Thanks for stopping by Living With the Magic! I'm currently at the Happiest Place on Earth for our first ever Girls Getaway! I'm joining one of my best friends Lauren Kennedy from Focus on the Mouse for 4 fun filled HOLIDAY themed days at Walt Disney World. Be sure to follow us on Instagram!

Amanda-http://instagram.com/livingwiththemagic
Lauren-http://instagram.com/focusonthemouse

Holidays Around the World

One of  my favorite Christmas Events is Holidays Around the World! During this event you can travel through the countries in World Showcase and learn about how they each celebrate the holidays in their own unique way!



Here's a list of what you might encounter:
American Adventure 
Meet Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, celebrate the traditions of Hanukkah and discover the spirit of Kwanzaa.
Canada 
Follow the Canadian Holiday Voyageurs on a musical tour as you explore seasonal customs of the Great White North.
China 
Watch the agile Monkey King weave his tall tale with twists and turns celebrating Chinese New Year.
France 
Discover the magic of Père Noël and the joy of the season through a Christmas letter from a child.
Germany 
Listen as Helga tells the story of the first Christmas tree and the tale of her first Nutcracker.
Italy 
Meet the kind-hearted witch La Befana who arrives on the eve of the Epiphany to grant gifts to good children.
Japan 
Hear the fascinating story of the Daruma doll and the Japanese customs of the New Year.
Mexico 
Celebrate with Los Tres Reyes Magos, the Three Kings, as they tell of their journey to the Posada and traditions today.
Morocco 
Join Taarji, a Moroccan drummer, as he reflects on family traditions commemorating the holiday of Ramadan.
Norway 
Spend time with Sigrid and learn about Julenissen, the Christmas Gnome.
United Kingdom 
Share in the vivid stories of Father Christmas, dating back to 15th-century England.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

It's been a while since I posted but today I have something special I want to share with you. Let me start at the  beginning. I'm incredibly lucky to have a very supportive husband.  Since I set out on this journey to be a Disney Travel planner more than 3 years ago (it actually started long before that), he has been my #1 fan (probably tied with my Mom).  

 Part of the job requires that I stay up to date on all things Disney related and what's better than actually visiting the park?    In our family we usually have 3 types of trips:

1) Family vacations where EVERYONE goes

2) Hubby and Wifey vacations...these are the ones where Kennedy stays home with Nana and Papa

3) Mommy only working trips (this is where the super supportive Husband and Mom come in!)

With my husbands school schedule getting more and more intense (he's becoming a Special Education teacher) it's becoming more difficult for us to take vacations together...couple that with baby #2 on the way and well we don't have any vacations together in the foreseeable future. When I found out Lauren was going to be in Disney this fall for some training I knew it was the perfect opportunity for a working trip. I'm lucky to have an amazing family so Kennedy is well taken care of (and more than likely spoiled) while I'm gone!

Back to my original topic, when I take these kind of working trips, it's often on a budget.  We don't get the dining plan and the trips are usually pretty short.  We try to make the most of our time there so we can catch up on all things new and that would interest YOU!  So when it came to the Christmas Party we had kind of tabled the idea.  I've been before but Lauren never had. It can be pricey (at over $60 a ticket) so it wasn't a front runner.

The more and more we talked about this holiday themed trip and how we NEVER get the chance for a girls trip, much less during the holiday season, we knew we had to plan on going.  So we opted to skip a few table service meals (that we had been to anyway) and book the party instead!  

I understand when families go on a budget and it's hard to decide what to keep and what to cut.  I wanted to share a bit about the Christmas party and why we feel it's so worth the money!

1) To say Lauren and I love the Christmas season....well that would the be understatement of the century. It runs a very close second, if not a tie, with our love of Disney. The Christmas party combines all of those things!  From a special Christmas parade (with Disney Characters) to fireworks, snow on Main St., cookies and hot cocoa and so much more it's the perfect combination of EVERYTHING we love!

2) Just like evening Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom, attending the Christmas party means being in the Magic Kingdom at night with less people. It's just kind of a magical time to walk around the parks, ride select attractions and enjoy our favorite place!

3)Extra Magic Kingdom time is NEVER a bad thing! With your party tickets you can get into the park starting at 4 p.m. even if you don't have a park hopper and didn't plan on being at the Magic Kingdom earlier that day. At 7 p.m. they'll start kicking everyone without a ticket out of the park.

Needless to say we are pretty excited about this addition to our itinerary. We did cut out two table service meals (Mama Melroses and Whispering Canyon) but we think we made a pretty good swap!

Top 5 Table Service Restaurants for Breakfast

As promised here are my Top 5 Favorite Table Service locations!


1) Kona Cafe!!  This restaurant is a must for us most trips.  They have a unique menu offering including Macadamia Pineapple Panckaes,  Kona Coffe and my all time personal favorite...TONGA Toast.   This is a small LOAF of sourdough bread stuffed with banana's, friend and dusted in Cinnamon and Sugar. It's as good (and fattening) as it sounds. If you don't have time for a full sit down meal, Tonga Toast is available at the Polynesians Quick Service Location, Captain Cooks.

2) Boma is a must do on any Disney trip I take with my husband. It's the perfect mix of american food with a few exotic offerings, plus how can you beat all you can eat? We love the custom omelettes as well as goat cheese scrambled eggs, mini chocolate croissants, fresh fruit and more...not to mention my all time favorite Disney breakfast sausage. Oh and don't get me started on the juice!

3) Looking for a quiet breakfast location close to the Magic Kingdom? Try out the Grand Floridian Cafe. While they  no longer service this amazing stuffed croissant they have a ton of great  and simple options like  Steak and Eggs, Buttermilk pancakes and Mickey Waffles. They also offer some different options like Lobster Eggs Benedict and Citrus Pancakes!

4) You didn't think I'd leave character dining off the list did you? I'm not a huge fan of Character dining but my daughter and I really enjoyed 'Ohana.  I think part of why I loved this experience is that the food is all served family style so you don't have to worry about missing character interactions while you are filling your plate at the buffet! Plus Lilo and Stitch were a ton of fun and not the normal characters you run into!

5) I'll throw one more Character meal on my top 5...Cape May Cafe. The things I loved about this meal included the quiet atmosphere, the character interaction but most importantly the French Toast Bread pudding! I'm a sucker for bread pudding! The buffet was simple, not a huge number of offerings but everything was very good and it didn't feel as time consuming as other character meals.

Girls Getaway Trip Planning-Itinerary and Dining

With a little less than 5 weeks to go, I thought I would share with you today some details of our plans! This trip was VERY different not only from most trips we take but from most trips I plan for my clients.  Here are a few reasons why:

1) No children
2) No husbands
3) No dining plans
4) I'm pregnant

Not only that but we are trying to squeeze a lot of things into a limited amount of time!  It's a tough combo between what we can do, what we want to do and only having 4 days to do it!!

So let's jump right in! Lauren is attending an amazing Travel Agent training and we decided to sneak a few days in ahead of time as long as she's flying to Florida anyway!




Arrival
We originally planned to arrive on Thursday but after doing a little digging we found that if we flew in a night early we'd save money AND get more time at Disney!  We'll be arriving later in the day so our plan is to pick up our rental car and grab Earl of Sandwich before calling it an early night. I'm very excited for a Holiday Sandwich!

Day 1
Our first day will be a Magic Kingdom day, the best way to start off our trip!  We'll be taking things slow and doing all the things we miss when we rush around the parks trying to hit up all the big attractions. Plus we'll be taking lots of pictures AND we bought Photopass+  so we can come back and report how we like it.

The park closes early for the Christmas Party and we have special plans. We are having dinner at California Grill. It was already one of our favorite restaurants so we can't wait to see the renovations!!

Day 2
Today we originally had other plans but once I found out I was pregnant we had to do a little adjusting.  Since I can't ride many things at Animal Kingdom we'll just be heading there for the morning.  We'll spend some time seeing the shows, checking out the animals and of course eating!

That night we have plans to start the Christmas fun by going to Hollywood Studios for Osborne Family Lights and dinner! Lauren has never seen the lights and they are one of my favorite things that Disney does so I'm very excited about this!

Day 3
We have another Magic Kingdom day planned PLUS we have FastPass+ reservations for Be Our Guest. I've toured the restaurant but never eaten here and Lauren has never done either.  Magic Kingdom is our favorite so we had to plan 2 full days here (although we might decide to sneak over to EPCOT later)

Day 4
Our last full day will be spent experiencing Christmas at EPCOT. As much as I love Magic Kingdom, I really love how EPCOT does Christmas. I wish Candlelight Processional had already started but we are still hoping to catch as much Christmas as we can by touring World Showcase. We'll end the trip at one of our favorite restaurants, La Hacienda for Illuminations.

Day 5
I have a late flight today and Lauren doesn't need to check-in to training until late afternoon so we have plans to head to the Wilderness Lodge for breakfast before I go.

On top of our specific plans, since we are taking things slowly we'll try and fit in some resort touring as well.  I'm excited for a relaxing weekend of eating and hanging out with one of my favorite people. We are also excited to try Photopass+, test out MagicBands and more!  We'll be bringing back tons of information and pictures!