HHardesty

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So far HHardesty has created 108 blog entries.

Princess for a Day

By |2020-05-20T15:06:16-04:00May 20th, 2020|Disney Travel Tips|

Hi, my name is Jenna.  I am 10 years old. I have been to Walt Disney World® Resort twice. On my trip last summer I got to experience what it would be like to be a princess!   One of the many things I loved at Disney was the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. First I checked in at a building across from the castle where I got to choose my hairstyle and princess ball gown. Then my Fairy Godmother took me to the salon in the castle! There I sat down and start getting my hair done and my makeup. I had my real Godmother (Lauren Hamill) and my Fairy Godmother there. I looked so pretty afterwards and we got pictures taken! It was so fun! As soon as  we arrived on our vacation, I could not wait for the day we would go to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.     Another thing that was super fun was the lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle! When we arrived we started out in a little waiting room. There was a little wait, but then we were called to go in.  There were stairs so high I could barely see the [...]

My Favorite Rides – by Charlotte

By |2020-05-11T10:13:03-04:00May 11th, 2020|Disney Travel Tips|

Hi,my name is Charlotte and I am 9 years old. Recently, I went to the Disneyland® Resort for the first time. Also I’ve been to Walt Disney World® Resort at least 10 times. So I decided to find my favorite ride from all 6 parks (Disney World: 4 Disneyland: 2) and overall find my favorite ride in the history of Disney parks in the U.S.A.  Starting off in the Magic Kingdom® Park, there are many fun rides that all have Disney magic. But in the end, I chose Splash Mountain® Attraction for many reasons. Splash Mountain is about a rabbit who decides he wants to move out of his home. I think this ride is awesome because of its mix of thrill, good theming, and relief from the Florida weather. All these things added together make for a great ride for all to enjoy.  Moving into the world of Disney’s Hollywood Studios®, we find many thrill rides and great lands like Toy Story Land and Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. Having not been to the Walt Disney World® Resort since this land opened, I can't accurately judge the 2 new rides. So overall, Rock 'n Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith is my [...]

Universal Orlando Resort Rides – a Teenager’s Review

By |2020-04-27T14:02:04-04:00April 27th, 2020|Disney Travel Tips|

  Hello, my name is Asher.  My mom, Tabitha has been an agent with Wishing Well Travel for 7 years.  My parents recently took me to Universal Orlando for the first time to celebrate my upcoming high school graduation.  I rode most of the rides in Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure during this trip, and I thought it would be a good idea for me to share my experience with several of the rides for anyone who has never been and is considering going. Before you start reading, allow me to add a couple of disclaimers ~ First, this was my first trip to Universal Orlando.  I've been to the Walt Disney World® Resort many times so it's hard not to try and make comparisons.  Secondly, many things in this review should be taken in the joking manner as they were intended!  😉 Lastly, I did not ride the following: The generic amusement park rides, because I felt like I could do those anywhere. The Toon Lagoon rides because they were water rides. Rip Ride Rockit/The Hulk/Doctor Doom - not a big coaster guy!   So in the immortal words of the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride [...]

Breakfast a la Art at Topolino’s Terrace

By |2020-04-09T14:07:03-04:00April 9th, 2020|Disney Travel Tips|

Topolino’s Terrace, a new restaurant located on the top floor of the Disney's Riviera Resort at the Walt Disney World® Resort, offers an amazing character breakfast experience!   Breakfast a la Art is an exclusive storybook dining experience with good food and great character interaction.  Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Donald greet guests as they enjoy their meal in a cheerful atmosphere.  Special artistic touches are found throughout the meal, from a paint bucket full of pastries to unique outfits worn by all the character. The meal begins with a refreshing glass of Riviera juice, a passionfruit/orange/guava juice blend.  The juice is followed by an adorable paint bucket full of pastries, along with dipping sauces arranged to look like paint.  This bucket looks good, and the pastries taste good too! For the main course, each person gets to choose an entrée from the menu (kids menus are available as well).  The menu includes a variety of breakfast options including sour cream waffles, a wild mushroom scramble, smoked salmon, quiche gruyere and more. The characters, dressed in themed artist’s attire, are full of energy and spend plenty of time with guests as they greet each table.  Mickey and Minnie are especially adorable as [...]

Walt Disney World’s Newest Ride – Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

By |2020-03-27T12:41:31-04:00March 27th, 2020|Disney Travel Tips|

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway® is a new innovative addition to Disney’s Hollywood Studios® that provides a unique version of a classic dark ride. The experience begins before you even start loading onto the ride vehicles by cleverly bridging the gap between the real world and the animated world with a cute animated short of Mickey and Minnie going on a simple picnic before the screen opens up to reveal a beautiful cel-shaded environment. After entering into this animated world, you board a train with Goofy as your conductor, where things quickly go awry as the train begins breaking apart and shooting off in different directions. From there, you’re sent on a mad dash through numerous vibrant set pieces as Mickey and Minnie frantically try to reassemble your ride vehicles. This effect of the train breaking apart showcases the innovative technology of the trackless ride system. What makes this ride special is its use of immersive animation. I’m not usually a fan of what I call “tv-screen face” with some of Disney’s animatronics, where the faces look like a blank canvas with facial expressions projected onto them, such as in the ride Frozen Ever After at Epcot®. However, in the [...]

Universal Studios is Erupting with Volcano Bay

By |2016-12-16T14:56:04-05:00July 30th, 2015|Disney Travel Tips, Noelle|

Big changes are coming to Universal Orlando Resort – in the form of a new Water Park – Volcano Bay. Universal will close Wet-n-Wild to make room for this new park.  Opening in 1977, Wet ‘n Wild, Orlando was one of America’s first water parks.  It will close down permanently Dec 31, 2016. […]

Disney Cruise Line® – Holiday on the High Seas is Back!

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00June 22nd, 2015|Disney Travel Tips, Tiffany|

Disney Cruise Line® is continuing its Holidays on the High Seas cruises in 2015. Halloween on the High Seas runs on most sailings from late September through Halloween. A special costume party in the atrium complete with trick or treating and photo opportunities with costumed characters, make for an unforgettable evening of fun. […]

Disney’s Frozen Ever After Coming to Epcot®

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00June 10th, 2015|Disney Travel Tips|

When the 27 year-old attraction, Maelstrom, at Walt Disney World® Resort’s Epcot® was closed for re-imagining late last year, it brought both grief and elation. Fans of the current attraction were appalled that one of their favorites was leaving to be turned into yet another experience feeding the “Frozen frenzy” whereas Frozen fans danced with joy at an upcoming new attraction in the Norway Pavilion featuring their new favorite Disney princesses. Whether you are a member of either camp or fall somewhere in between, this attraction is looking to be a winner based on some early sneak peaks. […]

Disneyland is Sparkling

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00May 26th, 2015|Angie, Disney Travel Tips|

© Disney Milestone anniversaries are something to celebrate!  25 years is illuminated with silver.  50 years is painted in gold.  However, 60 years is represented by one of the most precious minerals on the planet…DIAMOND!  The Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim, CA kicked off their Diamond Celebration on May 22, 2015 and this is one anniversary party that you don’t want to miss. […]

You might be a Disney Geek if…..

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00May 2nd, 2015|Disney Travel Tips, Haley|

Several years ago my husband proclaimed us “Disney Geeks”. Most people would not like to have the word “geek” used to describe themselves in any fashion, but we wear this title as a sort of badge of honor. Now, we’re not so obsessed that we’ve decorated our home top to bottom with little Mickeys everywhere, not that there is anything wrong with that, it’s just not our style. Although, I did just put a cute picture of Mickey & Friends in the kids bathroom so it may be in our future! Our love of Disney extends mostly to the travel portion. We are Theme Park people, we love ’em!! We go as often as we can. The planning for us is almost as much fun as the actual vacation itself. We enjoy lengthy discussions about where we would like to stay next, what restaurants we’d like to try, etc.  […]

Walt Disney World for Large Families Part 1: Where are we going to stay??

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00April 12th, 2015|Disney Travel Tips, Erika|

I remember the first year our family traveled as a family of 6 to the Walt Disney World® Resort.  I read guidebooks and searched online looking for rooms that would accommodate 6 people. It seemed I could only find rooms for families with up to 5 people, while most were for only 4. I went into panic mode. What were we going to do?  There’s no way Disney would want to turn away larger families, right? Right???  After digging a little deeper, I discovered that Disney provides MANY options for larger families. Crisis averted! We were able to stay together and have a fantastic time at a reasonable price. Our family found that the least expensive way to stay onsite with a larger family is to get two connecting rooms at a Value Resort. A connecting room gives you two rooms that are connected by a door in between the two rooms. It gives you two bathrooms 4 standard sized beds and you can have an infant or toddler up to two years old in a portable crib in each room. So that gives you space for a total of 8 children or adults in both rooms and one infant/toddler aged [...]

Disney Travel for Larger Families Part 2: Feeding the Masses

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00April 11th, 2015|Disney Travel Tips, Erika|

In my first installment on traveling to Walt Disney World with larger families, I discussed ways of housing a large family while in Walt Disney World.  This time I’d like to talk about my favorite topic…food!  Anyone who has a large family knows that it can cost a small fortune to feed a large family if you’re not budget conscious.  So what are you supposed to do when you are in the Walt Disney World® Resort?  Put the family on a diet?  I don’t think so!  There are several ways your family can eat well without breaking the bank. My number one recommendation is to take advantage of “free dining” if or when it is offered as a promotion through Disney.  If you have flexibility in your dates and can go when it is offered, free dining is a great deal.  Depending on the resort level, your family will receive at least two meals, one snack and a refillable mug (good at Disney resorts for the length of your stay) per person per day.  Your family won’t be able to take advantage of any room promotions or other special offers, but most of the time for a larger family, free dining [...]

Fit for a Princess

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00February 6th, 2015|Disney Travel Tips, Haley|

In our house Princesses reign supreme!  Our 5 year old daughter is quite the princess herself.  It’s a running joke that come Halloween we don’t have to figure out what she will be, we just have to figure out which “Princess” she will be.  So needless to say, when I heard that the Princess Fairytale Hall in Magic Kingdom® Park was opening its doors on September 18, I know we will have one little princess that will be overjoyed!   For over a year now the Princesses have been greeting guests at the Town Square Theater on Main Street, U.S.A.®.  Princess Fairytale Hall will now serve as this special character meeting area.  The elegant new building boasts a royal, castle-like entrance, high ceilings, portraits, stained glass windows and much more, all to make each little girl enjoy this experience even more.  Guests will be able to choose from two separate rooms where they can meet either Cinderella or Rapunzel as well as one additional princess. The Disney Princess character meet & greets have always been very popular so traditional FastPass as well as FastPass+ options can still be used.  I can just imagine the wide-eyed, giddy little princesses-in-training [...]

Top 10 Snacks at Walt Disney World

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00January 30th, 2015|Disney Travel Tips|

Do you have snack credits on your Disney dining plan and you aren’t sure what to get with them? Let me help you out!  Don’t waste those precious credits on bottled water and plain ole popcorn.  In no particular order, here are my top 10 snacks at Disney! 10. The Mickey Bar:   Sold all throughout Disney, these iconic chocolate covered ice cream bars are delicious! Ther is just something so awesome about that little eared treat! 9. Caramel Cupcake:   You can find this mouthwatering treat at Karamell Küche in Epcot’s Germany. This old world German caramel shop smells amazing as you walk through the door. Whether you pick yellow or chocolate, this treat is delightful! 8. Caramel Corn:   This isn’t your everyday caramel corn. Located in the same delicious store as the caramel cupcake above, this popcorn is coated in buttery, sweet, Werther’s Original caramel. 7. Cinnamon Roll from Main Street Bakery:   Possibly the biggest, sweetest, tastiest cinnamon roll ever created! It’s a perfect size to share. Maximize your snack credits by having a friend buy a cupcake and split them both! 6.  Funnel Cake:   Who doesn’t like a funnel cake? The sweet dough fried to a crisp and topped with powdered [...]

Going To Walt Disney World With Special Needs ~ Part 4

By |2016-12-16T14:56:05-05:00January 21st, 2015|Disney Travel Tips, Tabitha|

The First Aid Stations and Baby Care  Centerslocated inside Disney parks are  not a secret, yet they are overlooked by many. I know for us, when our first  child was little we never went to the Baby Care Center. If a diaper needed to be  changed we simply went to the restroom and used a changing  table. If we needed a break but didn't want to leave the park we found a quiet,  out of the way spot and people watched. The Baby Care Centers never even crossed  our minds. When our second child came along we took her to Walt Disney World for  the first time when she was just 4 months old and we still didn't use them. It  wasn't until we lived in Florida and started going to the parks every week that  we took notice of these wonderful facilities.  The thing that first lead my family to one of  these facilities was the need to store medication. Our daughter has epilepsy and  required medications through out the day.  I had read that the First Aid  Station would store medications for you and refrigerate them if needed. We  decided to check it out and we were very pleased [...]

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