Disney World's Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom

Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom

Tinker Bell

It's been three years since I was lucky enough to see the night time parade at the Magic Kingdom. I don't know when they changed it, but it is a completely new parade from the last one I saw the 2010 Electrical Parade. I was most surprised to see Puff the Magic Dragon.

Capt. Hook and Peter Pan

7 Dwarfs

Puff the Magic Dragon

Tribute to America

Disclosure: I attended a Traveling Mom conference at Walt Disney World and my park tickets were included.

Disneyland's It's a Small World Holiday video

Disneyland's iconic ride It's a Small World is transformed during the holidays with loads of Christmas decorations!

World of Color - Disneyland's newest show

World of Color is the newest show at Disneyland and it is magical. Every night at California Adventure you can catch The World of Color show. This is video I took of the beginning of the show. It includes some of the added holiday segments. The show was a little over 30 minutes long and unfortunately my camera batteries died 7 minutes in. I was blown away by this show. Just when I think I've seen it all at Disney they take it to a whole new level.

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Baby's 1st Hair Cut at Magic Kingdom - Disney World

I can't think of any place better to get Baby's 1st  Haircut than Disney World.

Getting our son's first hair cut at the barber shop in Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom was awesome.  Even though we had to stand in line for a long time it was worth it.  (Tips for the line)
To keep the kids from moving all over the place they stick stickers all over the smock and their clothes.  The kids focus on moving around or taking off the stickers.

She spent a fair amount of time with us and did not rush us at all.




When they were done they gave him little Mickey ears to wear. On the back of the Mickey ears it says 1st Haircut.  They also gave him a keepsake certificate and wrapped his hair up for me to keep.  All of this for only $14!

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Bring your own food into Disney World

Did you know that you are allowed to bring food into all the Disney Parks. We were unsure about this until we ask someone in the park that worked there.  Here's what you need to know about taking food into Disney.

• Soft sided coolers are allowed in Disney Parks
• Hard sided coolers are allowed in Disney water parks only
• No glass allowed
• There is a Super Wal-Mart and a Super Target near Disney World where you can get whatever you need
• All rooms at Disney have a small fringe, microwave, and coffee maker.

Here are some of the food items we've packed and taken into the Disney parks with us.

Cold Items:Grapes
Yogurt sticks
Cheese sticks
Sodas 

Juice boxes
Lunchables
Premade sandwiches
Fruit cups
Applesauce
Carrots

Room TemperatureCrackers
Fruit and nut mix
Granola bars
Bananas
Apples
Pop tarts
Fruit snacks
Cookies
Goldfish
Pretzels
Chips

Other random items

• Reusable coffee mug filled with coffee
• Drinks mixes – You can refill your water bottles all over any of these parks, but sometimes the water doesn’t taste good.  The water at the Magic Kingdom tastes especially bad.  We refill and then mix in a drink flavor packets and the problem is solved. (Any of the restaurants will give you a glass of water for free.)

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The best place to meet Tiger, Pooh, and Eeyore at Disney World

     I have noticed that the last few times I have had friends visit Disney World they did not take any time to meet characters.  Their children wanted to, but there were so many other things to see and do that it wasn't worth the time it takes to wait in line to meet them. 

Animal Kingdom - The Best Place at Disney World to meet Characters

     We learned after many visits  that the Animal Kingdom is the best place to meet the characters.  The lines are always shorter than in the other parks.  We got to see Eeyore, Tiger and Pooh every single time we went to the Animal Kingdom, because there was literally never a line. 

Where to Meet Pooh, Tiger, and Eeyore

You can find them quickly after getting into the the Animal Kingdom. Once you are inside the Animal Kingdom head towards Dinoland.  Right before you cross a bridge into Dinoland turn right, you will see to the right a path.  You follow it down towards the river and there will be Pooh, Eeyore, and Tiger.  There is usually a staff member stationed next to the tiny marker.

More on the Animail Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Tips
How to Use Disney's FastPass System

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eating CHEAP at Disney World

Eating at Disney World can be very expensive. Keep in mind you can take in food. We usually take in lots of snacks, bottled water, Gatorade and juice boxes. We also take lunchables for the kids.  You can not bring in anything that is in a glass container.  You can bring in a soft sided cooler, but not a hard sided one.  If you go to the water parks you can take in a hard sided container.

Cheap places to eat at Disney World:

Epcot - There is a place in France called Boulangerie Patisserie where you can get a ham and cheese croissant for 3.25. These are so good and large. They will even heat it up if you like!

Magic Kingdom - At Cosmic Rays you can order a double cheeseburger and an extra bun. You can make two hamburgers. You can load it with as much extras as you want at the condiments bar.  Their free condiment bar consists of lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, sauteed onions, and sauteed mushrooms.

At Tortuga Tavern you can order a taco salad, burrito, or nachos and load them up at the free condiment bar. You can essentially make the meals much larger that way you order less meals.

Disney Studios - At Backlot Express you can order a double cheese burger and an extra bun kit (bun, tomato, lettuce) for less than $2 and then make two hamburgers. 


Kids Eat free in Orlando
Free Stuff to Do at Disney

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Fantasmic at Disney Studios

At Disney World's Disney Studios several nights a week they have a performance called Fantasmic.  It is not to be missed!  This show starts at dark and they usually run it twice as long as there's good weather.

 In Fantasmic Mickey falls asleep and is confronted by his nightmares, but he defeats them and everyone lives happily ever after.  Of Course!  

This show is a combination of water, movie, lights, smoke, fireworks, black light and more.

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Disney's Epcot Flower & Garden Festival 2008

Stepping into Epcot and being surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants carved into Disney characters is incredible.

I'm not a huge fan of Epcot with small kids, but I must say that when they are having their Flower and Garden Festival I absolutely love it!

 

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How to celebrate New Year's eve at Disney World for FREE!

How to celebrate New Year's eve at Disney World for FREE!

For New Years eve we made no plans even though we knew we would be in Orlando for my husband's work trip. At the last minute we decided to go out to the Boardwalk Resort at Disney World. This is an area where Disney put in a man made lake and built multiple resorts, restaurants, clubs, stores, a boardwalk,
and a beach around it. You can walk completely around the area. Other than the parking situation we had an awesome time. Parking is free and then you just walk through one of the resorts and begin your fun.

We started the evening by getting ourselves on the waiting list right away at the Greek restaurant there, Kouzzine by Cat Cora. We didn't make reservations in advance and were not sure if we could get in to eat anywhere. The wait turned out to be only 45 minutes! So to kill time we walked around and enjoyed a juggler performance
and a magician. Both were very good, because they only have the best at Disney. As the magician was finishing up, the first set of fireworks went off over in Epcot. We had a perfect view of them.

At almost exactly 45 minutes we were sat down to a delicious dinner. Our chef was a fellow Red Raider!! Our kids had a three course dinner complete with ice cream sundaes for only 8.99!  They were wonderful when it came to dealing with my daughter's food allergies. Every single restaurant on Disney property is set up to handle allergy issues.
By the time we had finished dinner there was a DJ set up on the lawn right in front of the Boardwalk Inn. He was playing lots of fun clean music and leading everyone is different dance motions. He had motions to every song he played! Our kids danced like crazy.

Overall it was an awesome evening that I will remember forever.

If we could have made it until midnight we would have had quite the view of the fireworks but our two year old just couldn't make it, so at 11 we caught a bus to try to get back to our car. By midnight we were in downtown Disney. From where we were at near Disney Quest facing the parking lot we could see fireworks going off at two of the parks and behind us at a third park. They went on forever! Icing on the already perfect evening.

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Free stuff around Disney World

English: ' observation balloon ride at Downtown Disney in Orlando, Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We can no longer use our annual passes to get into Disney because the expired. Such a bummer. And we just found out that we might be going to Orlando for the New Year. My husband might do the fly by for the Capitol One Bowl game. So, I have begun looking for things to do with our kids that will be fun and won't break the bank! Here is what I have found so far:

You can park for free at any Disney resort, you just have to ask for the 3 hour parking pass!  You can also park at Downtown Disney for free.

Every night, beginning at 9 pm, the Electrical Water Pageant makes it's way around Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. It can be seen from 5 of the resorts. You could go to The Grand Floridian and then walk down to the beach and see the Pageant and the fireworks at Magic Kingdom.

Disney's Boardwalk is located right outside Epcot and modeled after Atlantic City's boardwalk. Every night they play a Disney movie and have a campfire on the beach side. The kids can play in the sand while they watch the movie. Apparently if you are around when they do Illuminations at Epcot, you can see a lot of the fireworks and hear the music. (we will definitely do this, because when we where at Epcot, we could barely see!) Sometimes there is a magician there. You can also take a boat ride.

Fort Wilderness Campground has a bonfire every night (around 8 pm) for free. It starts with a sing-a-long, Chip and Dale come for a meet and greet and then they play a Disney movie for free. You can bring items to make your own s'mores or you can buy it there. They also has a free petting zoo and you can visit the barn where they house the horses they use on Main Street. Small children can enjoy pony rides.

Animal Kingdom Lodge has over 100 grazing animals on property. You can view them for free. There is a place set up for kids to play musical instruments from Africa inside the gift shop.

Downtown Disney is free and there are lots of shops and restaurants. There are full size statues of Disney characters. My kids love the Lego store. They have an area set up where the kids can build and a playground. There are also really large Lego creation around the store. The Ghiradelli Chocolate store is always giving out free samples! My kids also like watching the hot air balloon go up and down.  Most nights there is a family friendly DJ near the toy store.  (He is really good)

The Gaylord Palms – My step mom said this was worth checking out! There is a large atrium with three destinations The Everglades which has REAL alligators, a Spanish Castle with pathways through the everglades and Key West – there is a large boat which is a bar inside the atrium. You do have to pay for parking however.


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