Review: La Cantina de San Angel

For those of you who aren't aware, I loooove Mexican food (also, I'm still alive! sorry for taking so long between posts!).  So naturally, I had to try the (then relatively) new Cantina de San Angel on my birthday back in January.  Full disclaimer: I had never been to the old Cantina, though I had been to the San Angel Inn.

We were on the dining plan, so James and I both were able to order one entree, one non-alcoholic beverage, and one dessert each.  We both ordered the Tacos de Carne and a soda, but James ordered the lemon Paleta for dessert.  I had the churros con cajeta, of course.  Claro que si.  (Okay, I'll try not to get all Espanol on you guys.)  We ate lunch around 11:30, and it wasn't too busy.  There was only one family in front of us on line, and soon we were ordered and scanned through and waiting for our food. 

I grabbed a table, while James waited for our food.  In a few minutes, we were reunited, and I went to get some utensils and salsa.  For those who haven't been, La Cantina has salsa dispensers like most restaurants have ketchup dispensers.  There were two types, and I took a little cup of both back to the table.  The Tacos de Carne weren't quite what I expected, but they were quite good!  I think I was expecting Chipotle or Taco Bell style steak chunks, but this was more of a shredded beef.  Plus the tortillas it came on were soft and delicious!  Add the pico de gallo and some of the salsa we got from the dispenser, and it was delicioso! 

Now as I said, James and I got different desserts, and I think we had different satisfaction levels.  James isn't big into churros, so he got the lemon paleta.  It was basically a lemon popsicle from Mexico, and he didn't think it was anything special.  I, on the other hand, loved my churros!  They came with cajeta, which is caramel sauce.  I love churros period, but add more sugary goodness, and I was in heaven!

Overall, I really liked La Cantina, and I would love to return.  But as far as I saw, all the seating was outdoors.  This was not a problem in January, but it may be one in August.  This is a favorable maybe for our upcoming trip!

Have you been to La Cantina since it was refurbished?  What did you think?  What did you order?  Let me know your thoughts on this restaurant in a comment, on Twitter (@amandaenchanted), or on Facebook! 
 

All Star Music vs. Pop Century: Help Us Decide!

I feel like I need to preface this blog post with a very important fact:  I love All Star Music.  Love it.  LOVE it.  I've stayed there four times, and I even chose it over Port Orleans French Quarter.  So ponder that before you read on and give your opinion.

I love All Star Music, and everyone else loves Pop.  It has made me want to try Pop, so I tried to book Pop way back when there was a room only discount that had just come out.  Pop wasn't available, so we booked All Star Music.  Maybe that was a sign not to stay at Pop.  Anyway, fast forward a few weeks, and annual pass discounts are available for our August trip.  I am now reconsidering switching to Pop, if we do get annual passes.

Before you tell me which resort you think James and I should stay at, here's a list of things that worry me about Pop:

1. Buses.  Please don't tell me that the All Stars share buses.  We were on a shared bus maybe 10% of the time.  I'm concerned about the bus service at Pop because the resort is much bigger than All Star Music.  Which means more people.  Which means more crowded buses and longer lines.  The line for Pop always seems longer than the line for All Star Music.

2. Sound proofing.  Pop supposedly has the worst sound proofing of all the resorts.  All Star Music is very well soundproofed.  I'm nervous about being woken up by noisy kids in the middle of the night.

3. Unofficial Guide ratings.  The fact that I take every word written in the Unofficial Guide as un-debatable fact is one of the reasons I signed up to be a TouringPlans.com affiliate (see banner in sidebar).  That said, 100% of All Star Music visitors said they would return to that resort, but only 93% of the Pop Century visitors said the same.  If you don't think 7% seems like a lot, multiply that by the total number of people that stay at Pop every year.  (Also note that 80% of All Star Music visitors would recommend the resort to a friend, but only 70% of Pop Century visitors said the same.)

4. Fellow All Star Music lovers.  Pop lovers swear that I will like it, but many fellow All Star lovers say that they didn't like Pop as much as Music.  Some even said they couldn't wait to get back to Music.  Some cite the things I listed above, plus things like the scenery: Pop is all plastic, while the All Stars have a lot of trees and landscaping.

So that's that.  On one hand, I want to try something new.  On the other hand, All Star Music signifies Disney for me, and I kind of want to go there forever (until I can afford a deluxe).  So what's your opinion on the great debate?  Should I stay at All Star Music or Pop Century?  Let me know your thoughts in a comment, on Twitter (@amandaenchanted), or on Facebook!
 

Wordless Wednesday: Victoria Gardens

Studios Thrill Rides... For Wimps?

Photo from James

As I'm sure you all know, I'm a ride wimp.  I'm afraid of many of the rides that people adore at Walt Disney World.  The Studios (it's International Hollywood Studios Awareness week, remember?) has two of the scariest thrill rides of all, but my fellow ride wimps may not know that they can get a thrill ride experience while always being safely attached to the ground.  Have you ever heard of a chicken exit?

The lovely Cheryl loves the Studios, and back in January, she was very displeased with the fact that I had never seen the Tower of Terror queue.  We decided that we needed to change that, so we headed right over to the Hollywood Tower Hotel.  We took the Fastpass entrance, so I can't say anything about the standby queue.  Before we knew it, we were in the hotel, and we were watching the pre-show.  You see, at Tower of Terror, the chicken elevator separates from the ride elevators right when they're loading people into the ride.  That means that the chickens and the riders can see all the other parts of the queue and pre-show together before splitting up.  So after the queue and pre-show, we were in the final part of the queue.  I kept second guessing Cheryl, asking her if she's SURE we didn't pass the chicken exit yet.  Obviously I was terrified, but Cheryl wasn't tricking me.  When the cast member at the loading platform asked how many in our party, we said one rider (James) and two chickens (Cheryl and I).  Cheryl and I were directed to stand to the side while they loaded the ride elevator, and soon we were directed to a normal, safe, slow elevator.  I knew it was a real one because there were no seatbelts.  After a perfectly average ride down on an elevator, we found ourselves at the ride exit to wait for James.  A few minutes later, he arrived, and we walked through the gift shop on our way out.  It was like James, Cheryl, and I all had the same experience, except only James had the terror part.

A few days later, James' brother and his boyfriend came to hang out with us at Disney, and they decided they wanted to hit the Studios first.  We all headed over to Rock 'n Roller Coaster, even though I knew I wouldn't be riding.  When we asked how long the single rider line was, the CM told us he couldn't be sure.  Just a few minutes later, thanks to my birthday and James' brother's flirting skills, we had achieved four Fastpasses that were good immediately.  All I had to do was tell the CM I would ride.  And I did tell him that, knowing that I could chicken exit later if I wanted to.  At first, I felt brave.  I felt like I could do it.  Then as we waited, I started to chicken out, and I realized that I really did not want to ride this coaster.  Luckily for me, I could experience the queue without riding.  And so I did the same as Cheryl had taught us a few days earlier.  We walked through the queue, we saw the pre-show, and we entered the loading area.  When the cast member asked how many, I told him I would be exiting on foot, not via a scary death coaster (although not in so many words).  He directed me to a door on the side of the platform that took me directly to the unloading platform.  They're right next to each other, you see.  So I got to wait for the others in the gift shop, watching all the ride photos of the people who came off.  A few minutes later, we were reunited, and James told me it was a good thing I hadn't ridden.  I'm glad I know now that I didn't have to in order to get the full experience. 

Did you know that you could experience these queues without riding?  Have you ever taken a chicken exit?  Did you do it so you could experience the queue or pre-show?  On which attraction?  Let me know your ride wimp tips in a comment, on Twitter (@amandaenchanted), or on Facebook!
 

Wordless Wednesday: #DHSAwareness Week

Underappreciated Studios Attractions

For those of you who are unaware, yet another International Hollywood Studios Awareness Week has arrived.  You may remember last year, when I wrote about The Great Movie Debate.  Well I'm here today to write about two less appreciated Studios attractions, at least by the general public.  (Disclaimer: There are not necessarily underappreciated by the Disney community, but they are by the average Disney guest.)

My rendition of Sheriff Woody!

First is the Magic of Disney Animation (all attraction links go to StudiosCentral.com because they have way more Studios information than I do).  The "bulk" of this attraction is a short movie, hosted by Mushu, about Disney animation.  Though in my opinion, that's my least favorite part of the attraction.  After the movie, you are essentially dumped into a big Disney animation advertisement.  But in a good way!  There's a ton of concept art for Disney's next movie, and you can see all kinds of cool stuff related to the movie.  After this, there is an area where you can meet various characters if you choose.  Find which characters will be there in your Times Guide.  And finally, after meeting (or skipping) the characters, you can choose to exit the attraction via a gift shop or go to the Animation Academy.  The Animation Academy is my favorite part of this attraction.  As you can see above, I drew Woody!  We were the only people in the Academy at the time that had never been, so we got to draw a character that was less common.  Even if you're not a good artist, this is a lot of fun.  Hands on entertainment in a Disney theme park.  Love it!  (PS, you have to exit through the gift shop after this too... sorry.  It's a cool one though!)

Me at One Man's Dream

Second, but certainly not second in my heart (or the hearts of many other Disney fans), is Walt Disney: One Man's Dream.  For those of you who haven't been here in a while, it has recently been refurbished, and it is definitely worth another visit.  For those who have never been, this is essentially a chronicle of Walt Disney's life, from birth to after his death.  It gives information about everything Walt achieved both for himself and his company, and there are quite a few "artifacts" that he actually used.  Ever wanted to see a real desk that Walt sat at?  Now you know where to find one!  The whole attraction can be skimmed very quickly, but I recommend taking at least 20 minutes to really look at everything.  For any diehard Disney fan, this is a must-see if you haven't.  At the end, you can choose to see a short film about Walt's life, which I recommend.  At the very least, it's a nice place to sit for a bit.  Overall, this attraction honors Walt in the best way.  It is fantastic.

Do you agree that these attractions should be more appreciated?  Have you seen both of them?  Which are your favorites?  Let me know your thoughts on these attractions in a comment,  on Twitter (@discollegeblog), or on Facebook.  And if you're on Twitter, don't forget to hashtag #DHSAwareness!
 

Wordless Wednesday: Spaceship Japan