In the Disney Bubble

Why Disney needs Big Kid meals

As we get ready to take our last Disney vacation with someone in the 3-9 age bracket, I started to think about what will change when she’s officially an adult according to Disney ticketing and dining standards.

Other than the price increase, the big difference will be the bigger meals. For this trip we are using the Disney Dining plan (Quick Service version) and I started to get a little worried that my daughter might just starve based on the kids meals in the parks.

Note – the meals I’m referring to in this post are the quick service meals, but my pictures are table service meals – apparently in my thousands of Disney pictures I haven’t taken any of a kid’s quick serve meal!

Cinderella’s Royal Table – age 4

Just looking at the age range that is considered a kids meal – from preschool to 4th grade – there’s no way that a one-size-(meal)-fits-all. Continue reading →

MagicBands – Love ’em or leave ’em?

Disney Planning, Park Tickets January 12, 2014 Leave a comment

Today I have a guest post from my friend and former cast member, Jo Anne! She has been an annual passholder, is a DVC member, and when we first met I thought she was a Disney fanatic (in a bad way.) I still think she’s a Disney fanatic, but in a good way! She used the new MagicBands in September and this is her review.

Since this review took place during the test phase, things may have changed since then. Be sure to check Disney’s website for updates to policies and procedures.

In late October/early November we took a family vacation to Walt Disney World with family and friends to celebrate several birthdays (including my daughter’s first birthday.) As DVC members, my parents stayed in a 1 bedroom villa and my family and our friends stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were all super excited to find out we would be able to participate in the soft launch of the new Disney MagicBand program. Marketed as a colorful, all-in-one band that connects all of your vacation plans and reservations through My Disney Experience, we weren’t sure what to expect. My friend and I were super excited about the colorful bands and a free souvenir for the kids’ first trip to WDW. However, our husbands were very cynical – they made comments about how Disney will know everything about us, can track us, help us spend money…but deep down they were excited too.

Once we were registered in My Disney Experience, I linked all of our ticket and dining information to our bands. I still brought my trusty spreadsheet, but I could see phasing this out now that I have this great tool.

I highly recommend taking the time to customize your MagicBands through My Disney Experience. We assigned a character to each person and had fun picking the colors of our bands. The packaging on them is amazing as well. We were so excited when we finally got them in the mail. If you don’t customize your band, you will be issued a gray one at the front desk when you check in. Boo…gray is so boring!

When we checked into our resort, we were flooded by MagicBand merchandise. Continue reading →

Disney World vs. Disneyland

Disney Infographics, Disney Planning, Disneyland January 2, 2014 Leave a comment

After vacationing at Disney World many times over the past five years, I was excited to get the opportunity last year to go to Disneyland for New Year’s Eve. I was anxious to compare the park that started it all to the parks I had grown to love. Before we left for California, I did research online and saw a lot of familiar sights – many rides looked exactly the same as Disney World, which was very comforting to me. However, after spending 4 days at Disneyland, I’d have to say there is no contest on which I like better – and that’s Disney World!

Here’s a quick comparison of the two: Continue reading →

Holidays Around the World at Epcot

Christmas, Epcot, In the Parks, Special Events December 18, 2013 Leave a comment

One of my favorite Christmas holiday features at Disney World is the ‘Holidays Around the World’ at the World Showcase in Epcot. I didn’t expect it when we went during Christmastime so it was quite an exciting surprise. In college I majored in International Business and French, so I’ve always had an interest in other cultures and I think that is probably why Epcot is my favorite park (along with the food and drinks!) So when I saw that each pavilion in the World Showcase had a short performance about that country’s holiday traditions, I wanted to see them all! Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the performance in every country because of the scheduling, but the ones we saw were perfect for getting in the Christmas spirit! For a listing of the different holidays-around-the-world events, check out Disney’s website here.

In Germany, Helga tells a Christmas story about her first nutcracker, which *spoiler alert* comes to life during the show!

Holiday story with Helga in Germany pavilion at Epcot

In Norway, there was a completely amazing performance that we came back to see a second time! It’s the story of Sigrid and the Mischievous Christmas Gnome, Julenissen.
Continue reading →

Giant Gingerbread at Disney World

Christmas, Special Events December 3, 2013 Leave a comment

When we went to Disney World last December I expected to see elaborate Christmas decorations everywhere, and I wasn’t disappointed! What I didn’t expect to see were the giant gingerbread structures, using hundreds of pounds of sugar, chocolates, icing and eggs! Two of the displays we saw in 2012 were at the BoardWalk Inn lobby and in the American pavilion at Epcot. They are quite amazing when you consider the sheer volume of ingredients that is somehow whipped together to form giant houses with every tiny detail in tact (not to mention the hidden Mickeys!) There are even Disney pins depicting the gingerbread houses at the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, BoardWalk, and Beach Club according to the Disney Parks blog.