  Rose and Crown

But the best burger in any theme park goes to an Epcot restaurant.  The royal burger at the Rose and Crown Pub in Epcot's United Kingdom Pavilion is topped with bacon, cheese and fried onions.   This burger is huge.  The fried pickle on the side adds just that extra bit of fried goodness.  The English chips (fries to us yanks) help this burger make it to the podium at the silver medal position.  It's a bit pricey, but it is exceptionally good.

Gold Medal:  The Fountain

Taking the Gold is the Fountain Burger at the Fountain at the Dolphin Resort.  If the Rose and Crown burger is huge, this burger is gigantic!  Topped with everything you can think of including chili, sautéed onions, mushrooms, mounds of bacon and more, this burger really is make for two.  It's that big.  The chips on the side are an afterthought -- there's so much burger to eat.  Add one of the Fountain's legendary shakes and you're in heaven.

So there you go -- the 2012 Best Burger Champion goes to the Fountain.  What do you think?  Where's your best burger?  Post a comment!

Tip Tuesday: Going Deluxe

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

This week, I wanted to begin a discussion about the benefits of staying at a deluxe resort on property, as opposed to a value or moderate resort. I have four personal favorite deluxe resorts, and I'm going to share why I feel these resorts provide so much value to justify the extra cost.

Grand Floridian
First up is the Grand Floridian Resort (my #1a favorite). Located on the western shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon near the Magic Kingdom, the Grand Floridian is the flagship of the deluxe resorts at Walt Disney World. As such, it is often the most expensive. The GF offers a number of fantastic features that make it worth staying there, especially during certain times of the year. First and foremost is location, location, location. The GF is one monorail stop away from the Magic Kingdom, something that's especially handy for families with younger children.

The resort is elegantly themed with one of the most beautiful lobbies on property. The GF also has one of the best resort-based character dining options (1900 Park Fare) featuring different characters for breakfast and dinner. In all, the Grand Floridian offers the most elaborate fine dining of any resort with Narcoosee's, Citricos and the ultra-upscale Victoria and Albert's.

During the Christmas season, the Grand Floridian truly shines with the best resort holiday theming on property bar none. The gingerbread house at the GF is worth it alone. Add in the live holiday music, the gigantic lobby tree, the Photopass studio shots in the evening with the tree as a background and the innumerable poinsettias all over the place, you'll quickly see why the GF is the best place to be during the holidays, especially during the value season.

Now, all this being said, the GF is not the best option year round. During the most expensive holiday season (between Christmas and New Years), I don't recommend the GF as the cost skyrockets. The GF, however, is my #1 recommendation for the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's value season and you can't find any better resort, especially if Disney offers a good discount.

While I like the GF, it's not my #1 recommendation for the warmer (ok, blistering!) summer months. That's because there's another resort that's my #1b favorite...

The Yacht/Beach Club
If you're coming to Walt Disney World during the hotter half of the year, you need to stay somewhere where you can cool off, and there's no better place than the Yacht/Beach Club resorts -- and that's because of Stormalong Bay. Stormalong Bay is the largest resort pool on property and it's also the largest sand-bottom pool in the world. Stormalong Bay is a mini waterpark in itself and it's fantastic.

Personally, I prefer the Beach Club over the Yacht Club because of the closer access to Epcot (remember, location, location, location). From your room, it's less than a five minute walk to the International Gateway. Also, all the great restaurants and shops at the Boardwalk are only a few minutes away.

The Beach Club also receives a holiday theming overlay during November and December and it's pretty nice as well. Of course, it's more beach-oriented and is not as grand as the GF. Still, the Beach Club is a nice option for the winter months. Oh, and don't think that you can't enjoy Stormalong Bay during the cooler months -- the water's heated!

And now for the others...
The GF and Beach Club are my two favorite resorts, but I also really like three other resorts: The Contemporary, the Polynesian and the Boardwalk. I like these for some of the same reasons I like the GF and the Beach, and these reasons are:

Location, location, location -- the Polynesian and Contemporary are on the monorail and offer quick access to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. The Boardwalk is within walking distance of Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Each resort has outstanding theming, large rooms and excellent dining options.

So why should you think deluxe?
Well as I've said several times, location, location, location and theming, theming, theming.

Think about it. How much time do you spend waiting for a bus to get to a resort? The average is 20-30 minutes (each time). How much time do you spend waiting for a bus to go back to your resort? Depending on when you're leaving the park, it could be quite a long time - upwards of an hour. Staying at a deluxe resort literally can save you several hours during your trip (to say nothing about being much less stressful). It's a lot nicer to be able to walk back to your resort (Yacht/Beach, Boardwalk or Contemporary) or take a monorail (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian) as opposed to waiting in a huge line to catch a bus.

And then there's all the other benefits of staying at a deluxe resort that you don't get at a moderate or value.

The first is space. Deluxe rooms are much larger than rooms at value or moderate resorts. You'll appreciate that additional elbow room after being in a small room for a few days. Along with the extra space comes the ability for extra guests. I have a family of 5. That means I really can't stay at any of the value or moderate resorts (Port Orleans Riverside excepted) because they can only accommodate four people. Nearly all the deluxe resorts (Wilderness and Animal Kingdom excepted) can accommodate 5 to six people. It's really nice to keep the family in one room without having to book a second room.

The second is another benefit of location, location, location. Not only do you have a short travel time to get to a nearby park, you also have the ability to watch the evening fireworks, possibly from your room or on the beach. This is especially true for the Magic Kingdom area resorts. The picture shown above was taken from the balcony of our room at the Polynesian in March. You can see the same angle from the beach at the Polynesian -- and the music is piped in. You get another great angle over at the Grand Floridian, especially by the main dock for the resort launches.

You really have to ask yourself how much is your time worth? How much is convenience worth? How much is theming and atmosphere worth?

There's an old saying... once you go deluxe, you'll never want to go back. Personally, I think they're right.

Tip Tuesday: Stormalong Bay

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

On my most recent trip to Walt Disney World, my family and I stayed at the Beach Club. One of the reasons we wanted to stay at the Beach Club was Stormalong Bay - and was it ever worth it!

Stormalong Bay is a huge pool shared by the Beach Club and Yacht Club. It is the largest resort pool on property and could be considered a mini water park in its own right. What makes this pool even more unique is the bottom, which is covered with sand. With about 750,000 gallons of water, Stormalong Bay is the largest sand-bottom pool in the world (as of this post).

Stormalong Bay is a perfect pool for families, especially families with younger children. Aside from one small deep section, the pool is no deeper than 5 feet and in most places is only three feet deep (or less). In the center of the section in front of the Yacht Club is a large sand island (see above). Kids will flock to this section to play in the sand. The entire section is very shallow so younger children will be able to enjoy the water without getting in too deep.

Disney also has several lifeguards posted all through the pool who keep a close eye on what's going on to ensure guests are safe. Other cast members put on scheduled events throughout the day including karaoke, water volleyball and more.

Stormalong Bay provides plenty of thrills for older kids as well. The pool features one of the largest and longest water slides of any Disney resort -- about 150 feet! It's all part of a huge shipwreck on the north shore of Crescent Lake, visible from all the way over at the Boardwalk. It's clear this is a very popular feature based on the lines that form in the middle of the day.

Adults wishing to enjoy some relaxing time will find their niche at Stormalong Bay as well. Located near the middle of the pool area and in front of the Ship Shape Health Club are several hot tubs. These are especially nice after a long day running through the parks.

If you're interested in enjoying Stormalong Bay, you'll have to stay at the Yacht or Beach Clubs. Most times, resort guests can "pool-hop," meaning they can visit other resort pools as they wish. The only exception to this is Stormalong Bay. Cast members at the entrances will ask to see your room key (Key to the World card) to verify you are a current resort guest at the Yacht or Beach Clubs.

Oh, and remember that a pool isn't just for the daytime. Stormalong Bay (in the summer) is open until around 11 p.m., which is perfect for a nighttime swim. In fact, evening is a great time to enjoy the pool (it's lighted) because there are generally fewer people.

Concerned about swimming during those cooler winter months? Don't be. The water is heated. Of course you might not want to get out, but what's life without a little chill here and there.

Is it worth the expense of staying at the Yacht or Beach Clubs just to enjoy Stormalong Bay?

In my opinion - you bet! Especially during the hot summer months! There are several other benefits to staying at the Yacht/Beach Club besides Stormalong Bay. In fact, the Beach Club now is my favorite Disney resort -- over the Polynesian and Grand Floridian.

I'll write more about the benefits of the Beach Club in a future post.

Until next time -- enjoy Stormalong Bay! The water's perfect!

Restaurant Review: Cape May Cafe - dinner

Now that the trip report for my Dec. 2008 trip is history, I wanted to delve into some reviews of restaurants, resorts and attractions. First up are the restaurants, and first up in that list is the Cape May Cafe (dinner).

The Cape May Cafe is located in the Beach Club resort and offers a character breakfast and a clam-bake-style lunch and dinner. Both are buffet-style. I had the opportunity to dine at the Cape May for dinner one evening with my family. This is a Disney Dining Plan restaurant, requiring one table service credit per person.

As I suggested in a previous Tip Tuesday post, I checked ahead on some WDW fan sites and found the menu for the Cape May. I noticed the kids portion of the buffet offered pretty standard kids fare, including chicken strips/nuggets - so I knew my special needs son would be fine. Lo and behold, when we entered the restaurant, the menu had changed. The chicken strips/nuggets had been replaced with baked chicken legs. This was not good. Fortunately, the salad bar offered fruit and a selection of breads, so my special needs son at least had something to eat.

Once I got past this little change in the game plan, I had a chance to check out the buffet itself. I knew this was a clambake, but I figured there would be some additional seafood options as well. Not quite. The seafood options pretty much are clams, mussels, clams, and did I mention clams? The only other type of seafood available was cold peel-and-eat shrimp (like in shrimp cocktails).

Now clams weren't the only options on the buffet, thankfully. There was a carving station with prime rib and roast turkey. These were expertly prepared and came with some delicious gravies or as jus. Additionally, there were a few options for side dishes (nothing I would expect at a clambake except corn on the cob) including asparagus, squash, zucchini and a type of mashed potato that had some kind of spice included that I couldn't identify. It wasn't bad, though.

As for the kids, the pickings were a bit slim. Cheese pizza, the aforementioned baked chicken legs and mac-n-cheese were the highlights. I was hoping for some fried shrimp or something else kid friendly.

The layout of the restaurant was a bit awkward. The buffet was in a large square in the middle of the restaurant with booths and tables situated around it. As you were in line at the buffet, the quarters were a little tight, nor was there a logical flow around the buffet. Two lines sort of overlapped each other as guests tried to figure out where to find what they were looking for.

The deserts offered were standard fare as well. Guests could choose from the standard selection of cake slices, small tarts, or ice cream.

Of all the restaurants we visited during our Dec. 2008 trip, this was the least favorite. This was partly my fault as I expected more out of the restaurant than I probably should have. Of course, I also had to contend with Disney healthy kick and probably should have anticipated the removal of fried foods.

That being said, I would recommend Cape May to anyone who is in the mood for clams and mussels (like my Dad who loves mussels). They had TONS of clams and mussels of different types (except fried). If, however, you're looking for a larger variety of seafood, Cape May might not be what you're looking for. If you're coming with kids, be forewarned, the kid's fare is limited.