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Posts Tagged ‘staying in Disneyworld’

5 Reasons to celebrate Christmas in Disney World

Monday, December 21st, 2009

disney-ornamentI love Christmas. I love that my kids have time off from school and my husband time off from work (notice how I don’t indicate my time off). I love having the excuse to have a drink and eat rich foods. I love hanging around doing nothing but eating and drinking and watching Christmas movies. I love that the season makes everyone, well most people, a little nicer. I love Christmas for all these reasons.

But I don’t think I need to have Christmas at home to experience all of this. This year I wish we weren’t having a standard Christmas with turkey and gift giving. And that has nothing to do with being so unprepared, well, maybe just a little. This year I wish the family was celebrating Christmas in Disney World.

Was that a gasp I heard? Are you shaking your head in dismay? Really the idea of having Christmas in Disney World isn’t as crazy sounding as you might thing. It’s not just a good idea, b ut a great idea and here are five reasons why:

No gift exchange. I haven’t really been in the gift giving/receiving/buying mood this year. I mean I don’t really need anything; the whole family doesn’t really NEED anything. Celebrating in Disney World would mean no gift exchange. I guess you could say the trip itself would be the gift. And really that’s all we would need, some time together as a family.

No chores. As the guest I wouldn’t have to clean the house in preparation for visitors or make the beds before watching tv or do the laundry to ensure I had clean towels. At Disney World they have someone who does all that for me. Plus I wouldn’t have to cook Christmas dinner. I’m sure in Disney World I could find  a restaurant serving Christmas dinner. Or I could choose to have something else, like Polynesian or German. And I wouldn’t have to wash the dishes after.

No long faces. Forget the unhelpful sales clerks and the grumpy last minute shoppers and the cranky, over tired kids. Instead take a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth! And it’s not just a slogan, most of the staff we’ve met are very pleasant and happy. They’re paid to be happy! A Christmas surrounded by happy, smiling faces (the staff and my family’s) is my kind of Christmas.

No visitors. That means no in-laws, no neighbours, no friends. Don’t get me wrong, I love these people, most of the time, but having them over usually means more work and more stress. Entertaining people, making sure they’re happy, avoiding arguments, can be a lot of work. And let’s not for get the preparation before people come over and the clean-up afterward. We wouldn’t know anyone at Disney World so there would be no worries about drop-in visitors.

No winter clothing. I always thought it’s just not Christmas without snow. But most years we don’t get snow for Christmas anyway. All we end up with is a cold, gray day and boots and puffy jackets and mittens and hats. And no one likes to wear them. A holiday gift would be no winter wear.

Yes, I can see it now, a big Christmas Party with fireworks, maybe a dip in the pool, some rides, eating out and lots of time with just the family. That sounds like my ideal Christmas. Hopefully I can convince my husband the same thing before next Christmas comes.

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Posted in fun stuff, just me, traveling | No Comments »

Things I’ve learned from my Florida road trip

Monday, September 7th, 2009

carmirrorRecently we drove as a family from Canada down to DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida. It took us almost two days with one hotel stop, but with young kids I usually prefer driving over flying.

On this trip I learned a few things that I will remember for future trips to Florida. And in case you are thinking of taking a trip to Florida, I’m going to share my new found knowledge with you:

  • Tea isn’t the same as tea. If you were to go into a restaurant up here in Canada and ask for a tea you would be brought a hot, brewed tea. Seems logical. But ordering tea in some of the southern states has a different meaning. They’ll bring you brewed tea, but it will be cold. If you want hot tea you need to specify.  You also have to specify sweet tea if you’re looking for something like a Lipton’s or Nestea. I happen to like cold brew tea so it was a pleasant surprise.
  • Avoid boiled peanuts. Driving down highway 75 we encountered many signs for citrus fruit, pecans, and boiled peanuts. I know, you’re probably thinking ‘why would I stop for something as unappetizing sounding as boiled peanuts.’ I had the same thought. But I’m married to a man who has a different thought pattern. He bought a bag. We both tried one. My husband tossed the bag in the garbage.
  • You don’t get if you don’t ask. When we went to DisneyWorld last August we were upgraded to a junior suite on t he club level of our hotel (The Wilderness Lodge). It was free. It was awesome. Our recent August trip they didn’t automatically upgrade us, but when we asked they offered us a regular room on the club level. Speaking up sometimes pays off.

So on your next trip to Florida, remember these things so you don’t make the mistakes I did. Your turn: what tricks or tips have you picked up on your travels?

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Posted in fun stuff, just me | No Comments »

Travel Tip: DisneyWorld’s Magical Express service

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

On our last trip to DisneyWorld we flew down for the first time (got a great deal from the TravelZoo newsletter). Since we didn’t have a car, we decided to use Disney’s Magical Express transportation service.

Free Transportation

So you arrive in Orlando, ready to start your vacation and now you need to find transportation to your hotel. But with Disney’s Magical Express bus service you don’t have to worry. They will pick you up at the airport and transport you right to the check-in desk at your hotel. The service is a few years old and at one point Disney thought of charging for it but they have still offering it free.

The buses seem to run continuous between the hours of 8am to 10pm, so it doesn’t matter what time your plane gets in.

Handle Your Luggage

Along with transporting you to your hotel, Disney’s Magical Express can also pick-up your luggage and transport it to the hotel for you too. No need to wait at the baggage claim area. You can go right to your bus and your luggage will follow, delivered right to your room. When flying home you will have to bring your luggage to the bus for check-in, but from there the Disney Magical Express staff will ensure it gets on the plane so you don’t have to worry about it.

Note: delivery of luggage can take up to two or three hours. I would recommend packing a small carry-on bag with any essentials you might need in the hotel when you arrive. You can also choose to pick-up and transport your own luggage if you don’t want to wait for it in your room (just don’t attached to your luggage the special stickers you receive prior to your trip)

Boarding Passes at Hotel

If you’re using the Disney Magical Express service to return home, you can have your boarding passes delivered right to your room the day of your flight. So all you have to do is get off the bus and go right to your plane’s gate. No check-in. No baggage check. Beautiful. This was the best part of the whole service.

Our trip in August we will probably drive, but if we were to flyto DisneyWorld again, I would definately take advantage of Disney’s Magical Express service. The kids enjoyed the experience, riding on Mickey’s bus. It was a great way to kick-off our trip.

Riding on Mickey's bus

Riding on Mickey's bus

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Posted in fun stuff | 1 Comment »

A Pirate’s Life is NOT for Me

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

So recently we took the kids on a last minute, surprise weekend trip to Disneyworld in Florida for our son’s fifth birthday (I should point out we don’t normally do these kinds of birthday treats).

We thought we’d stay somewhere different this trip (we’ve been two other times and are going again this August) so we booked our weekend stay at the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort (an on site Disney property). They recently refurbished some of their rooms with a pirate theme and thought this would be perfect for a five year old boys fantasy birthday trip.

Pirate Themed Rooms

The rooms were great. We slept in beds in the shape of boats and the bed cover looked like treasure, full of gold and gems. All the drawers were in crates or  seaman chest. There was a little refrigerator stored inside a large barrel (it had a door cut open in the side). The bathroom and vanity area were closed off with a giant pirate skull curtain, like that in Pirates of the Caribbean. Even the carpet was designed to look like planks on a boat deck. Yup, the look was everything I had imagined and the kids loved it.

First Mate

First Mate

Second Mate

Second Mate

Pirates Ahoy

Pirates Ahoy

Not an Ideal Location

The problem wasn’t with the room, but with where the rooms are located. I didn’t realize when booking the resort just how big it was. It spans seven complexes. I did look at the resort map, but it doesn’t give you a sense of how big each complex is. The pirate rooms are located in the farthest part of the resort (Trinidad South).

Now each complex had it’s own little pool meaning you could easily go for a nearby swim. And the Disney internal buses for each theme park stopped at each of the complexes so you had easy access to get to the parks.

But the big pool area, the pirate themed pool with the water slides and canon waterfalls, the one with the kiddie pool play area, was located in the center of the resort, in Old Port Royal. This area also housed the stores and restaurants and drink fountains for the free refill cups (we love those). There is a nice pathway along the lake that takes you to all the complexes, including Old Port Royal, but you may not want to walk this route everyday with young kids. There is an internal bus that just does a loop around the whole resort, stopping at each complex, but if you happen to just miss the bus, which happened to us a few times, you have a nice twenty minute wait.

Oh and the theme park buses, although they stop at each complex, start at the Martinique complex and then move on hitting each complex one after the other. If you’re going to a popular theme park, like say Magic Kingdom, don’t be surprised that the bus is full before it reaches your complex.

So although the pirate rooms were great fun I’d opt to stay in the Martinique or Trinidad North complexes in order to take full advantage of the resorts facilities. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

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Posted in just me | 3 Comments »

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