The Farmers and the Beach Bums Go to Disney

Last week--was it only last week, it feels like it's been months already--we hitched our wagon with all our belongings, tied a cow to the back for milk and headed out on a family vacation to Disney World.

Actually, we flew on AirTran, which made the journey a lot less pleasant for the cow.


We were so excited that our island-dwelling family could join us. All those days on the beach can really wear on a person, so we're really glad they could get away.


Is it just me or does it seem like any time you get a large group of people together, you spend 80 percent of your time eating. For us, this worked out great, because WE ATE FREE THE WHOLE TIME. Oh, yeah. Eat your hearts out Mommy Bloggers on special Disney mommy advisory panels, we had FREE food for our entire trip. See that breakfast at the Magic Kingdom--FREE.

We took advantage of a Disney promotion that offered a free Disney Dining Plan. We didn't even know what a great benefit we had until we did dinner for five with Cinderella and Prince Charming for $20 (we had to pay gratuity on sit-down meals).

This wasn't designed as an advice sort of post but let me give this one tip: If you have the opportunity to EAT FREE at Disney, take it. It's almost like you're losing money NOT booking a trip if you have that offer.

It's a little-known fact that the Blogger service agreement requires all Disney-related posts to include at least two tips. So here's my second: Eat at Disney's best-kept secret restaurant, Sci-Fi Dining at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

We found this fun place online--never noticing the restaurant before in previous (kid-free) trips to the park. This car is out front but inside there is a whole drive-in movie lot full of cars for dining and cheesy 50s "horror" films playing on the movie screen.


We saw lots of princesses, ate like kings, rode the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios at least four times, and sweated like Ohioans who had been dropped off in the jungle. I can't wait to go back.