5 Days of Christmas- Day 3: Disney Lover’s Gift Guide

5 Days of Christmas- Day 3: Disney Lover’s Gift Guide

Blog, Planning, While You're There, While You're Waiting
Have a Disney Lover in Your Life?Do you have someone in your life who loves all things Disney? Trying to figure out what to get for them? I've complied a list of items ranging in prices that would be thoughtful gifts this year. I'm including it as part of my 5 Days of Christmas. 1. Mickey Waffle Iron Disney fans often joke that food tastes better when it is Mickey shaped. This waffle iron helps you bring that magic home. 2. LEGO Disney Castle. This ambitious 4,080 piece LEGO set would proudly be displayed in any Disney lover's home. Standing at over 29" high, this massive set has five mini-figures and lots of fun details inside. For those who want a smaller and more affordable option, the Cinderella Dream Castle…
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5 Days of Christmas-Day 2: Watch Ralph Breaks the Internet

5 Days of Christmas-Day 2: Watch Ralph Breaks the Internet

Blog, Movie Review, Reviews, While You're Waiting
12 Days of Christmas Activity - Watch Ralph Breaks the Internet Our family loves to take in movies during the holidays. We have a lot of us, so we tend to go to matinees and pick our movies carefully. If you haven't seen it yet, a fun family activity would be to watch Ralph Breaks the Internet. What We Knew Going In We knew from multiple trailers Sugar Rush gets broken, WiFi gets plugged in, and Ralph and Vanellope leave the surge station to go the internet. Some trailers show them buy something on eBay and needing to pay for it. They encounter a racing game and lots of new characters and go to the Oh My Disney website. One of the trailers has Vanellope encountering all the Disney Princesses…
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5 Days of Christmas-Day 1: Visiting the Holiday Light Display on Jeater Bend in Celebration

5 Days of Christmas-Day 1: Visiting the Holiday Light Display on Jeater Bend in Celebration

Blog, While You're There
Merry Christmas! I've had to modify the challenge given to me by another blogger - it's now a 5 Days of Christmas challenge. So every day for the next 5 days I will be posting Disney related crafts and activities until we hit the big day. Today is Day One. Let's get started! Day One - Holiday Lights On Jeater Bend DriveWith the expansions going on in Hollywood Studios the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights was retired. Many people have wonderful memories of the holiday light displays in the Streets of America. I've heard more than a few people wonder where they can see such a display like that. [caption id="attachment_1640" align="alignnone" width="1089" height="722"] The lighted Mickey Mouse in the photo dances and the faces sing. Photo courtesy of briancrawford.com…
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Understanding MagicBands at Disney World

Understanding MagicBands at Disney World

Blog, Planning, While You're There
Understanding MagicBands Disney World now uses Magic Bands across all parks and hotels.  They are an integral part of the park system and you'll need them to access many of the systems at Disney World.   What are they? They are adjustable plastic bracelets with a unique RFID chip/radio inside them. The bands are adjustable for even small children by removing the dark grey border around them. They are battery operated.  No one is quite sure how long the batteries last. Why do I need one? MagicBands link you and your party to pretty much everything around the parks. It's the key to your Disney resort hotel room, your credit card (you can opt to use it for purchases), your means of utilizing the dining plan (if you have one), your…
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Ride Suggestions for those with Severe Osteogenesis Imperfecta or Ankylosing Spondylitis at Disney

Blog, Planning, Ride Reviews, While You're There
We have some friends whose eldest son has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bone disease).  He's had countless surgeries and visits with doctors.  Despite all he's been through, he is one of the most cheerful and forgiving people I know.  This family inspires me.  Their son has some very real limitations and obstacles in his life, but they are always looking for ways for him to do as much as he can.  They are the inspiration for this post because every family deserves to have magical memories. As with Autism, there is a spectrum for those with Osteogenesis Imperfecta.  Some are mildly affected and don't ever really realize they have it.  Others are much more sensitive.  My friend's son is somewhere in the middle.  When they went to Disney, their son was…
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Priorities to Consider in Choosing When to Visit Disney World

Priorities to Consider in Choosing When to Visit Disney World

Blog, Planning
We Want to Go to Disney.  When Should We Go? One of the first things you need to decide when are planning a Walt Disney World vacation is when to go.   This is especially true of families with disabilities or special needs. You should take a good look at your family and their needs to determine what your priorities are and how that affects the time of year you want to visit Mickey Mouse. A few examples of things you might ask yourself: Does your child(ren) have a hard time keeping up with school?  If so you may be limited to school holidays and summer breaks. Do you need as few people around as possible?  Then avoid peak times like summer and the week between Christmas and New Years…
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Understanding FastPass+ at Disney World

Understanding FastPass+ at Disney World

Blog, Planning, While You're There, While You're Waiting
What is FastPass+? FastPass is Disney's reservation system for rides. The system is slightly different in California versus Florida. The system in Florida is controlled through your "My Disney Experience" account on your official Disney World app. It is also called FastPass+ in Florida. Who Uses It? And How Does it Work? Anyone with a Disney World park ticket can use the FastPass+ system. You basically "reserve" a time slot to ride a specific ride during a one hour window on a given day.  There are only so many allotted slots per hour reserved for FastPass+. Once those slots fill up, guests either have to reserve an earlier or later time, or go with the standby line. You will still have some waiting in the FastPass+ line, but is significantly…
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Gear for Travel – Autism Hat Tutorial

Blog, Craft Activities, While You're There, While You're Waiting
Has Your Child Ever Had a Public Meltdown? What do you do when you get stares and glares?My fifth child was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD when he was four years old.  He is my fourth boy and fourth child on the Autsim specctrum.  At that point I dreaded going on outings because one of my four boys would inevitably have a meltdown. I talked to a friend about something I could do that would indicate my child had Autism--especially when we were in the midst of an overwhelm.  I had heard of handing out explanation cards, but that seemed to require me to take my attention away from my child in the midst of his crisis.  My friend had successfully used Autism t-shirts for her son.  I seriously considered…
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Review of Vintage Mickey

Blog, Movie Review, Reviews, Special Needs-Specific, While You're Waiting
After the planning is done, you may be looking for things to do with your family like I was. Walt Disney once said, "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse."  So, following Walt's advice, I decided to start with the mouse that started it all.  I looked online to see if I could lay my hands on Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse film.  It turns out it is part of a collection of short films with Mickey Mouse starting in 1929 called, Vintage Mickey. When I was looking for an image for this post, I found that Disney has now uploaded Steamboat Willie and other original shorts to YouTube. This review will include our Autism Spectrum (ASD)…
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Movie Review–“Ant-Man and the Wasp”

Blog, Movie Review, Reviews, While You're Waiting
I'm going to make this easy--Go see this movie. Ant-Man and the Wasp is fun and action-packed and gets back to what Marvel does best. This is our review from a high-functioning autism point of view. What we knew going in: This movie was to take place "before" Infinity War.  Scott Lang was under house arrest after the events in Germany which happened during "Captain America: Civil War." We knew Hope had been given the Wasp costume with significant upgrades and that Hank Pym used his tech to shrink both buildings and cars. After watching "Avengers: Infinity War" we were looking forward to getting back to a simpler and hopefully more light story line.  It did.  At times jokes and the use of giant ants almost bordered on cheesy, but…
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