travel Archives - Page 2 of 4

Oct 14, 2014

Spooky Fun at Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends (Giveaway!)

Last month, I spent a weekend at BloggyCon 2014. This was a win-win for me: an intimate, low-key blogging conference, held in one of my favorite Ohio family getaway locations: Cedar Point. I loved all of the tips I picked up at the conference, and I was thrilled that I could bring my family and have a mini-vacation outside of conference sessions.

To make it even better, we were there for the opening weekend of HalloWeekends. This is probably my favorite time of year to visit Cedar Point! Why? Here are a few reasons:

The weather is fantastic! Perched on the shores of Lake Erie, you won’t find a better season to visit Cedar Point than Fall, especially if you’re not fond of the summer heat like me. The temperatures are often mild, and there’s usually a cool breeze coming off the lake. You still need your sunscreen, but you can usually wear a single layer during the day and maybe add a sweatshirt or light jacket at night to stay comfortable.

The lines are shorter. Okay, so this is partially true. During the day, you will still do some waiting in line for the most popular rides, but with summer vacation travel done for the year, the lines are still manageable.

At night, however, with many of the haunted attractions drawing the crowds in, some of the ride lines drop to almost nothing. Few times during the year will you be able to walk right on to GateKeeper and Raptor, but we’ve done it during HalloWeekends at night.

Or ride Mean Streak 3x in a row with no wait in the morning!

Daytime fun is not-so-scary. There are plenty of family friendly activities during the day for the younger set who aren’t ready for their first real scare yet. Planet Snoopy and the Kiddie Kingdom become Planet Spooky and Howl-O-Palooza, with activities like a cornstalk maze, a pumpkin patch, and a foam pit.

Mira, slowly being enveloped by foam. (Note: they do provide towels to get the foam off!)

Kids are encouraged to come in costume for the Monsters’ Trick-or-Treat, and then join the Peanuts gang for a costume contest. (And a very cute show.) I can tell you that Elsa and Anna were definitely popular costumes – there were at least three of each.

Mira and an Anna twin dancing the Chicken Dance while the Peanuts crew deliberated on costume winners.

There’s also a Halloween parade down the midway, and for kids wanting to try their first haunted house, there’s the Magical House on Boo Hill. Cordy and Mira love going through this house, and I promise it’s not scary. You even get a candy treat at the end – no tricks!

The Rides Graveyard. Moment of silence, please, for one of my favorite rides: Disaster Transport.

The decorations around the park are spooky, but during the day everything has a sense of fun to it. Even this monster:

Go ahead, play the video. Yes, he’s singing, “What Does The Fox Say?”

Nighttime fun can be terrifying. Looking for some frightening entertainment? HalloWeekends has that covered. There are several haunted houses and mazes of different themes, as well as six outdoor scare zones.

Since we had the kids with us, and they’re not so keen on haunted houses yet, we didn’t get to check any out this year. But we did walk through Maniacal Mechanical Screamworks (watch out for the ghouls who will zip past you on wheeled kneepads!) and Cordy and Aaron were brave enough to go through CarnEVIL. Not me, though: I don’t like clowns in general, much less evil clowns.

I like scares, but prefer to focus on the beauty of the park at night.

The kids did find parts of these walkthru areas a little too frightening for them, but the actors are very aware of when someone has had too much and will adapt as needed.

Last year when Mira started to get too scared halfway through Screamworks, one well-dressed Victorian steampunk ghoul suddenly changed his tone and began speaking to her in a very friendly way, asking her about her stuffed Minion toy, where he could get one, etc. It immediately calmed her down and as a result she had great memories of that scare zone.

If I could pick only one weekend to visit Cedar Point each year, it would definitely be a weekend during HalloWeekends. The weather, the abundant decorations and attention to detail, and the additional themed events make this amusement park even more fun in the Fall.

GIVEAWAY!

You must check out all of this fun for yourself – and hurry, there’s only three weekends left!

Luckily, I’ve got a family 4-pack of tickets to Cedar Point to give away to one lucky reader! Package includes one-day admission to Cedar Point for four – nearly a $200 value.

Here’s the catch – these tickets are only good for 2014, so you must be able to visit Cedar Point at some point during the next three weekends. (Park is open Friday-Sunday through November 2, hours can be found online.) This is a super-fast giveaway, to make sure you have as much time as possible to use these tickets.

To enter, leave a comment below telling me your favorite scary movie or, if you’re not a fan of scary movies, your favorite Halloween tradition. One entry per household – duplicates will not be considered for the giveaway. You must answer the prompt to be eligible.

Entries will be accepted until Thursday, October 16 at 9pm ET. At that point I will randomly select a winner. Winner will have 24 hours to confirm or another winner will be selected. Cedar Point will make arrangements with the winner to receive tickets at the park entrance.

Good luck!

Filed Under: giveaways, local fun, travel ·

Sep 3, 2014

Planning Our Dining for the WDW Princess Half Weekend

By Christina ·

When it comes to Disney, we’re planners. Due to how quickly runDisney events sell out, we signed up for our races within 15 minutes of registration opening, which meant we knew in mid-July that we’d be going back to Walt Disney World for the Princess Half Marathon weekend in late February. Which then started us down the path of planning our full trip: how many days would we stay, which parks would we go to on each day, and several other choices to make. Yes, I already have a spreadsheet for our trip…like I said, we’re planners.

We’ve decided on the days we’ll be there now, but we’re waiting to book our resort package until the spring package sale prices are released. This usually happens in October, so we’re going to patiently wait a bit longer to book our room, park tickets and meal plan. (But believe me, I’d rather have it all planned already.)

The schedule for the parks is published well in advance. If you’re staying at a Walt Disney World resort, it’s worth looking at the schedule to see which parks have Magic Hours that day, giving you an extra hour before the park opens to the public or an hour after the park closes to the public. I love Magic Hours – we’ve had great luck in using that time to easily get on more popular rides without the long lines.

But there was one thing I was especially looking forward to as a result of knowing our schedule this far in advance: dining reservations.

There are dozens of great restaurants at Disney World, so planning out your dining this far in advance may seem crazy. However, it’s really a good idea to get your table service dining reservations as soon as possible. For our last two trips, we made our dining reservations about 2-3 months before our trip, and while we were lucky to get reservations everywhere we wanted, the times available were lousy. Having dinner at Be Our Guest is magical, but less so when your reservation is at 9:20pm and one of your kids falls asleep at the table before she can even take three bites of food.

So this time, we started as early as possible. You can make dining reservations up to 180 days in advance for Walt Disney World. Now, what you may not realize is that you don’t need to already have your park tickets or hotel in place in order to make a dining reservation. You can have all of your dining plans in place before you have any other element of your vacation planned other than the dates you’re planning to be there.

We’re planning to have the Disney Dining Plan again this year, which is a pre-paid meal plan that covers one quick-service (walk-up) meal, one table service meal, and one snack per person each day. What I like the most about this plan is that it also covers character dining – those experiences can often be pricier than a regular meal, but there’s no up-charge if you’re using the meal plan. (The exception is Cinderella’s Royal Table, which requires two table service credits per person.)

Here’s a peek at which restaurants we’re planning to visit during our Princess Half Marathon vacation:

Sanaa – This will be our first visit to Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Villas. I’ve heard so many good things about this restaurant that I can’t wait to check out the fusion of African and Indian flavors. And thanks to the magic of Disney, Aaron will be able to have naan again in a gluten-free version. While I’m looking forward to the food, I also can’t wait to check out the scenery: this restaurant sits on the edge of the African Sunset Savannah, offering views of animals like zebras, giraffes, gazelles and more.

T-REX – After the half marathon on Sunday, there’s a post-race celebration in Downtown Disney that evening, so we wanted to find a late lunch option nearby. We’ve been to a few of the Downtown Disney restaurants, but wanted something new that might wow the kids. T-REX looks like it will do the job. Dining surrounded by dinosaurs, including a 15 ft. T-Rex, should be a lot of fun. Cordy is already looking forward to the Chocolate Extinction dessert.

‘Ohana – This isn’t just a breakfast at the Polynesian Village resort. It’s also a character meal with Lilo, Stitch, and friends. Last year was our first ‘Ohana breakfast. Mira loves Stitch more than any other character, so after Stitch took her hand and let her lead the parade with him around the dining area, of course we knew we’d be coming back! The food is amazing, too: a platter filled with a rainbow of fruit, bacon, sausage, eggs, fried potatoes, breads…and did I mention it’s all you can eat? We’ll be enjoying breakfast here on Monday after the half marathon weekend, and I’m sure we’ll all be happy to fill up on plenty of good food while visiting with Stitch again.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall – This is THE place to dine with the princesses at Epcot. (And the only place for this many princesses at WDW when we’ll be there – Cinderella’s Royal Table will be closed for renovations.) We’ve been to this restaurant twice for breakfast, but this time we’re going in the afternoon to check out the Norwegian lunch menu. Cordy and Mira love the Princess Storybook Dining – each of the princesses visit every table for autographs and photos. We’ve never felt rushed with any of the princesses and they do their best to create a personal experience for each kid. I also enjoy looking at the beautiful interior of this restaurant – it really feels like you’re dining in a medieval castle.

Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant – Imagine having a meal in a classic car, parked at a retro style drive-in theater, while clips of 50’s sci-fi B-movies play on the screen with the stars twinkling overhead. That’s exactly what you can experience at this Hollywood Studios restaurant! This is one of Aaron’s favorites – he loves old sci-fi movies, and the way they create a nighttime, open-air atmosphere inside a building is amazing. The tables look like cars, all facing the movie screen, complete with (dimmed) headlights and tail lights. Our first visit to this restaurant was on the trip for our first anniversary in 2004. The food is great, the glowing ice cubes are fun, and it really feels like you’re in a completely different place.

That’s what we’ve got so far, and I’m very excited! It’s a good thing I’ll be running a 10K before we start all of this eating!

Filed Under: Disney, travel ·

Jun 27, 2014

That Time We Visited Metropolis, Illinois for Superman

By Christina ·

It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?

Ever have those times when you have a lot going on, and your head is just full of things to say, but you have no ability to get it all out? That’s been most of June for me. The last two weeks have been so busy that whenever I found time to sit down and write, I didn’t have the mental energy to form coherent sentences.

I started the month with a horrible sore throat and cough, spending almost two weeks very sick and miserable. Strangely, no one else in the family shared in this illness, which really puzzled me. How was my immune system the only one that failed?

Luckily, I did get better just in time for Aaron’s birthday. This year, he wanted to go to the Superman Celebration weekend in Metropolis, IL for his birthday. Neither of us had ever been to this event, and he had several online friends who would be there. So I arranged to have the kids stay at Camp Grandma and we made the six hour drive to southern Illinois to find the town with the giant 15ft Superman statue in front of the county courthouse.

Things I learned on this trip:

1. The Superman Celebration event is not quite the large, international event that we thought it would be. When the main hotel was booked full for the event, we thought that this would be a HUGE event. We worried about parking and how much it would cost.

Turns out, there’s only one hotel IN the town (not counting the casino’s hotel on the river), and parking most definitely wasn’t a problem. We stayed at the other hotel about three miles outside of the town and drove in each day. No one charged for parking, and there was plenty of it available on any street. This is a small town, with a downtown area spanning only a few blocks each direction. There were empty storefronts next to small businesses trying to stay alive.

And just before you get there, the scariest bridge over the Ohio river. The road is metal grates, and it’s barely wide enough for two cars.

As for the event itself, it did have some notable celebrities as guests (Dean Cain, Billy Dee Williams), but the overall feel of the celebration was more “small town street fair” instead of what we expected. It was just as easy to buy a funnel cake or a snow cone as it was to buy a Superman t-shirt. There were few vendors from outside the area, and artist booths were located right near the BMX stunt bike show and mechanical bull.

Hi, Dean Cain!

2. Southern Illinois is a lot more southern than I would have guessed. This is the same state where Chicago is located, right? I wasn’t expecting Metropolis to feel like a small southern town, although I probably should have considering it’s just across the river from Kentucky.

And when talking to people there, Aaron and I were definitely the outsiders…I mean, beyond the costumes and all. More than once, someone would smile and say to us (in a fairly thick southern accent), “You’re not from around here, are ya? I can tell by your accent.” I never knew a Columbus, Ohio “accent” could be so distinctive, but it let the others in town know that we had traveled far to be there.

Despite being different than expectations, we still had a good time that weekend and the town was welcoming. Aaron enjoyed meeting up with friends he knew from online groups and cosplaying as various superheroes. Of course, there was a Superman everywhere you looked.

Including all varieties of Superman!

He even talked me into dressing up in costume one evening, too.

The guy in the middle makes art using spray paint – how cool is that?

Metropolis does have a couple of really interesting museums, too. One is the Superman museum, with an unheard of amount of Superman memorabilia, art, props and costumes from movies and TV shows, autographed photos, and so much more. One of the capes that Christopher Reeves used was there, along with his flying harness and wig. (I had no idea he wore a wig as Superman.) It was an amazing collection crowded into every possible corner of the small space, and I was really impressed at how many one-of-a-kind items they had on display.

I have no photos of the really cool stuff. I’m sorry to say that I was so busy looking at all of it that I forgot to take any pictures. You’ll just have to trust me that it was amazing.

The other museum (owned by the same person, I believe) is the Americana Hollywood museum. It was probably four times as large, and had memorabilia for nearly every genre movie type out there, including sci-fi, horror, westerns, superheroes and special sections for Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Tarzan, and the “classics” like Gone With the Wind and Casablanca. This museum had few original pieces from movies, but rather had a massive amount of collectibles and replicas. (Although I did see some original costumes from a few movies.) The superhero room was basically a giant tribute to all of the superhero toys – I couldn’t believe how many they had!

And a replica of Maria from the silent film, Metropolis!

It was fun, it was a little silly, and it was a nice escape from reality for a few days. I don’t know if we’ll ever go back again, but it was definitely worth going once.

Filed Under: Aaron, geek paradise, travel ·

May 27, 2014

Mira’s Cedar Point Birthday Extravaganza

By Christina ·

Today, Mira woke up as a seven year old.

SEVEN.

Wait. Wasn’t she just a curly-headed toddler not that long ago?

Last year, Mira insisted on the big party with all of her friends from school there. This year, she traded in the big party for the chance to spend two days at Cedar Point over Memorial Day weekend. We were already going up on Saturday for Blogger Day (disclosure: Cedar Point furnished our park tickets and provided lunch on Saturday), but Mira was interested in making it a two-day long trip, and willing to give up a chance at having a big party in favor of an amusement park adventure.

So, we did. We spent two days at Cedar Point, staying at the Sandcastle Suites resort on-site. Even though Cordy was firmly against the idea of riding anything other than the Tilt-o-Whirl, she agreed to come along, too, just because it was Mira’s birthday weekend.

We arrived shortly after opening on Saturday. Mira was a little disappointed that she was half an inch too short to meet the 52″ height requirement. She was still tall enough for most of the rides, which only require 48″, but it still meant the GateKeeper – quite possibly MY favorite roller coaster – was still off-limits for her.

GateKeeper over the main entrance (photo credit: Stephen Blanzaco)

Our first ride of the day was the Cedar Downs racing carousel, which at this point is a tradition for us. It’s a carousel, so it’s a gentle enough first ride of the day for Cordy, but it also goes faster than a typical carousel, and the horses in each row go back and forth as well as up and down, so there’s a winner in each row by the end of the ride.

Cordy’s many trips on Cedar Downs over the years

After our first ride, we stopped for our sponsored lunch. Cedar Point, having been tipped off by me that we were celebrating Mira’s birthday, had a little surprise for Mira.

Thank you, Bryan, for the fantastic surprise for Mira!

She was thrilled to have a chocolate Dairy Queen ice cream cake. She had asked us for cake and ice cream for her birthday, and was stunned to realize she could get both all at once.

After lunch, it was time to get back to the rides. Mira had asked her sister to ride just one roller coaster with her for her birthday. Cordy has only ever been on one, the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and used to love it, but then last year became scared of it and refused to ride it anymore.

We still use it to track how big she’s getting.

Cordy wanted to ride the Mine Ride as quickly as possible to get her obligation to her sister over with, but then something amazing happened. We all rode it…and Cordy loved it. Then asked to ride it again with her sister.

second and third rows (photo credit: Stephen Blanzaco)

We then went to Camp Snoopy to allow the kids some time to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl a few times. (That ride never gets old.) Right next to Camp Snoopy is the redesigned Midway area, where we couldn’t pass up the Monster and the new Pipe Scream.

At that point, Mira was ready for her next roller coaster. She went for another favorite of hers (and mine): the Iron Dragon. Cordy had never been on this suspended coaster before, but we talked her into it. And? She loved it! Score! Two for two!

Cordy’s smiling at the end of the ride! (photo credit: Stephen Blanzaco)

At this point it was getting really warm, so Aaron convinced Mira to go on Thunder Canyon to cool off. It’s a water ride where you will get wet on the ride. Mira was the unlucky one on their raft to pass under every waterfall. She was drenched.

While they enjoyed having water dumped on them, Cordy and I made friends with the petting zoo animals in Frontiertown. Cordy met her hair-twin, an alpaca she named Andrew.

It was late in the day at that point. Before we could have dinner, though, the kids insisted we visit the dinosaurs in Dinosaurs Alive. It’s a cool area to learn about lots of dinosaurs, with full-size dinosaurs that move and roar and generally look menacing. All of us love reading about the dinosaurs. But we also love being goofy around them, too.

What do you mean don’t turn around? (photo credit: Stephen Blanzaco)

Mira finished the night with the Corkscrew roller coaster, and then we called it a night.

The next morning, though, we were up bright and early to take advantage of the one hour early entry for guests staying at the Cedar Point resorts. Our first stop: GateKeeper. (Well, for those of us who could ride it.) It’s definitely my favorite – it’s a winged coaster, and probably the smoothest roller coaster in existence.

Meanwhile, Cordy and Mira went on the Iron Dragon again…all by themselves. I’ll admit that freaked me out a little, because I’m not ready to consider them standing in lines and riding rides without us, but they were fine. They ended up riding it twice together, because Aaron and I had another roller coaster to conquer: Millennium Force.

Over 300 feet tall, 93 miles per hour top speed, and voted the best steel coaster. It’s intense. I’ll just leave it at that.

At that point, Mira had yet to ride any new roller coasters. Millennium Force was a little outside of her comfort zone, so we offered to take her on the Mean Streak, Cedar Point’s big wooden roller coaster. I was sure she’d be scared of it, but apparently turning seven years old gives you a lot of courage. As soon as it was over, her first words were, “Can we ride it again?” (Cordy decided she was done with coasters for this trip and refused to ride. She drove me around on the antique cars while Aaron and Mira took a second turn on the Mean Streak.)

After two trips on the Mean Streak, we then suggested Magnum XL-200. It’s only 200 feet tall instead of the 300 of Millennium Force, and not quite as fast. Mira trusted our opinion of it, and we stood in line again. I was concerned Mira was going to change her mind on this one. It’s tall. But she decided to be brave and go through with it.

As we were going up the first hill, I could see the worry on her face. I held her hand and told her it would be fun. And then by the end of the ride: “That was awesome! Can we ride it again?” We did ride it again, and even tried to be cheesy for the ride camera.

We forgot to tell Mira to give a thumbs up. She was having too much fun, anyway.

Before we left Cedar Point on Sunday, we bought Mira her first Ride Warrior t-shirt. She had earned it. As we started the drive home, I asked her what she thought of our trip to Cedar Point as her birthday present. “Best. Birthday. Ever!” And then she promptly fell asleep, holding tight to her pink polar bear and her newly purchased stuffed blue dinosaur.

She may be a ride warrior, but she’s still only seven. Happy birthday, Mira!

Thank you to Cedar Point for the park tickets and lunch, and for helping to arrange for Mira’s surprise cake. Also, thanks to Wiccy and Steve for joining us on the trip, helping with the kids, and taking photos. Mira’s summer plans include growing half an inch so she can ride the GateKeeper when we’re back later this year!

Filed Under: family time, local fun, Mira, travel ·

Apr 21, 2014

Highlights from Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2014

By Christina ·

Holy smokes, I don’t even know where to begin in telling you all about the past few weeks!

It’s hard to believe it’s been a week since I was in California for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. I’ve been to Walt Disney World several times, but had never been to Disneyland before this. I knew it was smaller, and the original – 1955 – but other than knowing a few rides that both locations have in common, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The Man and the Mouse that started it all.

This was also the first time the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration was held at Disneyland instead of Walt Disney World, so it worked out well that this was my first invite to the conference. It was ALL new to me!

The question I heard the most from friends and family when I told them I had been invited was, “What is it?” Well, it’s technically a conference. But it’s a called a “celebration” instead of a “conference” partially because the purpose is to celebrate all things Disney and to inform and inspire the attendees in the process.

Disney succeeded on all counts.

I’ve been a Disney fan for a long, long time. The first film I saw in the theater was a Disney film. (Lady and the Tramp) My mom saved up and took me to Walt Disney World when I was nine. Our Christmas tree has always had a strong Disney theme to it. And while we couldn’t have a Disney wedding, Aaron and I did visit the Magic Kingdom on our honeymoon. We had dinner that night in the castle, too, vowing to come back on our tenth anniversary with our kids, which we did last year.

At WDW for our honeymoon (with Bride & Groom ears), March, 2003

The only downside of this trip to California was that I wasn’t able to arrange to bring Aaron or the kids with me. When I received the invite, we had already paid for our non-refundable tickets for Walt Disney World, and I couldn’t justify the flights or more time out of school for the kids.

I’ve promised them that if I get the chance again, they’ll be with me for certain. However, I didn’t go alone. My brother-in-law and his wife were happy to join me for the trip, which resulted in plenty of fun photo opportunities.

Especially once you know where the cameras are!

Disneyland was fantastic, and I came back with a notebook full of stories and quotes and my heart filled with magic, creativity, and accomplishment. Beyond experiencing the parks, I heard about new additions to Disney Parks, new movies coming soon, inspiring speeches on tapping into and finding your creativity, examples of those who found their success and how they did it, and new initiatives to promote healthy living, literacy, and conservation.

Disney’s legendary guest services were on display and proved why other companies come to them for lessons on how to make customers for life. I made new blog friends, saw old friends, and ended my stay with a two mile run through Disneyland and California Adventures that was exhilarating and gave me the feeling that anything is possible.

There’s SO MUCH more I have to share about what I learned while at Disneyland. But it’s too much for a single post. You’ll see more from me soon on Disney Junior’s new Give a Book, Get a Book program with First Book and Reading Rainbow, more on why I’m beyond excited for the new movie Maleficent, and more about the lessons I learned from the inspirational speakers who took the time to share their lessons and stories. Plus more about Disneyland and how it compares to Walt Disney World, too.

In the meantime, I used iMovie for the first time to put together a photo slideshow of some of the highlights of the trip. Enjoy!

“Always, as you travel, assimilate the sounds and sights of your world.” – Walt Disney

Disclosure: I was invited to attend the #DisneySMMoms Celebration. I paid my own conference and travel fees and received gifts during the conference from conference sponsors. All opinions, experiences and thoughts are my own.

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Filed Under: Sponsored-AF, travel ·

Spooky Fun at Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends (Giveaway!)

GIVEAWAY!

Planning Our Dining for the WDW Princess Half Weekend

That Time We Visited Metropolis, Illinois for Superman

Mira’s Cedar Point Birthday Extravaganza

Highlights from Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2014

Hi, I’m Christina!

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