Disney Mom at Home

Living Life with a Little Magic

Top 10 Tips for Surviving Disney While Pregnant

As we wind down to the end of my third (and final) pregnancy, I get asked a lot of questions about how to do Disney while pregnant and still have fun. We were fortunate enough to go twice during this pregnancy, once in the first trimester and once toward the end of the second. While both stages of pregnancy were very different, one thing stayed the same – there is definitely tons of fun to be had at Disney while you are pregnant.

Below are my Top 10 Tips for doing Disney while pregnant and enjoying yourself!

  1. Have Flexibility – If you’ve been to Disney, or are in the middle of planning a Disney trip, you know that scheduling things like Fast Passes, dining reservations, and pretty much all parts of your trip are important in getting exactly what you want. This is great and totally how we vacation, except while pregnant. You need to have the flexibility to cancel fast passes (even the best ones) if you are feeling like you need to head back to the resort to rest or find a cool spot to rest.
  2. Stay Hydrated. I hate water. There, I said it. I live on pop and love staying in a Disney resort with an unlimited mug of cool Coca Cola refills. However, there’s a time and a place for everything, and Florida is HOT. So, even I, hater of water, force myself to drink a few bottles of water a day to stay hydrated. A refillable water bottle or cup is the perfect souvenir or compliment to your park bag.
  3. Don’t Get Hungry. Disney is a place that is known for their food. We usually plan at least half of our trip around where we are going to eat, and often times split something small like a Mickey pretzel for lunch in favor of a huge buffet dinner at one of their awesome restaurants. When pregnant though, hunger is the root of all evil and usually the cause of most sickness in pregnant women. Therefore, it’s important to eat throughout the day. I like to pack some snacks in our park bag so if I start to feel a little sick, I can eat immediately. 
  4. Plan on Resort Time. We often do balls-to-the-wall park days. We get there at rope drop and linger long after the fireworks end to avoid the big rush to the buses. While I love long Disney days full of magic, I know my pregnancy limits. When I start to get tired or overheated, I know some resort time is necessary. Especially during the hot months, a nice afternoon nap or trip to the pool can really make the difference in my day. 
  5. Avoid the Heat. This one goes hand-in-hand with resort time. Florida is hot for the majority of the year. Whether your trip is in the dog days of summer or in January where it can be relatively cooler weather overall, you can still encounter days that are just downright hot. The middle of the day is particularly the most brutal, so it’s the perfect time to take a break. If you are staying offsite and don’t want to leave the park, this is the time to make an awesome dining reservation at a great restaurant and get into the AC and off your feet. Take your time too, don’t rush to get back out into the heat.
  6. Shoes are Important. Because Disney World is HUGE, you are going to be doing a lot of walking. I will never forget sobbing as we walked to the buses at Hollywood Studios from the back of the park because it was SO FAR away and my whole body hurt. I learned that two pair of shoes are necessary. Tennis shoes for the majority of the day and flip flops for when your feet start to swell and need to breathe. Benches are also your best friend when your legs just need a break.
  7. Use Fast Pass as Much as Possible. I am the person who goes crazy when people say they used fast passes for rides like Mad Tea Party, Buzz Lightyear, and The Haunted Mansion. Lines for those rides are usually only 30 minutes at max and are often not a good use of a fast pass. When you’re pregnant, though, any time on your feet can lead to pain, swelling, and a general feeling of being unwell. So, use those fast passes, schedule them close together and then you can add more as you go. Staying off your feet as much as possible is just as important as riding the popular rides (I know it sounds ridiculous, but I promise it’s true!)
  8. Stick to One Land. Most of our Disney trips we find ourselves crisscrossing the park a million times to get on the rides we want. This is usually great (and great for your daily steps!) but not while pregnant. Finish one “land” before moving on to the next so you can minimize your walking. This will keep you going longer in the park. 
  9. Dress for Comfort.  This one is just as important as shoes. Especially during the warmer months, dressing comfortably is a key to enjoying your day. Wear the most breathable, least amount of clothing possible. My rule of thumb is if you can wear a dress, wear one! Something that doesn’t squeeze your growing midsection is my preference. 
  10. Listen to Your Body. This is absolute, most important thing you can do! What works for me in the parks may not work for you! Or even, what worked well during one pregnancy may not work during another. When we went in 2015, I was just as far along as when we went this January. I could power through the parks all day and make it to fireworks. This trip, I maxed out at 4 hours. Take it easy and go on whatever schedule YOU need to! It’s really the biggest key to a successful pregnant trip!

Going to Disney while pregnant can be great fun. There’s an extra layer of magic when the cast members make a fuss about your little mousketeer on the way. If you plan ahead and do it right, you can still have the trip of a lifetime. 

Do you have any secrets to successfully doing Disney while pregnant? I would love to hear them!

5 Ways to Rock Your Business – No Matter What Your Hustle Is

Being an entrepreneur is a lot of people’s dream. The thought of working for yourself, with no boss telling you what hours are best and where to work from is the ultimate form of freedom. However, with that freedom, many people are actually lost when it comes to where to get started and how to stay productive, especially if you’ve been used to being told what to do and when for the majority of your career.

So how do you get ahead and how do you get to be more productive?  These 5 steps are easy ways to rock your business, regardless of what your hustle is.

  1. Know Your Product.  This is the easiest, and most important thing you can do. Regardless of the business you are in, you area selling something, be it your expertise or a physical product. Knowing how your product and how it can benefits everyone is the key to success. If you can’t explain how your product can help a variety of people, regardless of their situation, you cannot effectively sell that product and you will not be successful. Even if you have a product that fits in an extremely tiny niche, knowing exactly what that is and how to explain it to people who do not necessarily fit that bill is just as important. 
  2. Be Consistent. It’s so easy to return from something like a conference on a “high” and go all in, only to crash and burn a few weeks or months later. Consistency is key to building long-lasting relationships and to keep your clients coming back. In today’s instant gratification, social media-driven society, if you fall off the face of the earth for two weeks, people are going to forget about you. You have to stay consistent and be present in order to get ahead.
  3. Know Your Market. This goes hand-in-hand with knowing your product. If you don’t know who you are trying to reach, you are never going to reach anyone. For example, if you are a travel agent who specializes in Disney, then you better know all of the upcoming promotions and new attractions set to open in the near future. If you don’t, there are plenty of people in the market who do, so you can easily lose your clients to someone who is staying on top of the latest trends. Likewise, you need to know what is going on in your market so you can set yourself apart.
  4. Find Your Passion. Probably the most important thing. Anyone can sign up to sell the latest and greatest new product, start a freelancing business, or start to make their own products on sites like Etsy, but if you don’t have the passion for it, you will never succeed. End of story.
  5. Surround Yourself with Like-Minded People. Find your tribe.You need people who think like you and want the same things as you to be around. These are the people who will support you and who you can turn to when things get tough, but will also push you to continue and get you through those bad times. They will celebrate your victories and mourn your defeats. They are your people, and you need them. When you surround yourself with people who have similar goals and a similar work ethic, you will naturally be more productive because you will feed off of each other. 

If you conquer those key five steps, coupled with a lot of hard work and determination, you can succeed in any business venture you take on. 

A Disney December Trip Report

So many of my readers ask me the same thing: “What does a typical Disney trip look like for you guys.” Something I make sure to express over and over is that every Disney trip is different, and every family does Disney a little differently! I’ve talked about some of the things we’ve done and how we do Disney with little kids, but wanted to give my adult-only or adults with grown children readers a look into how fun Disney can be for adults! 

It’s been a long time (almost 7 years) since Kevin and I have done adult Disney (man I miss it!!!), so I’ve teamed up with my friend Cindy to give you a glimpse into an adult Disney trip report! Not only does Cindy get to do Disney different than we do, she is a DVC owner and annual pass holder. Couple that with her semi-retired professional life (hello flexibility!), and her trips are something even I covet! I think you’ll really enjoy reading about her adventures!

A DISNEY DECEMBER TRIP!

Day 1

We scheduled a trip to Disney in December 2018 for 2 reasons. First, we “had” to go to initiate our annual passes I purchased with a significant DVC discount in January of 2018. The stipulation was the first day of use had to be before December 30th. The other reason was my son, Seth who is a freshman in college would be off then.

There were 4 of us, My husband Gary, myself, my son Seth and his friend Em. Our other usual traveling companions, my daughter and her boyfriend would be unable to join us as they were going to Egypt for the holidays and couldn’t take more time off of work. I was unable to get one hotel for the 4 nights of our stay using DVC points, and so for the first time “in forever’ (sorry couldn’t resist), we had a split stay between Animal Kingdom Kidani Village and Bay Lake Tower. (More to follow on our experiences with a split stay).

We only live 20 minutes from the airport but with a 7:30 am Southwest flight, we had to leave the house by 5:30! Ugh! But since this was my first trip since I retired, I wore my new favorite Disney shirt and carried my new Mickey suitcase that my colleagues bought as a retirement gift! Much better than a gold watch, and that made it all good!

We got to the airport with plenty of time, had a little breakfast at the airport, our flight was on time and we got into Orlando a little after 10. We used Disney’s Magical Express to travel to our first hotel, AKL. (Regarding photos, the teenagers have learned resistance is futile, just stop and smile and the pain will be over quicker)!

Our plans for day one were to check into the hotel and then head for Hollywood Studios. We got the most coveted of text messages on the way to the hotel, telling us our room was ready! We went directly there passing through the magnificent lobby and admiring the very tall tree. (Sorry the picture for the tree does not do it justice because the sun was behind it).

 

We had requested a Savanna-facing, one-bedroom villa near the lobby. The reason for requesting close to the lobby is my husband has terrible knees and I try everything I can to reduce the distance he has to walk while we are at Disney. We arrived to find a wonderful room facing the Savanna as requested. I apologize I didn’t get a picture of the view, but it was great.  We purchased groceries from Garden Grocer and we waited for bell services to bring them up, and then we were on our way to HS.

 

HS has been undergoing construction recently, prepping for the new Disney Skyliner, and the buses drop people off a huge distance from the front entrance. We learned that car share services are able to drop people much closer to the entrance so we took an Uber instead of the Disney bus. (It got us there much quicker, is cheap and much closer to the main entrance).  We had time to shop before our first FastPass (Tower of Terror), so shop we did!  We then rode ToT and then Seth and Em used the single rider lane and rode Rock’n’Roller Coaster. After those 2 exciting rides, we couldn’t resist stopping at a popcorn stand and bought a BB8 drink for Seth, the Pluto popcorn bucket for me, and Em got the Toy Story Green Alien bucket.  While Seth and Em used our next scheduled FP on Star Tours, Gary decided the “kids” needed a lecture!

I do most of the planning for our Disney trips and have learned along the way that the happiest of trips involves everyone getting something on their wish list. So, prior to planning I ask what restaurants they would like, and what Fast Passes they want. If they have any special requests, I try to build them in also. Seth’s request for dining was “anything Italian,” so today was Seth’s day. Up next was an early dinner at Mama Melrose’s Italian restaurant. We were using the Disney Dining Plan, so this was a perfect one credit table service meal where we all enjoyed a pasta dish!

And now, in my humble opinion the most fun part of this day, we were headed to Toy story Land for our next scheduled FP — Slinky Dog Dash! (We ran into these amazing guys on our way in!)

 

I have to divert here for a moment to tell how I came to obtain this most coveted FP. On my day to be able to reserve Fast Passes I happened to be visiting my daughter in Sacramento (of course) and since the FP window opens at 7 am EST, I was up and at my computer at 3:45 am with the 3 hour time difference!!! And, much to my dismay, did not get one stinkin FP that I wanted that day.  No SDD, no 7DMT, and no FOP! I was verrryy disappointed, but how I obtained SDD and the other ones I wanted, was to haunt the My Disney Experience App about 18 hours a day repeatedly refreshing. Over the next few weeks I got them all with a bit of effort. Go me!

 

Anyway, back to the SDD ride. We got there and the stand by line wrapped all the way out of the ride area, back to the character meet and greets! (So glad we had those Fast Passes!!). The ride was absolutely awesome, and we all agreed a great time!

By then we were all tired from our 5 am start, so headed out of the park back to our hotel. When we got back to the room, there was a wonderful treat waiting for us (sent to us by our good friend Meagan who happens to own this excellent blog) — a beautiful cooler bag with a Mickey emblem on the front and filled with tasty treats!

Well, we had an excellent first day at Disney. Tomorrow’s Magic Kingdom day!

 

The Butcher: A Cheaper and Healthier Way to Shop

One place in our budget we struggle with the most is groceries. I am very particular about what I am feeding my family, and big name stores with cheap food freak me out. I just don’t feel comfortable about buying more than the staple foods there. So what happens? I find myself spending a lot of money buying produce and meat from expensive grocery stores.

I’ve learned over the years how to manage the produce costs – by shopping in-season produce only, or by visiting our local farmer’s markets through the summer to score the best deals, but meat was still something I had a hard time with. I only liked to buy my meat from the butcher counter, which was expensive.

In researching ways to keep my grocery costs low, I had quite a few people tell me that I am missing out by not using a butcher. I knew nothing about what a butcher could offer and thought I could only get fresh meat by the truckload there and only what they had available. What I didn’t know was that yes, you can buy large quantities, but they are cut to your liking, and packaged the way you want them.

While it is nice to have a bulk of fresh meat to choose from when you are ready to prepare dinner, I needed a little more convincing that the butcher was a good idea. While it can save hundreds of dollars on fresh meatin the long run, it is a little more expensive up front.

Something I wasn’t even considering was that you know what you are getting when you are buying from a butcher. When you go to places like Butcher’s Mark, you can see exactly what farms each type of meat comes from. Whether you prefer ground beef, steak, pork, veil, or chicken, there are no questions about what has been fed to or done to the animals prior to you purchasing the meat.

Another big thing you have control over is the cuts of meat you are getting from your butcher. There are cuts that are expensive and cuts that are a little less expensive. Unlike a grocery store, when you go in, you are able to control your costs a little better and still walk out with a great selection of fresh meat– not whatever was on the grocery store clearance rack!

Going to the butcher is a whole experience! The best part is that although they obviously focus on meats, they sell other things that you need to go along with your meat, like homemade marinades for the perfect compliment to you meal. The little extras you can purchase along with the feeling of community and supporting a small business was enough to turn me into a loyal customer of our local butcher. Now when I go in, not only do I know I am getting the best food for my family, the best bang for my buck, but I am also met with a familiar smiling face who knows exactly how I like my steak to be cut and my ribs to be packaged!

How We Did Toy Story Land in ONLY 90 Minutes!

With so many amazing stories and pictures already circulating, I absolutely couldn’t wait to experience Toy Story Land! While my kids were also excited, I was clearly the most excited member of my family. I spent hours looking at other blogs and seeing what people wrote. One commonality among everything I read was you aren’t going to experience this without a long wait.

I was lucky enough to score a Slinky Dog Dash fastpass for our family at the 60 day mark. The most important thing you can do is to book your fast passes at 7 am when the fast passes open at your 60 day mark. Seriously, it could mean the difference of walking onto a ride or waiting for hours in line! When we got to Toy Story Land during extra magic hours, the wait was already 175 minutes for Slinky. That’s one I don’t think I could get my kids to wait in.

Another thing we did was utilize our extra magic hours. Sure, it was a pain to get up at 5:30 to be heading to the bus stop around 6:30 to get to the park by 7, but it was definitely worth it! In fact, we were even running a little late, so we didn’t get into the park until about 730!

Once in the park, we bee-lined it straight to Toy Story Land! I will admit it’s been a few years since we have been to Hollywood Studios, so I legit had to ask a few cast members where in the world I was going! Between them and my map on the app, we made it. We walked straight back to Alien Swirling Saucers. The wait said 20 minutes, but it was much closer to 10. The ride was awesome!!! My girls had a blast on this ride! It’s so much fun!

After the Saucers, we walked over to Toy Story Mania. Previously being the best ride in the park, we anticipated a long wait. We ended up waiting about 15 minutes! Totally worth it! So here we are, in the park for about 45 minutes and we had already done two rides! Our Slinky Dog Dash fast passes weren’t until 4:30, so we knew we would just be watching it in the morning.

Knowing Toy Story Land was about to get crowded with summer guests, we decided it was as good a time as ever to grab some breakfast! S’more French toast anyone?  Yes, I thought so too, so we grabbed some at Woody’s Lunch box. The menu here it total fun. Nothing plain and normal. Breakfast so early is not my favorite so I just had a banana split yogurt. It was vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries and bananas in the middle and granola and chocolate chips for on top! Everything is fun at Woody’s!

When all was said and done, we were able to do all of Toy Story Land in an hour and a half!

My tips for having the best time while still making the most of your time:

  1. Stay on property and use your Extra Magic Hours (even if they are sooooo early!)
  2. Go to the back first!! Everyone was waiting in line to see Woody and Jessie or trying to get on Slinky. We hardly waited for Alien Swirling Saucers!
  3. Move quickly from attraction to attraction. Get the rides out of the way first
  4. Use a fast pass for one of the rides. That way you’re only waiting in 2 lines!
  5. When you’re done riding, stop and look around! Green Army men are everywhere and there’s a parade every so often! It’s a whole land of fun!
  6. Grab a bite to eat at Woody’s Lunch Box. While there’s not much shade, the food is fun and imaginative. Something you won’t find anywhere else in any of the parks!

Have you been to Toy Story Land? Do you have any must-do tips that made your vacation so much better? Please share!