Why I Oughta...

I've written about 'freebies at Walt Disney World' over the years on the blog.  There's the business card that we got from the Mayor of Main Street USA .  He's dead now , so I don't think they're doing this any longer.  There's also an official 'guest skipper' license from the Jungle Cruise Skippers .  And a card from Soarin' that is labeled "Born to Soar" that allows little ones to 'fly' the ride as soon as they hit the height.   There are also plenty of character stickers from various cast members and DVC kiosks like Minnie Mouse  and Mickey Mouse.  And you can get a Celebration Pin everyday or special pins on other days like Mickey Mouse's birthday  or a special pin if you participate in the Star Wars Jedi Training .  If you look hard enough, you can also find 'job role' stickers like Honorary Custodian  or  WDW Monorail Pilot .  And there's, of course, transportation cards. Another one those is the

Here comes #32 in the [ coaster collection ] here on the blog with this one from Disney's Contemporary Resort that features the neat retro-ish logo with the monorail running right through the hotel.  The most recent coaster I posted was one from Half Acre Brewery . This is also the #10 of the collection that relates to Disney.  10/32 or 31% are Disney-related with the most recent one from Enzo's Hideaway that I posted back in April of this year .  I found this in a pile of coasters that I had stashed in my office closet after cleaning it out over the Thanksgiving break.  It is now sitting on my desk along with a few others and will get used for a while before being discarded. The ten Disney-related ones include: 1. The standard one you see in your rooms @ Walt Disney World resort hotels . 2. This black and white one from the original Disneyland Resort Hotel . 3. This *new* Walt Disney World resort hotel version that updates the look of #1 above. 4. One from the

Here comes #27 in the [ coaster collection ] here on the blog.  This one is from a place called Enzo's Hideaway and Tunnel Bar - which happens to be down in Disney Springs.  And being as such, this one marks the 10th coaster that came from a Disney property as part of the collection.   The most recent Disney-related one was from the Abracadabar.   The other Disney ones are varied and include this one from the Boathouse , the Flying Fish restaurant , the Skipper Canteen , Raglan Road restaurant in Disney Springs, the Disneyland Hotel and Walt Disney World resort hotels as well as the *new* Walt Disney World resort hotel version . We had dinner down at Enzo's Hideaway recently and I'll give it a mixed review.  Cool place.  But, slow service and just ordinary food.  Cool coaster, though.

I've posted about Walt Disney World Transportation Cards in the past here on the blog.  They're cards that are given out by Transportation cast members (boat captains, bus drivers, monorail pilots and what-have-yous) to guests at seemingly random intervals.  In December of 2016, I posted about how we scored a pile of them from a boat captain on our way back to the Wilderness Lodge .  And in August of last year, I posted a Friendship Boat card that one of the kids was given on a ride to the Hollywood Studios .  And most recently, on January 1st of this year, I posted a photo of the coolest (at least to me!) Transportation Card:  the Electrical Water Pageant . Today, I'm sharing another card in the series:  the Motor Cruiser.  This is the boat that takes people to/from the Magic Kingdom and what I think might be my favorite Disney Resort Hotel - The Wilderness Lodge.   And this might be my favorite boat?  It has these big windows that they usually have wide open and ther

Starting the year out the right way:  celebrating vintage Walt Disney World with this Electrical Water Pageant Transportation Collector Card. I've posted about these in the past.  Here's one from the Friendship Boat that we received leaving the Yacht Club dock as we headed towards Hollywood Studios.  And here's a post from December of 2016 (can't say "last year" any more?!?!) showing a set we received from a captain on our way to the Wilderness Lodge . This one is kinda odd, isn't it?  I mean...it isn't exactly transportation, right?  You can't ride on it?  I guess it does move, but if that was the only requirement, they'd offer cards for things like horses that you can't ride or some of the other maintenance vehicles?  Maybe they do?!?!

During a recent trip, we finally found time to sit down and have a beverage in the Abracadabar on Disney's Boardwalk where they have these neat, custom coasters.  It doesn't do any magic tricks or illusions like the "posters" on the wall, but it is cute to see the top hat as cocktail glass being used here, isn't it?   Full [Coaster Collection] is here .  Including this new one, I'm up to 20 total coasters in the collection and 9 (and counting) Disney-specific coasters including this one from the Boathouse , the Flying Fish restaurant , the Skipper Canteen , Raglan Road restaurant in Disney Springs,   the Disneyland Hotel and Walt Disney World resort hotels  as well as the *new* Walt Disney World resort hotel version .

You can't roll a stroller into a Disney World hotel and not have someone hand you a Mickey the Mouse sticker.  But a Minnie sticker?  Hmmm....think this was the first and only time one of the kids scored these.  She's the same size as the normal Mickey ones, but has a yellow background instead of the standard white.  You can add this to the list of 'free' things that you can score at Walt Disney World.  The most recent one that I posted about was this Honorary Custodian sticker that one of the kids received for picking up some garbage. These things aren't HUGE (or Yuuuuge...if you'd prefer), but they do make for nice little moments for families that don't cost any money down at Disney.  Here's my list that I've chronicled on the blog. This "honorary custodian" sticker from the Cast member who takes out the trash A Friendship Boat Transportation card The Babe was an Honorary Jungle Cruise Skipper and got a badge, but I don't

I've written a few times about Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party down at the Magic Kingdom in the past.  In 2015, I posted a few photos of Halloween pins and a video of the Sanderson Sisters .  I also posted a photo of a Christmas ornament - yes Christmas - that was a Mickey-shaped pumpkin .  And, finally, that same year, we picked up a few 'limited edition' pins from the party and I shared a photo of those .    This year, I'll place this year's map here in my diary to remember what things looked like and where the trick-or-treat locations were located.  You can see those below. This isn't the first Parks map that I've posted.  You can see more from Disneyland/Sea Tokyo here .  And the full archive of maps-specific posts here . Boo to you!

This is the third post this week showing off a 'new to us' little freebie/item from down at Walt Disney World that we picked up on a trip.   The first was a new Transportation Card from the Friendship boats around the Epcot Resort lake area .  The second was the 'Honorary Custodian' sticker that the King of the Ball Tossers was given.   Today it is this sweet Walt Disney World Monorail pilot wings sticker. As we were walking up the ramp to board the Monorail at the Epcot Center, one of the Cast Members/Monorail Pilots directed us towards an open section.  Then, she whipped out a set of these stickers.  We've never seen them before, so they're totally new to us.  And the kids loved them.  All three of them put the stickers on - right after I took this photo. In terms of ranking the 'coolest' factor of these freebies, I think these Monorail Pilot wings come in right behind the business card of the Honorable Christopher George Weaver, the Mayor o

Here's another fun little thing that the King of the Ball Tossers (KotBT) picked up when we were down last time at Walt Disney World.  Earlier this week, I posted a photo of a new Transportation Card we picked up on the Friendship IV .  We were in one of the parks and stopped somewhere eating popcorn out of one of those buckets that they sell you for $10 and give you $1.50 refills (best deal at WDW, amirite?!?!) and we must have dropped something like a paper cup.  The boy got out of the stroller and went over and picked it up and carried it to the garbage can and put it right in.  A Disney Cast Member in custodial must have been watching him and after he came back to the stroller, she came over and said "Hey!  Thanks for the help Little Buddy!"  And peeled off this sticker and handed it out.  The KotBT smiled big at her and took the sticker.  He shyly - as he usually does - buried his head into the side of the stroller.  I thanked her and we moved on.  A minute later,

Back in February of 2016, I posted a photo of the in-room coasters from the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Hotel .  The coasters from WDW are found in the resort hotel rooms usually on the little bar/kitchen setup where the glasses/mugs are located near the coffee makers.  The coasters had been the same ones for as long as we have been traveling there until a recent trip when I came across these new ones you see above.  It is a much cleaner look - both in terms of design but also material.  The old one had a soft, brushed texture.  This one is thinner, more flexible and has a more slick - but not glossy finish to it.  Gone is the castle imagery and the clouds.  In is the word 'Resort'. The thinner material and less printing make me think that this is a simple cost-cutting measure.  Sure, the new design feels a bit more 'fresh', but if they're putting four of these in 10k hotel rooms, a penny here and a penny there can start to add up, right? I

Thanks to the out-going nature of one of the Friendship boat skippers, we're now the proud owners of a Friendship Boat-specific Transportation card.  This one is #15 of 27 total cards and we got it on the boat going from the Yacht Club to Disney's Hollywood Studios.   I posted other Transportation cards here on the blog before.   Here's a post showing a few other ones including the Monorail and Motor Launch versions .   Below is the back of the Friendship Boat card that features Merida.   This goes in the file with a few other of our Disney World 'free things' that we've amassed over the years.   This Friendship Boat Transportation card Star Wars Trials of the Temple Training Badge Official Tomorrowland Speedway Drivers License Happy Birthday Mickey pin from Mickey the Mouse's birthday The above-mentioned WDW Transportation Cards  including the Monorail and Motor Launch The Mayor of Mainstreet USA's business card

I came home with a bunch of stuff for the kids from my visit to both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea including pins and easter stuff , but above you see both park maps.  I'm writing this post to go along with the deposit I'm making in my 'stash box'. Having gone to these two parks was on my Disney Bucket list and having gone to them both, I can now check them off.  Into the stash box they go, with this reminder of why they're there. It isn't used for the 'stash' you're probably thinking of, but rather is just a collection of my personal effects and items that I've come across and accumulated over the years.  Everything from race medals to cufflinks that were given to me as a gift to a bunch of lapel pins (fraternity, secret service cleared, etc).  There's a few paper items in there as well.  And now, it will include these maps.  Speaking of my stash box, I think it might be time to upgrade it in size.  Having a small one has been

Back late last year, we had dinner at Raglan Road in Disney Springs and it.was.awesome. We were down there with Nat's folks and they really love a good Irish pub.  They seek them out when they're traveling.  Because we're always eager to try new things on our Disney trips, it seemed perfect to head there and give this place a try.  I had ZERO expectations.  And was totally blown away. They had live entertainment and some incredible dancing on a few different stages.  And there's customer participation.  They invited some kids to go up on stage and if you know my kids, you know that the two girls are sooooo different.  One is bashful and very deliberate.  The other is up for just about anything. So, without much encouragement, up the Bird went on stage.  And she danced!  She was the youngest of all the participants, but that didn't stop her.  Afterwards, she got a few stickers and this sweet certificate recognizing her for dancing with the crew. Oh, and

This is the 15th coaster added to the Coaster Collection here on the blog.   You can find them all here on the Coaster Collection tag page .   The Flying Fish is a table service restaurant located at Disney's Boardwalk Resort out the backdoor of Epcot Center.  And it is fancy.  Like....pretty fancy.  But not fancy enough that we stuck out with our kids.  We did, however, make a fairly early reservation so that likely helped. This is the 15th coaster in total, but is part of a sub-collection of five (and counting)Disney coasters including this one from the Boathouse , the Skipper Canteen , the Disneyland Hotel and Walt Disney World resort hotels .

We've heard about 'transportation cards' at Walt Disney World, but up until this fall, we've never come across them.  They're supposed to be on buses and boats and such, but for the first time, a boat captain (who was in the military and stationed in Antartica!  yeah!  Antarctica!) decided to give the girls a set of cards that she had on hand.  They included the monorail one above and a few different boat ones like the 'motor launch' below. According to this post on wdwfanzone , it appears that they've had 4 series of cards, the most recent of which were released in 2015. On the back there's some character trivia and a bit of a FAQ on the vehicle. These will likely go into the lunchbox with some of the Babe's best pins along with her Jungle Cruise pilot license.

It has been a few months, but I'm now adding this Boathouse coaster to the Coaster Collection here on the blog .  We ate outside on the pier and I had a preetay preetay preetay great Wedge.  This place has been opened in Disney Springs for more than a year but this was the first time we found time to head there and try it out.  Nat tells me that there's a Gibson's connection, and that's what explains the Wedge and the giant desserts. This is just the 13th in the Coaster Collection.  Figured it was far better and less pack-rat-y to take a photo of them than to actually (as my instinct is) horde them.

This Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd Skipper Canteen coaster is now the 3rd Disney-related coaster in the collection here on the blog .  The other two are both here and are broadly parks-related.  I took another photo or two from the Skipper Canteen and will post those soon along with more details about the place and the menu. This coaster is just out of the box and has just a little bit of a glass 'ring' on it that you can see curling right through the 'i' in Skipper.   That faded font choice is purposeful and looks good on the coasters. I have a few more that I'll post from our recent excursions, but I think this one is the best of the bunch.

If you get a chance, stay at the Disneyland Hotel at the Disneyland Resort.  They really drape themselves in Walt and the place is themed to Disney itself.  Not far-away polynesia or 1920's New Jersey Shore.  But Disney.  Walt and Mickey.  Mickey and Walt. I posted a photo from the Tangaroa Terrace restaurant featuring Walt and the Tiki Room Birds before, but here above is the telephone and internet information guide that they leave on the nightstands.  When you open it all the way up, you get this cool photo of the man himself sitting as his desk with a Donald Duck standing there while he yammers away on the phone.  Pretty clever way to bring some history from the archives back to everyday use.  The touches - including the headboard (which I'll get to!) are just spectacular.  Can you get a cheaper room at one of the "Good Neighbor" hotels right across the street from Disneyland?  Sure you can.  But you can't match the magic of being in the Disneyland Hotel i

Both of these were in the hotel rooms during our stay(s) at both Walt Disney World (Bay Lake Tower) and Disneyland Resort (Disneyland Hotel).    The one on the right from Disneyland is particularly neat with the whole retro vibe and the original DL Hotel sign and monorail. Added these to the 'Coaster Collection' here on the blog .  They take a spot next to the other ones from Ted's and a brewery up in Michigan and others from our travels.