traveling on a budget

Put on your Walt Disney World Vacation Pants – Family Edition, Part 2 of 6

| My Vacation Pants
Family selfie at Cinderella’s Castle, the focal point of the Magic Kingdom. – 2015
In Part 2 of my Walt Disney World – Family Edition post, I will talk about the magical Magic Kingdom. Read on to find out how to take a budget friendly trip to this fantastic theme park. If you haven’t seen part ,1 click below.



Let’s start with the most popular of the BIG 4 parks, Magic Kingdom.  Magic Kingdom is full of fantasy, wonder, and excitement.  If you grew up going to Disneyland in the 1980s, like I did, you will LOVE this park even more.  It will bring back so much nostalgia.  It really is a fantastic place for everyone.  Check out the tips below to get the most out of your day here. 

 Magic Kingdom -Tips and Tricks
  • Fast Pass + – Make sure you have reserved your fastpasses for the day on your Walt Disney World account.  See my tips on Fast Pass + in part 1 of this series.  Attractions worth getting fast passes for, if possible:  
    • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
    • Peter Pan’s Flight
    • Space Mountain
    • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
    • Splash Mountain                                                                               
  • Remember: If you get three attractions reserved early in the day, you can go back and order more fastpasses on the My Disney Experience App once you have used them all.  That is the only way to get more than three fastpasses in a day. Also, don’t forget to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours at this park.  If you go to the park during the nighttime extended hours for WDW Resort guests, the park is open until 2:00 AM , and you will pretty much have the park to yourself.  Hard for young kiddos, but we just toted the stroller around while they slept, and the hubbs and I took turns walking on rides.  It was fantastic.  
    My daughter and I got to walk on all the Fantasyland rides during the nighttime Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom. 

    Here is our gang at the Extra Magic Hours at night.  Taken at 1:50 A.M.

  • Vintage Cool Attractions – As I mentioned above, the Magic Kingdom has tons of vintage cool attractions that will take you back in time.
    Don’t miss these attractions that used to be at Disneyland in California, but are no longer there:  Country Bear Jamboree, Carousel of Progress, Swiss Family Tree House, Tom Sawyer’s Island (with the fort and Injun Joe’s Cave open still), Tomorrowland Transit Authority (Walt Disney World’s version of the Peoplemover), and the Rockets on top of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (like it should be).
    Also, they still have The Main Street Electrical Parade.  This used to be at Disneyland, but has been gone for several years.  It was so fun seeing it again. 
    This way to the People Mover.  Nice!

  • Pacing – Magic Kingdom is a larger park, not as large as EPCOT, but it has a lot to do.  If possible, make sure you spend a couple days here.  If you are only spending one day here, be sure you make use of those fastpasses, so you get the most bang for your buck.        
MVP Tip:  A lot of people who have been to Walt Disney’s original Disneyland Park in California decide to skip this park.  They think it is just a replica placed in Florida.  Nope, not the case.  Even the attractions they have at both are way different.  For example, on Splash Mountain you are seated side by side in the log rather than in a row.  It also goes through different scenes from Song of the South as well.  The whole park is like that, but it also has completely different attractions too, like the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  Bottom line: don’t skip it while your there. 

  • Educational Guide – I’m a teacher, so I try to find teachable moments everywhere we go, and believe it or not Disney World is no exception.  Make sure you check out the Hall of Presidents.  Talk to your kids about presidency and how important our founding fathers were.  Liberty Tree Square is a great way to show your kids what Colonial Times were like.  They even have stocks to take your picture in.  Talk about that kind of history with them.  It’s important for kids to know how the world has changed.  The Carousel of Progress at the Magic Kingdom is great show that demonstrates how technology has changed through the years.  You also get to ride around in a circle theater, so that’s fantastic as well.  Tom Sawyer’s Island has a lot of history about the Southern United States and how things were back then.  Also, my husband taught my kids how to play checkers while we were there.  Make history come alive and teach your kids something while you are having all sorts of fun.  Never miss an opportunity to help their brains grow. 
    Checker time on Tom Sawyer’s Island.

  • My Vacation Pants Recommendations- We loved the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  It has very cool technology and is a thrilling ride, but still tame enough for younger children.  If you have never been to a Disney Park, you have to go on the classics like Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room, Small World, etc.  We also loved The Hall of Presidents, maybe because of the The Bill and Ted reference, but it’s educational none the less.   One more thing that is exclusive to the Magic Kingdom, you have to check out the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor at the Magic Kingdom.  It was an interactive show and it was so hilarious we went back twice.  
    It was spooktacular at the Haunted Mansion.

    Jungle Cruise is classic. 
    Space Mountain mimics the Matterhorn track from Disneyland in California.  No side by side seating here. 
    Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as seen from TomSawyer’s Island.

What To Eat

Cinderella’s Royal Table – Yep, it’s just like it sounds, you get to eat inside Cinderella’s Castle.  How cool is that?  On this particular trip Cinderella was doing some remodeling, so we weren’t able to eat here, but we have eaten there on past visits.  Make sure you make your reservations early because they do fill up fast.  It’s a small intimate venue and you will feel like you’re royalty eating there.  This is also one of those splurge places.  Maybe bring some sandwiches for the rest of the day because this place is quite spendy.  Our favorite thing is the pretzel bread.  Not sure if they still serve it, but if they do, you’re in for a treat.  

  • Liberty Tree Tavern – Take a step back in colonial times and enjoy a meal.  This restaurant is located in the Liberty Square section of the park.  We had some good ole comfort food while we were there.  I liked that when you checked in to the restaurant they asked where you were from, and then when they called your family name to seat you they would yell where you hailed from.  It went something like this, “The Vecchio Family from the California Territory, your table is ready.”  It was cute, real cute, and fun to explain to the kids about colonies verses territories and stuff.  
    Out front of the yummy Liberty Tree Tavern.

    It looks like a cute little colonial tavern inside.

  • Dole Whips at the Sunshine Plaza – If you have never had a Dole Whip, you must try this tasty treat during your visit.  It’s basically pineapple ice cream, and it’s so magical.  They have a whole plaza dedicated to this treat at the Magic Kingdom.  You can get it at a couple different places (by the Enchanted Tiki Room and across from the Swiss Family Tree House).  They had an orange pineapple one that we tried that was okay, but for the real deal get the pineapple flavored one, or splurge for the pineapple float.  Yum.  
    Yes, it tastes as good as it looks.  

So there you have it.  My Vacation Pants guide to the Magic Kingdom.  Please comment or e-mail me with any questions you have about this place.  I do know my way around a Disney Park.  Thanks for reading.  Don’t forget to check the links below to help you plan, and follow me on social media for updates about posts and to get even more travel tips. 

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Trip Links
Walt Disney World Webpage – https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/
Theme Park Tourist – http://www.themeparktourist.com/
Part 1 of this Post – http://myvacationpants.blogspot.com/2016/04/put-on-your-disney-world-vacation-pants.html

Also click on headings in the post above.  I linked the important information you need. 


Put on your Cheap Cruise Deals Vacation Pants

| My Vacation Pants


On a 7 night/8 day Alaskan Cruise we booked through Vacations To Go for only $399 a person. -2009

I want to tell you about an amazing website we have used in the past to find fantastic cruise deals.  In fact, for every cruise I find, I start here to make sure they don’t have a cheaper deal.  The website is called vacationstogo.com, and it is fantastic!!!  Let me walk you through how to find the cheapest cruise deals to anywhere you want to go.


I have several websites I look at when I am booking my next vacation.  Google Flights (check out my recent post on that), Trip Advisor, and Travel Zoo to name a few, but if cruising to an exotic or magnificent destination is on your mind, then you need to check out  Vacations to Go!  They are able to offer great deals on cruises by buying in bulk and selling at a discount, or by booking last minute deals.  The website is pretty basic and has been around for awhile.  In fact, you can’t even book online, you have to call to book the cruises, which is old school, and I like to book old school every once in awhile.  The agents are so nice, and once you find one you like you can call their direct extension and book through them again. Follow my steps below to navigate your way through the website and cruise booking.

Step 1: Go to vacationstogo.com and sign up by giving your e-mail address.  Don’t worry.  They just send you a few e-mails every week advertising their weekly deals.  I actually enjoy getting them to see what deals I could possibly get.  Then click on the upper left hand corner button labeled 90 day ticker.  This will bring you to a list of last minute deals that are 90 days, or less, away.


Step 2:  Go ahead and scroll down the list and see if anything stands out to you.  They are divided by cruise regions.  The ports and destinations will vary.  Compare the two prices.  The first price listed is the brochure price, the 2nd price listed is the discounted rate offered on Vacations To Go.  The prices are per person, based on double occupancy, so sometimes if you have four people in a room, you can get it even cheaper per person.  Look below for some deals I found.  


Another cool feature of the site is that once you are on the page above you can sort the cruises listed by price, sailing date, number of nights, discounted amount, and more.  Just click on the headings at the top of the page. 

Here it is sorted by price.  $199 for a cruise through the Caribbean. Nice!


Here is the list sorted by number of nights.

Then there is the super duper advanced search.  This is how you find the cheapest cruise for the time of the year you want to go.  Go ahead and scroll to the bottom of the 90 day ticker.  There is a simple search if you want to look for cruises that aren’t confined to being only 90 days away, but I like the more advanced search.  Click on custom search.  

I usually put in a window of time that I can cruise and put in a price limit.  You can also put in regions and other specifications, but sometimes I just want to find the cheapest cruise for the time of year I can go.  

Here is the list that came up with my parameters.  I do love that there is $179 cruise leaving from the area I live.  Hmmmm, maybe I need to go on a little cruise.  



Step 3:  Once you find some interesting cruises click on the info link on the left-hand side of the page to get the itinerary and extra details.  Sometimes there are even some extra deals that were not listed on the first page.  Notice the red print on the cruise listed below.  
You can get a 7 night/8 day cruise through the Caribbean and South America for $350 a person.  $332 if you are a teacher.  They have a profile page that you can fill out, so you can get further discounts.  Notice you also get a free beverage package. What?!  That’s a fantastic deal.  Many cruise lines only include tea and water for free, so if you want sodas and other beverages, you  have to purchase a costly beverage package per person.  So, including the beverage package in the cruise purchase is a great deal!  Also, remember all your food, entertainment, and lodging is covered in the price of the cruise.  

Not sure about the cruise line?  Click on the name of the boat at the top of page (in blue). It gives you sorts of important information about the boat.  Check out the ship rating and see what kinds of facilities the boat has. 
See below.


Step 4:  So after you have found the cruise you want to go on, go ahead and call the phone number.  Give them the fast deal# listed at the top of the cruise itinerary.
Talk to a nice vacation planner about the cruise.  They will talk to you about the cruise, get your passenger information, and price the cruise with taxes and fees.  If you have more than two people there may even be a discount, because usually 3rd and 4th passengers are cheaper then the first two passengers (and sometimes even free!).  You can book right away with the vacation planner, or you can hold the cruise for a day to think about it. I usually will then contact the cruise line directly to see if they can offer a better deal.  Sometimes they do, in which case I’ll book with them directly.  But sometimes the Vacations to Go price is better, and I book through them. 

Well, that’s about it!  That’s all you need to do to book the cruise of a lifetime. So put on those cheap cruise deal vacation pants and set sail on your next adventure.  

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Put on your Hotwire Hotel Deal Vacation Pants

| My Vacation Pants
Hotel Rosedale in Bakersfield, CA.  Found for only $45 bucks a night on Hotwire. 

This time My Vacation Pants teaches you how to find super cheap “secret” hotels using Hotwire.com.  Read on to find out how easy it is to find a deal on a hotel anywhere you want to travel to. 


It’s time to start teaching you all how to find some great hotel deals on the internet.  One website I have used many, many times is called Hotwire.  The premise of Hotwire is that you select your criteria, dates, location, star level, and they give you a list of several “secret” hotels.  You select the one that looks most appealing, and only after you enter your credit card information and pay for it do they reveal the name of the hotel.  Scary, I know.  I was a little hesitant to try this website at first as well.  I thought, surely, they are tricking me.  They say I am only paying $49 a night for a three star, but it will turn out to be a dump for sure.  Well after years of using Hotwire to book my hotels, I am happy to say that I have found countless deals at otherwise unaffordable hotels.  The site works.  However, you do have to know your way around the website, so I’ll walk you through how to book a killer hotel deal.  


Step 1:  Go to www.hotwire.com and click on the hotel tab. 


MVP (My Vacation Pants) Travel Tip:  The website offers hotels, rental cars, and flights, but I have always found the best deals using the hotel function.  I have also rented cars through hotwire a couple times too, but I seem to find better deals when I book my flights, hotels, and rental cars separately, and not together.  

Go ahead and fill in your information.  Put in a destination, dates, number of rooms, and number of people.  When my kids were babies, I would just put two people in, but now that they are older I count them.  They guarantee a sleeping space for each person you list.  So if you want two beds, you are going to to need to put at least three people in to the search engine.  I have made the mistake of just putting in two people and we get to the hotel to find out they only have rooms with one queen bed.  You can sometimes find cheaper deals for only two people, but it is worth paying a little extra to make sure you have a spot for everyone.  Now ,click the big red button.  

Step 2:  Now let me show you how to select the perfect hotel.  I stay in Anaheim, CA a lot because we got to Disneyland a lot, so that is the search criteria I put in for this example.  I also selected four people.  This is what came up.  


The list on the left hand side will list Hotwire’s Top Picks first.  Sometimes it is a great deal, but you can do better.  Go ahead and make sure the tab on the top says you are on the hot rate hotels page, then right below it click “sort by” and then click “price: low to high”.  This will now list your hotels in order from absolute cheapest to most expensive.  

Also, if you are not familiar with the area you are booking a hotel in, there is a map of regions on the right.  You can click the highlighted green area, and only the hotels in that area will show up on the left. You can select more then one region, so keep selecting until you have all the areas you would choose.  I usually leave it open because sometimes it is worth driving 30 minutes or so for a great deal.  Sometimes you have to be close because you don’t have a car, so choose accordingly.  


So after changing my filter and making my list in order from cheapest to most expensive, I scrolled past all the one and two star hotels until I hit the first three star or higher hotel.  Wow!  I just found a three star hotel near Disneyland (Buena Park is the city next to Anaheim), for only 50 bucks a night.  But before you book it, there are some more things to look for before selecting a secret hotel.  First, make sure it is listed as the star level you prefer.  I find that the Hotwire hotels we have booked are well rated, and do seem to match the star level listing.  We have been burned picking star levels lower then three, but if we stay in the three stars above we are usually happy.  Now you can be dangerous and book a two and half star and get some amazing deals, but make sure you look at the percentage recommended.  If it is lower than 85 percent, don’t do it.  Or be daring and do it, sometimes you can find a hidden little gem by taking a risk.  It’s up to you.

Okay back to my find, notice that this is an all-suites hotel (that is super exciting because that means every room will have a kitchenette, a couch, and bed, so that is fun).  Also notice, it has free internet, and free parking listed in its amenities section.  If it is not listed as free they may charge for parking and internet.  Now the only thing that could spice this deal up a little more is being closer to Disneyland and having free breakfast.  Let’s continue to scroll.  


Here is one on the list that is $69 a night, but it is much closer to Disneyland.  It has free internet and free parking, but still lacks free breakfast.  It does have a high rating, but not enough to tempt me.


I scrolled a little more and found two that have free internet, free parking, and free breakfast, but I wouldn’t book this because they are way more expensive than my $50 find, and it’s only 30 percent recommended.  I wouldn’t risk it with ratings that low.  


This could be an option if I needed free breakfast and wanted to be closer.  I can feed my family breakfast for less than $32 dollars a night though, so I would probably pass. 


This is the cheapest three and half star option.  I understand some people (A.K.A. my mother in-law) don’t like booking lower then a certain star level.  I get it.  Live it up, but please get a good deal.  


Here are some affordable 4 star options.


And for those of you that have to have a 5 star stay, you can book these for normally $500 – $800 night rooms for much cheaper.  Even rich people want a good deal, right? 

So all in all, I would stick with my initial find of $50 a night for an all suite hotel, with free parking and free breakfast, and with good reviews.  





Step 3:  Book your hotel.  Go ahead and click on the hotel in the list.  The above screen will pop up.  It gives you an idea of what possible hotel brands you might get.  If you are still comfortable with the names listed, go ahead and click book now.  Now look at the picture below,  it also gives you a list of hotel features, and a chance to upgrade to a room you would like.  It’s usually cheapest to let the hotel choose your room for you.  Remember, they will give you enough sleeping places for the number you listed in your room search, so if you put four people, you‘re not going to get a room with just a queen bed.  I know it seems stressful to choose the unknown, but I‘m telling you, it works.  


One final thing you can check before you book your secret hotel is the Trip Advisor ratings that are listed on the site.  Trip Advisor is one of my favorite travel sites because it gathers reviews and gives pretty accurate ratings for a hotel (I’ll do a Trip Advisor post in the future).  Sometimes I cross check the site to see if I can figure out what hotel it might be. If I go to Trip Advisor and look up the three star Buena Park All Suite Hotels that have three and half circles, then compare the amenities available, I can often figure out the secret.  This is for those of you that just can’t stand the unknown.  As I said before, I know it is hard to book blind, but with this little trick you may not have to.  You are definitely lowering the risk factor with a little detective work.  If you’re still comfortable, go ahead and click “book now.”

  
At this time, Hotwire will ask you to sign in to your account, or sign up for an account.  This is what the final page before booking looks like.  Make sure you check that the rate is correct.  Also, this is the first time they will show you how much your room will be with taxes and fees.  $10 dollars is not bad at all.  If the hotel charges a resort fee, it will tell you that you pay that directly to the hotel once you get there.  Another plus about this hotel is that even though it is in a resort area, it does not charge a resort fee.  Awesome!


Click “book now”.  Your credit card will be charged and your hotel will be booked.

Now, the name of your hotel will be revealed.  Voila, this is what I got.  Looks nice to me!  You can now check out the listing on Trip Advisor for the hotel you booked to make sure you got a deal.  Which, from the looks of it, I did!!! 

Still not convinced? Take a look at the list of past hotel purchases we have made on Hotwire:

  • Holiday Inn Resort, Galveston, TX, three stars, $77 a night, January 2016
    Super nice pool right across from the ocean.


    The pier is nearby too.  Phil is pointing out his excitement.



    Look at the view from our balcony. #handsome



    We definitely got a pool view.


    Combined with an ocean view.  Nice. 


    This is the view from the corridor.  We were getting on that Disney Cruise Ship in the distance. 
  • Staybridge Suites – Austin Airport, Austin, TX, three stars, $84 a night, January 2016
    The kids eating breakfast from their couch bed.


    Gotta love a breakfast bar with Texas shaped malted waffles. 
  • Hotel Rosedale, Bakersfield, CA, three stars, $45 a night, December 2015
    Great Breakfast.  Malted waffles make me happy. 

    The hotel corridors were unique.

    Yep, that’s a teeter totter at a hotel.  


    The pool area.  Nice hot tub. 


    The patio area with a pool view.
  • Hyatt Place, Phoenix, AZ, three stars, $65 a night, December 2015
    Phil had a brothers night.  A perfect place for a bro getaway. 
  • ALO Hotel by Ayres, Garden Grove, CA, 3 and 1/2 stars, $80 a night, October 2015
  • Crowne Plaza, San Diego, CA, 3 and 1/2 stars, $89 a night, July 2015


    My daughter enjoying a book in the comfy bed. 
  • Best Western Plus – Flathead Lake, Kallispell, MT – 2 and a 1/2 stars, $99 a night, June 2015
    This place was great.  They had cheese blintzes at breakfast and a great view. 
  • Wyndham – Anaheim Garden Grove, CA, 3 and 1/2 stars, $79 a night, April 2015
    Once I found out that I had gotten this place on Hotwire, I called and asked if they would upgrade us to the bunk bed rooms, and lo and behold, they did!
  • Best Western Casa Grande, Arroyo Grande, CA, 2 stars, $85 a night, March 2015
    Cute little breakfast nook area.


    The lobby was super amazing looking.


    The grand stair case in the lobby. 
  • Desert Palms Hotel and Suites, Anaheim, CA, 3 stars, $66 a night, January 2015
  • Aquarius Casino Resort, Laughlin, NV, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $35 a night, November 2014
  • Holiday Inn Express, San Diego, CA, 3 stars, $65 a night, October 2014
    Any hotel that  has a  bed that can fit a family of 4 for a selfie is a friend of ours.
  • Ayres Suites, Corona, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $55 a night, August 2014
  • Embassy Suites, Brea, CA, 3 and a half stars, $69 a night, July 2014
    We love Embassy Suites.  They all have an amazing jungle atrium lobbies with fantastic breakfasts and they are an all suite hotels.  Plus this time, they upgraded us for free.  Nice touch.  
  • Holiday Inn Express, Show Low, CA, 3 stars, $70 a night, March 2014
    We enjoyed the inside bridge between the buildings.


    Totem Pole
    It also had a small little playground.  Great for young kiddos. 



  • Prescott Hotel and Conference Center, Prescott, AZ, 3 and 1/2 stars, $69 a night, March 2014
    Hanging poolside.


    Sweet indoor pool that we got all to ourselves.


    Enjoying the hotel furniture.


    This was the view from the back terrace of the hotel.  Prescott is beautiful.  It sits on a hilltop, so you can see everything.


    Look a this kid.  He’s so cool, and so is the nice bed.
  • Luxor Resort, Las Vegas, NV, 4 stars, $34 a night, July 2013
    The lobby.

    In front of the hotel.


    Poolside.
    What a steal!  My mom got us an upgrade for $34 bucks a night.  Cheapest I’ve ever paid for a 4 star hotel.
  • Colton Inn, Monterey, CA, 2 and a 1/2 stars, $102 a night, June 2013
  • Holiday Inn, Santa Maria, CA, 3 stars, $64 a night, June 2013
    My bro in law made some killer breakfast burritos here. 


    Huge rooms. 
  • Ramada, Hagerstown, MD, 3 stars, $56 a night, March 2013
  • Doubletree Hotel, Wilmington, DE, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $66 a night, March 2013
  • Best Western Plus – Chincoteague Island, VA, 2 and a 1/2 stars, $54 a night, March 2013
    The kiddos insist on making little beds out of hotel furniture. 


    Chincoteague Island is known for their wild ponies that roam the island.  We found some Un-wild ponies across the street from the hotel. 
  • The Padre Hotel – Bakersfield, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $56 a night, December 2012
    This was such a cool hotel.  It was an old hotel all glammed up for a new age.
  • Best Western Seven Seas, San Diego, CA, 3 stars, $45 a night, December 2012
    Sometimes, if you are real sweet, they will upgrade you to a suite with a hot tub.  That’s always fun.  
  • Knott’s Berry Farm Resort Hotel, Buena Park, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $55 a night, November 2012
  • Sheraton Hotel, Cerritos, CA, 3 and a 1/2 stars, $66 a night, April 2012

Well, there you have it.  What are you waiting for?  Go book a hotel and then come back and tell me about the amazing deal(s) you found! 

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Put on MY VACATION PANTS and take a trip to everywhere

| My Vacation Pants

Let me take a moment to introduce myself.  My name is Janelle Vecchio, and I am a wife, mom, and a teacher.  After those three things I’m an avid traveler, but not in the typical sense of the word.  My husband and I like to plan travel to new and exciting destinations with our daughter and son, but we do it for very cheap, and you would actually never know it.  



We post our pictures on social media and we always get tons of, “Can you be my travel agent?”  or “How do you find these amazing places?”  A friend’s mom who follows our journeys on social media was talking to her son and asked him, “How do Phil and Janelle take such amazing vacations all the time?  Are they rich?”  The funny part is we are “rich” in many ways, but not really financially.  We are a single income family.  I’m a teacher.  Our family of 4 has lived off my income only since 2008 when our first child was born.  My husband is an amazing stay at home Dad.  We chose this life together because we didn’t want our children to go to Day Care.  We wanted our children to be raised by us.  Teachers technically only work 182 days a year, so I get a lot of time off to adventure.  One of my favorite things to do when I am off work is to leave home and go somewhere.  It doesn’t have to be far.  I guarantee there are adventures in your own backyard that you haven’t discovered yet.  Vacation is what you make of it.  It is adventure.  It is fun.  It is spending time with the people you love the most near or far.  

If you came to my house, which we do own, you would notice that not much has changed since we purchased it in 2010.  We do not need a fancy remodeled house. We do not buy new furniture.  I do not buy jewelry.  I don’t wear make-up.  I don’t buy expensive clothes.  I don’t drink Starbucks unless someone buys me a gift card.  We choose to spend our extra income (the little we have) on traveling.  I am not saying that it is for everyone.  We take about three to four BIG trips a year, and countless mini-vacations.  We are extremists, but even if you chose to cut back in one area to travel, you can afford to take a trip as well.  

In this day and age, it is hard to make a living as a travel agent.  I book most of my trips on the internet, along with my husband helping on his computer.  I thought this blog would be a better way to get my information out to the masses for FREE.  I can’t wait for you to put on your vacation pants and travel with me.  I plan on writing about many vacations we have taken in the past, and giving you a behind the scenes look of how I booked it, what we did, how we played, and where we ate.  Here are some pics of our trips we took in 2015, so you can get a quick idea of where this family goes.  Hope you guys are ready to join in on the fun! 

Sea World, San Diego- 2015


Coronado Island- 2015

San Diego Botanical Garden- 2015

Phil had a panel at Comic Con San Diego, 2015.

We have a reciprocal pass to Botanical Gardens around the United States and Canada.

Pirate Ship Cruise, Big Bear Lake- 2015

Big Bear History Museum- 2015

We have Disneyland Resort passes, so we go a lot. 

A vacation in itself, eating chicken and waffles at the Roscoe’s in Anaheim, CA, 2015.

Big Thunder Mountain, Disneyland- 2015

Mickey’s Halloween Party- 2015

Duffy Boat Rental, Newport Beach, CA- 2015

Sometimes we like to dress in a nautical theme for our ocean trips. 

Legoland California, Carlsbad- 2015

Skipping Rocks, Parker, AZ- 2015.

Hiking in Grapevine Canyon, NV- 2015

We were craving churros one night so we went to Disneyland after work and school.

Banyan Grove, South Coast Botanical Garden- 2015.

We went to Disney World this year.  We are huge Disney fans and we know how to do Disney vacations as cheap as humanly possible.  

All-Star Music Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida- 2015

Late Night at the Magic Kingdom.  They let hotel guests stay late one night a week.  

Cinderella’s Castle, Magic Kingdom 2015.

Dolphin and whale watching cruise, Newport, CA- 2015

Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA- 2015

Pirate’s Dinner Adventure, Buena Park, CA- 2015

Spring Break Road Trip- 2015

Solvang, CA- 2015

Giant Bird House in Arroyo Grande, CA- 2015

Pismo Beach Boardwalk Hike- 2015

Sunset at Pismo Beach, CA- 2015

Believe it or not, this is an urban hike in the middle of downtown Arroyo Grande, CA.

Pismo Beach, CA- 2015

World Famous Splash Cafe clam chowder bowls, Pismo Beach, CA- 2015.

Stayed at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA.

The Sky Room, Madonna Inn- 2015

Late night swimming at the infinity pool at the Madonna Inn- 2015 

Bubble Gum Alley, San Luis Obispo- 2015

Morro Bay, CA- 2015

Tide Pools just outside of Morro Bay- 2015 

Montana De Oro State Park, CA- 2015


Elfin Forest Preserve- 2015 


Whale Watching off the coast of Newport Beach- 2015.  We also saw a humpback whale.  

Los Angeles Arboretum, Arcadia, CA- 2015


Late night trip to Disneyland.  One of the cast members swept the leaves into a Mickey.  Disney magic at its finest.

Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary, Phelan, CA- 2015 

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro, CA- 2015

Hidden waterfall hiking trail I found searching for hikes on google maps, Kalispell, MT- 2015

Sanpoint, ID- 2015

Cedar Walk at Glacier National Park, MT- 2015

Continental Divide, Glacier National Park, MT- 2015

Found a mountain goat hiking in Glacier National Park- 2015

My son, Luke, on top of the world in Glacier National Park, MT- 2015

We were a short drive to a Canadian province we had never been to before on a recent trip to Montana.  Here we are eating at a Dairy Queen, the only thing open at the border town when we got there, eating poutine.  

Rafting on Flathead Lake, Montana- 2015

Hiking at a campsite in Idywild, CA- 2015

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Anaheim, CA- 2015

Overlooking Kalispell, MT on a short hike.  

We like to clean up trash on our local trails in Yucaipa, CA.

Spokane, WA- 2015 
The wonderment of the Elfin Forest Preserve in Morro Bay, CA, 2015.


These are just the major trips we took this year, not counting day trips and local adventures.  I hope now you to take me seriously when I say my family loves to travel.  This is just traveling that we have done this year.  We are passionate about it and we love it.  Over the course of this blog I will post in detail about these trips.  Please comment about what you want to see more of in upcoming posts.  Until the next adventure…