Planning a trip to Vermont? You might want to consider adding a trip to Waterbury to you agenda. That’s where the Ben & Jerry’s Factory is, and they offer a Factory Tour. On a Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour you’ll learn about the history of the company, how their mission is incorporated into their business and how their ice cream is made. Oh yeah, you’ll get to sample some ice cream too. Yummy! Tours run seven days a week except for holidays. The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and children under twelve are free. Suddenly I wouldn’t mind a trip to Vermont.

Of course I’m not referring to noses. Or butts. I’m referring to picking your own fruits and vegetables. It’s a fun way to spend a day with family and/or friends and save some money on foods you love. The Pick Your Own website allows visitors to find farms in their area, as well as offering how tos, guides, picking tips and canning instructions. Farm listings are available to the US, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand. Fruit picking can be lots of fun and fresh fruit tastes soooo good. Have you ever gone picking for fruits or vegetables?

Never having been on a cruise before, I didn’t know what to expect concerning food. Like everyone else, I’d heard different stories about quality, quantity and what’s included. We had some of the best food we’ve ever had onboard the Disney Wonder. On Disney, everything is included except alcohol. One one deck there are a number of quick serve food counters including Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, Goofy’s Galley and Pluto’s Dog House. Also located on this deck are unlimited hot and cold beverages including coffee, tea, water, milk, juice and soda. The Wonder has five restaurants - Animator’s Palate, Triton, Parrot Cay, Lumiere’s and Palo. Animator’s Palate and Palo only offer dinner. There is also the Beach Blanket Buffet, which offers buffet breakfast and lunch.

Breakfasts are held at Parrot Cay every day, and Triton and Lumiere on certain days. I really enjoy a good breakfast buffet, and both Parrot Cay and Beach Blanket Buffer offer one.

Our dinner schedule rotated between Animator’s Palate, Lumiere’s and Triton. We ate at Animator’s Palate, Lumiere’s and Triton one night each. Being as our party was so large, we only sat with our own family at dinners. We also ate one night at Palo, which is a more elegant meal and environment and requires reservations. If you go there, dress nicely and make sure you eat the chocolate souffle, it’s out of this world!

Disney celebrates special occasions with pleasure. We celebrated three birthdays while on our cruise. My brother, my father and my oldest son all have birthdays within two weeks of each other in November. On our first night there each of them received a personalized birthday dessert while eating dinner at Animator’s Palate. On another night a birthday cake was served. My hubby and I celebrated our twentieth anniversary that year, and Disney acknowledged it several times. At our dinner at Palo we received a cake, as well as at our dinner at  Animator’s Palate.

Special needs dining was not a problem for us. My younger son has celiac disease, which is an intolerance to gluten (modified food starch, wheat, rye, barley to name a few). The staff was more than happy to prepare him special foods when needed. One morning they made him gluten free pancakes. At dinner he received gluten free bread and rolls.

Disney assigns tables a personal server, and that server will travel with you each night through the different restaurants. The only restaurant they won’t travel to is Palo. Our server was Gusti, and he was so friendly. He was super friendly, intuitive and quick to remember our preferences. At the end of the cruise we wanted to bring him home with us. He went out of his way to make sure we got everything we wanted and needed and that we were fed, full and happy. He showed extra care for my youngest son, who has Down Syndrome. At Parrot Cay he took my baby to do the conga dance around the dining room.

The dining dude in charge, I don’t recall if he was called the head server or the dining captain or the maitre d’, was great. He was Gusti’s boss, and he was in charge of all servers. He made a point to find our huge party every night and check in.My Mom loves lobster and none was on any menus. She inquired if there were any certain Disney cruises that they offered lobster on, he told her no not at that point. The next dinner my Mom and the rest of the table were served lobster.

Room service is available all of the time, and it was good too. My older son liked ordering a chicken noodle soup and cookies in the middle of the night. I liked having coffee delivered early when I was trying to catch the sunrise.

I’m sure I missed writing something, so if there’s something you want to know just leave a comment.