A Disneyland Engagement

December 31, 2014amcoope2 Leave a comment

Hello Mouskaholics! I have so enjoyed sharing my Disney tips, tricks, and knowledge with you in 2014! Thank you for following me on this journey and my blog! I hope to make 2015 even better with more exciting posts!

Disney is a magical place, we all know this. So today I wanted to share an AMAZING love story with you! I’ve known Ryan since we were in junior high and he is a HUGE fan of Disneyland! Seriously I know a lot about Disney World, but if I had a question about Disneyland, he would be my go-to guy! With that being said, it only makes sense that when Ryan decided to pop the question to his girlfriend Leah that he would do it at the happiest place on earth- Disneyland!

Ryan put a LOT of planning into his proposal. He arranged with Disneyland cast members to have a caricature drawn of the two of them. While they were sitting there the cast member was drawing a depiction of Ryan proposing to Leah. When she turned around the drawing to show Leah, Ryan dropped to one knee! This was only the first part of the engagement surprise though! Unbeknownst to Leah, Ryan flew out her parents and brother, as well as his father, sister and nieces to be there for the big moment! He arranged for them to stay in a separate hotel and to be waiting in the store behind where they would be sitting for the drawing and proposal.

The entire family in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle after the proposal.

Finished caricature!

The Ring

The story doesn’t end here folks! Ryan had videos made documenting the whole process! Not only did he have the proposal filmed, but he also included telling his nieces and her parents! Their story is so adorable and moving that they’ve been entered in a contest for “Best Proposal!” Please take a moment and follow this link to see Ryan’s video that he made, and like the original post on facebook to help them win the contest!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10103014948555954

If you would like help planning your own Disney vacation be sure to contact Ashley with Charming Travels LLC- ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

Tuesday’s Tip- Character’s in Flight

December 30, 2014amcoope2 Leave a comment

If you’ve ever been to Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida, it is pretty hard to miss the GIANT balloon that is soaring 400 feet into the air nearby. Downtown Disney is home to “Character’s in Flight,” operated by Aerophile.

Today’s tip was something that I found out accidentally on our trip this past summer! Each trip my husband and I try to plan a special event or experience and this summer we planned to ride “Character’s in Flight.” Much to our surprise and amazement, when we were buying our tickets, the attendant in the booth told us the price, and we were shocked and excited to find out that if you ride in the morning hours there is a BIG discount!

Tip- If you’re looking to save a little money, ride Characters in Flight before noon! The normal price for the ride is $18 but if you ride before noon it’s only $10!

White Logot

If you’re interested in booking a magical disney vacation, contact Ashley with Charming Travels LLC – ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

Fun Fact Friday- Holiday Disney Stats

December 26, 2014amcoope2 Leave a comment

I hope you all had a wonderful time spent with family this week! I ran across this illustration and thought it would be fun to share! So here are a few fun facts about Disney during this time of year!

Photo was taken from the Disney Parks Blog

Click on the photo to enlarge!

If you’re interested in traveling to any Disney location please contact ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com for your free quote!

Register today for the Expedition Everest Challenge 5k

December 16, 2014amcoope2 Leave a comment

I’ve written In the past about how I LOVE to participate in RunDisney events because these events combine two of my favorite things- running and Disney!!!! With that being said, today is an exciting day because registration will officially open for the Expedition Everest 5k Challenge. The event will be held on Saturday, May 2, 2015. This event is an incredibly unique RunDisney event for several reasons.

1) This is the only RunDisney event that is a stand alone 5k. There are many 5ks held throughout the year on Disney properties, but this event is centered around the 5k rather than a larger event.

2) This event is a night time race. There are only a few other select RunDisney events that are held at night

3) This 5k is also a “challenge event” and includes a few obstacles such as a hay bail jump, tires, and a crawling net.

4) There is a scavenger hunt to complete after you run the 5k. You will be timed separately but the scavenger hunt is part of the “Challenge”

5) This event is held solely on the grounds of the Animal Kingdom park.

6) There is a MASSIVE after party for the participants and select rides are open during the party!

While I’ve never had the opportunity to run this event I interviewed Michael and Tiffiny Wyscarver who participated in the event as a team in 2014. Tiffiny described the event as “Fun, fun, and more fun!” and Michael loved that it was “running through the Animal Kingdom park, obstacles, and a scavenger hunt combined.”

2015 will be the final year that RunDisney offers the Expedition Everest Challenge (which was a disappointment to Michael and Tiffiny). So make sure that if you’re interested in this race that you register quickly! Spaces will more than likely fill quickly because of it being the final year!

Net climb obstacle during Expedition Everest Challenge

Expedition Everest Medals

If you decide to run this awesome challenge be sure to contact Ashley with Charming Travels LLC to book your trip!

Ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

Fun Fact Friday- Happy Birthday Walt!

December 5, 2014amcoope2 1 Comment

Fun Fact Friday-

Walter Elias Disney was born on this day in 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. If he were alive today, he would be 113 years old. Happy Birthday Walt!!!

Happy Birthday Walt

To book your Disney vacation, contact me- Ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com

Words of Walt- Children

December 4, 2014amcoope2 Leave a comment

Here are today’s Words of Walt. As a teacher I am particularly fond of this quote. I find myself stumbling upon this quote at a great time today as I struggled with not my students at school today, but with the bureaucratic stuff that comes along with the job. I found myself not wanting to be a teacher and to give up on my profession. These “Words of Walt” helped me remember why I do what I do.

“A child is helpless in choosing what is to be engraved on his mind during the formative years. The awesome responsibility is assumed, for better or worse, by us adults. Today we are shapers of the world of tomorrow. That is the plain truth. There is no way we can duck the responsibility; and there is no reason, except sloth and cowardice why we should.”

The Quotable Walt Disney compiled by Dave Smith

If you’re interested in planning or booking a Disney vacation, contact Ashley with Charming Travels LLC. Ashley@CharmingTravelsLLC.com

Tuesday’s Tip- Using a Disney Travel Planner

December 2, 2014amcoope2 Leave a comment

Planning a Disney vacation, whether it be to Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland in California, or a Disney Cruise can be quite overwhelming. There is so much to consider as far as park tickets, how many days to stay, where and how to get dining reservations, fastpasses, magic bands, and transportation. If you’ve never been to Disney you can end up spending hours planning and still not knowing how to maximize your vacation.

When you finally decide to take the plunge and spend the money on a Disney vacation you want to make sure that you’re making the most out of your trip while also having fun and creating magical memories that will last a lifetime! Using a Disney travel planner can take the stress out of planning your Disney vacation! Disney vacation planners all go through a rather extensive “Knowledge College” and have to pass quizzes to make sure they know how to best plan a vacation for Disney guests. Travel planners are there to make planning your trip easier and they genuinely love Disney and planning Disney vacations!

So the first thing that I always assumed about going through a travel planner is that it would end up costing me more money to book through a planner… let’s debunk that myth right now- it costs ZERO extra dollars to book through a travel planner. Zero, zilch, nada, zip! So you’re paying nothing extra and you get the benefit of the knowledgable travel professional, sounds like the way to go to me!

If you’re like me you like to be involved in the planning process. So the travel planner can do as little as booking the trip for you, or as much as planning a detailed itinerary, dining reservations, and fast passes. It is up to the client how involved they want to be in the process and how much the travel planner can do for you.

With all that being said, I am SOOOOO excited and pleased to announce that I Ashley, your resident Mouskaholic, is now an official Disney travel planner through Charming Travels LLC. If you’re wanting to book a vacation at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or a Disney Cruise, I can help guide you through the process step by step!

Contact me today at Ashley@CharmingTravelsLLC.com and I can get you a quote and get you on your way to creating magical memories!

Ashley at Charming Travels LLC
Ashley@CharmingTravelsLLC.com

My Disney Holiday Tradition

December 1, 2014amcoope2 1 Comment

Hello Mouskaholics! I apologize that I haven’t blogged lately! It is certainly NOT because I haven’t been thinking about Disney… I still love Disney and I love sharing my Disney experiences, life has just been on the busy side lately.

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite Disney traditions that my husband and I have. While we have never been to the Disney parks at Christmas time (trust me, it’s on my bucket list!), that doesn’t mean that we don’t incorporate Disney into our personal Christmas traditions! The living room in our home is painted with two maroon walls, and two white walls. The decor in the room is all black and white photos, and silver trims. When we put up our first Christmas tree as a married couple we decided that the tree should match the room, so our tree is decked out with ornaments that are maroon, black, white, and silver. We started with a lot of generic ornaments and in the past seven years we’ve added a lot of unique ornaments to the collection. Our favorite ornaments that we’ve acquired are the ones that we’ve purchased on our Disney trips!

Even though we’ve never been to the parks at Christmas, there is a special store located in Downtown Disney called “Disney’s Days of Christmas.”

Disney’s Days of Christmas- Located at Downtown Disney

It is open year round and you can shop for Christmas specialty items on any trip! We make it a point to stop at this store on each trip and add a new ornament to our collection. While there are MANY beautiful ornaments in the shop we are quite selective as we search each year for the perfect ornament to fit the theming of our tree. The ornaments that we’ve collected over the past 7 trips are all unique. Usually we go for a Mickey ornament, but on our most recent trip my husband specifically wanted a Jack Skellington ornament. So now our tree has 6 Mickey’s and 1 Jack 🙂