Workin' hard...

As you all know I am a travel agent, and I specialize in Disney vacations; however, that is NOT all I book!  I have sent clients on various cruise lines, to tropical destinations, on a non-Disney Orlando vacations and more!  All destinations have their own set of courses I can take to become more familiar with their offerings, and I am slowly working my way through them.  I have completed Disney's (and keep up on all their courses, as it is the destination I book most often!), and last year I earned the highest level from Norwegian Cruise Lines - I am Freestyle Certified!  Such a fun name.

About two weeks ago I completed the "Hotel Excellence" course with Marriott  and just today I finished my courses with SeaWorld Parks!

I really enjoy all this training, I have done a number of classes with Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruise Lines as well - but not quite enough yet to earn my designation.  I will be finishing those soon, but first I am going to become a Universal Specialist!  I have many clients that have taken a day from their Disney vacation and headed over to Universal and Islands of Adventure, I look forward to getting to know their product more intimately and visiting myself.

Walking Tour of Pop Century Resort

Today I finally finished a video I have been working on for a very.long.time!  Take a walk through Disney's Pop Century...one of Disney's most popular Value Resorts at Walt Disney World!

2013 Woz Travels

2013 is here and the Wozniak's are ready to TRAVEL!!

Here is what is on our agenda so far:

February - D.C.  We had such a good time last year, we figured it would make a perfect long weekend!  We are taking the train this time, and staying right in the city.  We hope to visit the aquarium and a few other sites we missed...and probably go back to the Air & Space Museum.  Can't get enough of all that nerd stuff.

March - Walt Disney World!  The plans around this are still a bit hazy, but we ARE going!  I hope to visit with my Mom and her boyfriend for a day or two since they live there now, and maybe even squeeze in an off-site adventure...I'm thinking SeaWorld, or Discovery Cove, or perhaps even the "dark side" - Universal Studios.  We'll see!

August - Minnesota.  My Mom is getting married!!  It will be a great time to visit with family and be a part of the celebration.


I know there will be at least one work conference in there, possibly two.  We also hope to CRUISE again this year, and I'll likely have a "girl's trip" in the fall at some point too.  Perhaps a long weekend in Boston if Joe has to go there for work, or a quick trip to Philly.  Time will tell!

I'll try to be good about sharing our adventures... :)

Putting a PDF onto your iPhone

This post is written with my clients in mind; however, I figured others might find it useful as well, so I am posting it here!

I often send a PDF copy of the personalized planner I make my clients, many prefer both a paper copy and the PDF.  I'm a PDF gal myself, it's just SO easy to have it right there in my back pocket.  To know the park hours, crowd levels, dining reservations and more, without shuffling through papers, is ideal for me.

However, sometimes people aren't quite sure how to get the PDF I email them onto their smartphone...keep reading!  If you have anything other than an iPhone, I don't know how to do it - but I'm guessing the process is fairly similar.

So, I just sent you your planner - open your email on your phone.

Click on the email from me.  You can see the attachment at the bottom of the email.  Click on it and it will open.  Sometimes I find I have to click it twice for large files.  I believe the iPhone only partially downloads some of the file at first, then will download the whole thing.  My client planners are usually large - so be sure you are on wi-fi when you first download it!

The planner opens in a Mail window:

And now the important part.  You see the icon in the upper right, an arrow coming out of a box, directly below the battery gauge?  Click on that.  You will get a few choices for other apps.  By clicking that icon, you are saying "Open in..." and then you can choose another app.

If you don't have an app to open it in, exit out and go download the free Kindle app first.  It's very easy to use and a great way to view PDFs because it loads quickly.  Then re-do the above steps until you are here.

Click on "Open in Kindle" (or your chosen app).

That app will directly open, with the planner in it!

On the Kindle, you can zoom in and scroll around.  My planners are more than one page, so you'll be able to see all the pages at the bottom of the screen.  You can bookmark a certain page (the icon on the top bar on the far right), you can click on the box with the arrow again and email it to another person in your party.  It's really slick!

Now you have your planner right at your finger tips!  Keep the paper planner I send you in the mail for your resort room, and this one as your "on the go" version.

I will say, sometimes the Kindle app doesn't open the PDF right away.  It's a bug in the Kindle app.  Just go back to the email and do the "Open in Kindle" again.  Kind of a pain, but, it happens.

Let me know if you have any questions!

New York Botanical Gardens Train Show

Last weekend Joe, Henry and I took the train north to the NY Botanical Gardens for the Holiday Train Show!  This was something I have wanted to do since we moved to New York, and we finally got there this year.

They re-create various buildings from NYC out of plant parts: sticks, wood, bark, seeds, pinecones and fruit. Between all the buildings are train tracks with about a dozen different toy trains running. It's pretty amazing!


Macy's - this was in the queue line just to get in the building


Upclose


With the train conductor

The first room is part of the queue - it's a little tropical paradise, which felt great because the day was a bit rainy and yucky! There are no trains here, but some really great buildings.


Ellis Island




The old TWA terminal (and planes) at JFK. Jet Blue now occupies part of this famous structure.


Almost time to go in!




Some of the buildings we recognized, but many we didn't. There were signs in front of them all, saying what they were and where they were.






Hell Gate Bridge - this one is really close to our house


Coney Island


The NY Public Library (the big famous building) is the structure in the back, the arch is from Washington Square Park.


A bit blurry, but they even recreated the lions in front of the library!


The old Penn Station (it was sadly destroyed)


If you've been to NYC, you might think this is the Post Office across from Madison Square Garden, but it's not - it's the old Penn Station, same architect. Very similar buildings!


I love the detail on the roof of this one.







There was a small exhibit on the side that showed how the artists created these buildings - and had a few non-NYC buildings as well.


First step


Second step and some materials


Viola! Easy, right???


Okay-that one is from NYC... :)

Coffee pot gas station (I cannot recall where it was from), and the cool train that was going around these buildings.


Sorry about it being rotated - I did fix it in my photo program...hmmm!  Anyway, I was excited to see this one! It's a replica of that hotel shaped like an elephant, which they also have a replica of in Boardwalk Inn lobby at Walt Disney World!


This is Nebraska, I've seen it! I think it might be "Dunn Bros" now though if I remember correctly


Another train going around














Pretty flowers....after all we were at the Botanical Gardens!


Henry in front of the skyline


Famous buildings of the skyline - Empire State, Chrysler, Rockefeller, NYSE...


Radio City


I love this - Rockefeller even has the angles and Christmas tree up!




Empire State


Thomas! In January they change out all the trains to be Thomas and friends.


The building we were in at the moment. Kinda cool!


Harlem - the Apollo


The old Yankee Stadium - the lights worked and it played music




Natural History Museum


Guggenheim


City Hall




Brooklyn Bridge














Amazing detail















Back outside we walked a bit over to an area they had set up for kids called Gingerbread Adventures






So pretty.


A little maze for the kids


Kid-size gingerbread house


There were a few of these cool guys around

Inside one of the buildings they had set up stations to learn about the spices that go into gingerbread. The first thing they got was a booklet they could design with glue and seeds.






Grinding spices

We then went to various stations where they would learn about a spice and glue some into the booklet.


At the end there were a few gingerbread creations by various bakeries




Planting wheat

It was a cute area, and maybe he learned something... :)

Back outside we went to the gift shop before we had to get on the train - just enough time for me to buy an ornament!


Pretty.


Inside the gift shop - yummy gingerbread cookies


Candy canes, my favorite


Ornaments - you might not be able to see if very well, but we got a little snow globe one with a train in it.


I thought these were cute.

Then it was back on the train and home. We really enjoyed the Train Show and I'm glad we went! I don't think we will go every year, but, it was something new and different!