Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

Disney Cruise Line Pronunciation /ˈdɪzni  kruːz  laɪn/ Noun 1.) A magical sea voyage, especially taken for the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful award winning vacation. 2.) A fantasy often appearing on a Disney fan's bucket list, right under "spend the night in the Cinderella Castle Suite." 3.) A dream come true.  A helping hand before you set sail on your first cruise! If you've decided to pull a fairy godmother and Bibbiddi Bobbiddi Boo this fantasy into being, let's start you off with a few helpful hints: What I wished I knew before my first cruise: Top Ten Things to Know Before Your First Disney Cruise Top 10 More Things to Know Before Your 1st Disney Cruise Another 10 Things to Know Before Your 1st Disney Cruise Embarkation Day 101 Everything that happens between hopping a shuttle to the cruise terminal and dinner the first evening. Debarkation Three different ways to exit your cruise, from the speed demon to dragging your feet. Wh...

I loved starting our homeschool last June (especially since I had the benefit of a few mentors and friends who were happy to lend me a little good advice for a brand new homeschooler). By the end of my first week of homeschool, I had figured out a few things on my own. By the end of our first forty days of homeschool, I could've practically written a book with all the things I learned. In reality, there are only two things you need to know before you jump into homeschooling.  The only two things you need to know before you start homeschooling. If I started afresh tomorrow, I'd send my self a note that said two things: 1.) Murphy's Law-Things Will Go Wrong Sometimes your best laid plans will need to slide for a sick day or a mental health break. It's okay to let the little things go.  Homemade Donuts and Homer Price Once you've picked a curriculum , stocked up on more pencils and crayons than anyone could possibly need and organized to the best o...

Who wouldn't love an upgrade? Moving from an interior stateroom to a verandah or from a verandah to a concierge suite doesn't have to be only a Dream.  Live the dream. Upgrading is easier than you think! The question, of course, is when and how exactly to score an upgrade. Before the Sail Date There are two ways to score an upgrade in advance of packing your bags. 1.) Pixie Dust! Imagine logging in to your reservation one day and the stateroom number doesn't match your memories. You go to look up if they've moved you down the hall to an identical porthole room. No, the room is up a deck and seems to be a verandah stateroom. That can't be right. That's not what you paid for so you call up Disney Cruise Line only to find out "Surprise!" they've sprinkled pixie dust on your stateroom and you will be enjoying ocean breezes from the privacy of your very own verandah at no additional cost. More often you will shift staterooms to one withi...

The Magic Kingdom may be the most magical place on earth, but it is also smack dab in the middle of Walt Disney World. My biggest problem at Disney is there is literally, "more to see than can ever be seen or to do than can ever be done." Forty-three square miles brimming with tons of things to see and do and eat, to be exact. So where do I start planning my perfect, stress-free Walt Disney World vacation?   It can be done! Whether it's as simple as my kids' picks list out of the Birnbaum's Walt Disney World for Kids or a well detailed down to the minute spreadsheet developed from pouring over PassPorter's Walt Disney World and The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World . Step 1: Do Your Research! Look at projected crowd levels . Learn about the FastPass+ system. Measure your children (at the end of the day in sneakers) and note any rides with height restrictions out of your range.  Please note: they do not count bows, high ponytails or f...

Here's one of my favorite blog hops today: Three Things Thursday!  (Be sure to link up on her blog !) Since I already have a blog (and three blogs preceding this one) what haven't I already shared? Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess Who Didn't Go to Disney Without... 1.) Picture of the Kiddos To be more precise, I take a picture of my kids on the first day of vacation before leaving where they are looking straight at the camera not making weird faces. I repeat this each morning before we leave for the parks. Chris and Kylee Before Our Vacation. The first thing you're asked if your kids go missing is what they are wearing and what they look like. I'm lucky to remember what they're wearing when I'm not worried. This way I've got an easy photo and a fun memory of the beginning of each day. 2.) MagicBands Putting on my MagicBand marks the official start of our vacation. I Love My FitBit, But MagicBand is Better! Maybe on t...

My dear prince charming is handsome, kind, chivalrous, and (very occasionally) dead wrong. When I first took serious interest in the Disney Cruise Line while overdosing on Travel Channel (my pregnancy bed rest companion), Ben didn't exactly hop onboard. He thought we or the kids would get sea sick , that we would be bored, that it was out of budget , and that it just wouldn't have the same pixie dust as Walt Disney World . There's one in every family. Boy, do we laugh about that now! Despite finding out that there are many ways to save your Disney dollars while heading to sea, we found that sometimes, Disney Cruise Lines even saves us money over Walt Disney World. There are several things that really helped win over my reluctant mouseketeer. Catch the Show Watch a show, video clip or DVD about Disney Cruise Line with your reluctant mouseketeer. Use This Strategy For: Young Mouseketeers who love Disney but seem uncertain about setting out to sea. Ad...

I'll be the first to admit: I do NOT know how to successfully apply for the #DisneyMP. Sure, I made round two last year, which is both an honor and an incredible way to make friends with a great big beautiful group of Disney fans, but that's not quite the same as serving on the panel. I did pick up a few different ways to NOT make it onto the panel. Here's hoping I've learned from these mistakes and that they might help you in your application adventure! Ignore Social Media My peaceful, lazy Labor Day weekend is about to give way to the exciting adventures of the #DisneyMP search. If you've caught the Disney Parks Blog last Thursday, you noticed that Leanne's lovely article  finally let us peek behind the scenes. Yes, it's that time of year again. Disney Park Moms Panel Search 2015 begins next Tuesday the second of September at 10am EST and runs through Friday the fifth of September at noon EST. Let the spell ch...

Today was the last day of the first week of school and TGIF is in full swing! I know, you're thinking didn't we just get out of school? (Or for some of my friends, doesn't school get out in a week or two?)  Last Day of School...ever? Yes, yes we did. However with my kids eagerly chomping at the bit to get started on our fledgling adventures in  homeschooling , we decided to dive right in on last Monday, June 2. It seemed like a really good idea, it really, really did. I somehow totally blocked out the fact that Ben would be on a business trip for the week and Chris needed some midweek blood work (so less than an ideal first week situation), but somehow, we muddled through! I enjoy very ridged structure; work first then play, finish all my chores then take a break, but my kids are happier knowing overall what work is expected and getting it done with some meanderings and rabbit holes and digging in the backyard and climbing trees. So that's what they do. We d...

Although I've already blogged over a dozen tips and tricks to save a bundle on your cruise, what about ways to totally blow your budget unintentionally? I'm not talking about splurging on a cabana massage or swimming with the dolphins. I'm talking spending (way) more than you have to on things that are unnecessary and in a few instances spending some cash in order to give Murphy the boot (or just keep from missing an awesome experience!) Skip Trip Insurance What's the worst that could happen? It's not like we could possibly miss our travel window and the ship would sail without us. It's not like I'd ever break my leg and need to pay to be airlifted off of the ship. It's not like I could have a relative get sick and need to reschedule at the last minute. Besides, aren't we trying to save money? The truth is once you are within 15 dates of your sail date any cancellation will mean a total loss of the cost of the vacation. This falls under th...

Since apparently 10 Things To Know Before Your First Cruise and 10 MORE Things To Know Before Your First Cruise didn't quite touch on everything...   here are another top ten things to know before your first Disney Cruise Line experience. Pin Trading Although not quite as popular as it is in the parks, pin trading is alive and well on the high seas. Servers greeting outside the restaurants often sport pin lanyards. Pins exclusive to DCL are available in the shops (ask and they may even pull out the pin book for trading). Keep an eye on your navigator for officer pin trading events.  Ready with her pins! Lanyards for everyone! (Who is old enough to carry a room card.) Yes there are lovely lanyards sold in the shops on the ship if you forget. Your dollar store probably also carries some lovely lanyards and Disneystore.com carries quite a rotating selection. There isn't really a reason to carry a purse, as your key to the world card will be accepted everywh...

As I said the other day , I recently had reason to consider what I would want to know before my first cruise. Well, if something is worth doing it is worth overdoing. How about another ten? 1.) Do I Really Need A Passport? Assuming you don't need a passport to reach your port of embarkation (say heading to Barcelona for a Mediterranean cruise), is a passport necessary? Don't Leave Home Without It? Passports are recommended (as is trip insurance) although on a closed loop cruise, neither is currently required and I've cruised with friends who were perfectly happy to cruise on other approved forms of proof of citizenship. As always, things are subject to change. I wouldn't cruise without, but it's about your comfort level with risk. (The risk is if something happened and you needed to fly back to the states, how would you handle that without a passport?) So maybe you need one. 2.) Get The Pool and Slides To Yourself. If you pack swim...