Brits In The Magic Podcast

Dining with little B

Mr and Mrs B Episode 3

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0:00 | 52:43

dining with a 4-year-old!

As we prepare for our upcoming summer holiday, we're sharing the three restaurants we're most excited to visit and why we think they're perfect for Little B and our family. From fun atmospheres to kid-friendly menus, we explain what makes these dining experiences must-dos for us this year.

We're also discussing three restaurants we've decided to skip for now. They're not bad choices by any means, but with a young child in tow, our priorities have definitely changed. We talk about why some experiences are better suited to older children (or just grown-ups!) and how becoming parents has completely changed the way we plan our Disney holidays.

Whether you're travelling with toddlers, planning your next family holiday, or simply looking for some Disney food inspiration, we hope this episode helps you decide where to eat on your next trip.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, make sure to subscribe to Brits in the Magic so you never miss a trip into the magic.

We’d love to hear from you! Send us your Disney stories, questions, tips or episode ideas via email at britsinthemagic@outlook.com

And come say hello on Instagram at @britsinthemagic for park photos, family adventures, behind-the-scenes fun and plenty more Disney magic.


*Disclaimer*

Intro/outro narration and audio elements for this podcast may include AI-generated content created using licensed production tools.

SPEAKER_00

Disney parks, family adventures, and fresh British inside.

SPEAKER_03

Hello, and welcome home to episode three of Brits in the Magic. I'm Mr. B.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm Mrs. B.

SPEAKER_03

And uh thank you for joining us again for uh a brand new episode. I tell you what, it was very exciting seeing where all the uh people were listening for last episode.

SPEAKER_01

I know, it's getting really good.

SPEAKER_03

It is. A couple of new countries added.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

A lot more from America.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

America seemed to like the DVC uh episode. So if uh you are one of those listeners, thank you so much. We uh we do appreciate it. Uh how are you tonight?

SPEAKER_01

I'm good. Yeah. Getting more and more excited.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, yes, the summer holidays are on the way, aren't they, with Little B, and uh that'll be uh our time to go away. So it's uh it's getting closer. Yeah. Getting a lot more excited now.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, at the point where I'm thinking, mm, should I start getting all of the shorts and t-shirts out of the cupboard ready? Because if we haven't got what we need, we need to do something about it pretty sharpish.

SPEAKER_03

You've already got a suitcase out on the bed.

SPEAKER_01

I have, with all like the sun cream and stuff ready to go.

SPEAKER_03

Ah, the infamous sun cream, yes.

SPEAKER_01

I've been a lot more subdued this year.

SPEAKER_03

The age-old question of how much is too much. Uh, but I think that's something uh we can definitely cover uh another time.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_03

But today's episode, uh this is a really good one because it ties in really with actually part of our planning because we've recently um booked uh our reservations, haven't we?

SPEAKER_01

We have for all our restaurants.

SPEAKER_03

Uh and so uh we want to talk to you today about kind of our rest well, some of our restaurants that we've booked, why we've chosen them uh for kind of like going as a family of three, but then also we want to talk about restaurants that we've not looked at this time and different reasons. Now it's none of this today's gonna be kind of like, oh, this is our favourite restaurant, so we must go there. No. And it's not gonna be a case of uh oh, this restaurant's horrible, definitely don't do it. We will definitely cover, I think, uh in another time, kind of like our favourite restaurants and our least favourite restaurants. This episode today is going to be basically the restaurants we've chosen this year, or some of the restaurants we've chosen this year, uh, and why we've chosen them with having uh a four-year-old little bee with us. Yeah. And why some we think we want to do, or that we have done in the past, but actually we don't want to do it this time uh with a little one.

SPEAKER_01

And full disclosure, we have paid for the dining plan, having had it for free for a couple of trips um with the free dining offer. We have decided that purely out of ease and convenience, that buying the dining plan is the right way forward for us, and I know it's not for everybody, and I know that some people feel they don't get the money worth out of it, but it is purely a convenience thing. We knew we could pay for it in advance and we wouldn't have to think about it again while we were there, um, which just makes everything a little bit easier again with a small child.

SPEAKER_03

Do you know that's something that actually we didn't talk about um last episode because normally when we used to book holidays, we book them as like a package deal. Yeah. Uh we we've always traditionally gone with virgin, yeah. And in the UK, dining plan usually there's always some sort of free dining plan. It's either the full free dining plan or kind of like half-price dining plan. I think there's always something there. This time round though, because obviously with us booking uh this holiday as DVC, we have to book everything separately, don't we? So there's no there's no package this time. So if we wanted dining plan, we we had to pay for dining plan like full full wax.

SPEAKER_01

And we would always know when we were going to go, so we would kind of wait for the free dining to be released, and we weren't really fussy about which resorts we stayed in, so we would just stay in the resort that still had availability for free dining as well. Um and I know again some people say well, they increase the price of the package to cover the free dining. I get all of that, but what it has done for us is made us realise that the convenience and uh what the dining plan has allowed us to do means that we uh now are willing to pay for it just out of pocket.

SPEAKER_03

And it might be something that changes over time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, easily could be.

SPEAKER_03

Um because we are always keeping a lookout in terms of is it still for us good value for money? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And the day the day it's not, the day is m more advisable to kind of like obviously just take cash or and I mean as little bee gets older, if we spend more days at Universal, um, I mean we've not done Epic Universe yet, we don't know whether that might take a couple of days or something. Yeah. Um it might become less and less important, but we definitely thought for the holiday that we're going on shortly, we where we would only be at Disney for two weeks, the dining plan definitely made sense to us this time around.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. So without further ado, we'll structure this episode today with our three top choices that we're going to do. And again, it's not favourite, it's just our three top choices that we've chosen out of all the places we're going to, uh of why we're doing these places. So, number one, Mrs. B, which one is it?

SPEAKER_01

My and I do think it is my ultimate favourite. I know we said we wouldn't do favourites, but Crystal Palace.

SPEAKER_03

Crystal Palace. Oh, yes. And for all the uh UK listeners, no, we do not mean the football team.

SPEAKER_01

Um the um place in I'm gonna get this wrong, I feel like it's in London.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, that is that is that is a you can tell not the football team, the actual place in London. Oh the actual place in London, yes, okay, yeah, yeah, absolutely. No, we mean the Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom.

SPEAKER_01

So there are a lot of reasons for this. Um A, right from being tiny, Little B has loved Winnie the Pooh, and it is a staple and it is an absolute favourite of his.

SPEAKER_03

Well, we spoke in I think it was the first episode where you talked about Winnie the Pooh was the first character he ever saw. It was. By accident, we just kind of like happened upon Winnie the Pooh. Um, but Winnie the Pooh has been probably the first Disney character that he loved. Yes. He loved watching Winnie the Pooh on TV when he was a baby. Um Winnie the Pooh is still still a big part of his life now.

SPEAKER_01

Winnie the Pooh bedding, Winnie the Pooh curtain.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Um so yeah, to go there with little B, that is just it it's it's a no-brainer. He absolutely loves Winnie the Pooh.

SPEAKER_01

It's in Magic Kingdom, um, which is always the first park that we do, and we tend to go for a lunchtime because first day, jet lag, up early, we're in the park early, we can go and get some breakfast somewhere. By lunchtime, we're flagging a little bit because of the heat. The air con is incredible. It's a buffet, so you've got unlimited drinks, you've got unlimited ice cream for children, um, a typical American buffet. There's mac and cheese, there's chicken tendons, lovely buffet. But yeah, but then the adult stuff is really, really lovely.

SPEAKER_03

The adult stuff is really, really good. I mean, I I I take a bit the mac and cheese and the tenders, like I have the I have those as well. But but it is a really, really, really nice buffet, a really good buffet.

SPEAKER_01

And it just seems really relaxed. The characters come to the table. Um sometimes then we've also had it where you've gone to meet characters when you're free and when you're able, they're very, very good in there at making sure you've met all the characters. So if you happen to be up at the buffet when a character comes to your table, that's not a problem, they'll just bring them back later. Um so that one is Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore. And it's friendship day every day in there. It is indeed. Which is lovely.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And we also have like fond memories before Little Bee as well, don't we? We we we've been there uh with my parents.

SPEAKER_01

So we talked in the first episode about my fear and overcoming my fear. And Crystal Palace was the first character dining I ever did, and it was the first time that I was comfortable enough to sit and let characters wander around around me and eat at the same time. Yeah, do you know what? I never thought about that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that that was the first character. Obviously, you you'd seen a few characters in meet and greets since kind of like overcoming that fear, but that was your first character.

SPEAKER_01

Which was a big deal for me because it was something I never thought I'd do.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. And and the characters are just awesome there. It does feel so um relaxed. Yes, like so relaxed, and there are many, many Disney uh restaurants that don't feel that way. Yeah. Um that that feel I mean very busy. And Crystal Palace is busy, like i I've never known it not busy. It is busy, but it doesn't feel busy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um it's one table service credit on the dining plan. We can't attest to what it is without. We don't ever do it without, we've only ever done it with. But for a character meal and a buffet that feels pretty pretty good, pretty good value for money. Um, it never gets too noisy, really. It's loud. Disney restaurants are, that's something you just have to accept. Yeah. But it feels nice, it feels comfortable.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And it's always it's always good for a a first start. You were talking um uh at the beginning there, where you were saying like where it was in Magic Kingdom, um and you said it's Magic Kingdom first day. Obviously, it has to be Magic Kingdom first day. And I was having this discussion uh with somebody else recently, um, and I and they're they're going, in fact, they're going um I think towards the end of this month. Um and I said to them, I said, Where are you going first day? And they went, Oh Magic Kingdom, it's got to be and I said, very good. I said, You've passed the test straight away. It has to be Magic Kingdom first day. I cannot understand. I can I could just get away with Epcot on the first day.

SPEAKER_01

You didn't used to do Magic Kingdom first day.

SPEAKER_03

Uh yeah, but we never stayed on property when we did that. Staying on property, Magic Kingdom first aid.

SPEAKER_01

Excuses, excuses.

SPEAKER_03

When we stayed off property, we stayed closer to Universal. And so it made a little bit more sense to go to Universal first than going all the way to Magic Kingdom. Uh but I said like Epcot, I can take it a stretch. Anything else I think is just sacrilegious. Like you can't you can't do that. Um so number two.

SPEAKER_01

Number two, and again, one I never thought I would go to and one that always just seemed a little bit strange to me, but is fantastic, is a garden grill.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, what a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01

Love it.

SPEAKER_03

What a restaurant. There's just something so quaint and special about a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01

And it's so it's served family style, you uh spin round and they time it perfectly so you don't feel rushed, but you basically do one complete loop.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, one almost one full revolution.

SPEAKER_01

Going through living with the land.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um it's another character dining with a a small child. It tends to be what we kind of gravitate towards. Not everything is character dining that we're going for, absolutely not. Oh no. But where we can, we have tried to really, really good one.

SPEAKER_03

But like I said, this one it it's not buffet style like uh Crystal Palace was, uh, or a should I say. Um it is um family style. Yeah. And I I love family style, I think it's great. There's a there's a few restaurants that we go to that are family style, and I mean it's I I love it. It's absolutely good.

SPEAKER_01

So it's mas mashed potato, um I'm gonna get this wrong, so please make sure you look at the menu. Um there's mac and cheese for little bee. There is that much.

SPEAKER_03

There is. Um we're well aware of that one for him.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um green beans. I feel like there's some New York strip cut up.

SPEAKER_03

I don't I don't know what I don't know what size of beef it is. I mean it is beef, yes, chicken.

SPEAKER_01

I can't I can't remember everything.

SPEAKER_03

Potato, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Really, really lovely. Really lovely food. And then like a strawberry sponge, from what I remember.

SPEAKER_03

Do you know what?

SPEAKER_01

I can Again, I'm probably wrong.

SPEAKER_03

I can never ever remember the desserts. I can remember it was good. Get cornbread with it as well. I love a bit of cornbread. Yeah, easy. A bit of cornbread, yeah. Um but yeah, it's just a really lovely restaurant, and of course the characters are different. So you've got you've got Mickey Mouse, you've got Pluto, uh you've got Chippendale. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Uh and Chippendale are harder to see in the parks these days.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, I would I would say so. I I I can't think off the top of my head anywhere where you could purposely go and see Chippendale.

SPEAKER_01

They're like yeah, they're round and about. We've had a meet and greet where they were like behind um at Epcot. The Innovations Innovation Centre.

SPEAKER_03

But That was a few years ago.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. They're not like they're not in a building with anyone in the way some of the others are.

SPEAKER_03

And again, it's really, really relaxed. It helps that your booth is caught self-contained.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, it feels very private in there.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, but again, I don't feel like it's really busy, I don't feel like there's people on top of you uh everywhere, and the characters have got loads of time to s to spend with you. Yeah, um, so you get those photos, you get a bit of video, um, and uh yeah, it's just a real lovely experience. And of course, if you love living with the land, yeah, uh, which we absolutely love living with the land, um, to kind of go around part of that ride and you can hear part of the narration going on.

SPEAKER_01

You can hear the dog, you can hear the birds.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna say an unpopular opinion. That bit winds me up.

SPEAKER_01

It does get a little bit, it can be a little bit overstimulating.

SPEAKER_03

It can, yeah. Because of course, when you go through I mean, don't get me wrong, I love that bit in the ride. Who doesn't want to live in that house? Oh, on the prairie. That house is gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And when you're going through it, not a problem whatsoever. But when we say the obviously those that are listening, you may already know, you may have already been. But if you've never been or you've never been to that restaurant, when we say that the restaurant revolves, we're not talking very, very fast, we're talking really, really slow.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you don't feel it moving.

SPEAKER_03

No. So when you get into that part of living with the land where the dog is, it's a good five minutes or so of that dog yapping.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And it it gets a little bit, a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

And when you have your own dog.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

And you think, Yeah, yeah, I'd have told I'd have told Pluto to be quiet by now.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. When you start shouting Pluto to be quiet, and poor Pluto's coming down to do a character meeting with and he's not he's not quite sure what's going on, and you then you realise you're not at home anymore. Um, but no, it's a really, really, really good. I love it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely love it. And was one that we kind of picked first time round because we hadn't really got anything else that we wanted to go to, and it is now a firm favourite on our list every single time.

SPEAKER_03

And I spent so many years just walking past that restaurant.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's so hidden.

SPEAKER_03

It it doesn't scream amazing from the front door. No, it really, really doesn't. It feels it feels very average. At first, actually, it doesn't even feel like a restaurant unlike unless you stop and look at it. Yeah, it doesn't, it doesn't scream this is gonna be a fantastic experience. But anyone I've ever spoken to um that has that has been there raves about it. I've never heard anyone have a bad word about um uh garden grill.

SPEAKER_01

It's definitely one of my favourites.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, absolutely, and a great one for little bee to go to. Absolutely, a great one for little bee to go to.

SPEAKER_01

So we've talked about sort of the atmosphere of these places and how we really like the fact that they're calm and they're settled and they're not very loud. Not for this last one.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, for the last one. This one's a bit of a different one. It is uh family style again, though, isn't it? It is family style, but no character dying this time. And it it is Woody's Roundup.

SPEAKER_01

We love this one.

SPEAKER_03

We've only been once. We've only been once.

SPEAKER_01

Right from the moment you walk in. Again, it's quite hidden and out of the way, but from the moment you walk in, and they give the children a little hobby horse to gallop to the table.

SPEAKER_03

Which little B did with absolute gusto. And he never had a hobby, he's he's never had a horse. But he absolutely galloped that horse all the way to the table.

SPEAKER_01

He really, really did. And then the food was incredible, so it's barbecue, because the full name is Woody's Roundup Rodeo Barbecue, I believe. You'll know which one we mean when you see it. Um but it's barbecue, so there's barbecue meat, barbecue baked beans, mac and cheese, sear running theme. One thing though potato tarts.

SPEAKER_03

Ah, that's not what I was gonna say. I was just gonna take it back to the barbecue for a second. Uh something that I didn't realise, like I said, we've only been there once, and I wasn't quite sure what fully to expect. Different barbecue sauces, so you could put your own barbecue sauce on. So you could have a a sweeter sauce, a smokier sauce, a spicier sauce. Yeah, and I thought that was really good. The only thing I didn't like about that is because the sauce was a little bit colder than the meat, yeah. And I kind of like the whole thing being hot, but I did like the choice of do you know what I might put some smokier sauce on this one, or I might put some hotter sauce on this one.

SPEAKER_01

What Aaron loved was they brought you out the platter of everything, sausage, everything. Um, and then the waitress came over and said, What was your favourite bit? What do you want more of? And then they brought you individual bits, so it wasn't just we'll bring you another platter where you then might be wasting some of it. It was which bit specifically do you want more of? And then they have uh like little pots of desserts, and our menu said one each, but the waitress was just like, which ones do you want? Tell me which ones you want, and we'll bring you as many as you like.

SPEAKER_03

We were a little bit disappointed, weren't we? Because we thought, well, actually, like we'd all like some of it. And to say, Oh, it's only one each, and that's all you got to choose. But like you said, the waitress was fantastic.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, definitely. Yeah and I think that's something about wait staff in well, Disney, but on the whole in America, I think they it's nothing is too much trouble.

SPEAKER_02

No.

SPEAKER_01

They will do whatever they need to do to help you have the best time possible.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And everyone's always gonna ha there's always gonna be an experience that someone's had that wasn't as great. But genuinely, I think one of the things that again makes us so willing to pay for the dining plan to dine on property as often as we do is uh because those staff will just do anything for you, nothing is too much hassle, and it just makes it all seem so much m more worth it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I think I've only ever had one bad experience with a staff member in Disney, a w a uh waiting staff member in Disney. Uh and I think that was in Tony's Cafe last year.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And I don't think she just misjudged the situation. Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It was it was She wasn't bad. No.

SPEAKER_01

She just didn't read the situation as well as perhaps we might have wanted.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Um but taking it back to uh Woody's Roundup, the theme in the restaurant as well.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, it's stunning, and the fact that every so often it goes dead quiet and someone says, Andy's coming, and you have to be absolutely silent and absolutely still, and all the wait staff do the same thing, and then you hear him come on, and then he goes, and then everyone cheers, and you get back to eating, yeah, and everybody takes part. Again, because you're in Disney, that wouldn't work down the road at a restaurant down the road. No, no, no. It just wouldn't.

SPEAKER_03

No, it wouldn't.

SPEAKER_01

But because you're in Disney and everyone's excited and everyone's energetic, it works. It's great.

SPEAKER_03

It does, yeah. It's it's a really fun experience, and the and you can see all the kids there love it. Yes, like they are 100% invested in it. They are a toy, they are in Andy's backyard, um, and that they believe Andy's coming and and they need to freeze like all the toys do. And it's the first time I've ever seen Little Beast stay still for a few seconds.

SPEAKER_01

Um but that one is a lot louder.

SPEAKER_03

It is, yeah. I mean, like I said, the the the previous two, Crystal Palace. Is busy but you never feel it's busy. Yeah. Garden Grill, you almost feel secluded the way that the the the booths are set up. This one, yes, it is loud. Yeah, uh, it is very loud. Um, and I think if you've got uh any children or adults that are audio sens audio sensitive, yeah. Uh and yeah, actually any sense because visually sensitive, it is bright, it's bright and gauge, there's a lot taken.

SPEAKER_01

The lights dim and then they brighten back up again. Yes, they do, all of that sort of stuff. So it is worth checking it out.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, um, but if you are fine with that, it's one to be highly recommended for a young child. Uh for a young child.

SPEAKER_01

All three of these are ones that if we didn't have the dining plan and we were having having to tighten our belts a little bit and eat off property a little bit, we'd still definitely do it. We would still pay for things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

No, I I I agree with you there. Um so yeah, those are those are the three that we've picked. Like I said, we're we're going to many restaurants uh this holiday, but those those are three that we've picked that that we've picked specifically this time round, with little B in mind, that we're definitely going to these restaurants because these are going to be the best restaurants for him. Yeah. So that takes us on to the second segment, which is restaurants that we're skipping this year. Now, just to emphasise again, this isn't to say, oh, these restaurants are bad, or we don't like these restaurants. Uh, some of these restaurants we've never done. In fact, two of the restaurants that we're going to talk about, we actually haven't done yet.

SPEAKER_01

And they are absolutely on the bucket list. Oh, they're 100% on the bucket list.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it just might not be the right thing for us this year. So, number one is Hoop De Do review.

SPEAKER_01

So this has always been on my bucket list, and was something that we seriously, seriously considered this year, didn't we?

SPEAKER_03

We uh well actually it was me that brought it up this year because I said let's do hoop-de-doo, uh, and you were like, Okay, great. And we looked into it, we we were all for booking it, and then as we looked at it more, we thought Well, we realised it was two dining credits, which is fine.

SPEAKER_01

It's a dinner and a show. Um, so again, for people that don't know, Hoop De Doo is um a show on the stage, and your dinner is brought out throughout the show, and they're in the characters interact with you, and it looks so much fun.

SPEAKER_03

They get you up as they get you up on stage, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um so two dining credits, we were like, yes, that's fine, and we were trying to make it work, and it was becoming a bit more complicated to make it work. We were gonna have to move quite a lot of stuff around, we were gonna have to not have certain things at certain times, things that we really wanted to do. And the more we thought about it, the more we thought, I think it's just a little bit too much for a four-year-old.

SPEAKER_03

Too much too soon.

SPEAKER_01

And not even the show being too much, but the fact that once you're in, you stay in for the entire show. Yes.

SPEAKER_03

You probably could leave if you needed to, but when you spent out and when you spent two dining credits on on it as well, yeah. It would be a bit of bit of a bit of rubbish to to go.

SPEAKER_01

To have to go, yeah. So we just thought we absolutely do want to do it, it absolutely is on our list, but at the moment with Little B, it's not the right time.

SPEAKER_03

I don't think he would appreciate it fully either at the moment.

SPEAKER_01

No, and he wouldn't get out of it. I mean it's basically what you just said, but I mean he wouldn't get out of it what we'd want him to.

SPEAKER_03

No, I mean he definitely if we'd have gone last year, it would have been completely pointless because he really wouldn't have appreciated it last year. This year, um he might get it a little bit and he might enjoy it a little bit, but I think for what it costs and what you have there and everything that goes on there, I don't think he'd get out of it what we'd want him to get out of it, and I think it would just be a bit intense for him. Um but absolutely like as he grows up a little bit more, that's gonna be one of the one of the first ones we put down because we really, really want to go there. Yeah, definitely. We really want to go there. And do you know if you have a kid that's that's three, four, five years old and they've been to Hoop De Doo, like drop us a line. Let us know these days we're we're going on what we think, but we didn't want to risk it this year.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. When those thoughts have started coming into our minds, but absolutely, if you've done it and it's worked, please let us know because the sooner we can go the better.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. So, like, drop us a line. Uh, our email address is always on the link as well, Britsandthemagic at outlook uh dot com. So if you've been or you're intending to go, we want to know. Yeah, um and we'll we'll we will read out your comments. Um so yeah, please do let us know. So the second one that we are missing out this year, then. Now, this is one that we've been to um well more than once, and we've been to more than one of those restaurants.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and it might be a little bit controversial.

SPEAKER_03

Hmm, it's Rainforest Cafe.

SPEAKER_01

So we just feel that little bee is not he loves animals, but he is not bothered about animals being around him while he's eating. And if you've got children that are, absolutely go to Rainforest Cafe because they will love it. But because he's not as fussed about that, we just think there's that type of food done better elsewhere, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And we went last time, didn't we, with him? Um, and like I said, compared to Crystal Palace and Woody's Roundup and Um Garden Grill, he was not fussed.

SPEAKER_01

No, he wasn't he was not fussed, and we could see children who absolutely were and were full on involved in the atmosphere, and I can completely see how children would be. Yeah, it's just not for us and for our little boy.

SPEAKER_03

And again, it is very busy. I mean Woody's Roundup, very, very busy. But Woody's Roundup for me was fine. Rainforest cafe, it's a lot, yeah. There there is because you are literally in the middle of everything, and there's a lot going around uh uh around you all the time. Another thing as well in Rainforest Cafe, and for little ones, this is really, really important. Um it does take longer for the food to come out.

SPEAKER_01

It has done for us, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, it that might not always be the case, but the the last two times we've been there, it has been a slower service uh coming from the kitchen. And the wait with the waiting staff uh have come to us and said, haven't they, it will be our mate. We apologise.

SPEAKER_01

Fabulous waiting staff, yeah, yeah. No real issues as such with the food. Um we just think that it when we've only got a certain number of nights and a certain number of dining credits, we'd rather spend them elsewhere.

SPEAKER_03

And when you've got a little one or more than one little one, I mean we've only got little bee, but I I can imagine if you have two very, very young children, the last thing you want is to be waiting forty, fifty minutes for your main entree to come out. Yeah. Um, because that's a lot of time that you've got to keep the kids entertained. Yeah. Uh and they'll I mean Little B entertains himself quite easily, but when it gets to the 40-minute mark and no food has come out, and he's been in the parks all day and he's sweaty and he's a bit tired and a bit cranky, occupying himself, it wears off quick. Yeah, and then you kind of it it it it ruins the magic of it all, doesn't it? Um and we have experienced that uh a couple of times with Rainforest Cafe. We've also had brilliant experiences at Rainforest Cafe. We have we we've had we've had good experiences. We went there um when you graduated and you had you had your cupcake, that was really your graduation night, and they they sang happy graduation to you, and we've been to Rainforest Cafe in Disland Paris, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

We thought that was fantastic.

SPEAKER_03

We absolutely loved. In fact, if I remember rightly, because we we we said that we went on a bit of a shoestring budget, didn't we? Yeah, if I remember rightly, that was kind of like our big restaurant night.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was that it was every other time we ate in sort of McDonald's, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That was our big restaurant night, and we loved it there, but it was a completely different menu.

SPEAKER_01

It was, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Completely different menu.

SPEAKER_01

Again, we're not saying we won't ever go to Rainforest Cafe again, we're not saying we hate it or anything like that. It was just this year when we were trying to pick which were the ones we were going to go through, we mentioned Rainforest Cafe and we both said that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we'll give it a miss, we will give it a miss this time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, and we don't think little bee would be too upset if we did.

SPEAKER_01

And again, sensory. If you've got a child that has sensory issues, um there's thunderstorms, there's animals making noises, the lights go up and down multiple times.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Um there's similarly though, there's like a aquarium-y bit. If you've got a child where that would be really calming and soothing to them, that might be ideal for you if you can get sat there, because it is always busy. It's always busy.

SPEAKER_03

It's always busy. It's always busy.

SPEAKER_01

And they've got two locations. It's like you read my mind then.

SPEAKER_03

I was literally about to say there are two locations, yeah. Um in Animal Kingdom, uh towards the exit of Animal Kingdom, uh, and of course, Disney Springs. Yeah. Um, and we have we've been to both. Yeah, we have been to both. Yeah, we have been to both. Um, so our last one that we are skipping this year, uh, and this is one again that we've not done.

SPEAKER_01

No, but what and one again that every year comes up on the list.

SPEAKER_03

We nearly went last time. We did. And we we we took it off the list.

SPEAKER_01

We did Space 220. Now, the main reason for this is that it isn't on the dining plan.

SPEAKER_03

No.

SPEAKER_01

Um, I did a quick Google just before we started recording, and that is because it isn't actually owned by Disney. That's why it's not on the dining plan. Um but when you have the dining plan and when you've paid all that money for the dining plan, that's a massive drawback because suddenly you're gonna have to pay for another meal that is already and if you decide that you want to use a two-credit meal somewhere, then it might be that you go, Yeah, that's fine. But for us this year, that wasn't the case. Yeah. We wanted to literally use the dining plant and that was it.

SPEAKER_03

Um keep it simple with a younger one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And similarly, you know, you look at the menu, it's not the best for little bee, he is quite fussy. Um, it might be for your child, absolutely. I think the whole concept of it is incredible. Getting that lift up, I'm very excited about doing that at some point.

SPEAKER_03

See, for me, that's a big reason why I don't want to go on it. Not because it's a lift, I'm fine with lifts, uh, but because there is so much going on and it that there's so much to go, wow, look at this, this is amazing. It would just completely go over his head. Yeah. Or most of it would, most of it would. And if you're paying for that experience, yeah, and he's got kind of not much idea of what's going on, or or not appreciating it all, I think for us there are better times when we can go, right, we're gonna do it at a time where we're willing to pay for it and he's gonna get absolutely everything out of it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03

And I think at four years old, he's still not quite gonna appreciate everything that he's seeing. Yeah, I would love it.

SPEAKER_01

Like it's definitely one that's on the list again for the future, isn't it? Um definitely something we want to do at some point. Again, maybe if we go one year without the dining plan, that's a really good opportunity to do that one because it won't matter where we're going, we're paying for it anyway.

SPEAKER_03

Um and I think even if we do keep the dining plan, it will be one of those that one day we we just we bite the bullet and we just go, we really want to do this. Because it is it is going to be a special one.

SPEAKER_01

We love a Hanna breakfast, so we can always find a opportunity to spend that extra credit somewhere.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, yes, we do, yeah. Um, so yeah, so those are our three that we that we say you know, must do with a little one, and three that we've said, you know what, we'll hold off uh until um he's a little bit older. Um so moving on to the next bit, how have things changed over time for for us as Disney diners? And I want to talk just a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01

I think our biggest change was when we went on honeymoon and had the free dining plan for the very first time, yeah. I think before that, and because we'd not stayed on property, we were very much we went to Olive Garden, we went to the Italian in the Florida market.

SPEAKER_03

I stayed on property. I I stayed on property.

SPEAKER_01

We went to um iHop's, we went to Denny's, all of those kind of places.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Um and we didn't Red Lobster, sorry, Red Lobster. Golden Corral. Oh, Golden Corral, you know. Ponderosa, when that was a Ponderosa, yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

And you used to get the little booklets with the vouchers in and go through it and unlimited ice cream.

SPEAKER_03

Take me back to the 2000s, absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

When we went in our villa, we did a lot of kind of eating at Ponderosa and Denny's.

SPEAKER_03

Well, international drive. Yeah, international drive. I mean staying there, it was Miller's Ale House. Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely. But yeah, first year we we did Disney Dining Plan was the honeymoon, and that was your first time on property. Yes, your first time on property.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, alright.

SPEAKER_03

But I will say, when I stayed on property with my mum and dad when I was little, we uh in fact I don't think they had the Disney Dining Plan back then. We're talking about 2000. I I don't even think it was a thing back then. But we did eat um on property, except I think most nights we ate at um Boat Rights. Boat Rights, yeah. In uh because we stayed at Port Online's French Quarter, and we would take uh the little um boat, uh little like ferry boat, uh to boat rides, and we ate there most nights. Um and and now look at us going oh low but Disney World.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I think it just opens up this world of places you can eat and places that we wouldn't have even thought about. If we were paying out of pocket, we wouldn't be going to places like Bomer, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, because we wouldn't even think about it as an option.

SPEAKER_03

And we have friends, don't we, that do uh not the full di Disney dining plan, but the like kind of like the half Disney dining. Yeah, the quick service. Uh and again, they do that because they've got little ones, and and they and they said, Well, we can like get a meal for ourselves and they're just quite happy, you know, going with the quick service. Great.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, if that's what we're expecting, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely, like uh and and it has worked for them, um, and like that's absolutely wonderful.

SPEAKER_01

I think one thing that has changed for me is the snacking around Disney and what the dining plan you don't feel guilty about snacking because you have this snack credit to use.

SPEAKER_03

If I remember right, didn't it used to be two?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I missed the two snack credits.

SPEAKER_01

Although we never spent them, we just bought chocolate at the end of the holiday. We we still we still only use one snack credit, and then we always had one snack credit left, and then yeah, like I said, we And it used to be, which isn't the case anymore, that you could change a quick service meal into three snack credits.

SPEAKER_03

I thought you still could, but you had to had to do it at your hotel.

SPEAKER_01

No, I don't think we could do it at all last time.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, I think I remember them saying that we could, but they couldn't do it in the shop and we were kind of out of time because we were going home that day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they said you they said you can, but you can't do it here.

SPEAKER_01

Now again, it might have changed since then, so but that definitely opens up, I mean, snacking around Disney, most of the um festivals in Epcot, most of the stuff is a snack credit. You know, there's so much you can do snacking around Disney, and that definitely opened up that world to me as well.

SPEAKER_03

And I think one of the other big changes, moving away from dining plan, one of the other big changes that has happened since um having Little B is character dining. Yes. Now we said obviously we went to Garden Grill, um not Garden Grill, um Crystal Palace, we went to Crystal Palace.

SPEAKER_01

Cinderella's Royal Table as well, but that was because it was our honeymoon. We wanted to treat ourselves.

SPEAKER_03

Um but in terms of like lots of character dining, we never did that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, but we have tons of character dining. I mean, we've we've talked about two of them, we've got loads on 1900 Park Fair, we're going there, aren't we?

SPEAKER_01

We are.

SPEAKER_03

Um I'm trying to think of some of the other character dining. We went to uh Chef Mickey's uh last year because of the character dining. Yeah. Um we we we do pack the character dining quite a bit because there is nothing better than seeing his face light up when one of the characters come around.

SPEAKER_01

But also it stops us having to queue in the parks to see characters as well.

SPEAKER_03

It does, yeah, because that could that that can be a pain, especially when it's in in the middle of the day and it's very hot, that can be a little bit of a pain. Um and yeah, he wasn't fussed last year because he saw so many of his favourite characters, he didn't want to stop, and we didn't have to do like a meet and greet, and uh and seeing them, and that was really good. And also there were sometimes characters that were walking round, Captain Hook, for example. Yeah, uh he he was just he was walking around. So uh yeah, no, that was really good um for us, and and that is something that's changed that we've done so much more character dining uh since having little B. Um and uh Definitely and and yeah, so let's move on to our our regular slots now of uh quickfire questions. Uh okay, I'm gonna let you go again. Uh you're gonna go first again, because you usually go first. Now, you have to play the game correctly because I'm getting complaints from people that you do not play the game correctly because the game is called Quickfire Questions, and when we ask Mrs. B, it is have the question and then um uh say several names and then chew over it for a while. So it is quickfire questions. I'm gonna go with question one then. One restaurant you would eat at every single trip.

SPEAKER_01

Crystal Palace.

SPEAKER_03

One Disney restaurant you've never done but desperately want to do.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, this is so fair. Um you're a semi-quick now. Yeah. Skip a canteen.

SPEAKER_03

Ooh, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_01

I like that one.

SPEAKER_03

I like that one. Um you've kind of spoken about this one before, but maybe you might have a different opinion or you might stick with your opinion. Most overrated Disney food item.

SPEAKER_01

So I I do still think the Mickey ice cream bar, but I've already said that. Turkey leg.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah. I I I just don't get turkey leg. I don't get that one.

SPEAKER_01

Not a fan.

SPEAKER_03

I don't get that one. I mean, it wouldn't be my most overrated, but it would definitely be down there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It would definitely be down there, or up there, or wherever, but it would definitely be one of my most uh overrated items. Uh best meal you've ever had at Disney.

SPEAKER_01

I have two.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01

One was Boma the first time we went, which was the first night of our honeymoon.

SPEAKER_03

Exquisite.

SPEAKER_01

And the humoric pasta salad. Oh my goodness, that was delightful. Yep. My second was I made the most of the dining plan and had New York strip at Olivia's with chimichori sauce, Olivia's in Olke West and Mashed Potato, and that was stunning.

SPEAKER_03

I'm feeling hungry. Yeah, me too. I'm feeling hungry. Uh and if Little B could choose every meal, where would he eat or or what would he eat?

SPEAKER_01

Well, let's do where. He like what, it would be mac and cheese, but mac and cheese is everywhere, so it's fine. I think it would probably be Woody's because I think he really loved that. And they had mac and cheese and they had tater tots. So I think he'd probably go Woody's.

SPEAKER_03

Maybe, maybe. Okay. Well, you know what? You did reasonably well that time. Hopefully I won't get the complaints uh that I get usually.

SPEAKER_01

Um okay, so your term. One restaurant you would eat at every trip. I think I can guess yours.

SPEAKER_03

Uh Garden Grill.

SPEAKER_01

Really? I wouldn't have said that.

SPEAKER_03

What would what would you have said?

SPEAKER_01

Boma.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I I can't Can but BOMA changes so often, like the menu changes so often. There are times when I've I've had things that are outstanding, and then the times I've never had anything bad. No, no, no. But there are times where I've gone, oh you know what? I I I wish they'd have had that, or I wish I'd have had something else.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. One Disney restaurant you've never done but desperately want it to do.

SPEAKER_03

Uh Lissellier.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

I would love to go there.

SPEAKER_01

That's another one that we just think little bee needs to be a little bit older.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah, but I would love to go to Lacellier.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. Most overrated Disney food item.

SPEAKER_03

Uh I'm gonna go candy floss.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Or what do they say in America? It's not candy floss.

SPEAKER_01

Cotton candy.

SPEAKER_03

Cotton candy, yeah, cotton candy. Um yeah, cotton candy, candy floss. Even from being a kid, I mean, don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed it, but I just think it's totally overrated.

SPEAKER_01

What about the popcorn as well?

SPEAKER_03

I think I'm gonna have to decide that this year whether it's overrated or not.

SPEAKER_01

Not the popcorn that we were talking about. Like the general popcorn in general candy. Not the popcorn we were talking about the other week.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I was gonna say the the general popcorn, yeah, that's gonna be high up there. That's gonna be kind of like close to turkey leg with me. Yeah. Uh popcorn, turkey leg, but for me, the number one is um candy floss or cotton candy.

SPEAKER_01

We're not talking about the popcorn where you get to add the drizzle and the sweets and we're very much looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_03

We really want that. But I tell you what, if we think it's um overrated, we'll say it. Yeah, we'll say it.

SPEAKER_01

Um best meal you've ever had at Disney.

SPEAKER_03

That is hard. Um oh no, I'm gonna do a missing thing. Get your complaints in, guys. Yeah, get your complaints in to Brits and the Magic. Um so I'm gonna do two. One's an actual proper meal and one's a quick service.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, yeah, fine.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, so my my proper meal, funnily enough, it's Boma, the first night of our honeymoon, uh, and that amazing jambalaya.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you love that.

SPEAKER_03

I have prayed every time we've been to Boma since that that jambalaya would be on. It's never been on again. No, um, they even gave us a recipe for it, yeah, which was amazing. I can't recreate it. No, um, absolutely not. It it just did not work, it did not taste the same. Um, so yeah, jumbalaya.

SPEAKER_01

Wasn't it gumbo? Wasn't it jumbalaya at boat rights and gumbo at Boma?

SPEAKER_03

Oh, it could have been gumbo, yes. I think it was gumbo. Jumbalaya, yeah, jambalaya we had at Boat Rights. Yes, you're absolutely right, it was gumbo. I do apologize, it was gumbo. But same sentiment stands, it was oh it was it was exquisite. Because I I've been to uh New Orleans um uh when I was younger, been uh a couple of times to New Orleans and I've had gumbo there, I've had jumbalaya there as well, but I've had gumbo there, and I said to you that night, didn't I? This tastes as good as what you would have in New Orleans. Yeah, um it it it was exquisite. Yeah. The jambalaya at uh boat rides was nice, but it didn't taste as good. Like it didn't taste like like you were eating it in New Orleans. Yes, yes, the gumbo was just so spot on, it was unbelievable. Yeah. Um so and my other one that's not a Disney meal, uh so that's not a um a main a main meal that's a a quick service, um and I can't remember the exact name of it, but it was that um uh like meatball sausage sandwich.

SPEAKER_01

Oh the Italian sausage sandwich that they used to do, the electric umbrella.

SPEAKER_03

That was sublime. That was beautiful. That was the best thing in the world.

SPEAKER_01

We were so upset when they got rid of that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we were, we were, and we've been we've been hoping that it'll come back as well.

SPEAKER_01

We used to go to Epcot on our travel home day, literally go into Epcot, go to Electric Umbrella, have that sandwich and come home.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, yes, we did, and Disney have taken that away from us. So Disney, if you're listening.

SPEAKER_01

Although we do like connections.

SPEAKER_03

We do like connections, connections is really good.

SPEAKER_01

Is it connections? Yeah, it's connections.

SPEAKER_03

Uh but connections is really good. But Disney, if you are listening to us, and I know you are, I know you are.

SPEAKER_01

Bring back the Italian saucy sandwich.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, bring back the Italian sausage sandwich, because that thing was absolutely cracking.

SPEAKER_01

Dive up, melted cheese on that. Oh yeah. Um, if little B could choose every meal, where would we eat all week?

SPEAKER_03

Well, we we've said it's mac and cheese. He'd choose mac and cheese every day of the week. It'd be interesting to see if he changes his opinion this time. Uh, where I think he would go to Crystal Palace.

SPEAKER_01

I was tossing up between Woody's and Crystal Palace.

SPEAKER_03

I think he would I think he would go to Crystal Palace. Don't get me wrong, I think Woody's is a good shout, but to be with Winning the Pooh and Eeyore and Tigger and Big Blood, I think he would do that every single day. He'd just walk in, he'd high-five them, he'd go get his mac and cheese, he'd come round for another chat, tell them about his day.

SPEAKER_01

Go and get his ice cream.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, absolutely. He'd he'd tell Eeyore that it's okay and it'll get better soon.

SPEAKER_01

He would rule that roots.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he would he would he would literally be in there every day if he could. Uh but uh Wooddis Roundup is a good shout as well. But uh for me, I think it'd be Crystal Palace. Um so that leads us to uh the end of today's episode. Um what are we gonna be talking about next time? Uh oh my goodness, it's gone off the face. It's gone off the top of my head now. Oh my gosh!

SPEAKER_01

Uh it was really good as well.

SPEAKER_03

We've got it written. She says. Yeah, we've got it written down. We've got we've got the like the next few episodes written down and planned somewhere, and we were talking about it, what, literally five minutes before uh the episode aired. Um but yeah, the next episode is gonna be really, really good when we can remember uh what it was that we've planned. Um but there you are. This is this is what happens when like you can't edit a podcast because you just want the free flow of it.

SPEAKER_01

It wasn't packing because that's in a couple of minutes.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, packing's gonna come uh uh a little bit later on. Uh any ideas?

SPEAKER_01

Um drawing a blank.

SPEAKER_03

Oh my god. So sorry. Yeah, so am I.

SPEAKER_01

We'll put it in the show notes.

SPEAKER_03

You you looked at me and it's just sapped it out of my brain.

SPEAKER_01

Um but we'll put it in the show notes.

SPEAKER_03

But we yes, we will be back in two weeks' time uh for another outing of Brits and the Magic. Um if you uh have got Instagram, have a look at it for us on Instagram. Yeah. Uh we're we're posting more more and more things now on Instagram, aren't we?

SPEAKER_01

Mr. B loves putting some funny little um posts up there.

SPEAKER_03

I I try and do my bit. I mean I've I've never been big on Instagram, but I'm I'm I'm getting a bit more out there now. And of course, if you've got any questions for us or you want to talk about anything that we've talked about today or in any of the previous episodes.

SPEAKER_01

Or any restaurants that you think, why have they not mentioned this? This is the best restaurant for young children, please let us know. We said right from the beginning of episode one, we do not profess to know everything.

SPEAKER_03

I remembered it. Go on. Planning. Planning our planning our trips. Yes. Yes, apply that like what what we plan for uh and Yes and the weather. And the weather, yes, and uh coping with the heat. Yes, planning and coping with the heat. That was that's a big thing. Yeah, that's what we're that's what we're gonna cover.

SPEAKER_01

Having a child school age in the UK means going to Florida end of July, early August. So and people think you're crazy.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. So if you tune in for episode four with us, we will be talking about planning and working around the heat. Uh, and with a four-year-old, that is really important. Yes. So thank you so much for joining us for another for another episode. If this is the first one you've uh listened to, please make sure you go and listen to the other two as well. They are a hoot, in my opinion. Um, but no, thank you very much, guys, and we will see you real soon. Bye bye, take care.