The Countdown Begins!!!

Haven't posted for a while as I have been busy booking (yes actually booking!!) our holiday to Orlando! Finally!

So in 212 days I will be at the Caribbean Beach Resort, sunning myself for a perfect two weeks in my favourite, not to mention the happiest, place on earth! Cannot wait!

However, how the bloody hell do you link your Thomson holiday to your 'My Disney Experience'?! What a nightmare. Thomson are currently updating their website (although this appears to be dragging out for quite some time) so no one can go online to 'Manage Your Booking', this is helped slightly by the My Thomson App, although it doesn't do that much other than tell me the basics of my holiday ie. when I'm going.
Anyway, after some research and phone calls to Disney, it is apparently Thomson that have to give me my Resort Reservation number, even though I asked Thomson this in the first place and they said the one I have would be fine - Its Not!!!!!
Long story short I am still waiting to hear off Thomson as to what my special Disney number is so I can log on and design my Magicband.
Must...be...patient...

We are also looking to book the princess meal in Cinderella's Castle, where all the princess's (other than Belle, who now resides in her own castle, lucky lady!) visit you while you eat. Hoping this isn't too 'kids only' as we don't have kids haha, but its Disney so I'm sure it will be fine. To go for breakfast, lunch or dinner though?? That is the question. Currently thinking breakfast would be nice as my friend has not seen Disney before so to walk into Magic Kingdom for her first time and to go straight into the castle to see the princess'?? I feel that'll be pretty awesome right??
Will let you know what we decide ;)

FloridaGirl :)

Park Must Haves

I always find that packing to go around the parks is a nightmare, there's so much you might need or want so I thought I'd share with you my packing tips for a long day out around the parks.

Tip 1: Bag Share.
Now the parks are very hot and carrying a bag each around them gets far too much and way too hot. I find that if you take one bag - usually a backpack, you can fit everything in absolutely fine and you can then share the carrying duties.

Tip 2: Small Bags.
Ok so not everyone wants a back pack and sometimes if you intend on splitting up for a while then you still want your own important belongings on you. My top tip for this is to buy a bum bag (yes a 'fanny pack' to you Americans) or even a really small handbag. This then means you can fit in your phone, tickets, and money without having to carry about a huge bag. I intend on buying a bum bag for my next trip as I'm not a handbag type of girl unfortunately.

Tip 3: Magicbands.
These awesome new little bands now mean that you don't have to carry your tickets, fast passes or even money as it can all be linked to this little band on your arm. This is a major save on extra baggage and little faffy bits and bobs that can now be left behind at the hotel. Magicbands are also fab for the water parks as they mean not leaving your tickets and money unattended or having to pay extra for lockers as the bands are water proof!
Remember though these are Disney only - don't get trying to link your Universal tickets to these!

Tip 4: Weather.
Always check the weather before you go to the parks! Anyone who has been out in a Florida thunderstorm knows how within a few minutes you will look like you've jumped in the swimming pool fully dressed! Now if your visiting Orlando in the Summer months you can pretty much guarantee some rain or a storm almost every afternoon so take your ponchos and rain coats although these can seriously add to that extra carriage so these may be back pack days!
Another thing to consider is if you are going in the winter/spring months the evenings may get cold so take a jumper for those late nights watching fireworks.

Tip 5: Car.
If you have drove to the parks and have a car - leave things like jumpers and rain coats in the car until later!! You can always pop back and grab them when needed.

Ok so those are my tips but anything else you should pack?
Yes - SUNCREAM! It is a must! theres nothing worse than a day frying around the park and then looking like a lobster for the rest of your holiday.
Another thing I always, always pack is a WATER bottle, it is so important to keep hydrated - many times have I had a couple of beers around Epcot and then a few hour later ended up with a dreadful headache due to forgetting to drink water as well. There are fountains in the parks where you can fill up your water bottles so keep hold of your bottle even after its empty - refill instead of spending another $3!
SUNGLASSES are another must - I have to say I hate wearing these, they don't suit me and I don't like them, but its another guaranteed headache if you forget these so keep them in your bum bag/back pack all ready for park days.
One last thing - CAMERA/PHONE, there are a million things to photograph throughout your days in the parks so make sure your batteries are fully charged and go wild. Snap away.

So there you have a few of my top tips. Enjoy the parks and I would love to hear your packing tips too!

FloridaGirl ;)

Nights in City Walk

I have to say City Walk, for me, has always been a big hit. I know its no where near as big as Downtown Disney, oops I mean, Disney Springs but for people with no kids or for the late teens its a good evening out.

I love a good look around the shops, one of my favourites being a really quirky little shop called P!Q, this store has the most awesome little gadgets and unique gifts ever as well as household items. I can always guarantee finding something in there to make me smile and its an excellent place to buy presents from. Another favourite of mine is the NBA store where you can buy the official basketball jerseys, that we don't have in England!!!

However the high point for me in City Walk has to be the dining, there are some amazing places to eat and unfortunately as of yet I have not made it around all of them. Last time I ate an evening meal at City Walk it was in Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food, and it was to die for!!! I had the Nachos to start which myself and a friend devoured, the portion (as always with America) was ginormous and they were delicious as were the fajitas I had for a main. Unfortunately, I was too full to enjoy a desert but I hope to change this on my next trip there! The Mexican band that came on during our meal was really entertaining with them playing a few modern hits as well as old, and classic Mexican music.
Another hot spot of mine for food is the Hard Rock Café, this may just be because I love the atmosphere in there, and the cocktails, but the food has always been lovely too. If you sit at the bar and have a cocktail or two the bar staff are lovely and enjoy a chat as well as testing out new concoctions on customers, so a few freebies too maybe!
I am yet to visit Bubba Gump shrimp but that is one that is on my to do list for next time!

Of course along with all this there is obviously the night time entertainment and bars, such as City Walks Rising Star - a karaoke bar where you can perform with a live band, or just sit and watch the other people if your more like me and just happy with a drink. Bob Marley - A Tribute to Freedom where you can have a drink and relax in the chilled atmosphere of Bob Marleys replicated home. Pat O'Briens - a duelling piano bar, as well as Jimmy Buffetts Margaritaville and much much more. The Blue Man Group are also a must see although tickets must be booked in advance.

So for over 18's, as most the bars have special evenings or time slots for 18+ as well as the over 21's, City Walk is a must do in an evening. There is just so much to see and do, you can even get a tattoo done at Hart and Huntington Tattoo Shop (P!nks husbands tattoo place for any fans), or just buy a t-shirt if you chicken out ;)

So YES a defo must see!!

FloridaGirl :)

Toy Story Mania!!

This weekend at the D23 Expo it was announced that Disney will be taking on the epic challenge of building not one, but TWO Star Wars lands, and not only this, but they will also be building a Toy Story Land!!

Don't get me wrong both of these announcements are huge, and amazing news, but I've never personally been huge on Star Wars. However, Toy Story has always been a favourite of mine and now to be able to go to a whole land made especially for it??! That is awesome news!

The new land will be located in Hollywood Studios and will have two new rides (I know just two right?!), a family friendly roller coaster where you can ride along with Slinky, and a spinning flying saucer attraction. The land will also involve the already announced expansion on the massively popular Toy Story Mania which will hopefully cut down on those awful que times!

I can imagine the Star Wars lands will be out of this world (excuse the pun) too, what with it being the largest land Disney have ever created so far!! But for me the excitement is all about Toy Story!

It looks like while I was moaning about how Hollywood Studios could do with an update (un-Frozen related) they already had something huge up their sleeve that would make me eat my words, and it has!!

Well Done Disney. Definitely making a almighty come back from the success Universal had with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

FloridaGirl :)

Hulk Closure Dates!!

I am devastated!

I read today that the Incredible Hulk Coaster in Islands of Adventure is closing for major refurbishments from September 8th all the way through til summer 2016! I am planning at the moment to visit in May 2016 so I can only hope for an early reopening as its one of my favourite rides.

However I'm sure it will be worth the wait to go on the newly refurbished ride the year after if not.

FloridaGirl :)

From the eye of the Mouse

I recently read a blog about the drastically different standards between staff/cast members in both Universal Studios and Disney. Now although I agree with most things that were mentioned in the blog, I have been lucky enough to have the privilege to work in both of these parks and I thought I should give the other side to the tale - the cast members point of view, to which park treats their employees better.

I was lucky enough to work within the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando and yes in agreement to the blog that I found - Universal do have more relaxed standards in some ways which could maybe do with a bit of a tidy up if they want to keep up with Disney. However, during my lunch hour I was able to walk or get the staff bus to either of the staff restaurants and eat a pizza and chips or a chicken burger for something like $3 - amazing staff discount when your an intern and need to save all the cash you can. There was also the birthday rule - if it was your birthday you ate your lunch - for free!!! awesome right!? Plus staff could pick up little dinner cards where you got it stamped 10 times then got a free meal.

So what did Disney have to offer me for lunch? A bag of cookies. Expensive cookies at that which probably cost as much as my pizza! Before I make it sound like Disney starve their employees let me just explain I was working in Typhoon Lagoon, a water park, so this may be different for the larger parks. Our staffroom was an outdoor shelter - in my opinion not great when your working outdoors all day in that heat. Anyway we had what was the equivalent of a gas station shop where you could buy crisps, cookies, a chocolate bar or a small packed salad. All for your standard prices, no amazing discount. As its Disney you kinda expect a little better, even if you are at the water park.
Our Universal staffroom was much more appropriate for the Florida heat - it was air conditioned and nice and big to fit everyone in.

A bonus of both parks was that the managers would sometimes manage to get you a load of free food, at Disney this was mainly popcorn and snow cones, at universal this could be a drink or ice lol. So both parks did well on this front.

Another thing mentioned in the blog was that you could see staff with their bags on occasion walking through the wrong part of the park at Universal - for example in Disney you would not see someone from Frontierland walking down Main Street as they have underground tunnels for staff to get exactly where they need. Universal have secret entrances for their employees but it is impossible due to the park layout to have an entrance for every single area, unfortunately yes this can ruin the look slightly.

I also feel that management at Universal have a high level of care for their staff, I was given cards of appreciation by management and team leads, its always nice to know your work is appreciated. I worked an over night shift for a Harry Potter Convention and all staff were given a tour of the Wizarding World being told certain little hints and tips that not everyone gets to see or know about which was really cool and fun. At the end of the night we were all given a HoneyDukes Lolly pop to show how appreciative they were of our help. Little things like this really matter, so I expected the same from Disney, but it was not to happen. In fact I lost something very sentimental to me while working at Disney, it was found by management and locked in the managers office til morning. When I arrived for work I was told it was no longer in the office, I never got it back and was most upset to think that someone I was working with (potentially a manager) had taken it.

One last thing to mention would be the transport - Universal do not offer free transport for their employees but luckily they have many very friendly Americans who are eager to give the British Interns a ride home. They come to the parties and generally want to be involved with the interns, however the American employees I worked with at Disney tended to keep themselves to themselves. Interns caught the staff busses for free - a big perk again in money saving - when the busses turned up that is! At one point me and a few friends had been left waiting for an hour for a bus and when we rang the depot they didn't seem too fussed at all - very unhelpful.

All in all yeah I agree the Universal standard could do with a tidy up in their appearances but behind the scenes they kick Disneys butt in looking after their employees!

Heres that link to the blog I was reffering to if any of you are interested -
http://meetthemagic.com/things-in-universal-studios-never-seen-in-disney-world/

FloridaGirl :)

Got That Frozen Feeling?

If so, then it turns out Hollywood Studios is the place for you and your little ones, the latest addition to be opened in a few days time (26th July) is to be a Frozen makeover!
Similar to Disney's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the new 'Ice Palace Boutique' addition will allow children to be transformed, Frozen style, in to their favourite princess and queen. This will include the makeup, face gems, nail varnish and of course the famous hairpieces with a few snowflakes thrown in for good measure. Or for the boys there's the Olaf package, an Olaf t-shirt and glittery hairstyle.
The new boutique will also have a Frozen themed café, obviously with Frozen style treats, that from what I've seen look delicious!
But with this along with the Frozen Sing-A-Long show, the Frozen Parade and the Frozen firework show, along with the Frozen merchandise shops is it all getting a bit much??
I have to admit I do love Frozen and a good sing a long to 'Let It Go', but I don't want a whole Frozen Disney park!! And yes I know it is only meant to be for the summer but there are many, many Disney films that are just as awesome as Frozen. Children who go to Disney are going to end up going solely for Frozen and not adoring Snow White, Rapunzel, Arora or even the very quickly forgotten Merida (poor Merida), which they should also love!
I recently saw Disney on Ice, which was fantastic, but it was only the adults in there cheering at the end for poor Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle who had done an equally, if not a better job, than Anna and Elsa who got all the praise!
In my opinion Disney would be better off updating the shows such as "Indiana Jones' Epic Stunt Spectacular" and the "Lights, Motors, Action" stunt show that have been the same show (as amazing as they are) for the last 15 years!
Feel free to disagree and tell me I've gone mad below, but...
                                                          ...tone down the Frozen please Disney!!

FloridaGirl xx