A Day at the Omaha Zoo

When we were in Iowa a couple of weeks back we were so happy to go back to the Omaha Zoo, it’s actually where Dustin asked me to be his girlfriend haha that feels like SO long ago! The zoo has changed so much since we were there last and they had so many new attractions and animals! We visited on what felt like the HOTTEST day in July, seriously! We went on a Sunday and I’m not sure if it’s because we were there on such a hot day or what but the crowds weren’t bad at all.

Where to eat

We had lunch at TuskerGrill near the elephant exhibit. They served things like burgers and french fries. For gluten free options, there were pretty much none. I luckily brought my own bread in anticipation of not having many options and I was glad I did. I ordered a cheeseburger with no bun and no side. After wandering a bit more throughout the park we wish we would have eaten at Glacier Bay Landing Grill, this had more options like crab cake sandwiches and fish tacos. Glacier Bay Landing Grill is located near the splash pad.

What attractions not to miss

If you only have one day to visit these are the attractions and exhibits that I think you should add to the must do list!

• Lied Jungle

• Scott Aquarium (it was being remodeled when we visited but still open with many exhibits inside.

• Butterfly & Insect Pavilion

• Hawkins Giraffe Encounter - you get to feed the giraffes!

• Elephant Family Quarters

• Hubbard Gorilla Valley’Asian Highlands

• Splash Pad if you have small kiddos

• Stingray Beach

• Desert Dome

After you complete that I would get on the Skyfari Landing and taking it over the park to see the lions, cheetah and antelope and then get back on and it will bring you back to the front of the park. The Skyfari Landing is a chair lift ride that lets you see the zoo from the treetops!

We did do train but honestly, we didn’t see too many things and it was a bit of a let down. I will say though that our nephew really enjoyed it and that was fun for him! So maybe add it to the must do list if you have small kids.

Overall we loved the zoo and really felt like we could spend the day there as adults without kids no problem! But we also love all zoos, aquariums, theme parks… we are pretty much just big kids haha

Drinking Around Epcot

Last week we spent one of our days in Orlando at Epcot and I took on the hefty chore {my favorite chore} of drinking around the world. Now if you are new to Disney, this is when you get one alcoholic drink from each of the countries in Epcot. For the sake of my liver amongst other things, I did 9/12 countries and I did it all by myself… I was proud of myself! In hindsight, two people would be way easier to accomplish this! I’m just going to get right to it and share what I had from each country. The three countries that I skipped were Canada, United Kingdom and America.

Drink #1 - France - Orange Slush from Les Vins des Chef de France.

Drink #2 - Morocco - coconut rum slush from the cart in Morocco

Drink #3 - Japan - Plum Wine from Kabuki Cafe

Drink #4 - Italy - Berry Sangria Popsicle from the Via Napoli beverage cart in Italy

Drink #5 - Germany - Selbach-Oster Riesling from Sommerfest

Drink #6 - Outpost - Mango Starr from the Refreshment Outpost

Drink #7 - China - Canto Loopy from Joy of Tea

Drink #8 - Norway - Moscato from Norways Beer Cart

Drink #9 - Mexico - Mexican Sangria from La Cantina de San Angel

9 drinks in one day and I was exhausted! Epcot is such a fun place to spend your day. It’s really the only park in my opinion that you don’t have to have a plan for the whole day. You get to just wander and enjoy trying all of the fun treats and yummy drinks and relax! I do have a post coming on the gluten free foods I found to eat in some of the countries so stay tuned for that coming soon! Have you had any of these yummy drinks? Or which one would you want to try first?! Let me know in the comments!

5 shoes to bring to Disney World

When I started going to Disney World I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when it came to walking. You don’t realize how many times you circle the park until you are back at the hotel for the night begging the person you are with to rub your feet! I always see people at the parks in what seem to be the most uncomfortable shoe possible and I don’t know how they make it through the whole day!

It is so important to choose the right shoes when packing for your trip. I always want to look cute and add Disney touches to my outfits but its not going to come together completely unless it goes with one of the five shoes I am going to share with you guys! I also want to mention that all of these are under $65 and can be worn time and time again, not just at Disney World. They are more than just Disney shoes, for sure.

1. Reef Flip Flops - I could wear these pretty much all day every day when I am at Disney or even if I am at home. Dustin and I both wear Reefs in the park and have bought them more than once. When I am at Disney I like starting my day in sneakers and then toward the end of the day I like to switch into my flip flops!

2. Roxy Sneakers - These are hands down the most comfortable sneakers that I own and I don’t know where they have been my whole life. These really feel like you are walking on pillows or like you just have socks on. You can wear them with or without socks and you can just throw them into the wash too clean them! They are so cute and would look too cute with a t-shirt dress!

3. Keds - Such a classic Disney shoe, plus you can get them in red, I love it! This is a comfortable shoe that will look cute with so many looks and it really brings that Mickey Mouse flare to any outfit you come up with. Not only do they have red but they have black, white, grey, you name it they have it.

4. Brash Sneakers - I found these on Amazon and bought them on a whim just to try them. I LOVE them! They also come in quite a few colors and have a fun detail that sets them apart from the traditional sneaker. I really like the tie detailing and they were surprisingly reliable throughout the day at the parks!

5. Nike Sneakers - These were the shoes that I brought to my very first Disney World trip way back in high school. These were great and I wore them all day everyday and we went to parks for 5 days in a row. Now that I have been more times, I find it better to switch shoes and give different shoes a break but they were good and would be more than comfortable for 2-3 days.

These are the five shoes that I have worn to Disney World and have survived those miles of walking without taking breaks or stopping because my feet were killing me. I have tried so many shoes and narrowed it down to the best! I would love to know if you have tried other shoes that you think could be on my list! Let me know if you have!

Review of Disney's All Star Movie Resort

I have mentioned before that it is one of our goals to be able to stay at every single one of the Disney resorts in our lifetime and so far we have only done two but I already have a favorite! Here is a breakdown of our honest thoughts of Disney’s All Star Movie Resort. 

Service

I don’t think the service could have been better. This trip we were on was our honeymoon and they treated us so well. I mean we haven’t really ever had a bad customer service experience with Disney cast members before but the staff at Disney’s All Star Movie Resort were great! For this trip, we stayed for 11 nights and we opted out of their cleaning services. For this we received a $150 Disney gift card to as we wished. It was only the two of us and we aren’t very messy. Plus they will bring us anything we need(toilet paper, fresh towels, etc.) whenever we call and ask for it. They were very attentive with bringing us anything.

This is a Disney wide thing but one of our favorite perks is the Disney’s Magical Express that will come get you from the airport free of charge and take you to your resort as well as take you from your resort back to the airport. I think that this is a great perk and really adds to the quality of their service. 

Room

The room was pretty standard, the room that we were in had a King size bed and it was about a 3 minute walk to get to the main building. This was perfect because everything that we needed what in that main building, food, gift shop, customer service, the busses ran from that building. It was nice to be so close to it. 

The room came with Disney’s shampoo, conditioner and body wash and we never had issues with running out of warm water. The wi-fi was free in each room and there was also a TV, mini-fridge, iron and a safe which we kept our passports in! One thing we wish there was is a microwave but there hasn’t been one at either of the Disney resorts we have stayed at so far. This would be nice to have for breakfast foods if you brought your own but I understand that they are trying to persuade you to eat in the food court. 

We enjoyed our room for what it was and how often we were actually in the room. If you’ve been to Disney/do Disney the way we do(non-stop going, going, going) then all that will matter is to have a place to rest your head, and feet at night, with the quickest transport to and from the parks. Which this definitely checked all of those boxes for us!

Food

So the World Premier Food Court has many options and we were pretty satisfied with the amount of times we actually ate there which was quite a bit considering how long we were there. The World Premier Food Court is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night snacks. They have the Specialty Shop, The Grill Shop, The Pizza Shop and the Ice Cream Shop. The GF options were pretty standard for Disney, GF chicken nuggets, cheeseburger on a GF bun, GF French fries and some other options at the Specialty Shop like chicken breast with mashed potatoes, Mahi Mahi, and Flank Steak. The Pizza shop was also great, and Dustin’s favorite! TIP: If you are going to get a pizza from the food court, don’t order just a slice. Get a whole pizza, you get more bang for your buck and you will have leftovers for later!

They also have the Silver Screen Spirits Pool Bar, where you can grab a drink and sit next to the pool! They have over 20 options to choose from ranging from $7-$13. 

They have the store at the front of the resort where you can purchase merchandise that you can get in the parks, food, snacks, beverage and things like medicine. This was so helpful! Over the span of the 11 days that we were there that came in handy for things like ibuprofen and a tide to go stick!

Lastly, you can order pizza to your room from 5:00pm-1:00am, this has come in handy a couple of times. 

Activities

They have two pools, the Fantasia Pool and the Duck Pond pool. The Fantasia pool is right off the main building and closest to the bar. Most of the time there is a cast member playing games, doing trivia or some other sort of interactive entertainment. The Duck Pond pool is much more relaxed and there are less people there as well. 

For kiddos, they have a playground the arcade to play in. Dustin and I (even as adults) can spend a morning in the arcade easily, there are plenty of games to enjoy. 

The last thing that they do, and probably one of my favorites is that they play movies at night. Its called “Movies Under the Stars”, its fun because it’s a different Disney movie every night and you get to unwind while being outside enjoying a movie. You can grab a snack from the food court and then pick a spot in their movie room to enjoy your favorite Disney movie! 

Busses/Travel times

We found that it varies from park to park obviously due to location but really nothing more the 10-20 minutes and it all makes it worth while when you don’t have to park your car, take the tram to the entrance and blah blah blah depending on which park you are visiting. 

We always say that we will always stay in a Disney Resort just for the bus system. It honestly makes your life so much easier. We also have never had a problem with a bus not being there to pick us up, usually there is a person working where you are and they are communicating with dispatch to let them know where busses need to be to pick guest up that have been waiting. If you have the My Disney Experience App you know when the bus is coming to your destination and you can plan accordingly! 

Overall Atmosphere

The overall atmosphere for us was perfect for us, we loved it and would stay here again. It was less crowded than the All Star Music Resort and we really liked that aspect. We have only been to two of the resorts so far but this was our favorite. In our opinion we enjoyed the All Star Movie resort more for its decorations and that sort of thing. Like I mentioned before, it’s so convenient and we are all about that!

Bachelor in Paradise: Sugar Cookie Pizza

Now that I have gotten hooked on the Bachelorette, I figured it was time to start watching Bachelor in Paradise as well. Instead of doing appetizers for this I wanted to do strictly desserts. I really have no idea what I am getting myself into with this show so here goes nothing haha

This gluten free cookie was so simple to make and you can’t even tell that it is gf! You could easily sub gf flour for normal flour if you don’t need food to be gf. It was easy to make into a big pizza like this but another option would be individual frosted cookies and bringing a fruit tray and they can add which fruits they would like!

Sugar Cookie

1 large egg

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 cup gluten free All purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup baking blend sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 oz cream cheese

8 tbsp salted butter

1 tbsp milk

1 tsp lemon zest

Directions

1. Cream together butter, sugar, egg and cream cheese

2. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, milk, vegetable oil then stir all together

3. Add flour to the mixture and stir, then add lemon zest

4. Roll dough out into a large circle or other desired shape. You will want it to be about 1/4th of an inch thick.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

Frosting

16 oz cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

8oz can of crushed pineapple

Directions

1. Drain the crushed pineapple and then press dry

2. Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar

3. Add crushed pineapple and stir

I hope you love this recipe! I love that this is the base of a great gluten free cookie that can be used for a fruit pizza but it can also be used as a great roll out sugar cookie recipe used around Christmas time! The base of these will definitely be seen and used again here on the blog! Let me know if you make this and I would love to hear what your guests think! Here we go with Bachelor in Paradise, lets see how this goes!

8 Day Disney World Travel Diary

8 DAY DISNEY WORLD TRAVEL DIARY

This has been a loooong awaited post, for sure! We love Disney, especially Disney World! It’s so magical and honestly it’s our happy place. Don’t get me wrong we LOVE visiting other countries and places we haven’t been before, but something about knowing your way around the parks while still being surprised is so special too! This 8-day Disney travel Diary is actually the trip we took in December of 2018!

DAY 1 TRAVEL DAY AND DISNEY SPRINGS

We flew into Orlando(MCO) with an early flight, so we could get to the hotel right at check-in. We love that Disney will pick you up from this airport. It’s simple, free and you don’t have to worry about a thing! You can fill out the form here to get airport pick up all set for your trip! We checked into Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, you can read more about what we thought of the resort in this blog post, here!

We checked into our room, changed and headed to our favorite restaurant in Disney Springs, Raglan Road! We love eating here, not only because it was where we had our wedding reception brunch, but the food is to die for and the atmosphere is so much fun. They have tons of live music, dancing and a very fun and knowledgeable staff. Dustin had the Seafood Gnocchi and I had the Boar Burger.. YUM! After a drink, dinner and some live music we headed home for some rest to prep for the next full day of fun!

DAY 2 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

We spent the day at Universal Studios. This was our first time here and you can read more about that here!

DAY 3 ANIMAL KINGDOM

Animal Kingdom - You can read my 10 Tips for Animal Kingdom, here!

Rides we did:

1. Flight of Passage

2. Kilamanjaro Safari

3. Expedition Everest

Where we ate:

Breakfast - Honestly, we were a little disappointed with the breakfast options. Let me preface this by saying I have a gluten allergy and gluten free options were slim for breakfast. We always stop for coffee at Starbucks which is called Creature Comforts in Discovery Island. We ended up getting some fresh fruit and cheese from Harambe Fruit Market to tie us over until lunch.

Lunch - For lunch we ate at Restaurantosaurus, we just happened to be in DinoLand and it was close. I had the gluten free chicken nuggets and Dustin got the Grilled Chicken BLT Sandwich.. it looked really good! Though, it was pretty standard food and we wished we would have eaten in Asia or Africa, next time!

Dinner - I made reservations at Sanaa for 7:55pm and the park closed at 8pm. ROOKIE MISTAKE. Face palm, seriously! I never made the connection that Sanaa was at the Animal Kingdom Villas and not the park, we missed our reservation and luckily Disney waved the fee for a late cancellation. We ended up eating at Pizzafari because I heard so many great things about it. I’m not sure if we just had bad luck but the food was pretty disappointing. We both got pepperoni pizza, I got GF and Dustin got regular.. we both realllllly didn’t like it! I wonder if we should have tried the pasta, maybe it would have been better.

DAY 4 DISNEY SPRINGS

Disney Springs day! We spent the whole day at Disney Springs which is pretty easy to do! We arrived to Disney Springs just a bit after noon and headed straight to Splitzville Luxury Lanes! We bought an hour of bowling and split a couple of sushi rolls. We got the Spicy Tuna and the Galaxy Roll, both were good. We spent the afternoon wandering through all of the shops and taking in the atmosphere. For dinner we ate at Boathouse and OH MY GOSH, their lobster bisque is LIFE CHANGING. It was so buttery and smooth and yum! Dustin had the fish tacos and I had the filet mignon sliders, both very good plates! We ended the night by splitting a bottle of wine at Wine Bar George, we sat at the bar downstairs but they have great seating upstairs as well! There are tons of restaurants in Disney Springs, you can read about our favorites here!

DAY 5 MAGIC KINGDOM

Magic Kingdom - You can read my 10 Tips for Magic Kingdom, here!

Rides we did:

1. Big Thunder Mountain

2. Space Mountain

3. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Where we ate:

Breakfast - Again, there were slim gluten free options for breakfast but we grabbed a coffee from Starbucks on Main Street! At Disney World the Starbucks is called Main Street Bakery.

Lunch - Columbia Harbor House, I had the chicken fingers(my favorite by far!) and Dustin had the Lobster Roll, he said it was really good!

Dinner - Pinocchio Village Haus, I got chicken nuggets again and Dustin had the Chicken Parmesan Sandwich! I had chicken nuggets/fingers many times on this trip because I didn’t know how many other GF options there were for me! I am going again in August and can’t wait to try new GF foods!

This night was extra special for us because we purchased tickets to stay for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! You can read more about our experience at the event in this blog post. We had a blast! We had a really long day at Magic Kingdom, we were at the park from 7:30am-2:15am! We stayed just over two hours after the event to be able to get some shots on Main Street sans people!

DAY 6 RESORT DAY

We decided to take it easy on this day. We slept in and had lunch at our resort. We spent the rest of the day hanging out by the pool! Staying at the resorts is so great because you can easily spend the day there between the pool, food options, arcade, and activities they have planned.

DAY 7 EPCOT

Epcot

Rides we did:

1. Test Track

2. Spaceship Earth

3. Living With The Land

Where we ate:

So. Many. Things. lol

When you are planning your Epcot Day, plan for it to revolve around alllll the yummy foods! I have this broken out into meals but truthfully, it was continuous eating and drinking.

Breakfast: Starbucks, yet again. Always start a park day with coffee! At Epcot, it is called Fountain View! Though next time I do want to try Joffereys coffee.

Lunch: Dustin had Kabuki Cafe in Japan and I ate at Liberty Inn.

Snacks and drinks: I am going to start in Mexico and make our way around to Canada, If I don’t mention a country then we didn’t get anything from there!

Mexico: Mango frozen Margarita from La Cantina de San Angel

China: Egg rolls and a Canto Loopy drink at Joy of Tea

Germany: Pink Grapefruit Hefeweizen, Honey Bourbon Shots, and Selbach-Oster Riesling from Sommerfest

Italy: We both had a glass of wine in Italy but I can’t for the life of me remember from where. I believe it was from a stand in the front of Italy!

France: Orange Slush from Les Vins des Chefs de France

United Kingdom: Fish and chips from Yorkshire County Fish Shop

Dinner: We had dinner at the hibachi grill called Teppan Edo in Japan and it exceeded our expectations, it was so good and we were so full afterwards!

DAY 8 HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Hollywood Studios

Fast Passes:

1. Slinky Dog Dash

2. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

3. Frozen Sing-a-long

Where we ate:

Breakfast: Starbucks again, haha shocker! At Hollywood Studios, Starbucks is called The Trolley Car Cafe!

Lunch: We sort of ate Breakfast/Lunch at Woody’s Lunch Box, there were so many good things to try! We sort of got a smorgasbord and split things! There were tons of GF options as well! We got the S’mores French Toast Sandwich, Smoked Turkey Breakfast Sandwich and the BBQ Brisket Melt. All were yummy, though I probably wouldn’t get the S’mores French toast again. It felt like I was eating Nutella toast with marshmallow fluff, not my cup of tea!

Dinner: We headed back to the resort early and ate dinner there, we had to catch the bus at 2:30AM to head to the airport!

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and found it helpful! I will be doing the other blog posts as well for the 11 day trip, 6 day trip and the day in Disney World trip soon! Like I mentioned before, we love Disney because its comfortable and we know our way around, yet every trip is different! Let me know if you have questions at all, I would love to help you with your next trip!

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WHAT TO READ NEXT!

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ABC’s Bachelorette Party: Wings two ways

MEN TELL ALL episode, I pretty much thought of the most manly thing I could think of and came up with wings! This is one of my favorite episodes because there is just so much going on and so much drama. But these wings were so good and easily could be served as an appetizer or made as a whole dinner and add french fries.

Spicy Asian Garlic

6 tbsp - Minced Garlic

2 cups - Sweet Chili Sauce

1/4th cup - Coconut Aminos

1 tbsp - Chili Paste

1 tbsp - Sesame Oil

1 tbsp - Spicy Stir Fry Sauce

1 tsp - Cayenne

1 tsp - Salt

Red Pepper Flake for more heat if desired

Kickin’ Honey Barbecue

1 tbsp - Minced Garlic

2 cups - Ketchup

3/4th cup - Honey

2 tbsp - Mustard

2 tbsp - Molasses

1 tbsp - Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tbsp - Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp - Cayenne

1 tsp - Ground Mustard

1 tsp - Garlic salt

Directions

Sauces

Cook time - 12 minutes

Put pan on stove at medium heat, add olive oil to pan creating a thin layer of oil. Add Minced Garlic and brown and stir occasionally until garlic has browned. Once Garlic has browned add in the rest of the ingredients and mix together. Once all the ingredients are mixed turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Wings

Season wings with salt and pepper, turn grill on to medium heat. Add the wings on the grill and make sure to flip and cook both sides until they are brown. Optional: once grilled, toss in fryer for about 2 minutes to crisp the outside) Let cool for a few minutes, brush on sauce of your choice! Eat!

ABC’s Bachelorette Party: Spicy Pomegranate Margarita

Fantasy suites week is here! I immediately thought of this spicy pomegranate margarita to make while you and your guests watch the drama unfold in the upcoming episode! Honestly this season has flown by and I can’t believe it’s almost over. This drink is so yummy and you can easily pair it with tortilla chips and salsa or guacamole if you are wanting to also bring a snack!

What you will need

This is such an easy recipe because its really just putting things together, there isn’t any mixing or cooking, just a bit of prep work. Getting the seeds out of the pomegranate was the hardest part and even that could be eliminated if you bought a pack of just pomegranate seeds rather than a pomegranate. I also like it because these are so simple to make but they look really pretty!