Why I Oughta...

These two Disney MagicBands (Orange Bird on the left for him and Epcot Construction Walls on the right for her) barely had a chance.  They got all gussied up and didn't get to live their best life.  Sure, they rode the Magic Express and rode the boat from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom.  But, they had so much more planned for their journey.  These MagicBand stickers are different than the ones we've used in the past, but they seemed to work just fine.  Here's hoping they'll get to live their best life one day. I've posted photos of some of our MagicBands over the years here on the blog including some of the original version (without the circle bump-out in the middle) here with Mary Poppins and Bert in 2016 and with Monorail Orange in 2016 , too.  And the full boxed versions in 2015 and 2014 .  

I've posted a few times about our experience(s) at Disney's Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World over the years .  It was the first place we stayed on our own as a family, the first place we experienced the Electrical Water Pageant and has the best resort-to-park transportation experience on property (imho) with the boat ride from the dock at Wilderness Lodge to the front of Magic Kingdom.  One of the best spots to just sit and relax on property is in the train room in the DVC studios building on the first floor where they have a bunch of Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific backyard trains displayed .   On our recent trip at the Lodge, we found ourselves in an area that we've never really been before:  a little hidden area on the 2nd floor of the resort that feels tucked away and very private.  There's a big desk to do work and a little couch area, too.  I'll post about that part in a different post.   But, by the desk area....there's a really s...

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...

The fourth and final one of these Happy Holidays wreath pins from Disney resorts is this one from the Wilderness Lodge with Donald the Duck in his winter finest. All of them are on these cute 'front door' cards, which I guess I just noticed after looking at all of them once again.  Turns out, if you go to this post and scroll all the way down to the bottom, the folks at Disney have released a total of 23 versions of this pin for different resorts at both WDW but also at DLR.  Looks like the Poly got Stitch in their's. The four we came across is enough for our pin board! Here's the AKL version . Here's the Fort Wilderness version . Here's the Boardwalk Inn version .

As they continue to transform the Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge into the Boulder Ridge Villas , there's quite a bit of construction at the hotel.  The views are altered, plenty of walkways are shut down and even some of the noise from constructing the villas is present when you're hanging out in your room in the Villa building. So, as a small token of gratitude for folks putting up with the construction, the Mousekeeping service is placing these pins in your room upon check-in.  We moved rooms once, so we ended up getting two of these three sets of pins and the girls loved them! The inside of this little book reads: "Welcome Home and thank you for being our Guest.  We'd like to share our appreciation for your patience while we're working our magic around the Resort with these special keepsakes as our gift to you!" Even if you don't stay there, there's a good chance of getting these pins.  How?  Well...if you find yourself at the Wi...

If you find yourself down in Orlando at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, take a moment to head over to the Villas - which have been recently renamed the Boulder Creek Villas - and go to the "train room".  There, you'll see a bunch of stuff from the Carolwood Pacific train line.  That's the line that ran in Walt Disney's backyard.   They have two of the cars there that you can check out: I took some other photos of the train room (it is a neat space with a roaring fireplace and lots of comfy chairs) that I'll post at some point.  But these two cars, and the box they're in - which has a tramp art style to it - are the stars of the show.  Take the ten minutes after your meal in the Lodge to wander over to the Villas to check them out.  Neat stuff.