"That's what friends are for"

Crikey, I had better get on with posting before Christmas rolls around!

Well hello there fellow Dis-fans!  Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and get comfortable.  Fancy a biscuit?  Here you go - ah go on, take two or three, we are all friends here.

Darjeeling, anyone?

So, I will come clean.  Thing haven't been at their best here for me, and I really, *really* needed my friends to pull me through it.  I didn't even realise that I had them at the time, let alone know to call on them.  Now by that I'm not meaning that they abandoned me - I mean that I was so low I was hidden away too much to know they were there.

And when you're outside looking in who's there to open the door?

But you know the great things about good friends?  They crawl in to that hole and coax you out, offering the hand of support and strength to get you back.

So I take a short break from the Disney World planning to say thank you to my friends.  To my fantastic Copper Husbeast, to my purple haired Riot Grrrrl, to my kooky German Mama-friend, my school mama Swede and all my lovely Nostrils.
And yes, I know that's cryptic to anyone that doesn't know!  But I would also like to thank all of the Disney people online for keeping me perky.  All those pins I found on Pinterest were like little rays of light on cloudy days.  Reading the fun times on the disboards bring giggles all the time - I recommend living vicariously through trip reports to everyone!  And a special little wave to the fab DisneyKid4Life, who waved to me all the way from England in Epcot - dude, your TR is a smile with every update.

So what can I do to say thank you to these lovely folks?  I'm gonna have to think on that one.  They're special people for sure, and I want them to know that.

What I want you guys to know is that I'm back on it now.  This is me back to planning mode, and I have a lot to talk about!  Coming up I need to cover flights, meal planning, a rather Tangled birthday affair - that's just to begin with!

See you all soon, OK?  :)

Money Money Money!

MONEY MONEY MONEY!

I've been quite surprised at how many times I've been messaged privately on facebook or elsewhere, to be asked for tips on how to get to Disney World on a budget, if it's even possible - because so many parents are desperate to live the dream with their children too.  I have posted a lot of pictures of our trip I guess, and we got a LOT done while we were there so I suppose people wanting to know how isn't so strange.
I don't mind at all - I *love* sharing the Disney bug!  And I fully believe that if you dream of going to the happiest place on Earth, then so you should go!  I'm writing this blog entry today because I thought it would save me retyping in future, but also because anyone can stumble across it this way.

Now firstly, any way you get to Disney from the UK, it's going to cost.  I'll break it to you first and fast - it's not going to be cheap.  It's just not possible - but it will be totally worth it.

<And here's where I try to avoid going off on a tangent about how wonderful WDW is>

Wonderful!

                                           

Wonderful...

  

Wonderful!

                                         
Ahem.
Well, I tried!  (and did well I might add)


So, how to do Disney on a budget.  As with all things Disney, it's all in the planning.  Research, plan, research, plan and research some more if you can.

Start with the http://disneypackages.co.uk/ website and expect to come back to it.  Expect to come back A. Lot.
You see, although there are ways of tweaking what you get for your budget, there's no way around paying for it and this is the site you will need.

Time of visit.
This is a biggie, and you want to think about it!  Fortunately, the quieter times of year cost less, and Disney will often give more incentives for you to go at non-peak times.  I say fortunately, because although it can be inconvenient with school terms, etc, if you're only going to the World once, you're probably better off aiming for a time when it's not so packed that you spend all day in lines.
The two times we found to be best were the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or some time in spring.  We chose to go in May.  It's less expensive, less busy and not too hot and humid - but still WAY hotter than the UK.  We're talking UK summer highs really.
Yes, it did mean taking time out of school, but it was our once in a lifetime thing.  Our children had otherwise perfect attendance, so we were given permission.  This time around I know the rules have changed.  We will no longer apply to the school for holiday time, and then my Drummerboy is at secondary too so even less likely...  Still worth it!

This is the crazy dance I do in my head - Lala I'm not listening, it's woorrrrth it!                   

The first time I went to WDW, we assumed that a family room in one of the budget resorts was the most cost effective way of staying onsite.  I was wrong, but it was amazing and I raved about it here once.  We stayed onsite which meant that we had free transportation and extra magic hours in the parks.  We chose to pay for a Quick Service Meal Plan (QSDP), which meant that we had a refillable cup each, which gave us unlimited drinks at our resort.  In terms of food it gave us two counter service meals and two snacks a day.  Doing our research we realised that it probably wasn't cost effective and that we may have spent less if paying out of pocket, but the piece of mind it gave us in knowing that all our food was paid for was worth it!

This time we are doing it differently.
I found out that if I booked a Moderate hotel instead of budget, we could get the quick service meal plan included for free.  It would mean no family room - but get this:  Two rooms at a moderate costs less!  Yep, so we have upgraded our stay, requested connecting rooms and we have the meal plan, my children are older and cost more and there's one more of them - but this costs us less than before?  Mind.  Blown.

                                  Would you look at this beauty!  Coronado Springs.  It will become our new home.

I do feel the need to include that the QSDP no longer includes two snacks per day, but even so, this works out good.

I'm so excited at the idea of staying at Coronado Springs Resort.  It's central to all the parks and from what I've read, it's the highest end mod that Disney has to offer.  Yippeeeeee!!!

Through the Disney packages site we also included our park tickets.  I think the standard offer is 14 days for the price of 7 park hoppers - which means that you can go to as many parks as you like each day.  This gave us a lot more freedom compared with being stuck with tickets limiting to one park a day.  The park hoppers cover the Magic Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, the two water parks Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, plus the golfing course (which we never went near and probably never will!)

Lastly, the package gave us a $200 giftcard.  But as we are booking two rooms this time we get $400 - bonus!

Flights.

Well this is the big one.  It's not pretty.  We found it cost less if we didn't include it in our Disney package, but still...

We fly direct.  The prospect of taking five children through any more airports than is strictly necessary is more than our nerves can take!  Of course taking connecting flights will reduce the cost considerably, so if you're used to flying, have less children than us, or are just much braver, that's the way to go.

We flew with Virgin and hope to again.  

At the moment flights for all of us will be a whopping £3323!

Jumping jellyfish!  That's a lotta money.

Things to consider:

Once a child hits the age of twelve, they fly as an adult.

A baby below the age of two can sit on a lap and fly for free.

^Can you see why I'm feeling some sense of urgency?!

Regarding ages - The Disney Dining Plan and park tickets also change in cost with age; Up until the age of 10, children are children.  Hit those double digits and they're paying as adults.  But a child under the age of three is a freebie!  They can eat off the plate of an adult (or you can buy your own food off the dining plan for them) and are not charged to enter the parks.

So yeah, the sooner the cheaper, for us anyway.

Now if you look around online you're sure to find lots of tips from frugal mamas suggesting that you buy a whole load of Disney tat to give to your children while there, to prevent them asking for you to shell out on expensive souvenirs.

1)  It wont work.  If my kids see something in the park then THAT is what they want.  Not a pound shop toy.

2)  Do I really want to pack out my luggage with that?  Nope.

3)  I'm the one that wants to buy most stuff anyway!

4)  The Disney Parks Shops have a website where you can buy things from when you get home!!

5)  Believe me, do this right and you will actually have so much fun that you wont need to be buying stuff.  We had so much to do that we only really went in gift shops for the air conditioning!

However, making an autograph book is a souvenir that I do recommend taking - this is something that can be done cheaply, personalised as much as you like, and will provide years of memories.  We still love ours.

That's my tips as I found them.  Links to help though...

http://www.disboards.com/ - Can tell you just about *anything* to do with Walt Disney World

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - This book is *amazing* and became my WDW bible last time.

Both of the above will give you a good idea of what to do and where to look.  The Unofficial Guide will give you ultimate touring plans that will maximise your trip, as I'm sure you will want to do if it's a once in a lifetime stay.  There are so many other helpful places online, though I don't know many that will help you to budget from the UK.  If I find any I will be back to link them, be sure of that!

I do hope this has been of some help to someone.  I just want to say here that we all deserve to follow our dreams, we all deserve to be unbelievably, overwhelmingly happy at some point in our lives.  Yes this might be a massive expenditure, but isn't it worth it for memories that will last forever?  I can honestly say that our whole family has never got along so well, been so happy and had so much fun as we did for those two weeks.  The amount my children *still* talk about it, years later, tells me how amazing they found it.

Walt Disney said "If you can dream it, you can do it" - I say if you can dream it, go for it!

"I will hold you close (in a thankful heart)"

I'm a big fan of babywearing.  You might not know what this is, but let me tell you, it sounds a lot better than me saying I'm a fan of slinging babies.

Toddlerwearing at Disney

Babywearing is choosing to carry your baby, not only for practical purposes, but because you know that it is good for the little one to be kept close.  Since I discovered how many benefits it had and how much easier it could make my life, I didn't just carry my babies, I wore them.  I only wish I discovered good slings with my first two children!

But what does this have to do with Disney?
Well, with it being an interest of mine, and Disney being a passion, I thought I'd see what the Mouse makes of it - does he believe that keeping babies close is important?  He sure does!  In fact, it would seem that those babies who are not held close are far more likely to add to the Disney Orphan Epidemic!

Keep your baby close = don't lose your baby.

Squaw... Carry dat baby!

But do slings work with Disney World trips?  Sure they do!  I actually took five slings with me to WDW.

Sorry?  What, you didn't catch that?  I said five slings.  No, still?  Gah OK - I took FIVE SLINGS to Walt Disney World.  Yes, on our first ever trip out of the UK I felt the need to pack FIVE BABY SLINGS in our luggage.  

I was well prepared  ;-)

And yes, I brought a stroller too.

The heat - it's not nearly as much of an issue as you might think.  Yes you will sweat - but wont you anyway?  That's what showers are for right?  The sweat keeps you cool and actually, babywearing in a *good sling* (unfortunately this means those that you're unlikely to find in a store) means that your body can regulate your baby's temperature far better.  Yep, your body will go up or down by a couple of degrees according to what your baby needs.  Cool, huh?

It's also ace because lets face it - there is a LOT going on at Disney.  We're talking serious overload for many small people.  Over stimulation a-go-go.  Wearing your baby gives them the space required to hide away if they need to.  Whether that's hiding from crowds, fur characters, fireworks or just the sights - you're giving them sanctuary.

Good in crowds.  Good when pouring drinks on your knees.  As you do.  At Disney.

When we took our first trip to WDW my Sunshine boy Robin was 23 months old.  I carried him at the Magic Kingdom:

Check out the Emokid theme started here.
Happiest place on earth?

At Disney's Hollywood Studios:

Oh, hey there Minnie!  Cheer Rowan up will ya?

At the Animal Kingdom:

Clearly too emo to even BE in photographs - but you can just about see Sunboy.

And EVEN at Epcot:

What's this?  Almost not quite completely utterly miserable?
Best hide it - Look down look down!

...although I'm not entirely insane.  On our world showcase days we did bring the stroller too ;-)   Every Person Comes Out Tired, after all.

The Disney World transportation is fantastic.  Yeah yeah, people can moan all they want but I'm assuming all these people drive cars when at home.  Well let me tell you something - I live in LONDON, and in London it's almost pointless having a car.  We don't drive at all.  Charged if you go down the wrong roads, congestion everywhere and insurance through the roof!  But our public transport is quite good, and I can say that WDW has it good too.

*However*  You will want to minimise fuss as much as possible.  Strollers must be folded on WDW transportation.  Then when you get off you have to do the mad Quickly-Unfold-Get-Baby-In-Get-Him-Strapped-And-Run-For-The-Gates Rope-drop routine.  Yes, I'm serious.  In those minutes it takes to get the baby back in his stroller you can bet that everyone on that bus is now way ahead of you.  They're getting those Toy Story Mania fastpasses, or front of the line for Splash Mountain.  

Not to mention the hold up at the other end while you find somewhere to put the stroller, grab baby and head for a queue - but of course now you have to keep hold of him to stop him running off...  That's always fun.

This woman *seriously* needs a sling.  Or three.

Because of course when you have a few children, it helps to have at least one tied down while the others jump all over you.

Happy families, good times.  Kuzco approved.

Have I convinced you yet?

Well take a look at this Mickey baby carrier, or how about the one on the daddy here (fab Q&A on slings at DL too!) or this *gorgeous* Minnie Mouse sling I found on the disboards!  When you can step out in such fun style, why not?


If I know one thing for sure, it's that I'll be bringing our trustiest carriers with us to Disney World next year.  The only question is, which ones?  (and can I get away with buying a new custom Mickey one because I think I really NEEEED it)

Lets face it.  The coolest families in the world wear their babies.  I'm with Elastigirl on this one.  I'm a supermama.

Coolest.  Family.  EVER.

PS, "I Will Hold You Close in a Thankful Heart" is the song sung by Scrooge in the Muppets Christmas Carol.

"A Very Very Unbirthday, to you!"

A very Disney Birthday to me!

Last week saw me turn 33.  Only the day was such a disaster from start to finish, that I asked my husband to promise me I can re-celebrate when we get to Disney!
Do I really need to go in to details?  I'd rather not relive it.  I will tell you that our smallest disaster was when our Playstation3 decided to die, with my brand new DVD inside it.  Yes, that's the smallest - there were many more and much more frustrating, upsetting and annoying!

So I am going to have a BIRTHDAY AT DISNEY WORLD!!!  Squee!  What better place to enjoy your special day?  Although I am going to have to hold Liam to this and remind him - I expect a cake and a present if nothing else...
So what do you get for a birthday at WDW?  I can answer this because we celebrated Frazer's last time we were there.  His actual birthday was just a few days after our return but we couldn't book our holiday to cover it.
Don't expect a day full of freebies - I think this is something that many in our 'entitled' culture want.  It's fun, but you wont be getting a free dinner with Cinderella for it!  There must be hundreds of people (if not more) celebrating something at Disney World every day.
You can get a button for it.  Button?  A badge to my UK friends:

Err yeah it's a big button.  Nothing to do with me being too lazy to resize... *ahem*

And you write your name on the front and all day long people wish you a very happy birthday!  If you're lucky, you might even get a little freebie - my Drummerboy was given a cupcake when we ate at Chef Mickey's.  He wasn't expecting it and the poor love had eaten so much that he couldn't fit his birthday treat in!

Birthday wishes all day for the Drummerboy!

You may also be in for other little treats, like a card signed by the characters, or even confetti on your (full service) table, if you let a CM know you're celebrating when you book and/or arrive that is!

Secretly, I'm hoping that my husband orders me a birthday cake while we're there.  From what I've gathered on the disboards cake chatter thread, it can sometimes be a little hit and miss.  Depending on what you want, how you ask for it and who you ask, it can be spectacular, or it can be just not special enough.

Of course there's the price too.  These speciality cakes aren't going to cost the same as what you would pay in your local supermarket, but as I've read elsewhere, it is the experience you are paying for.

I highly recommend that if you're thinking of ordering a cake at WDW, that you do your research.  Know who to call and how to explain specifically what you want from them.  From what I have gathered if you call and don't get the response you hoped for, your best plan is to try again in a few hours and see if you can speak with someone else!  The chefs are quite accommodating if you have something unusual to ask for, but the people on the phone cakeline often aren't aware of this.

Anyway, I don't want anything special!  It was only a vague idea in the corner of my mind - UNTIL...

Until I saw this and it completely and utterly *melted my heart*

Taken from http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=13634732&postcount=3

OK well not exactly this cake.  I'm sure the one I saw was round and chocolatey and a bit messier, but it had "Happy Birthday Mommy" written on it and I want that cake!  I'd definitely need less (as in, none) flowers and more stars/hidden Mickeys though!

Not sure I can convince my husband...

Hmm, but a present.  What Disney themed gift would you want?  There are so many I would love to pick from if I could!

"Big news, REALLY big news!"

"So what's all this noise about London?"

"Big News, really big news!"

I've been sitting on this for a while and no idea how or when to say it so I'm just gonna come right out with it.


WE ARE BOOKED!!!


Eep!


Next year.  We have booked our trip for next year.  We are going back to Disney World!!

Coronado Springs
12th May 2014
14 Nights
Quick Service Meal Plan
Park Hoppers

Yikes!

Bizarrely, I've had a bit of a slump since.  No idea what that is about - maybe I'm worried about getting it right now that it's real?

More to come, but for now I'm hitting submit and coming back to this subject later!

"Do you care for tea?"

Alice: Why, yes. I'm very fond of tea.

March Hare: If you don't care for tea, you could at least make polite conversation!

Oh tea, how I do love thee.

Yes, I bite my nails.  Shameful I know.

But I'm a Brit, it comes with the job description, right?

You may have noticed, I've been struggling to get on and update for a while.  I could give you a list of excuses but instead I have decided to go with my good friend the March Hare.

Maybe this will help me!  

What's crazy is that I'm a perfectionist.  I want to blog about my road to Disney but I can't think of the *right* thing to say, so I say nothing.  The moment I decide to just write about something else I find that I've turned it in to Disney!

So yeah - uhm, tea.

I have a baby recently recovered from Measles, children on summer holidays from school and a serious addiction to the Dis boards.  I am TIRED.  Like Sleepy, I may well just fall asleep on the job today.  Maybe I should get off the Dis before 2am tonight...

So - tea is good!  I'm so not a coffee drinker, which means my caffeine fix is limited to Coke and tea.  Now Coke is good, but you cant dunk these bad boys in a glass of fizz!

Om nom nom.  Full of Disney goodness.

Well actually, I can't dip them in my tea either.  Or rather wont.  I need to shift the baby flubber, and I need to save my pennies towards our big trip!  Fortunately the two work quite well together as I save money when I don't buy fatty treats.  This one is going in my Christmas treat pile - cos it's gonna be a frugal Christmas too!

On that note, I need to talk to you about saving money.  Now, being a stay at home mum to five (plus cat and dog), my time for earning is somewhat limited.  I manage to do some voluntary work, but really only because I can bring the Starbaby with me.

I wracked my brains for ages, trying to think of how I could contribute more to the Disney Pot and this is what I came up with:

1)  CUT BACK.  On everything.  It's a real wake-up call when you realise that you could probably survive on half of what you once used to spend.  I have no magazines, I cut my own hair (using this tutorial on youtube), I don't even shop for chocolate half as much as I used to - hey, it's good for the hips too!

Note I said 'survive' - the dilemma I've had is providing my children with more than survival; they have no idea that this trip is planned for any time soon so don't have the same thing to look forward to that I have when I force myself to miss out on things.  So there's finding a balance.

2)  We walk almost everywhere, London transport isn't terribly priced, but you can save an amazing amount by not using it.  A bus pass for 7 days is almost £30!

3)  Meal Planning.  So so important.  No more wondering around Tesco, not sure what to get so falling for their shelf 'offers' which make me spend even more money.  And there are so many resources online to help cut your meal spends.  Recently I've been amazed at this blog of 'Below the Line' budget recepies: http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/below-the-line-budget-recipes/

4)  Don't shop at Tesco.  Asda is my place now - they not only price match, but guarantee 10% less.  And I have been vigilant about saving those receipts for vouchers!

5)  Competitions.  Wow there are LOADS online!  I'm still hoping for the *Big Win* on one of those TV comps that pay out in the thousands, but for now I'm being helped out by smaller prizes, mostly from facebook competitions.  I started out thinking that if I could manage to win a few things that I could put aside for Christmas or birthday presents, then it would save a few pounds.  There's even been a couple of bits that I've sold for a low cost to people on a local 'for sale' page on facebook.
What has been lovely though, is one competition recently where I won a £250 giftcard to spend at Boux Avenue!  They are a company that sells women's nightwear, lingerie and swimwear, plus a few gift bits and some gorgeous bridal bits too.  I've been able to treat myself for a change, both in things desperately needed, and some swimwear and dresses that I CAN WEAR TO DISNEY!  Oh yeah.  Happy dance indeed, no more fear of my tatty old clothes on vacation, I'm gonna look hawt.

With my soon to be red hair and previous wardrobe, this could be me.
Who am I kidding, Ariel still wins.  She has a rope.

And all of these competitions can be done from my arm chair while snuggling my baby and watching Big Brother with a cuppa.  Which suits me to a T.

Teeeeaa?  Just half a cup, if you don't mind.

Coming up, some big news...  BIG.

Think of a Wonderful Thing...

...Or rather, think of three wonderful things.  Things 1, 4 and 5, to be precise.

The reason I have been so quiet recently (or one of the reasons) is because we have been celebrating the birthdays of Drummerboy, Sunboy and Starbaby.  Their birthdays are all within three weeks of each other so it made sense to combine the celebrations and we had the most wonderful picnic at the Diana Memorial Playground  in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park.

Did you know that Kensington Gardens is where the story of Peter Pan begins?  When he was a baby he lived nearby, but when he heard his mother talking of his future he decided he didn't want to grow up, so he ran away.  The fairies found him in Kensington Gardens and he stayed with them too long - When he decided to return home his mother had another baby boy to love, so he left forever, never to grow up.


Now if you knew my Sunboy at all, you'd know that he loves Peter Pan and pirates.  He could happily watch Disney's Peter Pan every day and never get bored.  So where better to have a Piratey Peter Pan Picnic?

The Diana Memorial Gardens have the most wonderful playground.  In fact, it's a collection of playgrounds.  Captain Hook's ship sits beached in the middle of a huge sand pit, surrounded by smaller boats that bob about when you climb on them, treasure chests, rocks for climbing on and one with a mermaid's tail carved in.  There are treasure chests to be found and water that can be pumped in to the sand, where dozens of children were working together to build as elaborate a castle as they could manage.  And an enormous crocodile - of course!

You can fly!

Turn away from the glorious ship for a moment and explore a little - you may see teepees peeping over the trees - yes, the indian emcampment is there!

I think I'll be an indian brave

Three big teepees to hide and make believe in - fabulous!  We didn't get rain on the day, but my backup plan was to hide in these!

Look around some more and you'll find Wendy houses, a Lost Boys' adventure playground and things to climb on in one section.  Go explore in the trees and bushes and you might find toys to sit on, or instruments that only play when you stand, walk or dance on them - the tinkling noise they make gives the feel of fairies flying all over the playground.

In another section there's a more traditional play area with swings and slides, one for bigger children and one for smaller kids.

Even if I tell you about the cafeteria, convenient and clean toilets, and pixie tree I've still not covered it all.  Best of all, it's a fenced in play area with only one gate that you need to buzz to get through.  There's a security guard at the gate and monitors patroling the playground.  So we really did feel able to let our children live as Peter and the Lost Boys would - wild and fun and free!

When there's a smile in your heart...

I had made enough maps of Neverland to go around our party.  I wish this picture would show it better.  I sketched one out from a map I found online and photocopied it, then tore the edges and went over them all with wet tea bags to give a genuine distressed look.  These went down very well!  Robin and his friends were using them to 'find treasure' in the playground.
Along with this Frazer and Scarett made some very basic telescopes using tissue/kitchen roll tubes with black card around the edge.  Let me tell you, I could have made fancy telescopes, but honestly 4 year old imaginations don't need them!

I made Peter Pan's hat the night before using green felt for the main and red for the feather.  

Any merry little thought

All stitched by hand and I thought it came out great!  But unfortunately I don't have a single good picture of it, as my Sunboy left it inside the ship and apparently another little pirate couldn't resist swiping this booty.

We provided our guests with pirate hats, masks, mini foam swords, eye patches and temporary tattoos.  We do love to dress up in this family!  (expect more of that at Disney to be sure)

Up you go with a heigh and ho

Starbaby was pirate for the day.  He was lucky enough to get skull and crossbone baby legwarmers, and a fab pirate ship hoody, both of which matched his stripy pirate suit perfectly, how's that for luck?
He had a great time, with lots of attention from everybody, lots of children to make laugh at his antics, and while he isn't keen on cake at all(!?!), he did have fun attacking a pot of hummus when no one was looking!

WHY do you not like cake child, why?!

Frazer turned 12, and you might think that's getting a bit big for playing such games, but no!  He appointed himself the director of the sand castle structure I mentioned earlier.  And in this family you're never too old to dress up!  You'll see more of that at Disney I'm sure.
I can remember eight years ago when my Drummerboy had a Peter Pan party for his fourth birthday, complete with Captain Hook costume and a crocodile cake that I made.  Now he's more interested in  Minecraft lands than Neverland, so I did my best to accommodate.

I made him a creeper t-shirt with a sharpie and green top.  His friends bought him the pixel sunglasses which went down *very* well with Frazer, and suited his theme perfectly.  I also made him a minecraft pig t-shirt, which he let our Emokid wear on the day:

Sssss. - that sure is a nice birthday you have there...

I made a Mincraft picnic:

Note the bacon.  It's unsigned, but very important to minecrafters!

Complete with Creeper Juice:

Ssssssss....

And I even made him an AWESOME (their words, not mine) Minecraft cake!

Yes, I do understand just how crap this will look
to you if you don't know about minecraft.

Yup, that's blue jelly (jello to my US friends) 'water', crispy marshmallow treat 'sand blocks', and chocolate cake 'dirt blocks' with green icing and coconut 'grass' on top.  It was a weird cake to make, but SO well appreciated that I'm glad I did.










So three birthdays means three cakes, right?

Well here's Jasper's.  It's actually a mini version of his smash cake, but the weather has been so poor here that we've not had the chance for the outdoor shoot I wanted.  I'm now having second thoughts anyway, as he really doesn't like cake!

That's a gluten and dairy free chocolate cake made in a mug.




















Robin's was my favourite.  He wanted a pirate ship cake.  I googled some home made ones - but they weren't good enough!  They looked difficult enough to me, but he did not approve and instead his eyes landed on a stunning masterpiece.  Erk.  Not gonna happen mate.

So I suggested this cake to him and he agreed, on the provision that I make sure the ship is included.  I've seen a few similar looking cakes online, but the inside was a lemon sponge that I adapted to be dairy free.  Glad I did - it was delicious!

I did waves around this side at the base of the cake, and clouds around the back.  It has lemon curd and five layers of lemon sponge.  Noms.

So there we go, three big reasons and one big picnic to celebrate my boys growing yet bigger and stronger.  Having fun being Neverlanders and eating yummy things.

12, 4 and 1.  I Love those boys.

"Be... Our... Guest"

"...be our guest!
Put our service to the test,
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, Cherie
and we provide the rest."

Could I really call this post anything else?  Yep, I'm gonna cover the accommodation.
Now in the grand scheme of things - that is, if you're anything like me - you could be excused for thinking that the hotels and resorts aren't much to consider when you compare it to the ENORMITY that is the AWESOMENESS of the Disney Parks.
However, I've got to say that Disney, as usual, goes above and beyond when it comes to accommodation.

What I'm going to start with is the resort I have experience in: All Star Music.

I left my heart at ASMu...

Often known as ASMu on forums such as the Disboards (which is a fab site for finding out multitudes of WDW related stuff), All Star Music is one of Disney's budget resorts.  It has less of the luxuries, but is perfect if all you want is a place to lay your head and crash after a day at the parks.  We chose it because we thought we didn't have much option - we needed a room that would fit all of us in, and the All Star Music resort had recently started offering family rooms, when we went.

A family room is ace.  Well, we thought so!  It's actually two rooms knocked in to one.  You'll have one entrance door, but two bathrooms (with toilet, bath, shower, sink and hair dryer in each).  One main bedroom with desk, drawers and bedside tables, etc, and one living room, with a big TV, sofabed, chair-bed and an ottoman that can convert in to a bed.  When we stayed we never even opened the ottoman, as two of our children shared the sofabed while the other took the folded out chair.  They all found it very comfortable and huge fun!  The only downside really is that the space is very limited when the beds are out - I know this from trying to lay out the clothes for the next day while my children slept!
Also in the family suite is a kitchenette.  It's a small space, but has everything needed, considering we would be mostly eating out.  Sink, kettle, fridge and cupboards with basic disposable (but Disney - check out the Mickey heads!) plates, bowls and cutlery.

Mousekeeping still comes around as usual.  They even make the little animals out of face cloths that you'll find in the moderate and luxury hotels.  What I wish I knew was that it's OK to keep your cloth animals!  I didn't even want my children to touch ours - in case they messed them up!  I've found out since that they are usually made from cloths ready for retirement anyway, so when I go back I really do hope I get another to bring home!

I digress.  I do that.
So at a budget resort you might expect to miss out on some of the luxuries.  You wont find a gym or spa at ASMu - but you will find a gorgeous fun swimming pool.

Ay ay ay!   I miss you guys! 

The pool is themed!  It's in the shape of a guitar, with the top end of it a small pool for younger children.  The three Caballeros will squirt you as you swim past, there are lots of seats around the pool and plenty of towels.  You can even borrow a life jacket for non-swimmers, so they can bob about independently.
There's another pool - and it's piano shaped!!  How cool is that?  It's bigger too, but we were so happy with our guitar pool (right on our doorstep!) that we never even went to tinkle the ivories of the other resort pool.

Man I just felt like a superstar every time I stepped out of our room!

Much of all the All Star resorts are themed.  This is probably the main thing I loved about them, as you just don't get fun quite like it at the other resorts.  At All Star Movies you'll be able to pose with some of your favourite characters from various Disney films, like 101 Dalmations, Herbie, Donald and Daisy.  All Star Sports is the place to go if you're the active type - quite often Cheerleading teams will meet up there for local competitions.
All Star Music is of course, music themed.  We stayed at the Jazz Inn.  At the end of our building there were huge instruments for decoration.  My children are quite musical and loved this - many photo opportunites without even leaving the resort!  I also loved the stars everywhere - so bright, so fun and so happy.



You wont find a 5 star full service restaurant at the All Stars, but what we did get was a lively and friendly environment and quick service menu at the Intermission Food Court.  Each day I would dash down to fill my cup with a Diet Coke to wake me up, and grab some breakfast that was easy to eat on the go - as we would probably be eating while waiting for an early bus to the parks!
We only ate a full meal at the Intermission a few times and while breakfast was just lovely, I can't say that dinner was the best ever.  But neither was it bad - it was just fine, I guess!  The pizza isn't great but the other foods are pretty yummy.  Not out of this world, but will fill you up and taste good.  Better foods are to be found in park restaurants if you are on a quick service meal plan, or full service restaurants if your budget stretches that way.  We did have a giggle when Liam was offered bacon to go with his sweet waffles and strawberry sauce!  That's so American - and one of our first examples of how British we are that it seemed so odd.

If you need it, there's a laundry room at ASMu.  While some people like that so they don't have a mountain of dirty clothes when they get home, I can tell you that the LAST thing I want to do while away is household chores!  And of course a general gift shop.  Loads of souvenirs to buy here, plus more useful things like sun screen (an *amazing* spray on sun protection!), headache tablets and similar.

I wish I had taken more photos of All Star Music, as it's such a lovely place and I don't think my words can do it justice.  I'm quite sad to think we wont be going there again as I've found a way of making it cheaper, but a different resort (more on that next time), but at the same time rather excited at the thought of trying something new.  If I learned anything from our first stay at WDW, it's that Disney really does want you to be their guest, and they really will look after you as well as they can!

"My boy, you are *allergic*

"Allergic?"

"Yes, and there is only one cure: a vacation on Pleasure Island!"

I never really considered food allergies or intolerances at Disney World before, but then I never had my Starbaby before.  Since before birth he has plagued me with food worries and pains - In pregnancy I couldn't tolerate whole eggs or gluten without shocking gut pains that would last for days.  When he was a few weeks old we realised that the near-constant screaming from him was because he had reflux, and that it was exacerbated by what I ate - wheat, dairy, soy caffeine and eggs were all struck off my diet, lest they affect him through my milk.

Then weaning age came around and the reflux lessened - I was able to eat freely again!  But when I eventually introduced wheat to him as a finger food he reacted with pain, despite enjoying eating with much vigor!   And then despite Starbaby no longer eating these foods, he developed an appalling case of eczema on his face, so I was back to food eliminations in my diet again.

Safe to say, what we eat has become something I think about far more now than I ever used to.  When we first went to Disney World my only concern regarding food was whether we would be sick of fat and junk after two weeks (as it turned out, not really) and would we be able to find better alternatives on the Quick Service Dining Plan (Yes, more on that later).  But now I have the possibility of a toddler being miserable and uncomfortable if he eats the wrong things, so I've been doing some research.

I think that most people, including me, might make an assumption that WDW would be an awful place for people with intolerances and/or allergies.  All that ice cream at every turn?  America is known for it's fast food, and fast food isn't known for making people-friendly changes, because it takes too long!  Add in the sheer number of people using Disney World restaurants every day and you couldn't blame the staff there for not wanting to accommodate really. 

Ahh, but there's the word! ^  'Accommodate'.  If there's one thing Disney aims to do, it's to make you feel happy and at home on their grounds.  So the first place I checked for information was the WDW website.

Hmm.

"Walt Disney Parks and Resorts will use reasonable efforts"

"However, it is ultimately up to the Guest"

"...cannot guarantee that allergens may not have been introduced"

It doesn't look that good at first glance. All a bit negative and disappointing really. The page does then go on to list restaurants that "may accommodate" guests' common food allergy or intolerance requirements. This is useful, but I thought I'd dig further - am glad I did!

Next stop:  Allergy Free Mouse "Your allergy-free guide to Disney World"

Oh MUCH better!
Here are people that love WDW, love food, know about food issues, but do not have the litigation worries that obviously cause Disney to be cautious on their web information. If you need it, this is the place to go for people with experience that are willing to share.
I am now armed with so much more information, and weighed down with so many less worries.  It seems that going to Disney with a food intolerance doesn't need to be the nightmare I had thought it might be, but - as with all things WDW - scrupulous planning beforehand is key.  Sure, avoiding certain foods will limit your options somewhat, but then that would be the case anywhere.  From what I have found, Walt Disney World will do all they can to accommodate, to a level I find quite generous, considering how busy their restaurants can get.

So I have the official word.  I have the word of experience - do you know what I need?  I need PICTURES of course.  And here is is; allergy friendly food at Disney World in pictures.  So many yummy foods to get your belly growling!  And they look so delicious you'd never even guess they were on the 'free from' list.  I particularly like the ice cream sandwiches on page 10 - YUM, and check out those cute sprinkles!
Bear in mind that the first few pages of this post are older, so menus may have changed since.  It's always worth checking out and I do find that either the Disboards or Disney themselves are the best people to ask if you're unsure.


As any mum of a baby with food issues will know, it's an ongoing test with daily checks and concerns.  Will this food be ok for my baby?  Why has he flared up now?  What did he have that's different?  Is his diet varied enough?  Is he missing out?  And of course I'm hoping that in time my Starbaby's food sensitivities will become something we don't really need to think about.  He's come on leaps and bounds and now doesn't even seem to react to things in my milk.  This is big news for me - who knows, but with lots of mama milk and leaving him free to pick and chose his own foods so he dictates what's safe (check out baby led weaning, people), he might even be ok to eat treats on holiday when we get there.  Maybe not junk food all day, every day, but now I know that even with sensitivities he'll be able to join in the foody fun without me needing to bring along a load of free-from foods from the supermarket!