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Book Review – Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn by Ridley Pearson

June 25, 2016 by Bel 2 Comments

Last week Lily and I finished the second book in the Kingdom Keepers series. As you may remember, I reviewed book one, Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, only a few weeks ago. This book was quite different from the first – and in my opinion it was much better in lots of ways.

Again, reading it aloud to Lily, I did at times struggle with the structure of the writing. However I generally found it improved from the first book. Where the last book was set at night time – bedtime trips to Magic Kingdom in holographic form – this was set in a whole day time, a day time in fact where the kids couldn’t sleep (just in case) in Animal Kingdom. Now this is really the main reason I said it was better in lots of ways. I enjoyed the story more, the writing was good and I really enjoyed the plot as a whole. However (and I’m sorry, please don’t hate me) I wasn’t at all sold on Animal Kingdom when we visited Florida last year and it just didn’t really do anything for me on that front. I’m not fussed about animals either, plus I think many aspects are quite old and therefore not necessarily accurate, but yeah… Animal Kingdom is a bit blah for me.

So obviously I never like to spoil the plot on these things, but despite being set in Animal Kingdom AND being all about animals, the story was good. I liked the addition of Amanda and Jez to the gang, plus I enjoyed the way the kids are all much closer and better friends in this book. Unlike the first book, which tied off quite nicely, it was obviously that this book was “to be continued…”. While it had an element of tying off loose ends, it clearly left a storyline open for another book (which we have actually started now and it does pick up from the end of the last one).

All in all, I’m really enjoying these books. The next one is apparently set in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, so I’m interested to see how that plays out. Also the fact the books started off calling Hollywood Studios – MCM, I feel like these are becoming newer and more up to date.

Filed Under: book review Tagged With: Animal Kingdom, book series, books, Disney, disney at dawn, Kingdom Keepers, reading, Ridley Pearson

Disney Confessions

April 14, 2016 by Bel 1 Comment

Amy posted her Disney Confessions Part One some time ago and I’ve been meaning to do mine ever since. I noticed that a few have appeared on my Twitter feed too so it’s reminded me to get it done. The idea is obviously to confess your feelings on popular (or unpopular) opinions when it comes to loves (and hates) of Disney. This is what I came up with.

  • I really hate all the animal Disney movies. I’m sure it’s partly because I’m just not an animal fan anyway, but I find them all that bit duller than the movies with people characters.
  • In connection to my above confession, I think Lion King is one of the most overrated Disney movies in existence. It’s a nice story but it’s definitely not worth the hype. That said the theatre/stage show is amazing. I also dislike Finding Nemo, though loved the show at Animal Kingdom.
  • Still connected, I really wasn’t fussed with Animal Kingdom when we visited Florida last year and to be honest I nearly skipped the park altogether. Watching the girls meet Pocahontas was really the only highlight of the day for me, though I enjoyed Expedition Everest and again as mentioned above, I did like the Finding Nemo show.

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  • Though I tried to put it to one side when we visited WDW, I really have an issue with face characters at the parks. Its pretty much impossible to look like the animated people but I hate that they don’t. At least with the costume characters, they do look like their on-screen counterpart. I almost wish all the Princes and Princesses had the weird heads like Jake, Sofia etc. but that would probably be creepy.
  • I have a slight issue with collecting, when it comes to anything Disney. On the whole, it doesn’t really matter what the product is, if Disney makes something you can collect – I want it. From Pandora/Chamilia charms, to Disney Traditions, to Pop Funkos, to Tsum Tsums. Sometimes its just safer for me not to start, otherwise I end up spending thousands. I think Megan and I worked out we’d spent almost £400 on Tsum Tsums to date!

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  • I hate that Disneyland Paris is half in English and half in French. I hope that doesn’t sound incredibly racist as I don’t mean it that way but English is such a universal language that I wish everything was in one language. It’s hard to understand some of the shows that have one line in English and then one in French.
  • I wish Disney would stop making live action re-makes, but I have to admit I really enjoyed Cinderella, Jungle Book looks good and I actually can’t wait for Beauty and the Beast either. While I wish Disney would come up with new animated movies (even if Frozen was overdone, it was great – as was Inside Out, Zootropolis etc.) I do enjoy pretty much anything Disney throws out. Cinderella was a really great movie and I even loved Maleficent.
  • I rarely watch Disney movies. To be honest, I rarely re-watch any movie so it’s really not that weird. However I tend to only reach for a Disney DVD, if one of the kids (usually Lily) suggests it, despite owning nearly all of them.
  • I would rather champion a villain than a princess or princess any day. While my favourite movies are definitely those with people in, majority of the time I prefer the villains to the good guys. With the exception of Belle and Megara (though I adore Gaston and Hades), I pretty much always prefer the villain of the movie. Ursula, Maleficent, Jafar, Hook, etc. I would also rather cosplay as a villain over a princess any day.

What are your Disney Confessions?

Filed Under: about me Tagged With: Animal Kingdom, Belle, Disney, disney confessions, disney dvds, disney parks, disneyland, Disneyland Paris, finding nemo, florida, lion king, Maleficent, Ursula, Vanessa, wdw

Disney Month Round-Up

May 2, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

As you may know, April on my blog was Disney Month! This was largely because I was spending 17 days of the month away on holiday, so Disneyfying my blog seemed like a good idea! While I was away, I had several Disney themed posts and on Instagram I did 30 days of Disney. Here is a round-up of everything you could have found on my blog during April.

Tags – Disney Tag, Harry Potter Tag (not Disney, but I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter too).
Guest Posts – Why Disney World makes an awesome honeymoon destination, 10 reasons Disney is not just for kids, Disneyland Paris: an autism friendly experience.
Weekly Round-ups – Week 14, Week 15 & 16.
Wishlists – Disney Pop Funko, Hot Topic.
Movie Review – Avengers: Age of Ultron

I didn’t get as much of my holiday re-capped as I would have liked, but keep an eye out during May and you’re sure to see it all. However, here is my Instagram round-up.

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1. Cinderella Exhibition in London / 2. Mickey Mouse Electricity Pylon in Florida / 3. Disney Princess Plasters (Band-aids)
4. First Visit Badge from Disney World / 5. Maleficent from Festival of Fantasy Parade
6. Cinderella’s Royal Table Menu / 7. Disney World Magic Bands / 8. Wishes Fireworks Display in Magic Kingdom
9. Lefou’s Brew in Gaston’s Tavern / 10. Finding Nemo – The Musical at Animal Kingdom
11. IllumiNations Fireworks Display in Epcot / 12. “The Grey Stuff” at Be Our Guest dinner / 13. Ursula from The Voyage of the Little Mermaid
14. Meeting Woody and Jessie in Frontierland / 15. Be Our Guest Menu

insta216. Meeting Mr Incredible & Frozone at Hollywood Studios / 17. Souvenir mugs from our trip / 18. Periwinkle, Fawn and the Neverbeast toys
19. Tsum Tsum collection / 20. Once Upon a Time store at Downtown Disney
21. Meeting Tiana and Naveen in Liberty Square / 22. Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Menu / 23. Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom
24. Meeting Stitch in Tomorrowland / 25. Magic Kingdom’s Electric Parade
26. Lumiere from Enchanted Tales with Belle / 27. Meeting Merida in Fairytale Gardens / 28. Walt, Mickey, Lily and Megan
29. The Prince|Beast painting in Be Our Guest’s West Wing / 30. Meeting Pocahontas in Animal Kingdom

It’s been a fantastic month and I wouldn’t change a thing, but now that it’s over – it feels like life can begin again. May is the month when Spring really begins to show and it’s making me want to get on with the house and get things done. There’s nothing massively planned for the next few month’s and right now that’s definitely a good thing. I’m looking forward to normal for a little while now!

Filed Under: blog stuff Tagged With: akershus, Animal Kingdom, april, Be Our Guest, cinderella exhibition, cinderella's castle, discovery trail, Disney, disney month, Disney World, downtown disney, electric parade, enchanted tales with belle, Epcot, fantasyland, fawn, festival of fantasy, finding nemo, fireworks, Frontierland, Gaston's Tavern, Hollywood Studios, illuminations, instagram, Jessie, Lefou's brew, liberty square, Lumiere, magic bands, Magic Kingdom, Maleficent, Merida, mickey mouse, naveen, neverbeast, Once upon a toy, parades, periwinkle, photos, pocahontas, stitch, The Grey Stuff, The Incredibles, tiana, tomorrowland, tsum tsum, Ursula, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, wishes, Woody

Week 15 & 16 – Monday Round-up

April 20, 2015 by Bel 3 Comments

Being a week behind on my Monday round-up, I know I’ve been procrastinating this post. I debated making Week 15’s and back-dating it, but instead this seems like a better solution – rolling them into one! Not only that, but I’m only going to be brief with my round up, as over the next few weeks I’ll be recapping my whole holiday in some form or another! **I’ve since procrastinated a further 4 days and now this is late for both weeks!!**

Picking up where I left off after Week 14’s round up, Monday (6th) was another day in Magic Kingdom. It started early with breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle (Cinderella’s Royal Table) which included an initial meet and greet with Cinderella herself and then also meets with Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine and Ariel while we were eating our breakfast. Amy and Olivia were there too, though we were booked separately, but this was the first time we’d seen them as they’d only arrived in Florida the day before. We spent majority of the day in Magic Kingdom, meeting Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, riding the Barnstormer, Peter Pan’s Flight and Haunted Mansion. However after lunch we headed back to the villa and had a relaxing afternoon, a little nap and then heading back to Magic Kingdom to see Celebrate the Magic, Wishes and then the Electric Parade.

On the Tuesday we headed back to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We’d had our “Harry Potter” day there and so this day was to do all the other stuff. We originally met up with Amy and stayed with her for a while in Hogsmeade, largely so she could get the use of her dining plan (we went to The Three Broomsticks). After we went our separate ways though, the four of us decided there wasn’t much we wanted to do in Islands of Adventure and instead caught the Hogwarts Express again, back to Universal Studios. There we went on Twister, Shrek 4D, E.T. Adventure, Terminator 2 3D and finally Minion Mayhem. We also had photos taken with Minions and Gru. It was fairly late by the time we left and the four of us grabbed McDonalds and Taco Bell on the way home.

Wednesday we were having a day away from the parks and we instead went to Kennedy Space Center. While it wasn’t really high up on anyone’s list, it was something we felt we should do when we had the opportunity. It was actually incredibly enjoyable and we all enjoyed our day – especially as it was much slower paced than other days. We enjoyed a coach tour as well as several museums/foot tours. The shuttle launch simulator was by far the best part of the day however and after a great day we all went back to the villa for dinner.

Thursday was an early morning again as we had breakfast at The Grand Floridian – 1900 Park Fare. This was another character breakfast and we saw Winnie the Pooh and Tigger again, along with Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins. The breakfast was buffet style and it was really nice. After breakfast we headed to Magic Kingdom, this time we rode The Seven Dwarves Mine Train and The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, went on Enchanted Tales with Belle and met Cinderella and Rapunzel in Fairytale Hall. We also had a drink in Gaston’s Tavern and worked on our Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom quest. When we were finished for the day, we headed to Downtown Disney for a little while, to look around and see what was there. Afterwards it was back to the villa and into the pool.

Friday was Animal Kingdom. I was in two minds as to whether or not to visit this park so we only scheduled one day. I enjoyed the park but it really did only need one day. We went on Kilimanjaro Safari, rode Expedition Everest and saw the Lion King show and also Nemo the musical. The girls also met with Pocahontas and Dug and Russel from UP. We finished the park around 4.30pm and made our way to Blizzard Beach which was a great way to cool off after a very warm day. For dinner we called in at a Denny’s on the way home and had a delicious meal there.

Saturday was Epcot, another one day scheduled for a park. I didn’t expect to like Epcot but actually I really did. We quite happily spent a whole day there but there was a lot of walking involved. The morning was spent in Future World, where we rode Mission: Space, The Seas with Nemo & Friends and Spaceship Earth. We also dropped into the Character Spot so the girls could meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy and then saw Chip and Dale just outside there. At lunchtime we walked into World Showcase, to Norway and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall where we were meeting Amy for a princess filled lunch. We had a meet and greet with Belle on entry, then also saw Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel and Aurora once inside. After lunch we made it around World Showcase and it’s countries, meeting with various characters. We saw Donald Duck, Jasmine and Aladdin, Mulan, Belle (in her blue dress) and Duffy Bear. This took majority of the afternoon but then we headed back to Future World to ride Soarin’. Finally we got something to eat and drink, before settling in on a bench and saving a spot for the evening’s IllumiNations display. It was truly beautiful and one of my favourite memories of the whole holiday.

Sunday we were back in Magic Kingdom. We had breakfast at Be Our Guest booked, then I insisted on going to meet Gaston. Again, this was one of my favourite moments from the whole trip. After that we took on a mission to get as many meet and greets as we could, using the day to get the majority of the ones we were missing. We got the Fairy Godmother, Lady Tremaine (the sisters were on time out), Merida, Buzz Lightyear and Stitch. After all that we needed a rest so we did both Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor and Stitch’s Great Escape. We also rode Space Mountain. We then took a wander, rode the Dumbo ride and did some shopping where the girls bought themselves hats with ears and got their names stitched on them. We then went into Peter’s Silly Sideshow and met Minnie and Daisy, followed by Donald and Goofy. When we got hungry, we ate at Pinocchio Village Haus, then did more of our Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom quest. In the afternoon, the girls met with Tiana, Ariel and then Anna and Elsa, all before we went back to Be Our Guest for dinner. After dinner we met with the Beast and this was another highlight of my trip. Since the park was pretty quiet we got in a few more rides, this time the People Mover and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We then headed out and back to the villa.

This was the end of Week 15, so onto Week 16!

Monday (13th) was a day at Hollywood Studios. We had only scheduled one day and to be honest this was probably enough. That said, we had to make sure we scheduled carefully throughout the day to ensure we saw all the shows we wanted. We began the morning with meeting Baymax and Hiro. This was a must for the day so we needed to get in the queue early. After this we went off to ride The Hollywood Tower of Terror, then over to Star Tours for Chris and Amy to ride. We then went to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, followed by a wander and Muppets Vision 3D. After that the girls had their pictures taken with Lightning McQueen and Mater (though it was pretty pointless), saw the Cinderella carriage and then met with Mike and Sulley from Monsters Inc. After that we met with a Green Army man (from Toy Story) on our way to see Beauty and the Beast live (which was awesome). Next we rode Toy Story Midway Mania (which was so good) and then queued to see Buzz and Woody. Afterwards we went to meet up with Amy and some of her friends, to wait for Character Palooza. However it got rained off and so we ended up going our separate ways. Next we saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid and got some dinner. Finally we headed to Fantasmic where we waited quite some time to see the show but it was definitely worth it.

Tuesday was our final day in Magic Kingdom (though we didn’t necessarily know it at the time). We rode Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and saw Mickey’s Philharmagic show. We also had lunch at Be Our Guest, met with talking Mickey Mouse, and Jessie & Woody. Finally we did some more on our Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom quest, but on asking realised there was 9 quests and we’d only done 5 so we weren’t going to get it finished. When we left the park, we headed to Typhoon Lagoon to end the day and cool off. Unfortunately it closed at 5pm (not 6 like we’d thought) and so we weren’t able to do that as it was almost 5 anyway. Instead we headed to Downtown Disney briefly as Megan was searching for a dress she wanted and instead we found Tsum Tsum’s and she bought loads of those. We headed back to the villa for dinner.

Wednesday was our last full day on holiday. We spent the morning back at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, letting the girls use their wands on all the “hotspots” around the park. This took us till just after lunch but we headed to Florida Mall and ate there – the girls having Taco Bell while Chris and I had Five Guys. We then wandered the Mall, going to Hot Topic and the Disney Store mainly. A friend I’ve known for 14 years, came to meet us at the Mall (we haven’t seen each other for 7 years) and it was lovely to catch up and wander around. At 6pm we headed to the villa to get my mum – the girls drove with Tim and so Chris and I just rode together for the first time all holiday. When we got to the villa, Tim suggested somewhere for dinner and we all headed out together. The place we ate was called The Cracker Barrel and it was lovely. The food was amazing and we were all stuffed. Afterwards we shopped a little in the store attached and then said a very sad farewell to Tim. We all headed home to the villa and the packing began. A few tears were shed and then we all headed to bed.

On Thursday morning the decision had been made to spend the last few hours of holiday in Hollywood Studios and then Magic Kingdom. However the girls were up late and I didn’t wake them as I decided it was better they slept. The three of us headed out to Hollywood Studios as the Animation Academy was the one thing Megan had really wanted to do and didn’t get chance. When we got there it was about 10am but the first class wasn’t till 10.30pm, we waited and while we did so, we played on the “which disney character are you?” machines. Lily got Tinker Bell, Megan got Ariel and I got Lady Tremaine (I did say I wanted to eat nice people for lunch…). We then did the Animation class and got to draw Baymax. Megan also got given the artist’s drawing to take home with her. After this we decided it wasn’t really worth going to Magic Kingdom as it would take too long to catch the tram to the car, then drive to Magic Kingdom, then get the tram to the park etc. all before we needed to head back. Instead we waited to see Mr Incredible and Frozone, before riding The Great Movie Ride which was the one thing I’d wanted to do and hadn’t fitted in. Finally we said a sad farewell to the park and to Disney generally as we got onto the tram and rode back to the car.

We then drove back to the villa where Mum and Chris were waiting, pretty much ready to leave. We packed everything into the car and then headed back to Florida Mall. There we got lunch – this time the girls got Subway, I got pizza and Chris and mum got Five Guys. We went to Hot Topic to spend our Hot Cash, then Lily and I ran to the Disney Store to spend the last of her dollars while everyone headed back to the car. We drove to the airport, dragged all our bags in and checked in. Without a blow by blow of everything then, we obviously boarded the plane and this took us to Washington. The plane was delayed but luckily the connection was too. We then boarded the second plane and this took us home.

It was 11am on Friday morning when we arrived home and got off the plane. It obviously took us some time to get our bags, go through security etc. By the time we got to the car it was gone 12pm and mum drove us to a place in Northamptonshire where she was spending the weekend. Once mum was gone, we headed home, stopping at the first services we got to. There we had KFC for lunch and Starbucks to keep us all awake. We drove back to mum’s where I’d left my car and then swapped all our stuff over. We had to call in to see the kids’ dad at work but then we headed home, stopping only for bread and milk on the way. It was about 6pm when we got back and all of us just collapsed for a while. Despite the girls being tired I let them stay up a while so it felt like they had some time at home but then they headed to bed. Chris and I ordered takeaway and spent the evening watching TV. However we only made it till about 10pm before going to bed ourselves.

Saturday and Sunday were really just days to relax. I didn’t get dressed at all on Saturday, just managing with the few bits we had in the house to eat. Nat came around in the evening and it was so nice to catch up. Sunday we had to take Chris to work so it meant getting dressed and on the way home we did the weekly shopping. However the rest of the day was spent lazy, trying to recover and get ready for the girls going back to school. So this ends my round up and also our holiday. I hope to get on top of blogging soon and update you all on the trip properly, as well as share my favourite moments, top tips and tons of photos!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: airport, Animal Kingdom, catch up, Disney, downtown disney, Epcot, flights, florida mall, holiday, Hollywood Studios, Hot Topic, islands of adventure, Magic Kingdom, orlando, plane, shopping, Universal Studios, update, walt disney world, wdw

Florida 2015 (3 weeks to go) The Planner

March 11, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

Hey! So this post should really have gone live earlier today but unfortunately I didn’t get time to finish it (I spent the evening sewing a blue Cinderella inspired skirt). As such its a little late on this evening, but even if it had been tomorrow, its still technically 3 weeks to go, because we actually fly on the Thursday. If you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know that I’ve covered the preliminary planning (accommodation, flights and park tickets) and then pre-planning for the things you want to do (character dining, photo passes and fast passes). This week I want to share with you my actual physical planner, with our actual plans!

planner

At first, my planner didn’t start off as an actual planner. Instead it started off as the odd print off here and there. However as my planning grew (especially with the fast passes booked) it seemed like a good idea to get some sort of organisation. As such I created this planner, with a folder I already had kicking around and a whole bunch of freebie stuff.

The first page is a calendar, but only really of the days we’re on holiday. I googled for an April 2015 calendar and then chopped it down until it only had the days I was interested in. I then printed it off and completed it – in pencil of course, in case there were any changes! After that came the maps. I’d found these a week or so earlier, but I’d printed them off and stapled them together in various forms. I had a map for each park – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios etc. and also ones for Downtown Disney and Universal’s CityWalk. Each one of those got a separate pocket in the folder so I could see them easily. Along with that map, I’d also downloaded some Character Meet maps from Kenny the Pirate. I slid these into the same pockets (Disney only), but back to back so I could see both sides.

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After the map sections, come actual planner sections. These were free to me, because Amy sent them to me, but I know she originally bought them off Etsy. I personally wouldn’t have bothered buying something like this and probably would have just made a few pages in Word, but I have to admit they do look lovely and give a sort of uniformity to the planner. I printed one for each park and slid those into separate pockets too. The Ride Plan page is really the only one I’ve used for each park, but it contains space for Park Opening Times, Crowd Predictions, Fast Pass Reservations, Ride Wishlist and then Notes. This was really all I wanted.

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As I began to fill them in, I realised that it would perhaps be better to have a few more for Magic Kingdom, as its the one park we have plans to be in for more than one day. After completing my planner page for Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, I printed out a further three copies of the Magic Kingdom one (four in total) and completed these too. It seemed natural to place them in date order and so almost unintentionally I was making a day by day guide.

Because of this, I decided I would like a similar thing for my days in Universal and also at Kennedy Space Center. I went searching the internet for Universal Orlando planners, but basically drew a blank. There was something on Etsy which I did actually buy (it was less than £2) but to be honest it was rubbish and not worth the money. However it gave me a basis and a place to start, so instead I chopped it around myself and edited it, making it be what I wanted it to be. I made one page of solely Harry Potter rides and attractions -in both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure – and two pages of all the other rides and attractions – one for Universal Studios and the other for Islands of Adventure. I then printed these off and gave them their own pocket, marking out the days in my planner that would be designated to them.

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After that I researched into the Kennedy Space Center. We already have our tickets and although they’re not for a definite day, we do have one in mind for visiting. I looked up how far away it is from where we’re staying and also some directions to follow. I printed off a complex map too so at least we have a rough idea of what there is to do and how long it might take us to look around.

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Finally that just left the things like dinner reservations, flight info and accommodation. Although I already have the information written down elsewhere, I figured I may as well complete it, just so that it makes one whole complete planner – and perhaps a souvenir of our trip afterwards. So now I had a page for almost every day that we’re away, not including the day we fly, the two days after we arrive and the two before we leave. I realised it was likely that we’d probably spend another day in Magic Kingdom at some point, so I made a blank page and listed all the other rides and activities I wanted to cover, that weren’t already FastPass’d on other days. I figured this would give me a good place to start for what was left to do and what we wanted to do. With every day we spent in Magic Kingdom I could mark off anything we’d managed to do, so by the end of the holiday I could see what was left.

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The whole thing was really simple and easy to do and since doing it I feel a lot more organised and ready to go. Whenever I think about something I need to do or want to make a note of, I just go to my planner and add it there. Since making it I have gone through it several times and even sat and gone through it with my mum. I’m pretty proud of all the work it contains and fingers crossed it will give me all the information I need when we’re away on holiday!

Next week I’ll be updating on the shopping we’ve done for holiday – the girls shopping trip to Meadowhall and Chris’ birthday present clothes. It will include the dresses I’ve most recently bought from Hot Topic and also the clothes I’ve made for us to take with us! Please come back next Wednesday to see what else I have to share with you!!

Filed Under: Florida 2015, Florida Planning Tagged With: Animal Kingdom, city walk, Disney, Disney World, downtown disney, Epcot, family holiday, florida, harry potter, holiday, Hollywood Studios, Island of Adventures, kennedy space center, Magic Kingdom, orlando, planner, planning, Universal Orlando, Universal Studios, walt disney world, wdw

Florida 2015 (4 weeks to go) The Planning: Part 2 – Booking in Advance

March 4, 2015 by Bel 5 Comments

As I mentioned last week, in my initial post Florida 2015 – The Planning, I do love to plan. However I also mentioned that when it comes to a holiday, I like to leave room for flexibility. I’m not one for itineraries and agendas, I don’t want every day planned out. That’s exactly how I’ve had every holiday in my adult life… until now.

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If you’re heading to Orlando and you’re wanting to make the most of your holiday, there are definitely some aspects I recommend you plan in advance. That’s what this post will focus on – the things to do when you’re there, that you should plan in advance!

Of course, like I mentioned last time, you need to make sure your passport is up to date (renewal costs around £46 for kids and £72.50 for adults, so it’s an expense you should take into account too). Usually it’s recommended that you do this several months in advance but in my experience, a passport is usually returned to you within a week or so, especially off peak. You also need to apply for your visa, under the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation). This costs $14 per person – a charge of $10 for the visa and then $4 for admin fees, which works out around £9-£10 total. Don’t leave it too late, just in case you have any unexpected problems! Finally, another essential is of course travel insurance. My mum has an annual policy but I just used Travel Supermarket to compare the prices for a family of four. I’ll be honest and admit I just picked the cheapest but they all seemed to offer very reasonable amounts of cover so I wasn’t cutting corners. This cost around £32 (I also checked Compare the Market and Confused but generally Travel Supermarket came out a pound or two cheaper than the other sites, for the same quotes).

Not all of those things needs to be done immediately when you first book your holiday, but you do need to write them on your “to do list”. However, once you’ve got all the essentials spoken for, you need to consider what else you’re wanting to do. My first tip would definitely be to buy a book specifically for Florida, or even better Orlando. Even if you’re going specifically for Disney World or even the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, its great to get a general book to begin with as it will cover the basics of everything there is to do and therefore help you narrow down where your interests lie.

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Guide Books – I personally started off with Brit Guide Orlando 2014 (Brit Guides), a book which came with a 4.5 rating on Amazon. It was a great read and very thorough – including some great tips. It included everything from villas and hotels, to each park with map and break down of attractions, to everything else there is to do in Orlando, including eating out and shopping. However as I bought it early in 2014 (published October 2013) and my trip is April 2015, I soon realised a lot of the information – especially with regards to Universal Parks and Walt Disney Parks – was out of date. Nonetheless it was a great starting book and nearer the time (i.e. February 2015) I paid out for two newer books, one for Universal and one for Disney. These also included information on booking hotels, but obviously at that stage I wasn’t interested in those things. To be honest, I don’t think you really need a book to help you book accommodation – just some common sense and probably Google.

After reading a guide book, you’ll hopefully have a better idea of what you’re looking to do. If Walt Disney World is part of your trip, then I highly recommend downloading the My Disney Experience App to your phone or tablet, or signing up for the Disney website and using the My Disney Experience options there.

Character/Themed Dining – I do know that Universal Orlando has some character and themed dining options, but I want to be honest and say that I’m not at all interested in that so I’ve made no bookings and have no experience of what to do when it comes to booking for Universal Studios or Islands of Adventures. I do however have several reservations for Disney, so that’s really what I’m focusing on. Dining at Disney World (parks and resorts) can be booked 180 days (6 months) in advance. Some of the dining is VERY VERY in demand and unless you’re lucky, there’s a high chance you’ll miss out unless you get in there at the earliest moment. If you’re staying in a Disney Hotel you can actually book ALL your dining, at 180 days from your first day (you have to ring up though), meaning you’ll get in before a lot of other people, especially for the harder to get dining.

I was lucky because my best friend Amy is visiting Florida at the same time as us and staying in a Disney Hotel, where we’re staying off-site in a villa. Because of her we have all the dining we wanted, even the most sought after. While a little tricky, Cinderella’s Royal Table for breakfast was possible, just using the regular 180 days. However Be Our Guest for dinner proved to be virtually impossible. It was only because she rang to enquire and realised she could book slightly further in advance, that we were able to secure this booking, literally a few days before we go home. Also, at the time we originally booked all our dining, Be Our Guest was only available as a dinner reservation. This system has now been changed and you are able to book lunch reservations too – though this is quick service and not table service dining. We’re now booked in for lunch there too. As well as the three bookings I’ve already mentioned, we also have breakfast booked at 1900 Park Fare, which is located in the Grand Floridian Resort and has Alice in Wonderland characters in attendance, along with lunch at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot which has Princesses Storybook Dining on offer. The only other thing to note really is that all of these reservations require a credit or debit card to secure the booking – however only Cinderella’s Royal Table requires (full) payment in advance.

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FastPass+ – While Character Dining is obviously an optional extra to your holiday, if you’re planning to do anything in any of the Disney Parks, FastPass+ really isn’t that optional. Yes you can try without it and yes its still possible to get on all the rides you want to, but honestly if you’re hoping to avoid as much queuing as possible, plus fit in as much as possible, FastPass is really the best way to go. For people staying in a Disney Hotel, FastPass is available at the 60 day mark. For those staying off-site and purchasing their tickets separately, FastPass booking starts at the 30 day mark. Again, thanks to Amy, we were able to book the majority of our FastPasses at the 60 day mark, due to the fact she’s staying in a Disney Hotel. However the only problem with that is she could only book us all the same FastPasses as her, rather than pick and choose for smaller numbers within our party. As such we have a few bookings that need altering when it gets to our 30 day mark, but I’d rather have that than not have them at all. The best thing about FastPass is that it’s completely free and just included with your ticket – so need to worry about high costs, just to cut queues.

For all four of the parks, each person can only hold three FastPasses at a time. In Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, you can book any three attractions or rides (providing they have FP options), however in Epcot and Hollywood Studios, there is a Tier system, where you can only book one from the A group and two from the B group. It’s a bit complicated but if you some searching you’ll find lists of what rides and attractions fall into each group and hopefully figure out what suits your family/group best. The three FastPasses you are able to book in advance, all need to be within the same park. However once you’ve “spent” all three passes, if you move on to another park (say later that day/afternoon) you will then be able to book further passes in another park. This applies even if you’re not moving to another park, that you can book extra FastPasses. Just visit a FP kiosk and see what’s available to book.

It is worth noting that some FastPasses are better to have than others, depending on what you’re hoping to achieve. Most shows are available on FP for example, but if you’re not too fussed about “the best” seats, then its probably not something to worry about. Likewise if you’re not too worried about meeting characters, these FP options can be skipped as well. If you’re happy to choose according to has the shortest queue at the time, then you’ll not need a FP. However if you’re dead set on meeting Anna and Elsa – by all accounts, FP is a must. That said, they also fly out as fast as they become available, so be prepared to book early and maybe even take a reserve list option! It’s worth researching which rides gets the busiest and which rides generally don’t. This will help you decide which three options you should “spend” your FP on!

Express Pass – Again, while I have no experience of booking this (or even wanting it), its worth mentioning that Universal has their own version of FastPass, called Express Pass. As with Disney, not all rides have the Express Pass option, but a large amount of them do. However unlike Disney, the Express Pass is NOT free. Prices start at around $60 for both parks, or $50 individually. Since the website states “starting at”, I can only imagine that these prices are for whatever the basic version and the more you pay, the better your Express Pass options are. If you stay on-site with Universal, then Express Pass IS included in your tickets. From what I’ve read, this is the most cost effective way to purchase the Express Pass, by actually just booking a day or two at an actual Universal Hotel.

I do think its important to note though, that not many of the Harry Potter rides are included in the Express Pass. Exempt from the Express Pass is; Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the Hogwarts Express and also Ollivanders (technically a shop but since it has a sort of pre-show, I figured it was worth mentioning). This means the only Harry Potter ride you can use the Express Pass on is Flight of the Hippogriff. That said, there are loads of other great rides that will definitely benefit from you having Express Pass.

PhotoPass – Disney World offers a complimentary service called PhotoPass to all their park guests. Photographers are located around the parks and after having your first picture taken you will receive a PhotoPass card that you can then use each time you have a picture taken, placing all your photos together in the same place. After your holiday you just go online and make an account, using the PhotoPass to retrieve your photos. If for whatever reason you’ve acquired more than one card, its not a problem as you can just combine all of the cards into one online account. You can then view the photos and make edits, whenever you want. Now of course, with it being a free service, that does lead to some disadvantages. While you can view and edit photos as much as you like, you can’t download digital copies – or at least, not without paying. You can pay to download prints (approx $15 per photo), you can pay to have printed copies made, you can pay to get your photos put onto certain objects (like a t-shirt or mug). However every little thing you want to do, will cost you money. Also because all photos expire at some point, it does mean that if you don’t download them and you haven’t bought prints, then you will lose the pictures eventually. Of course there are options such as a photo CD or photo book, but all of these will cost you extra money.

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Memory Maker – If you’re interested in using the PhotoPass option but don’t want to get caught out with the prices afterwards, there is another option. It’s quite expensive but overall could work out cheaper. It also gives you more benefits such as ride photos and dining photos too. Disney’s Memory Maker is basically an advanced version of the PhotoPass, which you buy in advance (either months in advance or at the beginning of your vacation). It costs $169 if you book online or $199 if you wait till the day you need it. Having the Memory Maker allows you to not only collect all the PhotoPass photo options, but also have Ride/Attractions photos (and sometimes videos too), along with Dining photos as well. Afterwards you can go online in just the same way as with the PhotoPass and view/edit all of your photos. However with this option, downloading all your photos are free. Of course you can still pay to have a photo CD or place a print on a mug, but at least you know you can download and keep all your photos, without having any hidden costs (especially if you’ve had 1000’s photos taken).

Photo Connect – As with most things, Universal have a similar (usually lesser) version of everything Disney has. Instead of Disney’s PhotoPass, Universal offers Photo Connect. It’s basically exactly the same thing, whereby if you get your picture taken in the park or on a ride, you receive a Photo Connect card and you can redeem it later online or within the park to receive a print (paid for, obviously). The Photo Connect card itself is free, but getting a print will cost you money. Also, major downside – if you don’t retrieve your photo that day, in some way, shape or form, then the photo is gone by the end of the day.

Star Card – Either in advance, or at the time of getting your first Photo Connect card, you can choose to get a Photo Connect Star Card. This basically upgrades your Photo Connect card, to something worth having for a longer term. Star Cards are available in a range of options, including 1 Day, 3 Day and 14 Day periods. There is also an annual pass too. The standard option in the park is a 3 Day Star Card, with 1 Day and 14 Day only being available to order online. Also, the 3 Day Star Card is $69.95 in the park, whereas it’s $59.95 if booked in advance. Apparently it is possible to extend your Star Card, with options of 1 Day and 3 Day extensions. There is plenty of information available online about this so I would recommend you look into it thoroughly.

The main advantage to having the Star Card, is that your photos become available online. Not only that but instead of expiring at the end of the day, they are available for some period of time afterwards, meaning you can get home and download them all safely, without any further cost. Not just that, but also by buying the Star Card, you are able to get certain other advantages. One of these for example is the option to buy prints at a cheaper price. Where a print of a Photo Connect print may cost you $10 each, with the Star Card you can purchase prints for as little as $2. You also get access to a smartphone app, a lovely lanyard to keep your card safe and if my information is correct, a couple of free prints too. A 1 Day Star Card costs $39.95, while a 3 Day one costs $59.95 (when booked online in advance). While you can book these passes on the Universal website, I would strongly recommend going directly through the Photo Connect site. Booking with Universal will cost you $39.95/$59.95 etc plus tax, where as booking through the Photo Connect site will simply cost you the face value price (no tax). Check out all your options before making a decision, especially Shutterbuttons if that’s on your list, as there is a Star Card to include that video too.

If you’ve made it this far through my post, then well done! I never expected it to get this long but once you start writing about Florida, it’s sometimes hard to stop! So far I’ve covered booking your dining options in advance (especially Disney’s Character and Themed Dining) along with Disney’s FastPass+. I’ve also discussed the various photography options available. There are loads and loads of other add-ons to consider, Universal’s which can be found here and Disney’s which can be found here.

Both Disney and Universal have a variety of Dining Plan options, again with plenty of information available online about them. While we haven’t gone for a Dining Plan with Disney – just booked the specific meals we want to do – I have booked a Dining Plan option with Universal. I’ve bought in advance, though I don’t think that was money saving particularly, though the plan itself is. I paid $19.99 (plus tax, which is approximately $24) per adult and $12.99 (plus tax, which is approximately $15.50) per child, which gives us 1 main course and 1 non-alcoholic drink, in any quick service restaurant (there are a couple of exclusions), 1 snack (from various carts and shops around the park) and 1 non-alcoholic drink (again from carts and shops around the park). This works out at approximately £15 per adult (or £10 per child) for a meal, two drinks and a snack – hopefully enough to last us through the day. To tell the truth, I actually upgraded the kids to the Universal Dining Plan plus Coca-Cola Freestyle. The Coca-Cola Freestyle option is basically a souvenir cup which you can refill during the day, at various locations in the park. Stand-alone price for this is $11.99 each but when bought with a Dining Plan it’s only $6 extra. I know the kids will love trying out the various Coca-Cola flavours and since they’re free refills, I’m sure the adults might benefit from the odd sip here and there too!

This concludes my second post in the Florida 2015 series, but I will be back next week with post number 3. From now on I’ll be focusing more on our personal preparations – The Shopping, The Packing and probably the Panicking! Please pop back next week to see what I have to share with you.

Filed Under: Florida 2015, Florida Planning Tagged With: Animal Kingdom, Be Our Guest, character dining, Cinderella's Royal Table, dining plan, Disney World, Epcot, Express Pass, FastPass+, florida, holiday, Hollywood Studios, islands of adventure, Magic Kingdom, Memory Maker, orlando, Photo Connect, PhotoPass, planning, Star Card, themed dining, Universal Orlando, Universal Studios, vacation

Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a thirty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

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