by Sarah | Feb 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 picked up thanks to a coworker.
It’s only prevalent if you’re only planning to go for one day.
Go to an event – an after-hours event or one of the parties!!
Did you know that Disney offers such things as Disney After Hours at Magic Kingdom (and Hollywood Studios and now a new one at Animal Kingdom)??
These special ticketed events give you access to the park after hours when the crowds are gone – but as a special bonus, you can actually enter the park as early as 7PM before the park closes! Not as many rides/shows will be open for the after hours events – but the crowds will be lighter and it’s a great way to hit rides that usually have large lines…and do it at around the same price as a one day ticket! Also, they have treats available for free! This includes, popcorn, ice cream treats (the ever popular Mickey Bar is included!) and certain beverages.
You can start your day in Disney Springs (which is free to enter and wander around. Has great stores and restaurants, plus the opportunity to ride the car-boats!), and then head to the parks at 7PM to get your Disney on!
When it comes to the parties, Disney always does it right. From September through right before Christmas every year Disney runs their two big parties. The Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party starts in September and turns into the Very Merry Christmas Party at the beginning of November until December 21st(ish). These parties start earlier in the evening, and with your purchased tickets you can usually enter the park around 4PM to get your ears on before the party officially starts (you’ll be given a special wrist band to show you belong). Once again, this is a special ticketed event and though they are generally a lot more crowded than the after hours parties – most people are rushing around to trick or treat or see the special parades so the rides aren’t as busy. With fewer crowds taking up the lines you can get more rides ridden all while seeing the park decorated for the holidays.
If you’ve got a whole long vacation in Florida planned, but only ONE day for Disney – I have to say I think this is the RIGHT way to do it. My coworker/friend did this last year during the NSSHP and raved over how it went. She and her friends hung out in Disney Springs during the day, then headed over the park and had so much fun. They were able to get in a lot of rides and loved seeing the park decorated for Halloween.
Honestly, if you’re going for multiple days, this doesn’t make as much sense cost-wise because you’re paying extra for a ticket instead of folding it into your multi-day discounts…but if you only have ONE DAY…do it right. Pick up a party or an after hours even night and get more done!!
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For more reference on what’s involved in an after hours Party, here’s a couple of posts from some of my favorite Disney Blogs about the After Hours Parties:
Animal Kingdom After Hours via Disney Tourist Blog
Hollywood Studios After Hours via KennythePirate.com
Magic Kingdom After Hours via wdwinfo,com
by Sarah | Jan 31, 2019 | All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, DisneyTips, Florida Dreaming, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
So many times people think Molly and Kennedy are ACTUAL twins instead of Irish twins.
Oftentimes they (and I) have found it rather annoying…
Then…then…then…
You go on a trip to Disney/Universal for the youngest’s Wish.
Because Kennedy is SO in love with the Harry Potter books/movies/everything your very first stop on your very first day is none other than Ollivander’s so you can beat the crowds you’d heard were so crazy and have a chance at your little one getting the most awesome treat of being picked by Ollivander to get her very own wand.
It truly was our first day so we had no idea the true meaning of the magic of our Make-A-Wish badges and buttons…but within the walls of Ollivander’s Wand shop we learned quickly.
We also learned that it can be a good thing that people think Molly and Kennedy are actual twins…
Because when Ollivander selected those that would get their wands –
He picked Kennedy AND Molly.
(Here is where I would insert the video if it was not such a colossal mess of flipping sideways and darkness and not being able to hear everything. Sorry. The tale alone will have to do.)
First, he learned their names, then the wand selection began.
First, he handed Kennedy a wand made of Willow with a unicorn hair as its core. She waved with a “Wingardium Leviosa” and…well…the shelves went crashing down.
Then, he handed Molly a wand of hazel with a unicorn hair as its core. He instructed her to light it…and much to our surprise, she said in a very strong voice despite the crowd “Lumos!” Lightning flashed through the building, loud claps of thunder.
Ollivander used a quick spell to disperse the storm, and turned to my girls, tutting that they were indeed very difficult…
Then, the moment of brilliance.
He picked up the wands before each of the girls, making a statement to their twin cores…before crossing his arms so that each girl got the opposite wand to their first attempt, Molly with the willow and Kennedy with the Hazel…and then…
The moment of perfection, light and wind brushed across them as they found their perfect wands…or the wands found them.
Of course, we happily paid for the wands because they were chosen by Ollivander himself and brought them home with us. They had a prominent place until we began packing up to move. Soon enough, they’ll be on display again…and put to good use within the park itself.
It is true magic to see the wands choosing its wizard…and pure joy that both our girls got to experience the magic…together.
by Sarah | Jan 17, 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.
My first tip is – Don’t Overschedule.
There is a LOT to do at Disney. So much, you could go every day of the year and not get it all done.
Once more for the people in the back…
You cannot get everything done at Disney in one trip.
Seriously.
My BEST trips have been when we didn’t have a ton of stuff planned. We had vague ideas of what we wanted to see, key points we wanted to hit…but there wasn’t “THE LIST” or reservations or anything like that.
Do your research, sure.
Make A reservation (maybe 2) of places you really want to eat. Don’t scatter your trip with reservations every day that you have to make it to by a certain time because there are so many variables like wait times and travel time and crowd levels and potty breaks. Though there’s flexibility in your arrival times…it’s still undue pressure you don’t need.
There are so many places at Disney that are counter service and don’t require a reservation and many of them are GOOD (and many also now offer mobile pickup, which we’ll cover another time because YAY). They’re scattered along your route in the park and easy to drop in, grab and get back on the route.
This is MOST key, I think, if this is your first ever trip – ESPECIALLY on your first ever trip with your kids.
Be flexible. Be open. On your research, take note of the restaurants in the areas you plan to be in so you don’t get a bad one (we did our first trip. We still joke about the awfulness…yes, it does happen).
OR…don’t plan.
AT.ALL.
Our first trip with the kids I had vague notes of things I really wanted us to hit, but otherwise it was a free-for-all. The good (and bad) parts of the trip are still ALL good memories. We joke about the bad food, we joke about the painful seats on Molly’s first roller coaster (in an area we had NO designs on going in originally). Nothing we did on that trip was planned. It was amazeballs (and not just because of the Genie pass).
Year 2 was still great…but much more stressful because we had PLANS. We spent 7 months researching and planning and making meal reservations (only 1 of which was worth it…and it wasn’t a character dining…and they were all $$$)…and I was so stressed about “having” to be here or there that I didn’t have as much…FUN.
I experienced the same thing when we went last year with actual passes. The first time we went, hubby and I were able to just take things casual. We spent a lot of time at our resort pool. When the power went out, we headed to the boardwalk for ice cream. Our days in the park were cool and casual, very little ‘planned’ along the way. Unfortunately, later that same year when I took the girls my son decided he had to schedule us fast passes for everything under the sun which led to a lot of flurry of activity that was stressful, especially in the high crowds of Christmas week.
I don’t make this tip lightly, I promise. I come from a long line of planners. My dad loves to plan out vacations to the minute. I was super excited for that second Disney year because Denver and I had planned so much…but the planning robs the spontaneity and fun out of Disney.
Definitely, do your research. Think hard about how long you’re going and the crowd predictions and think about your “must-do’s”. Make some general plans…what park(s) what day…what key things to hit. Make a reservation or two (I’ve got some suggestions in later posts)…sketch out days lightly, don’t set them in stone with Sharpie’s…
Because at Disney – the fun is in the spontaneous and unpredictable.
Let yourself get pulled off course – that is where the fun is.
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
