I admit it...total sucker for a pretty gift card. It could even be empty and a little voice in my head goes Ohhhhhh and it sounds a LOT like the Little Green Men from Toy Story for some reason... A few years back, I was incredibly disappointed when Disney did away with the pretty gift cards! They completely stopped, and only had the red Mickey. I bet you know which one I mean. The one that everyone sells. I'm thrilled that a few months back, they brought BACK these amazing gift cards. Best of all? There are SO many incredible designs to choose from. I bought myself the three above. When you order your gift card, it comes in a nice envelope. And then once you open the envelope...is your gift card, in a beautiful card! The card tells where you can use it, how you can use it, and the value of the card. I'll be honest...I'm not sure what I love most! The pretty card, the pretty gift card, or the fact possibilities are endless...you could frame the cards...make ornaments...bookmarks...gift tags...there's a lot of creative possibilities here. We typically pay off our Disney vacations with gift cards. Here's why! (Hint! I don't pay retail!) And when strolling through the parks, a gift card is how we cover our meals, souvenirs, and etc. The kids also have a souvenir, and one of the ways I like to tell which is the food card, which is Kid #1's card, etc, is by each thing of person having their own separate card. It helps me see if we used all we had budgeted for or not. As a matter of fact, there are a LOT more ways to use a Disney gift card than you may realize! I've got a list of 11 different ways you can use your Disney gift card while on your vacation. Our kids loving making their own purchases too, and it's such a time saver to pull out the Iron Man card and know who it belongs to, or the Darth Vader one. I'm never even worried about my kids losing their gift cards. Why? Well, because of the 10 second, less than a dollar way to make sure you kid won't lose it! When you buy these gift cards from the site, there is a minimum of $25 to get the card. If you are a card collector, Disney Stores and Disney Parks will still let you put as little as $15 on a card. When we vacation, I snag a few of these cards for $15, and gift them along with the kids' birthday cards, or Easter baskets. It's an easy way to help them save. As a matter of fact...one year Santa even dropped some in the stockings! How awesome of him! We are planning our summer trip to Disney World, and there are droids to be build, saber accessories to buy, and more plushies than our van can likely hold, so the boys know they need to save up! Stop by Disney's site to browse their gift cards. What's your favorite? I've so many I love!
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If Disney's Halloween parties have you in the mood, but a trip there isn't happening, how about creating your own? Especially for those of you teal pumpkin families, this might be a fun way! Oriental Trading has these fantastic tokens that our kids can collect, and then trade in for treats of all varieties! I'm actually thinking I'm going to get a bunch and let my kids earn them by doing extra jobs, as well as turning in their unsafe candy. Total win win! My kids already trade out their candy, but this just looks so fun...who wouldn't want to earn these to trade in for fun things? Speaking of Halloween, it's never too early to plan a costume! Check out Disney DIY costume ideas! You can go here for kids costumes and then you can go here for adult costumes! Need a little more Disney spookiness? How about some easy Disney Halloween decorations? Next, we share our annual list of our favorite Disney Halloween books and our must watch Disney Halloween movies! Each year we project a movie outside as we hand out treats. This year, it's going to be Coco. I can hardly wait! While the continuation of our multipart series on Who would win: Disney World, Dollywood, or Hershey Park is on the way, I wanted to stop and share what's been keeping me so busy.
My book is finally finished, edited, beta read, reedited, formatted, and artwork completed. It's my hope that this book has something for everyone. The book is split into two parts. The first half is for those who need dietary considerations at Disney World. Anyone who might need to know ahead of time what to ask, how to order, what to watch out for. The second half are those tips and tricks for saving you wish were all in one place along with a lot of practical advice. This book was designed to be easy to slip into your bag for vacation, or passed around before hand. It's NOT overwhelming! It's actually going to be the thing that lets you enjoy your vacation with a minimum of stress. I'd love to hear what you think if you buy my book. Reviews are always appreciated, so that small books like this, have a chance to show up in Amazon's algorithm, to help those who need it to find it. Want to buy a copy? Click here or the picture at the top! Thank you for your support over the years! There will be a special giveaway coming soon to promote my new book! I love high quality photos, especially those of Disney! Let's be honest though, between juggling the Dole Whip, the camera, people bumping into you, and of course, the wrong setting on your camera just as you go click, those perfect photos don't always happen! Thank goodness for stock photos, huh? especially the FREE ones. So what can you do with these? Besides the obvious, of phone or computer backgrounds, I've seen others make the most amazing and crazy awesome crafting items. Everything from holiday decorations to party invites, memory books to memes. Possibilities are only limited by your imagination, and we all know what Walt said about imagination! So where do I get mine? There are a few great places, each with a huge selection of free and paid stock photos. Here are my favorites. Pexels Deposit Photos I use these the most, and each time I get a fantastic, high quality image for free. You'll find your favorite Disney photos, but you'll also find great images for all kinds of uses. Start typing in keywords, it will be hard not to browse for hours! What will you do with these? I'm thinking some amazing inspirational Walt Disney quotes on top of a few of these might be in my future! The following is an abridged and unedited page from my upcoming book, Vacationing With Food Allergies at Disney. Though you might not have food allergies, there's still some very helpful planning information, because who doesn't get hurt at times on vacation? Finding First Aid Disney is well equipped to handle emergencies. Each of the theme parks also has a first aid station. What you’ll find there, is they are able to handle anything from rashes or chemical burns (like from a sunscreen your kid’s face didn’t like!) to headaches, those lovely pollen allergies Florida always seems to have, and just about any of the minor things you might need, including scrapes, sprains, and other injuries. Just don’t expect a Mickey bandaid! Sorry kids, they are plain flesh toned. All first aid stations are staff by a nurse, be it a Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant or Licensed Practical Nurse, or some combination of the three, all working for the local hospital system. They are very helpful and caring. More than once we’ve been offered a quiet place to rest or even lie down if needed. And for various little things, we’ve been given a dose for now, a dose for later, or multiple little packets of cream. Obviously, just because there IS a first aid station fully stocked does not mean you should leave your epipens at home. And, it’s likely you travel with a few meds too. If there’s something you need non urgently, your resort gift shop will likely sell it. We also tend to travel with quite a few first aid essentials, just because. Let’s be honest…it’s always something! First Aid Essentials Here’s what I usually put in my mini first aid kit.
I make a small sandwich sized Ziploc bag with a portable kit. A few advil, some bandaids, etc, just to throw in my park bag. I’ve used it more than once. Last year it was drizzling and our shoes were a bit wet as we stood in line at Space Ranger Spin. There was a child swinging on the bars, maybe ten or so. She was almost my size, so when she slipped off the bars and fell right into me, her body filled with momentum, it literally knocked me over. Thankfully, I didn’t fall on my kids. However, I got a deep gash on my ankle from her shoe, watched as she started swinging into the opposite direction, completely unaware, and cleaned and covered my ankle before we got on the ride. That mini kit really comes in handy for headaches from the heat, minor skinned knees, or the other little things that you don’t want to be bothered to get out of line for. For the budget side, I like being able to reach for my own inexpensive products, instead of paying a few dollars for a dose of medicine at the giftshop, or a big bundle for a tube of anti itch cream. What do you pack in your mini first aid kit? |
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