Getting out of the House Part III: That Time We Talked About Disney Travel

Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor, manténgase alejado de las puertas. Welcome to episode 78 of The Homeowner Show. Whether you're DIY or looking for a Disney travel agent, we're here to help you and your family plan your next Disney vacation. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Donald Duck.

He left the building.

Oh, okay.

Craig is here, and I'm not doing voices, especially not that one. Y'all leave me out of this. I'm not doing any of it. Hey everybody, we are so glad that you could join us. As you can tell, we're doing a special Disney episode. We are so glad that you could join us and be with us today for the extravaganza.

The extravaganza. Here we go. It's time.

It's a-rollin'.

Yeah, this is, uh, this is episode we're really excited about. But, uh, before then, I mean, I got to find out how things are going because I know that you had a project recently that you've been needing to do since you bought this place.

Oh yeah. Yeah, no, I just got done putting some gutters up on the backside of my barn.

OK.

And we've been having a real— this is the wet season in Texas, and so it's basically been a mud hole back there since the horses have been there for like a year and a half.

Right.

And about the only thing I could— we rented an excavator and moved the dirt, and it just got muddy again. So I finally put the gutters in.

OK.

And these were a little bit different. They're not like the really expensive metal ones. They're actually plastic. OK.

And I would tell— Tell me, tell me a little bit about that, because when I think of gutter, I don't think of plastic.

Yeah, I didn't either. Um, and this is actually something my father-in-law showed me and, and helped me put together. Um, they're, they're basically like, I don't even know how to— they're interlocking pieces that you can cut and they're grooved and they, they go up different than other gutters, but like, it was so easy. Okay. And it's a barn. I don't care what they look like. Sure. So, I mean, like, it just—

it's on the the back of your barn at that, right?

The only people who are going to see it are me and the horses.

I don't think the horses are going to care.

They don't. So, and it, you know, it's, you can hook it up to the irrigation line like you do everything else. I mean, it was, it was a, I mean, like I was, I was a little intimidated because I didn't know how all the pieces went together at first. Sure. It was a little bit of a learning curve, but like when I say a little bit of a learning curve, like I had it figured out in like 5 minutes, but like I was still, it took me a minute to look at it and go like, what is this? And why is this shaped like this?

And, you know, but then once you figure out like, Oh, that grooves into this and holds that in place.

And so, man, they work fine. I may have to go up in— because they have like these joints on them where you, you know, bring 2 pieces together. Okay. And some of those are leaking. So I'm probably gonna have to seal some of those up, which is no big deal.

Is that like a, like a caulking situation? You caulk them?

I think so. I'm gonna do a little bit of research and find out before I start sticking glue up there.

Well, I mean, and something to think about is caulk doesn't stick to absolutely everything, right?

Right.

And certain, certain caulks are gonna stick to plastic better than metal or vice versa, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. So we're going to do a little— and there's, you know, hundreds of different types of caulk.

So.

Right.

Too many.

There's even like masonry caulk. I mean, it's crazy. Yes. So we're going to do a little bit of research, get it figured out. But I mean, like, it's way better already than it was, really, because we had a pretty good, good-sized rain yesterday and today. Yeah. And didn't get nearly as much water dumped there as we usually do.

Yeah, I remember just the other day you were telling me you were back there and sank almost to your knee.

Yeah. Yeah, no, I did. Well, I had muck boots on all the way up to my knee and I about lost the boot. Yeah, I mean, the horses just— I mean, like, you know, they, they're, you know, they weigh like 1,500 pounds.

Yeah, they're not light.

Stomping dirt and water, it's gonna get deep.

Yeah, and they don't care.

Yeah. So anyway, man, I'm, I'm really excited about, about this episode. We haven't, we haven't talked Disney since we had Bruce and Connie on from Unlocking the Magic.

Yeah, and man, that was a fun episode.

That was a really fun episode. Yeah. So, and, uh, This is going to be completely different in some ways because we're going to be talking specifically to a Disney travel specialist, my good friend Maryann. She came in the studio to instruct us on all things Disney. So we're going to have a good time with this one.

Sure! I'm looking forward to it.

How are you doing, Maryann?

I'm excited!

Yay!

That's good!

It's Disney Day!

Yeah! Well, I mean, people who listen to the show on a regular basis know that Kevin and I are huge Disney fans. So this is just fun for us. to get to even talk about. And both of us have, have trips coming up.

Yeah.

So we're, we're gonna be, we're gonna be looking for some, for some tips.

October and June, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. That's exciting.

So I get, I get food and wine. I don't know what Kevin gets. Whatever it is, it's not as cool.

Summer in Florida. That's what Kevin gets.

Yeah. Yeah. But that being said, like, summer's the downtime now.

Sometimes.

Yeah. I mean, there, you really, there's no downtime at Disney anymore. But that being said, I mean, It's crazy how many specials they run in the summertime now because the fall and the spring are more full than they used to be.

Well, fall is really full when you think about that you've got Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, you've got Food and Wine, and then you're coming up on Christmas. And because they turn the park so quickly, you know, at the 1st of November you're all of a sudden Christmas, and then you've got Christmas Party. It's really incredible, you know, what the fall— the, the crowd levels in the fall are insane.

Yes, they are. Well, before we get too far into all of that, because we can— We're ready to dive in. This is going to be a rabbit trail episode.

And we kind of did a little bit of a show before the show. So yeah.

We've already covered everything, y'all.

Yeah, we've been talking about this for a while, but I'm curious. Craig knows you a little bit better than I do. But Tell our listeners about you, how you got into this business, and just, um, let's talk about you for a minute.

Oh gosh. Um, so I own Memory Making Vacations, and I think that the whole premise of it for me is that we all have these memories that, that we create, that were things that we remember. And, you know, I was kind of joking about it, whether it's your first kiss or your last regret, they could be the same thing. You know, it doesn't matter. But we all have these things in our lives that we remember. And for me, a lot of those as a child, and even as an adult, and especially in my marriage, a lot of those center around vacations. Time that I intentionally set aside for nothing but to spend that time with those people that I care about doing something

that we all could enjoy together. And, you know, a lot of people think that, you know, it's about your budget or it's about, you know, you can't, you have to have so much money to go. But really, in reality, You can go on a decent vacation for very little. You know, it just kind of— you kind of have to find someone that can help you put that together. And that's kind of my heart, is helping people get to the end of their life without those regrets that there were opportunities to make memories with people that came and went in their lives that they missed. I don't want anyone to have that. And so that's, that's part of what I do, and that's why I do it.

Yeah, that, that, that's awesome. And one of the reasons— that's exactly one of the reasons that we wanted to do this series that we're doing right now called Getting Out of the House, because we want to encourage our listeners to go and to experience life and to be with your family. And so what you're saying really plays right into that.

Well, I mean, you know, none of us are promised even the next second, right? And sometimes we get so caught up in our planning what we're going to do next as far as our businesses, our, you know, with our future, where we're going to go that we really forget that some of those times, um, we forget to make those memories in those moments where we are, and we forget just how important that really is. And so part of what going on a trip or a vacation is about is taking that time to just stop and live in that moment. And I think that that's really something that, um, that we need right now.

Yeah. So yeah, I'm— and I, I gotta, I gotta compliment you on, on these, these mouse ears. If you guys aren't watching on video right now, Marianne has like probably one of the coolest set of Mickey Mouse ears that I've ever seen. They are some houndstooth mouse ears.

Roll Tide, can I say that?

You can, you can. I mean, it may cause some people to switch off.

Well, sorry.

Including me. Sorry.

Is that a Bear Bryant reference? Is that what's—

Sorry, doesn't matter.

Is that what's going on? Okay, see, Kevin, I got a sports reference.

Yeah.

Look at you.

And you actually did it on purpose.

I know, yeah, it wasn't like on accident and I didn't like fall into it or anything. I just, I was there.

Impressive.

Yeah, so it's 'cause he was better at A&M.

You know, hey, everybody has their opinion. We're not going to say what they're like. We're just going to say everybody has one.

That's right. That's right. But so I would imagine that there is a memory attached to those ears.

Probably, but probably not one I'm going to share.

Okay.

All right. All right.

So when we started going to Disney, we started like 20 years ago. And one of the first trips that we ever made was just my husband and myself. We didn't take our kids with us. Um, which some people think is weird.

No, it's amazing.

Right?

Yeah.

But no, but some people really do think that's kind of weird. But we've probably made as many trips without our kids as we've made with them.

Sure.

And so I do have collections of things that have come as a result of just time, you know, that we've had together.

They actually— have you seen the new, um, Ariel-inspired ears that have come out? That like, they're— these are designer ears. I have not looked at the price because I really don't want I don't want to know.

Yeah, well, they come out with new ears all the time.

Sure.

And, um, they at one point they had the ones that, you know, would light up with the fireworks shows and things like that. And so those were kind of cool.

Yeah.

If you got batteries and that kind of thing.

That's true. So, so tell us, so you, uh, you own this company?

I do.

And how long have you been doing this?

Um, I have been doing it quite a while. Um, you know, I've been booking travel for many, many years. And, you know, I want to take this opportunity— Craig and I were kind of talking, you were listening at the beginning— to kind of explain what a travel agent does and why, why, why that doesn't really matter, right? I know people that have been in the industry for 30 years. Some very good friends of mine are actually— have been doing it a very, very long time. And then I know people that have been in the industry for 6 months. We all have to go through a certain level of training. So you can't just go online and say, hey, I'm a travel agent, click, let me book a trip for

someone and I'm going to make commission. That's just not the way it works. So every individual vendor, whether it's a cruise line, Disney, or it's an all-inclusive or whatever, every one of them has a training program that you kind of have to go to to be certified with them.

Mm-hmm.

You also have to have either a CLIA number, which is Cruise Line International Association, or an IATA a number, which basically says, I've done the training and I am qualified now to book into this particular vendor. So we all have it. So again, 3 months, 30 years, what it really boils down to when you're choosing a travel advisor is relationship. You really want to pick someone that hears your heart, because anybody can press click.

Mm-hmm.

You know, you've got Hotels.com, you've got CheapAir, you've got all of these places out there, and what a travel agent does for you that's different is they, they're your one stop. They're your go-to. You get into a situation and you've booked through an online company, you're going to sit on hold forever trying to get someone to help you out if you have a situation. Whereas if you have a travel advisor, then it is one call. To me, it's a text. You know, I'll get texts all the time. Hey, can you check this? Or can you check that? Or can you help me out with this?

Mm-hmm.

And so, I think that's just one of the biggest benefits of having that. And it's so important because we all work hard for our money, right?

Yeah.

I mean, nobody's just going to want to throw their money away. But with a travel advisor, most of us understand that that is hard-earned money that you are spending on a memory or something that you're going to take with you. And so, we value that and we value your trust in us. To help you accomplish what you're looking for. And sometimes it's just more than a click. You know, sometimes you really just need someone to put that together, to, to kind of listen to what your vision is for your vacation. So I think really at the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether you're seasoned or new. The relationship is what matters the most. Just find someone you connect with. Now, clearly, I hope everyone

listening picks me, but why would they not?

Right.

They ask me, why, you know, why do you do this? And I'm like, well, you know, why should we pick you as our travel advisor? And I said, well, why not? Well, because, you know, because I'm a good person. I don't know. But at the end of the day, it really is just about finding that person that you click with, that shares your vision for what you want.

So, so are you, are you then in turn a little choosy about who you end up working with? I mean, I can imagine there's sometimes people that come along the way that you're like, there's probably a better travel agent for you, you know?

You know, that's really interesting. There are times, and it's not really that so much as that my heart will always be to find the person the best deal. As many times as I wish that could be me, sometimes it's not. And for me, The important thing is that they have a good experience.

Right.

That's more important than a paycheck to me. So if one of the things that I do is if I have a price, I will go and look at my competitors. I will go and look at other vendors out there just to see if my price is best. 99% of the time I am better or I can match them and I can throw in little, you know, things for them. Sometimes I'm just not.

Yeah.

And in that odd instance where I can't do it, then my first message to those people is always, hey, I found it here, book with them. I had that situation earlier today with a mutual friend of ours that she was looking for a trip to, to go to Vegas, and it turned out that the hotel— well, I had 17% off the rack rate was the rate I could give her, it still couldn't beat what she could get because she's been a past guest there. And if they booked her at that hotel under her room number, you know, what she's done before, under her frequent visitor number, then she got a much better rate. So—

Why wouldn't you? Yeah.

My first text to her was, take it, take it now. If that's what they're promising you, I can't beat that. Please just call them now because that's, that's so important.

Yeah, and one of the things that I, that I love about that is that, I mean, for someone who's booking travel or really booking anything, but booking travel, you're putting a lot of money in this. I mean, you've saved for months, perhaps even years for this, you know, for this trip. Maybe it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip. It's hard to know, but they're putting a lot of trust in you.

Mm-hmm.

If you're gonna take their money, so to speak, and I realize Disney's the one that's actually taking the money, but if you're helping them spend their money, right, then I would want to know as a client that you've got my best interest in mind. And, you know, I think that the reality of it is there are people out there that probably don't. That being said, I love what you said about relationship because at the end of the day, Um, if, if, if I have a great experience, then I'm going to come back to you and say, listen, you really made this happen, you know?

Right, right. And that's what I hope. I really hope that, that I can establish that relationship, you know, with my clients and that my clients become my friends and that, you know, we build this sense of community together. Because to me, it's not just about, you know, booking that next vacation. To me, it's about building a relationship with that person that when their kids have birthdays, or if they're celebrating an anniversary, or there's something going on in their family, then I can help celebrate that with them. Because a lot of times people take their trips around celebratory events. And so by being a part of that with them, then I'm on that journey with them. And that's one of the things that I, you know, always

say is, you know, thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey, right? To be a part of your adventure, to be a part of your trip.

Specifically with Disney, though, it seems like a lot of people shy away from it a little bit, particularly when you start having several kids. I've had several people tell me, I can't go. It's too expensive. I imagine this is something that you hear quite a bit. Is this a misconception by people?

I know, I ain't gonna lie, Disney's expensive.

It doesn't appear to be getting cheaper.

It does not appear to be getting cheaper. They did do, um, last year they changed their pricing structure a little bit on their tickets with the way that they do it, and I'm not sure whether that really helped a whole lot or not.

Made it more confusing for sure.

It made it a lot more confusing for people. They have a couple of other things that they've introduced. There is a 4-park Magic Ticket that a lot of people don't know about. It is a little bit cheaper to do it that way. There's so many limitations to it It's basically you have an entry day for one day for Animal Kingdom, one for Magic Kingdom, one for Hollywood Studios, and one for Epcot.

Mm-hmm.

So you're kind of stuck. That's just it. That's what you pay, that's what you get. But it's like $85 per day per person, so it's really the cheapest that you're gonna get as far as a park ticket. But again, you have those limitations. So it is not a bad ticket for budget. To be budget-friendly families, it's not a bad ticket if you have littles because park hopping sometimes if you've got small children is a bit of a challenge. And if you really just want to go to one park a day and you know you're going to hit all 4, it's not a bad deal at all.

Yeah. So one question I've got with that specifically. We're going to get into a little bit here about the travel itself.

Okay.

So Disney is one of the most unique experiences when it comes to vacations that you can have because there are thousands of different ways to do Disney. One of the things you just mentioned was the tickets. So let's talk about tickets for a minute. And let's talk about the different types of tickets and maybe the types of people that should purchase certain types of tickets.

You know, this is going to sound kind of a weird thing, but that's such an— I get that question a lot, is what's the best ticket for my family? And with Disney, you have your single park, single day tickets, which basically means that you can go in and out of the same park. 500 times a day if you want to. It really doesn't matter. You can leave and go back into that same park, but you cannot go to any of the others. Park Hoppers, again, kind of self-explanatory. It just means that you can hop between the 4 parks. You cannot hop between the water parks. The Disney's Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, they have separate tickets. So—

Did they take away that Park Hopper? Oh, okay.

See, you're getting ahead of me now.

I'm sorry.

They do have a Park Hopper option that does include the water parks.

Okay.

But for just your standard Park Hopper option, if you're adding that to your base ticket, it's just gonna allow you to come and go.

Mm-hmm.

There are pros and cons to all of them. So one of the beautiful things too about the Park Hoppers is, I know I said a minute ago it's not great for littles, and if you're a budget-friendly family, it's not. The good thing about it though is, say that you want to spend half your day your morning at Animal Kingdom. You can go back to your resort midday, catch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom that night. You know, you have the ability to do that kind of a thing, whereas with a single day you don't.

Right.

So, say the fireworks show gets rained out, you don't get to see it, that was your one day at Magic Kingdom, you don't get to see Happily Ever After. So, the Park Hopper does help in those type situations. So, honestly, it kind of just depends on how many days you're there what you're looking to do. I don't really think there's one right choice for a particular group of people. It's kind of like the dining plan. The dining plan works for some people, for some it doesn't. You know, it just really depends on how your family wants to do Disney, and there are so many different, different ways.

And we may even have people that don't even know what that is, you know? I mean, what a dining plan is. I mean, like, you know, like, I mean, no, I would imagine people who are budget conscious are going to be like, how can I pull my cooler around? with me and, you know, and hand out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which is fine.

Which is absolutely fine.

You can do that, but there's other options, right?

There are other options. There's the quick service dining, there's the deluxe dining, and then there's the— I never can honestly, I'm gonna be honest, I never can remember the name of it because over the years it's changed. I think it's probably the quick service.

Well, there's the quick service and then there's the Disney dining and then there's the deluxe.

So the quick service is your 2 quick service meals, your 2 snacks, and your refillable mug. your Disney Dining Plan, which used to be the Deluxe, and then there was another one that was called something else. And anyway, so now we're back to Disney. Um, so it is a quick service, a table service, a snack, 2 snacks, 1 or 2 snacks, and a refillable mug. And then you get all 3 meals and a plethora of snacks and a refillable mug for the Deluxe one. So it's, it's really— The pricing is not bad. It really just, again, depends on what you're going to do and how you're going to eat. The downside to the Disney Dining Plan is that with it you get a table service meal every day. Beautiful option

if you're going to make them every day.

Yeah.

But if you don't cancel within 24 hours, you can't make it, your kid's sick, you miss it because you've got a FastPass that you really— it came up last minute, you want to Then you're going to be charged per person for missing that reservation, and then you still have to find dinner.

Right.

So it really, I think it just kind of boils down to how you think you're going to travel.

Yeah, I think this, I think what you said there is the most important thing. Um, how do you want to, how do you want to experience your vacation? If you want, if you want frills and you just want to, to have every option available to you, then and you've got the money to do it—

I could book you a $10,000 vacation right now. Just call me, 936-689-9999.

That's for 2 people. That's for 2 people.

Exactly.

Because at that point you're going to want the Park Hopper and you're going to want the Deluxe Dining Plan. However, if it's your first time to Disney, the likelihood of you needing to go from park to park to park, it's going to be hard enough to even know which park you're actually still in because they're huge.

Right, how to get to it. And then you've got the transportation issue. That's true, because there is no way to get directly from one park to another.

Right. Yeah, so I mean, I think that all of these things factor in, and if it's your first time, then you need to do a lot of research.

That's why you hire a Disney Vacation Planner.

That's exactly right.

Someone who knows what they're doing, right?

Exactly.

And can help you kind of navigate what to do, and I think people have this misconception Do you think that travel agents cost money?

No, absolutely not.

They don't? You get paid from Disney?

Yeah, well, I don't charge any. I do know that there are some places out there that will charge a processing fee or a booking fee or whatever, but no, mine doesn't and most of us don't.

Sure.

And that really also applies to whether it's a cruise, an all-inclusive, a custom itinerary, really doesn't matter. I mean, I don't charge a fee. My services are complimentary because the vendor does pay it.

Right. So going back to the dining plan, depending on how you eat makes a lot of difference.

It does.

I mean, are you the type of person that wants—

And your kids too. The age of your kids makes a lot of difference. If you've got teenagers and you absolutely want the dining plan and you want the Disney dining plan and you want to schedule every buffet they have on property, I mean, you just really do. If you've got teenage boys, that is where you want to do it. That's where you want to sit because they're going to eat those 2 snacks a day and they're going to eat that buffet and they are going to—

They're going to burn it all off too.

They're going to carry their refillable mug around. Right.

Well, and if you're, if you're the type of person that immediately is drawn to the most expensive thing on the menu, exactly, you need to go with the dining plan. If you're not, if you're more frugal than that, you just can't imagine spending, you know, $50 for, for a steak. And trust me, That's an inexpensive steak at Disney, then maybe you need to just think through some of those things, right?

Well, absolutely. And too, I think that one thing that we sometimes forget is that when you're at Disney, time travels a lot differently than it does in the outside world. So you get caught up, and before you realize it, you haven't eaten and it's time to grab something. And so depending on what kind of dining plan you do and how you plan your FastPasses and everything else, you might be trying to grab lunch 30 minutes before your dinner reservation, you know, because you've just been so caught up in, we've got to see this show and we have to ride this ride and okay, there's the parade and I didn't realize I couldn't get across Main Street because there's

5,000 people. And so I think it just— the dining plan is is great. There's a couple of tools out there that you can— I think if you just Google Disney dining calculator or dining planner, then it'll pop up. There's actually 2 of them out there now that I frequently send people to because it just basically just says, this is my average quick service, this is my average table service, this is what I'm going to have every day, and it'll calculate it to tell you whether or not it makes sense for your family. And those are really great tools. I didn't write them. I don't have anything to do with it. But, but I, you know, but I'm, I'm all about

using my resources.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I think, I think another misconception out there is that I've been to theme parks before, and theme park food is just junk, and it is way overpriced. Talk us through a little bit But how that's not the case at Disney.

Oh my gosh, you can have anything you want from an Uncrustables peanut butter and jelly to, I mean, even at the quick service, you know, you've got sushi. You go into Epcot and they have just quick service booths set up even around the world. You can have, you know, Moroccan, or you can have, you know, Asian, you can have Mexican, you can have German, you can have Italian. It's not just chicken fingers and hamburgers. You can get those.

Yes.

But you don't have to get those. And Disney really, a couple of years ago, started incorporating some very healthy options for the kids. So their kids' meals now, they don't necessarily— it's not your cheeseburger and fries option. It might be grilled chicken and carrots and applesauce or grapes. You know, you're going to get apple juice and water. You're not going to get your sodas and stuff. So they've really taken some healthy options with the kids. And the same with the adults. There's salads. There's, you know, like I said, there's chicken or, yeah, you can still get pizza, but so many other options. So many other to choose from.

Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned the Epcot one. I forget when it was that we went, but they had additional food kiosks in each country. Food and Wine. Was it Food and Wine?

Well, they also do it for Festival of the Arts too.

Okay. But it was, they had small plates.

Mm-hmm.

They're little. Some people call it Food and Garden now.

Right. I think Epcot is the never-ending festival park.

Yeah, but like, it was— I mean, like, we were able to try like different things that we wouldn't normally try that were smaller plates, and it was a lot cheaper than getting like a full meal. Um, I think we did like— I mean, I think we'd like 6 different countries and we spent maybe $50. Yeah, you know, it was—

and they're there, and there's such a variety there too. I mean, you can, you know, they have, um, I think I did want— they had something from Hawaii. They had Polynesian.

Mm-hmm.

Then Canada always does their, their beer cheese soup. And, and you've got the lobster bisque, and you've got, you know, so many different options. And Epcot is a great place during festival time to wander and just pick up those kind of, those kind of small plates. And some of them are even shareable. I mean, you know, it's just, it's big enough that if you just want a snack, you can share it. And actually, speaking of snack, a lot of them will have snack you can use your snack credits for. So if you're on the dining plan, then you can use those snack credits at a lot of those kiosks around the world.

That's cool.

Yeah, that's awesome.

And there's dishes that you won't like get any other time of the year or in any other restaurant that they have there on property too, right?

From what I remember, unique.

There's a lot of executive chefs. chefs at Disney. I mean, they— this is not typical theme park food. I mean, you're— we're talking about people that have the authority in their restaurant to develop and create the menu.

Right.

I mean, this is, this is not just, you know, burgers and dogs, chicken fingers. I mean, like you said, you can get those things, but for example, And again, you can dine at the hotels as well. My wife and I did an experience there at the Grand Floridian called Victorian Alberts.

Yes.

It's a very, very intimate location. Small, very special. We had personalized menus.

Did you sit at the chef's table?

We did not. However, my brother is doing that on our next trip. We did not do the chef's table. Um, but, uh, I mean, this is a— it was a 7-course meal. Yeah, when we were there. And I think it's, um, depending on, on when you go, could be even a 9-course. It was a 3-hour event for us.

It was an experience.

And so you want to talk about the, the different options. There's huge different options, uh, at Disney. So—

But even if you don't go as, you know, expensive and high-end as Victoria and Albert's, even at Grand Floridian you have Citricos. You have Narcoossee's. You know, you have California Grill on top of the Contemporary. I mean, these are all very luxury dining experiences. If you get into Epcot, you've got Le Cellier at Canada Pavilion. So you have some options that are actually very high-end.

Right.

That compete with pretty much any restaurant. And these chefs are, you know, world-renowned chefs in a lot of areas. They're very skilled at what they do, and they do bring chefs in from other countries so they can actually create their own menu that's custom to what you would get should you go there to visit. So it's actually really a cool experience.

Yeah. And so I think the thing that I really appreciate about that is that I think there's a lot of adults that think that Disney's just for kids.

Oh, no.

And goodness, I think that's— this conversation right here, I think, really lends itself to saying, no. Look, whatever type of person you are, you can enjoy yourself at Disney.

Well, Disney's done a great job too of doing that. So you think you've got Disney, you've got Hong Kong, you've got Tokyo, you've got Paris. I'm gonna say it wrong.

Which one?

Shanghai.

Shanghai.

Shanghai. Disneyland. And then you've got Disney World. But in all of that, so you've got all these great parks, but you also have Adventures by Disney.

Mm-hmm.

And Adventures by Disney is a whole other realm because they are world-class tour leaders. It is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. They have actually, they've started back a couple of years ago, they partnered with AmaWaterways to do river cruises as well. So now they combine a lot of their tours. They have river cruises and they'll do, you know, pre- and post-cruise excursions and things like that. But with the Disney Adventures by Disney, I mean, they are in, you know, Asia and Africa and Australia. They're in South and Central America. They're in North America. They are in Europe. And they basically— you, you don't have a big group. You might have, where some of these larger tour companies, you might have

50 people, you're going to have maybe 15. And you've got 2 Disney guides, and every location that you go to, you have a local expert. You have someone that's just, that takes you to places backstage, behind the scenes, even local places, places you would not be able to go.

Mm-hmm.

And they do special things for their Adventures by Disney people. Disney has such a great reputation around the world for their customer service. service that, you know, the locals will work with them to accomplish some great things for their guests. And they do adult-only trips as well, but they are not cheap. But they are, they are— it is an experience that is so worth it though. And especially, you know, with AmaWaterways now entering with being able to, to do the different rivers.

You can do the Nile.

You can do so many. And yeah, Egypt is, is actually one of the newer locations that they've just Montana is the other one they just added to the US. But it is incredible. And they also partner— Adventures by Disney also works with the Disney Cruise Line. So you create a VIP experience there. And those ships, that is my— I hate— I'm not going to say that because I don't want to get in trouble. But if I had to pick a favorite cruise line—

It might be Disney.

It might be Disney. their ships, and I love that you can combine the Adventures by Disney experience even with the Disney Cruise Line, not just with the AmaWaterways river, but especially like in an Alaskan adventure.

Mm-hmm.

So your Disney cruise, your guides would actually, your VIP guides would actually be able to take you on these excursions off the ship when you— so they're planning things that are different for you that are unique that everybody else doesn't You have VIP access to things there. It's more concierge level. So you can also incorporate that Adventures by Disney into the cruise as well.

That's cool.

Which is cool. So that's going to be your next one, right? Adventures by Disney. Where are you gonna go? Where, where would you go?

Oh my goodness, I don't know. Like, I, I think that, um, Africa has always been a place that I think would just really cool to go. And, and one of the things that you said really struck me is that you're, you're getting to do some stuff that, that you don't get to do. I mean, even, even some of the ones in California, right, they will take you to the Walt Disney Studios.

They do.

And, and take you into places that you cannot go.

Dine with an Imagineer.

Exactly. You can't just— there's no way you just do that. It's But, you know, opportunities that— I think that's one of the things that I love about Disney is you have so many options. I mean, you know, but, but I think it can be overwhelming as well, which is why we need a travel agent.

Exactly.

So let's go back to the parks for a moment.

Okay, absolutely.

Talk me through something that I think a lot of people think is, is an extra cost Okay. Which is the FastPass+ system.

Oh, we love FastPass.

Yeah.

So every guest with a park ticket, you get 3 FastPasses per day per person in your party.

For free.

For free.

Yeah, that is not an extra.

For free. And yeah, so basically it is a— with the FastPass system, you're able to select rides that you want to ride. You're able to select a time throughout the day that you can come in. It's a 1-hour window, so you— it kind of enables you to bypass that standby line. So if you see that, you know, I'm gonna give you a good example. This is a free tip. This is how you know how crowded Magic Kingdom is. Look at the Peter Pan line.

Yeah.

Peter Pan, for some reason, happens to be one of the longest wait times.

Yeah.

And sometimes will even exceed some of your roller coasters like Space Mountain or Big Thunder. You can get on them quicker than you can get on Peter Pan. So you want to know how crowded that park is, you look at the wait time for Peter Pan. But that being said, a good option is a Peter Pan FastPass because what that means is that you're not going to stand in that 120-minute line. If your FastPass for Peter Pan is between 3 and 4, you're going to come back at 3 o'clock and you're going to stand in a much shorter line to get on that ride. And so that's kind of how that works. And with the FastPass system, you

have the ability to create FastPasses for everyone in your party as well. So you don't have to have 30 people trying to say, okay, let's all figure out, alright, everybody right now press 315 for our FastPass. You can actually do that with everyone in your party at the same time, which is kind of a cool thing.

Yeah, it really is. And there's so much strategy to this. But I think the place that I think we would really like to go next is, let's talk about resorts a little bit.

Oh, see, I thought you were going to say My Disney Experience because that would be naturally the next way to go from FastPass.

My only reason for saying that is because there's different booking windows for FastPass based on where you stay or don't stay. But yeah, let's, let's go to My Disney Experience.

And I was gonna ask, I thought that they had just changed the FastPass system, which where they're doing different tiers for different rides now. So like where you can like, like, I think it's like in Magic Kingdom. It's not in the Magic Kingdom, but I know like in Hollywood Studios, like you can only book like one kind of that tier of ride per day or something like that.

Doing that for a while. No, your high— so if you have your, I guess, your more popular roller coasters and rides, they're gonna— you're gonna have to pick between those.

Right.

So you can only pick one of those, and then you can pick 2 that might not be— I mean, Epcot did that for— I mean, they've all really kind of done that for a while. So like, if you were to pick Test Track, you can't pick Test Track and Soarin' in Epcot. You can pick Test Track or Soarin'. Yeah, but you gotta pick one. But you gotta pick one or the other. the other, and so you kind of have to figure out which one normally has— again, this is why you have a vacation planner— normally has the longest line.

Right.

Right? And which time of day is going to be the best time to kind of avoid that long line if you want to do that. So then you could also pick 2 more FastPasses. It might be Living with the Land. That's a really cool attraction that most people bypass because they don't realize It's one of my favorites. I love Living with the Land.

We're actually planning on doing the tour next time we move.

Oh, we did the tour!

Behind the scenes. Behind the seeds.

We did that back a couple of years ago. It is a really—

It looks awesome.

It is a 9-pound lemon tour. It is amazing.

Yeah, but, so, um, you, you, I mean, there's a possibility that you can get a second Tier 1, uh, FastPass throughout the day, right?

If you have used all of yours, For the day and you are in that park, then you can get another FastPass for the day. So—

So there's a little strategy there.

Is you make all your FastPasses early in the day.

But how do you do that? So now let's go to My Disney Experience.

He got you there.

He did, he did, he did. Well, kind of.

We're still—

Roundabout.

So, My Disney Experience, that's how Disney tracks your life.

No, I'm just kidding.

But that's not far from true. So, whenever you begin to book your vacation, you'll go and create what's called a My Disney Experience account, and this is where you set your personal information in. So, it's people that are your friends and family that are going to be traveling with you, and My Disney Experience holds the information like your hotel, your dining, your tickets. It is basically what your Disney experience is going to be about. So, it is a, it's a blank slate. that you fill in. It's a template. And then so you would go in and in that My Disney Experience, you, you book a hotel and you link your hotel to it. You book tickets or you book it as a package with hotel and tickets

and you've linked your tickets with it. You can do dining. You can, you know, so there's all kinds of things that you can link to your My Disney Experience. And, but when you set up that account, it gives you the ability to make dining reservations. So you can eat at some of these table service restaurants that we were talking about. You can link your family and friends to your dining reservation as well, so not everybody has to go out and do their own. The same thing with FastPasses. Once you have tickets linked to your My Disney Experience, and it doesn't matter if you have a hotel linked or not, if you have tickets linked to your My

Disney Experience account, you can go out and make FastPass reservations 60 days from the day of arrival at your resort.

Yeah, so unless you're not staying on property.

Unless you're not staying on property.

And then it's 30 days.

Exactly.

Yeah, that's another strategy here.

Stay on property.

Stay on property.

A lot of people think that staying on property is expensive, but some of their value resorts— so when you start talking about the All-Stars, they've actually— Sports is going under renovation right now. They just finished Movies. Pop Century has been done. They started it in 2017 and it's done now. Their rates are not that bad. And when you think about it, I actually just quoted someone for a, I think it's the 3rd week in July, they had a rate of $160 a night at Pop Century, which is great because the Skyliners now go to and from that resort, so that's an added mode of transportation.

Mm-hmm.

With that resort at Pop Century, you only have one bus that doesn't, it doesn't go to another resort, so it just basically goes from Pop Century to the park and back to Pop Century. And it's a new room at $160 a night. That also includes your transportation to and from the airport. So you fly in and they're going to pick you up at the airport and take you to your resort, and then they're going to take you to the parks. And so you've really cut down on, you know, rental cars and parking and everything else by doing that.

I mean, that's always the biggest one for me is the Magic Express. I mean, like, I don't have to— if you have checked baggage, you don't You don't have to even like go pick that up.

Nope.

You know, they'll just— they take it to your room for you. I mean, like, that, that to me, I don't know.

You know, getting the MagicTags in the mail a couple of weeks before you travel, and you just put your yellow tag in, and when you check in at the airport, you drop your luggage, and then Disney picks it up for you.

Yeah, that's my trump card with my wife every time we plan one of these. I mean, like, every time she's like, well, it wouldn't be cheaper to stay off property? Like, yeah, but Magic Express.

She's like, ah. I know, it is a great ride too. It's a great ride. Yeah, that was really nice. You know, the buses are nice and it gets you kind of in that mood too because they're playing all of the park stuff on the TVs.

Yeah, so I mean, so we live in Texas. There's a lot of people that live closer that might be driving there, and, and believe it or not, my brother is going to be driving there in June. It's a long drive. It's going to take him 2 and a half days to get there, but, um, they're choosing to do that. If you're flying and you're starting to have this conversation of whether or not to stay on property or off property, um, it very likely may be less expensive to stay on property because you're not renting a car, you're not having to do a lot of the things that— you're not paying parking, you're not paying parking. And so parking is not cheap. No, it's

not.

Parking is not cheap.

The thing about it at the parks, that's what we're talking about, right? Your hotel at your— at the parks, because it's, it's $25+ Yeah, it is.

And now they've started adding, if you drive your car and you don't fly, the resorts are adding a parking fee per day as well. And, you know, and it just kind of depends on which category you're in, if you're in a deluxe, a moderate, or a value, as to what your cost will be per day to park your car there.

Mm-hmm.

So it really is, at the end of the day, a lot, a lot of times, especially depending on who you fly, It's a lot of times just more economical just to fly and let Disney take care of everything else. You know, between the buses, between the monorail, boats, the Skyliner, there is no reason for you not to just let Disney take care of your transportation.

What a brilliant move by Disney, right?

Absolutely.

I mean, they basically have said, hey, listen, why don't you leave your car at your airport? And when you get to my land, you never have to leave, nor can you.

Exactly.

Unless you're gonna Uber or taxi.

We have your luggage too.

That's right.

Make sure we have your clothes.

It's brilliant.

You're not going anywhere. And with some of the airlines, they have a, um, you can actually check in for your return flight at your resort, right? So you don't actually even have to go To the ticket desk at the airport. Yeah. You can drop your luggage though. You don't have to drop it at Orlando Airport. You can drop it at your resort and they'll take it for you.

So you can literally drop it at your resort, go to a park.

Absolutely.

And then eventually show up at the airport and your luggage shows up at home.

Exactly.

But not your house.

And miss out on the great customer service at the airport?

I know. Well, you know.

That's a good point. You make a good point, Greg.

Well, Kev, I'll tell you one of the places that you're not going to miss out on on customer service is with Paul the plumber.

That's right.

I tell you, one of the last things you wanna be dealing with in your house is a leak, a clogged thingamajiggy in the bathroom. Nobody, you know, you got the kid that wrapped the GI Joe in the TP and flushed it down the toilet.

That's right.

You don't know what you're doing.

Yeah, that actually happened with me as a small child. I flushed a top.

A top?

A spinning top.

A spinning top, okay.

Believe it or not, my mom still has it and she has threatened to give it one of my children and have them flush it because it was a big mess.

I think she should.

I think she shouldn't.

Well, I mean, if nothing else, for the experience of having Paul out to your house.

There you go.

To get it— I mean, like, because it's, it's never gonna be cleaner and more unclogged than when he gets done. That's right.

And it's pretty easy to get a hold of him. You can call him at 832-521-3252. That's 832-521-3252. You can also email them at at paultheplumberllc.com and also on their website, paultheplumberllc.com. It's really easy to book them. They'll be out there soon. I mean, I think that's one of the big things is a lot of times you gotta, you gotta get a plumber out quick.

Yeah. You need somebody really responsive. And if you didn't have a chance to write any of that stuff down, it's in the show notes. You can get it from the show notes or you can find them on Facebook. It's really easy. So, um, and, and Marianne, you're actually— you know, the, uh, you, you planned some vacations for the, uh—

I loved it. They are actually really amazing people and very responsive. I've had to call them myself. Oh, well, actually, I sent them a Facebook message.

Did you let Kevin come over? Is that what happened?

I let Kevin and his top come visit my house. No, you can— yeah.

Um, well, so, so tell us, I know one of the— I mean, like, one of the things we were talking about before the show is like how much change is going on with all the parks right now, and it's, it's, it's tough to keep up. I mean, one, I mean, like, if even if you're just focused on the one in Florida, so much change is going on. That doesn't even entail all the rest of the stuff that's going on around the country and around the world with all the parks and all that kind of stuff.

That's very true.

I'm curious, what are the ones that you are most excited about coming up?

Well, I think that EPCOT's always been one of my favorite parks.

Mm-hmm.

And, you know, I know that for a long time everybody says Magic Kingdom because, you know, it's Magic Kingdom. And but EPCOT has just really always been— the culture and what it brings has always been one of my favorite things. And right now EPCOT is actually going through the largest transition in Disney Park history, and that's really kind of cool. So for those of you who don't know about Epcot, Epcot's been divided into 2 worlds, Future World and World Showcase. So World Showcase hosts 11 countries from around the world, and basically they're different pavilions where you can experience a little bit of the culture, some of the food, the architecture. Some of them have shows, some of them have rides.

And the cast members there are actually from that country.

Exactly. They are international students students that are here on work visas, and they range, you know, from 9 months to 18 months. So they are here, and they, they will speak to you. You can stop and have a conversation with them and ask them about their culture, their village, whatever you want to, which is a really cool kind of thing to do, which makes it one of my favorite places to go. And the other part, Future World, has had interventions, and that's where your rides are, with Soarin' and Test Track and Mission: Space and Spaceship Earth, those kind of things. The ride inside the ball is Spaceship Earth. I get that a lot. Is it Soarin'? No, it's not Soarin'. It could be. That would be fun.

And it's not a golf ball.

It's not a golf ball. There's actually a ride inside of it that is coming down. They are actually fixing to redo that ride, so it's going under refurbishment.

It's not going away. They're just—

No, no, no. The ball's not coming down, but the ride inside is changing. But one of their, their new vision is that they have divided Epcot into actually 4, what they're calling neighborhoods. So when you walk in, it is World Celebration. So they're sticking with the world theme here.

Mm-hmm.

But there, it's World Celebration. And so where Spaceship Earth is, around that area, they're setting up pavilions and booths, and it's very much going to be about celebrating the different cultures in our world. They're getting new music. Like I said, they're getting a new ride in Spaceship Earth. It's gonna be a really cool kind of melting pot, so to speak, entrance into that. And then as you walk into the park, the area to the left where we had Mission: Space and Test Track, they're still there. They're building the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride, which is gonna be really cool.

Yeah.

But that area is called World Discovery, and it's gonna be focused on your science and technology and things like that. And that's just a really cool area. And then to your— from the front of the park going to your right, where right now we have Soarin' and Living with the Land, it's that we were just talking about. It's still going to be there, but they're introducing their World Nature, and that's where they're going to do the Journey of Water inspired by Moana. So that's really going to be cool.

Yeah.

It's just going to be a lot different. that way. And they are keeping World Showcase, but they're bringing some new things to it. The France Pavilion is getting a new ride. They're actually under construction now. It is Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, and it's basically the same one that they have in Disneyland Paris.

Okay.

So it's gonna be really cool. I think it's gonna add some extra fun stuff to the World Showcase. Right now you've got the Frozen ride in Norway, you've got the boat ride in Mexico, but other than that, pretty much it's shows and walks. Which is not bad. That's just what it is.

And they've been redoing some of those as well. In fact, France specifically now has Beauty and the Beast sing-along.

Exactly. And that was— that was— that's the new thing they started in January this year, and it runs in the morning. It's from like 11 to 7 at night. And so it is actually in the Impressions de France theater. And so they do the Impressions de France show from 7, 7:30 to 9 And then in the morning is the Beauty and the Beast sing-along. So that's one of— those are the 2 things they're adding to France. And then in the United Kingdom, they are doing the first-ever Mary Poppins-inspired attraction. So it is gonna be a walk down Cherry Tree Lane. And so there's a lot still about— we haven't really seen.

I'm hoping that they don't pull back too much on that. They've already pulled back a little bit on what they were gonna do, but I hope I hope they don't pull back too much.

I don't think— I think, you know, I think it's going to be amazing. Great experience regardless of what they do.

Well, I know I like this idea that they're, they're playing around with where instead of it necessarily being a ride, it's something that you kind of go through, which, which I think has been kind of like— it was kind of old school Epcot. I mean, like, that used to be kind of the, the pavilions up front was things that you would walk through and experience. And, and so like Cherry Tree Lane, this Moana water experience That you kind of— is that, is that gonna be in— are they getting rid of like the jumping fountains in front of the Imagination Pavilion?

They've already done that.

They've already done that. It is—

when you walk in, I was just there a couple of weeks ago, and it is— you have construction walls right now everywhere. So it really doesn't look a whole lot like what it's going to.

Okay.

But yeah, they have— from the minute that you walk in the park, it is— they've gotten rid of pretty much everything. You're kind of tunneled.

The gravestones are gone.

They are.

Yeah.

They are.

Well, they weren't gravestones.

No, they weren't.

But they look like giant gravestones.

Talking about the ones out front?

The monuments that had people's pictures on them from where they had Leave a Legacy.

Yeah.

They did the Leave a Legacy. That's what it was called, Leave a Legacy.

They left them out front now.

They did. They've done— the other thing that they've done is, and you were talking about immersive experiences, last year with Star Wars Galaxy's Edge in Hollywood Studios, Studios, you know, you've got the— you can ride the Millennium Falcon and, you know, Smuggler's Run, and that's a really cool, really immersive experience. The line's usually really long.

Yeah.

So, but they have built this land, this Galaxy's Edge is just incredible, the theming, because you really do not feel like you are still in Florida. You are transported. I know they did the same thing in California. And then in December last year, they opened the other ride in the area, The Rise of the Resistance.

Rise of the Resistance, yep.

Exactly. And so that one they had a little bit of trouble with to start with the boarding groups and things. And so now they've kind of worked that out, but you know, you, you still, you have to get to the park early.

You can't even get in line for that ride.

You cannot get in line for it. You have to go when the park opens. You have a particular place you go to that you get your boarding group time for the day. So, but it is an incredible, incredible ride, incredible experience. So they're really about It's about being all immersive in what you're doing.

The innovation going into Walt Disney World right now is unbelievable. I mean, you mentioned Remy's Ratatouille ride. It's a trackless— I mean, so there's no track. It's a ride, but it's not on any type of track. I mean, they've got new technology that moves those cars from one place to the other.

Which is crazy.

Yeah, it's absolutely crazy.

But we were also talking about, in Hollywood Studios, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, which again is the same exact kind of thing with that innovation. I mean, they're talking about doing— I know we were talking about what the heck is 2.5D.

Right.

We're going to find out.

We're going to find out. March 4th, we're going to find out. But they've actually taken— and I know it was really sad for a lot of us that loved the great movie, right? Right.

But, um, still mad about that.

I know, right? That was a great attraction. It was really enjoyable.

It was a hallmark of that, of that whole park. It was, I mean, it was the, the Chinese Theater. That, that was the, the thing. I mean, I remember the time before Fantasia's hat was, you know, Sorcerer Mickey's hat was—

The water tower was the thing.

Yeah, that's right.

And, uh, and do you remember the Backlot Tour where you could go back and walk and see all of the Golden Girls house.

Flight of the Navigator ship was back there.

Yes! Yes! So there was, uh, there was an ex— and I don't know how long this experience was on the Backlot Tour, but they had the, uh, the bee from—

Oh yeah, that you could ride.

From Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

I rode it.

I did too. It was amazing.

Yes.

So there's a picture of me and my sister on it somewhere.

Oh, that's neat.

Um, I made her be the one hanging off the edge.

We need to find that. We need to find that, Craig, because I have a picture of me and my sister on that bee as well.

Oh, do you really?

We need to find that.

Yeah. So I'll just— this is just my personal beef with what's going on. I feel like it's sort of like the deconstruction of the Michael Eisner legacy going on over there. I'm like, everything that was sort of like the hallmark of that park and like it seems to be coming down. I'm just waiting for like the Indiana Jones show to go away at this point.

They talked about it at one point. Really? It hasn't.

I mean, because that's really one of the last things that's left over from like what that park was. Yeah. It's been— I mean, like, I'm not complaining. I mean, like the things that they put in are— well, I haven't done the 2 newest, the Toy Story and then Galaxy's Edge. Yeah, I haven't done any of that yet.

Toy Story Land is pretty incredible though. Yeah, it's really— you're gonna have to do that when you go. Yeah, it's, um, it's, it's really a neat experience because you, you know, where else are you gonna stand next to a Lego that's taller than you?

Which, I mean, which they kind of used to have. They had the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playset. They did, which was a neat playground.

Sure, I'm sure this is way cooler, but this is just a whole different level. I mean, it is, it's really, it's really a cool place. Yeah, they've taken a position between it though and Galaxy's Edge is, you know, it's a little interesting.

Yeah, but I think that's one of the things that also I love about Disney though, is because, I mean, I, I can go back and I can reminisce on some things because I, like you, Marianne, EPCOT has always been my favorite park since I was little.

Yeah.

It has always been my favorite park. And I think back to those nostalgic times. I remember some unbelievable times that I had in Innoventions. And I remember going through the art studio at MGM, you know, before it was Hollywood Studios. And I think about some of these things and it's really easy for me to go, oh man, it's just not the same.

Yeah.

But then I think about like the things that they're doing for my kids.

Yeah.

And the experiences that they're giving for, for today. And they're just continuing to one-up themselves. And it's, it's, it's incredible to see all of these various things come together and become something different and new and amazing. And the experiences, it makes you want to come back. And I love that about Disney.

Well, you know, one of the things that— one of my favorite memories of Disney was when we took our daughter. She was, I guess it was her 13th birthday, and we went to Epcot. And I took a map of the park and we went to each of the pavilions and we had everyone write happy birthday in their native language.

Mm-hmm.

And so they wrote happy birthday, and then we had her take a picture with each of the cast members. And it was really cool. She got to Canada and they stuck the hat on her head and, you know, they dressed her up. I mean, when we went to Japan, I mean, she was all kinds of wrapped up and everything and a parasol and she was— I mean, it was insane.

Yeah.

But everywhere we went, when we said, you know, hey, it's her birthday, not only did they tell her happy birthday and write happy birthday in their language on her map, which we still have because what a great way to remember that. But, you know, getting pictures with them too, it was just such a unique kind of an experience that you're not going to get anywhere else.

Those guys are just— I mean, they train their people so well to create those moments for families and in that place. And I think that's probably one of the things that endears me to them the most is just the way that you see their cast members just constantly looking for those opportunities to really make somebody's day and make that vacation something special.

Yeah, I mean, one of our favorite things to do when we go to Animal Kingdom is to go to Animal Kingdom Lodge in the middle of the day and take a break. And a lot of times, if you go back out on the back of the lodge, they have the savanna out there, so you can see the animals. But a lot of times, they'll have someone there that's an actual safari— that's, you know, safari guide. They know the animals, and a lot of them might be from a country in Africa. They're yeah, they're very well versed in in what's going on around that savanna. And I mean, we still talk and kind of joke about one of the guys that we met. He was from

Botswana. You know, he had been here for nine months. He was on an eighteen month visa, and you know, he had Kenosi, you know, and he was just such a great guy. But you know, it was just neat to get to talk to him about his culture and his village. and how kids here are versus kids there. Just different, just a different culture and what all he was able to experience here. And that's the beautiful thing about EPCOT too.

Yeah, you know, you mentioned Animal Kingdom Lodge, one of the coolest places on Disney property in my opinion, especially to stay because it may be the most destination type of resort on property as far as the amount of things that you could do without ever leaving the resort. Um, I mean, they've got so many options that they— of things that they offer at that resort that you may not even ever have to go to the parks if you don't want to. Um, and now why you would do that, I don't know, but I mean, it's an option.

Yacht and Beach Club, you got that as well. I mean, they have the best pool on property. Hands down.

There's no doubt.

There's no doubt. And they all, especially all of the deluxe resorts, and the values and moderates do as well, but they have children's activities departments and that's what they do. They do tie-dyes, they do karaoke, they do dance parties by the pool. You know, they're really big on if you have to stay at the resort, then that can be a destination too.

Oh yeah.

There's just so much. Yeah.

are you ever going to be able to go underwater than the Art of Animation Resort and be able to hear Disney music underwater?

Yes.

It's unbelievable. I mean, the types of imagination that Disney has put into their parks, into their hotels, into their dining experiences, into everything that they do from the moment you step onto their Magical Express to the moment you step off of it, um, It's, it's an experience.

Yeah.

And, and, uh, it's just a— it's a really cool thing that I think everyone should take, um, at least one vacation to experience.

Oh, I agree.

I agree.

And I'll book it for you.

Yeah, exactly.

She's ready.

Yeah. And, and so, you know, I, I think that one of the things that I've, I've really appreciated about this podcast right now is to hear how much you You know a lot. And so, especially for someone who isn't crazy about Disney like Craig and I are, who probably know more than we should, it's your job and you know a lot. And if you don't know a lot, call you, right? Call Maryann. She's gonna have some tips, some information, some guidelines, some thoughts to help you do this well.

I've raised 4 kids there. I mean, we've taken our 4 kids And I've taken— I just recently took my grandkids for the first time in September last year. That's a whole different experience. And I am now— I very, very much understand why God gives us children when we're young. Spend a few days at Disney with a 7 and a 2-year-old. Oh, they will wear you out. At my age, and it will. But to see the— but to see, you know, just the difference in Yeah, it's just, it's incredible. So I mean, I do have a decent amount of experience with families and budget because you can't take 4 kids to Disney cheaply unless you budget really

well.

Yeah, that was the other thing I was going to say. It's not just that, because I think plenty of people can have, you know, a good work ethic and knowledge and all that kind of stuff, but you, you have a lot of firsthand experience. I mean, this is just not— you're not just like, yeah, I read this on a blog, or I listened to the pod, which is fine. I mean, like, you all And all those things can be helpful, but like, you go pretty regular.

We do go pretty regular. I think we went 4 or 5 times last year and 4 or 5 times the year before. And yeah, we, we go on a pretty regular basis. I had a spreadsheet at one point because that's just who I am, where I had it color-coded by when we went, where we stayed, whether we took the kids, did we not take the kids, do we take people we didn't even know. I don't know, you know, I had this whole spreadsheet. And I, I stopped. And I was in the 40s, mid to high 40s, I think. And I just stopped. I was like, you know, at this point, does it matter?

Right.

But, you know, I did include also Disneyland. You know, we stayed at Grand Californian. We've been to Disneyland and California Adventure and, um, done the Disney Dream, the Disney Wonder. So we've done some cruises with them a couple of times. And so Yeah, you know, so I had this spreadsheet, but at the end of the day, you know, it's, it's all about that you go and you experience. So yeah.

So have you done any of the international parks?

I am doing Disneyland Paris this summer.

Okay, I'm real interested to hear what you have to say about that one because my understanding is it's one of the least underwhelming or most underwhelming of the, uh, 4.

Shanghai is the one I really kind of want to make a trip to.

But it's the most recent one.

Yeah, it is. And it supposedly has some of the best— you know, the castle is supposed to be really pretty.

However, they say that—

Very excited about it.

It's supposed to be the most beautiful of the parks, is Paris, that they put a lot of beauty into that place.

And they've, you know, they've recently made some changes there too. They've recently refurbished a few things, and so it's gonna be a little bit different than, than I think it has been. So I'm kind of— I'm really looking forward to that. So y'all can watch for pictures on my Facebook page.

And at the end of the day, like, how do you have a bad day at Disney? I mean, I know people do, but, but I mean, come on, people. Yeah, have fun.

Well, I think too it's about expectations, and I think that that's really kind of true in life anyway, right? We all have expectations about the way that we think things are supposed to go, and when they don't, you know, it's just how you handle it. But if you're gonna go to Disney, you just have to expect you're gonna stand in a line It's probably gonna rain at some point while you're there.

It's Florida.

It's Florida. It won't rain long. It's gonna be humid after that, and so don't do your hair. There are just things that you just need to— right, good for you. If only I had hair like that. But so you're gonna have people that are gonna let you down and disappoint you and that are gonna be rude because you know what, the crying and the meltdowns and the midday panic attacks, they're not just for kids. You know, you see just as many adults having those things, you know.

Yeah.

So just knowing that— knowing that ahead of time, you know, knowing that you have to set your own expectations, that you're just gonna enjoy it and you're gonna look for ways to find joy when you're there, because they are there. You know, one of the best trips we've ever made, it was a real short trip. We flew in on a Saturday, and we just spent the entire day talking to cast members and just saying thank you. And you would not believe how many— because those people, they're, you know, we look at it and we're like, oh my gosh, we paid to be here and we paid X amount of money to be here. But they're giving up birthdays, they're giving up Christmas with their kid, you know, with their kids or with their parents or with their

siblings. They're giving up important days to them.

Mm-hmm.

to be of service with a good attitude to someone else. And so just that simple thing of stopping and saying thank you, you know, thank you for keeping a smile on your face, what it does to them and how it helps them interact with guests the rest of the day is just incredible to watch because like their whole countenance changes.

Yeah.

And then that makes their— your experience better too because they will find ways to go out of their way to help you have a better experience if you're reciprocating that too.

Sure.

Well, I want to just take a soapbox moment for just one moment.

I'm good with that.

And say, listen, Disney's not cheap. We all know it's not cheap. It's very expensive. And so for those of you out there wearing the Most Expensive Day Ever shirts, just leave them at home and wear them some other time. We all know it's one of the most expensive days ever. And if that's your attitude, yeah, then, then you're gonna probably not really enjoy your time, right?

You're miserable trying to make sure you get the most for your, you know, value for your money, right?

The irony is how much they spent on that shirt. So true.

So, so just, just go and expect to wait. Expect for things not to necessarily go the way you want them them to go. But know that there are so many things to experience, and at the end of the day, your attitude is your choice. It's not somebody else's. It's yours. So do with that what you want to. So there's my soapbox.

That's alright. I think I started that. I'm sorry. But, you know, the other part too about having someone help you plan that's been there is knowing to be able to say, okay, so if you're at Magic Kingdom, take a break. Take the boat ride over to Wilderness Lodge and hang out for a little bit. Refill your Take— just take some time, take a deep breath, take the boat back. You know, you've had a good hour, hour and a half there where you haven't had to deal with those grumpy people that are wearing the most expensive day— That's right, that's right. You know, and the same thing, you know, I mean, all of the resorts have places like

that, and you are welcome to go to any resort on property from any park on property. So you can take those times in the middle of the day to just Just refresh and get a, you know, better attitude.

And like Kevin was saying earlier, sometimes those resorts are destinations in and of themselves.

Absolutely.

You know, they're just gorgeous.

They are. Christmas is my favorite time to go because they are all decorated for Christmas and they all have the beautiful trees and the life-size gingerbread house, of course, in Grand Floridian, and the gingerbread And white chocolate and dark chocolate carousel over at the Yacht and Beach Club. That thing is insanely impressive.

Yes. So, well, and, and, you know, I, I just think that there, there's so many things that we can wind up talking about. There's so many things that we could say, you know, do this, don't do this. You're probably gonna need more than one trip to do all of these things.

Oh, you can't see it all in one trip.

No, you cannot see it all in one trip. And that's the other thing, don't, don't try to do it all because I used to be the one who said, I need a vacation from Disney after I get back, because most people come back from Disney exhausted.

Mm-hmm.

And I've kind of changed my tune on that a little bit and said, you know what, like, this is something that I am paying a lot of money for, and I don't necessarily want to come home tired, more tired than I left, you know. And, and yes, I had a great time, it was fun, but now I need a nap.

You're exhausted and everybody's exhausted around you. And that's— and you know, one of the things too that I like to do with my people is just figure out what, what are you looking to do? Because I will tell you first off, you're not going to do everything. Uh, there's no way that you can do everything in Disney World on a week-long trip. There's just no way. So let's talk about what's important to And just again, it goes back to relationship building, that listening and finding out what is really important to you in this. Why are you doing this? Okay, so yeah, the kids are 5 and 7, it's a great age to take them, blah blah blah. We've all seen the Disney commercials. But why are you doing this for them? You could do anything

else with that amount of money. Why this? What do you want to get out of your experience here? You know, is it seeing a princess? All right, well, let's work our trip around that. How can we make that work?

Right.

You know, and so it's finding those things that, that, that's kind of one thing that I take very, very seriously because Disney is not cheap.

Right.

So if you're going to spend that kind of money, I want you to have that kind of experience.

Exactly. Well, listen, this has been fantastic and I promise we could do this all day. In fact, I mean—

We did this 30 minutes before we ever started.

We did. We absolutely did. And, and I, I, we were talking beforehand, I, I listened to 9 different Disney podcasts and that's because I've limited myself.

Yeah.

I could listen to so many more. There's so much to all of this. You're not going to understand it all, but a person like you would really, really help. So thank you for taking the time to do that, but we can't let you get away without the final 4.

Final 4.

So these are the, uh, final 4 questions we ask all of our guests. And so you can't get away now. Now the cool thing that Our listeners need to know is that I asked her if she wanted to know the questions up front and she said no. So these are all, these are all very spontaneous answers. You ready?

I'm—

I will do our best.

Okay.

I'll be as honest as I can.

Oh, good, good.

Do I get a pass button? Is there a pass button?

There's no pass button.

No.

No.

Okay. There's pass or fail.

Well, it's been nice talking to y'all tonight. I hope you have a great weekend.

They're not that bad. They're not that bad. No one's ever failed yet. Well, you know, here we go.

All right.

First question. What's the must-have tool you won't leave your house without?

Does it have to be a tool? Like a flashlight? Can it be like—

I think a tool carries with it a lot of different connotations depending on what you're—

We're very liberal with the definitions.

I'm gonna say I never leave home without wearing my wedding ring.

Oh, look at that.

That is the most unique answer we've ever had.

Absolutely.

Tell me more.

Well, I mean, my husband and I, we're married 25 years this year. And it's our second— thank you. It's our second marriage for both of us. And one of the things that we learned early on is that we need to make each other a priority. And so part of what we do is we take a trip together, or we We just, even when we were broke, we sent the kids to my parents and they were such blessings to us. They would watch them for us while we had some time together because our marriage is our foundation. I mean, and really, it represents everything that we do outside. So, my job is nothing to me if I don't have a good relationship with my husband.

Mm-hmm.

And so, me having my wedding ring on every day is just such a reminder of, of the blessing of the gift that I have in that 25 years and with the man I'm married to.

That's awesome. Well, I just saw that you just— I mean, you don't, you don't go to Canada for just anybody either. I know, I know. You just got back, right?

I did last night.

All you got to do is turn right. All right. Most people that don't know the World Showcase very well don't understand that, but it's only a country You know, it is, it is the right way to experience the World Showcase is to go to Canada first.

Yes, I, I—

yeah, yeah, because most people are right-handed. He did that on purpose. I say he, it wasn't Walt. No, but it was Roy, so, uh, and others.

But so would I pass or fail?

No, that was awesome. In fact, I was waiting for more. Like, that was— man, you could preach on that. That was good stuff. All right, second question. Okay, uh, what's a joke What's a job you walked away from? Now, um, we, we always like to put this caveat in here. When we, when we developed this question, we had in mind a project at your house. What's a project at your house that you walked away from? That you said, you know what, I got into this plumbing job or whatever, and now I gotta call Paul, right? Um, so I walked away from that. But, um, we didn't clarify that very well in our, in our question.

That's true.

So we're leaving it open. If you want to talk about a career you walked away from or just a job, it's up to you. But the question is this: what's a job you've walked away from?

Well, let's be clear. I'm not going to start any jobs or projects around my house. I feel about that like I do about camping. So we are—

I know I don't have to quit them because I don't ever start them.

Exactly.

There you go.

I've never quit a job.

There you go. I think honestly the best answer for me for that— I mean, I'm not a quitter. I'm very tenacious. Um, I'm very stubborn, dig your heels in kind of person. But if I'm going to walk away from something, it's going to be like what we talked about earlier. It's going to be a client that I can't help. That's going to be a job that I'm going to turn down and that I'm going to walk away from because I really want them to have the best experience. I mean, that's genuinely my heart. And I have past clients and clients— I mean, I've lost business because of it, you know, people that wouldn't call back because I said, hey, I don't have the best deal. And

so they're like, okay, well, if she doesn't have the best deal, I'm never gonna call her again.

Sure.

And that's okay because, you know, really that means that they got the best deal when they could. And, and, and I'm not, I'm not about that. You know, I want to— that's not somebody I'm gonna build a relationship with. So I think that's gonna be my answer for that. Okay.

No, I love it. It's good. Third question. How do you wind down at the end of a long day?

Is this when I'm not at Disney?

It doesn't matter. They're all long days at Disney.

Exactly. So, you know, um, I love to read.

Okay.

I am an avid reader. I usually have a book of some kind in my hand. Um, now it's usually on my Kindle, but there are some books that I just want the feel of a book. But I love to read.

What are you rocking? Fiction? Nonfiction?

Yes, I'll read.

I'll—

I usually am in the middle of about 4 to 5 at a time.

Okay.

I think I'll read everything from Jane Austen to Tom Clancy to Beth Moore. to my Bible, to, you know, whatever, whoever. I'm very, I guess, eclectic.

Okay, what's got your attention right now?

Um, I would have to look at my Kindle.

You've got options. So have you ever read Neil Gaiman's Walt Disney?

My husband is the big Disney book reader. That's not really my genre. Okay, I'm more of a— so I really like the classic Classics. I like action-adventure type stuff. I like murder mystery suspense. I love a devote— I want to say devotional type things, but I really do devotional. I'm not really a self-help book kind of person. That's not really where I go. Not that I don't think I need it, but it usually convicts me beyond what I'm reasonably able to bear at the moment.

There you go. I got a new Christmas present from my parents. Yeah, it's a devotional book written about— so it's 100 days.

Okay.

And each day is a different experience at the Disney Park.

Oh wow.

They go through all of the different attractions. So, so like they've got a section on Tomorrowland, so that, you know, they go through the different rides and they connect it back with a devotional thought.

It's pretty—

Oh, that is really cool. Cool.

Yeah, I'll have to get it to you.

Absolutely. That's a really interesting— yeah.

Yeah, it's, it's pretty neat. Pretty neat. All right, next question. Uh, what is one of the best pieces of wisdom or advice you've ever received?

Okay, so y'all are gonna laugh. Are you ready?

I'm ready. I love to laugh.

So years ago, I— my parents have been married for 50 years.

Wow.

And And it's probably been about 5 or 6 years ago. I was just talking to my dad and I said, you know, okay, so my dad is just a very God-fearing, loving man. He's very, very patient, very kind, very quiet.

Mm-hmm.

My mother is very passionate. She is a little more outspoken than my dad. She's a great woman, great servant's heart. Love her dearly. They're just polar opposites. And so being that they're polar opposites, I said, you know, what's the secret to a long marriage? And my daddy looked at me and he said, well, patience is a virtue and murder is a felony.

Oh, that's good.

And so I've really kind of I've adapted that into my life, and not just my marriage.

Oh, that's so good.

But raising teenagers, it became very appropriate for that as well.

Yeah.

Um, and even dealing with clients sometimes, or people at the grocery store, or at Disney World, or on a cruise ship. It doesn't really matter.

But that murder's a felony.

That's right.

Patience is a virtue and murder is a felony. And so I haven't cross-stitched in years, but I feel like that might be one that might hang on my wall.

Oh man, that's good.

I'm gonna hang on that one.

That's the best piece of advice I've ever been given.

I love it. Well, um, so Craig always has one extra. He's got one extra question.

The secret question. Yeah, because Kevin asks the other 4.

That's right.

He's selfish with the questions.

I am.

No, how do people get a hold of you if they want to find you?

Oh, I'm so easy to find. Y'all can just hop on Facebook.

Okay.

So Facebook is Memory Making Vacations, or it is @MyMMVacation if you are an Instagram user. On Twitter as well. My website is memorymakingvacations.com, and my cell phone is 936-689-9870. And so you're welcome to call or text or whatever. I'm available.

Fantastic. And we'll link all that up in the show notes so people can find you, get a hold of you, and book many, many vacations.

Many, many vacations.

Yeah, that's right.

Anything else, Kev?

Man, I think we've covered a lot.

We covered a lot.

There's a, there's a lot more to get, but yeah.

Well, I wore my first button today.

That's right, she was her first.

I have my first Disney Or that means we're just gonna have to have you back.

That's right, we need a second visit button.

Yeah, they have anniversary buttons.

They have buttons for everything.

Yes, they do. Yes, they do. Well, thank you so much for, uh, taking the time to, to come out and, uh, record with us tonight. It's been our pleasure. Thank you so very much. Thank you, all of, uh, you out there that are listening right now that have stuck with us. This has been a long episode. Thank you for, for listening, for downloading, for subscribing. If you haven't already, go ahead and click that subscription button and tell your friends about us. Leave us a review, a rating on iTunes. That would be fantastic. Thank you so much. We're here every Tuesday. Until then, we will see you next time. See ya.