A Dream Vacation on the Disney Dream Cruise Ship

To Dream a Dream on the Dream
Holly's Rating of Disney Dream: 3.5 out of 5

In December we along with our family took a wonderful trip on the Disney Dream Ship in total there were nine of us myself, my husband, our daughter 13 turning 14 on the trip, and our son 8, along with my grandmother, my little brother, my mother in law, and father in law, and our niece who was 17. We did a five day cruise to the Bahamas on the Disney Dream, three days at Disney world with a private tour guide and one alone, finishing with 2 days at Universal Orlando with a private guide. We used an amazing TA who helped me with all my plans and keeping everything in order this really was our dream trip.

Day One- We stayed overnight in Seattle the morning before we flew out we did a park,sleep,fly so that we had parking for our cars while we were gone, Originally I was looking at a car service to pick and drop off but there where 6 of us and a lot of luggage so I decided it was not worth the hassle. My in-law met us at the airport and we flew off to Florida, we had a hotel the night before the cruise at the Hyatt in the Orlando airport. I loved the pre-night hotel my husband and I walked around the terminals in the evening great exercise.

 We ate at McCoy’s that night,I was unhappy with the food it was cold, had little taste and was extremely expensive for horrid food. The only saving item was the craw-fish chowder this was amazing, No one in our group enjoyed anything besides this chowder. The food was bad enough they called up to our room telling us we did not pay believe me we paid, and I had the credit card copy of bill with tip was over 150.00 for the four of us . I told them this and they still insisted I did not pay. I had my husband check our online banking  and it was already showing as pending on our online banking I told them this and they finally let us go back to sleep. Needless to say I was unhappy about them calling a few hours when we were sleeping to try and get me to pay what I already paid. We will not be going back on our next trip even for the chowder.

Day Two- This was it we were finally boarding our ship I love to cruise so dose my family usually it is just the 6 of us so it was an adjustment added three other people to our vacation. After boarding all at different times this always seems to be the way it happens usually someone will need to run to a port store or something so we tend to never board all at once. After we got on we hit the Cabanas buffet for our lunch, the food was standard buffet food however I like the lay out of the buffet on the Magic more than the dream in fact there where many things I like more on the magic but we will return to that later.

After lunch everyone headed to their state rooms we had three staterooms and all where side by side so we were able to have to the verandas opened so we could go from room to room as needed. The openness was nice it made the verandas seem much larger, and the kids made good use of going from room to room. I love the Disney state rooms they offer plenty of room for the 4 of us and the bathrooms are amazing it is so nice to be able to have two people getting ready at the same time. Since we are returning cruisers we had welcome back packages waiting for us this was a nice treat and I got a lot of use from the tote bag and we all used our cast away club lanyards.

Our state room host was nice and we always had clean towels somehow he managed to know just where we got out of the room to clean it. I never saw him compared to past trips where usually I see our room host daily I understand the ship is bigger than the one we normal travel on but I do enjoy interacting with the host. There were some small issues our phone did not work when we boarded but a call to the front desk fixed this, and our safe was not reset this was also fixed in a timely matter. It seemed like we got less hair and body products this time around I usually do not bring any because the ones provided works so well. We only got one shampoo and one conditioner and they were never restocked, perhaps if I saw my room host this could have been taken care of.  Usually I am a big end of trip tipper outside the pre pay this trip that changed a bit.

Our children take full advantages of the kids club. I usually do not see my daughter on vacation unless we are getting off the ship she enjoys hanging out with the new people she meets and from the time she wakes to the time she passes out she is off and about. My niece who is 17 is not a highly social person she did not take advantage of pretty much anything outside the stateroom and shows.  I cannot say much about how the older teens feel about the clubs due to the fact my niece never did anything. My daughter was all over it and has a blast like always she was turning 14 on the ship so they allowed her to go right into vibe with the 14 and up teens she was extremely happy she was a bit sad because she wanted to enjoy it with her cousin but she got to the point where it stopped bothering her and she had fun.

         

   My son has some disability with speech and usually he does not take as much advantage of the clubs he does go but not  for a long time as it is hard for the other children to understand him. This trip however he spent a lot of time in the clubs on the ship. The first thing we did after lunch was taking him to the club and having him show me how to get back from the club to our stateroom. We always do this twice so I know he understands the way I know there is a lot of debate on letting kids sign out of the clubs before so and so age, but we allow our son to sign out and we trust that he will be alight and be able to receive help if the highly unlikely event happens that he needs it. This is our choice and everyone raises their kids differently. Beside to and from the club we checked out were the ice cream and soda was this is in my option the best thing about Disney as much free soda, juice, coffee, and tea as you want for free I wish other cruise ships would fallow this.

Safety drill I did like that on the Dream you go to a room instead of having to line up out side and all the noise and confusion it was easy to go to the room and be checked in hear the drill and go about our way. While our children where off to parts unknown and the rest of the family was off. doing their thing my husband and I decided to go to the top of the adult only area and watch the ship leave it was cold even in Florida it is December it was around 4pm when we set sail. It was nice to be away from the big party and noise since this was not our first sail away we knew how the party in the family area was and did not feel the need to see it again, we enjoyed the adult area watched the ship sail off in peace before heading back to get ready for dinner.

Speaking of dinner I love Disney Cruise line and the nightly dinning is the highlight of my trips which is not always good as I am currently on Weight Watchers, but hey it is a vacation and I intend to enjoy it all. The first night dinning was where I started missing the smaller ships, We dined at Animators Palate I know they have redone it on the Magic, but I have yet to go on the new ships to see the changes. I really did enjoy it on the Dream the interactions of the crush, and the moving artwork was an amazing place to enjoy your first night and if crush talks to you it’s all the better, he did not talk to use but I still enjoyed the reaction of the children he did talk to this is an amazing aspect of Disney to make people feel that little extra magic.

 I enjoyed the food when we finally got it or if it was remembered at all usually the first night is get to know you night, its busy there is confusion so I never expect perfect the first night maybe it was the extra three people I am not sure but I was really unhappy with the service this cruise. The food however was amazing as always the sodas, and tea free!!! Each evening I have one of drinks offered and this was no different, vacations are really the only time I drink and I do enjoy the Disney cocktails. Usually my son eats and is gone, and my daughter is the same so as soon as they were done they were off to the stateroom or their clubs so the adults were able to enjoy dessert and coffee this is a nice perk to cruising the kids can go off and the adults can enjoy.

After dinner we explored the ship shops a bit, and the ship itself we did not see the show that night I believe it was magic. We enjoyed a relaxing evening to prepare for the next day usually my husband and I go and get a coffee drink from the cove but we really did not go as much this trip. The beds where really nice and we did sleep well that is for sure. We did a lot of relaxing on the cruise and really that is what cruising is all about.

That’s the end of day one and two be sure to check back for the next portion of the trip report.

Day 3

                This was a sea day and while the kids where off doing what they do we were relaxing after a good night’s sleep we started off our day with Palo for an adults only brunch. Some things about Palo there is a dress code and it is enforced however my brother who forgot to bring long pants called ahead and was able to barrow a pair of pants from the ship just something to keep in mind of you lose your luggage or some other mishap happens. The food was good I will say that this was not the best the meal we had on the ship it seems like they could have had more flavor and options the eggs Benedict from what my husband and mother in law say where really good and I have heard that these are the best thing to get at Palo, I stuck with the eggs and bacon in an omelet with salmon and cheese on the side along with my mimosa.

                After brunch everyone headed off to do what they had planned for the day my grandmother and I headed to the shops I love the shops on the ship there is just so many cute items that I am lucky I did not have a larger suitcase or my wallet would be in bad shape. The first thing we did was have them pout a hole in our Stateroom cards so they could be hooked to a lanyard I am pretty good at losing my card a lot if I do not do this. We looked at the jewelry and mostly the Pandora like charms my grandmother collects charms for her bracelets so this was a long visit. They have some really cute choices and some expensive ones also so be aware that there are Pandora shops at each port so far that I have seen so you may want to wait and see what is in port first and try to save some money while there is no tax on the items on the ship they are still pricier than land I have found for most things.

                For lunch we hit the main dining room and enjoyed a nice sit down lunch my children where off with their friends and ate pizza for most lunches as kids do on these trips. I always enjoy the main dining rooms for lunch or dinners the wait staff is so attentive usually especially at lunch when there are few people than dinner and it’s nice to have a quite area to talk about what every has done so far for the day and what they have planned for later. After lunch I took my book to the pool area and ready while enjoying the warm sun and the drinks from the bar for the rest of the day and the ice cream I love that I was able to grab some cool flavors the banana ice cream is so good I had to stop myself for eating too much.

That night for dinner we were at Enchanted garden I love the look and the royal princess feel of this restraint you can see the Disney accents and it is just such a pretty place with a lot of Cinderella and beauty and the beast looks to it and the food was so good I had a sea food meal and it tasted so fresh and that is sometimes hard to find on a cruise ship.   I also had the temptations for dessert this is something I always order because I can never pick just one and like always it did not disappoint.  After dinner we went to the show of the night and I will be doing a post just on the shows soon.

We did bingo on this day and as usual had a blast it was just fun how the crew and people playing get into the spirit of bingo and have a blast. That night my son and i also the detective activity on the ship where you get to go around the ship with a special paper and solve a mystery. This was fun because you interact with the ship, there are cameras and scanners built into things around the ship that you use to solve the mystery we had fun and got a good work out going from deck to deck and side to side. The area where we got the stuff was over buy the kids club area and my 9  year old loved it.

Day 4 Nassua

                We got in early and started off our day in the sunny beautiful Bahamas with breakfast at the buffet. We all decided to get off the ship together on this trip we did not pick excursions instead we just got off to explore on our own. After we got off the ship we went to Atlantis to look around we did not go into the water-park or any of the other options I wish we would have but some of the people in our group did not want to so instead we looked around the hotel and found a Starbucks!!!!  The area around the Atlantis has lots to keep you busy not only is the hotel lovely outside there are shops and little places to eat I was sad that the sweet shop was closed but that happens sometimes.

After looking around the hotel and grounds we headed back towards the ship and did some shopping and split up some people went back to the ship and my husband and I wandered around to look at the local offerings and went into the flea market area where there were a lot of vendors selling their wares I found some little trinkets to give to the people back home and a few things for our kids who had gone back to the ship I will point out that this stop has a lot of locals trying to get money and there is a lot of the school kids made these no charge and when you say no they keep trying to get you to take it and when you do suddenly its 5.00 I understand this is a part of ports and really it is not something to complain about but should be known to someone not use to the ports. We finished our stop off at Senor Frogs to relax before getting back on the ship for pirate night we had a simple snack chips and dip with beer and a margarita it was lively and busy.

That night back at the ship we were in enchanted gardens again for pirate night and also a very special birthday my daughter was turning 15. Like the night before the room and the food was amazing with the added bit of magic with the servers and crew-members dressed in their pirate garb. At the end of dinner we did gifts and the wait staff came to sing my daughter a very magical happy birthday she got a special chocolate cake slice and loved and was equally embarrassed by everyone singing happy birthday it was perfect. After dinner we headed up to get ready for the party one year I am going to go all out with the pirate look.

The party was fun as always we have had it in the past but this one was just as fun we loved pirate stitch and captain jack is always a hit. There was a lot of fun and dancing just what you expect on a Disney ship my kids where in the mix and dancing the night away with their friends while the parents dance right along with their nightly drinks then the best part of a Disney cruise that you do find on other ships the fireworks show at sea we were able to find a nice place to see them and loved the sight of the fireworks in the sky of the Bahamas with our family it was all that could be asked for. After the fireworks and dancing we headed back to our room where we soon left to do our nightly coffee and walk we like to do on the top deck this is something we do each night and it was just a little extra special with how lively the ship was that night.

Day 5 Castaway Cay

We love the Disney Island we did not get our own cabana or anything on this trip we just grabbed some chairs and a spot on the beach and had a blast. My daughter did the excursion with the teen club she loved it and it was nice that she could go off and enjoy that time with friends in a safe fun environment. The first thing my son wanted to do was the water slide it was huge and they loved it so much fun by the time we got to our area on the beach and got settled he was ready to go off and try it my husband also wanted to try it out so they went off while the rest of us enjoyed the sun and got a few drinks and looked at the sea. We rented some Tubes and played in the ocean the thing I like is that there are no real waves so the kids can play and float and not worry about the current or waves making it unsafe. We also tried the water bikes so fun but a real work out and ours had some peddle issues but it was still fun and something we have not done before.

Lunch we had on the island they have a BBQ area that is set up with hotdog’s, burgers, chicken burgers, chips, and salad, also corn on the cob we love corn on the cob in my house so this was a nice treat there was not a big selection in the food but that is fine since we were not expecting a real restraint kind of set up. There was a soda and ice cream area including more banana ice cream by where the BBQ hut was we had ice cream for dessert all in all it was a nice relaxing way to enjoy lunch on a private island with the beach as the back drop.

This was our last real day since in the morning we would get off the ship and start our land portion of the trip. This night we ate in royal palace it was so pretty and whimsical with amazing food and desert really all the food on the ship is amazing and the decor is Disney without being to Disney it is whimsical and you see touches of your favorite Disney stories all around but it’s not over done.  They really do try to make each person feel special and with so many people on one ship this is an accomplishment we will do Disney again.

A rundown of the best and the not so best of the Disney cruise:

Best
     Soda, juice, coffee, and teas all you want for no cost as long as you use the dispensers

      Real interaction with characters without the park wait times we saw everyone we wanted to in little to no time and never felt rushed.     

 Bingo the best on any ship so much fun for the family and a must for a family it is not cheap but so much fun

     Dinning all the food is amazing and I have a hard time finding something in the food I do not like there was something for everyone and they always brought you more. If you ask they will bring you small appetizer of what you want to try.

         Kids clubs

Not so best
   The elevators take forever and are usually packed we take the stairs every where

 The service was not what it was on the smaller ships it was not bad but it was not magical    

   There were a lot of unruly kids that parents just let go crazy because they are on a Disney ship I have kids and understand they are not perfect and I do not expect them to be but some of the kids where jumping over people kicking over drinks and just all around being disrespectful.

Dinning at Disney making a plan

I have become a Disney Dinning Manic

I just spent the entire day refreshing my pages on my laptop in hopes of getting ADR’s for our Disney world trip for the days and times I want. I have called and stocked forums in hopes of seeing a cancellation but so far I am just refreshing. I think this may be the job in planning that no one wants I never understood people waiting all day continually checking to see if there is an opening, until I started planning out trip.

So what are these magical reservations I just have to have; Well the must see Be our guest for dinner because I really want a photo with Beast , a 1900 Park dinner so I can see the step mother and sister, and finally a breakfast at Cinderella’s table because what is Disney without princesses. Now I know I should have been up at 180 days out trying to get these, and I was the fool who waited thinking I am sure I will get the reservation I want, this is my Disney dream vacation how could I not.

Here is one of the issues; I have OCD that really comes out when planning and this trip is a lot of planning things need to go the way I want and have pre planned. The thing about vacation planning is that it not always happens how you plan and so the stress begins. I find that I am getting what reservations I can for the days I still need, while checking nonstop to see if there is any chance of a cancellation. I have become one of those people that I use to think was nuts. Maybe it is Disney, maybe it is just hoping to make the perfect vacation for my family, but I have become less go with the flow and enjoy and more if I do not get this I am going to lose it.

Now here is the guilty confession my children could care less they do not care about the princesses not even my daughter, my son just wants food and the rest of my party just plans on going with what I plan. There is no real need outside my desire to plan what I see as the perfect trip for me to be continually be trying and hoping. I know there will be other vacations in time but this vacation has me wanting to make it perfect. Perhaps because we have already spent so  much more than our budgets by thousands, or because I know my children are getting older, or that my in-laws will not vacation WDW with us again, whatever it is I have gone over the bend and I realize and accept that I have become a Disney manic.

So if you find yourself doing the same things as I am understand you are not alone. The continually looking and hoping, the stress that no one in your vacation party understands well there are people who understand so take a deep breath and keep refreshing the worse that can happen is you end up with something you did not fully plan on. You and your family will still have a magical vacation regardless if you get to eat in the castle or meet the step sisters. 

The Dining Basic Low Down

      Disney is pretty much the only vacation destination that you need to be up at midnight 180 days before your trip to booking restaurants. Call it crazy; call it the extra Disney magic, it is stressful. I had someone tell me once that she checked every day from up to 10 times a day to get reservations she wanted that filled up in minute’s yes minutes this is all a part of Disney planning for most. I call ADR’s (Advance Dining Reservations) the black Fridays of Disney Trips.

      Here are a few tips to make your Disney dream vacation dining, not becomes your Disney nightmare. Make a plan for character dining I know you are thinking, well duh we want a character meal every meal, and I know someone who did this it took hours of reservation phone and web, time some begging, and a lot of luck and in the end she said it was not worth it half the character meals they went to where ones that her children did not care about.  

·         Ask children what character they really want to eat with they may want Lilo and stitch and not care about Cinderella like my daughter. After you know who they really want to see starts looking and see what dining has the characters you want? You do not need to eat with every character every meal this will lessen the specialness of the activity.

·         When you know your restaurants see when you can start booking, some places you can book 180 days out some are 90 days out. Research and find yours you days have a list of what you want handy so you can go right to it. Get use to the site so you will be able to understand the process make sure you have a sign in user name and password for my Disney already set up for reservation time.

·         Make sure you link any reservations at Disney Resorts to your online account so you are able to access the ADR.

·         When you know your reservation day, be ready these can fill up in under 5 minutes for some of the must have places. It’s the black Friday of dining be ready and start online booking at 6 am EST this is an hour before the phones open and the best option.

·         Make sure you have your credit card ready; I had one linked before ADR opened. They do not charge you unless you do not make your reservation in most cases, there are a few that I listed at the end that do take payment at the time of reservation. be sure to call and cancel if you will not be able to make a reservation, to avoid any fees

·         When you get your reservation print out the confirmation numbers just in case something happens with the system, write them in your travel notebook also.

·         If you tried and failed to get your desired reservation keep looking check in each day and see if a spot opens up, also call and see if there is a spot on the reservation phone often. Sometimes family cancel and this leaves the reservation open for you to get.

·         It can be stressful but the most important thing is to realize if you do not get the dining you want you will still have a once in a lifetime trip, the real magic is spending the time with your family and I promise your kids will still have a blast even if they do not drink tea with Cinderella.

      This is only the basics to dining at Disney I will be doing a full post along with list of dinning and information, however this is a good starter for people who are just interested in one or two dining options.

Dining reservations Website and Phone:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/

Disney Reservation Center (407) 939-3463

Restaurants requiring full payment at reservation time:

Cinderella’s Royal Table

Hoop Dee Doo Revue

Spirit of Aloha Luau

Mickey’s Backyard BBQ

The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2013 Book Review

     I have never been to Disney World, Disneyland many times; our first trip is this December.  I wanted to get all the extra information I could. I have read all the message boards, listened to podcast one of  my favorites is  mighty men of mouse love their pod cast. I have a pretty good handle on my vacation, so I did not think the unofficial guide would offer more how wrong I was. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2013 is by Bob Sehlinger, Seth Kubersky, and Len Testa along with information gathered by many sources and research. The guide is not in any way affiliated with Disney so they are willing to be honest about what they liked and do not like about the parks this was a high point of the book.

     This is only one book of many by the same authors they have many guides that are highly recommended by many, be sure to look into any that may apply to you, the best tool in planning a vacation is being prepared and planning. This book is big and bulky in the print version it is 848 pages from title to last page, this is the War and Peace of Disney guide books and worth every page they do have a kindle format also. I do know the next guide for 2014 is in Kindle format.  I did not read each and every page I read the chapters that applied to myself and my family’s upcoming trip.

     The handy index is highly useful as the same thing could be in multiple chapters so while you may want to look up illumination there is a page for it but it is also talked about in other areas of the book by looking at the index you can see where other information on it can be.  The index can also be daunting because there is so much in one book the index is large and can be difficult if you kind of know, but are not sure of what you are looking for.

     The section on hotels is nice if you are still deciding where to stay we have already booked our rooms but it still was nice to see what they said about our hotel and that it had a good star rating. If you are just starting you trip planning I suggest looking though this portion and see what they have to say about the hotels. A lot of family’s try to go on a budget and this book may help in that area, the cheapest hotel is not always the cheapest in the long run, so it never hurts to study before you spend your money.

     The restaurant guide came in handy I think any advice should also be held lightly, you may love the pizza at mama’s that the review was not a fan of, by all means fallow the advice and try the places with the mist stares but also try a few of the others as well you just may surprise yourself and find a gem at the parks. The nice thing about the restaurant portion is that every eatery in each park and the hotels is listed. I used this portion to plan ARD’s for the days we are there. They also include tidbits about the eateries also a nice touch, but as I said never take anyone’s words as gold if it looks good and sounds good to you try it.

     Something that I was not overly impressed with is the Disney offered tours, we have a large group going on our December trip so I have decided to bite the bullet and do the Premium VIP Disney tour. Finding information on this tour is nearly impossible, I have resigned myself to just having to wait until I get home and do a review myself to find one. I will be writing a full review of every little thing included with the tour when we return from our trip. Besides the costly VIP tour there are many other tours offered by Disney I was disappointed that there was not more information and depth of these.

     The park to park guides where nice and I ready each of them in full. Each park is described in detail of what each park offers such as; restaurants, rides, shows, and any information you could want on the park and its entertainment was included. I found some things in the guide to do I was not aware of beforehand, I have done a lot of research and I did not think there was anything I had not heard of I was pleasantly surprised. If you have not been to the park before of have only been once or twice this will be valuable you will know where to go, what to do, and the best places to rest.  

     In the guide to the parks is where you will find the rides for each park along with the rates by stars for each age group this is an awesome for someone who has never been to the park. Disney world is not Disneyland they have some same rides but many different ones as well .It was nice to see what rides are the most popular and has the most stars. The rating by ages rocks on our trip we will have my Grandmother and the senior star rates may come in handy while working out what ride she may not enjoy. Please don’t get me wrong she is an active senior but she is not into loop’s and crazy turns, this guide helps insure each age group has an general idea what will work best for them. I liked that it covered all the rides it gives each of them stars and full reviews of what it does along with past readers inputs. I found this helped me decided what we were going to do first, on this note their option may not be your option so take any advice with a grain of salt, just because they gave it two stars it may be a four star for you, I always think you should get the best and top must ride done first, but don’t forget the others as well. With so many things in Disney World and the other parks you may miss something you really enjoy because you heard it was a bad ride.

     There is also a lot of maps that will help you in your planning, I did not know where our hotel was compared to the parks before looking at them, it also has a handy guide to the transit system of Disney parks along with estimated times from parks to hotels .The Disney transit from Disney resort hotels to parks can be a pain from what I read, this is one thing I am not looking forward to but at least with the book I will have a handle on it before we head to the parks on our first day.

      I also enjoyed the shopping guide I am a fan of shopping on vacation at Disney for things that I just cannot find in other places. This guide was nice but I would have liked a full shopping guide, there are so many shops in the parks I would like to know what ones sell what so I can work out a plan from that. Things like the store in star tours,  is where you will find star wars items, this may seem obvious but if you have young children that could no ride it you may skip the area totally. This also helps you to know where to avoid if your child is princesses happy you may want to know what stores sell exclusively princess stuff.

     All in all I think this book is amazing and useful the 2014 guide is out as of four days ago, I will be getting this book and reviewing it. After glancing though other Unofficial Guides from previous years I am assuming that this will be the same so you will not miss much by getting the 2013 guide. I hope to start on the 2014 in the next few days just to get an idea of any differences. I found the 2013 guide is ready available at library’s so it may be your best bet if you are looking to just glance though  it for a few ideas and save money, I am including the link to amazon for anyone who is interested in finding this book. 

http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Guide-Disney-World-Guides/dp/1118277562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377455124&sr=8-1&keywords=the+unofficial+guide+to+walt+disney+world+2013

Top 22 things To Take In The Park

We all know what it is like to be on vacation out and about and realize you need something and to buy it where you are is going to be twice the price, I cannot tell you how much money this has cost me we go to the park and can find we need something we forgot. I now use a check list I keep it in my vacation notebook (you can see my vacation notebook in previous post) this is my list of 22 things that must come in the park with us.

This is the minimum list, I hate having to lug around more stuff then I can carry without falling over. At parks I always see people who pack so much they do not get to enjoy the parks or areas because they are over weighted by items. You may find after your first day in the park there is something you need, as I said this is just my always in the pack list.

Advil- Advil, Aspirin, Excedrin  whatever you use for head and body pains. You will need it and you will use it.

Back Pack- The top must buy item for traveling family is a nice back pack, one with nice padded arm straps or cross body strap. These can be costly but worth it in the end after spending hours at parks you don’t want back and shoulder aches. Also be sure there is more than one compartment this way you can section your areas also bottle holders are nice also. The photos below are the one I will be using.

Camera- Don’t forget this cast members will use your camera to take photos with the characters

 Cell phone- Always keep you cell phone on you never know when you may need it.

Extra Memory Card- I took so many photos our last trip I had to delete some for space keep a extra one in your bag and you will never miss a memory.

Gum- I do not chew gum but if you do they do not sell it anywhere on Disney properties.

Hand and Face Wipes- Always keep a travel pack in your back pack the candy ice cream and pizza make a mess and the napkins may not always handle the job.

Hand Sanitizer- Bring a travel size bottle to use after rides and when garbing quick snacks, kids touch everything then touch the rides so it always pays to use this handy stuff after a ride.

Hair Ties- those rides can be killer and if your hair is everywhere you will miss the fun so keep a couple simple hair ties with you.

Hats/Visors- Lots of sun and these can come in handy just be sure to pack the away on some of the rides, to save money you can buy Disney hats on amazon eBay and many other options and save a lot more than what you would spend in the park best of all order them and surprise your children the say they go to the park believe me they will know or care that they came from amazon for a fraction of the cost.

Light Jacket- Never hurts to have one on hand

Kleenex- Stop by Waymart for a few dollars you can get some travel Kleenex the dust people and smells at the parks will make theses come in handy.

Kids Distractors- IPods, Handheld games bring them along to help with line wait times.

Light Snacks- Some fruit snacks or granola bars something light and easy to keep you don’t want to bring along snacks that will spoil in heat. On a side note leave the peanut butter sandwich at the hotels I hate when I see a little kid on the train eating a pb&j and touching all the poles and sitting areas and not for the reason you would think, but because there are many people with peanut allergy’s it is one of the most common allergy’s and while your toddler is eating away and touching everything the next person may get very sick. 

Personal fan/mist- Bring one of these along if you are going during hot days but it outside the park you can get them for $ 5 to 8 dollars at Wal-Mart the same thing is $18.00 at the parks.

Pocket Chargers –Travel or not everyone should keep one of these babies on them always. Powerocks Portable Electronics and Phone Charger with USB Cable and Car Charger can be bought at HSN or QVC this thing has saved me so many times I always make sure I have two on me in any vacation pack.

Rain Poncho’s- These are good no matter when you are going you can use them on water rides and save your clothing, or use when a sudden downpour happens. I suggest going to a local store such as Wal-Mart and buying them they are about a dollar at Wal-Mart compared to $4.00-6.00 dollars at the parks. They are also light weight.

Sunscreen- you do not need a big old bottle to bring with you a lot of the mist sprays are light weight and compact always make sure you have some on hand. I do not know how many times we have come home hurting because I forgot it

Sunglasses- Be sure each family member has a pair for those who tend to lose things easily get around the nick straps they have these at Wal-Mart for about a dollar compared to $8.00 dollars at the park.

Vacation NoteBook- If you read my other post you will know I love this and it makes life on vacation so much easier I take it every where.

Water bottles- Bring one or two water bottles into the park with you.  At the service counters in Disney you can usually get a free cup of water ,use this to refill them though out the day. Water bottles at the park are around $3.50 to 5.00 dollars on a warm day you can spend a lot just keeping the kids hydrated at the park price

Wallet- you do not need your check book in the Disney parks they do not take checks so leave the bulky wallet at home and get a compact one you can keep just what you need in what do you need you ask :

Credit Card, Cash, Medical cards, Photo ID, Park/room key, Transit pass, Photo pass that is all you need your store club card or espresso punch card are going to be of little use to you in Disney so pack light and leave the other items in your hotel safe.

Vacation Notebook A Must For Any Vacation

      Something about me I love itineraries, planning, and scheduling and this is a blog if tips and tricks so I am sharing one of my top tricks, a handy dandy trip planning book. I love this for vacationing and not just the Disney ones but any vacation it is one easy way to keep all your notes, ideas, prices, and dates almost anything and everything. The best type is a small to medium size one that you can pack easily but still has room. As the photo below shows this is my current vacation book for our December vacation. I picked this up at a Fred Myers for about eight dollars.

     So you have your note book now what? This is about keeping you in order and making sure you can easily access the information you need so be sure to divide it up in the best way for you. I understand everyone prioritized differently but a few of the ways I divide are pretty standard. I have just started a new notebook so it is not very filled yet but will still give you the idea I will post photos of it filled closer to our vacation.

   

  1.  My first page is important dates when the final payment for trip is due , what dates I have reservations for, tour guides days any dates you need to get to quickly

2.       I usually do what I call the cost page this is the trip cost broken down such as how much the deposit is, reservations cost, tour cost, what every you need to keep track of money wise!!

3.       Must do pages I do one for each member of the family/ people traveling. On our trip in December I have 10 people going and want to be sure everyone sees their must haves. Depending on the amount of people you have traveling with you have each person pick three to six things they feel they must do during the vacation. Being there are so many of us I am having everyone pick three must do's.

4.       I do a page for shows also I list what show by each park, what time they start, and how long they run.

5.       To pack list this is different for ever family but I like to do it by person so each person gets a list in the note book so I can check it before we leave insuring we have everything needed. I add to the list as I think of it since it is all in one nice note book that is easy to reach for when an idea pops in my head.

6.       A what to take to the park list is also a must this is a short list of the must takes items that will go in the park with you, I will post my must have list.

7.       A note pages is where I make you guessed it notes if I want to check out a review on a show or see the best place to get food in the park I note it down so that I can look up the review or information when I have the time.

8.       Important numbers email addresses and website I know we all have cell phone but it always pays to write it down also, battery dead at the end of a day at WDW if you have your notebook you will have the number to the hotel if you need it and any other numbers that may be of use such as the local taxi service.

9.       Attraction list this may seem odd but I like to take the time and write down each ride in the park that there is a chance we will want to go yes there is maps and cell phones but it never hurts you can peek from time to time and see something you may have forgotten with all the excitement of tower of terror.

10.   Note down dining plan restrictions and rules each plan is different and confusing write it down and you will be able to reference if what you want is an option or not sometimes the cast members and wait staff try but can be unhelpful if you write down what is included you will not have to worry.

11.   Make sure you take notes during the trip at night or when you have an extra minute note down a memory you enjoyed or a tip trick you learned, anything you want to remember for next time note it down. With all the hustle and rushing you can forget things after you are home if you write them in your book it is there forever, even if your next visit is a few years away you can look back and say oh ya we really enjoyed that.

These are just a few things you can put any and everything in your book that you want .A Disney trip is all about fun and family memories, I find this book helps me with the stress and planning and keeping track of memories for future visits. It and or may not be the right thing for you and your family but it never hurts to try. I will post more photos as my book fill's I just started this one yesterday!! 

Universal Studio Hollwood VIP Tour Review

Universal Hollywood Tour Review

Holly's Rating: 3.5 out of 5

 In June I took my son along with my grandmother to a week and half vacation to Disneyland and universal studios. We had already done five days at Disneyland and we were all tired of lines and people so my grandmother decided we were doing VIP tour. I never knew about this option at universal I had heard of the front of the line pass that allows you to go to the head of the line once. Also as a note this is a group tour not a private one like offered in Orlando there is not an option for that tour at the California park.

   

  The thing was we showed up for the park with our regular tickets ready to go deal with lines and crowds, at the entrance there where universal studio employees doing a hard sell. We asked the price and found that for the three of us it was going to be 299.00 dollars per person, and that price was only because we already had park tickets after taxes what we had already spent on tickets and then the VIP package it was around 400.00 per person, I was in the middle of saying no thanks we are only at this park one day and remember we already spent five days at Disney by this point my wallet was crying when my grandmother said sign us up and then I knew it was a lost battle we were doing the Tour.

   

We were ushered into a VIP area where we were served a continental breakfast, being we had missed breakfast that morning this was nice. This VIP lounge is where we meet our tour guide. I was not aware that the tour we signed up for included another family and not just us, I felt that my son was not able to get the attention of the guide as the child with the other family consistently talked and interrupted anyone who was talking this diminished our experience, my son has a issue with speech and this was a issue as it takes more time for him to get his words out and when he was consistently interrupted he would just give up. If this was a run of the mill 50 dollar tour this would not have been an issue for us but for the amount we paid to have this unique experience, I was unhappy they do not inform you until you are heading out that you will have to share the attention of your guide with others.

   

  Our guide Jon began showing us around the park we stopped off at the major rides we rode the mummy, transformers, Jurassic park were we got complimentary ponchos, the Simpsons ride after the try at the rides we were able to see the sound stages where they make many of the shows we love, and then we walked the back lot we saw where the voice was taped. After the back lot tour that really was not what I was most looking forward to in the first place, we were lead back to the park area to a special VIP only restaurant Lunch is included and they did have good food they serve the food buffet style and have a wide range of drinks this was our break from the other family and our tour guides break also.

   

 After lunch it was back to meet up with Jon and then we were off to the tour bus for the rest of the tour while some was fun and kids exciting there is a lot of looking at buildings include in this tour be prepared, we were able to go to the prop warehouse this was interesting as we could see props from all kinds of movies and it was fun to see the same items you have seen in your favorite movie.

   

  We also saw many costumes and the little extras the public is not able to see. We were allowed to go on a real set  of the TV show Parenthood this was exciting we were not able to touch anything but photos where allowed this was fun and something to talk about.

   
 The tour itself was fun however children may get tired of looking at buildings, sound stages, and so many things they are not able to touch, they really just want the rides and let’s face it so do I this was the thing that made the tour worth the cost being able to ride all the rides as much as we wanted with no waiting. The sad thing was the mummy ride broke down after the first go this was the ride I wanted to ride over and over. We did transformers seven times, Jurassic park three times, and the Simpson ride five times after the tour was over I am a ride junkie I love to go on ride after ride and this pass really allowed that. My sons loved the fact he did not have wait hours for one ride so this does take some of the stress out of the day.

   

  We really did enjoy this Tour, but if you have younger children or teenagers who are not really into the sound stage or buildings you are better off letting them go nuts with their VIP Pass and go on ride after ride while you take the tour. There are many photo opportunity’s so be sure to have an extra battery pack or charger, you don’t want to miss something due to low battery.

 

   There were some things that I was not happy about the fact that we were not told we would have to share our guide with another family at the time we were signing up and handing over a credit card. I was under the impression that with the tour we also would get photo opportunities with the characters around the park this was not the case, we had to go back around after our tour to get photos by that point most of the characters where already done for the night.

     

 I also had to wait almost two hours in line to get our ride photos from the photos shop, in fact I called the VIP service and got a unhelpful lady who told me she didn't think that there was anything they could do but she really was not sure, I would have thought the person answering the VIP Service phone would be able to answer questions. I found out after the fact that doing the tour also gave a slight discount at some of the shops, we love to shop and I would have liked to know this before we already had gotten back to our hotel.

 
 I know it seems like there was a lot I did not like but we really did like the VIP tour, the front of the line was amazing most families at the park got to ride the rides maybe once or twice each we were able to ride so many times it was worth the cost. The cost was high but if you can afford the additional cost I would go for it.One thing I would like is a private tour option like they have in Orlando.

    

 This is the link to the page for the tours, I suggest deciding beforehand then calling and ensuring you get all the details of what you get for the price, as prices and inclusions can change.

http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/attractions/studio-tour/