chicagocraftgal, Author at Magically Capable

11Mar 2024 by chicagocraftgal

Disney Dining Reservation System Major Update!

Blog, Disney, Planning, Travel, While You're There, While You're Waiting

The Disney Dining reservation system has received a major update. You can now search restaurants for up to 10 consecutive days for available dining at your desired restaurant. This is huge! (Especially for those who are annual pass holders and/or traveling with large groups like I do with my family of eight.) Break down of how the Disney Dining reservation system update works: From the Disney World page, select "Make Reservations" under the "Things to Do" tab. You are first prompted to select the number of people in your party, and the date you are interested in. Next, select what time of day you are interested in dining. At this point you’ll be able to see available times and locations for dining. Images captured from disneyworld.disney.com website Let’s say you…

13Mar 2020 by chicagocraftgal

Breaking News Disney World to close Sunday, March 15, 2020

Uncategorized

Disney World will be closing on Sunday, March 15, 2020 amid the Corona Virus pandemic. Disney announced earlier on Thursday that Disneyland California would be closing on Saturday for the rest of the month of March. Universal is following suit. Disneyland Paris will also close on Sunday. Disney parks in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong closed March 3. Disneyland Tokyo is scheduled to reopen March 16.

25Jan 2020 by chicagocraftgal

Free Dining Dates for 2020

Blog, Planning

New this yearDisney modified its usual "Free Dining" offer to be just for kids so far this year. Disney Free Kids Dining Plan 2020 2020 Dates and resorts participating in FREE Disney Dining plan for kidsWith Disney's dining plans you can always pay the difference to get the next plan up, but you can't go down in price if you want a smaller meal plan. In other words, depending upon where you stay, it may not be as great a deal as it was in the past. Kids Free Dining is something new this year. I've been following Disney Free Dining for a number of years and this is the first time I'm seeing it offered for just kids. These plans have been Disney's way to get families to the parks…

25Apr 2019 by chicagocraftgal

Whatever it Takes

About Us, Blog, Our Life

This will be a bit of a departure from my regular Disney planning posts. I am super proud of my second oldest child, and felt the need to share. My son started the school year with white board art in the library featuring Thor of the Avengers. And now he’s finishing the year with the Avengers once again featured in the library white board art. This has been a huge year for growth for this child. At one time diagnosed with ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) as well as ADHD, and then Aspergers (Autism Spectrum), this kid has a phenomenal drive to succeed-“whatever it takes”. He used to have meltdowns that would last upwards of 45 minutes. He graduated last year with Highest Honors (and Distinguished Honor Roll), a better than…

07Mar 2019 by chicagocraftgal

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Opening Dates

Blog, Disney, Planning

[caption id="attachment_1764" width="1280" height="720"]Artist rendering courtesy of Disney Parks Blog[/caption] Just in! Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opening dates announced! The Disneyland expansion will open on May 31 and Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios expansion will open August 29! The Hollywood Studios date is a full two months before most people expected an opening (it was previously announced late fall). This is exciting, but also tempered by the fact they have divided the opening into phases. Phase II will still be late fall. No-cost reservations will be required in Disneyland May 31-June 23, 2019. No reservations are needed in Florida when it opens later in August. Additionally FastPass+ will not be an option for initial opening of Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run. That may change in the future. Stay tuned for future…

01Feb 2019 by chicagocraftgal

Understanding Dining Options at Disney World

Planning, While You're There

Wanting to Eat at the Disney Parks?Then you should know there are two main types of dining options at Disney World: Quick (or Counter) Service and Table Service. What is the Difference? Quick ServiceQuick Service is the Disney Equivalent of fast food, though you can get some healthier (often premade options) depending on the establishment you are eating at. Quick Service meals require no preparation whatsoever. Hungry? Find a Quick Service restaurant, stand in line and order. (Or order online ahead of time through the Disney World app. This is an option at some, but not all Quick Service restaurants). For a list of restaurants which utilize online ordering go here. Table Service MealsTable Service meals require an Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) which can happen as much as 180 days…

23Jan 2019 by chicagocraftgal

News: Shanghai Disney to Have Zootopia Themed Land

Uncategorized

[caption id="" data-wp_upload_id="x-coredata://2AE58034-6DB5-4B05-BEB7-7EEE2179DACC/Media/p645"]Artist rendition of Zootopia Land courtesy of Disney Parks blog[/caption] It's been announced that Shanghai Disney will have a major expansion in the form of a Zootopia themed land. Zootopia was hugely popular in China and the land expansion will feature new technologies as well as characters from the beloved movie. See the full article at Disney Parks Blog You May Also Be Interested In: Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Opening Dates Announced

03Jan 2019 by chicagocraftgal

Happy New Year!

Blog, Planning, While You're Waiting

Happy New Year Everyone! The kids just got back in school, so I am hard at work again with more great tips about planning your Disney World trip. I'm still working through the vestiges of my family emergency, so hang in there with me a little while longer. I should have more new content up next week. In the meantime, head over to my Instagram to find out about a fun giveaway I'm participating in. You have a chance to win a $100 Disney gift card or PayPal cash when you enter!

24Dec 2018 by chicagocraftgal

5 Days of Christmas-Day 5 Make Sugar Cookies for Santa

Blog, Craft Activities, While You're Waiting

Today for Day 5 of our 5 Days of Christmas we have a guest post. Jenny of SweetJennyBelleBakery.com has graciously agreed to share her royal icing tutorial. Sugar cookie decorating is truly an art. If you haven't been following her on Instagram, I highly recommend you start doing a today! Jenny has a few timeless tutorials on her blog and today she is sharing her royal icing tutorial (where every aspiring cookie artist needs to start)! When you get the icing down, you can try your hand at making amazing cookies like these: My Favorite Royal Icing By Jenny Rodriguez I've had several emails and requests on Instagram for my royal icing recipe. It is not a secret, I'm so happy to share it with you! Please try it on…

23Dec 2018 by chicagocraftgal

5 Days of Christmas- Day 4: Peppermint Punch and Chocolate Bundt Cake

Blog, Craft Activities, While You're Waiting

One of our favorite holiday traditions is to make peppermint punch when we decorate our Christmas tree. When you pair it with a chocolate bundt cake it's even more heavenly. You can use your favorite chocolate bundt cake recipe. For the Peppermint Punch Blue Bunny has a peppermint ice cream in a lovely pink shade which is what we grew up with. Peppermint Punch: Ingredients: 2 parts peppermint ice cream (ie one quart) 1 part vanilla ice cream (1/2 quart) Milk Ginger ale Red food coloring if desired (when it's hard to find the pink colored ice cream) Directions: Let ice cream soften at room temperature. Mix the ice creams together and begin to add ginger ale and milk in small amounts until the whole thing is frothy and pour-able. …