Disney Wordless Wednesdays Blog Hop

I'm participating in The Disney Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop by Focused on the Magic.com!! Every week Disney bloggers post pictures for a blog hop and the pictures are typically based on a Disney theme!! 

The theme for this week's Disney Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop, 7/18/12, is ~Disney Weenies~

I promise you, Disney Weenies aren't pictures of hot dogs you can get at Disney and they aren't pictures of someone ducking out of the Tower of Terror or Rock n Roller Coaster ride because they're scared! Nope, a Disney Weenie is what Walt Disney and the Disney Imagineers called the iconic structures in each of the parks and lands!! :) They can all be seen from a distance and they bring you in by their amazing looks!! So... there's the obvious Cinderella's Castle, Sleeping Beauty's Castle, The Tree of Life, Spaceship Earth, Mickey's Sorcerer's Hat, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest... just to name a few!! :) 

So this week, I'll be posting with the Disney Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop tomorrow!! :) Can't wait for you to see the pictures I've gathered!! :) 

Disney World Free Dining Offer is here for Late Fall/Early Winter

Walt Disney World has announced a new round of the Disney Free Dining discount for the travel dates listed below. This is their Late Fall/Early Winter Free Dining Offer released on 7/12/12: 

You must check in during one of the following range of dates:

• September 30 – October 4, 2012
• October 19 – November 1, 2012
• November 9 – 15, 2012
• November 23 – 29, 2012
• December 10 – 13, 2012

Please remember, in order to qualify for the free dining offer, your must check in on one of the available dates. Your stay can extend outside of the available dates and you will still receive the free dining for your entire stay. For example, you can check in on November 15th and stay through November 22nd and still receive the Free Dining Offer for your entire stay.  

Also remember, availability is extremely limited, and not all resorts may be available. 

Guests staying at a Disney World Value resort will receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for free. The Walt Disney World value resorts include All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, All-Star Movies, Pop Century and Art of Animation. Art of Animation Standard Little Mermaid rooms are NOT included in this Free Dining Offer. Guests do have the option to upgrade to either the Disney Dining plan or the Deluxe Disney Dining plan by paying the price difference.

Guests staying at a Disney World Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villa resort will receive the Disney Dining Plan included for free. Disney World guests at moderate, deluxe and villa resorts will also have the option to book the Free Disney Dining Plan, and upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining for the normal price difference.

Availability is extremely limited, and vacations must be booked by September 29, 2012. All suites, campsites and 3 bedroom villas have been excluded from this offer, as well as the standard Little Mermaid rooms the new Art of Animation Resort. All other Disney resorts, including the family suites at All-Star Music and Art of Animation, as well as the other value resorts are included in the offer. 

There are a few requirements to book your stay with this offer:

• Three night minimum stay required
• Maximum stay of 14 nights is allowed per reservation
• You must also purchase a minimum 2 day basic park pass per person per reservation to qualify.
• As always, all members of the traveling party in the same room MUST be booking the same vacation tickets and dining options

To request a free quote for your Free Dining at Disney World Vacation (or any other Disney vacation!) please visit Pirates and Pixie Dust Vacations and Request a Quote today! You can also e-mail  Chrissie@piratesandpixiedustvacations.com or call 347-909-0893

Have a MAGICAL day!! 

Chrissie

Happy Birthday America!!

Happy Birthday America! Happy Independence Day! Happy 4th of July!

Thank you to all of the service men and women... past, present and future who have given so much of themselves!

If you're spending time at Epcot, listen to and watch the Voices of Liberty sing the National Anthem and the Spirit of America Fife and Drums play a patriotic tribute! Both of these amazing performance groups can be seen in Epcot at the American Pavilion in World Showcase

Click the links below to see Voices of Liberty sing the National Anthem and the Spirit of America Fife and Drums!

Voices of Liberty

Spirit of America

Have a Happy, Safe & Magical July 4th!!

I've got the 'Keys to the Kingdom'!! :)

 Hi everyone!!

When I went on my 'Mommy time' trip to Disney World I decided to treat myself and take a tour that I've wanted to take for a while. I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour! It really was a great experience! I was the only single person on the tour, there were 5 honeymoon couples, 2 retiree couples, 2 couples there whose kids were back at the hotel room and me, but I was surprisingly ok with that :)

I took the 8:30am tour and was traveling from Coronado Springs Resort to get to MK by 8:15. I was worried the first bus of the morning wouldn't get me there in time so I took a cab from Coronado Springs to Contemporary Resort and walked over to Magic Kingdom!! I LOVE that walkway! That's where I got this great picture of Monorail Gold. :)

Anyway, I digress... early morning, pre-park opening is my favorite time in Magic Kingdom! There's something so magical about seeing the hustle and bustle on Main Street getting ready for a day full of Pixie Dust moments so I wanted to get myself on the earliest tour possible. We met at City Hall, where Package Pick up is located and were each given a name pin and an earpiece so that we could hear each and every word that the tour guide spoke and so that the tour guide didn't have to speak any louder than their normal voice allows. While we were waiting for the tour to start we were given a lunch menu and were told to place our lunch order and there was coffee, tea and bottled water available for us to drink there or to take on the tour with us!

Our tour guide was amazing. Her name was Rae and, I have to tell you, she made the tour even greater than it would have been with another guide. She was full of energy and love for all things Disney. She knew history and stories and the most wonderful little trivia tidbits about Walt Disney, Roy Disney, the history of the Disney Company, Disney Land, Disney World and so much more. She was so great to listen to and I found myself falling in love with Disney all over again because of her! :)

While we were walking the Magic Kingdom we bumped into the Mayor, Honorable Christopher George Weaver. The interaction between Rae and the Mayor was great! 

We did get to ride The Jungle Cruise in the morning part of the day. Anyone who knows me, knows that the Jungle Cruise is my son's favorite ride so I was happy to be riding it. :) Instead of the Jungle Cruise skipper's 'punny' ride, Rae took over! She had some one-liners that could compete with the best of the Jungle Cruise skippers!

We got to go behind the scenes in some parts of the Magic Kingdom that morning and see the staging area of the parades. That was pretty amazing to see behind the scenes and where the pixie dust is sprinkled to make the magic in the park happen.

We were able to break for lunch at Columbia Harbor House. Lunch was included in the price of our tour and we were brought upstairs to the 2nd floor dining area. I love it up there in CHH. Our lunch was waiting for us at the table and right in front of my plate sat this:

This is what was inside:

My very own KEY TO THE KINGDOM!! :) LOL Not really, it's really a pin but I love it and still have not taken it off of the card it came on! 

The afternoon was the part of the tour I was looking forward to the most! We rode The Haunted Mansion and spent some time in Fantasyland and then, it was time. We went into the Utilidors! Can you say absolutely incredible?!?! 

For anyone who has no idea what the Utilidors are, it's a fancy word for tunnel!! The utilidors occupy 392,040 square feet of space under the Magic Kingdom and are bustling with action. Beside navigation information the walls are covered with motivational information, such as the 7 rules of a Cast Member, guest feedback and other items to insure that your stay is magical and some amazing original pictures of the building of Magic Kingdom and DisneyLand and other Disney historical moments and memorabilia. This is the secret underground world where the magic is born. Pixie Dust is bottled up here and spread through the whole Kingdom by thousands of cast members who converge here every morning! It was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of the tour and an amazing way to end the day at the Magic Kingdom!

Here's some information on the Keys to the Kingdom tour:

The Keys to the Kingdom Tour is an approximately 4.5-hour walking tour that explores the stories behind the remarkable creation and growth of Magic Kingdom theme park. You will hear the intriguing story of Walt Disney and learn how his innovative ideas, revolutionary visions, creative philosophies and amazing accomplishments brought the Theme Park to life. The journey includes stops at backstage facilities and a variety of favorite attractions. The cost of the tour is $74.00 and it is for guests ages 16 and over. There are 3 tours daily. 

If you are taking a trip to Walt Disney World and have 5 hours (plus travel time) without your young children this is DEFINITELY a tour that I would recommend! :) 

Traveling with little Pirates and Pixies

Traveling with kids can be overwhelming. Traveling with babies can be downright frightening! Do you bring a car seat? Stroller? What about a bouncy seat or an Exersaucer? Does the hotel have high chairs for your room?

When you travel to Walt Disney World you can rest assured that there are plenty of options! Now, you don't NEED a car seat for the flight and you can't use one on the buses but if you're renting a car you can't drive off the lot without your precious Pirate or Pixie secured in an appropriate seat. Car rental companies rent out infant, convertible and booster seats. What do you do when you get to your resort room or your villa? 

You can borrow the following items from your Disney Resort: high chair, baby crib, bed rails, European electric adapters, hair dryer (if there's not one in your room), iron & ironing board (again, if there's not one in your room), sharps (hypodermic needle) disposal containers. These are all only available if supplies allow so be sure to note it on your reservation! 

If you don't want to chance that there won't be availability of a baby comfort item, have no fear... there are many different companies in the Orlando Area that have baby items for rent... and they deliver RIGHT to your Disney resort or villa!! Yep, you can rent strollers, exersaucers, high chairs, booster seats, Bumbo seats, DVD players, baby monitors and so much more. You can even rent rocking chairs if you have real little ones that you want to rock to sleep at night after a fun day at the parks! :)

After Garden Grocer (we'll cover this AMAZING service in another blog post) this is one of my favorite conveniences when we're on a Disney World vacation!! Check out these rental companies for your next Disney World vacation and stop stressing about your little Pirate or Pixie's comfort!! :)  

A Baby's Best Friend: http://www.abbf.com/index.html  (We've used A Baby's Best Friend before and been thrilled with their services! :) )

Kingdom Strollers: http://kingdomstrollers.com/

Orlando Stroller Rentals: http://www.orlandostrollerrentals.com/ (they even have the Liberty Special Needs Push Chair!)

Baby's Away: http://www.babysaway.com/index.php

Have a MAGICAL Day!! :) 

~~Chrissie

More pictures from my trip 'Around the World'! :)

On my first day in Disney World I spent many hours walking through the World Showcase in Epcot. One of my favorite countries to visit is Mexico! :) Not just because of the Margaritas (although they are amazing!) or because of La Cava del Tequila but because it OOZES Mexican Culture! From the artwork, ponchos, baskets, sombreros and food for sale to the Mariachi band that performs outside the Mexican Pyramid modeled after an Aztec Temple of Quetzalcoatl. Inside the Pyramid you can take the Grand Fiesta Tour with the Three Caballeros! Mexico is one country in Epcot's World Showcase that you should really spend some time in and enjoy all that it has to offer!

Have a MAGICAL day! ~Chrissie PS - Don't forget to enter to win the amazing gift bag of Disney World Souven-EARS that a few other FTJ agents and I are offering!! :) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fun WDW Parks Souven-EARS Gift Bag Giveaway!

Before I left for Disney World I spoke to quite a few of the other agents that I work with through Fairytale Journeys. I offered to do some shopping while I was in the World (not exactly a chore for me, as you all well know ;)) and bring back the purchases that I made to be able to offer a Sounven-EAR Gift Bag Giveaway to all of you! Check out our raffle here... you can enter to win 14 times! :) Be sure to enter... and tell all your friends about the awesome prizes included in our giveaway!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you all so much!! Good luck to all of you that enter! Have a MAGICAL day! ~~Chrissie

Back from my vacation... and I have TONS of pictures to share!!

Hi all..

Well, I must tell you, while I'm the first to say that seeing Walt Disney World through the eyes of your child is an amazing feeling... seeing Walt Disney World without a stroller and a diaper bag can be just as rewarding! :)

I was lucky enough to be visiting 'The World' during Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival! I'm going to share just some of the AMAZING Character Topiary that the Disney Imagineers were able to make with you!

I'll be back updating more about my trip and to bring you a FUN and MAGICAL giveaway sponsored by some of the Fairytale Journeys agents and myself of WDW Parks Merchandise valued at over $75!! :)

Enjoy!

Have a MAGICAL day!

~~Chrissie