Making Magical Memories

I have a confession.  I've never purchased an autograph book when I traveled to Disney.  I know there are a lot of options when it comes to buying a pre-made autograph book...you can get so many different kinds; Princess versions, Fab Five versions, Pixar versions....so why did I make my own each time we traveled?  The short answer: I never wanted to run out of an autograph page!  I always had this horror that if I bought a pre-made autograph book that I would be standing in line with one of my kids to get an autograph of a character and we'd be flipping through the book and we'd find we had no more pages for someone to autograph!  That's really the only reason.  Those pre-made ones are gorgeous and super easy, and in a pinch I would have totally grabbed one to use.   But, if you have a few extra minutes before a trip, you can easily make your own with some card stock, a paper cutter, and a small 4x6 photo album from the store.  I purchased ...

I've enjoyed spending some time during these months of stay at home orders finding fun Disney recipes and making them at home to enjoy!   This Breakfast Lasagna from the Crystal Palace at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom was my biggest challenge to date.  I found this recipe from food.com which appeared to be the most accurate reproduction based on comments so I thought I'd use this as my starting point.  It was a little intimidating at first glance, but then I figured I could tweak it a little bit.  I really didn't want to make homemade everything! First I chose to skip the pancakes and just use two layers of waffles.  Then, because my husband is the waffle maker and I'm not, I elected to use frozen waffles instead of making those from scratch. I bought pre-made pound cake instead of making it from scratch. But I did use the recipe listed for custard and pastry cream.  I started making those on a Friday afternoon so they could refrigerate overnight....

Get Back to the Magic in 2021! Are you ready to make more memories in 2021?   Join my list today and have 2021 quote information in your inbox as soon as prices are released! Give me an idea of your vacation needs, get booked early and secure your family's favorite resort! A $200 package deposit is all that is needed to book your trip!   There are so many new changes and exciting things happening in Walt Disney World in 2021 - you won't want to miss out! Contact me at jlynn.wilkinson@magical-vacations.com today to get on my list today for your families best opportunity to make NEW memories!!  Or, fill out the questions available here and choose my name in "Magical Agent" and I'll be in touch with you as soon as possible!   REMEMBER, Disney is currently operating on a Park Reservation System and Park Pass Reservations will need to be made AS SOON AS WE DEPOSIT YOUR PACKAGE!   Don't wait! View Park Pass availability (Click "Disney Resort Guests") on t...

Yes!  You read that right.  I used the words Joy/Tween/Teen in the same sentence!  I think a lot of people believe traveling to Disney is done once kids hit a certain age.  I think you just have to change your perspective and Disney is a whole new world (no pun intended) for your entire family when you travel with this age group! To start with, at the age of 10, your child is now technically what I lovingly refer to as a "Disney Adult".  This is the age in which Disney charges adult prices for things like tickets and dining.  With that said, lumping kids into the ages of 10-17 is quite daring of me, don't you think?  So why did I do it?  A tween is defined as someone who is too old to be a child and too young to be a teenager.  I'm putting them on this post because it's my opinion that if Disney is charging a higher rate at the age of 10, Disney also views them differently from the age of 9 to the age of 10.  However, let me state th...

If you read my last post, you know that for me I considered my children "kids" when they went to Kindergarten.  There's a maturity level that turned them from a "Little" in my mind to a full blown "kid".  This age; around 5, until they became tweens at the age of 10, brought with it a new found maturity in how they traveled. For starters, they were able to help plan our trip!  They could think ahead and not think that the trip was tomorrow (you know how it can be with younger children!).  This meant that we could talk about the different rides that the kids were now big enough for, but maybe not brave enough for. They are funny!  This trip to Disneyland was the one trip where both my kids fell into this same category at the same time.  I have to admit that this trip was perhaps one of our most memorable!  My kids' senses of humor had developed in both of them and they threw themselves into this trip.  They saw the humor around every...

Let me start this out by saying that this post is purely opinion.   And to write it, I think you need to understand how I've classified my children throughout their lives. Babies:  infant to around 18 months Toddlers:  18 months to around age 3 Little:  This stage began around the age of 3 and lasted until they went to school.  For one that was 4 months after he turned 5 and for the other it was 9 months after she turned 5. Kids:  Kindergarten until they were formally a tween Tween:  10-12 Teens:  13 - 17 I say this because over the next few posts I'm going to tell you my opinion of taking 4 different ages of my children to Disney.  I never took my kids to Disney when they were babies or toddlers.  For one child I never had the opportunity. For the other I actually chose not to bring her on a weekend trip (though I do have regrets on this now at times, though other times I don't - it's a very conflicting moment in time!) ...

5 Reasons I Love Walt Disney World More than Disneyland Resort If you read my last post you saw the top 5 reasons I prefer to go to the West Coast if given a chance to choose.  Now, let me tell you the top 5 reasons I prefer the East Coast! 5 .  Magic Bands.  The technology in these bands is amazing.  Not only can they be your room key, credit card, and Fast Pass, but they can be used to sprinkle little touches as you are on rides.  I'll never forget the first time we noticed this.  We were riding "it's a Small World" in the Magic Kingdom.  As we were leaving the tunnel, there was a sign that said "Adios..." then it listed all of our names.  At first we thought it strange that our names would be listed there, then kind of weird, then it clicked.  Were they using our Magic Bands?  They were, and we thought it was pretty cool! 4 .  It's bigger!  Yes, I know that my number 4 on my Disneyland list was that it's smaller, but l...