Walt Disney World: It's Not Just for Kids » pins

Shopping Saturday: Disney Parks Go-er

Hedy — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:25:21 +0000

If the adult Disney fan in your life is a Disney Parks fan, there is no end to the great gift ideas out there.

If you are looking for books, my first choice is the Passporter series: they have a Kindle version of Fast Tips, iBooks, or a Dead-tree version of their other books. The Imagineer Field Guides are also great, as is the Hidden Magic of Disney World.

In terms of gear for the parks, I highly recommend picking up a Baggalini Messenger, although you can see my full list of park bag recommendations. A Gorillapod is great for photos, as is an Xshot for those of you who are solo travelers.

For smaller stuff, I highly recommend picking up some locking pin backs, Crystal Light Packets, or sunscreen sticks.

See all Shopping Saturday posts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hedy — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 03:05:44 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m working, then off to my brother’s for dinner.

WDW Not Just for Kids Review: Glamourmouse.com-update!

Hedy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:51:08 +0000

I bought all of these items with my own money. I came across Glamourmouse.com while googling something a few months ago and wanted to try their stuff out. I bought their Water Bottle Lanyard Holder and their MouseStrap. They came quickly, in a package with mickey head confetti.

Their Water Bottle Lanyard Holder is actually what drew me to their site-I was discussing the Walt Disney World Universal Keeper, which I love BUT I’ve had the waterbottle part bend off on me. not terribly surprising when one is lugging a liter of Smart Water, and easy enough to exchange, but still not ideal. I hoped that the Glamour Mouse water bottle lanyard holder would be sturdier. I also bought the retractable ticket holder. I was really impressed with the quality of the lanyard-putting a water bottle in and out was very easy without any tugging. It sits comfortably across my body-it seems like it might work better with a hip-bag than a traditional lanyard. I did find that I had it as long as it would go (I’m fat, remember?) and it was higher than I would have a purse to be -we will see how this fares. The holder clips on easily to the lanyard, and is nicely sized. Edit August 31, 2010: I really liked using this in Universal. I found it convenient and comfortable.

MouseStrap solves a problem I have long had: my migraines make a baseball cap a must, and as such a traditional beanie mouse ears won’t work for me. Headband ears? I have a big head, they hurt. MouseStrap fits me comfortably. I was particularly excited abut MouseStrap when I learned that you can now buy DIY Mouse Ears in Downtown Disney-so I can buy ears in August! Woohoo! Edit August 31, 2010: I am saddened to say that I cannot recommend the Mousestrap. Despite trying the attached tool and other items, I am unable to punch open the holes in the ears (pink Mickey heads in rhinestones-so me! :)) in a away that I can get the Mousestrap through.

WDW Not Just for Kids Review: PassPorter’s Disney Cruise Line 2010

Hedy — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:58:19 +0000

Shortly before I left for Orlando, I was excited to find that the copy of Passporter’s Disney Cruise Line 2010 which I ordered months ago had finally arrived. On the whole, I was really impressed with the book-it blew the Birnbaum’s guide out of the water. I have to admit I’m a touch confused-I’ve read in several places that you can carry-on a cooler, but the book says you can’t. I, for one, have been planning on bringing a cooler tote filled with my rum runners, and plenty of Cokes and water from the Hess near the Swan with me. Or, I may just bring along a bottle to fill up on Deck 9 with Coke. Foodwise, the fact that there are vegetarian options on the 24-hour room service menu pleases me. I also look forward to trying out Palo. I was somewhat disappointed to read that “it can be more difficult to order a special dish or variant ,” as opposed to setting things up ahead of time. I’m hoping that telling them ahead of time I’m a vegetarian will help matters.

The spa sounds like a great adults-only retreat, but too spendy for my blood. I think I may try out the tropical rainforest room (the $15 day pass sounds much kinder to the shipboard account). You all know how much I love my pins, so I was thrilled to hear that they have daily pin-trading, as well as a “featured pin of the day.” My eyes will be peeled for dolphins as we leave a port. Being a Grade A worry wart, I’m planning on picking up some Safe Sea to keep me safe from jellyfish and the like. Looking over people’s reviews of the various Naussau port excursions, I’m thinking I may just do some self-guided wandering around Naussau.

I really appreciated how much information is available in the book which is geared to adult Disney Cruisers. It is well integrated and does not feel like an after thought.

One little thing that annoyed me was that unlike the Disney World edition, the non-Deluxe vision of the Passporter is just a paperback book-missing the pockets I love in the WDW Passporter. A good deal of this guidebook is focused on Disney’s specialty cruises and the Dream, kind of logical but consider yourself forewarned. Also, I was mildly amused by the fact that their packing list includes “more film than you think you’ll need.”

Prime and Premium Orlando Outlet Reports from the Week of August 6, 2010

Hedy — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:04:56 +0000

Window of the Disney Outlet, August 2010

While I was in Orlando two weeks ago, I went to both the Orlando Prime Outlets and the Orlando Premium Outlets. I was not terribly impressed with the Disney Outlet at the Prime Outlets-I was hoping for more Christmas merchandise than there was. However, I was able to pick up a pirate princess knife and eye patch for $.50 each (for whatever it’s worth, I later saw the knife at Mickey’s Mart in Downtown Disney on the 4/$10 wall). I also got a pirate princess keychain. Some stuff was stuff they had last year-plastic ID bracelets, Pooh ID bracelets, and Tinkerbell personalized earrings. I bought all three items last year-the Pooh bracelet is freakishly big-it was falling off my wrist. I also saw the Tinkerbell earrings at the World of Disney on sale. I stopped in the Victoria’s Secret outlet-I didn’t get anything, but I was much more impressed with the setup this year than last. The entire store is laid out by size. They had panties for 5 for $10, and padded bras 2 for $20. For what it’s worth, my bra size is a little hard to find, and they had a decent selection. I also stopped in Forever 21, which was utterly trashed.

My brilliant idea to take the Sea World shuttle to reduce cab fare was nipped in the bud when I realized that the shuttle left Royal Pacific Hotel five minutes before the outlets opened. The cab ride will be a later post, but once I got there I started at the Disney outlet. They had a great selection of merchandise, I ended up getting a set of re-usable Disney Christmas bags-I’m planning on personalizing one to be my fish extender. I was disappointed that neither outlet had any really mind-blowing deals on pins. Their LeSportsac outlet didn’t have anything you can’t get at TJ Maxx. The Cosmetic Company Outlet already had some of MAC’s Liberty of London collection.

Trip planning updates July 10, 2010

Hedy — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:55:45 +0000

I’m tracking the rates for the Hyatt MCO on Hotwire for my August Universal Orlando trip, but I am hesitant to pull the trigger until my vacation time at work is finalized. However, it appears I have a very good chance of getting the Hyatt for $69 for the night. I called them today to verify that they will get my bags from baggage when I land. I will need to check in, give them my luggage claim stubs, and they will go get them from the baggage carousel. There is a $10 fee for this, which is fine with me.

Also, I have decided to stop thinking about renting a car, as car rental places are not open at early o’clock i the morning. Score one for cabs.

I picked up the water bottle lanyard and Mouse Strap from Glamour Mouse and have recieved them. Should I review both items both before and after my trip?

Pins, Tin crack….

Hedy — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:04:54 +0000

I’m a huge fan of Disney pins. I could argue that pins are a part of my Disney obsession which I did not start myself-before my trip in 2002 my brother and DSIL gave me some pins for my birthday. However, given that I have since willingly procured pins on my own beforehand for every Walt Disney World trip since then. I have no one to blame but myself, LOL.
On my trips in 2002 and 2006, I liked trading pins, but I had a few problems. The first was what kind of pins I wanted to trade for-in 2002 I was trading willy-nilly, in 2006 I went with a theme of Figment and Disney cats pins.

However, I was having two problems with my pin collection. The first problem I had was that I was unsure where to put my pins-I went with the strap of my park bag. This led me to my second problem-the cute Mickey head pinbacks my pins came with did not do as good a job holding my pins on as I would have liked, I lost a few pins that way.

Ergo, before my trip in 2007, I hit my Disney planning boards looking for a solution t this dilemma. I decided to go with a lanyard, which also made it easy for me to access my ticket, room key and Photopass card. For my issue with pins falling off, I now swear by the locking pin backs sold by DisneyPatriot on eBay. They keep your pins secure, but are easy to pop off when trading. I did make one fatal mistake when I went researching, though-I discovered the wonder of Cast Lanyard/Hidden Mickey pins.

Not only are these wonderful pins unique and cute, but they also give you a chance to interact with cast members in a great way. When trading for a Fozzie bear pin at a Disney Outlet last year, I learned the cast member had grown up in the town where I work. I also like that hidden mickey pins often have a little touch of nostalgia or adult fan friendliness-the first example that springs to mind is the Horizons license plate pin.

I find that pin trading in general is adult fan friendly, though. I usually stock up on trader pins from either Disney Shopping or an outlet. I, personally am worried about the possibility of getting fake (paticularly the Sedesma pins( or low-quality pins through eBay, although my DSIL loves and swears by her eBay seller.

Are you a pin fan?

Disney World Outlets…

Hedy — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:37:06 +0000

As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m kind of a shopaholic. I’d heard about the outlets that are close to Walt Disney World a few times, but had never gone. Truth be told, I’m kind of Disney’s dream customer-I take Magical Express to my hotel,and don’t leave property after that. I can, quite literally, count the number of times I’ve been off-property during a Disney vacation on one hand: On the trip we took when I was 12, we went to Church Street Station with my godmother and her husband for dinner, and we also went to Universal Studios that trip. On the trip I took in December 2007, I went with my mother to return her rental car at the Hotel Royal Plaza.

Amusingly enough, what sold me on the Disney Outlets was going to the Las Vegas Character Warehouse Disney Parks Outlet in Las Vegas. I was able to get awesome buys on stuff I’d seen in Disney World a year earlier. As such, I decided to go to the Disney World Outlets in Orlando when I was at Universal Orlando last August. I took a cab to both of these outlets from the Royal Pacific Hotel, as car rentals were prohibitively expensive and cabbing it was MUCH cheaper.

The first outlet I went to was the one at the Prime Outlets in Orlando. The Prime Outlets reminded me of the Prime Outlets in Western MA. In addition to the Disney Outlet, they also had some cool outlets I hadn’t seen before-a Neiman Marcus Last Call, an Ed Hardy Outlet, and a Victoria’s Secret Outlet. The Victoria’s Secret outlet was awesome-there were oodles of great buys-their nicer panties were about $5 each, and I was able to get a bunch of PINK stuff for a dollar apiece. This Disney outlet was pretty chaotic, but they had some awesome stuff-I got some light-up Mickey Halloween necklaces that had sold for $9.99 for $2.99, and some other little things.

The second outlet I went to was the Disney’s Character Premiere at Orlando Premium Outlets. On the whole, the other outlets at this mall did not wow me-probably because I have a Premium Outlets in easy distance from my house. However, this outlet was awesome! It was tidy, items were well labeled (I was able to find a few items I liked very easily), and the buys were good. Their 2008 merchandise was 80% off of their discounted price-I got a bunch of their $48 MVMCP four-pin sets for $15 minus 80%-they made awesome, wicked affordable traders. I also stopped to pin trade with a cast member-after chatting with her about the hometown on her badge, I learned that she grew up in the town where work. Small World. If you go, be sure to print this coupon. I took a cab here, and then took a cab to Downtown Disney. The cab from these outlets in Downtown Disney was about $10. Going there from the Royal Pacific was interesting, as I went down I-Drive. If I go there again from Universal, I may take the shuttle to Seaworld, as I passed it on my way there, to reduce cab fare.

How about you? Have you checked out any of the Disney Outlets?

Chag Sameach!

Hedy — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:16:12 +0000

Chag Sameach to my readers to whom it applies!

Thanks to Going 24/7 for the image!

No related posts.