Helpful hints, reviews, and such from Disney

So, I did all of this reading in planning for our vacation and blogged a bit about it.  Now to blog how it all went.

1.  We did not do the Park Hopper this time, since we really never used it before.  However, if you choose the dining plan, it is best to do the park hopper.  This way you can hop over to Epcot for incredible eats every evening if you want.

2.  If you stay at a property near the Boardwalk, you can walk over to Epcot for evening dinner and fireworks.  I forgot that the Swan and the Dolphin both offer incredible teacher rates.  Might have to look into that for next time.

3.  Loved the Caribbean Beach Resort.  The pools are amazing, the beaches plentiful,  the food at the quick service is good and the restaurant Shutters has amazing food, too! There are lots of activities to do at the resort.

4.  If you have a young child, bring or rent a stroller.  Even if they are 7.  You never know when their little feet get tired.  If you rent a stroller, don't rent from Disney.  Rent from Baby Wheels.
         *They deliver the stroller to your hotel and pick it up when you are done.
         *It costs less than Disney Strollers
         *Disney strollers are hard plastic....Baby Wheels are nice jogger strollers
         *You get for FREE cup holders, a small cooler, and a rain cover for the stroller

5. DO THE DINING PLAN!  You save about 20% from not doing it and you don't have to pay attention to prices when you eat. Sometimes they run specials for a free dining plan with certain packages.  Be sure to look into this. **read ahead of time what qualifies as a SNACK credit.  You can eat breakfast with a snack credit if you are creative!

6.  Make dining reservations ahead of time, especially for character dining.

7.  Take breaks....especially if you have young ones.  Go back to resort in late afternoon for a rest or to relax then go back to the parks in the evenings

8.  Pay attention to the park hours.  There are special extended hours, called Extra Magic Hours, for Disney resort guests.  You can stay later or go earlier to a different park every day.

9.  If you are there for a week, schedule a few relaxation days at the resort...don't park it every day, unless you are there for a few days.

10.  Use Fast Pass.  Pick the most popular ride and head there first upon arrival and get your fast pass...

11.  You will receive a packet in the mail after you book your vacation.  Be sure to look at the coupon in the back and USE them.  We had 2 free tickets to mini golf, free tokens for the arcade, and other small stuff.

12.  Download Disney app to your phone.  But do not rely on it for the map.  In the daylight, it is too hard to read the map on the phone.  Better to have the paper map.

13.  If you have little ones, buy from the dollar store glow sticks and wands before you go to Disney.  Give them a different one every night so they don't ask for the expensive ones sold at Disney.

14.  Do Fairy gifts for little ones.  I bought small Disney toys before we went to Disney at local stores (paid $3-5 each)  Every day when we left for the parks, I secretly placed one on Bella's pillow.  When we returned from the parks, she was excited to see a gift from Tinkerbell.  This decreased the amount of "I wants" in the parks.

15.  Buy before hand and bring with you into the park: rain ponchos, bandaids, mole skin, runners chafing balm, hand sanitizier, one towel, change of clothes for little ones.

I may think of more....if I do, I will update....

Disney Family Vacation 2013

Greetings from Disney World!!!  I have decided to start blogging now so I do not forget anything.  For starters, we are having a fabulous vacation.  I am really enjoying the combo of chaotic and calm all in one vacation, something we do not typically do.

So, our vacation started on Friday, August 2 with taking Ringo to his "vacation."  We dropped him off at The Country Kennels in Mt. Airy.  It was so hard leaving him.  I think he thought we were deserting him for good.  The external part of his kennel faced the parking lot so he could see us as we exited.  I had to return inside and ask them to close off his external part of his kennel until we left.  It broke my heart to leave him.  I cried :(  I have called almost every day so far and it seems he has settled right in and it sounds like the staff are really enjoying him.  He is such a good boy.

Day 1: (Friday) Driving from MD to South Carolina.  We drive from 10am-8pm, with several stops.  We stayed at a Microtel, which got good reviews.  We must have either stayed at the wrong one or the hotel went to crap.  A roach.....ewwwwwwwww.  My first roach in a hotel....better be the last.  Good riddens to that hotel!

We had lots of "are we there yet" or "you are driving the wrong way to Disney." All in all, it was an ok forst day of driving. Bella was so excited by the hotel, despite our not liking it....she was excited by the mini bottles of shampoo and little soaps....she had to take a bath! Morgan was unphased by the whole hotel experience.

Day 2: (Saturday) On the road by 9 and in Orlando by 3pm.  We checked into the Holiday Inn in Disney property.  What an amazing hotel and beautiful room.  We stayed on the 14th floor, the very top. We checked in and went to Downtown Disney.  We walked around, ate dinner, and shopped.  Bella danced in a kids dance party, too.   When we returned to the room, Bella was excited to try the tub and use the bottle of soap and shampoo supplied by the hotel.  Too cute!

Day 3: (Sunday) The official start of our Disney Vacation.  We got up early and checked in at the Caribbean Beach resort, with the expectation that we would leave our bags at the lobby and head over to one of the parks until check in at 3pm.  To our surprise, our room was ready...and to top it off, we were upgraded for free to a premium location!!!   Our room is 2452 Martinique.....pool view next to lake!  And a few buildings over to the main building, Old Port Royal.  We checked in at 8:30am!!!!!!!!  

The room is small and the beds are small but the room is very nice and clean and the property is beautiful. 5 pools and a bunch of beaches...lots of activities.  Lots of fun!  After unloading the car, we headed to MAGIC KINGDOM!!  It turns out that Bella is afraid of most rides.  She enjoys most of the shows and loves the character meet and greets.  On her first day, she met Chip and Dale and Princess Tiana.  We saw several shows and parades and fireworks.  It rained one time.....during which time I lost my Rx sunglasses.  Sigh.  Hopefully someone will turn them in to lost and found.  For the big rides, Morgan and Greg separated from us since Bella had no interest in those.  A fund day had by all!

Day 4: (Monday) We were supposed to go to Hollywood studios this day but we were all exhausted so decided to stay and hang on property.  A great property to do this, too.  We spent alot of time outside at the pool.  The main pool is a big pool with slides and pirate ships.  Great fun and relaxing day.  We also went to a HUGE outlet mall.  We mainly went for discounted Disney Sourvenirs but wound up shopping for gregs anniversary present.....a new pair of Oakley sunglasses. We then ate a late dinner at Shutter Restaurant, here on property.  Yummy.

Day 5: (Tuesday) Morgan and Greg headed to Hollywood studios while Bella and I went back to Magic Kingdom.  We used our park hopper comps from 2007 so we could hop over to Hollywood studios and catch up with Greg and Morgan.  This was a great opportunity for Morgan to have some 1:1 time and Bella to be able to do the things she likes.  While I don't like to be separated, it was a great plan as it allowed for individual time for both of the kids, which has been desperately needed! Bella loved the Circus section of the park and even got to tour Beasts Castle and meet Belle.  She still is afraid of the unknown at the parks, but seems to enjoy the low key stuff.  She met Minnie Mouse and Daisy at the circus!  while at Hollywood Studios, Morgan and Greg rode lots of fun rides, including the infamous Tower of Terror that Morgan rode when she was six years old!   no special dining on this day....park quick service was the way to go.  although I did enjoy a great chicken and avocado salad....yum!

Day 6: (Wednesday) EPCOT and dining with the princesses!  So much fun.  We really enjoyed Epcot.....Lot's to do, especially for Bella. We started at Ashkerhus, a restaurant in Norway.  We ate breakfast with the princesses!  We met Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Aurora, and Bella!  There is so much to do at Epcot,from aquariums to rides.  The kids really seemed to enjoy Epcot.  Morgan liked the countries, although we did not get to spend as much time there as we had wished to.  We met Mulan in China...she is so pretty.  We also met Duffy Bear, who I honestly had no idea who he was until Morgan told me.  For dinner, we ate at Tutto Italia.  Talk about yummy dinner!!!!!!!  Salmon, polenta, meatballs.....yum!  Bella and I left early from Epcot, leaving Greg and Morgan to hang out at Epcot and stay for the fireworks.  Bella and I returned to the resort and saw for a bit then went to bed.  Greg and Morgan rode a few rides and watched awesome fireworks.

Day 7: (Thursday) On the seventh day, He rested and so did we.  No parks for the day.  Greg and Morgan ventured to downtown Disney to Disney Quest to play some games. (Not as awesome as it is made out to be :(). But some great father daughter time.  While Greg and Morgan were away, Bella and I hung at the resort.  We visited 2 of the beaches here and played in 3 of the pools.  In the evening, we played some Miniature Golf at Winter Summerland Golf.  We don't do that enough.  It really was a lot of fun!  Aft golf, we headed to the Boardwalk.  So cool.  A bit of home...boards, acts on the boards, and we even saw Lucy!  For dinner, we ate at Kouzinna by Cat Cora...great Mediterranean/Greek food! We had hoped to catch some fireworks from Epcot, but didn't see any.  But we did see a great magician act on the boards.

Day 8: (Friday) The long awaited Animal Kingdom Park.  We spent the entire day at the park...a bit much for Bella with no break.  We met Pocahontas, King Louis, Pluto.  We ate lunch at the Tusker House where we met Donald Duck, Mickey, Daisy, and Goofy.  Morgan and I rode Expedition Everest. We saw a few shows....A Bugs Life, Lion King, and Finding Nemo.  Nemo, we think was Bella's favorite of all the attractions.  We ended the evening at the Rainforest Cafe.  It was mediocre at best.  Best to stick with resort/Disney restaurants.  But now we can say we were at the biggest Rainforest Cafe in the world.   Morgan and I went over to Downtown Disney to spend money, I mean hang out.  Much needed mommy daughter time.  We walked around, shopped, and Morgan got her main souvenir...a characiture.  

Day 9: (Saturday). This is the hear and now.  I sit journaling about our vacation while sitting outside at the resort, sipping coffee, enjoying the sounds of the lake.....Today our plan is to head over to Magic Kingdom and tie up loose ends.  Hopefully, we will get the Tiki room and some of the shows we missed.  More later!

As I sit here blogging, a cute little duck keeps walking by me.  Too cute.  I am saddened hearing several families walking by me, talking, obviously beginning their vacation while ours is coming to an end :(. Usually I am very anxious to get back home after a vacation, but I have to say that I wish this vacation could continue just for a few more days....not even at the parks.  I wouldn't mind a few mo days at the resort.

Saturday, cont'd: Our plan was to spend the day at Magic Kingdom followed by a nice dinner and some fireworks.  Bella was parked out!  Her and I managed to stay at the parks until about 4pm.  While we were at the parks, I rode Space Mountain with Morgan and did the Stitch Ride, too.  We went to the Tiki Room and rode the people mover.  Then Bella had it....I took her back to the resort while Greg and Morgan stayed to ride more rides, eat dinner, and watch the fireworks.  Bella and I ate dinner at Shutters, the best meal I had on property!  Then we swam int he pool and crashed.  Morgan and Greg enjoyed some fun riding time and fireworks!

Day 10: (Sunday)  I woke up first.  Grabbed some coffee, cleaned out the car, and returned the stroller.  When everyone else woke up we packed and got on the road by 10:30am.  We drove straight through!!  Thanks to Greg :)  I sat in the back with Bella and Morgan sat up front.  This eliminated arguing and fighting.  All in all, it was an uneventful ride home...we were home by 12:30am. Now to relax, unpack, and get back to reality.

2 Days and Counting!!

Packing, Packing, and more Packing.  I feel like I have been packing for weeks...ok, I have for 2 weeks.  Trying to be really organized and thorough with this packing, as I do not want to do what we have done in the past, and that is buy things that we either forgot or could have purchased cheaper before the trip.  I think we are there :)

I cannot wait for our vacation to start. I am even looking forward to the drive down to Florida.  It is a nice change for us to relax and take our time, stop along the way.  I cannot wait for all of it.  

Ringo will be in boarding and hopefully have a great time.  Our great neighbors will be house sitting for us, too!  A great vacation is awaiting us!  Cannot wait!

Getting ready for DISNEY!!!

I cannot believe that we leave for Disney on Friday...that is in 5 days!  I love having our big vacation at the end of summer vacation.  That way, while we are sad that summer is coming to end, we are excited for our big trip.  What a way to end our summer.

We have been to Disney 3 times before as a family, all 3 times with Morgan.  It has been at least 7 years since our last trip.  This time, we have decided to things a bit different.

• We are staying at a moderate resort that has tons of stuff to do
• We purchased the meal plan and made reservations for dinner for all nights
• Our visit is 8 days, yet we are spending 4 days in the parks.  The other days we will relax at the resort.
• I have done tons of reading to gather tips and tricks to help make our trip awesome.  Gotta love pinterest.
• We are leaving on Friday, yet our Disney vacation starts on Sunday.  This way we can take our time driving down and stop when we want to.
• I bought Bella fairy gifts.  Every day when we leave the room, I will place a special Disney trinket int he room for her to find when we return that day.  Cute little surprises to help deter her from asking for things at the parks all day.  Morgan said she doesn't want any trinkets ;)
• In the past,  Morgan has brought one princess dress to wear at the parks.  Bella, "Belle," is a princess and does not hesitate to tell you every day, all day.  This visit, we are bringing several princess dresses and minnie/disney outfits for Bella to wear at the parks.

What have I learned through reading?

• Rent a stroller from an outside vendor.  The price is better than Disney's.  The stroller is more comfortable than Disney's.  There are lots of free things you get with some of the stroller rentals, like rain guards, cup holders, and coolers!

• Buy a Mister instead of buying a fan sprayer at Disney.  They got great reviews and keep you much cooler than the ones you buy at the parks.

• Buy runners body glide to prevent chafing, lots of bandaids, and moleskin for blisters.
• Don't use a roof top carrier, as it creates too much drag when driving, and costs more in gas, in the long run.  Instead use a saddlebag car carrier.  We bought this and I cannot wait to use it!

I have kept a large bag in the living room to drop things in as I remember, like Morgan's Disney lanyards from previous years, autograph book, room deodorizer, etc.

We cannot wait for our vacation.  I will post throughout the vacation on the blog, and of course update on facebook.

Summer is flying by!

I cannot believe that summer is coming to a close.  3-4  more weeks and I go back to school and then the kids do.  But it has been a great summer!  What have we done so far?

1.  Gone to NJ for 4th of July visit...hung out on the beach, went to the boardwalk, saw cousins.....

2.  Gone to Bohrer Waterpark in Gaithersburg 2 times!  Lot's of fun!

3.  Spent many days at the pool!

4.  Had a great birthday party for Bella!

5.  Visited Green Meadows Petting Farm.
6.  2 parades (one in NJ and one Damascus Days)
7.  2 sets of fireworks!

Morgan has been in camp all summer.  2 weeks of horseback riding camp as a counselor and 4 weeks of camp as a Jr. Counselor at the Department of Recreation.  She is talking about applying for a paying counselor job for next summer!  My baby is growing up.  She is working with the 5-6 year old group at camp and says she loves it.  Her weekends are spent resting after her long weeks!

Bella went to dance camp at District Dance Company and had the opportunity to try tap, ballet, and jazz/hip hop.   She made some new friends and decided she wants to take dance lessons in the fall!  She also tried some swim lessons....was not a fan of dunking her head under water in the beginning of the summer but now does it continuously.  Who knows?  Maybe we will try porpoise swim team next year???  Bella celebrated her 5th birthday with friends and family on July 21 with a princess themed birthday pool party.  The weather turned out great and most of her friends came!  On her actual birthday, on July 23, it was mommy and Bella time.  We went to the American Girl Doll store, out to lunch, LLbean for school supplies, and then the movies with Morgan!

We are now preparing for our much anticipated trip to Disney World.  We plan on leaving on Friday, August 2, and taking our time driving down.  Our reservations at the resort start on Sunday.  So nice to be able to take our time getting there.  SO EXCITED!!!!

SUMMER TIME!

Wow...has it really been since Easter since I have blogged?  I was trying to keep up with it but seem to get behind.  I guess I take on too much.  Project life provides documentation of our life so I guess I let the blog go.  Really want to do both.  So here it goes:

APRIL

 Bella attended her Kindergarten Orientation!  Yes she did.  She is starting kindergarten in the fall.  I am still shocked that this child, who I still call baby, is going into school in August.  It goes by so fast.  Here she is with the traditional Rockwell ES School Clifford.

Wish I had happy news for Morgan from April, but in mid April, Morgan had a riding accident.  She fell off of her horse at lessons, hit her head, and had a concussion....a pretty bad one.  Her long term memory was intact but her short term was a mess.  For the first five hours, she repeated herself every 10 seconds and lost 3 days of information.  It started slowly coming back.  She was out of school for almost 2 weeks.  She spent an entire week of doing NOTHING.  She was not allowed to use her brain.  She couldn't watch tv, read, do puzzles,do anything. 1 month of light activity and slowly back to normal.  Thank goodness she is ok.  She didnt start riding again for 2 months! And still is taking it easy.

MAY

The short version of May:

• Greg built Bella a loft bed.  Bella even helped make and design it!
• Me and the girls went to NJ for Mother's day.  Aunt Joc came in, too.  It was a nice weekend.  We even saw MomMom!
• Jimmie Cone
• Strawberry Picking as a family
• Morgan's last orchestra concert as a Freshman!

JUNE

June brings good things: summer, summer, and summer.  Morgan started riding again.  It was awesome to see her back at the stables and riding.  She is still a bit nervous to canter but that is ok.  She is taking it at her pace.  Morgan finished the school year with 3 As and 4 Bs.  Very proud of her.  She has requested to take 3 honors classes next year.  She seems to really love high school and plans to try out for the High school Volleyball team.  Morgan started the summer by being a counselor at the stables for their summer camp program.  She did almost two weeks, but caught a summer virus midway through and was stuck home three day :(  She starts the counselor program for the recreation department in 2 weeks.

Bella graduated from preschool this month!  Crazy how time flies. She had a great time in preschool and learned so much.  She will miss Ms. Lorie and Ms. Nyguet like crazy, as will I.  Keeping Bella busy at the pool...