Baby Mine!

Congratulations of your expected bundle of joy!

I often get the question, I'm pregnant and we are going to Disney! Now what?  First of all, take a deep breath. Your Disney trip can be tons of fun even with your little bun in the oven! I'm going to share with you my Top 5 reasons to enjoy your Walt Disney World when you are pregnant!!

1) I think my favorite part about vacation at Disney while pregnant is the food! Now I'm not suggesting you go overboard but it can be fun to enjoy a few extra treats. Plus no matter what you are craving, you'll most likely find it at Disney!

2) Believe it or not, you'll still have a ton of rides and attractions that you can experience! Disney has tons of shows (Beauty and the Beast, Festival of the Lion King, Nemo the Musical, It's Tough To Be A Bug, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Indian Jones, Lights! Motors! Action!, Mickey's Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress, Country Bear Jamboree....to name just a few).   Plus you have lots of slow moving rides to enjoy!!  Remember the Disney parks are a complete experience. Take this time to slow down and explore all those parts of the parks you miss when you are racing from ride to ride!

Here are few rides you need to skip, and of course use your discretion and skip what you aren't comfortable with.

Magic Kingdom
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Railroad Mountain
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway

Animal Kingdom
Primeval Whirl

Expedition Everest
Kali River Rapids
Dinosaur
Kilimanjaro Safari

The Train to Conservation Station

Epcot
Test Track
Mission: Space

Hollywood Studios
Tower of Terror
Rock 'n Roller Coaster
Star Tours

3) Disney has a great resource for Mom's and Mom's-to-Be...the Baby Care Center's!!  While most people would think of only using these while you have a child in tow, but as a Pregnant momma sometimes you need to take a few minutes off your feet in the air conditioning.  These centers have lots of quiet spaces for Mom that include rocking chairs. There are also family spaces so if you do have younger kiddo's with you, you can all spend a few minutes together out of the hot sun!

4) One of the best things about expecting is the adorable outfits you get to purchase! Get your little one a unique souvenir from their very first trip to Disney! During our trip in 2011 we managed to get our little one quite a few fun gifts.  Luckily we had already found out it was a girl and  had named her.

Plus her first set of ears!

5) An amazing and unique way to document your pregnancy is by taking some great pictures while at Disney World! You can take advantage of Disney's PhotoPass services to get some iconic shots or even set up a mini-photo shoot with Disney at one their resorts.  Whatever you choose, they'll surely be photos to last a lifetime!

 We had our photo taken at Conservation Station where we held our wedding reception!

If you are thinking of planning a Walt Disney World Vacation, why not contact me? My services are always free! Amanda@Mouseketrips.com

Guest Review of Alaska

Every once in a while I get an email from a client that I just have to share. This one comes from a sweet client of mine that just took her family on their first Alaskan cruise just weeks after us! I hope you enjoy!!

Don't forget if you are a past client and want to share your experience with me, you can do so by Showing Some Love or if you'd like to do a trip report as a guest blogger email me at Amanda@mouseketrips.com

Hi Amanda!!!

We just arrived back this morning and I had to connect with you right away! We had an absolutely FANTASTIC, FABULOUS and MAGICAL time! So good in fact that we are contemplating on booking another one next year if the stars align! You will certainly hear from us if we decide... you will be the first to know.

The kids left the boat crying as they did not expect enjoying their surprise vacation that much! The staff, the boat etc. were wonderful and superseded our expectations! Your weather streak extended to us and we had absolutely wonderful weather... we even saw whales and dolphins swim alongside our boat as well as the boat went extremely close to the glacier in Tracy Arm. I cannot say enough great things about our week long experience and can't help but feel truly blessed!

I have to mention that during our cruise, our son was denied twice by Mickey to sign autographs. We asked Guest Services when we are able to get an opportunity to get his autograph during the remainder of our cruise. What they did next was something I had to tell you.. They surprised both my sons with a private meeting with Mickey, as well as awarded them with special certificates and 2 limited editions each of cruise specific and dated lithographs! Unbelievable! It was absolutely amazing and my kids were so thrilled! They truly made our trip magical!

I just had to connect with to thank you for absolutely everything you have done to make this trip an amazing one! Without you, there would have been no trip, so again a million thanks! You have customers for life!

We're headed to lunch now so I'm signing off ..

Once again.. we are forever indebted to you for the wonderful memories!



xoxoxoxo



-A

Trip of a Lifetime-Day 3, Part 2

When we left off, it was time to explore our rooms!  One question that was posted on Facebook last week was this:

Is it true that a verandah is a must have on an Alaskan cruise? (thinking of the cost but I love verandah's and don't want to miss a thing!)

We debated for a long time over what room type to get. We love having a Verandah and weren't sure if we would miss out by having an inside room.  On the Alaskan cruises, there is a big price difference between and inside and verandah room.  We finally decided that the money would be better spent on the ship and stuck with our inside room.

Ultimately I think it was the best choice for us.  The rooms aren't huge and if we had any more than 2 people in them, I could see how crowded it would be. We really missed the split bath but other than that, we spent most of our time up on Deck so we didn't miss the Verandah one bit....plus without any natural light, inside rooms are the best for taking naps!!

After we settled it was finally time to sail away!

One of the coolest parts about sailing out of Vancouver is going under the Lions Gate bridge!!  During the sail away party the ships horn wasn't played like normal, but as we went under the bridge they played it. So long Vancouver! See you in a week!

We hung out on deck and checked out the sights, but we could only wait so long...it was finally time for...

ICE CREAM!!

We chose the later dinner time on this sailing for a few reasons:

1) No need to rush back to the ship to get ready for dinner

2) We normally eat after Kennedy goes to bed so 8 is perfect for us!

Before dinner we went to the theater to catch the opening show which was a ton of fun and we got a sneak peak at an act that we'll talk more about later. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is Disney's alcohol policy. Out of all the cruise lines, Disney is the most lenient in what you may bring on board.  As long as you pack it in your carry-on and can carry it (no rolling luggage) you are good.  We brought on 3 bottles (rum, peach schanpps and raspberry vodka). We'll talk at the end of the trip about whether this was a good bargain or not.

We couldn't help ourselves and had to grab a few Lava Flow's before the show (reasonably priced at $5.75 plus 15% gratuity)

After the show (or dinner if you have early eating) you'll have some time to kill before heading to dinner (or a show).  They usually do a few fun 30 minute type activities.  Our first dinner would be in Parrot Cay. Our dinner rotation was PTA (Parrot Cay, Tritons and Animators Palate). I'm going to do my best at remember what we had to eat :)

Lauren and I ordered the 4-night wine package which meant over 7 nights we'd have 4 bottles to drink. I'll let you know during the trip recap how we did and if it was a good bargain.

Ignore Pat's grumpy face! You'll be assigned a table for the whole week and both the table and your servers will stay the same.

If you only see a few dishes it means more than one of us had the same entree, appetizer or dessert.

I think this was the only night we gobbled up our dessert before photographing it!  After dinner we headed outside for a walk.  I love how it didn't get too dark and the ship was lit up so beautifully!

Our first day was a busy one! Arrival day always seems to fly by! I'll leave you with this amazing video that Lauren create of Day 1 if you haven't seen it already. 

 Next up will be the start of our first day at sea!

Kennedy Sophia

Today my little girl turns 2! I can't believe how fast time is flying! Today's post is for my sweet Kennedy Sophia.

For as long as I remember, I wanted to be a Mom. I never could imagine a life without children.  It was hard at first. It took us a little while (and a little help) but before we knew it, you were on your way!  I feel like it was just yesterday that we found out we were having you!

And then it was your due date!

And then it wasn't...you sure took your sweet time!  The few days leading up to your birth I lived on Eggplant Parmesan because it supposedly induced labor for thousands of women!  The day before you were born your Daddy decided to do some  light gardening...and threw out his back! Luckily Nana was staying with us. It was June 23rd when I started having contractions during dinner. I had a feeling it would be soon but passe them off as Braxton Hicks. About 2:30 a.m. I went to get your Daddy who informed me he was going to bed....not yet Daddy. It's time!!

My labor was an extremely difficult and emotional time...I'll tell you when you're older.  Every single second was worth it to see your beautiful face.  I didn't get to hold you right away but we've sure made up for that.

You weren't an "easy" baby and you sure gave us a run for our money!  But you had the most amazing personality and could always make us laugh!

When you were 5 months old, we took you to Disney for the first time. Everyone said you were too young and wouldn't enjoy it. We knew otherwise the minute you saw your first parade.

When you were about 7 months old, we got you your best friend. You were inseparable from the start.

And then, right before your 1st birthday you gave us the scare of a lifetime. 4 stitches later and to this day you can barely see the scar.

Another whole year has gone by and you are the most amazing little girl.  You have an infectious laugh and are so silly! You love to make other's laugh.

You are loud and love to get everyone's attention! 

You absolutely LOVE to dance!

You are curious and adventurous.

You are so independent (sometimes to my dismay)

You and Walter and still the very best of friends..

You were big and brave even when Mommy wasn't sure she could be!

Your head full of curls suits your personality more than you know!

You love Doc McStuffins, Tangled and the Fab 5 (Mimmie and Minnie)

Happy Birthday my sweet, wild, crazy, funny girl!  We have loved getting to know you and can't imagine life without you! You are growing into an amazing little girl and we are so lucky to be a part of it!

PhotoPass-Making Memories Last a Lifetime

If you've been following my blog for say, more than a week, you'll know that we love to take photos while on vacation. We come home with literally thousands and I know we aren't the only family to do so. The one thing we don't do on vacation is have our photo's taken by Disney's PhotoPass photographers. Shocked right?  We try! We know the benefits and think it's a great service but we always seem to forget to stop and get our photo's taken. That's why today I wanted to talk about the benefits of Photopass Plus so you don't miss out like we do!

First of all let's talk about what PhotoPass is!  Photopass is a FREE service provided by Disney for any guests entering the parks. All over the parks (and water parks) you'll find Disney Cast Members in khaki vests with cameras. They are positioned near major park icons, character meals and other fun locations with great backdrops!

If you are staying onsite you'll simply use your Magic Band each time you see a photopass photographer!  When you get home you'll simply log in to your My Disney Experience account and click on photopass. You'll be able to view everything plus purchase photoas and other products.

If you are staying off-site, for the forseeable future you'll still receive a Photopass card.Don't worry if end if with multiple cards (we always do). You can combine them all later!

So basically as you explore the parks, anytime you see one of these photographers, you can stop, take your picture and be on your way!  When you get home you'll head to either your My Disney Experienace account OR http://www.disneyphotopass.com/ (and enter your card(s) number). Voila there are all your pictures!!

Now comes the tricky part...while the services are FREE, the pictures are not.  The great thing is you'll have plenty of options of fun products to put your pictures on. PLUS you'll have lots of fun stock photos to choose from AND you can upload all your own photos.

If you want to plan ahead,  you have two options.

PhotoPass CD Prepurchase

For just $119.95 (http://www.disneyphotopass.com/specialoffers/wdwphotocdlearnmore.htm) you can preorder the PhotoPass CD that will come complete not only all your Photopass CD but you can upload your own photos to it as well. If you wait to purchase it once you get home, you'll pay $169.95! 

Memory Maker'

-You get all the photos of everyone in your travel party taken by our Disney PhotoPass photographers at hundreds of locations throughout Walt Disney World Resort.

-Whether you pose in front of Cinderella Castle, share a hug with Mickey, or let us capture your fun family moments throughout the theme parks, all those great shots are yours.

-Even attraction photos are included, like that amazing shot of your plummet down Splash Mountain!

-Forget about having to purchase each photo individually, because you get digital copies of all of them to download and share with family and friends.**

The cost will $149 and can be purchased through your My Disney Experience account. The "window'" begins 3 days after you purchase. You will have 45 days from the time the picture is taken before it expires.

This is a great deal if you have some of these fun things planned for your trip! With single images running almost $20 a piece, this is a steal!!  With Photopass you can add fun borders and even take special magical photos in the parks.

If you are currently a client and want to add Memory Maker just send me an email at amanda@mouseketrips.com. If you aren't a client...why not? Send me an email too!

Trip of a Lifetime-Day 3, Part 1

I probably don't say it often enough, but I'm pretty darn lucky that one of my best friends is an amazing photographer. My hubby keeps telling me to get a nicer camera, but I know that a large portion of this has to do with skill...that I just do not have. The memories she has captured on film I will treasure forever.  Nothing makes me happier after coming home from a vacation then to see a Dropbox alert that she has sent me pictures.

The more pictures I see from this trip the luckier I feel that we go to travel with them...but more importantly than amazing pictures, without fail, we have an absolute blast with them.  Vacation with friends or family isn't always easy but we can never hesitate to plan vacations with Lauren and Patrick.

Ok enough of the mushy stuff! It's time to get onto Day 3. You are all in for a treat today! Not only do I have some amazing pictures BUT Lauren has included a video of us boarding the ship!! 

The day started out EARLY!  We left around 6 a.m. for the drive up to Vancouver due to a bridge being out (we wanted extra time). If you are driving up to Vancouver, I can highly recommend parking right at Canada Place. We went online ahead of time and pre-paid (http://www.vinciparkcanadaplace.ca/).  It was tricky to find at first but only because it was so obvious lol!  Once you get inside, you have to stop at the parking office FIRST! Once we did that we found a spot right by the elevator, went upstairs and we were literally right there. It was so easy!!

We had gone through customs into Canada when we drove across the border, but in order to board the ship we had to go back through U.S. Customs. We had enhanced drivers licenses that allow us to drive/boat into Canada and Mexico but many people didn't recognize it and it gave us a bit of trouble. Once through customs, it was time to check in. Both Lauren and I completed online check-in at the same time. were given the same Port Arrival Time and checked-in at the same time but they were given a MUCH lower boarding number.  Remember, if you are traveling with multiple parties you can board with whoever has the lowest number!

While we were waiting I tried to get Eric and Patrick to record the first of what should have been several videos....here is their best attempt...

Hopefully they get better later in the trip! We had a while to wait so we took a few photos! After we checked in and headed to the waiting area, we were given our first Personal Navigator to begin planning our day!

Before we knew it was time to board! We had a little fun while boarding that I'll be sharing later this week on Facebook!

As soon as we boarded we headed to Parrot Cay for lunch and we were starving! On a side note, we had been gone from Kennedy for 3 days now and it was SO weird not having her with us. We immediately starting planning her next cruise. How odd to eat without having another mouth to feed!

After lunch we explore the ship and secured our Palo reservations since we weren't able to in advance.

The boys even got in a little basketball!

Next up, our room is ready and it's time to sail away!!

Trip of a Lifetime-Day 2

Seattle Day 2
After a quick brunch, we were off for a fun filled day of seeing the sights! First up? Pike Place Market!! I've always wanted to go here and it did not disappoint!

We found the cutest little chocolate shop and hubby and I couldn't resist buying a few pieces (although pricey...3 caramels and 2 chocolate covered oreo's cost us $13!!!)

Next up....the famous Gum Wall!

Um gross!! We didn't stay long..it was so gross. I wish I had a better word to describe it but YUCK!! It was time to walk off those yummy chocolates so we headed down to the water.  Eric and I were so impressed by the cleanliness of the city...except for the gum of course!

We stopped in this great little shop that had all sorts of weird and fun things to buy!

Lauren and I even got our fortunes!

We had a few errands to run still so it was time to get going.

But not before some ice cream!

We had a great time at the Market and I'm so glad Lauren and Patrick took us!

After we left we took a drive out to visit Penny, Lauren and Patricks dog who was at this amazing Horse/Doggy day care!

The drive out was amazing!

And we got to see this gorgeous water fall!

We had an amazing day but it was time to head back for dinner and to get ready for our cruise! We would be leaving bright and early Monday morning for the drive up to Vancouver!

Top 5 Reasons to Cruise with Little Ones!

After saying that we would never take our daughter on a Disney Cruise until she was much older (3 and potty trained!) we couldn't pass up a great rate. At 17 months our daughter enjoyed 7 full nights on the Disney Magic to the Caribbean! Read along to see the top 5 reasons that it wasn't the disaster we feared it might be! We discovered that a Disney Cruise was a great vacation for our little family and can’t wait to take her again!

1) Children that are NOT potty trained and/or are still in swim diapers may not use the pools on board. I think this is the biggest deal breaker for most folks. It was for us at first, until we got an amazing price to sail on the Magic. We decided for the price we'd go, have a great time and not worry about the pools. You know what? We had a great time! Our daughter LOVED the splash area and there was lots of other children for her to play with. I will admit the Splash Area on the Fantasy totally blows the one on the Magic out of the water but I think only I would noticed that (not my child).

*Update!! The Magic has been totally reimgineered and has an amazing splash area for the whole family!! We can't wait to try it out!

2) Children over the age of three have the added benefit of FREE kids clubs. For those traveling with little ones, you have the great option of dropping them off in the nursery for a fee of $9 per hour. I'll be doing a separate post on the Nursery in a few weeks but we loved dropping our daughter off her. They were amazing with her!

3) Food...if your little one is eating solid food then a cruise is the place to be. Kennedy love eating fresh fruit daily as well as pancakes every morning. There was always something for her to eat. Also, our servers at dinner were just amazing. They helped entertain her, always brought her favorite food and even introduced her to her first Mickey bar!!




4)If your family loves meeting the characters than there is no better place to be than a Disney Cruise. We loved the short wait times and the intimate moments Kennedy shared. She danced with Chip and Dale, had a play date with Cinderella and Snow White and even gave Goofy a few kisses.

5) Family time...we LOVE going to Walt Disney World but with all the hustle and bustle of busy days, we don't always have as much quiet time together as we'd like. With a Disney Cruise we get all the fun activities that are offered plus some time to just be together. My husband works the night shift and is busy going back to college during the day. He doesn't always as much time to spend with us as he'd like. We love just hanging out together and relaxing on a Disney Cruise.

Trip of a Lifetime-Day 1

Hello everyone!! It's finally time to start recapping our amazing trip to Alaska! Before we start, if you've missed it, here are some posts during the planning process:

Trip Announcment
Alaska Here We Come

Brrr...but Alaska is Cold!

Bottoms Up

Overpackers Anonymous

Alaska Here We Come

First and foremost I'd like to remind everyone that the majority of the pictures coming in the next few weeks are taken by Lauren Kennedy from Lauren Kennedy Photography. Lauren is based in Seattle, and photographs families, babies and weddings! Be sure to check out all her sites:

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Ok so let's get started! Today I'm going to share with you our first day in Seattle!! We left bright and early on a Saturday morning (6 a.m.).  The grandparents had picked up Kennedy the night before. She had a great weekend full of sun and swimming!

Seattle Day 1

If you don't know, my hubby is terrified to fly. We normally take direct flights to Florida so I was very nervous about not only a connecting flight but a rather long flight out west. He did great and before we knew it we had landed in Seattle! We were super excited that our first sight was:

Since Lauren and Patrick weren't back from their week in Hawaii until later that night, we had the whole day to explore on our own. We picked up our car (a sporty 2 door since we never get to drive something fun!) and just started driving! We had no plans except to spend the day together.  Before we knew it, Seattle loomed in front of us!

We decided to just drive around the city a bit, with no specific destination.

We finally decided we were starving and a burger. Since we didn't really know anything about the city we did a bit of googling and before we knew it we had arrived at UneedaBurger. It was a cute, hip little open air restaurant that served up some amazing burgers and onion rings!!

After we filled our tummies we decided to hit the zoo next. Imagine our surprise to find out that it was jut 5 minutes down the road. We had a great time but often found ourselves saying, Kennedy would love this!

I wish I could say the rest of the day was fill with excitement but to be honest at this point we were exhausted. I had been up since 2:30 a.m.  EST and Eric had never gone to bed in hopes of sleeping on our long flight to Seattle. After a failed attempt at ice cream, we ended up back at the airport around 5:30 p.m... and Lauren and Patrick's flight wasn't supposed to get in until 10!! We grabbed some coffee and tried to watch a movie...and tried to stay awake!! Finally they arrived and we were sound asleep before we knew it!

Alaska Here We Come!

It's finally here! The day we leave for our 11 day adventure to Alaska!! Once we return home we'll have tons of video and photo to share! For now be sure you are following me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram....you never know when an update will appear!