All Star Sports!

"A team isn't a bunch of kids out to win. A team is something you belong to, something you feel, something you have to earn."

-The Mighty ducks

Coming from Canada and during a low dollar saving money is key to making a Disney trip possible.

The cheapest way to do Disney is to camp at 50USD a night but I am not much of a camper so we did the next best thing, the All Star Sport Resort! The All Star resorts will always be your most affordable hotel option for on property. We chose sports because Jamie is a huge sport fanatic. 

My favorite thing about the all stars is how over the top themed they are! All of the All Stars have a very over the top, cartoon look and theme. 

All Star Sports has 5 sports themed buildings you can stay in which are : football,baseball,tennis,basketball, and surfing. There are 2 pools one baseball themed in the Home Run Hotel you can find a nautical baseball diamond complete with pitcher Goofy and his water cannon and over in , of course Surf Board Bay you can chill out to surf music around the second pool. 

We had originally wanted to stay in either the football themed Touch Down Hotel or the baseball themed Home Run Hotel but upon arrival we had the option of a free upgrade to a preferred room if we stayed in Surf Board Bay. Surf Board Bay ended up being nicer than expected we stayed in a room tucked to the back facing the trees that conceal a little playground. The rooms themselves are a little plain but again this is the lowest budget location so its to be expected I was however a little disappointed we didn't get towel animals which was something I was extremely excited about.

One of the greatest things about this resort is that it is the first of the All Stars on the bus route. So if your there during a slow time when buses are being shared you are more likely to get to and from the parks faster than guests from the other All Stars. I found the bus waits and rides from this location to generally be very fun and fast. The only exception was leaving EPCOT right at closing but of course leaving any park at closing will leave you waiting and if I am not mistaken I believe EPCOT was also the furthest so again wait is to be expected.

One thing I love about Disney resorts is that not only do they give guests quality h2O+  products but h2O+  doesn't test on animals and most of there products are vegan!(http://www.h2oplus.com/category/about+us/faqs.do)

For dinning All Star Sports has one busy food court! Options for vegans include vegan mickey waffles upon request with potatoes or toast for breakfast. For lunch and/or dinner the option is that standard veggie burger with fries, I didn't ask about pasta I did ask about the pizza and sadly they did not have vegan cheese but you could order veggie toppings no cheese. The food court as I mentioned is crazy busy most of the time but I still ate there almost daily I love mickey waffles and potatoes! 

Over all we both loved staying at All Star Sports Jamie doesn't want to stay anywhere else ever! I however do want to try POP Century which has more vegan options and/or The Art Of Animation because of how decorative their rooms are!

For further reading on the specs of the different resorts checkout http://www.wdwinfo.com/

Cinderella's Royal Table : Dining with Royalty

"No doubt you saw the whole pretty picture in detail. 

The young prince bowing to the assembly. Suddenly, he stops. 

He looks up. For lo... there she stands. The girl of his dreams. 

Who she is or whence she came, he knows not, nor does he care, for his heart tells him that here, here is the maid predestined to be his bride."

-The Grand Duke (Cinderella 1950)

Cinderella's Royal Table is located as it should be right inside of Cinderella's Castle. When you enter that castle your royal family will be greeted as such and you will receive your royal invitation to dine with the princesses (a little ticket with your parties information on it). You shuffle into line to meet Cinderella before heading upstairs to the dining room. Fun fact while your in line look around, up and down you should be able to find some of Cinderella's friends have joined her in the royal life, that's Gus Gus and Jaq you can spot.

After meeting her highness 

Cinderella you take the spiral stair case up to the dining room. CRT is a signature dining experience so it is pricey, very pricey if you are paying out of pocket you are looking at up to 75$ per person (price does depend on age and time) or if your on the DDP 2 sit down credits. So this location is usually followed by "Is it worth is?". I would argue yes. More for the atmosphere than anything else.

 CRT is a character dining experience during which you get to meet 5 princesses including Cinderella. If you were to wait in line to meet each of the princesses separately you could easily spend an entire day just due to wait time of 20-60mins per character. A part from that you are getting the chance to dine in a castle! 

Your meal also comes with your choice of a wand and wishing star or a sword, they do tend to show gender bias on this but don't feel weird asking for which ever you want it was noticable during the make a wish ceremony that some boys felt left out as they waved their swords around like wands because they had no wand. If your an adult don't let them forget you, you are also entitled to your souvenir the stars go great in a scrapbook! 

We chose to do CRT for breakfast the main perk of a breakfast dining reservation particularly at this location is that if your reservation is early enough you can get in at take pictures in front of the castle with little to no crowd! For us this didn't work out as planned however because it was during the ABC Christmas special filming.

So as vegans there really isn't an on the menu option at breakfast other than mickey waffles (totally fine by me though). Our waiter was very courteous he brought us soy milk for our coffee and for our meal we got mickey waffles, potatoes , salad, oatmeal (which was a bit to bland not a fan) and fresh fruit. The good was OK but I was more there to meet the princesses than anything else. 

For lunch and dinner there is an on the menu option of seasonal gnocchi with roasted vegetables eggplant, mushrooms, and squash tossed with gnocchi, arugula, brown butter sauce, and finished with shaved drunken goat cheese and leeks.  Also available with Rice instead of Gnocchi.  As a Vegan Offering without cheese and butter sauce. The lunch and dinner option does sound better but I may again do breakfast so we can do morning photos but if your a foodie I'd say lunch and dinner sound like a better bet.

The princesses are rightfully announced by a trumpet sound, it can be loud in the dining room so you may miss it but you wont miss the princesses themselves, as they enter one by one and begin their tour of the dining room. It can feel like you are being skipped because it is hard to tell what the order they are doing it but be patient your turn will come. Each princess stops at each table for photos and a quick interaction which is really lovely and it feels more natural than the regular meet and greets in my opinion. I will say I wish I had stayed calm and not worried so much about holding them up so I could have gotten better photos I really didn't love any of the photos I got here sadly, but that was totally my own fault.

I would definitely recommend that people make time to do Cinderella's Royal Table if you plan to meet the princesses during your trip it's a much more fun and authentic way to do it compared to waiting in line for a 30sec meet and greet repeatedly throughout your trip. It will save you a ton of time and is one of the most fun ways to meet the characters and get lost in the magic.

Narcoossee's

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

-Walt Disney

I decided to use a quote on dreams because dinner at Narcoossee's really is like a dream. I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people on reddit and disboards for all of my trip planning but particularly in searching for the most romantic dinner I could find and that search lead me to Narccoossee's. 

If you google romantic Disney World dinner most lists rank Victoria & Albert's as first, what I can't help but wonder is who eats there? Seriously that place is can be more than $100 per person! 

If you are that rich that place looks amazing, personally I don't think it's possible for a meal to be worth that much money but I guess I'll never know. 

Tied with Narccoossee's for second most recommended is The California Grill in Disney's Contemporary Resort this restaurant does seem stunning and worth a visit but I could only do one and chose Narccoossee's for reasons I'll go through in this entry.

Narccoossee's is a signature dining restaurant located in Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. Narccoossee's is located on the water and can be seen from where the buses drop you off for the Magic Kingdom, so if you've been and not heard of them you've definitely seen it. As lovely as it appears in the day bright in the Florida sun with a view of palm trees, peaceful water and the distant bustling joy of the Magic Kingdom, night is Narccoossee's really shines!

The interior decor is a classy yet simplistic with a sea side theme , but the real beauty of this dining experience is the location. As I said before while I am sure this is still lovely in the day with their light and airy water side location the evening is when you can really appreciate this restaurant. 

My tofu dish was amazing!

 After listening to the lobby band and pianist for sometime in The Grand Floridian lobby which I also highly recommend doing before hand, we strolled a long the beach and back around for our 9pm at Narccoossee's. We arrived a bit early for our ADR and seated a little early as well. Narccoossee's has an entire vegetarian  menu and the majority of it can be vaganized ! When we were seated there was a bit of a mix up with the menu's because vegan comes up as an allergy from special diets to the restaurant first we were given the special allergy menu which is also available however nothing on that is vegan. Our waitress asked what our allergy was so I didn't even have to point out what happened as soon as I said we are vegan she said she had another menu she'd bring.

 I was so happy to see an entire vegetarian menu even if some wasn't vegan, what progress! 

My partner Jamie got a light oil based pasta dish and I got an Asian inspired tofu dish.

At 9:15 just after we had ordered the Electrical Water Pageant sailed by our window. The Electrical Water Pageant is one of Disney's lesser known shows, similar to the electrical parade in the magic kingdom, or if your from southern Ontario like me, like a floating version of The Festival Of Lights. 

Fairy tale-esque creatures and nails made up of sparkling lights float through the night sky tethered to nearly invisable boats glide around the Seven Seas Lagoon, a moment in which this body of water really lives up to it's name. 

As the water pageant ended our food was served. It's hard to call but I am going to say something controversial here, the food was better than trails end's off menu specials. For those of you who know Trails End as a mere buffet and not for the hidden treasure it 

really is all I can say is, subscribe cause it's a coming!

Jamie's pasta dish

 Narccoossee's food and atmosphere the whole experience was hands down the best dining experience of our trip. As we ate we heard that special music and knew it was time to take our champagne out to the veranda, Wishes was about to begin. Narccoossee's as a breath taking view of Wishes the full sky is open, the castle's towers are peaking out above the entrance area which is as close to empty as possible just across the lagoon. To add to the magical view Narccoossee's pumps in the sound track for the full experience. Let me tell you, absolutely nothing is more magical then standing in your loved one's arms out on that white veranda, with champagne in hand and watching the Wishes spectacular while it reflects off the dark lagoon.  Perfection.

I thought about including a picture of the view but none co

uld do it justice, this is something that can't be captured only experienced.

We did this one on our last night and I cannot picture a perfect story book ended to what was the best week of my life.

Be Our Guest!

Put our service to the test 
Tie your napkin 'round your neck cherie, 
And we'll provide the rest 

-Be Our Guest

I decided to review Be Our Guest first not because it was the best but because this is the parks most popular restaurant, to get a dinner seat you usually have to book the full 180 days in advance, sure some people will wait and still manage to get in but it's a real gamble. I woke up at 6am, 180 days in advance and made all my ADRs my best friend woke up at 8 the same day or day after and could not get in for dinner, she either did lunch or and early dinner I don't remember but for me dinner has to be after 5pm . 

Our ADR (Advanced Dining Reservation) was for 7:35pm one thing we did that isn't in direct relation to dining but I cannot recommend enough is we planned to do enchanted tales with Belle just before our dinner and I highly recommend doing the same if your a Beauty and The Beast fan regardless of if you have children or not. Before my trip most sites were very vague on Enchanted Tales With Belle so the whole thing was a really big surprise to me so I wont go into detail I don't want to ruin it but I will say this is a great way to meet Belle and adults don't feel awkward jump into the magic.

Even the exterior to this restaurant is breath taking. Its a really an impressive optical illusion, it looks like you are at the gates at the bottom of a mountain with the castle at the top of the mountain in the distance and when you enter through the doors in the bottom of this mount it genuinely feels as though you've entered the castle you were just admiring.

When you enter the foyer you have been transported through space and time into a real life fairy tale you can see a head of you the grand ballroom you grew up envisioning right out of the film. I really cannot adequately describe how perfect the decor is. To add to the splendor we went at Christmas so there was a beautiful tree topped with Angelica from an Enchanted Christmas. The back wall of the ballroom is walled with floor to ceiling windows that allow you to look out into the enchanted forest I don't know what the weather is usually like in the forest but while we were there is was snowing. We were guided to our seats in the ballroom.
There are three dinning rooms you can choose from when making an ADR at Be Our Guest, The West Wing, The Ballroom and The Castle Gallery. When looking online I had a hard time choosing between The West Wing and The Ballroom and thought The Gallery was really lacking and I would not want to sit there. We ended up choosing the ballroom and I am glad we did it is glorious. That said after exploring the whole place the other two rooms are also lovely. Next time I am able to go I will choose the West Wing it's quieter and apart from the tables closest to the enchanted rose much more private, also you still get to walk through and see the ballroom without being right in the hustle and bustle. The Gallery in my opinion does have more of a lunch feel to it, however it is much, much nicer in person than the pictures online suggest. The photos online make it appear very plain and while it is less embellished than the other two rooms it does have its own charm to it and the painting on the walls tell you more about the relationship between Belle and the Beast. All of the rooms are good choices so if you don't get your first choice don't be upset it will still be just as enchanting I assure you.
Be Our Guest is worth visiting if only for the decor, that said the food is lackluster. We started with bread and vegan butter with onion soup I am told that sometimes they will have vegan cheese but they did not when we went still this was the best part of the meal, which is kind of sad. For the main we both had the only vegan option which was ratatouille, we both hated it. To make matters worse, and this is our fault really, we were confused about what the Disney dining plan covered so we had to pay for our soups which we wouldn't have ordered had we known. Although I am glad we got the soup because that was basically my meal. From others I have heard mixed reviews on the ratatouille so I am not sure if we just aren't ratatouille people or if it really was that bad, but in my personal opinion despite looking beautiful it was not appetizing at all. I have heard you can get pasta with pasta sauce ( just regular tomato but in Australia& New Zealand tomato sauce means ketchup and I don't want anyone being confused and thinking they will get ketchup noodles). In future visits I'd request the pasta or stick to the soup. Dessert the only option is sorbert unfortunately.

 It's strange here in Canada it's easier to find vegan desserts than vegan meals but in the States it seems easier to find meals than desserts. When I visited the famous Erin Mckenna's in Disney Springs a local woman was talking about what a big deal she makes to come to the springs to visit the bakery because its so hard to find baked goods and here my fiance switched his desserts before anything else because they're easy to get and as he always said "better than the regular versions" and "vegans make up for their lack of meat by nailing baked goods!" . So the lack of desserts was sad especially not being able to have the grey stuff which would be so so so easy to veganize! In fact I am (eventually) going to do any entry on how to make the grey stuff at home and vegan, your welcome.
After dinner you receive a slip so you can meet the Beast on your way out, despite there not being a line when we left this part did feel a bit more rushed than other meet and greets we had throughout the trip.
Be Our Guest is probably one of the best Disney restaurants for experience and ambiance but in all honesty when it comes to the actual food this was the worst dining we experienced during our trip.
So I do recommend going, but order something cheap so you don't end up feeling cheated, soup or pasta if your vegan is my recommendation, if your brave and like when vegetables really taste like vegetables then maybe try to ratatouille.
I hope I haven't come off as too harsh I do still 100% recommend making time for this experience just use caution in your orders.

'Til you shout "Enough, I'm done!"

Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest 

Tonight you'll prop your feet up, 

But for now, let's eat up    

The Yummiest Place On Earth!

Go on, unfold your menu 
Take a glance and then you'll 
Be our guest, Be our guest, Be our guest! 

-Lumiere 

Disclaimer : I am very laid back about cross contamination so still ask your server for clarification if you hold a high standard for purity.

I am going to highlight a couple experiences briefly before giving a quick easy run down of options and will give reviews of the places I tried as a series starting after this post.

Even though this one was prior to Disney its worth warning that in the Buffalo airport I got a black bean patty sandwich from a sandwich shop (I did not double check for egg I just assumed it was fine) regardless of ingredients I recommend waiting until you get to Orlando to eat. It was so gross I was almost scared away from all things black bean.

Savior of the black bean for our first trip was quick service at Pecos Bills, This was my favourite quick service of the trip! Pecos Bill's is a western themed restaurant which features Mexican cuisine. This location offers bean burritos and bean and rice bowls, be sure to specifically request plain white rice the cilantro rice it comes with by default contains dairy. This is one of the few restaurants that has a vegan dessert other than sorbet or enjoy life cookies.

We also went to the Ice Cream Parlor On Main which offers both Rice Dream and Tofutti ice cream. 

Vegan snacks available in the various parks include: Mickey pretzels! Popcorn! Dole Whip! Dark chocolate bars! 

At Disney I really felt I could walk in anywhere and not have to worry all I had to do was ask and vegan options would appear. Keep in mind though some places will be more prepared than others, if you don't call ahead the option you get may not be a full filling as if you had called ahead. 

Most quick service locations feature the basic veggie burger, be sure to double check the patty as they do change them and sometimes the default one will have egg. The standard dessert is enjoy life cookies as the dessert but there are some with more exciting options.

Pecos Bills as I mentioned offers burritos and burrito style bowls in Frontierland. In Hollywood Studios coming in an extremely close second for best quick service is Planet Pizza which offers veggie pizza with vegan cheese, an Italian side salad and you classic enjoy life cookies for dessert.

A 100% must do for all vegans and anyone interested in trying vegan food is Trails End in Fort Wilderness when Chef Tj is working. Currently Chef Tj is off on weekends so make your ADR for a Weekday ideally around 5 before the Hoop Dee Do rush hits due to using a shared kitchen. Tell your server you'd like Chef Tj he will come out and then allow him to surprise you with specialty multi course meal from heaven, 100% cruelty free too!

Easy Parks Guide

Magic Kingdom

Snacks ( Many of these available at various locations throughout all the parks locations given may not be the only location offering):
Hummus & chips, vegetables (without the dip which has dairy), apples (without the caramel which has dairy), fruit cup, and chocolate & regular soy milk at Gaston’s Pub & The Lunching Pad
Popcorn (including caramel popcorn) & Pretzels throughout the parks
Cinnamon glazed almonds & pecans and frozen pineapple bars
Tofutti & Rice Dream at Main Street Plaza Ice Cream Parlor (cone contains honey)
Dole Whip in Adventureland (Fruit flavors only)
Divvies Snacks at Main Street Bakery
Meals:
 Tony’s Town Square - pasta options
Crystal Palace -buffet (select items ask server)
 Peco’s Bills & Tortguga Tavern-Vegetarian Burrito and nachos (the cilantro rice in the burrito has romano cheese in it. Ask for plain white rice instead.)
Cosmic Ray's-Veggie burger and sandwich, fries in the dedicated fryer, 
green beans, gluten-free chocolate chip cookie, and mango gelato
Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station-Tofu & rice
Columbia Harbor House -Veggie sandwich (the Lighthouse sandwich) with no slaw, vegan chili, fries, and apple pie
Be Our Guest-Onion Soup (no cheese) or Layered Ratatouille  (really did not like)

Epcot

Coral Reef- Gardein ch'kn

America -Liberty InnVeggie burger w/avocado

Germany-pretzels

Japan-Kaki Gori, veggie rolls

Norway- Kingla Bakeri in Norwaysweet almond pretzel

Sunshine Seasons- Korma, packaged snacks & cookies
vegetable sushi,tabouli and hummus roll ups
middle eastern sampler, vegetable barley soup
tofu noodle bowl – no cracker,Sushi veggie roll

Morocco-veg platter – no pita, no lentil salad
China-mango tea

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood and Vine-tofutti ice cream (you have to ask) with strawberry syrup

50’s Prime Time – spaghetti with tomato sauce, tofutti sundae

Backlot Express-veggie sandwich on multigrain ciabatta – pesto is vegan

black bean salad,baked fries,southwest salad no chicken

Prime Time Cafe-veggie burger,vegan shake

Pizza Planet ! As previously mentioned does vegan pizza with vegan cheese and side Italian salad

Animal Kingdom

Dino Cafe - Veggie burger

Pizzafari- vegan cheese

Tusker House, Africa

 Vegan Waffles (upon request), Various Potatoes, Fresh Fruit

Option: Sautéed Vegetables, Couscous, Tabouleh, Tofu with Zucchini, Samosas, Various Dips, Breads

Yak and Yeti Restaurant, Asia

Vegan Option: House Salad, Vegetable Lo Mein with Tofu

Harambe Market, Africa

Vegan Option: Chickpea Salad, Roasted Broccoli, Tomato Salad (all found at Kitamu Grill)

Mickey waffles throughout the parks and resorts (vegan upon request)

Starbucks is also available throughout all the parks and the vast majority of drinks can be made vegan with soy or coconut milk.

For more detailed lists (price ranges included) check out http://vegandisneyworld.com/