Toddler Travel – Mousekatots

Soaking Up the Last of Summer

August 23, 2017August 22, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in family, family fun, Family Vacation, Home, Pittsburgh, preschoolers, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized

It is hard to believe that summer is almost over. It seems like it was just Fourth of July and now kids are going back to school and Halloween candy is making its appearance on store shelves.

We try our best to do everything on our “Summer Bucket List” but inevitability we realize that we can’t get everything done.

This year was especially difficult because our weather was more rainy and cooler on Saturdays, the days that we usually go and do our adventures.

After trying for about a month, we finally made it to the Soak Zone at Idlewild park last weekend.

Included with a ticket to Idlewild park is Soak Zone, a small water park.

While we had been to the rest of the park through this year, we hadn’t been to the water park portion.

When I say it is a smallish water park, it is by no means tiny. There are about five different areas in the water park.

Soak Zone includes an awesome wave pool (which is where we spent most of our time), I think four water slides (it could be more), a lazy river type attraction, a little kids play area and a bigger kids play area that features a dump bucket with a bunch of kid sized water slides, plus a stand alone dump bucket.

When we first arrived last Saturday it seemed like it was going to be a little cool and very cloudy.

However, luck was on our side and it became pretty sunny and warm and we made it out before a storm hit.

Personally, my favorite place to spend time was at the Wowabunga Wavepool.

Lily could swim around and splash between wave sessions, and when the waves began, we sat on the “beach” and let the waves rush up on us.

Lily seemed to really enjoy the little kids splash area.

The pool is only about one foot deep and features tubes that spray water up and down. Kids even have the option of turning a valve that controls how much water sprays out.

We had such a wonderful day full of lots of family fun and memories.

We sure tired out Lily by spending almost four hours splashing around.

We finished the day off by taking a ride on the carousel and grabbing a quick lunch before leaving. Lily was asleep before we hit the main road to home.

Did you get to do a lot on your “Summer Bucket List?” Leave a comment below.

More to the Mouse

August 15, 2017August 15, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in Books for Toddlers, Disney, Disney Cruise Line, family, family fun, Family Vacation, Home, preschoolers, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized, Walt Disney World

Many people go to Walt Disney World or set sail on the Disney Cruise Line to escape reality. Let’s face it, the real world can be an ugly and scary place.

For me, this is the main reason why I return to the various Disney properties time and time again. I want to escape.

Another benefit of going to the parks time and time again can be because you can apply the Disney principles to your everyday life.

A lot of different corporations implement the Disney management style to their businesses.

But on a smaller scale, what if you could apply the Disney principles to your everyday life?

For myself and my family, we look at the world through the lense of Christianity. Others might look through a Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or other spiritual lense, and that is the great thing about Walt Disney World. Walt Disney was very careful to not exclude any religion in his films or vacation properties.

However, if you are of the spiritual faith there are some books available that can marry the two together.

One book that I really enjoyed is “Faith Trust and Pixie Dust” by Mark I. Pinsky.

Pinsky, who is a religion journalist, according to the book’s Amazon listing, wanted to take a deeper look at one of the biggest influences on children: Disney.

Each chapter looks at a different film and the biggest message it tries to impart on the viewer.

For example, “Dumbo” looks at a mother’s love while “Robin Hood” looks at tax rebates.

This book does not really have a Christian leaning, or any other denominational leaning. It is more a look at morality and the Disney influence.

For anyone looking for a more direct approach to Chrisitianty and the Walt Disney World vacation, check out “A Christian’s Guide to Walt Disney World Resort” by Jeff Chaves.

Unlike “Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust” this book definitely is geared toward the Christian denomination.

This is sort of almost a “Bible study” type of book that takes a look at a Walt Disney World attraction, attaches a Bible verse to it, a little bit of details about the attraction, how it can connect to Christianity and questions for further discussion.

For example, Space Mountain, located in Tomorrowland of the Magic Kingdom, the author uses the verse “God is Involved in Every Detail of Our Lives” — Matthew 10:30-31.

It further tells people to look out for the Earth that is shown at the end of the coaster and how God is involved in everything that goes on on Earth.

There are then four different questions that can help develop a deeper discussion of the connection between the two.

This format continues through the rest of the book.

Two books that go together well that combine one of literature’s most beloved characters, as well as a bear that has been a part of the Walt Disney World family for many years is “The Tao of Pooh” and it’s companion book “The Te of Piglet,” both by Benjamin Hoff.

Photo courtesy of Goodreads

Photo courtesy of Amazon

These two books explore Buddhist principles through the lense of Winnie the Pooh and his fellow Hundred-Acre-Woods neighbors.

I have only read “The Tao of Pooh,” but I really enjoyed it.

The author interacts with the characters and uses many of their stories that are told in their books as an example of Buddhist teachings.

Hoff even talks about the different personalities of the character factor into the principles as well.

I really enjoyed these books because they are an easy way to learn about what is Tao and offer a different perspective on life.

Obviously, these are just a sampling of these types of books that are available out there. There are lots that look at the connection between spirituality and Disney. A simple search will bring up many of them.

Is this something you are interested in, or do you prefer to keep everything at an entertainment level when it comes to Disney? Leave a message in the comments below.

Eat to the Beat Lineup Announced

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in Disney, family, family fun, Family Vacation, preschoolers, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized, Walt Disney World

It is hard to believe that Fourth of July is almost here and plans are already in motion for the fall at Walt Disney World.

One of the highlights at Epcot during this time of year is the Eat to the Beat concert series that is included in the price of admission.

These concerts, running from Aug. 31-Nov. 13 often feature interesting acts that you might have to pay a pretty good price to see elsewhere.

If I lived down in the Florida I would be making frequent trips to check out a lot of these concerts.

This year’s concert series will feature 32 different acts who will take to the stage at 5:30, 6:45 and 8 p.m. each day.

This year’s festival includes:

Aug. 31-Sept. 1 — Delta Rae “Bottom of the River”

Sept. 2-3: The Hooters “And We Danced”

Sept. 4-5: Baha Men “Who Let the Dogs Out”

Sept. 6-7: Fuel “Shimmer”

Sept. 8-10: STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas “We Built This City”

Sept. 11-12: Lauren Alaina “Road Less Traveled”

Sept. 13-15: Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah”

Sept. 16-17: Sister Hazel “All For You”

Sept. 18-20: Air Supply “All Out of Love”

Sept. 21-22: David Cook “Light On”

Sept. 23-24: Everclear “Santa Monica”

Everclear (Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World.) (As a side note, in my other life I had the chance to interview the lead singer of the band for my work. Really nice guy.)

Sept. 25-27: Sugar Ray “Every Morning”

Sept. 28-29: 38 Special “Hold on Loosely”

Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Mark Wills “19 Somethin”

Oct. 2-3: American Authors “Best Day of My Life”

Oct. 4-5: Christopher Cross “Sailing”

Oct. 6-8: Devon Allman “Ragged and Dirty”

Oct. 9-11: Dennis DeYoung: The Music of STYX “Come Sail Away”

Oct. 12-13: Taylor Dayne “Tell It to My Heart”

Oct. 14-15: Jeffrey Osborne “One the Wings of Love”

Oct. 16-17: Postmodern Jukebox Various Hits

Oct. 18-20: 10,000 Maniacs “Because the Night”

Oct. 21-22: Toad the West Sprocket “Walk on the Ocean”

Oct. 23-24: Kenny G “Songbird”

Oct. 25-26: Billy Ocean “Get Outta My Dreams”

Oct. 27-29: Tiffany “I Think We’re Alone Now”

Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Hanson “MMMBop”

Nov. 2-3: Blue October “Into the Ocean”

Nov. 4-5: Living Colour “Cult of Personality”

Nov. 6-8: Boyz II Men “End of the Road”

Nov. 9-11: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy “Go Daddy-O”

Nov. 12-13: Squeeze “Black Coffee in Bed”

If you want to make the concert a complete event there are also 15 popular Epcot restaurants that you can eat either breakfast, lunch or dinner at and will give you confirmed seating for a same day performance.

Which concert are you most interested in? Leave your comments below.

Kennywood’s Open

June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in family, family fun, Family Vacation, kennywood, Pittsburgh, preschoolers, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized

Growing up as a kid in the Pittsburgh region, it wasn’t summer until you made the annual pilgrimage to the holy land of childhood fun and memories: Kennywood Park.

Since my dad worked there for many years when he was younger, I grew up going to the park ever since I could remember.

When I was younger I remember riding The Turnpike with my Dad in the passenger seat thinking I was a big deal because now he was the one in the the back seat.

When I got older, high school age, I couldn’t wait to go to Kennywood with my friends as part of our school picnic. We would ride from morning to dark when the lights would come alive and transform the park to a magical, neon fed world that made it seem like summer would never end.

Then for awhile it seems like life gets too busy and you are between college classes, work and starting out on married life and you just don’t think about going back for awhile.

But everything changes when you have a child of your own and you want to take them to give them the same kind of experience that you had when you were growing up.

Luckily for us Kev’s work hosts an annual company picnic at Kennywood and we take advantage of the offer and spend the day in the park where I grew up.

I remember the first time we went to Kennywood with Lily it was a different experience then the one I just had this past week which was three years later.

This year we were able to try Lily on a couple of different rides that she was unable to ride last year, like the Kangaroo. She really enjoyed this ride, but at first she was afraid that it was too fast, but she ended up really liking it.

We did spend a lot of time in Kiddieland riding the numerous rides that she enjoyed a couple of times. I felt bad for the poor ride operator that had to basically pull her out of the helicopter ride while she was a sobbing mess.

The carousel was my favorite attraction to enjoy with Lily. We rode it twice and the first time Lily didn’t like it because she said her horse went up too high. But the second time we opted for one that didn’t move. She liked it a lot better.

But, her favorite ride was Garfield’s Nightmare. This 3-D boat ride through different scenes depicting a nightmare for the orange fuzzy cat (ie attacking ice cream cones, a menacing vet getting ready to give a shot, and more).

The ride is more funny than it is scary and is brightly painted and highlighted by a black light.

Speaking of things that are funny, Lily has the best of luck when it comes to playing games at amusement parks.

She loves the fishing game or duck game where you pick three of the animals to see what you win. Lily picked three ducks at Kennywood and she walked away with a large prize, which was a big frog that she named Ribbit.

We had a wonderful day and were so thankful to Kev’s company for having the picnic and giving us many more memories that we will cherish for years to come.

Meeska-Mooska-Get Early Reservations-ska

May 31, 2017May 31, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in Disney, family, family fun, Family Vacation, preschoolers, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized, Walt Disney World

chef-mickeys-gallery04 — Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World

There are a few restaurants in Walt Disney World that are very difficult to get “advanced dining reservations” (ADRs) for because they are a very coveted dining experience.

One such place is Chef Mickey’s located in the heart of the bustling Comtemporary Resort situated on the monorail line.

There are a couple of factors that contribute to making this dining location so popular including the fact is it is on the monorail line, is a buffet and features a character meal with some of the most popular characters on property.

Menu

Chef Mickey’s is open for all three meals and features a buffet that is sure to please all sorts of pallets.

Breakfast

Seasonal melons and fruit, smoked salmon, quinoa salad, hard boiled eggs, ham and cheese scramble, carved ham, tofu scramble with spinach, chef’s specialty pancake of the day, Mickey waffles, Minnie muffins and more.

Brunch

Peel-and-eat shrimp, assorted salads, yogurts and toppings, barbecue pork ribs, baked salmon with seasonal garnish, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese and more.

Dinner

Fresh mixed fruit salad, baked chicken, carving station selections, chef’s selection of pasta, seasonal bread pudding, create-your-own sundae bar and lots more.

Dinner and a Show

chef-mickeys-gallery03 — Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World

In addition to being visited by the characters table side, there is also some music, dancing and even napkin twirling that takes place that makes the experience so much fun.

Cost

The cost of Chef Mickey’s is pretty much on par with other character buffets within the resort.

For breakfast and brunch for an adult it is $41 and for a child it’s $25. Dinner is $50 for adults and $30 for children.

If you have the dining plan you can use it at Chef Mickey’s.

When to make reservations

You will want to make reservations right when you reach 180 days out. Like I said earlier, it is a hard ADR to secure, but it can be done.

Breakfast is the most coveted and dinner is a close second, so you might want to try for brunch during an off eating time. Another benefit of brunch is you get to taste both breakfast and dinner foods.

Does Chef Mickey’s seem like a restaurant you would like to try out? Leave your comments below.

For more tips about where to grab something to eat at Walt Disney World, pick up your copy of Mousekatots.

June Book Bag

May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in Books for Toddlers, family, Home, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized

Even though it might be time for kiddeos to be putting away their school books and learning might be far from one’s mind, it still doesn’t mean that you remove reading from your routine.

Here are a few of our selections for the first month of summer reading.

This really funny book is about two chopsticks who are inserparable until one day the one has a break. This results in the one needing to rest so it can get better and be useable again.

While the one chopstick is resting the other one goes on adventures and learns that sometimes it is OK to be on your own.

Full of wonderful puns and kitchen humor, this book is a fun read for both kids and adults.

Because our little Mousekatot is going to be taking some dance classes this summer, I wanted to introduce her to the art of dance through a fun book.

The Angelina series has been around for awhile, and has even spawned a series that is currently available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant video.

The series involves a sweet little mouse named Angelina that takes ballet lessons and the different mice that dance with her and the various life lessons they learn.

I high recommend this book as well as any others in the series.

This is our second round for “Oh No, Little Dragon.” Lily absolutely loves the story about this little dragon whose spark goes out when he swallows water during a bath. While he tries everything to get it back it comes from a very sweet source.

Mo Willems is one of our favorite authors. (We are obsessed with the “Elephant and Piggie” series.) When I saw this at the library I had to pick it up.

This rhyming tale is about little Nanette who gets a very important job of bringing home a baguette for her mom. When the temptation of the tasty baguette gets to be too much what will Nanette do?

Peppa Pig and her family go camping in this book.

Not only do they have the most magical camper that also turns into a boat, but they also spend time sleeping under the stars and doing all sorts of other fun camping activates.

Since we just went camping a few weeks ago, Lily has been very interested in the subject.

I am all about books that help little girls learn about their full potential.

This is one of those books. It talks about a young Ada that is different because she wants to learn more about why things are the way they are, which can sometimes be a challenge to her parents.

In the end everyone figures out how to embrace their own true self.

Recently, we had checked out “Carnival of the Animals” from our local library.

It came with a CD that Lily loved to listen to while figuring out which animals were represented by which instrument.

Because she liked it we bought her a copy of that book as well as two other ones that have CDs with them.

I like to pretend that I am going to read a book. So this time I really wanted to read “And Then There Were None.” So far, so good.

Do you have any books that you like to read during the summer months. Leave a comment below.

Happy Camper

May 16, 2017May 16, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in camping, family, family fun, Family Vacation, Pittsburgh, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized

This past weekend we decided to plan a small weekend getaway.

We were looking for something close to home, but still something that made us feel like we had escaped reality for a little while.

Luckily the Uniontown KOA is pretty close and was the perfect fit for us.

We rented a a cabin for the weekend that had a large bed in the main room and a bunk house off to the side with a sliding door that could be closed or kept open.

On Friday it unfortunately rained all night and we weren’t able to cook out. So we went out to eat and then stopped at a restaurant and then went to get groceries for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning it started of a little cloudy but turned into a beautiful day.

We started off the morning making pancakes on the fire pit, However, we just couldn’t get the logs to catch fire so we decided to move the griddle to to the grill to finish everything.

They actually turned out really well after we got the hang of how long we had to cook them. Even Lily enjoyed her plain pancakes that were made before I added the blueberries.

One of Lily’s favorite things was the playground that was in the campground. She made several trips throughout our trip to the playground where she would spend so much time exploring everything and just enjoying the finally beautiful weather.

After paying a visit to the camp’s gift shop and purchasing a little disk of wax with wood shavings, the fire started right up.

Luckily we were able to make our dinner of veggie dogs with crescent rolls, foil pack veggies and grilled cheese for Lily right over the campfire. It was delicious and I am so happy we were able to do that.

Afterwards we made s’mores which Lily just enjoyed eating the graham crackers with chocolate.

It was the end of a perfect day.

The next day we woke up to a beautiful morning and ate breakfast before we left to join our mothers for a great Mother’s Day meal later in the day.

Breakfast was made on the grill again that included oatmeal and cinnamon rolls.

We had a wonderful weekend and we can’t wait to do it again sometime soon.

How did you spend your Mother’s Day weekend? Leave your comments below.

Best Bites: Snacks Magic Kingdom Edition

May 4, 2017May 4, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in Disney, family, Family Vacation, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized, Walt Disney World

cheshire-cafe-00 — Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World

When you are treking all over Walt Disney World you can work up quite an appetite.

In between meals you can be wanting a little something but not a full meal. Luckily, there are a lot of places within Walt Disney World to pick up a quick bite.

However, not all snacks are created equal. This is especially true if you are on the dining plan where you receive two snacks per night booked at the resort.

A few years ago, Disney changed what was considered a snack on their dining plan.

One of the easiest ways to identify a snack is looking for a little white and purple box next to the item. If you have this, then you know it is a snack.

However, any single serve item is considered a snack (box of popcorn, ice cream bar, etc.)

But, a smart vacationer knows how to use the snacks to their favorite.

For example, you can use a bottle of water for a snack credit or you can use it on a cup of chili at Columbia Harbor House.

Below, are my top choices for how best to use your snack credits in the Magic Kingdom.

Magic Kingdom

Breakfast

Liberty Square Market: This location has a variety of fresh fruit available, yogurt and even a Mickey pretzel. It opens at 9 a.m.

Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies: This quick service restaurant offers smoothies that would make a quick breakfast on the go. It opens at 10:30 a.m. (This however is not on the dining plan so you will have to pay out of pocket.)

Main Street Bakery: Here you can use your snack credit to get your Starbucks fix for the day. The bakery opens at 9 a.m.

Lunch/Dinner

Aloha Isle: This is my personal favorite, Dole Whip. This creamy (yet vegan) frozen treat is an icon of Disney cuisine. You can also get a pineapple spear. This location opens at 10 a.m.

Columbia Harbor House: This, in my opinion, is the biggest bang for your snack buck. Here you can get a cup of vegetarian chili, New England Clam Chowder, Steamed Vegetables and coleslaw. Columbia Harbor house opens at 11 a.m.

The Friar’s Nook: Sometimes when it is really hot in WDW you will want something that will cool you off in the middle of the heat. Here you can get a frozen lemonade that should do the trick. The restaurant opens at 11 a.m.

The Lunching Pad: Another location to get your Mickey pretzel fix. This location opens at 10 a.m.

Those are just a few of my favorite ways to make a meal out of a snack in the Magic Kingdom. For more tips on using the dining plan pick up your copy of Mousekatots.

mousekatots

Nature Calls

April 27, 2017April 27, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in camping, family, family fun, Family Vacation, Home, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized, Vegan

Every once in awhile you just have to get away. You need a break from the day-to-day grind of mundane tasks.

Since it has been awhile since we have had a mini-vacation we decided to go camping for a weekend.

If you have read my previous post reviewing Old Millstream Campground you will know that I am a little timid when it comes to the great outdoors.

So we decided to stick with familiar territory and rent a cabin for a few days at a local campground. This way we won’t spend a lot of time driving to our destination and will be able to be close to home as well.

Since we are going to be leaving in a few weeks I have been trying to accumulate ideas and lists for what we need and things we can do while we are at the cabin.

Being that we aren’t going to be that far away, I have imposed a one backpack per person rule. (Lily will get two one with stuff she needs and the other one for fun stuff.) But, this makes me think that I am going to forget something. Luckily, there is a Walmart and grocery store close by.

I came across this really great website/blog called Beyond the Tent and they have this really great simple camping check list.

Our cabin also comes with a fire ring and grill so we are trying to find some different recipes to follow that utilize our cast iron skillet and a griddle.

I am thinking campfire griddle cakes for breakfast and some kind of veggie foil packet for dinner, but I am still open to trying some different things.

The thing about us is that both Kev and I are vegetarians (Lily isn’t) so we are looking for some recipes that are sans meat.

While I didn’t find a lot of interesting Youtube videos about specifically vegetarian camping (minus the one included below), but there were a few interesting vegan camping videos like the one below.

Do you have any tired and true camping recipes. Feel free to share them below in the comments.

Heinz Happens

April 25, 2017 by disneywonderlandgazette, posted in family, family fun, Pittsburgh, preschoolers, Toddler, Toddler Travel, Uncategorized

This past weekend we had the opportunity to take in another retro/vintage fair. This time it was hosted by the Heinz History Center.

During the event admission was reduced and we decided to take advantage and explore all the museum had to offer.

The museum is tailored to the history of southwestern Pennsylvania including area sports, businesses, the part the area played in country wide events and more.

There is even an area dedicated to Pittsburgh’s most famous neighbor Fred Rogers and his neighborhood.

The day was made even sweeter because I found this wonderful Samsonite train case for $12.

We had a wonderful weekend and might check out future Neighborhood Flea events this summer.

Do you have any events that you are looking forward to this summer? Leave your comments below.

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