It’s Official: Our Family Is Moving To LA!

May 14, 2019 By Cori

It’s official! This summer our party of 5 will be packing up and moving from New Jersey to our new home in Los Angeles (that feels so weird to say)– and yes, we are driving there– because we like to keep life interesting.

If you’ve followed me online or know me personally for any length of time, you know all about our love affair with the California– so to say we are excited is an understatement– YES!!! Even the kids!!!

There is a lot more to share about the road that led us here, but for now I’m just happy to officially share our “big news” and bring you all along for the crazy journey ahead of us.

xo, Cori

The Best Disney Cruise Tips, Secrets And Hacks Every Cruiser Needs To Know

December 28, 2018 By Cori

These Disney Cruise tips are things I wish I had known on my first cruise and I’ve updated them for 2019-2020 cruisers! They elevate the cruise from amazing to unforgettable. So read on and don’t forget to pin this post so you can find it later when you plan your Disney cruise!

I LOVE Disney Cruises!

There is nothing like a Disney Cruise and I am sooo excited to say we are planning our THIRD (and this time with friends! Cannot wait!)

I’ve written about our experience onboard the Fantasy and Dream here on the blog and have posted a few (ok– a lot) of our Disney Cruise pictures on Instagram too, but one thing I’ve yet to do, but have been meaning to for quite sometimes is share the Disney Cruise tips and secrets that we found to be total game changers– because as with any Disney Vacation, a little insight and planning can go a long way!

So now being a two-time Disney Cruise Line veteran, I finally sat down and put it all in one post!

Enjoy!

Disney Cruise Tips And Secrets

Here are all my tips and hacks in one post. Follow all of them and you’ll have a seriously magical experience!

1. Join Your Sailing’s Facebook Group

I have no idea if this even existed for our first sailing but we found it for our second and it was great to be able to connect with other families sailing and post questions to see what others were planning for excursions, etc.

These groups typically also organize things like wine tastings, meet-ups and a “Fish Extender” program– which is a lot like a Secret Santa where you leave each other small inexpensive Disney themed gifts. We did not participate in the Fish Extenderprogram but I know people who have and said their kids had a lot of fun finding surprise gifts waiting for them at their cabin door.

The Facebook groups are not an official Disney group and you can be as active or inactive as you want, but it is definitely a great resource to keep on top of all the planning and prep. You can find the group usually by searching something like “Disney Cruise NY-San Juan Magic November 2016”

2. Personalize Your Cabin Door

Get personalized cabin door magnets like these here-> Disney Cruise Mickey Door Magnets

This is something we totally had no idea about the first time around. Die-hard Disney fans and cruisers go all out with their magnetic cabin doors. It’s a lot of fun to see how everyone personalizes them with magnets showing off their past cruises and favorite Disney Characters. People really get creative!

Disney Cruise Door Magnets

Decorating the cabin door also goes hand in hand with those fish extenders. You can make your own cabin door fish extender or purchase them along with magnets one on Etsy!

3. Pre-order Pins To Trade In Bulk

From a young age, our kids have been big on pin-trading with cast members and other kids when we go on Disney vacations. It gives them something to always be on the look out for and in some cases can keep them excited when waiting on lines for characters, etc. but buying pins can get costly in Disney stores (usually around $12.99 and up for a small set of 3?).

We were given the tip of purchasing bags of them for $25 on Amazon and Ebay from a fellow cruiser on our first sailing and it totally paid off! We purchased 50 for a fraction of the store cost and split them up between all of the kids we were sailing with.

Available on Amazon

The other plus side to ordering in bulk is a lot of the time you get pins you don’t mind trading them. When you purchase them you usually buy ones your kids really love and don’t want to part with. Remember: The fun of it is hunting down and finding ones that wow-them.

We were surprised at how into it the older kids (11/12 years old) got into it– you just never know what will be a hit or miss with middle schoolers– but they had a lot of fun with it!

Also- when you board everyone is given a lanyard to hold your room key, we had our kids use this lanyard to hold their pins instead of wearing two– so no need to purchase a special one for pins!

4. Register For Kids Clubs & Special Character Meet And Greets Before Your Sailing

You can register your kids for the kids club at any time during your cruise, but it is definitely easier to get it out of the way and do it ahead of time online vs. having to wait and registering them at the Kids Club where other people are dropping off and picking up.

When you register online, you are able to get your kids Mickey bands along with your key to world cards right at embarkation! Easy peasy!

There may be special character meet and greets and other limited guest happenings you need to register for in advance, so be sure to stay on top of that.

For our sailing, we had a princess meet and greet and a Frozen meet and greet that we signed up for. There are TONS of meet and greets you don’t need to sign up for and lines aren’t crazy but this just makes it a little easier.

Our last sailing was also the first Merrytime Christmas cruise, so they built GI-NORMOUS gingerbread house in the main lobby area and there were tickets you could have signed up for to help decorate it– which we regrettably missed!

5. Prep Your Carry On Bag With Essentials

Embarking is pretty seamless but it can take a little while for all of your bags to arrive on day one. So it is always a good idea to be prepared with essentials (like a change of clothes, sunscreen, flip-flops) that you may need in the first few hours on board.

6. Download The Navigator App

The Navigator app is pretty amazing.

This Disney Cruise app will give you a run down of all the day’s activities and also allow you to keep in contact with friends and family on the ship.

When you board or while you are waiting to board, download the app and set it up with all of the people in your group so that you can continue to communicate via “text” on the ship while you don’t have cell phone service. There are fun Disney emojis with the Navigator app, which I added ahead of everyone’s name when putting them into my contacts.

Texting via the app was SO much easier that trying to use the room’s wave phones– which you have to use the old school AAABBBCC type texting from years ago– which felt completely foreign to us on our first cruise. You would cry laughing if you saw our lame attempts to text via the wave phone because neither of us could remember how to space words. So our texts looked like “WeAreByThePoolMeetUsAt12”. It’s funny how quickly things like that, that use to come so easy are quickly forgotten. The wave phone is still needed for the kids club and day care to communicate with parents but thankfully, you don’t need to use it for texting!

7. Pillowcase or Picture frame For Character Signatures

Available via Teeny Tiny Fashions on Etsy

If you bring a blank pillowcase, autograph book or picture frame with mat and leave it on your bed with a note, your stateroom host will be sure all the Characters on board sign it and they will deliver it back to you will all signatures.

8. Maximize Your MBs With This Disney Cruise WiFi Hack

Overall, I do not recommend wifi on board– like at all. I had to purchase a package this time around and I was floored by how quickly it was all used up when I only sent and received 10-15 texts!

That being said IF YOU REALLY NEED IT, I do have a bit of a Wifi hack to share. Here is what you need to do to make those MBs last.

Before your purchase on your phone stop by the Wifi desk near guest services and ask them for a copy of instructions on how/what apps and settings to change to help maximize your data.

For instance, if you don’t change your settings every time you turn on wifi your phone may automatically try to download all of your emails. If you are like me with an inbox of hundreds of unread emails, this is a nightmare and will gobble up that data in no time without you even knowing it.

9. Dine Earlier With Little Ones

If your children are small, especially if they are toddlers, I recommend the earlier seating for dinner.

That being said, if your child is in one of the kids’ clubs at dinner time, it’s helpful to know that you can ask your waiter can send food to “It’s A Small World” and the clubs also serve meals at certain times. Just be sure to ask when those times are and if you need to have your waiter send food to the nursery, ask them before you sit down.

10. Castmember Tipping On Your Disney Cruise

Tips are automatically added to your final bill for four people: Your 3 dinner servers and your stateroom host. Towards the end of your cruise, they will leave envelopes on your bed for these 4 tips. You can choose to just put in a small note and prepaid voucher or add cash– though additional cash is not necessary.

Cast members who work in the Oceaneer Club and It’s A Small world are not included in prepaid tips and I’ve heard they are supposed to politely decline any tips offered. That being said, we tipped the sitters in “It’s a Small World” and they didn’t turn it down– I was glad they didn’t. I was extremely impressed by the sitters and they literally saved our vacation because Avery (who just turned 3 days before the sailing) was overwhelmed by The Oceaneers Club. $9/hr and worth every.single.penny.

11. Take Advantage Of The Laundry Facilities

Now I know this is kind of a personal preference, but with a family of five being able to go home with suitcases of clean laundry is kind of the best feeling in the world. There are washers and dryers onboard that I highly recommend taking advantage of at least 2 days before your final day. If you wait til the before you leave, you will no doubt run into an issue finding a free machine.

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More Travel Tips

Now that you know everything you need to know about how to make your Disney cruise EPIC, here are some more travel tips for more vacation fun!

Mystic Connecticut – Family Travel
3 Fun Things to Do in Hollywood with Kids
What First-Time Guests Need to Know about Airbnb

Mystic Connecticut: Discovering A Hidden Gem For The Perfect Family Getaway

October 12, 2018 By Cori

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A spontaneous, “let’s pack our bags and go”, type road trip to Boston led us to an overnight stay in Mystic, CT. I knew nothing of about this quaint little town, except of course that it was the home of the iconic, ! (which by the way, I’ve never seen. ha!)

So I did a little research and I marked off some places for use to “quickly” check out in Mystic before we continued on our way to Boston (namely, Mystic Seaport, Mystic Village and of course Mystic Pizza). What we discovered was the cutest family town that ended up being the highlight of our trip.

MYSTIC HYATT PLACE

We chose to stay at the Mystic Hyatt Place because the family and I have stayed at Hyatt Place properties in other cities and they continue to be my favorite for affordable overnight stays. Though not a tall, fancy hotel, there are times I’d actually choose a Hyatt House over some of the more upscale hotels. I really REALLY missed it while we were in Boston at our “4 star hotel” in the city.

Image Source

The rooms are spacious and clean. We usually get a room with 2 queens and a pull-out couch to accommodate our party of 5 and most have been split into two areas a living room area and a bedroom area.Perhaps the icing on the cake of these stays are the complimentary breakfasts! This is not just your basic bagels, muffins, and fruit. They have a big buffet of options including, oatmeal and yogurt with toppings, waffles, french toast and eggs– complete with Starbuck coffee and the newspaper! This particular stay they had pre-made omelets, and they were soooo good!

Mystic Seaport

(entrance fees: $28.95 for adults; $18.95 for kids; 3 and under are free)After breakfast, we headed to the Mystic Seaport which was about 6 minutes from the Hyatt House.

Though we had pockets of gorgeous sunshine, the day was overall rainy– so one of the reasons we chose the seaport was because we had read that there were a lot of indoor activities to choose from.

The Mystic Seaport instantly transports you back in time with its quaint village houses and horse-drawn carriages traveling up and down cobblestone roads.

While I can only imagine the fun had here in the spring and summer, warm days filled with lots of outdoor fun and opportunities to actually get on a boat to explore or set sail. I can tell you first hand that the scene it sets while fall foliage is peaking is absolutely breathtaking.The shipyard employs historic methods for restoring historic vessels. When we were there, the Draken Herald Harfage was docked. It was 115 feet long and it’s 79 foot mast makes it the largest Viking ship today!

My mother was obsessed with this ship and its wood carved detail.

Throughout the village there are buildings offering a variety interactive and educational activities– which may sound “boring”– but even my 11 year old enjoyed them, and I’ve found that if it passes the middle schooler test, you know it’s good.

The Discovery Barn was our first stop, which allowed kids to learn through hands-on activities about a ship’s sail power, stability, hull shape, and the simple machines involved in running it.

Though the space in the children’s museum was small, it was not lacking in play centers, puzzles and toys. It is the perfect stop for little ones to burn off some energy swabbing the deck of the indoor wooden ship, preparing soup in the old fashion kitchen, taking a nap on the pint-size bunk beds and other pretend play activities.Toy Boat Building

The toy boat building was one of our favorite activities. It is a make-and-take-craft for an additional cost of $5 each and kept us busy for at least 40 while the rain let up outside.

When the sun came out we exlpored some of the model ships and took in the simplicity of it all.

I think the whole old-world vibe though out the Mystic Seaport really took hold of us and that is why it ended up being the highlight of our trip.

There was so much to see and do– both indoor and out. The kids got to burn off energy. No one was bored and possibly best of all it was time spent together UNPLUGGED, like you rarely spend in today’s real world.

Our last stop was the fudge store because– fudge. A WHOLE WALL of fudge at that. It was sweet tooth heaven.

We wish we had time to explore Mystic Seaport a little more, but we had already spent hours there– even used up the time we had allotted for the Mystic Village Shops (and you know shopping is my jam). We still had a lot of travel ahead and our stomachs were growling for some Mystic Pizza!

We will definitely be back to this quaint little town.

Read more about our spontaneous Boston road trip adventure:

Lessons Learned While Roadtripping Without My Other Half

3 Fun Things To Do In Hollywood With Kids

September 30, 2018 By Cori

What do you do in Hollywood as a family? These 3 things will create amazing memories for your kids. Read on to see what do to in Hollywood with kids.

Whether you are an adult or a child visiting Los Angeles, California for the first time, the excitement of seeing those large white letters sprawled across the hillside spelling out “HOLLYWOOD” is likely the type of excitement that has been building (consciously or sub-consciously) for years. And sitting below that hillside sign is a town that holds a special kind of history that is fascinating to people of all ages. It’s streets, the keeper of both industry secrets and the ins and outs of a celebrity lifestyle opposite of our own.

3 Fun Things To Do In Hollywood With Kids

While it’s true that there are parts of Hollywood best experienced sans kids, we have taken the kids to Hollywood multiple times and there is plenty to do and explore with them too! This is a staple when visiting Hollywood. Kids may not recognize a lot of the names (to be honest, neither do I) but that adds to the excitement of chasing square after square on a hunt for the names that are familiar– and with 16 fictional stars, kids will definitely find a few.

1.) Walk Of Fame

(all ages)

A little girl on the Hollywood walk of fame

I’ve created a fun scavenger hunt list and Bingo card to make this even more fun! You can download the free printables below.

Download the Free Hollywood Walk of Fame Kids' Printable here — click here

2.) Universal Studios Hollywood

(all ages)

A mom at Universal Studios in Hollywood with her son

Possibly the only theme park you will visit that is built ON TOP of buildings. Yes, you read that right. Universal Studios Hollywood is made up of 2 levels and the upper level is literally built on top of studio buildings! I did a double take when I realized it myself. Compared to its Orlando theme park, Universal Hollywood is much smaller and when traveling with small children, more digestible, in my opinion. Another perk to the smaller size of this park is that when planned properly, it is totally possible to make this half-day adventure (and lets be honest, when you have a busy vacation planned with little ones and/or multiple kids… somedays a half day is the best kind of theme park day).

A dad at Universal Studios on Hollywood with his son

There is a Minions splash pad and playground for little ones (so pack a swimsuit or change of clothes!) and there are also plenty of rides for kids 40″ and above. There shows that go on throughout the day and 8 main “rides”, many 3D simulators (such as The Simpsons Ride, Minion Rush and Transformers) that are housed in actual sound stages, Potterland and no visit is complete without the Studio Tour which takes you through some actual studio sets, lets you experience a simulated “earthquake”, as well as some other movie fun. This is arguably the best ride of all– though to be fair we missed out on The Mummy and The Potter ride– both are said to be really great! In addition to the can’t miss studio tour, I highly recommend grabbing a fresh jumbo sized donut and flaming mo beverage from Simpsons land! All. The. Yum!

3.) Touring The Hollywood Hills– YouTube Style

(for the tweens and teens)

In lieu of actually hiking to the Hollywood sign (which is still on my list by the way), we’ve taken drives through the Hollywood hills, marveled at the homes and have gotten some pretty great views of the sign along the way.

A lot of YouTubers reside in the Hills and with a little research, you can likely find your kid’s favorites. My son at just 12 years old found directions to his favorite YouTuber’s home on. his. own. And when we drove to the home, we were not the only fans driving by taking pictures.

The internet is a scary place you guys. Fortunately, the Youtuber’s mom was very down to earth and even took pictures with my son when she was returning from her Starbucks run.

More Family Travel Tips

There is so much more to do then Hollywood with your family. Here are some of our favorites:

Planning A Roadtrip With Kids? These Tips Will Save Your Sanity And Keep The Kids Happy

November 16, 2017 By Cori

As you plan your road trips with kids, read this guide and never lose your sanity again. The 2nd tip is my secret weapon!

Whew! It has been quite the month of travel, you guys. Over the course of about 6 weeks, I’ve experienced 3 uniquely different types of travel… girls-trip, couples trip, and family-vaca– each very essential for the soul in their own right.

I have SO much to share but have been so completely backlogged and am just coming up for air– you know, in the peak holiday season! HA! I don’t know how full-time travel bloggers do it!

How to Plan a Road Trip With Kids

With holiday around the corner, and no doubt a lot family road trips and drive-time on the horizon, I thought I would start by sharing some of tips and tricks we utilize when traveling with our family on long car rides (which, with 2 kids in traveling sports– we do often!)

1.) Choose the perfect family road trip vehicle

Our most recent family vacation to SoCal included a good amount of driving. Toyota provided our a Toyota 4-Runner for us– and let me just say that I was instantly smitten with its shiny, sexy, electric blue color and tan leather interior! Every SUV we’ve owned for the past 6 years? 8 years? has been white with black interior– boorrring! ha!

This is the second Toyota SUV we’ve test-drove (we drove the Highlander for our Boston road-trip). They both drove like a dream, had an easy to use navigation & entertainment system, were roomy and had great trunk space.

The Tip: When you are planning your family vehicle (whether for a vacation rental or to own), always take into consideration your family, PLUS 1. What’s roomy for a family of 4 is much different than what is roomy for a family of 5. And I know for us, there is always a plus 1 (especially with carpools). So you want to account for those times.

Semi-last minute, we ended up taking my sister with us, and although the split design of the 4-Runner’s back seat allowed us to pull up an extra 2 seats in the third row– it drastically affected that once roomy-looking trunk. Luckily we packed like ninja’s so it all worked out fine, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a bit tight. The Highlander is probably more ideal for our LARGE party, but had we have been a party of 4 or 5– the 4Runner would have felt incredibly spacious both for leg room and trunk space.

2.) Travel light

So… confession: when it comes to packing for myself for a trip without the kids, I am an absolute horror show. Totally indecisive, want to pack all the things, but ironically when we are packing for a family trip? My packing skills as I’ve mentioned above are NINJA LEVEL. (I’ve written a whole post about it here) I think this is partially due to the incredible anxiousness that takes over my brain when I think about traveling with the kids and it sends me into simplify-mode because I’m a firm believer in not letting the anxiety win–and carrying more things always = more anxiety. So I’ve learned to look at it as a bit of a challenge to SLAY!

The Tips:

Look into renting bulky baby gear. If budget allows, look into rental options. We’ve done this before at a reasonable price and it was a true life saver.
Mix, match and laundry. There is truly nothing I loathe more than laundry and I know some feel like “Why kill the vacation buzz with chores??” BUT in my experience, the less “STUFF” we are toting around, the clearer my head feels– and when we travel with the kids, laundry is my saving grace. Plan outfits that can be mixed and matched with each other. My general rule of thumb– 2 tops for every one bottom usually works out perfect.
Give each child a small backpack or drawstring bag to fill (or for you to fill for them). Inside should fit 2-3 entertainment options and some mess-free grab and go snacks. Whatever fits, fits. That’s it.

3.) Easy Mess Free Entertainment

Roadtrip Bingo and Ispy printables are easy to find online. iPads are a given for many. But beyond that, mess-free creative activities that get their creativity and imagination flowing are the way to go. This trip, Bunchems was the big hit– with all three kids! Below are some of the others that a great for mess-free creative car activities.

4.) Grab And Go Snacks

Whether you prepackage veggies, fruits, etc. in fun plastic baggies or buy your snacks prepackaged, it goes without saying that snacks are oh so very necessary for long car rides. Be sure to have your kids favorites on hand– and maybe even keep a secret treat (ring pops?) in your bag– juusssst in case you need a distraction 😉

5.) Make essentials easy to access

Kids know no boundaries when it comes to shouting out requests from the back seat– tissues, snacks, crayons– “Go-go-Gadget Mom arms!”

The Tip:

Invest in a great car organizers that will allow kids to set up in the car with everything in arms reach– THEIR arms, not yours! Just a few of my faves are below.The one with an insulated cooler?? GENIUS!!

6.) Garbage “can” for each row

When traveling in the car with kids it never fails, they will always end up with garbage and if its not easy to access, you will likely find stickiness and other gunk in your cup holders.

The Tip:

Put a small garbage container in each row. Below are some of my favorite options for this.

sponsored by Toyota

More Family Travel Success Tips

Travel as a family and make some epic memories. Here are my favorite guides just for you.

Sailing The Fantasy: Our Disney Cruise Pictures, Video + Thoughts

September 4, 2017 By Cori

There is no question that to every kid, Disney World in the mecca of all family vacations. We’ve been there twice in the past two years, and still the kids were campaigning {hard} every day for another Disney vacation this year.

After hearing rave reviews and tons of tips from friends and co-workers, James suggested trying a Disney Cruise this summer and I have to admit that I was not immediately on board (no pun intended).

I had only been on one cruise in my life and suffice it to say, it was not a pleasant experience. In fact, the things I most vividly recall when I think back to that “other cruise” is claustrophobia, anxiety and horrible cafeteria food. Bleh!

So before we booked anything, I spent the next week researching all. the. things…

…and after I could research no more, I finally agreed to give cruising another try.

And you guys? I am SO glad I did.

It’s been one week since our vacation on the Disney Fantasy Cruise ship and I am already dreaming about our next (which we booked on board because of the awesome discounted rates and on-board credits!)

One peek at our recap video below and you’ll know exactly why!

So what makes Disney Cruises different?

To quote a great review by Cruise Critic:

what’s amazing about Disney cruises is that they bring magic to everyone onboard, from solo cruisers and adult couples to families, without shoving it down anyone’s throat. There’s a delightful balance of kid- and family-focused activities and adults-only pursuits that ensures the little ones and even the most kid-phobic of travelers will have a great time.

Here are 7 other reasons why we loved our Disney Cruise

1. Activities and clubs for kids and teens

It’s A Small World (Babies and toddlers)
Oceaneers Club + Oceaneers Lab (Pre-K thru grade school)
Edge (Tweens 10+)
Vibe (Teens)

Disney is so in tune with their guests needs and interests, they created separate clubs that appealed for every age – toddler through tween –and adult (I’ll get to that in a minute).

Since we were traveling with little ones, upon boarding the Disney Fantasy, our kids had to register for the Oceaneers Club/Lab and were given wristbands to check in and out of the highly secured kids club. These wristbands are able to track your kids anywhere on the ship!

Each guest room was supplied with 2 on-board wave phones that your kids (and their counselors) can use to connect on board at any time. All of this was a huge sigh of relief for this ~~slightly neurotic~~ concerned Mom.

In addition to the character meet and greets that are happening all over the ship all. day. long (and without those long lines you can sometimes get stuck waiting on in the parks), the Oceaneers Club held different parties, activities and games hosted by Disney Characters each day in their center room. This room was the ultimate space for a party too, complete with colorful light up dance floor and oversized plasma TV.

Laina loved the night that Crush from Finding Nemo came on the plasma and interacted with the kids. She also loved Pluto’s Pajama party- because what’s cooler than being able to wear your Pajamas out to play? She is still using the cute pillow case she colored that night.

Surrounding the party area there were several themed rooms that make kids feel like they are living out their favorite Disney movies.

Andy’s Room felt like you literally stepped into the Toy Story movie as one of the toys– oversized everything!

My little girly girl loved dressing up in Pixie Hallow. There were dozens of great Disney dress up clothes to choose from and being a big Monster’s Inc. fan, the Scare Factory was my personal favorite.

The Oceaneers Lab is where my son (7) spent most of his time. In addition to games and crafts, there were science labs and “Anyone can cook” cooking classes, as well as Wii challenges, Cup stacking races and a ginormous iPad where my son and his cruise friends played air-hockey all night long.

I loved that thee Oceaneers club and Oceaneers lab are connected. It allowed my little one who mostly spent her time playing pretend and crafting in the Oceaneers club to visit her big brother gaming in the lab.

Although I didn’t have kids in the tween and teen clubs, the teens and tweens that I saw always looked like they were having fun, busy doing their thing. Never saw anyone looking bored– and that is the goal, yes?

2. Relaxation and Alone Time For Mom and Dad

As much as we love traveling as a family, there is no denying that sometimes traveling with kids leaves you with exhaustion that begs a vacation from your vacation– but the Disney Cruise gives parents the perfect balance of family time and relaxation time.

There is a whole section of the ship dedicated for adults only and thanks to all the kids entertainment, we were able to schedule multiple date nights!

There are 2 adult-only restaurants onboard the Disney Fantasy, Remi and Palo. Both are no- jeans, no- sneakers or sandals– which I like, because I’m always looking for an excuse to get dressed up for date night.

You do need to make reservations for both of these restaurants and I recommend making these reservations well ahead of your trip because just like dining at Disney World- these restaurants book up quickly!

- Remi ($75/per adult) Formal
- Palo ($20/per adult) Semi-formal

James and I dined at Palo. The food was delicious and the view from the top of the ship? Breathtaking.

Oh, and if your husband forgets dress pants there is a handy dandy rental service where he can rent dress pants for $25. Albeit, tuxedo pants, but hey! It gets you in.

After dinner, there was an area made up of several different bars and lounges. One of my favorite lounges had walls of TV screens that looked like you were looking out into different European cities. The videos on the screen were so detailed that if you looked closely, you could even see moving traffic and people in windows– and then every few minutes pixie dust would come down the screen and poof! the city would change.

The Tube is a club with a full schedules of live entertainment and games lead by the adult entertainment director such as: 80’s music trivia, not-so-newlywed game, and more.

3. Roomy Staterooms With A View

80% of the Disney Fantasy has a balcony view!

When we booked, we booked our stateroom at the VGT level– which basically means we took a risk of getting a {gasp} partial view and paid less for a deluxe suite with bunk beds for the kids. In the end our room had a gorgeous view, and I loved having split bathrooms (one with at toilet and sink, the other with shower/tub and sink).

There is so much to see and do every day though, that you aren’t actually in the your stateroom too much– so it was definitely worth gambling on the VGT rate (They only pop up occasionally from what I hear, so check the website often).

4. Rotating Dining– Disney Style

All of the food was amazing and freshly cooked. Even at their all day buffet by the pool where they served fresh wraps and sandwiches.

For dinner, Disney Cruise line has what they call “rotation dining”. Which means like other cruises you always have the same table number and servers but unlike other cruises- you are always experiencing a new atmosphere.

The Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship has 3 fantastic restaurants.

Animators Palate where you get to interact with Crush from “Finding Nemo” one night, and animate your very own drawing another. This was by far our family’s favorite.
Royal Court which will make you feel like your dining in Cinderella’s castle.
Enchanted Garden that has beautiful ambiant lighting that changes from day to night and and overhead flowers that bloom. You feel like you are in Pixie Hallow.

5. Pirate Night & Fireworks

Every night there are amazing Broadway-level type shows being put on. We went to and loved ALL of them. But above all- the Pirate show was our favorite.

All of the Disney Cruises have a Pirate Night – that everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) on board takes part in. A Pirate accessory package on board is $35, but if you plan ahead you can bring your pirate gear from home. The Bippity Boppity Boutique on board also has a pirate package that includes face painting.

The Pirate Party onboard takes place on the main deck- where they cover the pools and everyone gets to enjoy a pirate show and fireworks at sea. Disney is the only cruise line that does fireworks at sea, and it is a sight to be seen!

6. Cast Away Cay

Disney’s private island, Cast Away Cay was the highlight of the trip for all of us. It is the ultimate vacation island. It’s not over crowded. No one is chasing you down trying to make a deal over tanzanite earrings (Yes, that happened in Cozumel)

Just like the Disney cruise ship , the island is kept immaculate.

This island had everything you could want and more: an ocean slide, snorkeling, parasailing, tubing, and just like on the ship a kids club, teen get-away and an adult only beach!

My son is still talking about his time snorkeling where he not only saw tropical fish (or as we call them Nemo-fish), but hidden Disney gems on the ocean floor, such as a Mickey Statue and a “shipwreck”.

For lunch, you are treated to a beachside BBQ, chock-filled with burgers, corn on the cob, mahi-mahi and soft serve ice cream!

It was such a nice relaxing day with the family. My only wish for this cruise was that we could have had just *one* more day at Castaway Cay.

7. Pepe’s Door and The Mid-Ship Detective Agency

If Castaway Cay, The Oceaneers Club and the onboard Aquaduck were the highlights of our Disney Cruise for the kids, it was only rivaled with Pepe’s Door.

What’s Pepe’s Door you ask?

It is an on-board interactive mystery game with the Midship Detective Agency. The game allows youu solve mysteries through interactive pictures located all over the ship.On our first game, we did a Muppet mystery which led us to “Pepe’s Door”- a small pint-size stateroom door located by the Oceaneers club. My kids became obsessed with it. They were dying to know how to get in (you can’t)… and I heard many MANY other kids onboard talking about this famous door as well.

Sometimes it’s the little things!

family travel

I LOVE Disney Cruises!

Disney Cruise Tips And Secrets

1. Join Your Sailing’s Facebook Group

2. Personalize Your Cabin Door

3. Pre-order Pins To Trade In Bulk

4. Register For Kids Clubs & Special Character Meet And Greets Before Your Sailing

5. Prep Your Carry On Bag With Essentials

6. Download The Navigator App

7. Pillowcase or Picture frame For Character Signatures

8. Maximize Your MBs With This Disney Cruise WiFi Hack

9. Dine Earlier With Little Ones

10. Castmember Tipping On Your Disney Cruise

11. Take Advantage Of The Laundry Facilities

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More Travel Tips

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MYSTIC HYATT PLACE

Mystic Seaport

3 Fun Things To Do In Hollywood With Kids

1.) Walk Of Fame

2.) Universal Studios Hollywood

3.) Touring The Hollywood Hills– YouTube Style

More Family Travel Tips

How to Plan a Road Trip With Kids

1.) Choose the perfect family road trip vehicle

2.) Travel light

3.) Easy Mess Free Entertainment

4.) Grab And Go Snacks

5.) Make essentials easy to access

6.) Garbage “can” for each row

More Family Travel Success Tips

So what makes Disney Cruises different?

Here are 7 other reasons why we loved our Disney Cruise

1. Activities and clubs for kids and teens

2. Relaxation and Alone Time For Mom and Dad

3. Roomy Staterooms With A View

4. Rotating Dining– Disney Style

5. Pirate Night & Fireworks

6. Cast Away Cay

7. Pepe’s Door and The Mid-Ship Detective Agency

This post was originally posted September 2012. Updated in 2017

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