Now when most people think of Disney World they automatically think of Magic Kingdom and that is definitely one of my favorite places in the world to go, it is certainly very magical.  I think you have to spend at least two days at Magic Kingdom in order to see everything you want to be able to see.  Here are a few of my favorite things that you just have to see at Magic Kingdom:

1. Space Mountain is a must do for any roller coaster lover.  It’s inside, in the dark making you feel like you’re in space. Halloween invitations
2. Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor is a comedy show that really involves the audience- it was hilarious when we were there.  Although they do pick on people in the audience- so keep that in mind if you don’t like to be the center of attention- you never know if you might be the one to be picked on.
3. It’s a Small World is a relaxing cruise where you get to see sites from all over the world.
4. Wishes Nighttime Spectacular is an amazing fireworks display that you just have to see before you head back to your hotel for the night.

There is so much to do in Magic Kingdom that you just have to check out their site to find all that there is to do.

The next park I am going to cover in my series of planning your Disney World trip is the Hollywood Studios park.  Now I love all of the parks in Disney World, but Hollywood Studios is my least favorite.  I still love it, I just love it a little less than all of the other parks.  The other parks we could spend a coupld of days at each one and with Hollywood Studios we can be finished with everything we want to see in just 1 day.

When you visit Hollywood Studios, make sure you visit the following attractions:

1. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is perfect for any thrill seeker.
2. Lights, Motor, Action stunt show is an up-close look at some amazing stunts.

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3. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is a great choice for anyone who loves roller coasters.
4. There is a new attraction called Toy Story Mania that we have never been to but it looks like something worth checking out.

Be sure to visit the Hollywood Studios  website to plan your fun filled day.

I am now going to touch on another park in Disney World.  Now, we have actually only been to Epcot once.  Every time we have ever gone to Disney we didn’t really want to go to Epcot.  The last time we were there we decided to give it a try.  We sure were missing out before.

There is so much to do at Epcot.  Here are just a few of our favorites:

1. Soarin’ was one of our favorite rides.  I almost didn’t go on it because rides like that tend to make me sick, but it was amazing.
2. Test Track is perfect for anyone who loves a nice fast paced ride- it was great!
3. The Seas with Nemo and Friends is a fun ride for the little ones.
4. Make sure to take journey all the way around the park to various parts of the world.  Plan ahead to have at least one meal there- the food is unbelievable! manufactured home
5. IllumiNations is the most amazing night time show of fireworks you will ever see.  Be sure to catch it at the end of your day.

Check out the Epcot website for more information about the various attractions.

The other day I posted some general information about planning a Disney Trip.  I have decided to do a more in depth look at the various parks.  Nothing too major- just pointing out some of our favorite things to do.  Today I am going to talk about Animal Kingdom.

My first piece of advice for Animal Kingdom is to go first thing in the morning.  As the day goes on you don’t see as many animals because they are trying to stay out of the heat and sun.  So if you go first thing in the morning- check out all of the animals.  Then later in the day when the animals are hiding out in the shade you can go on the various rides and see the different shows. 4396508

A few attractions that I would like to recommend at Animal Kingdom include:

1. If you love roller coasters then Expedition Everest is a must do for you.
2. Kilimanjaro Safari is must do for everyone- do it early in the day though to see lots of animals.
3. Festival of the Lion King is an amazing show- it’s inside in the air conditioning too, perfect to cool down in the middle of a hot Florida day.
4. It’s Tough to Be a Bug is a fun 3-D show inside the Tree of Life, so you just have to check that out.
5. Kali River Rapids will be perfect for those sunny days when you want to get a little bit wet.

There’s a whole lot more to do at Animal Kingdom – check out their site to see all of the rides and attractions.

Are you taking a summer road trip to the Outer Banks?  We took a road trip with our toddler a little while ago.  We had thought it was going to be pretty bad but it actually ended up going very well.  A few things we did to keep from going insane:

1. Wrap up some new toys from the dollar store.  Give a new gift when the other one gets old.
2. Bring a DVD player and new DVDs to watch.  We borrowed some from the library, so it was free.
3. Have some favorite snacks packed.
4. Stop every couple of hours to get out of the car for a while.

I know there are lots of tips out there, but these are the ones that worked the best for us.

I need to get away!!  This move has me stressed out.  There just seems to be one issue after another coming up.  When we first put our house up for sale and it sold right away I thought we were making the right move.  I thought it was a sign that this was a good choice.  Now I’m starting to wonder.  UGH!

Anyhoo, once we get all settled down in our new home I think my husband and I should take a nice little get away to Westgate.  There are several locations, but we would most likely go to Florida- our favorite place.  Just thinking about it makes me relax just a little bit.

I am depressed.  I am sick of winter.  I am sick of snow.  I am sick of the cold.  I am sick of the dark, dreary days.  I hate winter and it is making me depressed.

And so.

I have started planning our trip for next September to Disney World.  I have the hotel picked out.  I know what kind of park tickets we want.  I have our flights picked out.  We will get transportation from Disney World to the airport so I don’t have to worry about renting a car.  We are buying the meal plan from Disney so I can start figuring out where we want to eat dinner.  And in March I can start making our dinner reservations.

So now- I am excited!  I know it’s a ways away.  But it’s something to look forward to.

Now I just need to figure out how we’re going to pay for it.

Now I know that summer is still a few months away.  And considering that we usually take our summer vacation in September- it’s even further away.  But, in order to make it through these dark dreary months I have started looking into planning our next vacation.  Our favorite place to vacation is Disney World so I have started looking into going there.

You might remember a few months ago I was talking about how to plan a great trip to Disney World.  Since it’s time to get serious now I have started looking into some hotels.  One of the sites I used to check out where we could stay was HotelsCombined.com.  I like the set up of this site because I was able to say we want our hotel to be within 10 minutes of Disney World as well as listing the features we want such as internet and a swimming pool.  The other thing I loved was that it gave prices for all of the different booking sites so I could easily compare.

Another site I checked was Disney World Vacation Packages because I love the idea of being able to plan my entire trip from the airline to my food all in one place.  You can pick your Disney hotel, get your flight, get transportation to and from the airport, choose a ticket plan for the parks, choose a meal plan for your food and so much more.  It’s an easy way to get it all done in one place.

I also checked out hotels.com and found their prices to be quite a bit more.  Plus I don’t really care for their site set up.

Well I’m off to do some more research.  Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

Do you know what I could really use right now?  A vacation!  I am stressed to the max and it just keeps on piling up.  So I was checking out some nice fun activities to do in Hilton Head South Carolina.  One of the things I love to do while I’m on vacation is going out to eat.  I love eating out because cooking every day at home can get pretty boring and also takes a lot of time and effort.  So, when we go away I always look forward to finding some fabulous places to eat.  The great news about going to Hilton Head is that I can relax all day on the beach and then eat at some fabulous restaurants in the evening!  Perfect vacation, in my opinion.

Taking a trip to Las Vegas may not sound exactly like a family vacation.  But, Las Vegas has changed over the years and it really has a family friendly environment now.  We went about 5 years ago with our then 11 year old.  We started out at the Grand Canyon for a couple of days.  Then we stayed at a hotel in las vegas for about a week.

We are not really gamblers- and that is okay because there is tons of stuff to do in Las Vegas besides gambling.  We went to all sorts of shows- many of them were free, we ate tons of food, we went to more shows and ate more food.  We toured many of the hotels- they are amazingly decorated.

If you’re looking for a great family vacation- some fun for everyone, Las Vegas is definitely a place to consider!