Wife Mother Runner Disney Hollywood Studios Archives

Why Should We Go To Walt Disney World This Summer?

May 3, 2017

There are many changes coming to Walt Disney World This Summer

We weren’t planning a vacation to Disney this summer; but with all the new updates coming to the parks, I didn’t want to miss out. At Animal Kingdom the land, Pandora the World of Avatar is opening on May 27th. Recently, the Rivers of Light show also opened to the public, so now Animal Kingdom offers lots of new things to do at night. At Hollywood Studios, BB-8 is greeting guests at the Star Wars Launch Bay. Typhoon Lagoon has a new family raft ride, Miss Adventure Falls. Plus, the Magic Kingdom Wishes fireworks show is ending on May 11. A new show, “Happily Ever After” Nighttime Spectacular is making its debut on May 12 .

I am attending the BlogHer conference at the end of June, so I couldn’t go to Orlando and not turn it into a family trip! But of course, like always, it has to be a surprise! So if you are a reader of my blog and know my children, DO NOT say anything about this to them!

Animal Kingdom

Pandora- The World of Avatar

To prepare for this new world, we watched Avatar with the kids recently. My husband and I have never seen the movie so it was great to see it for the first time together. I have heard that it isn’t necessary to watch the show prior to going to the new Pandora the World of Avatar; but I wanted to really understand the story behind the world to gain a better appreciation for it. I also wanted the kids to have that insight.

Source – Wikipedia

Rivers of Light

We were hoping that last Spring when we had our family vacation that we would have the chance to see the Rivers of Light show on its opening day on Earth Day. The show didn’t open until February of this year so we will also be sure to make this a must-do on our list.

I have been avoiding any social media related to these changes because I want to get the first hand experience of seeing it all myself. But I think any preview videos and live broadcasts won’t do it justice. These new immersive experiences in Animal Kingdom are things that have to be seen in person.

Magic Kingdom

Fireworks

The Wishes Nighttime Spectacular is being replaced with a new fireworks and pyrotechnics show on May 12. Happily Ever After Nighttime Spectacular includes an original music score and it will include more recent Disney movie moments projecting onto the castle.

Beauty and The Beast

With the new release of Beauty and the Beast I heard that the Beast in Magic Kingdom has taken on the appearance of the Beast in the live action movie. Since we never went to the Enchanted Tales of Belle interactive story telling show, it is now a must do on our list of things to see!

Hollywood Studios

Star Wars

We love Star Wars and now BB-8 is at the Star Wars Launch Pad. When we were in Disney for the Walt Disney World Marathon in January we got family photos with my parents, my husband and the kids with Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. Well now I need to add to our collection with BB-8! We also didn’t get a close view of the “Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular” fireworks and projection show, so I’d like to stay closer to the Chinese theater to see the entire show.

Typhoon Lagoon

Miss Adventure Falls

The kids love going to the water park. We have only been to Blizzard Beach and last year we tried Aquatica at Sea World. But that didn’t hold a candle up to the fun you can have at a Disney water park. So this time I’d like to try Typhoon Lagoon. Especially since the Miss Adventure Falls family raft ride includes a ride up the conveyor belt to the top of the slide! That is a win-win in my book! Less stairs to climb!

Source – Disney Parks Blog

The Wedding Pavilion

Our 15th Wedding Anniversary

My husband and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary on May 16th so I didn’t want to miss out on a trip to our place of marriage on this special anniversary year. The Disney’s Wedding Pavilion was recently refurbished so I want to get over to our wedding location to take some photos. I’d secretly love to hire a photographer to do some family pictures there. Something to consider for a special gift to my husband!

So as you can see we have a lot to do! I hope we can fit it all in with this one trip. Otherwise, some of it will have to wait until our next one. And by the looks of it, we are going to need a vacation from our vacation!

Disney Released Tiered Pricing Structure Or “Seasonal Pricing”

February 28, 2016

I am a Disney lover, you should know that about me by now. But I am not a lover of the higher prices it is now costing us to take a trip to my favorite place. Unfortunately my husband is more angry about the pricing increases that have been going on at Disney World than I am. Enough so that he is mentioning skipping our annual trip and considering going every two years instead. We are still in discussions about this. Mind you, we got married in Disney, we are DVC members and have taken our children since they have been born. When it gets to this point, it must be serious. The bottom line is, it’s becoming too expensive.

Effective Sunday, February 28 at 6 a.m., Disney will have special pricing for value season, regular season, and peak season. As I watched the announcement on the news, the reason that was mentioned was to help control the crowds during the usual peak seasons, to better spread out visitation throughout the year. Last Christmas the Magic Kingdom reached its capacity by 10:00 a.m. and had to close the park to additional guests.

It is important to note that this pricing is for one day passes only. It does not affect annual passes and multi-day tickets. However, multi-day pass prices will rise starting today. Four-day tickets are increasing from $305 to $325. Ten-day tickets are increasing from $365 to $400. When does the price increase stop? Are we at the point now where we will push back and not attend? I’m kind of there. I hate to say it. But we are finding alternatives to purchasing our tickets. Instead of purchasing an annual pass for all four of us; we are considering a multi-day pass and now we won’t go to the parks every single day on our vacation. We are going to plan in some resort/pool days and do other activities such as mini golf, a water park. or perhaps Disney Springs (a movie or the balloon ride).

I always try to find the silver lining and find the best, most affordable way to make our Disney trips possible and I will still do the same to try to get the most bang for my buck. We will shop at Target or Wal-Mart when we arrive to get our groceries to use in our room so we can eat breakfast and pack lunches to bring to the park. We also save a lot of money on water, drinks and alcohol by purchasing it off property and having it in our room to bring to the pool and parks.

Here is a breakdown of the new rates:

Magic Kingdom one day ticket (no park hopper)

Value Season – the current rate of $105
Regular Season – $110
Peak Season – $125

Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

Value Season – the current rate of $97
Regular Season – $102
Peak Season – $114

The dates for each of these seasons can be found on Disney’s website. Here is a breakdown below:

Photo by Attractionsmagazine.com

Has this new pricing structure affected your decision on planning your next vacation to Disney? Will you change dates to a different time of year to avoid the higher price?

2015 WDW Marathon Weekend – Day 1 Travel Day

January 15, 2016

After surprising the kids at 4:00 a.m. that we were taking them to Disney we arrived at the airport, had breakfast there and boarded our plane. I heard that the Osborne Lights were being extended another few days into Wednesday so we had to change to a flight that had a connection in Baltimore. We landed in Baltimore and hung out at the airport for a little less than two hours, had lunch and then boarded the plan for Orlando.

Once we arrived in Orlando, we picked up our rental car and went to Target to get groceries for the week. The plan was to surprise the kids once again, with the arrival of my parents. As we left Target and were heading back towards the airport, my mom called pretending to be someone from the airport and told us that we forgot something. I told the kids we had to head back to pick it up. When we arrived at the airport the kids spotted my parents and were very surprised! I love tricking them with our surprises.

We dropped off our bags at the hotel and my mom, dad and I went to the Expo while my husband stayed with the kids so they could swim. We arrived to the expo around 5:00 p.m. and picked up my Dopey challenge gear, my mom’s 5K bib and the kids’ race bibs and shirts. I saw Mandy, Kenn and Diana at the Expo at the bib pickup. Mandy had a 5:00 appointment with New Balance and I also had one from earlier in the day and I really wanted to check out the shoes

We headed over there after picking up my mom and kids’ bibs and I saw Kenn and Mandy and Diana there too. I had to check in with my actual appointment time because there is a limit of 6 pairs of shoes that could be purchased per appointment. I tried on the Dumbo and Ariel children’s sized shoes and was able to purchase them at the lower price than the adult size shoes.

After the New Balance booth I went to the shirt exchange area to exchange my shirts. They always run narrow for me. Then my mom and I went to the official merchandise booth where I picked up the Anger Shirt from Inside Out, sweaty bands, a Dopey sweatshirt, a magnet, a wine glass and a water glass. I was so happy to see that they had things still there that are usually gone by the time I arrive to the expo.

After making our purchases, we had to rush back and eat a quick sandwich for dinner so we could go to the Osborne Lights. We knew they were on display from 5:45 to 9:00 and it was already 6:00. As we arrived towards Hollywood Studios there were signs directing us to Animal Kingdom because the parking lot was “full” at Hollywood Studios and we would have to take a bus from Animal Kingdom.

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios we had to activate our military tickets that my dad got and then we were inquiring on how to upgrade them. We lost a lot of time while standing at that ticket counter. When all was said and done it was 8:30 and we had to pay for a full park admission in order to see the lights. My parents decided to sit it out and would wait for us while having coffee outside the gates. It was painful to pay all that money for what we thought would only be a half hour of the lights.

We arrived to the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights and the children loved the show! They had music playing to the lights so they were dancing and there was fake snow being blown down to the street from the rooftops. It was very fun. Someone was passing out 3-D glasses and it made the lights look like they were snow flakes! Thankfully when 9:00 came the lights were not turned off, they continued to play the music and the lights until park close. We left around 9:45 to take the bus back to Animal Kingdom. I was glad that I Was able to share that experience with the kids. I wished my parents were able to participate also; but I completely understand the cost factor involved, especially when retired and on a fixed income.

I put the 3D glasses against my phone to get the visual effect from the glasses!

It was a very long day and my mom and I had to get back to get to sleep for the 5K the next morning. When we got back to the hotel, we got everyone situated and I went to bed while my husband took care of the kids. I believe i was in bed before 11:00. I knew the 5K started later than the rest of the races so we could get away with waking up at 4:00 and leaving the hotel by 5:00 for the 6:00 start. Especially since we weren’t in the front corrals.

It was a fun and long travel day and I was getting excited to get the races started.

Stay tuned for the recap of the 2016 WDW Marathon Weekend 5K!

Today Was The First Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome Procession with Kristoff

July 5, 2014

Today Kicked off the Frozen Summer Fun events at Hollywood Studios.

Chip and Co. released a video of the Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome Procession. I watched the video with my family today and wished so badly we were there! I know some friends who are there today and I was jealous when I saw their pictures and videos.

So the next best thing is to watch the video yourself. I am impressed with what Disney did. The costumes are beautiful and I could just tell that all of the little girls were mesmerized by Anna and Elsa! I know I would have been if I were there!

Take a few minutes out of your day and watch the Frozen Summer Fun!

More Frozen Experiences Added At Disney Hollywood Studios

July 3, 2014

As I mentioned last week, Frozen activities are now coming to Hollywood Studios for the summer. Now there is even more Frozen fun coming to the park! Disney Parks announced that Disney is offering The Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package! This will be available July 5 through September 1 (excluding August 23 due to the Villains Unleashed event).

You can purchase tickets for $59 for adults and $34 for children (including tax and gratuity) and you will receive access to:

Refreshments and reserved viewing for Anna and Elsa’s Royal Welcome Processions at 11:00 a.m. Sisters Elsa and Anna will arrive via horse drawn sleigh, accompanied by Kristoff and other citizens of Arendelle. You must check in at 10:30 a.m. to Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner prior to the event.
Next you can take advantage of reserved seating for a showing of the For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration performances held from 12:30 – 7:00 p.m. daily.
At the end of the day you can attend an exclusive dessert party from 8:30 – 10:00 p.m. in a reserved area with VIP viewing for the new Frozen Fireworks Spectacular.

If I were going to be in Disney during this time period I would definitely take advantage of this experience to share it with my children. The dessert party and special viewing area for the fireworks is what appeals to me the most.

Please note: discounts do not apply and Park admission is required. You can book this experience by calling 407-939-1939.

Tag: Disney Hollywood Studios