Magical Blogorail Archive

1

Our Greatest Disney Moments of 2012

Blogorail Banner Green 1024x314 Our Greatest Disney Moments of 2012

Welcome to those of you joining me from Mouse on the Mind
and those of you just hopping aboard.
I am the Final stop on our Magical Blogorail.

This month, we are looking back on 2012 and
the Greatest Disney Moments . . .


Let’s face it, Disney has experienced some awesome moments in 2012.  One of the biggest, in my mind, is the New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom.  But, rather than focusing on the moments that are important to Disney, I’m going to focus on the Greatest Disney Moments for MY FAMILY.

2012 marked a big first for us . . . it was the first time that we visited Walt Disney World twice in one year! We traveled down for a family vacation in the winter; then the kids and I went back for the Ultimate Field Trip in September.  On each of these trips, we experienced some Disney firsts for us . . .

During our January/February trip, we took advantage of the Disney Dining Plan for the first time.  (It definitely won’t be the last!) We loved being able to plan ahead and decide which special sit-down meal we would enjoy each day.  Having the snack and quick-service meal each day proved to be more than enough food and we enjoyed having the chance to try some new Disney restaurants that we wouldn’t have tried otherwise.

We were excited to stay in one of the newly remodeled rooms at Port Orleans Riverside and we were thrilled to spend our first evening over at Fort Wilderness, enjoying the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue!

MomPicturesDays5 041 225x300 Our Greatest Disney Moments of 2012We purposely built a free day into our vacation schedule.  We used this time to do things we had been wanting to do but never took the time – Gracie had been wanting to try fishing, so Brian took the kids cane pole fishing at the resort.  Ashley and I decided to go a bit fancier – we met some friends and had tea at the Garden View Team Room at the Grand Floridian.  It was wonderful!

We continued our tradition of taking a day just to resort hop.  We visited some resorts we hadn’t visited before – Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs.  Our younger kids did something new that day also – they dressed up as pirates!

And one of the highlights of that trip for me was meeting Randy (the creative genius behind Your Highway in the Sky!), and 2 other blogorail friends – Melissa from Disney on Wheels and Zach from Magik Mouse.

meetings Our Greatest Disney Moments of 2012

Our trip in September also had some firsts – it was the first time the kids and I traveled alone and it was the first time we opted to fly to Disney.  We loved being able to get there so much more quickly!

We had another dining first on that trip – eating at Le Cellier in the Canada Pavilion.  Even though my ears were clogged up and I was feeling miserable, I was good enough to know that was delicious food and worth visiting again in the future!

235 225x300 Our Greatest Disney Moments of 2012It was our first time visiting in the fall.  We very much enjoyed having the chance to see the parks decorated for the fall holidays.

229 300x225 Our Greatest Disney Moments of 2012And we were thrilled to get a sneak peek at some of the new Fantasyland (even though it was raining and we couldn’t ride Dumbo).

2012 has certainly been a fun Disney year for our family.  I’ve only touched on a very few of our favorites in this post.  Each trip to Disney is a new adventure and a new Great Disney Moment!

What about YOU?  Have you experienced Disney Greatness in 2012?  I’d love to hear about it.

Now, I’m off to start planning our 2013 trip to Disney. . .


Thank you for joining Magical Blogorail Green this month. We will be back Friday, January 25th with an all new theme. Keep checking in with our blogs in between loops to keep up to date with our Disney info, photos and stories. If you are looking for more Disney magic, you can make your way over to The Magical Blogorail website to see all our members and their blogs, as well as all our previous loops.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ Disney Living
2nd Stop ~ A Disney Mom’s Thoughts
3rd Stop ~ Walt Disney World: Not Just for Kids
4th Stop ~ Mouse on the Mind
Final Stop ~ Heidi @ Your Highway in the Sky (you are here!)

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Giving Thanks for Disney Resorts!

Blogorail Banner Green 1024x314 Giving Thanks for Disney Resorts!

Welcome to those of you joining me from
Walt Disney World: Not Just for Kids

and those of you just hopping aboard.
I am the 3rd on our Magical Blogorail.

We are talking about what we are most thankful for
at the Disney Resorts.


I need to start this post off with a confession . . .  I used to be one of those people who thought that you could enjoy a Disney vacation just as much if you stayed off-site.  My family would stay in a cheap hotel (or rent a home off-site with friends), use our Disney Visa points to buy our park tickets, and pack our lunches for the parks.  I thought we were getting the most of our Disney vacations, while doing it on a dime, so to speak.

In 2010, my family was heading to the Orlando area for a homeschool conventions, and decided to leave a few days early and spend some time at a Disney resort – just to  check it out and see what all the hype was about.  Surely, we would realize that we had been right about staying off-site.  It couldn’t possibly be that much better staying in a Disney resort, could it?

Well, it is that much better!  And to try to narrow down the why of it into just one thing is nearly impossible for me.  So, here are a few of the things that I’m thankful for at the Disney resorts:

359 225x300 Giving Thanks for Disney Resorts!

A much-larger-than-life-size violin at All-Star Music

#1 – The Atmosphere

I was one of those people who said, “All we really do in the hotel is sleep anyway, so what does it matter what it looks like?”  I was wrong.  When you walk into the lobby at any Disney resort hotel, immediately you are transported to another time and place – and it’s amazing!  Whether you’re in the islands at the Polynesian, enjoying the backwoodsy feel of the Wilderness Lodge, or simply entering a world of music, movies, or sports at the All-Stars, it’s magical!

Then, you go from the lobby to the food court to the on-site shop(s), and to your room – and it’s all just as magical, inviting, and wonderful!

#2 – The On- Site Dining Options

This one is particularly great if you are enjoying the Disney Dining Plan.  But, even if you’re “dining on your own dime”, my family always enjoys eating at the on-site restaurants.  Our resort of choice has been Port Orleans Resort – Riverside and we just love the food court there.  My husband can enjoy a burger, the kids can get a pizza, and I can get a create-your-own salad – all at the same time!  Then, we can sit down together and enjoy our meal in a themed food court.  Those resort mugs come in pretty handy too!

If you’re hungry for something more up-scale, the moderate and deluxe resorts also offer actual restaurants and bars as well.

MomPicturesDays5 004 225x300 Giving Thanks for Disney Resorts!

Fishing at Port Orleans Riverside

#3 – The Extras

I’m going to lump all the extras into one heading here.  By “extras” I mean things like the pool(s), the walking paths, the evening movies, etc.  There is just always something going on at the Disney resorts that makes staying on-site absolutely worth it!

At the end of a long Disney day, my family will be laying our heads down to rest at a Disney resort.  How about yours?

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is Disney Living.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

1st Stop ~ A Disney Mom’s Thoughts
2nd Stop ~ Walt Disney World: Not Just for Kids
3rd Stop ~ Heidi @ Your Highway in the Sky (you are here!)
Final Stop ~ Disney Living