disneyworld Archives - Jersey Kids

February 14, 2022June 12, 2022

Disney World Tips to Make Your Trip Magical

We returned from 3.5 day trip to Disney World in early February. Here are our Disney World tips to make your trip easier.

Cinderella’s Castle at 50. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Disney World tips for Magic Kingdom fireworks: You don’t have to stand in the mosh pit in front of Cinderella’s Castle, or pay for expensive dessert packages to have a great view of castle fireworks. We stood on the bridge between the circle in front of the castle (the one with the Walt statue) and Liberty Square (close to #37 and #38 on the map). We got there less than 10 minutes before the fireworks. It was not a mob scene. It was not very crowded at all. And we got a great reflection of the castle in the water too.

February 14, 2022June 12, 2022

Disney World with the Disability Pass

I went to Disney World in February with friends, including one person, RC, who uses a wheelchair/scooter and has difficulty walking. Does Disney World offer disability passes? Definitely. RC qualified for the Disability Access Service (DAS) at Disney World and we were not sure what to expect during the registration process or while we were there. This post will help explain the DAS pass at WDW and how to use it. You’ll find info on how to register for the DAS pass Disney World at the bottom.

Front row seat for Frozen Singalong at Hollywood Studios, where the handicapped-accessible seating was. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

May 27, 2019May 27, 2019

The Official Disney Cake: Disney Haunted Mansion Cake

For the first time in many years, we visited Disneyland when it wasn’t Passover, and we could actually eat whatever we wanted. The plan was to get churros, as we always talk about that but aren’t able to eat them during the holiday. This year when my sister said “let’s get a churro” late afternoon, I told her to wait until after dinner. I had another plan. An official Disney cake.

Our trip to Disneyland was right in between my daughter and my sister’s birthday, though this was not top of mind when we made reservations for the Blue Bayou, where we always wanted to eat, but didn’t bother, given holiday restrictions.

The Blue Bayou restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

I decided to surprise them with an official Disney cake. You can’t order or find official Disneyland cakes online. They said it’s because of quality assurance, but I think they don’t want anyone to steal their designs. You have to call to order it – I called and waited 20 minutes online for someone to answer.

April 28, 2017

Disneyland Tips: How to Make the Most out of Your Day at Disney with the Family

This is a guest post by Dori Kaplan.

My family is not one to dilly dally when it comes to Disney. Our motto is: structured, organized fun. In our most recent visit, we managed to go on all of the best rides within three hours of arriving at the park. Not only that, but we did not wait in a single line longer than half an hour. Those of you familiar with Disney lines will understand how big of an accomplishment this is, especially for a beautiful day during spring break. To help out other families who are hoping the maximize their day at Disney, here are some tips from my family.

**Note: usually we go to California Adventure and Disneyland – each for one day – but this year we just went to Disneyland. These tips apply for both parks.

Fantasyland – copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

1. Get there when it opens. RIGHT when it opens. Continue reading “Disneyland Tips: How to Make the Most out of Your Day at Disney with the Family”

October 20, 2014December 16, 2017

Orlando for Nearly Free – find out how

Before kids, I used to get lots of free airplane tickets for getting bumped. I traveled off season, which was cheaper. Now that I have kids, paying for travel for four is tough, especially since my husband doesn’t like getting bumped (“I want to get home NOW!”) and we travel during school breaks. Given how expensive travel is, especially to the Orlando parks, I’m excited to welcome Summer Hull to Jersey Kids today. She is launching an ebook called Frequent Flyer Toolkits, including one called Orlando for Nearly Free. She has been running MommyPoints.com, a popular blog that helps travelers navigate the frequent flyer type point programs to make travel more affordable.

Tell me a bit about you and your travel-for-free background.

I first dabbled in the miles-and-points hobby as a cash-strapped grad student at New York University. I racked up frequent flyer miles flying back and forth to visit friends and family in Houston. Then, after graduation, while my friends could only muster up the money for a drive to the shore, I was able to use miles and points to take my boyfriend at the time to Hawaii. After that, I was hooked. I didn’t have as much travel occur naturally after grad school, so I had to find ways to earn miles outside of flying.

I kept learning more about how to earn and leverage loyalty currency and eventually my husband got sick of hearing me talk about it all the time! He encouraged me to start a blog and that’s how MommyPoints.com was born in 2011. Since that time I’ve shared tons of tips and strategies that can help just about anyone earn miles they can redeem for a nearly free flight (you still pay tax on award flights) and hotel stay.

What kind of freebies do you talk about in your ebook in terms of traveling for free?

The books teach you how to use frequent flyer miles, hotel points, and bank points. The fact is, using loyalty currency can drastically reduce your costs on all sorts of travel-related expenses. Frequent flyer miles can be redeemed for nearly free flights. All you’ll pay for, in the case of a ticket to Orlando, is the tax (which is $5.60 per flight segment per person). Continue reading “Orlando for Nearly Free – find out how”

April 26, 2013September 1, 2016

Hidden Mickeys at Disneyland and California Adventure

To make the days at Disneyland and California Adventure even MORE fun, I bought the book Disneyland’s Hidden Mickeys: a Field Guide to Disneyland Resort’s Best Kept Secrets (see Hidden Mickeys on a Disney Cruise here. See the rest of this Disneyland/California Adventure series here.)

Note that the book is a few years old so it’s a bit outdated (Cars Land isn’t in there and it covers the time before the renovation of Buena Vista street and the main entrance). We had fun reading through the scavenger hunt and additional clues to find the Hidden Mickeys. We found the scavenger hunt way too difficult and preferred to just read the hints and look for them (we would have missed everything otherwise!). There’s also a Hidden Mickeys book for Disney World.

Like in the book, I’ll separate these out between actual Hidden Mickeys and mere decorative Mickeys. Unfamiliar with a Hidden Mickey? It’s a representation of Mickey in a place you might not look for it or expect it. Y

Here are a few we saw at Disneyland and California Adventure:

This one is in the exit area of Astro Blasters, the Buzz Lightyear ride, on a larger picture.

Continue reading “Hidden Mickeys at Disneyland and California Adventure”

April 26, 2013September 1, 2016

How to use a FastPass at Disney parks

Disney parks have the most awesome thing since all-inclusive tickets: the FastPass. While parks like Six Flags and Universal Studios charge for these “get to the front of the line” passes, everyone has access to FastPasses at Disney for no extra cost. Read on for using a FastPass at Disneyland. Disney World changed its FastPass system – you can read more about it here.

Can you see the difference in lines? We waited about 5 minutes to board our space craft inside. The others? Oh, about 90 minutes.

What are they?

A FastPass is a timed ticket to get you into a special, faster line during a one hour period. Otherwise you ride “standby” which is Disney lingo for “huge long line.” The FastPass line sometimes get you in immediately, but more likely you have to wait a few minutes (though we’ve never waited more than 15-20 minutes unless the ride was broken down). Continue reading “How to use a FastPass at Disney parks”

April 24, 2013August 28, 2017

Tips You Won’t Read Elsewhere – Adventures in Disney

I did a lot of reading before heading to Disneyland and California Adventure (and even more for our Disney World trip). Some might say too much reading. But since it was going to be crowded (spring break) and I wanted to maximize our time there (and minimize lines), it was totally worthwhile. Here are some tips you likely won’t read in other Disney guides. This is part of a Disney/Disneyland series.

FYI – this is part of a Disneyland/California Adventure series. See the bottom for links to other posts in the series.

Being nice pays off

Twice, being nice to the Disney cast member during a problem (a ticket purchase snafu, and a ride breakdown) caused the cast member to give us an extra “readmission pass” Continue reading “Tips You Won’t Read Elsewhere – Adventures in Disney”

April 22, 2013September 1, 2016

The Best Disney Park Apps (and where to charge your phone at Disneyland and Disney World)

This trip to a Disney park was the first I made with a smart phone. What a difference! I tested out four apps and review them here for you. If you have an extra phone battery, bring it with you! I had to switch batteries late in the day, and I didn’t use my phone for much more than checking line times. An iPad would be ideal – if you have a data plan. We also had my brother in law save his phone battery by not using it during the day (only leaving it on if the group split up for FastPass retrieval) so he’d have a fresh battery if mine died. If you go that route, turn off the data plan (use airplane mode) to save on battery drain. (This is part of a series on Disney/Disneyland)

FYI: Disneyland DOES now have official charging station lockers. It’s $2/hour. Here’s the scoop on charging stations at Disney. We didn’t check it out while there, but it’s nice to know it’s available.

Here’s a list of outlets at Disneyland/California Adventure.

It does not appear at present time that Disney World has the same charging systems. Here are some places to charge your phone at Disney World and here.

I’d recommend spending time on the apps before you get there so you know what you’ll need and where you’ll find it and won’t drain your battery looking. There are a lot of tips and good planning information you can find there as well, which can make time in line go faster as you share these with your fellow travelers.

I reviewed these apps specifically for Disneyland, though there is some Disney World information there too.

TouringPlans.com Lines app

If you’re not familiar with touringplans.com, it comes from the authors of the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland (and Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World). It’s a fabulous book I recommend you buy. They have a touring plan that helps save you time by helping you avoid the lines by going to the attractions in a certain order. I’ve used it – it works.

Pros: You want this app mainly for the Line feature. Continue reading “The Best Disney Park Apps (and where to charge your phone at Disneyland and Disney World)”

April 20, 2013August 28, 2017

What Happens When a Disney Ride Breaks Down

In my many years going to Disney parks, we’d never been on a ride when it broke down. Sure, we’d be in line when it broke down, but not actually on the ride. How did we get so lucky on this trip? Not only did we experience five ride breakdowns, but we were evacuated from Grizzly River Run at Disney California Adventure. Do you get your FastPass back if you’re stuck on a ride? If you’re in line but it closes? If you’re evacuated? Read on for answers below (this is part of a series on Disney/Disneyland):

The day our stranding on Grizzly River Run, we spent the day at Disneyland. For periods ranging from 1-10 minutes, we got stuck on Astro Blasters, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean (Indiana Jones broke down while we were in the FastPass line, though fortunately cleared before we left).

On the Pirates ride, we were surprised to play bumper boats as we approached the waterfall with Blackbeard talking. He talked, and talked and talked until we could repeat his conversation by heart. Fortunately after about 10 minutes, we moved on. Continue reading “What Happens When a Disney Ride Breaks Down”