Doing Disney Without Kids (is Awesome)

Earlier this month we (just us three sisters) were fortunate enough to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort. We’re west coast-Disneyland girls so anytime we get an opportunity to head east (only having been a few times), we are pretty ecstatic. Unlike our past trips, this time we made a collective decision to make it a sisters-only trip. Admittedly, it wasn’t the popular decision with our families BUT sometimes it’s a call you have to make. Needless to say, we had the trip of a lifetime. Between all the magic that the #DisneySMMC provides and the fact that we were kid free (no offense to our amazing children) our entire trip was practically perfect in every way.

All of that said, there were a number of things we excitedly experienced and thoroughly enjoyed that would have likely not been the case if we had been traveling with our kids. Looking back now, it almost feels like a dream. It was THAT dreamy.  If and when you ever consider taking a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort without your kids, here’s just a few things you might want to consider:

Take Pictures (of things other than your kids)

There are so many amazing things to photograph at any of the Disney Resorts. From larger than life landscapes to the tiniest of Disney details, going on your own personal photo walk, through the parks (without any agenda but to shoot) is one of the most enjoyable of experiences ever.

Play with Creative Apps (because playing is fun)

Our new favorite photo app to use is Boomerang and there is no better place to play with that app than at Disneyland. I mean, how fun! We can't even! When you're on your own (without the kids) you can take the time you need to focus on trying something new which can make your mobile phone photography feel like play.

Pin Trade (for YOU)

Pin trading is fun with the kids, for sure! But when you trade just for YOU, you get to score the pins you really want. It's a fun way to coax out your own inner-kid. Remember her?

Shop (browse in any store you want for as long as you want)

So often the most enjoyable part of shopping, is just the browsing. And when you've got kids in tow, there's not a lot of time (or patience) for browsing. We took advantage of our time on trip and browsed in any and every store that tickled our fancy. We may or may not have bought a few Dooney & Bourke bags.

Tour Hotels (because awesome)

We're pretty sure our kids wouldn't appreciate being dragged from the Parks to spend time strolling around and exploring the Resort Hotels, so doing it on our sisters-only trip was an enjoyable (and relaxing) way to spend some grow-up time.

Drink (cheers)

No kids. No driving. No explanation necessary.

Enjoy Restaurant Meals (at a leisurely pace)

We had the most enjoyable, leisurely meals ever on our trip. Don't get us wrong, we love a good corn dog from a stand but, having the opportunity to slow down and savor both the atmosphere and the delicious food only made our time together more special and memorable.

Eat Sweet Treats (anytime, day or night)
Sweets on a Disney trip are a given but as with most things with kids, we try to be examples of moderation and timeliness. The best part of traveling with kids to the Disney Parks is that you don't have to curb your cravings. If you want to try every dessert at Epcot, you go! If you want ice cream for breakfast, just do it. Anything goes when it's adults only. No guilt. And there's no sharing required.

Stay Up Late (YOLO)

Without bed times to consider, you've got every freedom imaginable! Watch all the fireworks. Close the park down. Don't sleep! When you're with your grown-up friends or family, you've got lots of chatting and laughing to do. Even if it's until the wee hours of the morning. Who cares! You're not going to wake anyone up. Except maybe your neighbors! Which reminds us, sorry neighbors, we had some serious sister time we were catching up on.

Although we were busy following the schedule and activities of the conference itself (which was awesome!), we still had plenty of time to stroll, savor, get silly and reconnect. It was an amazing trip! If you ever get the chance to do Disney with your sisters, your friends, your partner, without the kids, we highly recommend it. Or maybe you already have traveled as adults to a Disney Resort. If so, we’d love to hear about it! What was your favorite part?

Disclaimer: We were invited to Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at Walt Disney World Resort where we paid a conference fee that included accommodations and some meals on the conference dates.

Where's Pascal? It's The New Where's Perry for Disney Fans!

There's a new game in town, that's giving the catch phrase "Where's Perry?" a run for it's money.

Where's Pascal?

It's the new hide and seek game sweeping the nation... 

Well maybe not, but we do know that there is a really awesome area at Magic Kingdom that was inspired after the village of Corona in the Disney movie Tangled. Really, it's amazing and feels like you've stepped into the movie. (It's incredible how Disney continues to do this!) Incorporated in the scenery and greenery are Pascal and some of his friends hidden by Disney Park Imagineers. You can see a sneak peek at a few of the hiding chameleons on our post over here:

Hidden Treasures: Disney World Unveils New Tangled-themed Scavenger Hunt

Happy Hunting!!!!

If you'd like to know all about the New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World get the all of the latest and greatest on Disney Parks Blog.

Full Disclosure: We were invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Walt Disney World offered a special discounted rate for all attendees and their families. This is a once in a lifetime experience and we are grateful to Disney for allowing us to participate. We'll be sharing unique things seen and heard throughout the Celebration. Please keep in mind these our own personal thoughts and opinions, not those of the Walt Disney Company.

Disney December to Remember: Shopping

Shopping

This photo is very special to us, because it represents a very wonderful trip we took to Walt Disney World for Disney Social Media Moms Celebration earlier this year. We found the Ye Old Christmas Shoppe in Magic Kingdom and fell in love with it. What about you, have you finished your holiday shopping yet? Or maybe you haven't even started, oh my! Do you have a magical place you like to shop for gifts?

We're so glad that you've decided to join us on our magical photographic journey 

Disney Sisters: December to Remember

For the entire month of December we are sharing photos of Disney Holiday Magic. 

Disney Sisters welcome you to celebrate the season with us! All you need to do is post your photo at your creative outlet of choice (your Blog, Flickr, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr) and add your url to the linky below.

Grab our button and please use the hashtag #DisneySisters

Help spread the holiday cheer.

*We encourage Disney themed shots but welcome all images that express holiday magic and what it means to you.

The Return of the Orange Bird at Magic Kingdom

The Orange Bird Returns to Magic Kingdom

Have you heard the buzz about the return of the Orange Bird to Walt Disney World Resort? He's back at Magic Kingdom Park only in Adventureland. You can get the adorable Orange Bird souvenir straw cup exclusively at his home, The Sunshine Tree Terrace, right across from Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.

Since we were just at Magic Kingdom for the first time, we couldn't wait to pick up our orange bird drinking cups. So cute, round and well... orange. They don't have these little guys at our home park Disneyland. A perfect inexpensive souvenir for fans of all ages. There's all kinds of new Orange Bird Merchandise including pins, shirts and hats.

Who is the Orange Bird? 

Here is an excerpt from Disney Parks Blog explaining his origin:

"The Orange Bird is a sunny little fellow with an orange for a head and green leaves for wings. Unable to utter a sound, the Orange Bird makes his cheery thoughts appear above his head in puffs of orange smoke. An original character created for the Magic Kingdom Park in 1971, the Orange Bird has returned home to the Sunshine Tree Terrace where his beaming smile can be seen today."

Full Disclosure: We were invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Walt Disney World offered a special discounted rate for all attendees and their families. This is a once in a lifetime experience and we are grateful to Disney for allowing us to participate. We'll be sharing unique things seen and heard throughout the Celebration. Please keep in mind these our own personal thoughts and opinions, not those of the Walt Disney Company.

Disney Sisters First Trip to Walt Disney World

"Come Along and Sing the Song and join the Jamboree..."

As Disney Sisters take their first trip to Walt Disney World!

In the upcoming weeks we will be sharing all of the Magical Moments (there were PLENTY) of our recent adventure to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at Walt Disney World. It was our first time at the DisneySMMoms Conference, as well as our first time together at Walt Disney World. But for now we'd like to share with you just a few of our iPhone photos from our Instagram feed. 

Disclaimer: We were invited to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Walt Disney World offered a special discounted rate for all attendees and their families. This is a once in a lifetime experience and we are grateful to Disney for allowing us to participate. We'll be sharing unique things seen and heard throughout the Celebration. Please keep in mind these our own personal thoughts and opinions, not those of the Walt Disney Company.

One More Disney Day at Disneyland

In the beginning of this year Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort announced a special event to celebrate Leap Year 2012. The two parks (Magic Kingdom and Disneyland) were going to be open for a full 24 hours starting at 6am on Feb 29th until 6 am on March 1st. They called it "One More Disney Day" But what started out to be "One More Disney Day" for us, turned into "One Disney Day We'd Like To Forget." 

From the moment we heard about it, we planned on attending this monumental event! My sister and I decided to meet in the Parking lot at about 9pm. We had been reading Twitter all day about how the crowds were less than expected. We both wanted to go as"just adults" after we put our kids to bed. We thought, people will be tired from being there all day long will probably be clearing out around then. And wouldn't it be cool to walk around Disneyland when its normally closed? Just like Grad Night all over again. I went with my husband and she took our mom with her. When we came to a grinding hault a few exits away from Disneyland Drive we knew it was crowded, but we honestly had no idea what we were in for. 

All of the streets surrounding the parks were full of traffic jams. Cars were honking like crazy, people were amped, it was very chaotic. We finally got to the parking structure & signs posted said that Disneyland Park was full. The parking attendant let us know that they weren't letting any new guests in at this time, but they should be shortly. It sounded promising enough so we decided to pay the $15 and press on, after all we had come a long way. (Only like an hour and a half... but still) Plus we didn't want to miss out on this once in a lifetime chance to watch the sun come up at Disneyland. While on the shuttle, which took an incredibly long time to get to it's destination we noticed that it was filled with a lot of college-aged kids who wreaked of alcohol. Never a good sign. 

When we got off the line for the security check those lines were backed up too. I've never seen it this crowded. It was overwhelming. We expected to have to wait at the front gates to get in, but luckily by this point (almost an hour later) my husband and I arrived at the perfect time when they were letting the last few people in. When my sister and my mom arrived 5 minutes later, they weren't so lucky. They waited there for over an hour in crowd of hundreds that just kept building. Some people said it reminded them of Walmart on Black Friday, and they feared a stampede at any moment. My sister and mom said that they no longer felt safe when they saw a few locked-out guests trying to climb the locked front gates. I assured her it wasn't any better on the other side of the gates, as the park was way more crowded then even I could handle. We got caught up in the 10pm presentation of Soundsational Parade. After it was over we remained gridlocked on Main Street for a good 15 minutes. It was ugly.

The thing that I really wanted to be apart of was the Mid-Night Snack meet-up hosted by Disney Parks Blog. I read that people were allowed to line-up at 10pm. We got over there around 10:45 and it was already full. And the event didn't even start until 12am. A little disappointing, but at this point it was to be expected. Each restaurant had such a variety of specialized food and menus for the night, that we were perfectly happy to eat somewhere else. But every eatery we went to was even more crowded than the next. At that point, no snack or meal was worth the line for us.

Less than 2 hours of being at Disneyland and I was over it. (A first for me) My husband said that before we left, he'd like to see the 1am presentation of Fantasmic. I reluctantly agreed, and we packed in like sardines an hour before the show. I couldn't really see the show, but it sounded awesome. My view consisted of the backs of people's heads wearing Mickey Ears. This was partially my fault. I wanted to stand as close to the edge as possible, because my crowd tolerance limit had been exceeded a long time ago. Once the show was over it we made our way back to the front and stopped off at the Enchanted Tiki Room. We decided to escape the masses and see the show. Apparently it was another great place for all of the exhausted people to take a nap.

We only got on one ride the entire night, (other than the shuttle) and that was the Disneyland Railroad. The line for it took 30 minutes, but it was worth the wait. Instead of having to fight our way through the crowd to get to the other side of the park, we just hoped on the train. There was something different about the train this night, that I've never seen before. Half of the passengers were sleeping. So many guests were completely wiped out from being there since 6am, or the ones that had been waiting in line since 10pm the night before, they decided to take a nap. We even overheard one girl say, "This is my third time around the park, I just needed a place to relax." It was weird. But then again, so were all of the adults in snuggies.

Throughout the night I saw people in strollers & wheelchairs having a horrible time trying to maneuver through the crowds. No one seemed to care or show any consideration. But considering the overall age and feel of the guests, it was no longer a good place for families at this point. A few of the areas, like Mickey's Toontown was a good place to get some air, as the crowd was fairly lighter there.  Surprisingly there was no real wait in Mickey Mouse's House to see and take our photo with him. I wished he would've been in his PJs but I found out later the characters dressed in PJs were located at Carnation Plaza. 

On the way out, my husband suggested that it may be less crowded in Tomorrowland, and hopefully we could get something to eat and sit down before we headed home. Little did we know the Tomorrowland Terrace was having a full-blown Rave concert. The night's music was being DJ'd by local Radio Station, KIIS FM. This was obviously the spot where people came to "Party."

By the time we left at 3am the crowds were more manageable. But we tried to get on one last ride before we left, Autopia. We figured that it couldn't be that bad. It was still a 45 minute wait... At 3am! Needless to say we passed and headed towards the gate. Once we got outside to ride the shuttle back to the Toy Story parking lot, we were met with another long line. I convinced my husband to wait the 30 minutes instead of walking back, which some of our Disney friends did.

Disneyland is all about making memories. We've made so many wonderful family memories over the years, but this was not one of them. I can actually say that this was my least favorite memory of Disneyland.. As a matter of fact the more people and Cast Members we talk to about the whole #Disney24 experience, the more similar stories we hear. Like the pot smoking on Pirates of the Caribbean, the alcohol bottles on the grounds, the people napping wherever they could throughout the park and the guy running around without a shirt being chased by security.

We did hear that the park was a lot nicer earlier in the day. It was more of the family vibe, and that was before the park was yet to reach capacity. We should have gone then, but we thought it would have been more crowded in the day time, it ended up being the evening when everyone and their drunk friends decided to visit. I'm sure if you asked any person under 25 what Leap Year at Disneyland was like they would say how much they loved it, and maybe if I was 21 again, I would say the same thing. But I'm not 21, not 25, not even 30 anymore. I'm a 34 year old mother of 4, and I was disappointed by our "One More Disney Day." 

Here's what other people had to say about "One More Disney Day":

Disney Day Trippers

Babes In Disneyland

Inside The Magic