Travel

Disney Cruise, Travel

Door (with decorations by Dr. Doug)
Door (with decorations by Dr. Doug)

Our friends Doug (from Rope Drop Radio) and Michelle McKnight (our favorite travel agent) went on the Disney Fantasy in January 2015 for a 7-Night Eastern Caribbean Star Wars Day At Sea Cruise from Port Canaveral.  They stayed in room 8510, which is a Category 4C Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah.  It is located on the forward (front) starboard (right) side of the ship on Deck 8, almost in the front of the ship.   The room has an enormous porthole window that you can actually sit in!  Some other features of the room include a round tub and a Murphy bed so you can sleep five in the room. read more

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Disney Cruise, Travel

Door (with decorations by Dr. Doug)
Door (with decorations by Dr. Doug)

Our friends Doug (from Rope Drop Radio) and Michelle McKnight (our favorite travel agent) went on the Disney Dream in November 2013, for a 3-Night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral.  They stayed in room 7598, which is a Category 4C Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah.  It is located on the midship starboard (right) side of the ship on Deck 7.   Some other features of the room include a round tub and a Murphy bed so you can sleep five in the room. read more

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Disney Parks, Travel

Baseline Tap House Flight
Baseline Tap House Flight

Hollywood Studios

After our Christmas cruise was done, we headed back up to Orlando and Hollywood Studios.  We noticed it was a bit cool when we got off the ship in Miami.  Once we arrived in Orlando, we realized it was a lot colder than we had anticipated.  A cold front had moved in between the time we had left on the ship and when we returned.  Unfortunately, having come from the Caribbean, we weren’t prepared (or dressed for) cool weather.  We didn’t want to let it interfere with our visit to Hollywood Studios, but it definitely helped convince us to spend a shorter amount of time there.  We used our three FastPasses that I had setup for the afternoon.  We also spent some time in the Star Wars Launch Bay, mainly trying to stay warm.  When we headed to Star Tours to use our fast passes, Nancy headed over to the Baseline Tap House, which is in the old Writer’s Stop location, and got a flight of beers and cider. read more

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Disney Parks, Shopping, Target, Travel

Sunrise over Dulles
Sunrise over Dulles

Time passed quickly as we waited for our travel day to arrive.  The travel itself was actually pretty anti-climatic.  The outbound flight for our trip left from Dulles airport.  We had arranged for a cab to pick us up at 6:00 am and drop us at Dulles.  We dropped our bags off and headed to the TSA Precheck line.  We had packed our carry on bags fairly full, mainly because we were sneaking Christmas presents on for our girls.  Of course, our carry on bags got pulled aside for additional screening.  Luckily, the girls cleared without issue and we shooed them away while TSA looked through the bag.  Nancy was able to tell the agent about the gifts and he discreetly searched the bag without revealing to the girls what the presents were.  After we reassembled the bags, we were on our way to the gate. read more

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Hotel Cost, Travel

Hyatt Place Orlando/Lake Buena Vista
Hyatt Place Orlando/Lake Buena Vista

During a recent Christmas trip to Walt Disney World, we needed a hotel for two nights.  We were returning from a Very Merrytime Christmas Cruise and were planning to visit the parks for three additional days .  One of the nights (New Year’s Eve) would be spent at the Walt Disney World Dolphin so we wouldn’t have to drive after the fireworks at midnight.  read more

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Disney Parks, Food Cost, Travel

Magical Express Picks Up Near Bells Services
Magical Express Picks Up Near Bells Services

We had checked out of our room at the All-Star Movies resort in the morning before we headed off to the parks.  We didn’t quite know what to do with our bags though.  We could have checked them through to the airlines, but didn’t want to do that because the last time we did it with the cruise line, we got charged for our bags despite having the Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard (it gives us one free bag per person).  We decided instead to leave our bags with Bell Services and pick them up when boarding the Magical Express to the airport.  read more

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Food Cost, Travel

Signs direct you to your gate at Dulles Airport
Signs direct you to your gate at Dulles Airport

Our travel day finally arrived for our trip.  The girls had school that day, so we had arranged to pick them up at 10:45 so we could get home in time for the taxi to pick us up at 11:30.  Our flight was scheduled for 1:45 pm, so with the taxi ride, we would have two hours at the airport to get through security, get some lunch, and arrive at the gate.  We picked up everyone and got back home in plenty of time for the taxi to arrive and take us to the airport.  We breezed through security thanks to TSA PreCheck.  read more

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Travel

The Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Museum

During a recent business trip, I found myself with a free day in San Francisco.  What better way to spend a few hours than a visit to the Walt Disney World Family Museum?   The museum is located in the Presidio District of San Francisco.  read more

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