DisLove E128 the Best Ice Cream at Disney World in 2023 and Michelle from Enchanted Dreams Boutique

Vanessa and Kris are joined by Michelle from Enchanted Dreams Boutique.  Michelle is originally from Kansas City, Missouri and is a mom of two and abuela to 5 grandbabies.  She is a former Cast Member, turned small business owner after being furloughed/laid off.  Her business offers custom door decorations, in-room décor and gift baskets for your Disney vacations.

Earlier in the episode, Kris and Vanessa discuss the best places to get ice cream at Walt Disney World.

• Enchanted Dreams Facebook Page
• 2019 DisLove Ice Cream Episode 
• Disney Food Blog ranking of the best ice cream spots at Disney World

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to the Dis Love podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson.

Speaker 2: 0:09

I'm Chris Johns. We

Speaker 1: 0:10

Would like to welcome you to show number 128 and for any listeners joining us for the first time, our show features things we love at Disney. And in each episode we have a guest who creates Disney Magic for our listeners at home or on their Disney vacation. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney Magic into your life. And as a reminder to our listeners, we appreciate if you take time to leave us a review on Apple Podcast or any other platform where you listen that helps new listeners find us. And Chris, before we get started, I think we have a message.

Speaker 2: 0:43

Yes. And that message is save money. Our friends@orlandovacation.com want you to save money on your next trip to Central Florida. For most folks who are outside of central Florida, you're gonna stay at least a couple of days and you're gonna say 5% when you stay three nights or longer. And you use the promo code dis D I S L O V e. And what's awesome about Orlando vacation.com is that they have properties that can meet every family and situation. If you're doing a family reunion and you're gonna, folks from all across the country come, you can get a gigantic house. If it's just you, like our family services, just three of us, they have a nice, cozy, quaint place for you to stay that is just right in very close to the parks. Again, go to Orlando Vacation net cab, see all the options, book your Stay and save Money

Speaker 1: 1:27

In. On today's show, we are going to be joined by Michelle with Enchanted Dreams Boutique. Her business creates custom door decorations for your resort room and much more. They help you celebrate special occasions or just add a little bit of extra magic to your trips. So we are really looking forward to sharing that with all of you. But before we get started today, we are gonna talk about, I think as all of you know, we talk about food a lot, but we are gonna be talking about one of Chris's favorite foods. Do you know what that would be, Chris

Speaker 2: 1:57

Ice Cream? Yes.

Speaker 1: 1:58

So we are gonna be talking about the best places to find ice cream at Walt Disney World. We have talked about this before, but in the last couple of years there's been some new additions as well as some changes, especially since Covid. So we thought it would be helpful to share our favorites at Walt Disney World. And we have a few tips from our friends over at the Disney Food blog as well. So just like we've done with a lot of other foods, we're gonna talk about the breakdown at the resorts, at the parks, and then at Disney Springs. Now starting at the resorts, I will say one of the classics that we've gone to for many years is Beaches and Cream. This is over at the Beach Club and it's also a table service restaurant. So it's nice they did expand so there's more space, which it used to be really hard to get into. It still can be hard to get into, but at least with the extra space, there's lots of ability to get in now. Now we have a story from years ago. They have all kinds of great ice cream offerings there, but they have one called The Kitchen Sink, which has every ice cream and every topping available. And Chris, what happened when we got the kitchen sink?

Speaker 2: 3:09

Well, I love mint ice cream.<laugh> and Mint has a propensity to infiltrate in, I don't wanna say taint, but let's say flavor, other flavors with its mintiness.

Speaker 1: 3:20

So we were there with my parents and Chris is the only one that likes mint ice cream. And we were gonna ask for it with no mint ice cream. He said, please, please, please, I wanna have mint ice cream. Well, guess what? Everything ended up tasting like mint, like Chris said. So needless to say, I don't think we finished the kitchen sink because we didn't want the mint flavor. If I, did we finish it? I don't think

Speaker 2: 3:44

We did. Well, there's a lot of ice cream. Yeah,

Speaker 1: 3:45

There's a

Speaker 2: 3:46

Lot of ice cream. I think at that point it was mostly everything was mint flavored ice cream.

Speaker 1: 3:49

Yes. So if you don't want the giant kitchen sink, which as I mentioned has every flavor of ice cream, every topping, there's some other really great ones. And one that I would like to try, which I've had so many people mention, is the No Way Jose Sundae. This one has chocolate and vanilla ice cream, peanut butter, hot fudge, peanut butter and chocolate morsels, and then whipped cream and a cherry. And we love chocolate and peanut butter stuff. So I think we would really like this one a lot. So that's beaches and cream. It's really easy to get to if you're at Epcot. We walk over there quite often when we've had ice cream or had a meal. You can get a burger and then have a ice cream. It's a nice break from Epcot going through the international gateway. Take a nice little break in the middle of the day when it's hot. So beaches and cream is a great option at the resorts. The next one is the pineapple lanai and this is at the Polynesian. And this is great because if you are there for like, if you're staying there or if you're there just for a meal at Kona Cafe or at Ohana, they serve the classic doll whip, which I like Doll Whip a lot, but they also have the pineapple floats. And for those of you who like to drink, they have spiked doll whip as well. So if you're over there for dinner or something and you wanna get a little after dinner cocktail, you can go get a spiced doll whip. And it's kind of nice because this is also an opportunity if you just go and do a monorail tour where you stop at the different resorts, it can be a nice treat to get a doll whip. I like the floats with the doll whip, which is quite tasty. I would say. You're not really a big doll whip person, are

Speaker 2: 5:32

You? No. I'll take a bite of yours, but I'm not gonna order one for myself.

Speaker 1: 5:34

Right. So Chris might not be going out of his way to go the pineapple lanai, but those of you that like Doll whip like myself, you might wanna make a stop here. Now, one that I've read about and we haven't been to is called the Fountain. This is at the Swan Dolphin Resort and I've heard this is a great hidden gem. And going back to mint ice cream, Chris might like this. So it looks like a classic soda fountain. And again, you can leave the through the international gateway and take the boat from the from Epcot and it will make a stop at the Swan Dolphin. Or you could walk, it is a little bit of a longer walk. We stayed at that hotel bef, or we stayed at the Dolphin before. But they have a great variety of shakes and sundaes. And Chris, they have a mint one for you. Listen to this one. They have a grass hopper, which is mint ice cream. It actually has Bailey's cocoa whipped cream. And then it also has a grass hopper cookie on top. So it has a little bit of an adult twist that also have a caramel apple sundae, which people say is amazing. And this one, if you were gonna go to Beaches and Cream, but it's kind of busy, you could just take the boat over or make the short walk over to Swan and Dolphin and check out the fountain. It has great reviews. People say it's really awesome and it's kind of one of those hidden gems. So definitely check that out. And that's also an easy, you can get there fairly easily from Hollywood studios too. The boat also goes from Hollywood studios where you could stop and get ice cream at the end of the day as well. Now we're gonna make our way over to the parks and the first one has become kind of a mainstay stop for Chris, the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. And this is right on Main Street. And guess what do you get at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor?

Speaker 2: 7:22

Oh, I always get a cookie sandwich.

Speaker 1: 7:24

And guess what they're known

Speaker 2: 7:25

For? What are they known for?

Speaker 1: 7:27

They're cookie sandwich<laugh>. So Chris likes to get an ice cream cookie sandwich and he goes and do they let you pick what ice

Speaker 2: 7:34

Cream? Oh yeah. I usually get, I love the chocolate chip cookies and I get cookies and cream ice cream.

Speaker 1: 7:39

So people have also said it's great to get, have them add like a drizzle on top, like a chocolate or peanut butter. Sometimes they don't have the peanut butter drizzle, but you can get any sort of topping. Have you ever gotten hot fudge or caramel on it?

Speaker 2: 7:55

One, no.

Speaker 1: 7:56

That interests you or no? No<laugh>, he just, he's a classic ice cream cookie sandwich guy. So this is of course right on Main Street and it's great because you can get all kinds of variety of things. Do they have a good variety of ice cream? Cuz you always just go get your snack?

Speaker 2: 8:13

I don't really know. I'm sure they do, but I only, I get the same thing every time.

Speaker 1: 8:16

<laugh>. So if you are on Main Street, if you're there in the heat of the day, it's great John just to run over and get a ice cream treat. They also serve a lot of these same treats right at the plaza. The restaurant, which is connected to the backside of it. So it's great if you're sitting down for dinner or lunch. You can also get a nice ice cream treat over at the plaza as well, cuz they're connected to the parlor. Now moving a little bit further into the park, you have Sunshine Tree Terrace. This is more my speed because they do have Dole Whip, but they also have a variety of other things as well. They have a citrus swirl, which where we live, we live near a German town and they do a citrus swirl with the orange and vanilla. And they, Disney is known for this as well. They also have regular Dole whip and strawberry Dole whip. Do you like the orange swirl? Will we get that like in Franklin? It's good? Yes. Yes. So they have that at Sunshine Tree Terrace and they have some really cool floats, which is what a lot of people really go there for. The one is called a lava. You float and this one has straw Fanta strawberry soda. And then they add impassion fruit flavor and then they use the orange doll whip and they put like the Pop rocks candy on top. So that one people say is awesome. And it sometimes goes on and off the menu as of April, 2023. When we're recording it is on the menu, so check it out. If you don't like strawberry soda, there's lots of other float options you can get Root, root beer floats, Coke, Sprite, Powerade. So I'm not a big float person. I'm not really into the texture of afloat. Do you like any floats?

Speaker 2: 10:01

Uh, no. I mean it's just not my go-to. I mean, there's a lot of things in life to eat and a float is not at the top of that list.

Speaker 1: 10:06

So any of you though that it is at the top of your list, definitely go over to Sunshine Tree Terrace. That is a great place to, to get your float fixed. Now moving over to a totally opposite park at Animal Kingdom there is Dino Bite snacks, and as the name indicates, it is in Dino Land. And Chris, they are known for Sundays floats, but they are also known for their ice cream sandwiches. Have you ever gotten a ice cream sandwich in Animal Kingdom?

Speaker 2: 10:34

No. I only go to one place to get

Speaker 1: 10:36

It in. Well, so you might be interested in doing this. They have all kinds of cookie sandwiches and they rotate what cookie sandwiches they have. They have traditional, like your traditional chocolate chip cookie one, but they also rotate. And right now their current one is called the dig ice cream sandwich. It's a, it's vanilla ice cream between two sugar cookies. They have chocolate sprinkles, cookie crumbs, and then they have a white chocolate dinosaur on top. And then they do a variety of seasonal ones. They have a peppermint ice cream sandwich that they do at Christmas time at Valentine's Day. They often do a strawberry shortcake ice cream sandwich. So they have lots of seasonal offerings, but don't worry if you're a more traditionalist like Chris, they do have the traditional chocolate chip cookie and vanilla ice cream as well. Now moving over a little bit deeper into the park over in Africa at tamu tamu refreshments, they have, like for myself, they have Dole Whip, but they have Dole Whip floats. They also have spiked ones with coconut rums. So if you want a little bit of an adult beverage, one that people really like and talk about a lot is the Simba Sunset, which has Dole Whip and then it's topped with watermelon, strawberry and coconut flavored syrup. People say it's really, really awesome. They're also known for a great sundae. It's a brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce. They have trail crunch mix and then white chocolate on top. So that also sounds really delicious. So definitely check that out. And I think we've not really gotten ice cream at Animal Kingdom as hot as that park is.

Speaker 2: 12:15

Yeah, it just not,

Speaker 1: 12:17

We might have to check some of those

Speaker 2: 12:18

Out. We'll have to try. Yeah. But it's just Animal Kingdom is not a place I associate ice cream.

Speaker 1: 12:21

Yeah. So we'll have to check that out next time. Now finally, we're gonna wrap up our stops at Disney Springs. And to start off kind of the classic, you have Garelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop, and I think for years we've gone there. It's been a while since we've gone to Garelli, but we, I don't think we've ever met, had anything bad at Garelli.

Speaker 2: 12:43

No, it's very good.

Speaker 1: 12:45

So you can get, a lot of times you can get like annual pass and different discounts there, which is also nice. And it's great when you're walking around. It's right near a world of Disney, so you can smell it, you get something. They have nice, um, drinks as well as of course the ice cream concoctions. Now also at Disney Springs, a relatively newcomer which opened last year is a place called Salt and Straw. And it's on the west side of Disney Springs. And they kind of are known for very unique flavors. And Disney Food blog ranks them as like the top ice cream on, on Disney property. They ha it's all organic, sustainable ingredients. They have very unusual flavors. They have hibiscus and coconut sherbet honey, lavender, strawberry honey balsamic with Black Pepper. They also have had more unusual ones like cinnamon and Honey fried chicken. This one kind of throws me for a loop. Deviled egg custard with smoked black tea. Everyone who's tried them say they're great. I don't know. Are you more traditionalist with ice cream flavors, Chris? Correct. Yes. So I have had some more unusual ones in my travels overseas and at in other countries, but I will say maybe when I'm here in the US I tend to go for the more traditional flavors. But I would love to hear in the, in some of our posts and comments, if any of you have tried any other more unusual flavors over at Salt and Straw and let us know what you think because it sounds interesting. I think I would definitely try it out, but people are rating about it, so definitely check it out if you're wanting to explore and try something new. Head over to Disney Springs and see what they have. So that kind of wraps up the most, I would say the best variety of ice cream places There are way more, there are dozens of ice cream places at Disney and if you're a traditionalist that just wants a Mickey ice cream bar, you know, you can hit those up at lots of carts as well. But hopefully this gives you a chance to try some new treats when you're at Disney next time and maybe get a chance to try find a new favorite. We'd like to welcome Michelle to the show her shop Enchanted Dreams Boutique offers. They can come and do custom designs on your door at your resort on Disney property or beyond. They also will do really fun gift baskets for you. So we're excited to share all about her business. She's originally from Kansas City. She's a mom of two and she has five grand babies as well. She was a former cast member and started her business after being furloughed, which we've heard that from a lot of people. She's a Disney fan, she's also a huge Chiefs fan. And of course she always liked to share a little bit of Disney magic with all of her customers. So welcome to the show, Michelle.

Speaker 3: 15:32

Hi. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 15:34

Now we start off always with asking a little bit about what you enjoy at the Disney parks. So lately we've been asking people what is your favorite event at any Disney Park?

Speaker 3: 15:45

Oh, my favorite event is probably Flower Garden. I would say I just love that time of year with the flowers and the butterflies and everything just looks so pretty when it's blooming and all the top. I love those.

Speaker 1: 16:00

That is my favorite as well. And we got married at Acot in the spring, so I think I'm a little biased for that as well.<laugh>. Yeah. But, but we, that is definitely our favorite too. Or at least mine as well.

Speaker 3: 16:12

<laugh>. Yes. Understandable.

Speaker 1: 16:14

<laugh>. Now if you could tell us a little bit about your business and what are the services that you offer connected to Disney?

Speaker 3: 16:23

So we are, um, I, I guess you could kind of classify us as, um, a death planning, decorating kind of, uh, kind of business. We started decorating doors simply for a friend. Uh, we were, you know, all laid off during covid and, and battling to figure out where we were gonna go. And, uh, I just happened to decorate her room and her door and the business just kind of blew up from there, I guess you could say. And we started venting into doing gift baskets. We do the in room celebrations, uh, we do balloon bouquets, uh, candy bouquets and uh, sweet containers, which are really popular like during Mother's Day. Um, and then we just kind of branched into a few other things that I feel like we just keep growing<laugh>. Oh wow. That's nice. Yeah, a lot of fun.

Speaker 2: 17:16

<laugh>, what was your spark of inspiration to start the business?

Speaker 3: 17:19

So I joined the group, um, that was started by some cast members when we were all shut down, which showcased, uh, the side talents of all the cast members. And I honestly joined it just to support the other cast members. But then when my friend, um, started sharing the, the door that I did for her, it just kind of went from there. I really honestly wasn't expecting it to be much. I thought I'd do a few here and there, there, and eventually I'd return to Disney and that would be that. And we're gonna be going on two years. So just the, I think the fact of I could share magic that way in a completely different way than I ever did at Disney was really exciting for me and to watch it bloom and grow from there. And the feedback we got was just, just so much fun. Um, knowing we could sprinkle a little extra magic for our guests.

Speaker 1: 18:17

Now that leads into what we always like to hear from our guests is how do you think that your product slash services add some Disney magic to your customer's lives?

Speaker 3: 18:27

I think a lot of times when we go to the parks and, um, you know, even in Disney Springs you see these little twinklings of magic and then sometimes you go back to your room and you're just kind of like, huh,<laugh>, you know, there's, you know, not always a lot there. And I think it's fun that, you know, you can show the guests that you're celebrating and, and you know, I know when we've been there before, like guests have walked by a door and uh, the guests we were decorating for was standing outside with us and then everybody just starts telling them Happy birthday or happy anniversary. And I think it just extends the magic that you get in the parks and helps you bring it back to your resort and share it there.

Speaker 1: 19:12

Now tell us a little bit about the process. Like if I wanna do a door or have a gift basket or something, how do I order?

Speaker 3: 19:19

Yes. So guests can reach out to us, uh, either through Enchanted Dreams Boutique on Facebook or Instagram. Uh, we are building a website, but that's not ready yet. And if you're in the Facebook group that was started by the cast members, uh, you can also reach out to us via that. And we have a Google form that guests fill out and you can choose a theme. Um, it can be basic, it can be more detailed. We do very, um, detailed doors as well. And you submit that form and we just kind of take it from there.

Speaker 1: 19:54

Now, for someone that's not familiar with the type of work you do, what are some of, maybe do you have certain designs that are more popular that you do on a regular basis?

Speaker 3: 20:03

I would say probably our most popular designs are, um, the just Mickey and Mini Silhouettes and Princesses and Toy Story and Marvel. Uh, they constantly rank in our, our top, uh, top five as well as the Fab five, sensational six. You can't ever go wrong with them.

Speaker 1: 20:23

<laugh>. Now for someone who's never done something like this before, how does that process work? So if I'm staying at a Dizzy resort or somewhere else, how, how do you get there and how does that work from the customer perspective?

Speaker 3: 20:35

So our standard when, um, guests book with us is to decorate the day after they arrive. So that allows them to get settled into their room and, you know, if there's any delays or they have to switch rooms for some reason, we can just, you know, they can go to the park and we can come and decorate the next day. Um, we do ask that they let the resorts know that we're coming and, um, that's just a simple, you know, pop in or call to the front desk. And then we generally just decorate when they're out having fun, whether it be at the parks or shopping, eating, whatever the case may be. And then they come back and surprised they have a, a room<laugh> that's all our door, that's all decorated.

Speaker 1: 21:17

Now I know we talked a little bit, you do also do at some off property resorts as well?

Speaker 3: 21:24

Yes, we do. As long as it's within our delivery area. And of course we ask that you just let that resort know, uh, and ask as well,

Speaker 1: 21:30

What about what's the timeline? Like if I want a door, if I wanna have balloons or something delivered, what's the timeline for

Speaker 3: 21:36

Ordering? So we do tend to book up rather quickly. So we always suggest to our guests to book approximately two, uh, to even two and a half months, especially when we hit September, October because of all the parties, um, ahead of their arrival. Now that being said, that doesn't mean that if you're coming next week, you can't reach out to see if, you know myself or one of our team members can come and decorate because people get sick. You know, they have to move their dates around. So that does create some openings sometimes. But to be on the safe side, we do suggest two to two and a half months ahead of, uh, your arrival date.

Speaker 1: 22:15

And with that, what is your favorite thing to do? I know you do doors and you do these in-room celebrations. What's kind of your favorite thing that you've done?

Speaker 3: 22:23

I think honestly it is the doors. Um, I just have so much fun kind of, you know, I kind of look at the door as being like a, a blank, um, canvas Sure. For us to decorate on. And so it's always fun that no matter what design we use, even if it's something similar, none of the doors turn out the same. There's always something that's different about them and it's just fun to, to kind of watch that whole process come to life. Uh, so that's probably still my favorite. It's what we started with and, and I think it just remains to be at the top of my list all the time and, you know, and hearing how much the guests love it, that just makes you love it even more.

Speaker 2: 23:04

You know, you mentioned all these things that you do that customers love. Where can people go online to see what you do?

Speaker 3: 23:10

So they can go to Enchanted Dreams Boutique, uh, on Facebook. That's probably our biggest area that we, we work in. Uh, we do have Instagram and there's, uh, a lot of our work on there too. And we have photo albums of all the work that we've done and we try to always catch it up at least every couple weeks, uh, with all the doors or room, whatever we have going on. And, and keep up with it on there so they can look through our albums. And then if you're looking for something in particular, you can always ask if we've done it and we can, we can search for the picture and, and send it to to them as well.

Speaker 1: 23:46

Perfect. We will make sure to share all of that information in our show notes to help people find you and of course reach out to be able to book for their next trip. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Speaker 3: 23:56

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Speaker 2: 23:58

Thank you again to Michelle for joining us today.

Speaker 1: 24:01

And now we are onto our two minute trivia and our wisdom from Walt quote. And Chris, you are up with trivia.

Speaker 2: 24:07

So, you know, we mentioned that our infamous kitchen sink ice cream experience Yes. Yes. At beaches and Cream Soda shop located at Disney's Beach Club or resort Yeah. In Epcot. Yes. So the question was ice cream and we didn't know, and I had to look this up, how many scoops of ice cream do you get in the kitchen sink?

Speaker 1: 24:27

I'm just gonna go for an even number. Let's say 20.

Speaker 2: 24:30

A bit much. I'll give you one more guess. It's not as many as 20. That would be a lot of ice cream.

Speaker 1: 24:34

Yeah. How about 12,

Speaker 2: 24:36

Close eight scoops of ice cream

Speaker 1: 24:39

And one giant scoop of mint<laugh>. Yes. Very interesting. And then it has tons of toppings and things as well, so very interesting. Now we will always remember, just get seven next time,<laugh>. All right, let's go ahead and end with our wisdom from Walt quote. And I thought this one was just kind of fun to really think about all the things that Walt has done throughout his career and what the legacy he's left. I resent the limitations of my own imagination. And isn't that ironic? Somebody who created so many things still felt like there were so many limits that he had put on himself. So thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Dis Love podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa. And

Speaker 2: 25:21

I'm Chris. This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or its holdings and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.