Monthly Archives: April 2013

To hop or not to hop

Disney Planning, Park Tickets April 17, 2013 Leave a comment

A big part of planning a vacation to Disneyworld is deciding what kind of ticket to purchase. There are several options which can be customized to your vacation style and budget.

As I mentioned in my last post, we learned the hard way that you can’t use a single day ticket to get into multiple parks (rookie mistake!) We thought if we had a 5 day park ticket that we could use 2 in one day, leaving 3 tickets left to get into the parks. That’s not how ticketing works, which we learned as our daughter threw a tearful fit in the turnstiles of Hollywood Studios.  Since we had a long planned dinner reservation, we caved and upgraded to a Park Hopper ticket on the spot. Lesson learned!

Here’s the lowdown on tickets just in case you aren’t planning on making a special memory of dropping an extra $250 on a ticket upgrade as you’re walking into the park!

Single Day ticket –  allows entry into one park per day. The longer you stay, the lower the ticket price per day.  As of today, a 1-day adult ticket is $89, 2 days are $88/day, but a 6 day ticket drops to $46.33/day. So after your first 2 days, you basically pay another $100 for 4 more days in the parks. Good deal!

  • Best for: First time visitors can definitely get away with single day tickets because there’s so much to do in each park that you can easily spend 8-10 hours there (or more if it’s extra magic hours!)

Single Ticket Prices

Park Hopper ticket – allows same-day entry into any of the 4 parks – Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios.

  • Best for: Anyone who wants to go to 2+ parks in one day. Sometimes extra magic hours are available in one park, but your dinner reservation or special event is in another park – that’s when the Park Hopper is so convenient because you don’t have to plan to spend your entire day in a park just because you have a reservation.

Water Parks and More ticket – adds a ton of other options for entertainment outside the 4 main parks. The ticket includes entry to the 2 water parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon,) ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex, DisneyQuest in Downtown Disney, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, or Disney’s Fantasia Gardens/Winter Summerland mini golf courses.  One thing to note is that you can only pick one extra per day – you can’t go to 2 water parks or golf and a water park in a single day.

  • Best for: Visitors who will be staying a week or more, have been to the parks before and want other options to spend a few days outside of the parks while remaining in the Disney bubble!

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Pros & cons of staying on Disney property (a.k.a. in the bubble)

The best laid plans

4 Parks, 1 Day

Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, In the Parks, Magic Kingdom April 16, 2013 1 Comment

DISCLAIMER: What I’m about to outline should NOT be attempted by anyone with the following:

  • A desire to sleep late and/or go to bed early
  • A young child (6 and under)
  • Uncomfortable shoes
  • An aversion to running – you can’t dilly dally and hope to get to all 4 parks
  • A park ticket without the ‘park hopper’ option – they’ll shut you down at park 2 (I’ve learned that lesson the hard way)

On one of our trips to Disneyworld our daughter, who was 7 at the time, asked if we could go to all four parks in one day – that’s Magic Kingdom – Animal Kingdom – Epcot – Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Any of these parks could take up an entire day itself so we had to make a strategic plan on when, where and what we would to do at each park in order to accomplish this lofty goal with minimal tears (and blisters.)  With our matching Mickey t-shirts on, we headed out on a mission.

Park 1: Magic Kingdom was our first stop – we were fresh and ready to go.  Our must-see attractions at MK are Big Thunder Mountain (my daughter’s favorite), Mickey’s PhilharMagic and “it’s a small world,” (my husband’s favorite) and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (my favorite.)  It might be one of the slowest moving rides in the entire park, but I love cruising through the dark and relaxing on a hot day!

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom

Park 2: Epcot – Since the Magic Kingdom and Epcot are connected by the monorail, that was our next stop.  Our favorite ride is not Soarin’ or Test Track, which are the 2 most popular rides, but the Maelstrom in Norway.  Yes, another slow moving ride, but since my husband comes from a long line of Vikings we just have to ride it every time we’re in the park!

Stop 2: Epcot

Stop 2: Epcot

Park 3: Animal Kingdom – Time is usually a consideration when going to the Animal Kingdom because, like a zoo, the animals come out early and go back to their enclosures at dusk.  Most days the park closes around 7pm (earlier in the off season) so we got there just in time to ride our all-time favorite roller coaster – Expedition Everest.   The line going into the ride has so much to look at that you don’t even realize you’re waiting and before you know it you’re face to face with the Yeti!

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom

Park 4: Hollywood Studios – Last but not least we made it to Hollywood Studios.  The shows are really what makes this park great – Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid, Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show… but the ride we can’t miss is the Tower of Terror.  No matter how many times I go on this ride, my palms get sweaty as we wait in the basement to board the elevator and my legs shake after we get off the ride – so scary but yet so fun!

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios

That’s how we made it to 4 parks in 1 day.  It’s not for the faint of heart, but I’d highly recommend it to make one perfect day in the Disneyworld bubble!

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Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure

Celebrity Sighting in Norway

No Passport Required!

Dining, Epcot, In the Parks April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

I’ve always had an interest in world cultures.  I got my degree in International Business and French so I have a natural curiosity about how people in other countries live.  Maybe that’s one of the reasons Epcot is my very favorite of all the Disney parks.  The park is divided in a front and back half, more like a figure eight, with Future World in the front and the World Showcase in the back, made up of 11 different countries.  Walking through the World Showcase is like taking a whirlwind trip around the world, learning about the culture, meeting the people (all the Cast Members in the World Showcase countries are native to that country), and most importantly eating the food!!  With all the options (there are tons) I thought I’d share my ideal 3 course meal in Epcot.

Appetizer – Mexico

The Sopa Azteca at the San Angel Inn: this tortilla soup is served in a carafe along with a bowl full of avocado, cheese and tortilla strips. When you pour the piping hot soup over the ingredients they melt together into an unbelievably delicious sopa!

Main Entrée – Germany

The buffet dinner at the Biergarten Restaurant is one time when I wish I could put away a few platefuls of food in one sitting.  The schnitzel, mac and cheese, brats, German potato salad, sauerkraut, soft pretzels – there’s not a bad choice on this buffet!

Biergarten Buffet

Biergarten Buffet

Dessert – France

It’s not on the main walking path, which is probably why we missed going here until our most recent trip, but Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie is a hidden gem in the back of the France pavilion.  The crème brûlée is the perfect way to end the evening.  My husband and I made the mistake of thinking we’d share one – which ended with both of us stuffing our faces so we didn’t miss any.  How very French and sophisticated!

After dinner drink – Canada

If you’re going to dine at the expensive Canadian restaurant Le Cellier, you might as well go all out!  We ordered ice wine to finish off our fantastic steak dinners and it hit the spot!

Le Cellier Ice Wine

Le Cellier Ice Wine

This is just the tip of the iceberg – I can’t wait to discuss in more detail all the other delicious dining options in Epcot!

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A Typical Day at Epcot

Back From Disney!

Let’s talk Disney!

Magic Kingdom April 14, 2013 1 Comment

Cinderella's Castle

Since this is my first post (yay!), I’ll give a little background on why I started this blog and the reason behind the name.  I went to Disneyworld exactly one time between the ages of 0-30 and that one time was just for a single day when I was 25 years old.  I didn’t see what the big deal was and I actually thought the premise of ‘the happiest place on earth’ was ridiculous (I know, the horror!)  I had zero desire to ever go back but my husband, who grew up in California going to Disneyland every year of his childhood, had a different opinion.  After we had our daughter, he had much more leverage to get a trip to Disneyworld!

So when my daughter was 3, I went to Disneyworld again – begrudgingly – and the rest, as they say, is history.  I’ve been back to Disney 10+ times and counting in the last 6 years and what I love most is being ‘in the bubble,’ as I like to call it.  Crossing the border onto the Disneyworld property is like entering an alternate universe of fairy dust and princesses, where all your dreams come true.  It’s funny now to see people’s expressions when I talk about my love of Disney – and often times asking ‘You’re going back AGAIN?’  Yes! Of course!  I understand their skepticism – that was me a few years back – but if I can change just a few people’s opinions then I’ll be happy.

Welcome to the bubble!