Salty Zebra

There's nothing that quite makes my heart go pity pat like the sound of Disney music piped through the speakers at the entrance to a Disney park. The anticipation and joy almost move me to tears. I've spent many vacations at Disneyland in California, including my honeymoon and 10th anniversary. I know those Parks like the back of my hand, and you could drop me in the middle of them any day and I'd be able to find my way around without trying. For our 25th anniversary next February, however, we decided to go big and visit Disney World. I really had no idea what I was signing up for when we chose this. I found out later that all of Disneyland, California Adventure, and the Downtown Disney District can fit into the Magic Kingdom at Disney World, and the Magic Kingdom is the smallest of the four theme parks! The entire Walt Disney World resort area is 43 square miles, the size of San Francisco or double the size of the island of Manhattan. When I learned this, I kne...

 I know a fair amount about travel, but one of the most important things in travel, or anything else in life, is knowing your limits! For most trips I am happy to do the research and book things myself, but every once in a while, it's time to call for help. There are a variety of reasons to do this.  This year, as I mentioned last week , our family is taking a trip to Disney World. This is both one of those trips that has lots of details as well as a trip that is very important to me. Some members of my family have affectionately referred to it as my "Death Trip" because when I was asked what travel was really important to me during this season while I'm able (recognizing a season is coming, and potentially soon, when I won't be able), I knew I wanted to take my family to Disney World. My husband and I got to go for our 25th anniversary, just before I was diagnosed with my brain tumor. Disney, and in particular Disneyland, has held a special place in our family...

So what was it like using Disney Resort transportation with a wheelchair? There were a lot of positive experiences, and a few negative ones. Firstly, I was pleased to discover that there is a separate wheelchair queue for the buses. It's right up front, and allows the driver to see that you will need assistance when they pull up. After the bus has unloaded, the driver closes the front door and opens the doors in the middle of the bus. They cause the bus to dip towards the curb and then extend a ramp. I had to line up the wheelchair with the somewhat narrow ramp, then maneuver up the ramp and pivot sharply into the wheelchair securing spot. Thanks to the maneuverability of this chair, I never had any trouble with this process. Then the driver secures the front and back of the chair to the bus with ratcheting straps and helps you put on a seat belt. They will repeat that process with another wheelchair or scooter if there are more waiting, but they can only take two mobil...

 Prior to our family's recent Disney World trip, I invested in an add-on called "Memory Maker." My husband and I had this for our previous trip, but didn't figure out how to really use it until the last day! This time around, though, we got our money's worth 😁!  Memory Maker is offered through Disney either as an add-on to your Resort vacation or even just by itself. If you purchase it at least three days before your trip, it is only $185 at today's prices (things change quickly on that so YMMV). If you wait and purchase it after you arrive, it is still just $210, and I'd still call it a bargain - which is something I hardly ever say about Disney! You do have an option of purchasing a one-day Memory Maker for $75 if you're just there for a quick trip. If your whole group is linked together in My Disney Experience, any photos they take will be connected to your account as well, so you only need one Memory Maker package per group. A little vocabulary h...

   Sixty days out from your trip, if you're staying in a Disney resort, you can begin booking dining reservations. This is a really big deal. I literally stayed up until 4 am, 7am eastern, when reservations opened for our trip so that I could get us into the places I really wanted to take everyone. In order to be able to do this, though, I had to know where we were wanting to eat. You see, there are 264 restaurants in Disney World, and we will only be there for 10 days. Choices had to be made. I poured over  websites  and  YouTube  FOR MONTHS. Not kidding. I had things playing in the background while I worked on other stuff, I filled out spreadsheets of ideas, I literally thought about what we would eat at Disney World for months. Much of this research was done via the DisneyFoodBlog, both their website , their paid package , and their YouTube videos .  Part of this is planning out at least a basic itinerary of where you want to be each day of your t...

Note: I am an Amazon Associate and if you shop through the links in this post, I will receive a small commission. This does not change your price, but enables me to continue my Salty Zebra Adventures!  "What's a park bag?" you might ask? I can't wait to tell you! Park bags are more of an art than a science and everyone has to figure out what's best for them. One person wants to walk around in Disney style with a LoungeFly bag:  Another might keep it simple with a fanny pack :  And still others minimize with a running belt :      Regardless of your conveyance, you're going to need something to carry your stuff around the Disney parks. Bare minimum, you'll have a cell phone, wallet and a water bottle that you're not going to want to keep in your hands! But what else might you need to make your park day great? I've got you covered! Rain  I'm from the Pacific Northwest where we are comfortable with rain. If you see someone with an umbrella, they...