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 | 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 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/
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
