The post Florida & Disney trip 2019 appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.

So this post is dedicated to Disney purchases! All thanks to a conversation I was having just the other day, with what I think are the best keep sakes to buy whilst on your Walt Disney World vacation

Let’s be serious here, there are SO many shops throughout WDW, and each one of them is an Aladdin’s cave filled from floor to ceiling with, pretty much everything imaginable!

Over the years I have managed to spend a serious amount of money on purchases at WDW and then think to myself……”Why did I buy that?!” I have bought everything from pens, to antibacterial hand gel, cuddly toys and t-shirts.

So her are my TOP picks for the things you should invest in, the best kind of merchandise and memory’s

1. Pandora– Pandora is quite literally HUGE throughout Walt Disney World, you will find Pandora in every park and some park resorts too. I have purchased many Pandora items throughout my trips, including rings, bracelets and charms.  What I didn’t do was take advantage of the “exclusive to Disney parks” Pandora jewelry.  Disney Pandora has now made it’s way across the Atlantic to the UK (and i am sure many other places too) which means those Disney charms that I collected throughout my trips to Walt Disney World, are now widely available in any Pandora store worldwide! HOWEVER, there are some charms that really are EXCLUSIVE to WDW, like the charms that you can collect for each park (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios) They will never be available outside of Walt Disney World, and oh how I wish I had made some of those purchases. I have 8 charms on my bracelet and there are only TWO that you cannot buy anywhere except WDW- My Pink Mickey Charm and my green Princess Jasmine charm. Ask the cast members when inside the store for the exclusive ones, I wish I had of!
2. Alex and Ani-I LOVE Alex and Ani, I hadn’t ever heard of them before visiting WDW, but they have there own shop at Disney Springs. They do the MOST BEAUTIFUL and unique pieces of jewellery. The company has described its products as “eco-friendly” much of the material is either recycled or from vintage articles. In 2016, founder Carolyn Rafaelian purchased original copper from the Statue of Liberty and the company launched the Liberty Copper Collection. But of course this is a Blog post dedicated to all things Disney, so my most favourite purchases from Alex and Ani have got to be the Disney Collection created with the perfect combination of pixie dust and positive energy. The Disney Collection features beloved Disney characters, icons, and more. My favourite purchases here HAVE got to be the charm bracelets! They are so cute and classy and add the right amount of Disney to any outfit!
3. Starbucks Mugs– So Starbucks is another hugely popular chain around the Walt Disney World resorts and parks, because seriously, who doesn’t love a Starbucks right? Each park does there own Starbucks mug called the “You are here collection” which are just the PERFECT little unique keepsake that will look good in any home! These mugs are VERY popular so do tend to sell out pretty quickly, sadly I have still not been able to complete my collection (deflated sad face alert) But hopefully one day I will have a full set. Oh and as you can see by my pictures, they have the cute espresso cups, which are super handy when you are running out of space in the suitcase, but so obviously need them in your life!
4. Limited edition merchandise- Last year (2017) whilst vacationing in WDW we were lucky enough to be in Epcot for the 35th birthday celebrations. And of course to mark such an event they had a lot of really cool limited edition merchandise. Everything from pens, key-rings, pins and t-shirts. All of this was selling out pretty quickly, but Luke managed to get some pins and I got myself a t-shirt (which I absolutely LOVE wearing). I love limited edition things, because in time they can become collectors items. Definitely keep a look out for any significant event whilst on your vacation!!

To be honest I could go on and on and on with Disney merchandise, the list is endless, but I just thought I would share MY personal favourites.

If you like me are a Disney enthusiast please don’t forget to check out my other Disney blogs

Do you have any favourite must have purchases whilst at WDW, let me know, comment below or email me at [email protected]

Thanks for stopping by

Lifestylelisa.com 

L xxx

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Okay so as Luke and I are staying on Disney property this year we got to book our Fastpasses (FP) 60 days in advance, instead of the 30 days allocated to guests who are not staying on Disney property.  I didn’t realise just how much of a big difference this would make, seeing as the previous 2 years we had only been able to book 30 days in advance, so I really didn’t know any difference.

Booking your FP’s couldn’t be easier, the following key steps can be used as a (UK) guide:

1. Download the Disney World app or visit the Disney World Website
2. Create an account by clicking here or if you have an account you can login by clicking here.
3. Once logged in you’ll need to link your Disney resort reservation or ticket reservation number with your account (depending if you are staying on or off park) this can be done here.
4. Once logged-in with your tickets linked you’ll be able to reserve Fastpasses 60 days before (check-in date) if you’re staying on Disney property or 30 days before if staying off Disney property. To start you’ll need to click on FastPass+ in the MyDisneyExperience section or click here.
5. Please note (at the time of writing) UK residents can start adding FastPasses at 12pm GMT on the 60th or 30th day.
6. Next you need to click on add FastPass+ and follow the on screen selections based on dates and what park you’ll be visiting.

Using the app makes everything a whole lot quicker, plus when you are actually on your vacation this app is a godsend, letting you know what reservations you have and what time, as well useful things like park maps and parade times. We logged into the My Disney app at 12pm last Saturday (exactly 60 days before we are due to travel) it took us 20 minutes to book our FP’s for our entire holiday. We even managed to get Frozen Ever After (Epcot) and Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train (Magic Kingdom), which were not available to us the previous 2 years.

Planning your Disney trip is so important when it comes to booking FastPasses, you really do need to know what park you intend on visiting in order to book the passes. The most popular rides will get booked up first, and these MAY be harder to obtain, although I might add it pretty much was only Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Frozen Ever After that we were not able to get, the rest of the rides we did manage to FP.

They have a brand new attraction at Animal Kingdom this year which is of course Pandora-The world of Avatar. Luke and I really didn’t think that we would be able to get any FP’s for the 2 new rides, Flight of Passage and the Na’vi River Journey even with the 60 day advantage. We were both very surprised that we actually did get FP’s for Flight of Passage, and actually both were available, but because the tier system we could only choose one (we went for the one with the best reviews). Luke has since checked the availability for both and there are none left!

I have to give full credit to Luke who is very good at making sure that he is sat at the laptop and is on it as soon as we able to book the passes. He always does well and manages to get us everything we want! But we do book with a plan already written out (preparation is the key!)

We love planning our vacation together and if you have caught any of my previous planning blogs, you will know that we start planning a good 5-6 months before we are due to go. I like to think I am the brains behind the planning project, although Luke would probably disagree (men!!) but I can’t deny that when it comes to dining reservations and FastPasses Luke is the guy!!!
I would recommend researching your rides before you go, as you really do not want to waste a FP on a ride such as Prince Charming’s carousel which usually has very little wait time.
End of Blog Tips

• Staying on Disney property gives you a 30 day advantage over guests not staying on Disney property, with the ability to book FP’s 60 days before Disney check-in. This really can be the difference of getting a FP or not, and could end up standing in line for 80-90+ minutes for the most popular rides. Deciding if you want to stay on Disney property needs to be early on in the planning process.
• Creating an account and linking your reservation number early can save you a lot of time and potential issues, don’t leave it to the last minute 🙂
• FP’s for UK residents can be added at 12pm on the 60th or 30th day before check in.
• Know what rides are most popular before you go and what rides you want to FP

The post Disney planning update & UK Fastpass booking guide!!! appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.

Wasting no time here…. let’s start!!!

Okay planning update first!! So since last Wednesday we are now in phase 2 of planning, Luke has done exceptionally well and was on the ball to book us the best dinning experiences! The planning board looks pretty good, although we are waiting for the Mickeys not so scary Halloween dates to be released, hoping that it won’t throw a spanner in our plans!!!

I found my 2015 planners so have inserted see pictures below:
Luke also ordered this great little book from the Disney website!!

This is a really handy little book to read or even take with you.

Onto the tips!!!! These are some tips that we have used over various trips that I am keen to share!!!

1) Hidden Mickeys! You will find these everywhere! In every park in random places! They are fun for everyone and will occupy all ages when waiting in a 60 minute line for a ride!! I have found an app you can download on the iPhone app at a cost of £7.99. However when I’m visiting I just like seeing how many I can spot before Luke?

2) Pressed pennies! Super fun and a great little keep sake! You will find pressed pennie machines throughout the parks, although Luke and I found a map which highlights where they are. We love collecting pressed pennies, they are a great and inexpensive souvenir. I started collecting them on my first trip way back in 1997 and introduced Luke to them in 2015!

3) Pin Trading!Okay this is pretty huge throughout the Disney parks! In every park in pretty much every gift shop they will sell Disney pins (which all vary in price) the rarer ones are obviously more expensive. You can either attach your pins to a lanyard but I have also seen them pinned onto backpacks, bags, clothes and even baseball caps. Cast members also have their pins displayed on a lanyard, if you see a pin that a cast member has that you don’t and you would like it, you can ask to trade a pin for a pin! They cannot refuse a trade so long as it fits within Disney Pin Trading rules! (Yes there are rules). You can also trade with other park guests. Approach a guest wearing a lanyard and ask them if they are open to trading. If that person agrees, any pin that is on the lanyard is generally available for a trade. Now although Luke and I have pins we have never taken part in pin trading, this is purely because all the pins we buy we really like, and also I don’t really have time to trade!!! You will find a number of websites that will go through the pin trading rules and etiquette.

General tips for Magic Kingdom

1) Ride at the back of thunder mountain and try if you can to ride it in the dark…. trust me it’s a much wilder experience!

2) Shops on Main Street are open up to an extra hour after the park closes….perfect for a little last minute late night shopping!

3) Ride Dumbo at night!!! Just for the beautiful view of the park and the amazing picture opportunities.

4) Fun fact, you will never be more than 30 steps away from a trash can….Hey we tried and tested this!!

5) I have heard that if you ride the jungle cruise at night and there are fewer children on, then you are in for a wild ride!

6) When riding splash mountain sit to the left to stay dry and the right to get wet!…. tried and tested!

My top 2 quick service non reservation restaurants here at Magic kingdom are:

Cosmic rays starlight cafe and caseys corner.

And my top Magic kingdom snacks go too:

Sleepy hollow funnel cake, Dole Whip and the Mickey Mouse pretzel!

Top tips for Epcot

1) DONT RUSH THE PARK! I cannot stress enough that Epcot will need 2 days in order to see and do everything!

2) When visiting the world showcase try and embrace the culture, we love nothing more than sampling some of the quisine on offer that we wouldn’t usually eat!

3) On the lower level of the Japan pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase, check out Mitsukoshi, a great store selling candy, chopsticks, toys, etc. it was here I bought some dried squid (just to be different and try something new) and Luke somehow managed to convince my dad it was candy floss in order to get him to try it!….I also bought some ramune a very popular and delicious Japanese soda, FYI grape is the best flavour!

4) Don’t forget to check out club cool!

5) You can collect passport stamps for every country visited, in your Epcot passport!

Best snacks in Epcot:

The croissant donut,bubble tea and school bread which can be found in Norway!

General Tips

1) Always carry ID with you

2) Take a picture of your parking lot character and number, trust me at the end of a long day  this will come in handy!

3) Ye old Christmas shop in Magic kingdom is brilliant for unique souvenir ideas

4) Travelling with wheel chair dependant family, then head over to Guest relations at Magic kingdom for wheelchair access and badges.

5) Florida has the most amazing sunshine but everyday around 3pm it rains! Sometimes light rain sometimes torrential. Be prepared and pack a poncho!

6) You can take your own snacks into the park! And you can also get free ice water in any park, just ask!

So I could literally go on for hours and hours and research more and more tips to add in here, but I’d be here forever! I look forward to getting some new tips from my up and coming trip in September, and blogging all about them.

Next week I will be returning with my Florida adventures and everything you need to know about escaping the Disney bubble.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate all the positive comments too.

Until next week, that’s me

Little miss keeping it real?

The post Disney planning update, and quick Disney park tips!!! (My Disney adventures)? appeared first on Lifestyle Lisa.

But first I need to talk about Club Cool! I cannot believe I forgot to mention this little hidden gem (or maybe not so hidden) in Epcot when I did my last blog!! Okay, what is club cool  Well it’s an attraction located in Future World at Epcot that you can go too at any time to cool off and sample complimentary Coca-Cola soft drinks from around the world.  The gift shop at Club Cool also offers Coca-Cola merchandise for purchase.

So club cool I believe opened in November of 2005, which meant I just missed out that year as my holiday to Walt Disney World in 2005 was in October…. never mind, anyway I heard about it when I was planning my 2015 trip and was watching some vlogs and reading some blogs, and people had started mentioning it, so I added it to my list of things to check out. I’ll be honest if I hadn’t have heard about it prior to my trip I probably would have missed it altogether as from the outside it looks like a quick snack place that’s sponsored by coca-cola but luckily I planned and did my research well enough to know that I needed to check this place out!! So inside it’s nice and air-conditioned and they basically have maybe 3 or 4 of these stands (picture below)

You take a little paper cup provided and off you go and sample some treats from around the world! I DARE you to try the Beverly …. it’s the best  my personal favourite is Kuat from Brazil  now that is one delicious drink.

Now let’s get onto the world showcase!

The stats:

Okay, so the world showcase is a large area containing 11 pavilions, each themed and dedicated to representing a specific country. The pavilions surround the World Showcase Lagoon, (a large manmade lake located in the centre of World Showcase). In clockwise order, the 11 pavilions are:

Mexico 

Norway 

China 

Germany 

Italy 

United States 

Japan 

Morocco 

France 

United Kingdom 

Canada 

Of the 11 pavilions, only Morocco and Norway were not present at the park’s opening, as they were added in 1984 and 1988, respectively. Each pavilion contains themed architecture, landscapes, streetscapes, attractions, shops and restaurants representing the respective country’s culture and cuisine. In an effort to maintain the authenticity of the represented countries, the pavilions are primarily staffed by citizens of the respective countries.

So now we know that Epcot world showcase is HUGE!….. and now it probably makes sense why I split Epcot into 2 days during my Walt Disney vacation. As I mentioned in my previous blog I chose one day to purely do the rides and illuminations and I then chose a second day (last year it was Monday 3rd October) to do the whole of the world showcase.

World Showcase doesn’t actually open until 11 am while the rest of Epcot opens at 9 am, so you could either have a nice little lay in or a leisurely breakfast before heading over or do what I did last year which was book fast passes for soaring and test track (again) so I could get an extra ride on 2 of my favourite rides in that park before making my way over to world showcase at 11 am!….. winner!

ou will find the most popular ride over in Norway  which is the Frozen ever after ride Now I haven’t as of yet done this as it wasn’t open in 2015 and last year it had a 2 hour wait time at 11 am and it didn’t drop much below that! Unfortunately with so many other things to see and do I couldn’t justify that wait, if you can get a fast pass for this then you are one of the lucky ones as these were all gone by the time we could book ours! Although I do think my boyfriend was secretly relieved as I did make him sit through the frozen sing along over at Hollywood studios I think he welcomed the break from frozen fever!

So reasons I love the world showcase…. well as I mentioned it’s the only place I know where you can visit 11 very different countries in one day, I love the authenticity of each country and I love how I feel like I am actually there! The landscape and buildings are beautiful, and I love watching each carefully thought out show as I make my way from country to country. I made the BIG mistake back on my 2015 trip to do the whole of Epcot (rides, world showcase and illuminations) in just one day, it didn’t work, we stuck to doing only the main rides (test track, Soarin, and spaceship earth) and missed out on many of the other great rides they have there, we then rushed our way around the world showcase (to get our spot for the illuminations) meaning we missed many of the shows and shops and not stopping to sample many of the different cuisines they have to offer. Last year however I planned better by spreading our visit over 2 days (as I explained in my previous blog) meaning we had time to take it all in and enjoy it instead of coming away feeling as though we had missed out . A good little tip here: if you are travelling in a big group (we had 8 last year) then as you make your way around the world showcase it’s such a good idea if in each country one of you goes and gets some authentic food to try and you can share it among your party, it’s a great way of sampling something a little different as you make your way around

As you can see the portions are not huge by any means but imagine eating 11 of these as you go!….. no room for dinner!! (Sorry I can’t remember what we had but I know these dishes are from China) my absolute personnel favourite item of food I found in Norway….. and it was randomly called school bread, it’s like a custard-filled bread (it may not sound too good….. but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it is all I’m saying) ……….

The world showcase as you can imagine is also home to some truly wonderful restaurants, many of these will need reservation’s so it’s worth checking this on the My Disney experience app to avoid disappointment.

Well, this is pretty much all for my Epcot part 2 blog, but please watch out for my next one where I’ll be talking about Hollywood studios and giving away any tips I have come across on my previous vacation’s.

Once again thank you for reading and I, of course, welcome any tips or comments.

Anyways that’s just me littlemisskeepingitreal 

Source: My Disney Adventures (Epcot, World Showcase and Club Cool)

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Walt Disney World (WDW) in Florida is my favourite holiday destination and I’m pleased to say I now do it like a pro! We’re talking pre-planned itinerary’s here! It’s all about knowing what you’re doing and where you’re going before you even get on the plane!

WDW is huge (if you didn’t already know that) approx 40 square miles and to put this into perspective about the size of Bristol in the UK, it is made up of 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 27 resorts (hotels) and various golf courses. I was amazed to see just how much it had grown during my 10 whole long years away, and the transition it had gone through from my last visit in 2005 to my visits there in 2015 and 2016 was epic!

I honestly think the biggest mistake you can make is not planning!! You will end up missing out on so much! If you’re going to a Disney vacation do it like a pro!!

WDW could easily take up your whole 2 weeks if you didn’t have a plan, but I also like to head away from the parks and do non-Disney related things.

Today it’s all about the Magic Kingdom!

Magic Kingdom is the biggest, most time consuming, most magical and believe it or not my least favourite park. Hard to believe right, I mean don’t get me wrong it’s beautiful, it’s magical, it’s colourful it is the happiest place on earth!…. it’s also ALWAYS busy, now obviously all the parks are busy it’s Disney after all…. but I’m talking ridiculously busy!… like if you haven’t got your fast pass for particular rides your in for a 2-hour wait busy!

Now Magic Kingdom is home to the Main Street parades, and of course wishes! these are a must-watch for any ages, they are out of this world! I wouldn’t ever recommend using a fast pass for these as the fast pass area isn’t necessarily the best spot in the park for parade/wishes watching, but what you will need to do is go and find your perfect spot (somewhere down Main Street/or near the castle for wishes) at least 2 whole hours before they start! Yes, that’s TWO hours!!!!….potentially two hours of sitting in the 32 plus degree heat or the midday downpour (I’ve done both) possibly with young children waiting.

I have seen far too many families come along 10-15 minutes before the start of either the parade or wished and have absolutely nowhere to sit/ stand except at the back. So the key is to plan, know what time your day time and even parades are and plan around them and get your viewing spot early!

Magic Kingdom along with Epcot is the only 2 parks I like to split up and do over a few days, so last year I did Magic Kingdom on my first day from 1 pm till after wishes (9.30 pm) and missed out the day time parade (ride times are a lot less during parade times). I then went back on another day from 9 am until 9 pm this time watching the day time parade and missing the evening one, I then did a full day MK day on my last day incorporating both parades and Mickeys not so scary Halloween (I’ll talk about that in a separate post) doing a whole day there is pretty hardcore!! I just find that by breaking it down I get to fit in a whole lot more.

So although I said it’s my least favourite park I still love it just a little less than the others (just wanted to get that out there! I am not anti-magic kingdom).

Well this is all for the ‘doing Magic Kingdom’ these are of course just my views, and that’s just me littlemisskeepingitreal

Source: My Disney Adventures!

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