On The Road Travel

Updated 6/16/22 For the most up-to-date information about the phased reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort, please visit the   Walt Disney World Know Before You Go Guide. Located in Town Center at Disney Springs, movie memorabilia meets American cuisine at this tribute to Hollywood restaurant. Enjoy lunch or dinner on one of four floors at this very spacious observatory or dine outside and overlook a beautiful Florida sunset! Planet Hollywood is open daily from 11:30 am to 11:00 pm. One thing you will rarely have an issue with is getting a seat at this restaurant. There is plenty of seating available! Once you are seated the first thing you will notice is a massive movie screen in the center of the room. This 4,500 square foot video wall has state-of-the-art sound and media featuring music videos, custom 3D animation, birthday messages, and more. Scattered around the restaurant are (you guessed it) loads of artifacts and costumes from Tinseltown’s biggest blockbuster movie...

Updated 6/16/22 For the most up-to-date information about the phased reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort, please visit the   Walt Disney World Know Before You Go Guide. Maria and Enzo’s Ristorante is a southern Italian inspired table service restaurant located in the The Landing at Disney Springs. It is open daily for lunch from 11:30AM to 3:30PM and dinner from 4:00 to 10:00PM. Brunch is offered on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30AM to 3:30 PM. When the Disney Dining Plan is available this meal is one table service credit. This restaurant has transformed an abandoned airline terminal into an airy, vivacious establishment including 50-foot high ceilings, a grand staircase, and floor to ceiling views of Lake Buena Vista. The dining room is wide open with seating available at both tables and booths on both levels of the restaurant. A colorful mural of travel destinations encircles the entire area. A metallic globe anchors the space from above. This restaurant boasts a mout...

Updated 6/16/22 For the most up-to-date information about the phased reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort, please visit the   Walt Disney World Know Before You Go Guide. Paradiso 37 is located in the Landing section of Disney Springs, right next to The Edison. It is open daily from 11:30 am to 10:30 pm. Dining plans are temporarily unavailable, however during non-COVID times the Disney Dining Plan is accepted (one table service credit required). This lively establishment, overlooking Village Lake, features two levels with stunning views. Brightly colored booths and accents lend a Latin flair inside, while ample seating on the spacious patio and a dedicated outdoor bar make it perfect for dining al fresco. This restaurant and bar serves up unique cuisine inspired by the Street Foods of the Americas. Menu items from North, South, and Central America are featured for lunch and dinner. This gives guests a wide variety of dining options from a cheeseburger to a Peruvian roaste...

Updated 6/16/22 For the most up-to-date information about the phased reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort, please visit the   Walt Disney World Know Before You Go Guide. Pizzafari is a counter service restaurant found in Discovery Island at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s located on the corner between the path to Pandora and the path to Africa. And judging by the name you can probably guess what the menu largely consists of. That’s right…PIZZA! Pizzafari is a large restaurant with several themed rooms and outdoor eating areas immediately outside some of the rooms. These themed rooms include: the Home Room, Nocturnal Room, Upside Down Room, Camouflage Room, Four Seasons Room, and the Bug Room. The rooms are very spacious, bright and colorful with large murals on the walls consisting of fun animal theming. During the day it is a quick service restaurant open for lunch from 10:30 AM to 4:15 PM. As of the writing of this post, Pizzafari is currently open for lunch but Pizzafari...

 Check out our first edition of Mapping the Magic featuring agents John Welch and Chris Smith . They'll be live every Monday at 8pm central to bring you the magic!

Updated 6/16/22 For the most up-to-date information about the phased reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort, please visit the   Walt Disney World Know Before You Go Guide. The San Angel Inn is located in the Mexico Pavilion of the World Showcase at Epcot. The entrance is inside the pyramid directly across from the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride. The restaurant, which serves both lunch and dinner, has a charming Mexican village vibe to it with a giant pyramid and volcano off in the distance as the backdrop. I really enjoy the ambiance of his restaurant and how it flows with the rest of the pavilion. With regards to seating, the tables are set rather close together which is something to keep in mind if you are the kind of person that doesn’t like bumping the person behind you when moving your chair back. If you can, request a waterside table which gives you a bit more space and offers a great view of the boats traveling on the Gran Fiesta Tour. I always love waving to my fellow D...

Updated 6/16/22 For the most up-to-date information about the phased reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort, please visit the   Walt Disney World Know Before You Go Guide. Flying Fish is an upscale Signature Dining table service restaurant serving premium seafood and steaks at Walt Disney World’s Boardwalk. It is located just a short walk away from Epcot’s International Gateway entrance and in close proximity to Disney’s Swan/Dolphin Hotel and Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. If you’re at your resort, you will want to take transportation to Hollywood Studios or Epcot and catch a bus or ferry over to the Boardwalk. Prior to it’s reimagining in 2016, Flying Fish’s decor was described as “Coney Island inspired.” The new-look Flying Fish now boasts a totally fresh interior. The basic layout remained the same but all of the decor completely changed. Disney has stated the reimagining was, “designed to create a sophisticated style, paying homage to the golden era of seaside ...

Updated 6/16/22 For the most up-to-date information about the phased reopening of the Walt Disney World Resort, please visit the   Walt Disney World Know Before You Go Guide.   As of the writing of this post Takumi-Tei is currently unavailable during the phased reopening of Walt Disney World Resort. The Walt Disney World Know Before You Go site is the best source of information for updates regarding resort and restaurant openings. Takumi-Tei, which means “House of the Artisan,” is a Signature Dining Restaurant located in Epcot on the bottom level of the Japan pavilion’s main building. It’s overall theme is to celebrate the relationship between Japanese craftsmanship and the natural world. From the moment you arrive you are greeted warmly, educated about Japanese culture, and taken care of by friendly servers in traditional garments. Upon entering, you will encounter several globes along the entrance hallway, each representing an element: water, earth, wood, paper, and st...

We are very excited to welcome a new member to the On The Road Travel Team! Meet John Welch! John lives just North of the big apple in Valley Cottage, NY with his wife, Joanna and two boys Landon (11) and John (6). Besides his family there are two things in this world that John is most passionate about...The New York Mets and Disney! While one has brought him more than a fair share of pain and heartbreak, the other has provided countless cherished memories and unforgettable experiences. John’s first Disney visit was at 6 months old. He doesn’t remember much, but was told he slept almost the entire car ride down and was very well behaved the whole time! John grew up the same way a lot of Disney kids did during the late 80s and early 90s...wearing his Goofy ears while watching every Disney Sing-Along Song VHS tape he could get his hands on. Plus, numerous episodes of DucksTales, Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin and Adventures of the Gummi Bears. Some of John’s favorite family memo...

This is the fifth and final part of a series. Be sure to check out parts one , two , three , and four before reading on! PARK #4 – MAGIC KINGDOM, PART 2 As we hooked a right past Cinderella Castle and headed towards Tomorrowland, I only had one thought in my mind, ”I hope he doesn’t fall asleep in Carousel of Progress.” My son loves this attraction and was showing no signs of slowing down, but parents, we all know that in a moments notice that can change! I got the thumbs up that he was ready to go as we sat down in the last two seats at the end of one of the last rows for ride #30 Carousel Of Progress. After 20 minutes of non-stop entertainment, we hopped right next door to ride #31 The Peoplemover. Next, we ran up to Fantasyland to knock out ride #32 Peter Pan’s Flight (FP15) & #33 It’s A Small World. Then we grabbed a FastPass for ride #34 Haunted Mansion (FP16). While on Haunted Mansion, John said to me, “Daddy, I think we are going to do this!” I still didn’t want to jinx...

This article is the fourth part in a series. Be sure to check out parts one , two , and three before reading on! Then come back next week for the fifth and final part of the series! PARK HOP #3 – HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS TO EPCOT We departed Hollywood Studios at 3:53 pm and made the short drive over to Epcot entering at 4:21 pm. Another solid hop of 28 minutes. PARK #3 - EPCOT We had 9 rides to get done with a target goal of 3 hours. As we made the long walk from the entrance to the World Showcase, John looks up and says, “I love seeing that golf ball every time we come here!” I on the other hand was a bit nervous looking at Spaceship Earth. It has ended a lot of challengers hopes and dreams in the past with its tendency to break down or just stop for no apparent reason whatsoever. I’m a big Game of Thrones fan, so I have dubbed it “The Breaker Of Runs.” But, for the time being, we had other rides to check off the list first. First on the list was our fastpass for ride #21, F...

This is the third part in a series. Be sure to check out part one and part two first and check back next week for part four! PARK #2 – ANIMAL KINGDOM Since this is the kids version of the challenge we only needed to get 5 rides at Animal Kingdom (AK). We were holding FastPasses (FP) for 3 of them, so I felt we could get through AK in just a few hours. We ran on over to Pandora for ride #11 Na’vi River Journey (FP1) and then on to Africa for #12 Kilimanjaro Safaris (FP2). While on the Safaris, I knew we needed to start looking ahead and grab a FP at Hollywood Studios (HS). So I modified our Kali River Rapids FP so I would have more time to search while we did standby for the Dinoland rides. While on line for #13 Kali River Rapids (FP3) I scored our first HUGE fastpass of the day….SLINKY DOG DASH! If you’re familiar with Disney World, you know that this is one of the toughest FastPasses to book after the 30-60 day window. After Kali River Rapids, we finished up Animal Kingdom wit...

This post is the second part in a series. If you haven't already, be sure to check out part one then check back next week for part three! MISSION #1 – EVERYRIDEKIDS CHALLENGE At 5:30 am the alarm went off. It was go time! John was super excited and couldn’t wait to get the day started. After eating breakfast, I checked all my portable chargers (six in total) and packed the rental with a change of clothes and the cooler. We left Pop Century around 6:40 am and made our way to Magic Kingdom. We parked at the Contemporary Resort a little before 7 am and walked over to the security booth rocking our Finding Nemo inspired “Big Dude, Little Dude” shirts! After a short wait, we walked down to the main entrance. While waiting, we struck up conversations with a few families and explained to them what we were doing. Most were really intrigued and supportive. A few just shook their heads and stated they could never do something like that. We had 40 attractions to ride in this version of ...

MISSION COMPLETE! The time is 11:43 pm and after waiting nervously for 46 minutes, thinking the whole time “please don’t break down on us now” John, aka Little Dude, and I were next to load onto the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. A journey that had started at 7 am that morning was about to end in celebration. We sat down, strapped ourselves in, and took our 40th and final on-ride photo of the day. As the train left the station, I looked at John. His infectious smile that never wavered the entire day was bigger than ever. I put my arm around my son and screamed, “we did it John!” Without missing a beat, he looked up at me and said, “I knew we were going to complete it!” At that moment we threw our hands in the air and I let out the biggest Ric Flair “woooooooooooo” I could muster up. Upon entering the mine, we sang along to Dig-A-Dig Dig and Heigh Ho capping off our Singing Challenge (Thank you @CheshAndTigg & @DisneyBerg), which earned donations for our Give Kids The Rides page. As we exite...