Month: October 2014

Tuesday’s Tip- Air Conditioning

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If you’ve ever been to Florida in the summer, the term muggy and sweltering are the only 2 words I can think of that describes it.  Even when you leave the hotel in the morning you’ll usually be sweating by the time you reach the bus from your hotel room.

When you get to the parks you’re walking for hours and the heat only grows throughout the day.  Thankfully many of the attractions are indoors!  If you need an extended time to cool off, check out these attractions at the Magic Kingdom-

  1. Country Bear Jamboree,
  2. Carousel of Progress
  3. the Enchanted Tiki Room
  4.  Hall of Presidents

All four of these shows are a little longer in length, rarely have long lines, AND ARE AIR CONDITIONED!!!

Carousel of progress

Carousel of progress

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Disney Customer Service

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I have never had an unenjoyable Disney experience.  (Well once when I was in 6th grade I did catch a touch of the flu while at Disney and that wasn’t the most pleasant, but still the trip itself was enjoyable).  I am such a Disney geek that even the little non-park Disney experiences like- looking up a restaurant menu, researching an attraction, listening to Disney music, and yes, even calling Disney customer service truly makes me happy.  For my upcoming Disney trip (for the Disney marathon weekend) my husband has decided that it won’t be prudent to travel with me.  It has been a very busy time for him at work, and he was unsure if we was going to be able to take the time off.  With that being said, I asked my mom and my aunt to travel with me!  I am very excited to have them come along on this journey!  The only trouble is when I booked the trip, I booked for hubby and myself.  I had to make a call to customer service a few weeks ago, and within about 10 magical minutes we had switched the reservation from my hubby’s name over to my mom and my aunt’s names.  I logged in not to long ago though to set up our magic bands and it was still showing a magic band for my husband and not my mom.  Oh darn, another call to the magical land of Disney!  Generally I am a person who does not enjoy making phone calls to take care of little tasks.  My general experience with customer service departments is not usually positive, however working with the customer service cast members at Disney is downright magical 🙂  They truly went out of their way to make solving this problem easy!  They communicated very clearly and were very kind.  When I had to be transferred to a different department the first agent made sure to communicate to me how long the approximate wait would be, and even waited until I was passed off and introduced me to the next agent that I would be working with (Added bonus- I got to listen to Disney music while on hold!!!).  The level of service and commitment that Disney shows its guests always amazes me.  Disney has amazing attention to detail, even in their phone centers  🙂

 

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Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival- By Michelle Coomes

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Hey all! This is Michelle, a friendly travel agent specializing in Disney vacations & an old friend of Ashley’s. Today I’ll share with you one of the best celebrations that Disney World has to offer. Hope you enjoy!

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons- cooler weather, leaves changing, Halloween celebrations and food. Yes, food! Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival takes place every fall and it’s the perfect excuse to make a trip to Disney! This festival has been taking place in Epcot each fall since 1996 and it keeps getting better every year.

The festival takes place on the World Showcase side of Epcot, with booths set up around the lagoon representing 25 countries and their cuisines. Each booth has a few selections of samplings, both food and wine/beer. I always suggest adding a Dining Plan onto your vacation- but it’s an especially smart idea during the Food & Wine Festival because you can use the Disney Snack Credits at these booths! Many of the food selections are available by using a Snack Credit, but the drinks are not- you’ll still have to pay out of pocket/card for those. My husband & I save up at least 3 snack credits each, and then purchase a few drinks to pair with them.

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My kids at the World Showcase

My kids at the World Showcase

The lines for each booth can get pretty long, especially some of the favorites like Ireland, Japan & Morocco. But there’s always entertainment or people watching that can keep you occupied while you wait for your next delicious International sampling!

Not only are there foods inspired from other countries, but Disney has done an excellent job including foods that are vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and other diet/allergy/sensitivities.

Some of my favorites that I look forward to this year:

Vegetarian moussaka from Greece

Moussaka from Greece

Moussaka from Greece

 

Vegetarian Haggis with neeps & tatties (Griddled vegetable cake with rutabaga and mashed potatoes) from Scotland

Haggis

Haggis from Scotland

 

And Sweet Corn Cheese Cake from Mexico

Sweet cheese corn cake from Mexico

Sweet cheese corn cake from Mexico

If these photos didn’t entice you to plan a trip to Disney during Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival, check out Disney’s official festival site & I bet they will. For me and my family, we are headed there in 3 weeks to enjoy it all! Thanks for allowing me to share with you a little of why I love this festival, at the happiest place on earth!

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https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/epcot-international-food-and-wine-festival/

 

And if you’d like assistance booking and planning your next Disney vacation, contact me today! My services are free of charge & I can make sure that your trip is a magical one!

Michelle – Marvelous Mouse Travels

Michelle@MarvelousMouseTravels.com

www.facebook.com/MichelleDisneyTravel

(704)237-0814

Words of Walt- Animals and Nature

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Some of you may know this, but Walt Disney LOVED nature and LOVED animals.  Many of his original attractions featured audio animatronic animals, and think of all the Disney animated features that have animals!

Here is one of his many quotes about animals-

“People often ask me where we find our stores about animals… and my answer is that Nature herself writes them.  The wonders of nature are endless.  Sometimes we can recognize ourselves in animals- that’s what makes them so interesting.”

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The Quotable Walt Disney compiled by Dave Smith

The Quotable Walt Disney compiled by Dave Smith

Ten Reasons to RunDisney

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Alright, I am currently training for the Goofy Challenge!  When I complete that full marathon it will be my third full marathon at Walt Disney World!!!  I’ve only run one full marathon off Disney property, and I assure that it was just not as fun!  I decided that it would be a good time to post my top ten reasons to RunDisney (I cannot take credit for all of these… I asked for some input from other Disney runners!)

10. Training for a race at Disney is a great motivator!  You can use imagery and imagine that you’re at Disney while you’re training.  I personally have LOTS of Disney music in my playlist!!!

9. After I run, my favorite thing to do is EAT!  If you run a race at Disney guess what, you get to eat at Disney!!!! (Think of the cupcakes!)

Smores Cupcake

Smores Cupcake

8.  You can run in costume without being judged!  It isn’t required that you run in costume, but MANY people choose to run in costumes… because, why not?

Evil Queens

Evil Queens

Miss Piggy and Kermit

Miss Piggy and Kermit

7. Just like everything that Disney does, their races are WORLD CLASS events!  The expo, the course, the entertainment, the water stations- everything is so well organized.

6. There are races for all distances!  You can run as little as a 5k at Disney, and all the way up to a full marathon!

5. If you’re a little Goofy, or Dopey even you can run multiple races!  Goofy Challenge is a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon on two consecutive days.  Dopey Challenge is a 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon, and full marathon over four consecutive days.  There are other special challenges- Dumbo Double Dare, Glass Slipper Challenge, and the Coast to Coast challenge! (Yes there are races both in Florida and California!)

4. If you’re going to run a crazy distance (you know… 13.1 or 26.2 miles) why wouldn’t you want to do it at the happiest place on earth!

3. The BLING is outstanding.  The medals that you get from running a Disney race are simply spectacular!

My medals from 2012. (Right to Left)- Disney World 1/2 Marathon, Disney World Marathon, Goofy Challenge, Disneyland 1/2 Marathon, Coast to Coast Challenge

My medals from 2012. (Right to Left)- Disney World 1/2 Marathon, Disney World Marathon, Goofy Challenge, Disneyland 1/2 Marathon, Coast to Coast Challenge

2. You can get your pictures taken with characters along the way!  Plus the lines move much quicker than they do at the parks! You can hand your camera off to a cast member, and they will take your picture for you!  They know that you wanna get your picture and get back on the move!

Myself and Kim with Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip

Myself and Kim with Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip

Me with Mike and Sully- 2012 Disney Marathon

Me with Mike and Sully- 2012 Disney Marathon

Flynn taught me how to do the "smolder"

Flynn taught me how to do the “smolder”

With Mary Poppins and Gang!

With Mary Poppins and Gang!

1. If you’ve ever been to Disney, it is an incredible NEW way to experience Disney!  You’ll see backstage areas that you’ve never seen, and you will never look at the parks the same way!

Check out and register for upcoming races at RunDisney