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

Pirates, Pixie Dust, Lucky and HOPE!!

 

 Remember that blog I wrote a few weeks ago? About my Birthday wish? The way I was going to use my Disney Vacation Planning business to help St. Baldrick's Foundation Conquer Kids' Cancer?? The one that started like this... Since my business' name is Pirates and PIXIE DUST Vacations and I LOVE helping people to create MAGICAL Disney memories I thought it only fit to do something for my birthday that can spread Pixie Dust to families, like mine, that need it.

Well, I wanted to share with you my new friend... LUCKY!! Look at what the Graphic Artists at St. Baldrick's Foundation made for me to use with my Birthday Pixie Dust Promotion!! :) The St. Baldrick's Foundation Mascot is Lucky the Leprechaun and this is the best looking Lucky I've seen (and I've seen more than 70 of them!! lol)!I mean really, is it any wonder that I support them as much as I do?? On top of working daily to Conquer Kids Cancer for my son, Michael, and the 46 kids diagnosed with cancer every single weekday, they made this absolutely adorable Pirates and Pixie Dust Lucky JUST for me to use with my promotions!! :)

For any of you that haven't read my Birthday Wish Pixie Dust blog , I'll give you some info!! :) The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. St. Baldrick’s Foundation currently funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. As a Volunteer Event Organizer (VEO) I, along with a committee of amazing family and friends, run an event in Rockaway Beach, NY. Last year our event raised over $128,000! I like to tell people we raised over 128,000 glimmers of HOPE for us and the other families who are in this battle with us. St. Baldrick's Foundation is best known for their world-wide signature head-shaving events where individual event where volunteers get bald to stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer and raise money to support life-saving childhood cancer research.

I run one of these events in September along with the support of our wonderful family and some amazing friends. Our event is called Hope is in the (h)Air. This year we are holding our event on 9/15/2012 at Bungalow Bar & Restaurant in Rockaway Beach, NY. It's going to be another awesome day full of love, support, hope and in honor of 5 amazing kids! These kids are Mikey and his friends, Emily, Eddie, Ty and Evan. Evan passed away on April 16th so our day is not only in honor of these amazing 5 kids but in memory of Evan as well. So, in honor of my birthday (that has, by now, come and gone) I've decided to give myself a birthday present!

To spread some Pixie Dust and HOPE to our families... and to help St. Baldrick's Foundation make my WISH come true, here's my birthday present to me: For every Disney Vacation booked through Pirates and Pixie Dust Vacations between June 1st and August 30th, not only will you get my booking and planning services at NO cost to you but, I will donate 10% of that trip's commission to St. Baldrick's Foundation! I will get to do what I love, helping people plan MAGICAL Disney Vacations, while helping Mikey, his friends and all of the kids diagnosed with cancer have just a little more HOPE!

Don't forget to 'LIKE' my Pirates and Pixie Dust Vacations Facebook Page

With love & HOPE... and a little bit of Pixie Dust,

Chrissie