by Sarah | Jul 1, 2021 | 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 fun for something different. Disney is more than rides and food, although both of those are awesome. There is something small that you shouldn’t miss.
Admire the details.
Disney is excellent about the details. Little things you can find in every section of every park. On a recent trip hubs and I challenged each other to admire such details and out-photo each other. I really like finding the little details along the way. Take a look, see what I mean:
Have you tried to admire the details when you’ve visited? What’s your favorite part?
by Sarah | Jan 9, 2020 | 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 for EVERYONE. It comes along with the first thing I say when someone says they didn’t like Disney World…which is always “then you did it wrong.” The biggest mistake is they want so desperately to cram EVERYTHING in. I do mean everything.
Don’t Expect to do it All!
This tip is definitely A-Numero-Uno in my book. I’ve been to Disney World and it’s resorts probably 20 times at this point, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. I’ve heard stories of people that have been hundreds of times, or go practically every day, and still manage to get surprised.
Disney World is an entity all on its own. It’s constantly changing, growing, and adding little surprises to delight guests.
Not to mention the crowds that can quickly ruin your day whether you plan for them or not.
So whether you’re planning a one day visit (see my tip for that), or a long 2 week adventure, you canNOT do it all in that time. Don’t hope for it, don’t try to plan for it. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re there for 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 days – you can do a LOT…but you will never get it all done.
Don’t let FOMO ruin your trip. Or ONIMI* ruin the reflections of your trip.
I promise you, in all of my trips I’ve never looked back several years later and lamented it was a horrible trip because I missed whatever. I didn’t remember and didn’t care. I remembered the fun, laughter, and magic alone.
With that in mind, what CAN you do?
You can plan for Fun. Rides. Food (but not too much, explanation to come). Relaxation (yup, for real). Magic.
Fun: Duh. Disney can be so much fun. There are little side things you can do everywhere. There’s hidden Mickey’s. Or pin trading. Or just taking in some of the beautiful scenery Disney’s grounds crew works so hard on maintaining. They also have the Disney Play app that can add some excitement (though I like to be no-devices at Disney when I can). There’s also tons of Pokestops and Harry Potter inns & such everywhere if you’re so inclined (we allot for a little of this when we visit). Across every park there are fun and different things outside the norm you can do. From scavenger hunts to wilderness explorer adventures and Sorcerer’s at Magic Kingdom. There are endless things to do beyond the rides. I like to pick one or two per trip (I have yet to do the hidden Mickey’s. I need to get on that), like pin trading & admiring the small details to focus on. If you don’t know when you’ll be back, pick one, if it doesn’t suit you go forth and pick another.
Rides: Schedule some fast passes, but space them out a little. There is a LOT of walking in a day, and so many sights to see. You don’t want to schedule your day away and miss the opportunity for the above mentioned fun. The rides are fun, and lines can be long so plan to downloading “Head’s Up”-which has a special Disney game you can download for free once you’re on property. There are people that choose to take on the crazy task of riding ALL THE RIDES (in one day! at all 4 parks!), which I would find too stressful myself, but you do you, I say. If all you want to do is ride rides, then go for it. Get a game strategy on, know that some rides always have LONG lines (hello Peter Pan & Seven Dwarves), and a few don’t do fast passes, or the fast passes go in a flash. Do your research on what you think your kids will like (or if you’re going alone, ROCK ON. That’s so fun). I always find rides my tough one, but my oldest has a fine-tuned strategy that gets him some of the best & most difficult to get fast passes (P.S. He lives super close and goes ALL.THE.TIME.). I like to take my time, and I’m lucky enough to live close enough that if I don’t get a ride, I know I’ll be back soon. If this is your once in a lifetime trip and you have to get that ride, do your research and get online for your fastpasses as soon as they come available. Good luck to you, rides are awesome.
Food: Food is both wonderful and awful and everywhere in between at Disney. There are days I go and never touch a thing, and others I eat everything in sight (Epcot is my kryptonite…I want to sample it all…every time…Food & Wine as well as the upcoming Arts Festival drain my wallet every time.). I offer the same advice here as I did for rides…don’t overschedule. I was so focused on getting reservations for our 2015 trip that I didn’t think about how the one lunch reservation would interrupt our day. I was so worried about making our scheduled times that I barely enjoyed our morning rides. Then the princess breakfast was a flop – the food was great, the princesses beautiful, but neither of my girls would speak a word to any of them – so it was an expensive disappointment. Know going in that just because you’re at Disney and the food costs a fortune (most, there are some sweet low-cost deals that will astound you-that’s another post), doesn’t mean it’s always really good, or even more than dull and tasteless. If you think I’m kidding, I’ll remind you of the story of the best worst meal we ever had. Opinions will differ, but do your research. Keep your budget in mind, and your dining plan, and maybe schedule a couple of meals, but don’t schedule your life away. And remember, you could always order some groceries for your room (or bring them if you’re car-tripping) so you can make your own breakfast or snacks in the room. Our last trip (first on-site stay) we took snacks and soda which really took the load off at the end of the day. Oh, but I DO recommend you take the time to actually eat at least one meal a day. One last tip, get adult meals and share. The heat can make you not as hungry, and in many cases, the portions are big enough to share.
Relaxation: Whether you’re staying at a resort or off-site, make sure you make time to relax away from the crowds (or still in them). This is supposed to be a vacation, after all. Make sure you spend time at the pool, or if you have/are renting a car, take a day to go to the beach. Disney is a HUGE over-stimulation-factory. It’s wonderful and magical, but oy do you need a break now and then, and so do the kids. Make sure to schedule at least one non-park day into your vacation if you can. For one, you’ll save $$, and for another, you’ll get a break from the constant barrage of ALL.THE.THINGS.ALL.THE.PEOPLE. It’s a sanity savor. Inside the parks, find a quiet alcove (they have them, and they’re wonderful when you slip into a low-trafficed spot). It’s a breath of fresh air in a day of everything. Epcot and Animal Kingdom are the winners of quiet alcoves, but if you’re aware enough, you’ll find them at the others, even one right on Main Street, USA. Outside the parks, if you aren’t a beach person, there’s so much to do in the area that it’s easy to take a break and stay close without quite the blast to your senses. Vacations are meant for relaxation and time together. They don’t all have to be done at the happiest place on earth.
Last, but certainly not least…
MAGIC.
This is one I can’t overload you with tips on. The key to finding the magic is to remember what I told you above – you aren’t going to get it all done. So absorb the moment. If you take a look around, you’ll see little moments of magic everywhere. On our last trip I saw two proposals and a wedding…and that was in one afternoon/evening. Cast members, guests, and so many little moments will hold magic if you remember to look for it.
Have you got any other tips to add to mine? Let me know in the comments! I’m always happy to hear more tips!
*ONIMI – my freshly coined acronym for “Oh No I Missed It”
by Sarah | Jul 11, 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 fun for a relaxing day. It’s also fun if you’re doing a “Florida” vacation instead of a “Disney” vacation, and want a ‘free’ day at the parks (outside food & souvenirs).
Hop around the World at the Resorts of Disney!
This is a tip I’ve not done until recently. It’s been on my radar for a couple of years, and I’d actually intended to do a holiday resort hop when I brought the girls down for Christmas a couple of years ago. For reasons that didn’t happen, though it probably will this year.
Anyhoo, I think this tip is great if you need a break from the parks, you’re curious about the resorts, or you’re more focused on a Florida vacation and don’t want to pay for too many park days, but still want to include the Disney experience.
It’s easy, relatively free, and has many different ways to do it all.
Now, I’m not going to give you a minute-by-minute breakdown of what to do and where to go for best resort-hopping adventures. I’ll leave that to the bloggers that have more experience in hopping, and link their guides below. (I may revisit once I’ve had a few more hops…)
The parks are awesome, for sure. But did you know that the resorts are just as much? Each one has their own unique flair and story, and in most of them the decor is beyond reproach (I’m still eh on the Swan & Dolphin).
From the grand luxury of the Grand Floridian, to the casual tiki vibe of the Polynesian, to the elegant tree-lined walkways of Port Orleans Riverside, and the fun and funky Pop Century. Denver and I went to all of these (and he got some great new pins for the effort), and so many more. We checked out the gift shops, the restaurants, glimpsed the pools and lobby decor. We wandered around Pop Century and read all the fun facts, dined on a plate of nachos as big as our heads (for dirt cheap) at Picabu in the Dolphin resort. We checked out the animals at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Our day cost us a combined $20 for lunch. We used his car to get around so it was quicker than using the buses, but that is a possibility. We didn’t visit every resort, but we got a fair few, and spent probably 5 hours taking in the Disney feel.
I can’t wait to go back and visit other resorts. I also can’t wait to go around the resort world at Christmas when all the decorations are up!
Have you done a resort hop day? What’s your favorite Disney resort?
For the record, my favorite resort to date is Fort Wilderness…but that may be more nostalgic than anything.
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 | Jun 17, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All About Ripley, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Florida Dreaming, Oola, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
It’s been over a month since the last update and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know where we are at.
WE ARE IN FLORIDA!!!
After my last post, things went very quick.
I moved ahead of the hubs and kids, and my first month here in Florida deserves (and will soon get) a post of its own. It was an adventure, I’ll give you that much. A good adventure, or a bad one, I still don’t even know.
Anyhow…the husband and kids have finally joined me.
We have a home.
We’re settled around The Villages area, which my self-adopted pops calls “Heavens Waiting Room”…and he’s not wrong. lol.
However, it’s beautiful here. Our new (rented) home is much bigger than our last, and though it needs a lot of work, we’re looking forward to making progress.
We’re still waiting on our main piece of furniture (another month, oy)…but otherwise we’re settling in.
Erik has a lead on a potential job in a surprising place (more when I know more. No jinxing it).
The girls have been granted placement in the charter school, I just need to get all of their paperwork together and get them in for physicals so we can make it officially official.
The girls have their own rooms, and I still have an office space of sorts.
I’ve been at my new job for a month, and it’s going well. I’m looking into some new possibilities in my plans for the future, and life is just opening all sorts of possibilities.
In short…life isn’t perfect (it wasn’t before and I didn’t expect it to magically right itself because of our location)…but we are excited to make it work.
So from now own, there will be no more countdowns, but plenty of updates.
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!
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
