Category Archives: Travel tips

Keeping the kids happy while waiting

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Disney is a world of hurry up and wait. Rush through the morning to get to opening and wait at the turnstiles. Race to a ride then wait in line for 20 minutes. Head to the airport hours before your flight to learn that it is delayed. Walk to the bus stop and find your bus pulling away. The list goes on and on. Disney is a great lesson in patience for both children and adults!

I have a few tricks I use to keep the kids busy while waiting in line, for transportation or in a restaurant. Continue reading →

Princesses!!!

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If you have little girls, then seeing as many princesses as you can is a must! The princess meals are a great way to see a bunch of characters, but you can still miss one that is important to your little one. Princess are not just for girls, I know plenty of little boys whose favorite character encounter has been Ariel or Jasmine!

It is not a requirement to “dress up” for your princess experience, but you will see many little girls running around dressed as their favorite. If you have a miniprincess, then you might want to consider packing a dress for them to wear. The ones in the park go for $50-100, so it is to your advantage to think ahead and buy one at Target! My girls are usually ok with a few princess themed t-shirts and a skirt.

Here is a list of where you can find the princesses (and the not technically princesses): Continue reading →

Ways to Cool Off in the Florida Heat

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The heat can be unbearable and the best way to combat this is to plan for cooling off. Plan to find some shade or take a mid day break to swim at the resort pool. If you do this, you will have a better trip and be able to enjoy the cool evenings. I would also recommend going to the parks as early as possible to enjoy the parks before the sun and heat are full blast! Continue reading →

Ship your stuff instead of packing!

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Did you know you can ship items to your hotel before your arrival? The hotel will hold it in bell services or their business center until you check in. You may not think that shipping a box UPS or USPS would save you money, but it really can in the long run. Some airlines charge $25 or more to check a bag, which is $50 round trip. When you have a family of 4, you have just added $200 to your vacation.

In the past, I have shipped boxes that contained our consumables for the trip. This saved room in our luggage and we were able to fly checking only 2 bags for the 4 of us. Here are some ideas on the things you can ship: Continue reading →

Yes, your kids can ride almost everything at Disney!

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People ask me all the time if there is a good age to take the kids to Walt Disney World. My answer is always the same…Any age is a good age! Every kid I know that has gone to Disney has had fun, no matter what age. My god-daughter is not yet 2 and talks about Mickey & Goofy living at Disney World. My girls went on their first trips at the age of 20 months and 16 months!

There are always rides, attractions, and shows that little guys can enjoy.

Continue reading →

Characters…Characters…Characters!

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M-I-C, see you real soon, K-E-Y, why? because we like you, M-O-U-S-E

Let’s be honest, what is the first thing you want to do when you get to Disney? See the big cheese! I don’t care how old you are, when you hug that giant mouse you will feel like you are 5 years old again. If seeing characters is a priority for your trip, then some advanced planning is in order.

With children, get a gauge of their character behavior before you get in line. If you know your child will tackle Pluto at the knees in his excitement, then make sure you are there to cut him off at the pass. If your child is scared of the furry characters, then try the face characters like Mary Poppins. It can be good starting point for them. Or you can stand and look at the characters from a distance and see how they feel about getting closer. I would not recommend forcing your little ones on the characters. You will just make the fear worse, no one is happy and your pictures make you out to look like the wicked stepmother!

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Last Chance for Free Dining

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This week is your last chance to book with FREE Dining!

Free Standard Dining Plan with Moderate, Deluxe, & Deluxe Villa resort packages for stays August 25-September 29. Free Quick Service Plan for packages in the Value resorts for the same dates. If you choose a value resort, you can upgrade to the standard plan for the difference in cost. The same applies to upgrading to the Deluxe Dining Plan.

More info on free dining.

Update: Disney’s Photopass Service

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I love Disney’s Photopass Service. I think that it is totally worth the money if you utilize it correctly and plan ahead. Our first few trips, we didn’t use photopass and I regret that because we have so few pictures of our whole family. The photographers will take pictures with your camera, but their photos will be better!

To get the most bang for your buck, stop at every photographer you see in all the parks. Let’s be honest, you can’t have too many pictures of your family in front of the castle! There are photgraphers in every park. Here is a map and some tips of all the photopass photographers. Disney Photopass Map Continue reading →

Traveling with a Large Group

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Traveling with a big group of family or friends takes planning and patience. Even with if you are going with one other family, you will be a “Magical Gathering” with a group of 8 or more. Remember that you will be with people who have a different schedules, different tastes in food, want to rides things you wouldn’t. We have traveled with one other family of 4 with girls the same ages.  Our group of 15 people included elderly, teenagers & preschoolers. It is a lot easier to travel with girls the same age than with the range in ages.

My recommendations for group travel: Continue reading →