First, I just want to say thank you to all of you who reached out to congratulate me on my new venture as a travel agent.  

After so many months of researching, applying, and training it was wonderful to share about it with you all.

I was asked a few questions that I thought I should go ahead and explain here because I have a feeling they are questions that many of you may have.  

How do I get paid?  I charge a retainer for my travel planning services that is based on the level of concierge service the vacation requires and the client desires. It typically ranges between $150 and $350 per family. A travel agent has access to wholesale-priced travel and as an agent I receive commission from the company.  With Disney specifically, the commission is already built in to the prices whether a travel planner is used or not.  So, if you spend hours searching for resorts and tickets on Disney’s website you’ll see the same prices I can get you.  I just do the work for you and provide you with customized service as your go-to person for questions and planning help.

Why would someone use a travel agent today?  Can’t anyone find the best deals through online travel search engines?  This week alone I’ve helped out five clients with various trips (i.e. a honeymoon, a European vacation, a quick Vegas package, etc.) and I’ve been able to find better prices through my wholesale travel database than my previous go-to travel search engines.  So, the biggest feature in my opinion is that I can save you money!  

Also, we’re all busy and I can save you the time of narrowing down your options based on what you want.  There are hundreds of resorts in Cancun, for example.  Save the time filtering out ones based on what matters to you (beach swim-ability, pool options, crowds, all-inclusive or not, budget, reviews, etc.) and let me do that.  I’ve traveled to SOOOO many places and I can give you honest, experienced recommendations!  Plus, I know many of my friends just don’t like the logistics of booking travel.  It can be overwhelming on deciding when to go, finding flights, picking out the resort, lining up activities or theme park tickets, etc.  Plus, with Disney – don’t forget about reserving FastPass, Dining, Bippity Boppity Boutique, and everything else in advance.  

Send me your questions or email me if you’d like me to look up travel options.  There’s no obligation at all for me to pull numbers for you.  

DISNEY WORLD PART 2

Last week I posted about how we planned our trip to Disney World, our first day at Magic Kingdom, and the first resort we stayed at, Animal Kingdom Lodge.  

If you missed the first Disney World post, be sure to check it out here before reading today’s post.  Today, I’m going to tell you about our jam-packed day at Hollywood Studios.  I’ll have more posts about Epcot, Animal Kingdom, our second resort, Bippity Boppity Boutique and more.      

WE’RE HEADED TO HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS 

After a jam-packed 16-hour day at Magic Kingdom, we somehow managed to get out the door nearly on time the next morning.  We lined up some decent FastPasses for Hollywood Studios but we weren’t able to get them for Slinky Dog (Toy Story Land’s amazing rollercoaster).

We planned to get to Hollywood Studios in time for rope drop (see last week’s post for explanation of rope drop) and hopefully be one of the first in line for Slinky Dog.  However, our day was off to a bit of a not-so-fantastic start when we ended up waiting nearly 30 minutes for the bus from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Hollywood Studios.

Buses for Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom came and went multiple times and we just stood there while approximately 50 more people joined the queue to get on the Hollywood Studios.  That’s a word of caution for you – buses are unpredictable!  If you’re in a rush to get to rope drop, it might be worth grabbing an Uber or using another transportation method if your resort offers it.  That’s why I’ll be looking for a resort with Skyliner, Monorail, or boat transportation options next time!

Thankfully the day before taught me a lot about letting go of expectations and going with the flow a bit.  By the time we got to Hollywood Studios the park had already officially opened so the line was already an hour long.  Deep breaths became my mantra … and I honestly enjoyed myself much more after these initial setbacks because we just started to go with the flow a bit.

We first grabbed a slot for The Jedi Experience.

The Jedi Experience was hands-down our family’s overall favorite experience all week.  I’ll get to it more in a moment, but just know that you need to get there early in the day to reserve a spot for any kids wanting to participate (and most between 4 and 13 will want to regardless of your Star Wars fandom levels).  We got a spot later that afternoon which allowed us to spend our morning in Toy Story Land.

We then leisurely grabbed coffees and snacks at Starbucks.  This took a really long time as it was easily the most crowded Starbucks I’ve been to (tied with the one in Animal Kingdom)  so plan accordingly if you NEED a Starbucks first thing.  Looking back, I should have taken the kids to sign up for Jedi Experience while my husband got our drinks.  Oh well!

We then headed to Toy Story Land.

You guys – this area of the park is majorly hyped online and it did not disappoint.  It was SOOOO cute.  We had a FastPass at 10:45 for Toy Story Mania but we were able to squeeze in Alien Swirling Saucersand Slinky Dog beforehand.

Both of these lines posted waits of 30 and 55 minutes, respectively, but we were thrilled to only have to wait about 15 minutes for Alien Swirling Saucers and 40 minutes for Slinky Dog.  This was a huge relief after some of the underestimated wait times at Magic Kingdom.  There were activities for the kids in line which also helps the time go faster.

One of the highlights was having the Toy Soldiers perform right in front of us while we were in line.

They were incredible – a true Disney-does-it-best street performance.

Plus, I have to say that Slinky Dog did not disappoint.  All four of us enjoyed it and thought the wait was worth it.

It was time for our Toy Story Mania FastPass and it was another hit.  I’m sharing this unflattering photo of myself because it perfectly captures just how much fun it is if you’re competitive and want to get more points than your husband and children.

We stumbled upon some of the Incredibles characters at Pixar Place and my kids were over the moon.

They spent so much time walking around with Mr. Incredible.  He made their day!

Next we headed to the new Stars Wars Galaxy’s Edge addition to the park.  Wow!  If you’re a Stars Wars fan, you won’t want to miss this!  Look, there’s Rey!

The kids and I grabbed some flavored popcorn that was amazing from Sat Kaka’s Popcorn before heading to get in line for Millennium Falcon.  This is the new ride that opened back in September.  We waited about an hour in line for this ride and we liked it, but it wasn’t our favorite.  

Strategically, we planned our trip to Hollywood Studios so that we were there the day before the new Rise of the Resistance ride opened.  Based on my research I knew the crowds would be crazy and we would not be at the park at 4 am to grab a spot in the virtual queue to ride it.

*However, I am going to ride at Disneyland next week and will fill you all in on it!

We next headed over to The Jedi Experience.  As I mentioned earlier, this is something not many non-Disney-obsessed people know about and I’m hear to spill the beans.  You have to sign up in the morning for a time slot later in the day for each kid that wants to participate.

The premise of the experience is that the kids are all training to become Jedis.  They learn a few tricks and how to use the force and then they get to fight Darth Vader and Kylo Ren.

Everyone there was absolutely captivated – I’m not kidding you guys.  Look how into it my kids are.

This was just a surprisingly great little show.

Then the bad guys showed up …

I’d be lying if I didn’t have to keep reminding myself that these weren’t the real Darth Vader and Kylo Ren.  It was very realistic.  Let’s see Foster did when it was his turn to battle Darth Vader.

Whew … that was a close one.  Now what about Parker?

We were dying laughing – that girl did not want to chance not getting low enough.

At the end each child gets their own little badge, and this little girl was super proud!

We ended up deciding to skip our earlier FastPass for Star Tours because the kids weren’t that into Millennium Falcon, and that is probably one of my few regrets about this day.  However, we did manage to squeeze in our last pre-scheduled FastPass of the day for the 2:10 showing of Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  This was a nice change of pace after the action-packed Jedi Experience, but I do have several regrets about choosing it over For the First Time in Forever: Frozen Sing-Along or Beauty and the Beast Show.  That being said, we had lunch reservations and we just couldn’t line up our schedule with the schedules of the other shows.   

So we next headed to lunch at 50s Prime Time Cafe.  This is a restaurant that requires advanced reservations and boy was it worth it.  The food was great and the atmosphere was so unique.  The waiters and waitresses are in character the whole time and are a bit snappy about eating your vegetables and keeping your elbows off the table.  Plus, Parker thought the cupcake that came with her lunch was delicious.

I wish I took better photos of us during our meals.  I’m obviously not a food blogger!  This bring me to a Tip:  If you’re like me and get fatigue from taking photos all week, this is another reason to pay for the MemoryMaker.  All of the photos from The Jedi Experience, character greetings, posed photos with the whole family, and photos from rides are only available if you paid up-front for MemoryMaker or paid for each photo individually.  

After lunch, we went to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and I don’t know if I’d do it again.  I don’t think it’s changed much since I was there 20 years ago.  Ha.

Then we headed over to Tower of Terror with a FastPass.  Another tip:  once you’ve used or cancelled your initial three FastPasses each day, you can go in and add one at a time.  If I hadn’t heard about that trick beforehand, I would have just waited in these somewhat-shorter lines.  It was obvious most people didn’t know either. 

Somehow these two managed to get along so well even while waiting in lines.

I was shocked that my kids both loved this ride!  

I was a bit afraid I’d be covering Parker’s eyes during part of it, but nope.  They are both thrill-seekers apparently.  Rock N Rollercoaster, though, was not a big hit with Foster.

LOL.  We again scored a FastPass for this ride right after we checked in to Tower of Terror.  This was the only ride Parker couldn’t ride at Hollywood Studios but she lucked out and got her face painted while we were on it.  Then Foster managed to get his face painted too.  We are suckers.  

One of the biggest disappointments of our day was when we went to the Olaf Character Greeting.  

The wait time showed 30 minutes (which some of us weren’t on board with) but others begged and took advantage of the influence of their sad puppy dog faces.  An hour later and we still hadn’t met Olaf.  The interaction with Olaf when we finally did get to the front of the line was very nice for the kids, but I don’t think I’ll wait in line for a character or anything that long again, when it’s that late at night after a very long day at the park.  

We ended the night with a final round at Toy Story Mania (another last-minute scored FastPass).  

Okay, that’s it for today.  I was going to include our next day in today’s post but this one got a little too long.