Adventure In The Great Wide Somewhere

The three mouseketeers took our brand new Senior Wilderness Explorer badges and hopped a bus to Magic Kingdom.  Faith, trust and Pixie Dust! We swung by Town Hall to meet Tinker Bell courtesy of a FastPass+ then mixed in our first ride on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin to "de-girl-ify" the afternoon. Then I got to pick the next ride, so Carousel of Progress! The kids enjoyed the surprise (as they had no knowledge of the ride going in) but they liked it.  Kylee in the Rose Garden We headed back to Main Street, U.S.A. to meet Mickey (our second FastPass) then wait for our last FastPass, reserved viewing for the Festival of Fantasy parade. But first snacks!  As much as I'm a Dole Whip purist, everyone must visit the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor for a parade snack. Waiting with his (regular) ice cream cone until his sister received her special dairy free cone? So sweet. Thankfully we planned a little extra time for Kylee's ice cream cone an...

After ending the day Saturday  with twenty Wilderness Explorer badges, the kids voted unanimously to head back to Animal Kingdom for more. The badge stations opened a little bit later than park opening, so we ducked into the Tree of life to warm up while we waited. Guess who was coming out just a we left the world of the bugs?  Squirrel! Our fellow Wilderness Explorers, Russell and Dug greeted Christ and Kylee. The kids told them all about their mission to become Senior Wilderness Explorers. Russell wished them well and signed their Wilderness Explorer Handbooks. We hiked off to the Maharajah Jungle trek through the quiet of the morning.   Beautiful and fun. The tigers weren't out yet, but the badge guides were.  Talking tiger with their badge guide. We hopped one of the first trains out to Rafiki's Planet Watch and the kids faced their biggest fear...the petting zoo. The badge guide insisted that the kids had to go into "Affection Secti...

Previously on the Three Mousekateers , pixie dust rained down, younglings completed their training and we just barely escaped Akershus unscathed. With food in everyone's belly and alacrity returning to the mouseketeers, the promise of pixie dust hung in the warming afternoon...   Once upon a time three intrepid Mousekateers set out to take on the World one Dole Whip at a time. Christopher directed us toward Spaceship Earth after his near brush with the princesses. As luck would have it, we arrived at the FastPass+ queue just as a large tour group also entered the line. Thankfully with the continuous loading, we got to go straight back into the history of communication with hardly any hang ups. The kids just finished up learning about the ancients and loved seeing all of the different animatronics of Egypt, Rome and especially the Phonecians. (I don't know why they love the Phoenicians so much, they just do.) Anyway, they asked us to squeeze three across so we all sha...

Early to bed and early to rise meant that we reached Epcot almost a full hour prior to Epcot opening so we hopped aboard the kids favorite ride from their first trip to Walt Disney World. The monorail.  Wild About Safety cards! “Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas!" They asked the conductor of the monorail if he had any of the transportation card. Not only did he hand over a few monorail cards, but he hooked my kids up with half a dozen of the "Wild About Safety" cards too. I love the smell of monorail in the morning. They opened the park a bit before the scheduled opening and we were on Test Track before 9. Chris did the engineering, Kylee did the decorating. There's nothing quite like the wind whipping through your hair first thing in the morning or designing your dream car without any wait. #OffSeasonRocks Before the adrenaline rush wore off, we headed over to Mission: SPACE. The cast members measured Kylee twice at the entrance to...

Have you ever: Found out that an attraction is closed for refurbishment during your vacation? Left Walt Disney World only to discover on Pinterest or a blog something crazy amazing that you missed? Skipped an attraction because of height requirements your munchkins don't quite reach? Even with Minnie Ears, she's not quite 48". Of course you have! Walt Disney World is far too amazing and vast to do everything interesting in even the longest of vacations! Next Trip List Attractions Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage Fantasmic! Wishes Splash Mountain Muppet Vision 3D (We love it, but the kids tired out at Hollywood Studios last trip.) Everything for the 48" and up crowd. My youngest is also my daredevil, and she loved all the 44" rides last trip. Foods Fried Wontons - Thanks, Heidi for the heads up! Cronuts - Shawn reviews them here . Restaurants Be Our Guest- Breakfast Boma Sanaa Coral Reef Cape May Café Resorts Beach Club Anim...

After our adventures with Dory and Marlin in the "Big Blue World," Chris looked forward to visiting DINOSAUR. We scheduled our FastPass+ for right before lunch time, just in case the bumpy ride bothered anyone. After Dr. Seeker told us about our secret mission to retrieve Aladar (an Iguanadon) and Dr. Marsh sent us to load into our time rover, Chris and Kylee decided they both wanted to ride on the outside edge so they could see better.  She's not afraid of any DINOSAUR! After bumping and screaming and barely escaping before the meteor impact causes mass extinction, the kids were up for some lunch. We picked up a few of the Wilderness Explorer badges and settled in at Mr. Kamal's for a bite of lunch. Both kids normally love falafel and were excited to see it on the menu as we passed by...  First thumbs down of the trip... But neither kid like the falafel. They found the spicing too hot and both ended up eating my hummus and veggies instead. (Both kids...

Welcome to the next stop on Magical Blogorail Orange. Today we are reviewing the value resorts at Walt Disney World. Growing up in a family of six, we needed at least two hotel rooms, so All Star Sports and Music grew to be my Disney home away from home. Now that I'm the adult, I'll be the first to admit that I'd much rather enjoy more time on my vacation at a value resort than less days at a deluxe resort. Not that I wouldn't upgrade to concierge if it's in the budget , of course!  Let's Go to the Movies! On my girls trip last year and on the adventures of the three mousekateers , I grew to love the All Star Movies Resort as well! Known for their over the top imaginative décor, each set of buildings features multistory icons from either The Mighty Ducks, The Love Bug, 101 Dalmatians, Fantasia or Toy Story. Like so: Do you miss the Sorcerer's Hat at Hollywood Studios? Swing by All Star Movies! Magical? Definitely full of tons of pixie du...