Disney AEP Trip {Day 2}

Day Two started off bright and early. We had to meet in the lobby of Animal Kingdom Lodge at 7:30 am. Then we loaded up on a bus and were driven over to Coronado Springs. They had a buffet breakfast waiting for us. 

We also each got a drawstring bag full of brochures, headphones, pen/pad of paper, water bottle, etc. 

We listened to an overview on Disney and then we were split into groups to work on presenting each park. My group got Magic Kingdom (yay!!) and I was the speaker. 

After classroom time, we toured Coronado Springs (since we were already there). I had never been to this resort before so I was excited to check it out. 

We then loaded back onto the bus and they drove us over to Art Of Animation. First we had lunch at Landscape of Flavors (the quick service food court). I was VERY impressed with the selections here. They had a tandoori oven, a gelato station, etc. It was wonderful!!

After lunch we toured the resort. I LOVED it!!

Here are some pictures of the lobby. It was so fun and colorful!!

Pool Area/Nemo Buildings

Little Mermaid Buildings and Rooms

Sally LOVES The Little Mermaid. She would love this resort!!

Next Up...Lion King Buildings and Family Suites

This is a picture of the table that turns into a bed.

Next we headed over to Caribbean Beach Resort. We stayed here last year so I was familiar with it. 

I loved getting to see the Pirate Rooms...perfect for kids (or kids at heart) that love pirates!

These are pictures of the regular rooms. 

This is the way the pull down bed works. It starts out looking like this:

and ends up like this: 

This resort is really pretty. I love the theming but it is really big!

Finally we headed over to the Boardwalk Resort. I have never stayed here but I have visited the boardwalk area. This is on my list now!

I loved the pool area. The roller coaster water slide was really neat!

After we were done at Boardwalk we had the option to either take the bus back to Animal Kingdom Lodge or explore a park. Of course we headed over to Hollywood Studios. 

We rode Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster and Star Tours. 

We had a reservation for Hollywood and Vine for the Fantasmic package but ended up not even going to Fantasmic. I wanted to try out H&V since I have heard so many negative things about it. I thought it was pretty good for a buffet. It had tons of selections and a chocolate fountain ;)

Day 2 left us tired but super excited about Day 3!!

Disney AEP Trip {Day 1}

I am so excited to start telling you about the amazing opportunity I had a few weeks ago. I applied to attend an onsite agent training trip in Disney World and I was selected!! To say I was excited was a slight understatement. In the weeks leading up to the trip, I started a Facebook group where all the agents going could reconnect. I ending up chatting with two other agents and we decided to extend our trip by two days so we could have even more time in the most magical place on Earth! This would be the longest time I had been away from my hubby or 3.5 year old daughter but I was so excited for the opportunity.

I left Memphis VERY early in the morning and had a connecting flight in Chicago. I arrived in Orlando around 12:30 and hit the ground running. I got my own bags and took Magical Express to my hotel, Animal Kingdom Lodge. Passing through the entrance gives me chills every time!

I checked into Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was actually the first time I had ever been there and it was just fabulous. The lobby was gorgeous and the attention to detail was amazing!!

I made my way to my room and immediately took pictures before I junked it up with all my stuff.

I made little happi's for my new friends that I would be hanging with for the next week. Mickey Q-tip cases and gum (since you can't buy gum anywhere on Disney property!).

My friends room was right down the hall from me so that was very convenient.

Animal Kingdom lodge offers a free culinary tour everyday at 3:45. Advance reservations are not required. You just show up and get tours of the 2 restaurants on property, Boma and Sanna.

The tours are done by guides that are actually from Africa and they were full of knowledge and told us about so many details in the restaurant that you would not have known otherwise.

This is Boma. Its open for 3 meals a day. They gave us samples of butternut squash soup to try. 

In Sanna, we were given different types of breads and flatbreads with different dips/hummus. They were all really yummy.

After going back to the room for a few minutes to freshen up, we met the rest of our group for the first time in the lobby. We boarded a bus and were driven over to Epcot. We got to enter through the back way and it was VERY interesting to see behind the scenes of everything. 

We went to The Seas where a catered dinner was waiting for us. Our leader spoke a little bit about the weeks upcoming events and we also had time to mingle and chat with the other agents. 

After dinner, we walked over to World Showcase where they had a private viewing area and dessert party set up just waiting for us. 

Everything was delicious and it was amazing to have a spot to watch Illuminations. I had never actually seen the show before so to be able to watch it like this was super fun. They also gave us special glasses to wear that enhanced the fireworks. It was such a great night!!

After Illuminations, they brought us back to the hotel where we all crashed. Stay tuned for Day #2.

Monogram Magic Band Decal (Simply Southern Chics}

I got the cutest vinyl monogram for one of my magic bands and it turned out so adorable. 

It's from Simply Southern Chic on etsy. It was super easy to apply and I just love the preppy feel it brings to my magic band. 

Here are some other pictures of their stuff:

There are several colors to choose from and you can even get glitter!

Order here!! Simply Southern Chics was a wonderful and easy company to work with and they have super fast shipping!! 

Shop Spotlight: Preppy Pony Designs

Today I want to share with you a super cute Easy shop. Its called Preppy Pony Designs and they make the cutest Disney shirts. Here are some favorites:

I love that you can get a "pick 4" pack. Its a one stop shop for all your Disney trip needs. 

Of course Preppy Pony also sells individual shirts too. 

Minnie

Snow White

Ariel

Elsa

Sophia the First

They offer some really cute options for your little boys too! Its sometimes hard to find cute Disney shirts for boys. I love the classic look of these. 

Here is the shirt she made for Sally. I paired it with some red/white polka shorties from Matilda Jane. I think they work perfectly with the shirt colors. Now I just need to figure out if I want Sally to wear this outfit to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Decisions....

The quality of these shirts is great and the design looks fabulous! They also offer custom designs so if you are looking for something and don't see it in the shop, just let them know. Also, although they aren't local to me (Memphis, TN),they are in Nashville. I love supporting Tennessee businesses. 

Check out Preppy Pony Designs on Etsy here.

Changes Coming To The Disney Dining Plan

Some amazing new changes are coming to the Disney Dining Plan! Many of these changes will not be proactively announced to guests but will be available effective May 31st with  signage coming to reflect some of the changes on June 4th.

Table Service Enhancements:

• You can use a table service meal entitlement for others not on the meal plan! There will be no restrictions on the number of entitlements used in a dining experience. So if you are on the meal plan and your tablemates are not, you can use your credits to buy them dinner.
• Deluxe, Premium and Platinum Dining Plans will now allow children to order off the adult menus at table service restaurants! (There is no distinction between child and adult credits for these plans. If you have the Disney Dining Plan, children may order an adult meal, but an adult credit will be deducted.)
• Don’t want a dessert? Substitute a side salad, soup or fruit plate upon request – they will not be communicating this to guests (but subbing for an appetizer still will not be an option).

Quick Service Enhancements:

•  Guests may now exchange one table service entitlement or one quick service entitlement for three snack credits in the same transaction.
• Quick Service locations will allow kids to order off the adult menu as well! They will not enforce
• All Quick Service side items will be considered snacks.
• When ordering a Quick Service meal, you can choose any eligible side item instead of the drink or dessert. (Don’t want the dessert? Order fries instead!)

Disney Dining Plan Snack Logo

Snack Credits will now include:

• All non-alcoholic beverages without a souvenir component
• Single serve soups in quick service restaurants/ food courts
• All item that are snack-eligible and also on the menu as single item but have additional options available as separate price (i.e, toppings, sauce, non-alcoholic shots, etc). So pretzels with cheese sauce or funnel cake with ice cream are now considered snacks.
• All ice-cream novelties
• All hand-scooped ice cream up to 2 scoops including sundaes! (not including souvenir containers)
• All  items on Quick Service menu under “sides” or additional items that are not considered entrees
• Quick Service breakfast items that are considered part of an entree and also offered as a side including cereal, french toast sticks, oatmeal or quinoa, grits, side of bacon/sausage, side of eggs/ hard boiled eggs, side of potatoes, or biscuits & gravy.
• Large Mickey Cookies
• Caramel or Candy Apple (with our without peanuts; excluding character-inspired apples)
• Tin Mints
• Fresh-popped popcorn at Big Top Souvenir and Karamell-Kuche is also included (but no pre-bagged popcorn will be included).

What do you think about the changes to the Disney Dining plan? Any questions?