by Sarah | Jun 20, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Florida Dreaming, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
Our road to Disney and Universal was not paved with flowers and sunshine. That goes without saying. I could go into logistics about Make A Wish’s former CF rules, refusals, and hope coming our way again, but that’s another story for another blog post. Suffice it to say, it was a bumpy, long road…until it wasn’t.
When the time came for us to approach the kids and say they were getting wishes, and to ask what they wanted, both of them thought pretty hard. I, myself, hoped for Disney, but didn’t push either of them in that direction. I did mention to the obsessed-with-Harry-Potter Kennedy that there was this magical place called Diagon Alley at Universal Studios, but we discussed other options. Things like trips in an RV, remodeling the bedroom were discussed among others.
When the day came, the wonderful Wish Granters asked the kids what they wanted.
Kennedy said, “I want to see Harry Potter World!” (It was only then that I learned when you wish for one FL theme park, you get both) I was not upset by this declaration.
From that moment everything flew by in an instant. Before any of us knew it, we were in the limo and on the plane for Florida.
Months of planning, talking, anticipation all came down to that one moment…
You know the one…
The one where we stepped through the brick passage and onto Diagon Alley.
Every moment after when Kennedy’s face looking like this —->>
Excitement. Spotting everything left and right, pointing out everything.
When Ollivander selected her and her sister (believing them twins, methinks) to get their own matching wands.
When she saw, and felt, the dragon breathe fire down on us.
When she sat in the sidecar (look how tiny, my goodness).
Every moment in Diagon Alley that day was so much magic we could have gone home right then and never complained a moment that it wasn’t worth it.
To see K become completely immersed into the world we both loved so much.
Every single second was one I wanted to bottle and hold onto.
That was the moment I knew magic was real.
And the look on her face made every struggle that led us up to and through the brick passage way was worth it.
So damn worth it.
by Sarah | May 2, 2019 | All About Family, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, DisneyTips, Redefining Perfect, Universal
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
I’ve done it with crazy intensity, and in a casual jaunt.
I’ve done Disneyland (finally), and Disney World.
I’ve picked up a few tips along the way. And while there are blogs across the web, I wanted to hand out my own Disney advice I’ve learned along the way, and tips I’ll be learning as I begin to go more frequently.
This months tip isn’t anything new if you’ve been in the past few years, but I still think it’s worth a mention. We’ve sure appreciated it on multiple occasions.
Use Disney’s Mobile Ordering for your quick-service meals.
When you’re trying to pack everything you can into a Disney day – the last thing you want to do is spend half an hour in a line ordering and waiting for food at a quick-service restaurant. Even if it is air conditioned, and themed, often there’s plenty more you’d rather be doing than waiting to satisfy the rumbling in your tummy.
Mobile ordering was a huge plus for us on our last couple of trips. While we weren’t as rushed to get through ALL the things because we’d been several times, it was nice to expedite what could be a long delay for the next thing.
I’ve already mentioned that we are notoriously bad at remembering to eat while in the parks. Mobile ordering lets us scan our app at the first pangs of hunger to see what we want along our route and order it in advance.
The handy thing about mobile ordering is that you can order it when you’re waiting in line, or on the other side of the park. You’ll be given a generous enough time frame during which you can pick up your order – but don’t worry that doesn’t mean they’re making it yet! Nope. They won’t start making the order until you click the “I’m here!” button in your Disney app. They’ll make it fresh and you’ll pick it up at the easily spotted “Mobile Order Pick Up” window.
You can find your seat, get your family situated and you’ll get a notification on your app that your meal is ready, then pick up and dine away.
Know what is awesome? Especially on those really hot days?
<<—–It’s available for grabbing your Dole Whip!!!
Oh yeah, baby…
That’s a stop we make a LOT.
I mean, it’s Dole Whip – and Aloha Isle is right by the silly-fun Jungle Cruise!
by Sarah | Apr 4, 2019 | All About Family, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, DisneyTips, Redefining Perfect, Universal
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
I’ve done it with crazy intensity, and in a casual jaunt.
I’ve done Disneyland (finally), and Disney World.
I’ve picked up a few tips along the way. And while there are blogs across the web, I wanted to hand out my own Disney advice I’ve learned along the way, and tips I’ll be learning as I begin to go more frequently.
This months tip is best for longer trips rather than shorter ones, you get more bang for your buck, as it were.
Use Photopass so you can live your memories instead of watching them.
We were blessed on our first couple of family trips to have free photopass with a free memory maker CD, thanks to Make-A-Wish. I didn’t realize what an asset it was at first, but over the course of the 5 days I really got a handle on it. Since on the first year we didn’t have it at Universal (though it showed up for year 2) it was even more clear.
First off, with photopass you can take advantage off all the photographers at the prime spots. In front of the castle, character meet & greets, and those pictures on the rides. If you have your magic bands, those are the easy way to do it, they just scan your band and your picture is added. You can also use a photopass card, your ticket (park or annual), or a memory maker card. That way all the pictures are linked together for easy viewing at the end of your trip.
*side note: I’ve seen it said that sometimes those ride pictures or some pictures in general get lost. I, personally, have not had this happen, but it is a possibility. In this case I’d contact the photopass customer service. In some cases, they may be able to locate those pictures.
You can easily locate the photopass locations using the MyDisney app (which I HIGHLY recommend for so many reasons…another post for another time).
Another fun thing with photopass is the special Magic Shots. In these they have you pose in a certain way and by the time you can say “bippity boppity boo” there are magical enhancements to be viewed in your photos.
Like this shot of my girls holding Tinkerbell in their hands. Ignore Molly’s expression. It was day 2 of our trip, first time in the Magic Kingdom. We had some total sensory overload going on here.
(To be fair…this is much better than the other picture when the photographer told them to look surprised. I’ll post that one another time. It’s HI-LAR-I-OUS)
Those magic shots are some of my favorite.
Now there aren’t photographers in every nook and cranny following you around to get every single perfect vacation shot. You’ll still have to carry a camera (I suggest a great point & shoot, not like ours, which was horrible), but you get to spend a lot more time enjoying the trip instead of seeing it through a view-finder.
Afterwards, you can view the pictures online. You can purchase photos and photo groups. If you’re only going a day or two, you can stop right here…using the photopass service is probably your best option.
However, if you’re going longer than a day or two, photopass is only half the magic. It isn’t complete without…
Memory Maker.
Memory maker isn’t a service, it’s a product. If you buy it up to 3 days before you go, it’s only $169 (if you wait until you arrive and decide you want it, purchasing it at the parks bumps the price to $199. If you pay the advance price, nothing in those first three days will be saved…so buy in advance to save the cash!).
*side note: if you have an annual pass at the level of Passport, Platinum, or Gold – memory maker is included with your annual pass. Score!
With memory maker, you get unlimited downloads of not just yours, but up to 25 friends and family images from their/your trip! This is especially handy when you have a family with older kids that get separated during the trip and don’t get all your pictures on the same magic bands. The one downside is you have to be quick to hop onto the site after your trip, because they’re only available for 45 days.
Trust me, for those saying “That’s over a month!”…after a big trip like this, that first month passes quick as a wink when you’re trying to reacclimate to real life.
Personally, if I’m going to be taking a longer trip, I totally plan for the Memory Maker because I like to put aside my technology as much as possible when in the house of mouse…so this lets me enjoy the day and still capture many priceless memories. I’ll usually take along my point & shoot for things that really need capturing if there’s no photopass photographer around…but for the most part, I let the magic of Disney do its work. I like to live in the memories rather than seeing them through my camera.
by Sarah | Mar 21, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
Our Make A Wish trips to Disney were full of so much spectacular magic, fun, and family bonding.
It brought us our son back from his moody depths.
It kept ME off my computer/phone/internet/everything for a whole week without any signs of withdrawal.
We arrived home with tale upon tale of the amazing things that happened.
Then there was that one night.
See, at Disney we have a habit that isn’t the best.
We forget about food.
Yeah, I know. Weird, right?
We’re just so busy doing all of the things, that we forget to shove food down our gullets.
So on this one night we were at the Magic Kingdom and someone pointed out that they were hungry. Erik and I realized that the last time we’d eaten had probably been at breakfast back at the Village at about, oh, 8AM. We were staring down 6PM at this point.
Oops.
We were basically in the middle of the park at that point, trying to decide where to head. Two kids were staring at maps to see where we should go, when se spotted Casey’s.
Me? I’m not a big hot dog person. I essentially only like one brand of hot dog, and that’s it.
BUT…it was there. It was easy, and I figured a chili dog wouldn’t be horrible. We WERE dining at Disney, after all…
Right?
So, in we all traipsed, making a quick study of the menu and ordering our dogs and some drinks. We find a table in the bustling restaurant and hunker down to eat.
One bite in I realized that just because we’re at Disney doesn’t mean it’s good.
Slowly as we all ate, I realized I was not the only one wearing a “color me disappointed” face. We were all sort of dissatisfied with the hot dogs. They tasted like those pink dogs you’d get at a gas station. Utterly flavorless and dull. The chili didn’t even liven up mine.
We all just kind of stared at each other, and started chuckling.
Then Denver thought he’d salvage his dinner in some way. He asked for some cash to go get one of those brownies on the menu. Because it’s BROWNIES.
Can’t screw that up.
Right?
Plus, Denver LOVES him some brownies.
We continued chatting as he made his way through the line. Sipped our drinks and waited.
When he returned to the table, he had a sort of shell-shocked wide-eyed look about him.
Confused, I asked him what was wrong. Were they out of his brownies?
He held out his hand to reveal the amazing, spectacular brownie he’d gotten…
A Cosmic Brownie…in the wrapper.
I mean…
WHAT?
We all busted out laughing. I mean, seriously.
He ate his brownie, we went about our fun, still laughing about how horrible our dinner was…but at least our bellies had food in them again.
To this day, nearly 5 years later, all you have to say in this house is “The Worst Meal Ever” and we laugh and go on about it. It’s that familiar joke families bond with.
So while the food was NOT great and I never recommend Casey’s to people that ask for Disney suggestions…
The MEMORY is the greatest. It still bonds us in laughter and love.
That is the magic of Disney, folks.
Truly.
by Sarah | Mar 7, 2019 | All About Family, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, DisneyTips, Redefining Perfect, Universal
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
I’ve done it with crazy intensity, and in a casual jaunt.
I’ve done Disneyland (finally), and Disney World.
I’ve picked up a few tips along the way. And while there re blogs across the web, I wanted to hand out my own Disney advice I’ve learned along the way, and tips I’ll be learning as I begin to go more frequently.
This months tip is one I wholeheartedly support – but have never used myself. So I asked my good friend Liz to come over and guest on my blog as she’s used this tip quite a few times in the past few years.
Use a Disney Vacation Planner.
From here, I’ll let Liz tell it…she’s the expert.
*~*
We consider ourselves Disney World experts at this point. We have had 3 family trips, a secret husband and wife trip, and I’ve just booked a mom and daughter trip. We go to Disney just about every 2 years and fully embrace the magic and fun that comes with a complete Disney vacation. While we talk about a Disney cruise or Adventures by Disney, we just can’t seem to stay away from Disney World.
I never intended to go to Disney World, honestly. I loved Disney movies and characters but had only ever been to Disney World once – my mom took me when I was 5 years old. Fast forward to my adulthood and I went to Disney World for a conference. And I fell in love and knew that I had to bring my family. What I didn’t know was how to make it happen.
Thankfully, a friend had recently shared about becoming an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. I contacted her and was thrilled to find out that it wasn’t going to be nearly as overwhelming as I had feared. I chose to go the full Disney route – staying “on property” (meaning at a Disney resort), having a Disney Dining Plan (meaning all meals are part of the vacation package expense so it’s all paid for before you get there), and so on.
My planner is Katie Dixon from Hi Ho Vacations. She lives local to me so for that first trip, she actually met with me face to face and walked me through park maps and suggested what to ride first and ways to navigate each park. At the time, I had no idea all the ways that she would prove to be an invaluable asset. Even now, as updates happen and construction is going on and things change, Katie helps me navigate and understand how to book my Fastpasses, how to get the most use out of Fastpasses while in the park, where to request special things or how to find the best seat for fireworks or parades.
Here are just some of the reasons why we always use Katie to book our trips.
She watches for specials and price changes. I usually book a trip 6-9 months in advance. Disney may release specials or discounts after I’ve already booked. If I booked it myself, I’d have to be watching for specials, determine if they apply to my trip, and then contact Disney to have my trip updated. By using Hi Ho Vacations, Katie is monitoring that on my behalf and applies any discounts that come up for me!
And on that price point – using Hi Ho Vacations means that I make payments. I pay $200 to reserve the trip and then I can make payments towards the trip. Payment in full is due 45 days prior to travel. This means we’ve been able to Disney without going into debt. One of the biggest reasons I love our Disney trips is that everything is paid for before we go. The resort, the food, the theme park tickets even the photography – it’s all in the package and paid for. In fact, the only cash I bring along is for table service server tips and “mouse”keeping tips in the room!
Katie has also been a huge help to me when we have been in the midst of our vacation and something isn’t going right. She has been able to change reservations for us or contact someone for help on our behalf. When we learned on our first trip that an 8 p.m. dinner with our little kids was a bad idea, she was able to look at the rest of our itinerary and make suggestions of what to change and then did the work to make the changes. I didn’t have to take any time away from my vacation to handle the problem.
If there were a circumstance where we need special assistance on our trip – maybe I have a kid with sensory issues or I get hurt before my trip and now need a wheelchair and assistance – Katie helps navigate and arrange all the things. And I guarantee you she thinks of things I never would have known about because her Disney knowledge and experience is fantastic.
I’ve also enjoyed the sprinkles of Pixie Dust we get by using Hi Ho Vacations. They take very good care of their customers – either by a surprise “hook up” on a dinner reservation for better seats or maybe a small gift in your room or some other fun bit of magic. Katie always has fun things up her sleeve to make our trip special – even before we get there!
Booking through Hi Ho Vacations also benefits the Make A Wish Foundation for Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana – they donate $10 to Make A Wish for every trip booked through them.
The most important question is – what will it cost me to use a vacation planner? Absolutely nothing! Here’s how I understand it – if I book everything myself, Disney considers themselves the planner and basically pays themselves out of my trip. However, by using an authorized planner, my planner gets paid what Disney would have paid themselves. The commission either goes to Disney or goes to my planner – and I’d rather have someone helping me step by step get that money.
Even as I prepare for my 6th trip to the parks, I know I need Katie in my back pocket. I’ve been more independent planning this trip – but I feel confident about it because I’m asking Katie questions and getting her advice as I go!
*~*
Soon as I read this post, I told Liz I wanted to book a trip NOW! I love the idea of the usual stresses being handled by an expert so that I have to do nothing but enjoy my trip along the way. I also, as a former Wish family, love that Hi Ho Vacations donates to Make A Wish for every trip booked!!
After this – what do you think? Would you use a planner?
Here is the information for Liz’s All-Star Vacation planner, Katie:
Katie Dixon
317-374-2849
Katie@hihovacations.com
http://www.hihovacations.com/
Our road to Disney and Universal was not paved with flowers and sunshine. That goes without saying. I could go into logistics about Make A Wish’s former CF rules, refusals, and hope coming our way again, but that’s another story for another blog post. Suffice it to say, it was a bumpy, long road…until it wasn’t.
The one where we stepped through the brick passage and onto Diagon Alley.
When she sat in the sidecar (look how tiny, my goodness).
