8.31.2011
More Moola!
$70 has been added to my thermometer on the right! This was one of my Mouse World Travel paychecks, it feels GREAT to put my paycheck into the travel fund!!
8.09.2011
$25 Disney Gift Card Giveaway!
The Travel Agency that I work for, Mouse World Travel, is having a giveaway! For every 100 people who "Like" them on Facebook, a $25 Disney gift card will be given away at random to the followers!! That gift card can be used at any Disney store (or online), in the Disney parks, or on Disney Cruise Line.
Please take a moment to "Like" Mouse World Travel - and share this with anyone who might be interested, or wants a chance to win!
Mouse World Travel on Facebook
Please take a moment to "Like" Mouse World Travel - and share this with anyone who might be interested, or wants a chance to win!
Mouse World Travel on Facebook
8.08.2011
$40 in loose change
The other day we took a stroll to a local grocery store and cashed in our change with their handy little machine. Henry had $20 and we had $20. Pretty nice!
I had originally planned on that $20 of ours going toward the cruise fund; however, we paired it with another bit of "found money" we had and Joe purchased a new pair of Keen sandals off Amazon instead.
He GREATLY needed these shoes, and they are for our vacations - so it works! We ended up paying only $12 out of our checkbook. So while the cruise money hasn't increased, we did get a pretty stinkin' good deal for a pair of Keens.
Loose change certainly adds up!
Henry will be using his money to purchase toys he will most certainly want on our upcoming trip. We are only buying him 1 or 2 things - the rest will come from his money, and when it's gone, it's gone! Tough lesson for an almost 4 year old. We'll see how it goes....yikes!
I had originally planned on that $20 of ours going toward the cruise fund; however, we paired it with another bit of "found money" we had and Joe purchased a new pair of Keen sandals off Amazon instead.
He GREATLY needed these shoes, and they are for our vacations - so it works! We ended up paying only $12 out of our checkbook. So while the cruise money hasn't increased, we did get a pretty stinkin' good deal for a pair of Keens.
Loose change certainly adds up!
Henry will be using his money to purchase toys he will most certainly want on our upcoming trip. We are only buying him 1 or 2 things - the rest will come from his money, and when it's gone, it's gone! Tough lesson for an almost 4 year old. We'll see how it goes....yikes!
7.28.2011
More "found money"
I added $50 to our thermometer to the right for our Disney cruise fund! YAY! It's not growing very quickly, but at least it's something!!
A Photographic Walking Tour of Disney's All Star Movies Resort
I just finished working on a video - I took pictures all over All Star Movies Resort in May and I put them all together with some fancy-schmancy transitions and fun Disney music! So, if you are interested in the resort, you can "take a stroll" with my video!
7.26.2011
Uh...where's the stroller?
We left off back in Stormalong Bay, the amazing pool at the Yacht & Beach Club Resort.
After we pulled Henry out of the sand, we made our way back over to the Boardwalk, cleaned up and got ready for our evening--we were headed back to the Magic Kingdom!
Close to 7 pm we were at the bus stop and juuuuuust missed a Magic Kingdom bus. Sigh. It's always a bit of a bummer when that happens. However, we weren't too upset about this one leaving because it was standing-room-only and we weren't in a rush. Just minutes later another Magic Kingdom bus arrived..and there were only a few of us that needed to board. Woot!
By the time we got to the Swan (another hotel, that the bus stops on), we were stuck behind the really full Magic Kingdom bus and it was taking longer than average for some reason. But, as we sat there, we had a rockin' bus driver-he sang for us to pass the time! Love those drivers who love their jobs!
Within 30 minutes we were at Magic Kingdom
and we were on the hunt for some food! We thought we'd check out the new Tortuga Tavern; however, it was closed when we arrived and we never did end up trying it.
Joe wanted to try one of the Quick Service restaurants we haven't eaten at much, and pizza was calling to him-so we were off to Pinocchio's Village Haus as our second option.
When we arrived we parked the stroller right outside the doors, near a bunch of other strollers, <--foreshadowing ;-)
and we made our way in.
Somewhere between the stroller and the counter where you order food Henry decided to melt down and act out. Getting the answer of "What do you want to eat?" from him was a chore...plus he was completely distracted with a Cast Member, who had great-intentions entertaining him with a Pinocchio puppet. It just made getting him to respond to me even harder. The whole moment frustrated me. But eventually, we made it through. Henry and I went to find a table near the windows that over look the It's a Small World waterway...such a neat feature of this restaurant!
Joe returns with our food.
No straws. No silverware. No napkins.
My frustration of the evening escalated.
He could tell I was not feelin' the magic and volunteered to run out to the stroller to grab the hand sanitizer.
Okay, sounds good. I'll snap some food pics!
Mine-cheese pizza and salad
Joe's pepperoni pizza - he also had a side of fries with his. You can pick either salad or fries when on the Disney Dining Plan.
Henry's Mac & Cheese, Applesauce and Cookie
Joe and I both had Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert
Well...Joe comes in...empty handed. And he declares he cannot find the stroller.
Say what? Erg.
Okay. The man is legally blind. He sees pretty well in the dark, it's the bright light that gives him problems, but he might have missed it.
Was I gracious in this moment?
No. I was annoyed. I got up and walked out, just KNOWING that the stroller would be right where we left it.
Until I got outside...and it wasn't.
It was gone.
I grabbed a Cast Memeber who started to look around with me. We looked EVERYWHERE in Fantasyland. Back and forth, through the crowds of people watching the Wishes fireworks show exploding in the sky over us. I was totally panicked. This was our first full day-what would we do without a stroller?!? I had memories of the time we ended up swapping strollers (accidentally) after Fantasmic with a couple-and that worked out and became a funny story to tell, this would too...right?!?! But what if it didn't!?! Okay, breathe, Brook...we could rent a stroller. It wouldn't be the end of the world. It would be a hit to the budget, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nice Cast Member enlisted the help of another Cast Member and was calling on the radio because we just could not find it. We were looking for a good 15 minutes!
And then the fireworks end.
And the crowd thins.
And there is my little brown Maclaren, sitting the middle of the walkway.
Odd....
But all well! Who cares where it was! We found it! I almost hugged that Cast Member!
I finally made my way back to Pinocchio's with the hand sanitizer and a humble grin on my face. There was good reason why my dear husband could not find the stroller!
The boys had thrown caution to the wind and chose to eat with germ-ridden hands (daredevils! LOL), and I settled into enjoy the meh food. It wasn't bad, but it was just alright. It have been better hot! Though, Henry didn't like his mac & cheese AT ALL (if you go back and look at the pic, it does look awful!) and we all ended up sharing our food. Which was fine, it worked out. And I do remember the cheesecake being quite tasty.
After we relaxed a bit and laughed off the stroller ordeal, we made our way out and back into Fantasyland. I spotted Mr. Nice Cast Member and walked right up to him and got his name, Stephen, who works custodial in Fantasyland. That man rules. He went way above and beyond duty to help me. I told him so...and he gave me Fastpasses on top of all that!!
I have since sent off an email raving about his service. It's Cast Members like these that make Disney known for it's customer service.
So Fastpasses in hand, no true agenda on deck, standing with this as our beautiful view
we asked Henry what he would like to do...his instant response?
"The flying blankies!"
Which made both Joe and I laugh out loud - we knew what ride he was talking about...the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
So off to Adventureland we went.
After we pulled Henry out of the sand, we made our way back over to the Boardwalk, cleaned up and got ready for our evening--we were headed back to the Magic Kingdom!
Close to 7 pm we were at the bus stop and juuuuuust missed a Magic Kingdom bus. Sigh. It's always a bit of a bummer when that happens. However, we weren't too upset about this one leaving because it was standing-room-only and we weren't in a rush. Just minutes later another Magic Kingdom bus arrived..and there were only a few of us that needed to board. Woot!
By the time we got to the Swan (another hotel, that the bus stops on), we were stuck behind the really full Magic Kingdom bus and it was taking longer than average for some reason. But, as we sat there, we had a rockin' bus driver-he sang for us to pass the time! Love those drivers who love their jobs!
Within 30 minutes we were at Magic Kingdom
and we were on the hunt for some food! We thought we'd check out the new Tortuga Tavern; however, it was closed when we arrived and we never did end up trying it.
Joe wanted to try one of the Quick Service restaurants we haven't eaten at much, and pizza was calling to him-so we were off to Pinocchio's Village Haus as our second option.
When we arrived we parked the stroller right outside the doors, near a bunch of other strollers, <--foreshadowing ;-)
and we made our way in.
Somewhere between the stroller and the counter where you order food Henry decided to melt down and act out. Getting the answer of "What do you want to eat?" from him was a chore...plus he was completely distracted with a Cast Member, who had great-intentions entertaining him with a Pinocchio puppet. It just made getting him to respond to me even harder. The whole moment frustrated me. But eventually, we made it through. Henry and I went to find a table near the windows that over look the It's a Small World waterway...such a neat feature of this restaurant!
Joe returns with our food.
No straws. No silverware. No napkins.
My frustration of the evening escalated.
He could tell I was not feelin' the magic and volunteered to run out to the stroller to grab the hand sanitizer.
Okay, sounds good. I'll snap some food pics!
Mine-cheese pizza and salad
Joe's pepperoni pizza - he also had a side of fries with his. You can pick either salad or fries when on the Disney Dining Plan.
Henry's Mac & Cheese, Applesauce and Cookie
Joe and I both had Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert
Well...Joe comes in...empty handed. And he declares he cannot find the stroller.
Say what? Erg.
Okay. The man is legally blind. He sees pretty well in the dark, it's the bright light that gives him problems, but he might have missed it.
Was I gracious in this moment?
No. I was annoyed. I got up and walked out, just KNOWING that the stroller would be right where we left it.
Until I got outside...and it wasn't.
It was gone.
I grabbed a Cast Memeber who started to look around with me. We looked EVERYWHERE in Fantasyland. Back and forth, through the crowds of people watching the Wishes fireworks show exploding in the sky over us. I was totally panicked. This was our first full day-what would we do without a stroller?!? I had memories of the time we ended up swapping strollers (accidentally) after Fantasmic with a couple-and that worked out and became a funny story to tell, this would too...right?!?! But what if it didn't!?! Okay, breathe, Brook...we could rent a stroller. It wouldn't be the end of the world. It would be a hit to the budget, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nice Cast Member enlisted the help of another Cast Member and was calling on the radio because we just could not find it. We were looking for a good 15 minutes!
And then the fireworks end.
And the crowd thins.
And there is my little brown Maclaren, sitting the middle of the walkway.
Odd....
But all well! Who cares where it was! We found it! I almost hugged that Cast Member!
I finally made my way back to Pinocchio's with the hand sanitizer and a humble grin on my face. There was good reason why my dear husband could not find the stroller!
The boys had thrown caution to the wind and chose to eat with germ-ridden hands (daredevils! LOL), and I settled into enjoy the meh food. It wasn't bad, but it was just alright. It have been better hot! Though, Henry didn't like his mac & cheese AT ALL (if you go back and look at the pic, it does look awful!) and we all ended up sharing our food. Which was fine, it worked out. And I do remember the cheesecake being quite tasty.
After we relaxed a bit and laughed off the stroller ordeal, we made our way out and back into Fantasyland. I spotted Mr. Nice Cast Member and walked right up to him and got his name, Stephen, who works custodial in Fantasyland. That man rules. He went way above and beyond duty to help me. I told him so...and he gave me Fastpasses on top of all that!!
I have since sent off an email raving about his service. It's Cast Members like these that make Disney known for it's customer service.
So Fastpasses in hand, no true agenda on deck, standing with this as our beautiful view
we asked Henry what he would like to do...his instant response?
"The flying blankies!"
Which made both Joe and I laugh out loud - we knew what ride he was talking about...the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
So off to Adventureland we went.
7.17.2011
Stormalong-Heaven.
I left you in the little Hess gas station buying some goods for the room.
I returned to the room with the stuff--a gallon of water, a 1/2 gallon of milk, 2 packs of soda, some fruit and possibly a few other things...and no, I didn't carry all of that-I used our carry-on suitcase, which worked out perfectly!
Henry woke up around 3:45 pm and we headed straight over to Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club Resort. The (slightly creepy, yet fascinating) clown slide, George-as I like to call him, was down for a refurb at the Boardwalk, so that gave all the Boardwalk guests access to Stormalong Bay "if we would like use of a slide".
And did we want use of a slide?
Uh...
NO.
He he.
But did they even ask that at the gate? NOPE. And you know, if they did ask it, I would have to give my dear husband puppy-dog eyes, begging him to use the slide...cuz I ain't. Not a fan of water slides. I usually try them once and that's enough! I'll get to the Disney water parks eventually, and suck it up for the family, but I already know I'm not going to fully enjoy it.
I digress....they didn't ask. They just glanced at the room keys, smiled and slapped that wrist band right on us!
We are go for launch folks.
Oh, wait. Back the Boardwalk I dipped into the Boardwalk Bakery and YES! they had the new design on the refillable mugs!
3 please!
Henry was quite excited that he got his own mug...and it worked great as a sand toy.
Okay-now we are back at Stormalong-Heaven with wristbands. We are legal!
We started to walk.
And walk.
And walk.
I know the sand area is somehwere...
Wow, this place is HUGE! It goes on forever!
Cue: Little boy shrieking.
Yep, there's the sand.
Amazing.
My notes read:
"SAB. Huge. Amazing. Huge! Unreal. So cool. Beautiful sitting here on a lounger watching my boys dig in the sand. Staring at a palm tree. It's perfect weather. Ahhhhhhh. Yes, this is good.
I have my toes in the sand in FEBRUARY."
It's like a beach! But it's a pool!
There were a bazillion sand toys there for use. The cup hadn't yet become one...
Looking over toward Hurricane Hannah's, a pool-side quick service eatery.
My back was to this.
My view from the lounger looking up.
He was, in fact, the happiest child on Earth at this very moment.
The child now has a shirt on, the sun is setting and there aren't nearly as many people around. He's still digging.
So that about sums up our feelings of Stormalong Bay. There is nothing NOT to like about this place. Seriously. It's incredible. They even have servers that will bring you food and drinks!
We really stuck to this one area during our first visit. Henry dug and played for 2 hours straight. And I have figured out there is something therapeutic about digging your toes into the sand.
I admit, I did get a bit antsy after a while of just sitting there. I'm a get-up-and-go type of person and I have a hard time relaxing. Since we had some valuables with us, I felt like I couldn't leave the lounger for long and I didn't have a book to read. Plus, I felt a tiny guilty just laying there while Joe played with Henry...however, we have since cleared this up. Next time, I'll have a book and the boys will play. Joe didn't mind a bit. Even though I did get antsy, I still enjoyed our time there immensely!
At 6 pm we pulled our child out of the sand and said "See ya soon!" to Stormalong Bay. We definitely had plans to return before our stay at the Boardwalk ended.
Up next: Uh...where's the stroller??
I returned to the room with the stuff--a gallon of water, a 1/2 gallon of milk, 2 packs of soda, some fruit and possibly a few other things...and no, I didn't carry all of that-I used our carry-on suitcase, which worked out perfectly!
Henry woke up around 3:45 pm and we headed straight over to Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club Resort. The (slightly creepy, yet fascinating) clown slide, George-as I like to call him, was down for a refurb at the Boardwalk, so that gave all the Boardwalk guests access to Stormalong Bay "if we would like use of a slide".
And did we want use of a slide?
Uh...
NO.
He he.
But did they even ask that at the gate? NOPE. And you know, if they did ask it, I would have to give my dear husband puppy-dog eyes, begging him to use the slide...cuz I ain't. Not a fan of water slides. I usually try them once and that's enough! I'll get to the Disney water parks eventually, and suck it up for the family, but I already know I'm not going to fully enjoy it.
I digress....they didn't ask. They just glanced at the room keys, smiled and slapped that wrist band right on us!
We are go for launch folks.
Oh, wait. Back the Boardwalk I dipped into the Boardwalk Bakery and YES! they had the new design on the refillable mugs!
3 please!
Henry was quite excited that he got his own mug...and it worked great as a sand toy.
Okay-now we are back at Stormalong-Heaven with wristbands. We are legal!
We started to walk.
And walk.
And walk.
I know the sand area is somehwere...
Wow, this place is HUGE! It goes on forever!
Cue: Little boy shrieking.
Yep, there's the sand.
Amazing.
My notes read:
"SAB. Huge. Amazing. Huge! Unreal. So cool. Beautiful sitting here on a lounger watching my boys dig in the sand. Staring at a palm tree. It's perfect weather. Ahhhhhhh. Yes, this is good.
I have my toes in the sand in FEBRUARY."
It's like a beach! But it's a pool!
There were a bazillion sand toys there for use. The cup hadn't yet become one...
Looking over toward Hurricane Hannah's, a pool-side quick service eatery.
My back was to this.
My view from the lounger looking up.
He was, in fact, the happiest child on Earth at this very moment.
The child now has a shirt on, the sun is setting and there aren't nearly as many people around. He's still digging.
So that about sums up our feelings of Stormalong Bay. There is nothing NOT to like about this place. Seriously. It's incredible. They even have servers that will bring you food and drinks!
We really stuck to this one area during our first visit. Henry dug and played for 2 hours straight. And I have figured out there is something therapeutic about digging your toes into the sand.
I admit, I did get a bit antsy after a while of just sitting there. I'm a get-up-and-go type of person and I have a hard time relaxing. Since we had some valuables with us, I felt like I couldn't leave the lounger for long and I didn't have a book to read. Plus, I felt a tiny guilty just laying there while Joe played with Henry...however, we have since cleared this up. Next time, I'll have a book and the boys will play. Joe didn't mind a bit. Even though I did get antsy, I still enjoyed our time there immensely!
At 6 pm we pulled our child out of the sand and said "See ya soon!" to Stormalong Bay. We definitely had plans to return before our stay at the Boardwalk ended.
Up next: Uh...where's the stroller??
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