kaileerachele

[kaileerachele]

Cruising on a budget!

I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about cruising yet! If you want to travel on a budget, you definitely need to know about cruising. I can’t say I’m a cruising expert, however, I’ve been on three and I have another planned for November of this year. I have also only cruised on Carnival Cruise Line. Carnival has the best prices I’ve been able to find. Ok so let’s get to it… why go on a cruise?

It can be extremely inexpensive! Like under $300 per person for a 3 or 4 day cruise!! Your food, hotel, and transportation are all included. Most of the time, you would spend more just on hotels for the number of nights you decide to cruise. I really like Carnival because you can book through their website up to two years in advance and set-up a payment plan. If you like to have a travel budget, this makes things so simple!

As a mom, cruises are the absolute best. Guess who doesn’t have to cook, clean, plan activities, find restaurants, and book multiple hotels for about a week? Me!!! I took my two girls on a cruise for their Christmas present a few years ago with my mom and we had a blast. They loved the unlimited pizza, soft serve ice cream, and snacks. They also loved swimming, mini golf, the activities for kids (at no extra charge), meeting friends, and seeing new parts of the world. It was also fun to get dressed up fancy for dinner. I have actually been really impressed with the food on the cruises I’ve been on!

You get to easily see parts of the world that would be much more expensive to fly to and pay for lodging, food, etc. We have been on the four day Catalina Island and Ensenada cruise and it was great! Our next cruise is going to be a 7 day to Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan. We have never been to those parts of Mexico and it a fraction of the cost to cruise there. My favorite excursions are the city tour activities, which tend to be the most inexpensive. I am also wanting to go on an Alaskan cruise. We live in the Pacific Northwest and can drive to the Seattle port. For the Long Beach port we have usually flown to and I have found flights for less than $200 a person to LAX.

Here are some other tips and tricks:

Plan a cruise in February, April, September, or November. The prices are much less!

If you tend to get motion sickness, bring anti-drowsy motion sickness medication with you.

If you are leaving from Long Beach, you might as well add a day or two at Disneyland, since it is very close to Anaheim! (See my Disney blog posts for tips!).

Cruises are great for large group trips, a ladies getaway, or couples trips. Everyone can book their own rooms, there is plenty to do, you can hang out together as much as little as you would like, and everyone has their own space!

I do recommend getting the travel protection so you will be refunded if your plans change.

I also suggest pre-paying for tips.

The drink packages are usually more expensive than the actual cruise and you would need to drink more than 9 beverages a day to make it worth it. That’s not worth it to me. There is also a soda package that is pretty reasonable if you are a soda person. They allow you to bring one 12 pack of soda per person and a bottle of wine though if you want to save $$

Once you know the ship you will be on, find a Facebook page about cruising on that ship to get tips and tricks from those who have already been on the ship. I have learned all sorts of great things on these!

You can prepay for Carnival gift cards on the website that you can use for anything on the ship that is extra. This way, you have already budgeted for anything extra and you don’t have a bill to pay at the end of the vacation.

There is a military discount and if you become a member of the loyalty program (it is free) you can get more perks the more cruises you go on.

I have seen that if you gamble in the casino on the ship that you will be sent amazing deals for cruises later, but I have not tried this. On the Facebook pages I have followed I have seen people get offers for pretty much free cruises-you just pay for taxes and port expenses. Again, I’m not sure how this works or if it is effective.

Go cruising and have a wonderful, relaxing vacation!

[kaileerachele]

Budget Travel Tips for New York City (Bonus tips for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!)

1. First of all, before you plan a trip to New York City, make sure you are ok with walking long distances. Especially if you want to save money by not taking taxis and Ubers everywhere. The public transportation in NYC is incredible, but there is still quite a bit of walking needed to get around.

2. Secondly, decide what time of year you would like to go and start researching flights and hotels. It has been a life long dream of mine to attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and my daughters, who are 12 and 14 also had the week off school so that is when we planned to go! Start looking for flights at least 4 to 5 months in advance. 6 months or more is even better. I booked a travel package through Expedia and got a discount on my hotel and did not have to pay for breakfast!! (That is a $66 per day discount at the hotel we stayed at!!!). I like Expedia because they search many different airlines and usually have the best deals. We booked Delta flights to JFK and American flights back to Boise with one layover each way. We booked a red-eye flight to JFK and it saved us about $400 total. I won’t lie, it is pretty brutal trying to sleep on a plane, but I still think it was worth the savings. I made sure we had almost the whole day to rest once we arrived at our hotel and also called ahead to plan for an early check-in. Our hotel checked us in almost 2 hours early with no extra fees!!

3. Speaking of hotels… here are some budget tips. The closer you stay to Times Square and Central Park, the more expensive your hotel will be. I recommend booking a hotel in close proximity to the Red 1 Subway line. The 1 will take you to most of the main NYC hot spots and it is very easy to use if you do some homework (more tips on this later 😀). I booked a hotel off of 6th Avenue on 28th street in Chelsea/Manhattan. We had a subway stop at the end of our block and it was so convenient!! We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Manhattan Chelsea on 28th street. It is in the flower district so you walk by pretty flower shops every day! Like I said earlier I got breakfast included through our Expedia package deal that saved a lot of $$! Some other things I looked for in a hotel were having a fridge and microwave (many in NYC do not!) and I also read tons of reviews before booking. This hotel was not fancy or brand new, but it was in the perfect location (especially for the Macy’s parade!) and it was only $130 a night in NYC. They also gave us a room on the top floor and we had views of the the Empire State Building which was a huge surprise! The hotel was within walking distance to the Flatiron district, Macy’s, The Empire State Building, Times Square (or it is 2 stops on the Subway), the 5th Avenue stores, Rockefeller Center, and much more!!

4. Transportation tips. Do not even think about renting a car in NYC. Total waste of time and $$. We took the air train from JFK and connected to the Long Island Express at the Jamaica stop to Penn Station to get to our hotel, but I would Uber or taxi if I did it again, especially after a red eye flight. The subways are great, but there are stairs involved and when you have your luggage, it can be challenging. We definitely took an Uber back to JFK for our flight out. Learn about the Subway grid before you come! Watch some YouTube videos or read about it. You can also do directions on Google maps and Apple Maps to different locations ahead of time and it gives you very detailed instructions on which subways to take and which way. Pick the transit options on your directions to look at this. Just remember, uptown means up and downtown means down! You also no longer need to purchase Metro cards to ride the Subway. You just need a credit card that you can tap to pay. We used my credit card for all three of us the whole time with no issues. It is about $3 each ride and it stops charging when you get to around $37 a person for a 7 day period. There were a few times we were really tired and took an Uber or taxi (For taxis you just swipe your credit card to pay at the end of your ride. Also, they will only stop if their light is on and they aren’t carrying other passengers.) Give yourself extra time when you take public transit as it can take a little while to navigate. I used credit card points for Uber gift cards ahead of time and preloaded my account so we were ready for those fees.

5. How to see everything!! I had been to NYC over 20 years ago so I knew some of the biggest attractions we needed to see, but I highly recommend adding yourself to some Facebook NYC travel tip pages and also watching some vloggers on YouTube who give NYC travel tips. It was so helpful for me!! I chose to get the CityPASS with three attractions and we used it for: The Empire State Building (definitely do this and you have to make separate reservations!), the 9/11 museum (you also make separate reservations), and the Museum of Natural History ( you make separate reservations as well, enter on 79th street, and go to the CityPASS kiosks off to the right to get your actual tickets emailed to you). I highly recommend going to all three of these places! I do not recommend using the CityPASS for Statue of Liberty or the ferry because the Staten Island Ferry is free and you get wonderful views from the ferry! We also booked a walking/ferry/subway tour through TripAdvisor to see a lot of NYC. We met our tour guide in Times Square and she took us to Rockefeller Center, 5th Ave., Grand Central Terminal, the Financial District, The Staten Island Ferry, and the One World Trade Center (do this!!). Our guide was a native New Yorker and was so knowledgeable! I booked our 9/11 museum time at the end of the tour since we were going to end there anyway. I also booked tickets separately to the Vanderbilt Summit (right next to Grand Central). Trust me.. definitely go to the Vanderbilt Summit!! It is super interactive and was a great experience.

6. Going to some Broadway shows was also top of our list so I booked tickets for those pretty far in advance. The theaters are not super big so pretty much everywhere you sit is a good seat so save $$ by not getting the expensive seats. We watched two shows in a day: “Wicked” and “Aladdin”. “Wicked” was absolutely incredible and “Aladdin” was more of a funny/fun show. Both were kid appropriate and my girls loved it!! Again the 1 Subway line is right by the Aladdin theater so it was super easy to get back to the hotel.

7. Parade tips: get a hotel within walking distance to the parade route. Over 3 million people watch the parade and transportation will not work well. The Macy’s website gives you the parade route. DO NOT try to walk down 6th avenue the morning of. Walk down 7th or 5th and then cut over. We watched across the street from Bryant Park between 39th and 40th streets. There are no bathrooms and it is not an option to leave and come back. We got there a little after 6 am and we were one row back from the front. I brought some lightweight, triangular, folding chairs and they were a complete lifesaver!! The parade started at 8:30 and came to us about an hour later. We lucked out and it was in the 50s and nice weather. Be prepared for all weather though!! We brought one bottle of water to take tiny sips out of so we wouldn’t need to use the bathroom. I also brought granola bars and some pretzels for snacks. The parade ended around 12 and we made our way through the crazy crowds and walked back on 5th avenue. It was definitely a fun experience but be prepared for a lot of waiting and for A LOT of people!! You have to get to a spot before 6:30 to have a good view. There are also tons of spots blocked off for wounded warrior project. (And that is wonderful!). We originally wanted to sit in front of Bryant park, but that area is off limits, so we just went across the street.

8. A few other spots we loved that were free! The New York Public Library is absolutely gorgeous and there is an exhibit that has the original Winnie the Pooh Stuffed animals and one of Charles Dicken’s writing desks. The Morgan Library also has free tickets for Friday evenings that come available the week before. There is a Gutenberg Bible amongst other amaaaazing things and the library is breathtaking. Definitely go there if you can and it is free! And of course Central Park is free to explore and it was so pretty in the fall!

So if you are deciding whether or not to go to NYC? Go!!! It is amazing!

I get asked about the credit card reward points I use for travel a lot. We use the Verizon credit card for all of our gas, groceries, and going out to eat. You get 4% back on many of these things and it adds up quickly. We also get $10 off each line per month ($40 a month savings!). You can then use your rewards dollars/points toward your cell phone bill, buying phone products, travel (airfare, hotels, rental cars), and gift cards. I love the gift card option!! I got some gift cards for Starbucks before we traveled so we stopped at several while we were walking around the city for breaks. I also got some Morton Steakhouse gift cards ahead of time and we went there for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so good and the girls loved going to a fancy restaurant. It was all covered by the gift cards! Then like I referenced above, I also got some UBER gift card and added time to my account so the few UBER rides we took were covered! I have also used the travel options for plane tickets and hotels in the past, but the gift cards are my favorite perk. You do need to order them at least the day before you use them just an FYI.

[kaileerachele]

Traveling to Palm Springs on a Budget

I’ve decided that February is a perfect time to travel south. I live in Idaho and I adore it, but it is cold in the winter for sure!!! Rewind to about a year ago and some of my college friends and I decided we needed to plan a little vacay to somewhere warm to celebrate a monumental birthday. We have all known each other for 20 years and it was so fun to plan! We were coming from a few different places (Texas, Washington, Northern Idaho, and Southern Idaho). Palm Springs checked all our boxes and had inexpensive flights! If you have not been there, it should absolutely be added to your list. It is soooo great! The best way I can think of to describe it is that it is all Hollywood should be. If you have ever been to actual Hollywood, you know how dirty and scary it is. Palm Springs is clean, has the Hollywood stars on the sidewalks, and has palm trees everywhere! The view of the San Jacinto mountains is gorgeous and the weather in February is divine. So without further adieu here are my travel tips!!

Plan your trip around the flight deals. Boise has direct flights to Palm Springs so that was very convenient! Coachella music festival happens in that area, so the cost will be much more at the end of April. We went from a Wednesday to a Saturday. Trying different flight days can save you $$ as well. The airport in Palm Springs is very small and easy to navigate. Most of it is open air (similar to Maui’s airport). It is right in town and close to everything. It is important to rent a car in Palm Springs if you are not staying within a few miles of the airport. We reserved our car through Costco and Alamo happened to have the best deal. If you book through Costco you don’t have to pay the fee to add another driver. Thankfully we reserved the car before prices skyrocketed. Turo.com is another way to rent a car if you are looking for deals. It is like Vrbo but for cars.

Explore the surrounding area! We stayed in La Quinta and it was such a great place. Same great views and a very resort feel in the cute, stucco house lined neighborhoods. We opted for a vacation rental house with a pool and spa and there were no regrets! It happened to be a cold front when we were there (high of 65) so we spent a lot of time in the spa! It was still 30-40 warmer than Idaho so we were happy! Joshua Tree State Park is a short drive away. We didn’t make it that far, but other people we spoke with said it was great.

Get a date shake! We went to Shields in La Quinta and it was an experience! It has been around since the 1920s and had a lot of charm. A small movie theater is in the store area and you can learn all about dates (I don’t want to spoil it, but there may be some love advice included as well 😂.). There is a huge garden where they grow their own dates, lemons, oranges, and much more! There is also a path that takes you on the journey of the story of Jesus with statues and plaques with the descriptive verses. We ate at the outdoor cafe and the food was so good. I tried the date hamburger and I never knew I would love dates so much! The date shake was surprisingly yummy. It almost tasted like chocolate but had more of a caramel taste. Absolutely worth trying!!

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram is a must see. If you do anything in Palm Springs do this. I recommend getting there right when they open, or trying to purchase tickets in advance so you can be sure to have tickets. The tram takes you up to over 8,000 feet with views of the whole valley. It slowly moves in a circle as you go up the mountain so you get all angles of the view. Up at the top there is a gift shop, fabulous restaurant, a little cafeteria, and a bar. We went to the restaurant right when it opened and got reservations. The gorgeous views made everything taste even better and the service was awesome. Worth every penny. If you like to hike, there are trails up there. It is much colder so dress accordingly! The tram conductor (not sure what the formal name for a tram person is, but we will go with that… 🤣) on the way down threw us a dance party so we had a blast.

Downtown Palm Springs. Like I mentioned earlier, it is so cute. There are Hollywood stars lining the sidewalk and you will recognize some names! The Palm Springs Art Museum is down there and the huuuge statue of Marilyn Monroe stand right in front. Great photo spot. The art museum has a few hours on Thursday night when you can get free admission. You just sign-up ahead of time on their website. Other free art galleries are also in other spots. On Thursday nights there is a market that lines a few blocks of the main drive. There is live music, food, art, and souvenirs. All the food we tried in Palm Springs was good! We at Trio and we all enjoyed it. I recommend the salmon. There are a bunch of cute breakfast and brunch places as well. The coffee shop across the street from Trio serves Sister’s coffee so that was fun. There is plenty of free parking downtown and have I mentioned that it is cute?!

I can’t wait to return to Palm Springs. It was perfect for a girls’ trip, but it would also be great for a couples’ getaway or a family vacation. There are immaculate golf courses everywhere if that’s your jam. If resorts are more your style, there are plenty of options. I also happened to be with some of my favorite people in the world so it heightened the experience even more! It is only a few hours drive from LA and San Diego if you decided to do a day trip. I will always think of Palm Springs as the perfect little oasis in the desert that makes you feel like you are a movie star in the 1950’s. Memories were made and good times were had. I hope that you can also experience all that Palm Springs offers.

[kaileerachele]

Traveling to Maui on a Budget

(Covid-19 protocols as of November 2021.)

​ To be honest, I usually write off Hawaii immediately when I am planning a vacation due to the price of airfare and the lack of all-inclusive resorts. The price of lodging and food is very high and I like a good bargain. Hawaii is not known for being a bargain type of place! I traveled to the island of Oahu back in 2000 for my senior trip and it really was pretty, but much different from the Hawaii I dreamed of. Honolulu, Oahu is very city like and crowded. There were nice beaches and a lot of things to do, but not the tropical paradise I was expecting. (Other than snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, which was incredible!!) Oahu is worthwhile to visit, especially to see Pearl Harbor, but if you are looking for a relaxing, palm trees swaying in the breeze vacation, one of the other islands would be more your style.

Fast forward to 2021 and I randomly looked at the airfare prices for Maui. I thought it had to be a mistake, but the round-trip tickets came up as $280 a person from Boise, Idaho. What?!?! We had planned on going on a cruise with our close friends to the Riviera Maya, but canceled due to Covid-19. I told my friend right away when I realized the price wasn’t a mistake and we decided to hop on that deal and book some flights to make up for the canceled cruise! We then started looking at vacation rentals. We found a condo in Kaanapali area, right on the beach, that had two master suites with ocean views, pools, hot tubs, on site restaurants, and beach access for around $300 a night. We used vrbo.com to book our housing. Another way to save on airfare to Hawaii is to open a credit card with one of the major airlines that fly there. Many of them have companion fare deals, or you can earn points on purchases and put them toward your flights. If Hawaii is your main vacation destination, these are probably worth looking into!

​This is an ongoing, changing process, but for anyone that needs to know, here is the process for traveling to Maui with the Covid-19 processes as of November 2021. There are multiple steps involved whether you have a vaccination card, or you have a negative Covid test, so make sure you know what to do ahead of time! It is always best to carefully read through the Hawaii safe travels website to get the most current information.

• Check the most recent processes on the Hawaii Safe Travels website State of Hawaii - Safe Travels

• Create a log-in: I used the “Log in with Google” option and it worked just fine.

• Go to the trips section and enter the information regarding your trip. You will need to have the following information:

o Flight information (Last leg of flight to Hawaii and your return flight.)

o Dates of travel

o Name, Address, and phone number of the place you are staying

• Save all of your trip information and then go to the other section and enter in your vaccine card information if you are vaccinated. You will need to take a picture of your actual vaccine card or document and upload it into the website. If you are not vaccinated, go to the list of approved places to get tested and find the place closest to where you live. Walgreens is on the list, but you have get either the NAAT or the ID NOW test. The test has to be taken 72 hours or less from the beginning of the last leg of your flight to Hawaii. The NAAT test results can take too long, so you will want to do the ID NOW test. The regular Rapid tests do not qualify. Not all Walgreens have the ID NOW option, so go to the store website and you can search for stores with ID NOW tests. Walgreens requires you make an appointment in advance and the testing is free. Some places on the approved list charge up to $200 for a test. Again, make sure you get the test less than 72 hours before the last leg of your flight starts. Don’t forget to factor in time zones!!! Walgreens e-mails your test results within 24 hours. You can then upload your test results to the Hawaii Safe Travels website.

• 24 hours before the last leg of your flight you take a health survey on the Hawaii Safe Travels website for everyone who is traveling. When the survey is complete, an e-mail with a QR code is sent to you. Go to the e-mail and screenshot the QR code!!!! This way, if the internet on your phone doesn’t work well at the airport, you are still good to go.

• Bring your vaccine card and/or negative test results (print them out) with you as well.

• Finally, depending on the airline you are flying with (We flew United on the way there.) there is one more checkpoint either at the airport where you are flying to Hawaii from, or at the airport in Maui to get a temp check, they check your QR code, and then you get a wrist band showing you’ve been screened. The line at the Maui airport is usually much longer, so if you have a long enough lay-over or you get to the airport with plenty of time to spare, try to get it done before you leave for Maui. You will need your QR code, your test results/vaccine card, a copy of your reservations for lodging, and return flight information.

• You’ve done it! Now you can enjoy Maui!!!

Maui tips:

• Rental cars are an absolute must in Maui. Do not assume you can UBER everywhere. UBER is very infrequent as are shuttles and taxis. I almost always find the best deals for rental cars through Costco travel (Costco.com). It never hurts to check other places, but they usually have the best deals. We totally lucked out and they upgraded us to a jeep for free. We had a blast driving the jeep around the island!

• Depending on how much you want to spend there is a huge range of price points for lodging. We went with another couple and booked a condo through vrbo.com. It definitely brings the cost down if you are sharing a multi-bedroom place with others. We enjoyed that our condo was part of a resort so we had resort amenities. There were plenty of other smaller condo complexes if you prefer a more private setting. Condos are also nice because of the full kitchen.

We stayed here at Aston Kaanapali Shores. Right on the beach, great views, 2 pools. Recommend!

• Food in Maui is expensive. We saved quite a bit by going to Costco the first day and stocking up on essentials and quite a few meals. The seafood is very fresh there and most of it is local. (Honestly, they had a better selection than fish markets we went to.) There are multiple food truck areas with great food in Maui as well. Having a good balance of going out to eat and eating at the condo worked great for us. If you choose to explore the island, it is nice to have sandwich and lunch food to make as some areas don’t have many food options! If you want to go out for a nice meal, look at options before you go and make a reservation. Some of them fill up quickly!

• Snorkeling!!! We all loved the snorkeling. It is not necessary to pay for an excursion as there are many beaches that offer amazing snorkeling. Our resort had snorkel rentals on-site with great deals so we went with that, but there is a place called Snorkel Bob’s. They are located all over the island and they can set you up with gear. We lucked out because we could snorkel right behind our resort. We also drove to some beaches in the Kihei area that were awesome! Our favorite and easiest place to snorkel was Ulua beach down in that area. You just walk right into the water, the reef is right there, and the waves are very mild. Kihei is a fun area to explore and many people stay in that area. Another amazing place to snorkel where there are usually sea turtles is called Slaughterhouse Beach. This is north of Kaanapali area and you park on the side of the highway and go down several flights of stairs. It is a beautiful beach! However, I don’t recommend snorkeling here unless you are a strong swimmer. You have to swim for a bit to get to the reef up to the right of the cove, but it is totally worth it! We brought waterproof cell phone covers so we could take some videos and that was fun!

Slaughterhouse Beach north of Kaanapali: Swim to the rocks on the right!

Ulua Beach near Kihei: We snorkeled by the rocks in the distance… super easy and great things to see!

​

• Sunrise at Haleakala Volcano. We did this the first full day we were in Maui before we adjusted to the time change. Right now, you have to make reservations ahead of time to park at the summit or else they make you turn back. I reserved our spot a few weeks before our trip. Haleakala National Park Summit Sunrise Reservations, Haleakala National Park - Recreation.gov Be aware the road is very windy. There is no need to pay for a tour. I downloaded an app called Shaka Guide. It does cost $25 to download the guides, but it works for the volcano and the road to Hana. It uses GPS so you can download the guide ahead of time and you don’t have to have cell phone service for it to work! The guide tells you all the history of the area and lets you know when things are coming up. They even included Hawaiian music and many tips for the area! Do bring a phone charger because it uses a lot of battery. Anyway, the sunrise is beautiful! It is 10,000 feet up there so wear warm clothes!

• Doughnuts in Makao. After seeing the sunrise there is a little town at the base of the volcano called Makao. There is a bakery there with amazing doughnuts!! Just go there… you will love it. There is no sign on the building, but it is on the main street and you can’t miss it. Watch out for the chickens. They tried to steal my husband’s doughnut haha.

• Sunset Cruise. We did a sunset dinner cruise and we loved it! We booked ours through TripAdvisor. It was much less $$ than a luau and it was great watching the sunset out on the water.

• Road to Hana. It is amazing. Wear clothes you can hike and swim in. Use the Shaka Guide app and read all the tips online. Many awesome places to see do not have signs so you have to do some homework! You could easily spend 2 days on Road to Hana so it’s a good idea to figure out the places you want to see ahead of time. You start in a little town called Paia that is near the airport. Starting early in the morning is a must, especially if you want to hike some of the areas, as the road is very narrow and can get busy with tourists (like us!). If you get car sick, take some type of medication as it is an extremely windy road. There are way too many things to list, but here are some things we enjoyed:

o At mile marker 9.5 (finding a spot to park that isn’t marked no parking is tricky, but worth it) look for a hole in the bamboo right by the mile marker and start hiking. You end up at a waterfall with a nice pool you can swim in.

o The Keanae Peninsula was awesome. Aunty Sandy’s Banana bread was life changing. (Not kidding.) There is a place to park at the end of the peninsula with a beautiful rocky beach and an old church to look at. Totally worth it in our opinion and a nice place to stretch your legs.

o Waterfalls galore. If you can’t find parking for the first few, don’t worry, there will be more!

o At Mile Marker 23 there is what looks like a small hole in the side of the rocks. It is actually a cave you walk through and very cool!

o Waianapanapa State Bark-Black Sand beach. You have to make a reservation and pick a time slot in advance or they will not let you in. Division of State Parks | Waiʻānapanapa State Park (hawaii.gov) The beach is beautiful and there are trails to hike. We liked seeing the blow holes up on the hill from the black sand beach.

o Hana! Many of the things I read said the town of Hana wasn’t that great, but we really liked it! We ate our packed lunches at the Hana Bay Beach Park and then drove to Hamoa Beach and swam for a while.

o FYI-If you want to se the Ohe’o Gulch National Park-there are some waterfalls and pools to see, you can use your pass from Haleakala state park to get in. We unfortunately did not know it closed before 4:00 pm on some days so we didn’t get in.

o We decided to drive the full loop and not drive back the same way, but know the road gets pretty rough in spots so go at your own risk! We did see an amazing sunset driving back that way.

o Side notes:

▪ There are fruit stands along the road the locals use to sell produce. You just leave cash and take the produce. We bought some amazing avocados at one of them.

▪ If someone comes up behind you and honks, it is probably a local and they want to pass. Just go to the side of the road when you can safely do so and they will pass.

▪ Be open minded because you never know when there will be places to park or not along the way. You will not be disappointed as there are so many things to see. Take your time and enjoy seeing all the amazing views and plants. Look for rainbow trees, bamboo forests, tropical flowers, etc.

• Downtown Lahaina Banyan Tree. There is a huge Banyan Tree in the center of the downtown of Lahaina that is worth seeing. There are also some shops and restaurants right there.

• Shave Ice: Yes it is shave not shaved. It is so much more than ice. Find a good shave ice stand and pick your toppings and flavors. It’s part of the Maui experience.

• Explore! We put about 500 miles on our rental car and explored most of the island. There is so much to see! One day we found a trail on the side of the road that led to a waterfall at the end. The last day we were there we stumbled on a Pineapple Distillery and took a tour. There was a glass blowing studio where you could watch them make the glass blown art for free. There was also a cute pineapple treat stand out front. Hali'maile Distilling Company – Haliimaile Distilling

I am so happy we went on this vacation. We learned Maui can be done on a budget if you do it right. I hope this helps you have your own wonderful experience!

[kaileerachele]

Tips and Tricks for Visiting Disney World in 2021

I started this very infrequent travel blog after our family went to Disneyland for the first time. My favorite past time is researching vacations, especially Disney vacations! I love sharing things I have learned with others in hopes they can also have a fabulous vacation! I also love a good deal and Disney and Deals are not usually synonymous. However, there are many ways to save!! I do type all of this on my phone and try to edit, but I’m sure I will miss a few things and my thumbs will get tired!!

First of all, it is very important that I tell you about the resources I used to plan this vacation that really made a huge difference. My favorite place for Disney tips is the Disneyland Daily blog. Trust me on this. She frequents Disneyland and Disney World and her tips have made my vacations!! She has park plans that help you navigate each day to make best use of your time. She really knows her stuff. There are also so many great Facebook groups! The ones I joined are Walt Disney World Tips and Tricks and Disney Foodies. I would just search certain things within the group or actually ask the group questions and it was all so helpful!!

Have I mentioned I enjoy planning vacations? Well I do, and for that reason I prefer booking my vacations by myself for the most part. I have never used a travel agent. If you hate doing research on your own or booking things yourself, you may consider getting one. Costco Travel and Getawaytoday.com are the places I recommend for Disney travel. I have booked multiple Disneyland vacations through getaway and they are awesome!! You can also set up a payment plan if you want to budget monthly for your trip. For this DisneyWorld trip my mom and I happened to have flight vouchers from canceled flights to use for Orlando. I tend to plan my vacations around airfare prices. When I find a great deal I book it since it tends to be one of the larger costs. I usually book flights through either Expedia or Southwest. For this flight I booked Alaska Airlines through Expedia as it was the least expensive even with baggage fees ($30 per bag for Alaska). The flights we $280 round trip from Boise. That’s a steal!

Hotels in Orlando and Transportation: They are so. much. cheaper. than Anaheim!!! We opted to stay at a budget hotel off-site called the Ramada by Wyndham Kissimmee Maingate. It was just my mom and I so it was no big deal to UBER or Lyft to the parks everyday. Budget for each ride to cost between $11 and $30 depending on how busy it is. We stayed about 10 minutes away from everything. UBER tended to be quicker and more dependable. This was still less expensive than renting a car and paying $25 for parking each day at the parks. We also enjoyed not having to worry about finding things. We mainly just slept at the hotel so we didn’t need anything spectacular. I read a lot of TripAdvisor reviews before choosing a budget hotel and learned to book the tower rooms because they are much nicer and are hotel instead of motel style. ALWAYS read reviews. It has saved me on numerous occasions. We booked our hotel for $350 for five nights. Can’t beat that!! If I were to bring kids to DisneyWorld I would definitely book one of the budget hotels on-site for convenience. Art of Animation, Pop Century, and All Star Sports Resort are the most inexpensive, and you can sometimes get deals for a little over $100 a night. The perk of staying onsite is the free transportation everywhere, even to and from the airport (well until the end of 2021-then it will start costing, but just the airport rides, not the other transportation.) I would pick either AofA or Pop due to the Skyliner!!! The Skyliner is soooo great! It is basically a gondola ride that goes between a few of the resorts to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Getting a resort close to the skyliner would be super fun. If you are going all out and want to spend more I would recommend The Boardwalk, The Riviera, the Beach Resort, or the Contemporary. They are all beautiful!!!! The first two have access to the skyliner as well. There are also Disney Vacation Club points like time shares you can rent/purchase from certain reliable places that can get you into some of those awesome places for much cheaper than usual. DVC Rental Store and David’s Vacation Club Rentals are two reputable places to do this. For Magic Kingdom, getting there early is tricky unless you stay at the Contemporary. There is a walking path and Monorail access from that hotel currently. Only hotel guests or those with dining reservations can go there. So if I were splurging I would probably stay at the Contemporary for the Magic Kingdom days and the move to a Skyliner resort for the other days. The Boardwalk was my favorite. The Riviera was beautiful and has amazing restaurants onsite. There are quite a few other resorts as well but I didn’t have a chance to see them. We loved ubering to the Boardwalk in the mornings. We would eat breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery and then either walk, boat, or skyliner to our destination. (Yes, there are boats that go from the Boardwalk to Epcot, the Beach Resort, and Hollywood Studios!). Picture below of breakfast on the Boardwalk.

Breakfast at Boardwalk Bakery!

The Rides and the Food: Disney World is such a big place! I don’t know why anyone is park hopping right now with it only being allowed after 2:00. There is so much to do at every park. Here are my tips for each. Get to each park as early as humanly possible. There are no fast passes right now so using a good park plan is important. Use the blogs I listed above to help with this!! It gets VERY hot in the afternoon and the lines are much shorter in the mornings and in the evenings (but shortest in the morning!) Download the My Disney Experience app now and get very familiar with it. You will need it to order food at most quick service restaurants, you can check wait times, see your schedule, look at restaurant menus, park hours and much more. Get your account all set up and linked ahead of time so you don’t run into issues there. One huge difference at DW is that you need your park tickets connected to either Magic Bands (bracelets you purchase ahead of time), plastic cards, or if you have an iPhone you can now connect your tickets in the app using Disney Magic Mobile. It is not like DL where it is automatically set up in the app for you. All the park hours are much shorter than usual so I recommend being at the parks from open to close. Going back to your resort at DW even if you are staying on site will be at least a few hour ordeal and will waste valuable time you paid for!! The parks open about an hour before the posted time so I will give tips about getting there early!

Magic Kingdom: The best way to get here early is to either stay at The Contemporary so you can walk, or to Uber to the Ticket and Transportation Center at about 6:15. You will be at the front of the line to ride the ferry or the monorail to MK. The monorail was down so we rode the ferry. We got through the gates at about 7:05 and it was awesome. If you wait for the buses from the resorts they don’t leave until 7:15 so you lose that time: I would probably Uber even if o stayed on-site. If I had the time, I would have spent two days here easily. This is the park most like the original Disneyland. Many classic rides and nostalgia. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a good ride to start with first thing in the morning. Don’t let the long line deceive you. With the 6 feet distancing it is really not very long. Follow a park plan that I mentioned above and it will help you!! We rode 6 big rides and some smaller ones before lunch! Speaking of lunch... we ate at The Skipper Canteen and it was awesome!! I highly recommend making dining reservations for the afternoon to get out of the heat. There are also some really fun restaurants! You can look at all the menus and prices ahead of time on the app so you can make a plan. The Disney Foodies Facebook page helped me with this!! I actually posted pictures of the food we ate at each park on the Disney Foodies Facebook page if you want some reviews and ideas. We ate at Be Our Guest for Dinner. It is spendy, but so worth doing at least once!! You get to go in the Beast’s castle and the food is good! Get the latest dining reservation possible to see the castle and the park at night when you walk out. You can also get in line for your favorite ride up until a minute before closing and they will still let you ride it. We rode 7 Dwarves Mine Train one more time. Another way to beat the heat during the day is to go to the indoor theater shows. They have them at all the parks and they were some of our favorite experiences!! And you get to sit in AC for a while! Don’t miss going on the People Mover ride and the Carousel of Progress in Tomorrowland. They are relaxing.

Skipper Canteen and Be Our Guest rose!

Animal Kingdom: To get their early: Uber a little over an hour before park opening. If they haven’t opened the road yet have the Uber Driver drop you off at the bus stop by the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The first bus to the resort gets there about a little over an hour before park opening. We were the very first group there before they opened up the road for regular parking and Uber. Go to the left and quickly get yourself to the Flight of Passage Ride in Pandora!!! It is so cool and the line will be long for the rest of the day. The line queue is beautiful all lit up in the morning. Then go to the Navi River Passage Ride. Then go to Africa and go on the Safari! It is super important to go on the Safari in the morning as way more animals are out. We went on it in the afternoon as well and we were so glad we went in the morning. The line moves fast. It is one of the greatest things there! African elephants, giraffes, Lions, Rhinos and much more. After this, slow down, get a snack and make your way around the rest of the park. My favorite place to eat in all of Disney World was Yak & Yeti. It is extremely hard to get reservations, but I found out a great trick!! Go to landrysselect.com and sign up ahead of time!! You pay $25 to join and get a card sent to you in the mail. You get to use the $25 on your restaurant visit so it pays for itself. You also get $25 to spend at any Landry’s restaurant on your birthday each year. When you are a Landry’s card holder you can call the restaurant directly and not go through Disney reservations (just Google Yak & Yeti Animal Kingdom phone number) and they will make you a reservation in minutes! You can also walk up at the park but you may have to wait for a bit. The food is sooo good. Get the Ahi Tuna Nachos or get chicken instead. Soooo good!!!! The Landry’s card also works at Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex and they are located at Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs. These are great restaurants for kids. I was blown away at how beautiful Animal Kingdom is!! Also ride Expedition Everest!! It was my favorite roller coaster at the parks and the line is usually fairly short.

Epcot: I love Epcot!!! So much to see and do and eat and drink 🤣. Right now this park opens at 11:00. We took an Uber to the Boardwalk Resort, ate breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery, and walked to get in line a little before 10:00. Ride either Test Track (kind of of like Radiator Springs at DL) or Soaring Over the World first and then make your way to the rest of the rides. Then snack your way around the park and enjoy! Each country usually has their own presentation to watch and they are very cool!! Don’t miss Canada’s. It is a circular theater where the screen go all around the room for a 360 degree view of Canadian sights. If you really want a character experience, eat at the Garden Grill. There is also a Frozen ride in Norway that is super cute. We saw quite a few princesses throughout the day in cavalcades )mini parades. If I were to pick a restaurant to eat at next time, I would go to the Mexican restaurant inside the pyramid in Mexico. It had similar ambiance of the Blue Bayou in DL. We were very happy with all the walk-up booths for food though! So many options. There are booklets at the entrance you can pick up that tell you all about the options depending on what festival is going on. One walk-up restaurant not on the app for some reason is Les Halles in France. It is a French Bakery and I had the best Raspberry Macaron ever!!! Try the school bread at the bakery in Norway as well. Yummm.

Hollywood Studios: If you are a Star Wars fan, do not miss this park!! The only ride where you have to get a boarding pass on the app is located in this park. It is called Rise of the Resistance and it is pretty awesome. You have two chances a day to get a boarding pass if you have park reservations for that day. 7:00 am and 1:00 pm. The 7:00 am you can make from anywhere, the 1:00 you have to be In the park. Look up YouTube videos of how to get a boarding pass ahead of time. Make sure you are signed in the app, add your whole party to your account, get to a spot with the best possible cell service, and go to the Virtual Queue section of the app a few minutes before 7:00. Have someone else look up time.gov and at 6:59:58 refresh the screen and immediately click on add boarding pass as soon as it pops up on the screen. Then scroll all the way down without reading everything and say yes to it all. They are all gone within seconds. If you don’t get in the first time try again at 1:00. We got ours at 1:00. They send you an alert when it is your turn to get in line: To get to HS early you can ride the Skyliner from one of those resorts, or walk on the pathway by the Boardwalk. It is a bit of a walk, but you get there first!! Ride Slinky Dog in Toy Story Land first. It isn’t the best ride there but the line is crazy long the rest of the day in the hot sun!! Then go to Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railroad. Then make your way around the park. Get the wookie cookie at Backlot Express and eat at the Brown Derby if you can. Best Cobb salad I have ever had. There is not much shade at HS and dining reservations are hard to get, so take them when they come available! My favorite ride there was the Rock n Roller Coaster. You go up side down for a bit 😀. Taking breaks and going to the inside shows is super important at HS due to lack of shade.

Rise of the Resistance and a Wookie Cookie!

Day off from parks ideas: We had a rest day in the middle of the four parks and it was amazing. We slept in and ubered to Disney Springs for brunch at City Works which was very good!! The World of Disney Store is there with every souvenir imaginable so we did our shopping that day. There are a ton of fun places to shop and eat there. The Lego store is pretty great. Then we took a bus from DS to the Riviera hotel. Such a beautiful place. We ended up going back there for dinner at Primo Piatto (mobile order only) and it was very good!! Then we just rode the Skyliner all over and looked at some of the resorts. The Skyliner is like it’s own ride and is free! Great views and relaxing. A day off is also a great time to relax at your resort and go swimming. It was just what we needed to get our energy for two more fun filled park days. And everything activity but the Uber and food was free!

Final tips: It is very hot and humid!!! For kids definitely rent a nice stroller that leans back and bring a stroller fan. It will save your whole vacation. City strollers are a great brand and there are rental places that will drop them off right at your resort. Bring cheap ponchos in case you get the afternoon down pour. Mole skin for blisters is essential. I can normally wear my birks for miles and miles with no issue, but humidity makes your feet rub more! Wear the most comfortable broken in walking shoes you own. I saw a lot of people and kids wearing crocs. Leave style at home and wear the crocs!! haha. Get cooling towels, and the little misting fans. The Photopass is totally with it if you are on a family vacation. So many photo options and you just tap your magic band or phone to save all the photos to go through later. Dining reservations open up 60 days before your park reservation at 6:00 am Eastern Time. If you don’t see the places you want keep checking. I checked every night for two months and got pretty much everywhere I wanted along with the Landry’s card tip I shared in the AK section. Sunscreen... enough said. Good water bottles... there is free ice water at most quick service restaurants. Drink water like crazy so you keep from getting over heated. Iced coffee and ice cream doesn’t hurt either 😀. Finally, do your homework and have a plan, but be flexible and have a great time!! DW is soooo big and awesome. You will have a wonderful time!! And when else can you go and be guaranteed the park will be below 35% capacity!!!?? I also saw that just today they changed the mask rule and you do not have to wear them outside if you can distance. The Disney masks are great moisture wicking material and are cheaper to buy in advance in the Disney website FYI. And they are cute:). Let me know if you have any questions and I would be happy to help if I can!!

[kaileerachele]

[kaileerachele]

Disneyland Tips 2018

So it looks like the only time I blog is when we go to Disneyland. I’m good with that :). I love sharing tips with people to help them make vacation fun and save money! Here are some things I have learned that may help you. 1. I mentioned this last time, but I cannot stress it enough: getawaytoday.com is by far the best website for hotels and attraction tickets. Believe me, I have looked everywhere. Most of the year they sell adult Disney tickets for the price of kids’ tickets. (The ONLY better deal is if you can get military tickets.). Getaway also offers many deals for hotels for free nights if you stay at least three nights. One of my favorite things is their layaway plan. You just pay a deposit and then either make monthly payments or pay the balance in full the month before you leave. You can plan up to a year in advance!! Getaway has a Peace of Mind plan for $75 where you can make changes to dates or lodging options for free (I used it and it was super convenient.). Their website is also super informative and tells you up front if the hotel offers free parking, if they have free breakfast, and exactly how close it is to Disneyland. Which brings me to the next tip... 2. Location, Location, Location!!! Personally, I do not want to wait 20 minutes for a shuttle every time we want to go to and from the park. It is also about $30 a day for the ART shuttle for a family of 4. I think being within walking distance is essential. There are very few hotels that offer their own shuttle service. I think the Candy Cane Inn is one of them and they book up quickly! We have stayed at The Castle Inn and Suites both times and it has been perfect for our needs. It is one of the closest hotels and is one of the lowest priced. It also does not charge for parking and has refrigerators and microwaves in the rooms. There is a pool and hot tub, which is a nice thing to have as a break in the middle of the day. It is older, but it is very clean and the rooms are very spacious. Hotels on Harbor Blvd are the easiest to walk from. Also know that driving to a Disney lot with your own car is $25 a day and you have to take a shuttle so it takes a while. Disney tickets are not cheap and all that time takes away from your time to have fun in the park! Another side note: The Disney hotels have a few nice perks, but other than the California Grand (at least $400 a night) they are quite a walk! The Harbor Blvd hotels within two blocks are about the same distance of a walk from Paradise Pier and the Disneyland Hotel. The cost savings is so substantial I just don’t see why staying there is worth it. You will not even be in your hotel that much! 3. This is probably the most important tip besides using Getawaytoday. Get to the parks EARLY!!!! Trust me. I do not like to wake up early, but Disneyland is the exception and it is sooo worth it! Before you can go into the resort area there is a line to go through security and then another line to get into the parks. I suggest getting to the security check-in 45 minutes to an hour before the park opens. For some reason the security check on the far left always seemed to go faster. They usually open the gates early and have a rope drop ceremony closer to the castle or the end of the street right at opening time. The first two hours the parks are open is the best time for short lines, cooler weather, and overall fun. Another trick I have learned is to look ahead at the park schedule online and see which park is letting their hotel guests get in an hour early. You get one magic morning early entrance with purchase of three day tickets or more on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday (except for military tickets.. Magic morning is not offered with those tickets). However... we don’t use the magic morning and go to the opposite park!! This has worked great and the park without the magic morning is way less crowded!! Speaking of lines.. on to my next tip. 4. MaxPass and Fast Passes are your tickets to short lines for the most popular rides! The MaxPass is fairly new and it costs $10 extra per person per day. It also includes Photopass in the price for all the pictures on the rides and the pictures taken by the park photographers. This was our first time using Maxpass and here is the verdict... get it for at least part of your trip!! Everything is down from your phone. You scan your Park tickets into the app and then you can pick fast passes for rides on your phone. You can purchase it as soon as you enter the gates and you can download fast passes for both parks with a park hopper ticket. I won’t lie... it’s super nice not walking to each fast pass area for each ride and it gives you more time to plan out your day. I am a big nerd and read up on how the fast passes worked on the Disney website and also looked at a map so I knew where they are located. Fantasmic passes (the night show.. go at least once it is cool!) are not included and you still have to pick those up physically by the big white boat. We were able to ride every fast pass ride in both parks multiple times within two days with the MaxPass. If a ride breaks down where you had a fast pass they give you a pass for any other ride in that park for the rest of the day which is nice. We were there four days this time and used MaxPass for three days and then rode the littler rides and watched more parades and attractions on the last day. 5. Food tips: bring snacks with you like granola bars, fruit snacks, and jerky. We take a small backpack with snacks and other items I’ll mention later. Try to eat during non meal times like before 11 or between 2-5. Here are my favorite food items for the money (and the taste of course!). On the Disney app you can actually look at all the Dining options ahead of time and the prices are listed. We love the Turkey legs!! They are enormous and more than enough for two people. We usually get them by Thunder Mountain Railroad. Another favorite are the Mickey Beignets (doughnuts) and Mint Juleps that are sold across from the train station in New Orleans square. All the walk up restaurants will give you ice water for free. If you bring your own water bottles you can just refill them. Churros are a great snack during the parades. Corn dogs are good sized and very yummy. If you want to eat at a sit down place you have to make reservations ahead of time by calling ahead. Then there are character meals... 5. Character meals are a great way for the kids to meet characters without having to stand in line. I recommend doing one, especially if it is your first time at Disneyland. We did the dinner “premium” character dining at Goofy’s kitchen this time and I highly recommend it. We got our tickets through Getawaytoday at a discount. (Have I mentioned how much I like that website?!) The premium dining ends up being closer to the regular price. I think dinner is a way better bang for your buck because you get cuts of meat like steaks and salmon and the dessert selection is amazing! The characters come by your table and interact with each child. Another important thing to know is to bring a notebook for character signatures!!! This is a big deal at Disneyland. I found some at the Dollar Tree that are Disney themed to avoid paying $15 for one at the park. 6. Speaking of souvenirs, purchase your Disney clothing and souvenirs in advance and save a ton of money. The Dollar Tree has plenty of themed items such as coloring books, glow in the dark items (buy a bunch of these for the night time events), water bottles, games, wipes, sunscreen, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, bubbles, ponchos, toiletries, etc. other places I have found great deals are Amazon, H&M, Target, Walmart, Costco, JC Penny, Kohl’s, and a Disney Store in a mall or outlet mall. I like to purchase a t-shirt for the girls to wear each day ( all the shirts I found were $5 and under). I also bought a sweatshirt/jacket for each of them (it is chilly in the mornings and evenings). Minnie ears are way cheaper on Amazon. You can also add some jewelry or some small stuffed animals if you want. Our girls also brought some Disney gift cards they it for Christmas and money they earned and saved up. It is fun for them to buy a few things at the park, but they tend to spend less if it is their own money :). 7. A few more tips: Since we get to the parks super early we usually leave around lunch time to go back to the hotel and either swim or take a nap. The nighttime parades and fireworks don’t start until about 9:00 or 9:30 and it becomes a late night, especially since we wake up early the next day to go back. Our hotel does not serve breakfast, but it has microwaves and refrigerators in the room. We just buy milk and cereal and have breakfast before we leave. There is also a Denny’s, IHOP, and McDonalds right across from the main entrance. I have found that having a breakfast provided raises the cost quite a bit more than it costs to buy breakfast yourself. If your kids like Star Wars there is something called Jedi Training. You have to take your kids with you to sign them up first thing in the morning over in Tomorrowland across from Autotopia and they give you a voucher and return time. The get to be part of a show and “fight” characters like Darth Vader. Go to some shows and parades!!! The app has a schedule of events for each day. Fantasmic and World of Color are definitely worth seeing at least once (don’t forget to go get your fast passes in the morning!). All the parades are great and there are groups that perform all over the parks throughout the day. The Frozen show at California Adventure is very well done. It is also nice to sit down for a little while. It is a good idea to measure your kids before leaving on the trip and letting them know which rides they will be able to ride. Disneyland is fun for all ages, but there are height restrictions on most of the big rides. If you have little kids definitely rent a stroller offsite from somewhere like citystrollers online. The strollers are super nice and less expensive than the park rental strollers. It is super nice to be able to push them back to the hotel at the end of the day and it gives you a place to put all your stuff. Cross body purses for women and small backpacks for men are the way to go! They can stay with you on all the rides. I recommend putting one person in your party in charge of your tickets, max passes, regular fast passes, etc. Bring a good phone charger bank with you!!! (This is super important because you use your phone for EVERYTHING). Wear extremely comfortable shoes that are already broken in. We walked about 30 miles in four days. Lastly, Have a blast!!! There are so many things to see, watch and rides to ride. There are never lack of things to do or entertainment. Even finding a comfortable bench and people watching for a while is fun. The old school rides are nostalgic of the 1950s Disney.

[kaileerachele]

[kaileerachele]

Thrifty and Nifty Disneyland Advice

My family just got back from an amazing Disneyland vacation and I thought I would share some of things I learned that made it so great!

1. Do your research to find the best prices. I looked at pretty much every vacation website known to mankind and I think I found the best deal for Disneyland tickets and good neighbor motels. Getawaytoday.com usually has adult tickets for the price of children tickets. They also have hotel and motel prices for every budget. Many of the lodging choices offer free nights. I chose The Castle Inn and Suites, which is a block from the entrance and offered a fourth night for free. It did not offer complimentary breakfast, however, the savings more than covered the cost of breakfast every morning. The rooms had microwaves and refrigerators as well so we could easily buy milk and cereal at the store across the street. I highly recommend staying somewhere within walking distance. The last thing you want to do after a long day is wait for a shuttle. Getawaytoday.com also had the best prices for Character Meals. If you are flying, consider planning your trip around the best flight deals. After reading numerous blogs about when to travel to Disney, I looked for times that were not during holidays or three day weekends. I found out that Southwest Airlines offer better prices on Saturdays and Wednesdays. So guess when I planned out trip! This also made it so I only had to take three days of vacation from work. Getaway even offers layaway plans!

2. Buy Souvenirs in Advance As soon as the flights, motel, and tickets were booked, the fun began! I found amazing deals at Amazon, The Dollar Tree, Walmart, Costco, H&M, Target, and The Disney Store (surprisingly the prices are less expensive than at the parks). I purchased Disney themed outfits for each day, lip gloss, glow in the dark items, Minnie ears, bubbles (they were a favorite and were a $1!), jewelry, hair accessories, small purses, stickers, activity packs, tiaras, princess wands, hand sanitizer, Minnie Mouse hoodies, princess dresses, autograph books (these are a huge deal there), and other small, easy to pack items. Each morning the girls got to wake up to a new stack of fun times for the day. We made the rule they could pick out one souvenir at the park and it worked great! There are also pressed penny machines throughout the parks for 51 cents and the girls loved them! I brought a roll of quarters and pennies with us. These things also kept the kids busy when they were waiting in lines. Speaking of lines…

3. Get the Disneyland App and Learn all About Fast Passes and where they are located. The app is amazing and tells you what the wait times are for each ride, the park hours each day, maps of both parks, the entertainment schedule, and restaurant information including menus. By using this app we never waited longer than 20 minutes in line. It may sound obsessive, but study maps of the park in advance and learn all the fast pass locations ahead of time. Some rides such as Radiator Springs will never have lower than an hour wait without a fast pass and the passes run out about an hour after the park opens. This ride was a family favorite and I am soooo glad I knew how to get fast passes. Pinterest has all sorts of good information on how to use them. Here is what I learned: designate one person in your group to hold everyones’ park tickets and get fast passes. I was the designated fast pass getter for our group (I’m sure that is the technical term). At California Adventure immediately go get World of Color and Radiator Springs fast passes. (World of Color can be held at the same time as other passes.). On most days Radiator Springs passes are more than four hours out which lets you get another fast pass at the same time (it will tell you on your fast pass tickets if this is an option.). Soaring Over California is another good one to get. You can also have fast passes from both parks at the same time. Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Splash Mountain are good rides to utilize the passes at Disneyland. If you have babies or little children, you can ask the cast member for a rider swap pass. This allows one parent to ride with the older child and then the next parent can ride immediately after that. The older child gets to ride twice! There are also single rider lines that are much shorter for some rides.

4. Splurge on Some Things. It is vacation after all! We splurged on getting a Character Meal and eating in the park for some meals. The Character Meal is very worth it if you have little girls who want to meet princesses. We bought the premium because you can choose lunch. We ate at Ariel’s Grotto in California Adventure and the girls got to meet five princesses. Each princess comes by your table, talks to the kids, signs their autograph books, and poses for pictures. This saves a lot of time waiting in line to see princesses and you get a fancy three course meal. Other must have splurges are a Dole Whip at the Tiki Room, Mickey Beignets, Mint Juleps, and Churros. A great place to get Beignets (yummy Mickey shaped doughnuts with powdered sugar) and Mint Juleps is the walk up cafe directly across from the train boarding area in the alley of New Orleans Square. 5. If your children are 9 and under, rent a stroller. Seriously do it. We rented from City Strollers and they drop off and pick up from your motel for you. We had a double stroller and it was truly a life saver. Our 4 and 6 year old fell asleep in it every night and we could simply roll them back to the room. There was also space to put our backpack and other items. The park only offers single strollers and they cannot go with you back to your motel. Our stroller’s chairs reclined and the girls were very comfortable in it.

6. Take time to Rest. Find a nice place in the shade, eat a Mickey shaped ice cream bar, and relax for a while. There are many rides that are cool and relaxing like Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s a Small World. If your little ones still take naps, take them back to the motel to rest. This will help them get through the late evening activities. People watching can be fun. Shows are another relaxing place to rest such as the Disney Jr. Show, the Frozen Sing Along, the Tiki Room, and the Abraham Lincoln show. 7. Watch the Fireworks and the Light Parade by It’s a Small World. Let everyone else crowd around the castle. The Light Parade also starts there. Sit on the side of the road closest to the Matterhorn. There is an interactive show that projects on the It’s a Small World facade and it is awesome! You may even get snowed on during the Frozen music! 8. Bring Some Supplies with You. Bring refillable water bottles. All of the walk up restaurants offer free ice water. I brought some fruit snacks and granola bars as well. It is cooler in the mornings and evenings so bringing a light jacket is a good idea. Comfortable shoes are essential. We walked on average about eight miles a day. A blanket to save parade spots and to keep kids warm at night is handy to have. Definitely bring a light weight cross body purse or a lanyard. You can keep your tickets, sunglasses, credit cards, cash, lip gloss, sunscreen, and some Advil at a hands reach. Mine was small enough to wear on rides with me and was way easier than carrying a large backpack. I also got to shop for a new purse before our vacation so I am not complaining:). 9. Be Flexible. Sometimes the kids will want to do something a couple of times in a row or they will need a rest. Sometimes you walk by something fun and are able to participate. Most of the daytime shows we went to were because we happened to be in the right place when they started. The Thunder Mountain Railroad had a very short line when we were in Frontier Land and the girls loved it so much we rode it three times! Our kids fell asleep pretty early the first night and so we took them back to the motel with my in-laws and my husband and I went back to Disneyland until it closed at midnight. We rode five rides that normally have long lines in about an hour and it was a blast! 10. Spend one-on-one time with the kids if you can. On the last day we were there, my husband and I each took one daughter for a length of time and it was very special to experience the rides one-on-one with them. We did some of the rides again as a whole family, but I will always cherish my daughter’s experience of riding the teacups for the first time. 11. Oh and I almost forgot!!! Get there early!!! There are actually two lines to go through in the morning. The first is the security check point and the second are the park entrances. They open up Disneyland about 20 minutes early and here is a rope drop by the castle that is fun to experience. This is also the least busiest time at both parks and a great time to get in line for your favorite rides! If you have a three day park hopper pass you have the option of using Magic Morning early entrance at Disneyland. You get to go in an hour earlier than the regular time and it is usually on Tuesday’s. The app shows this. It was very worth it for us and we rode most of the Fantasy Land rides in the early time with out long waits. Hopefully these tips help you have an exciting and positive experience like we did!