Tag Archives: Disneyland

I Want It All Or Rather to See It All

Posted in Disney, Travel by

During March I was very busy travelling for work and spent half of the month away from home.  While I enjoy travelling, 14 days away from my family in one month is more than I could take.

A quick visit to Stanley Park while in Vancouver, BC for the joint NAR/AE Conference.

A quick visit to Stanley Park while in Vancouver, BC for the joint NAR/AE Conference.

Apparently it was more than my family could take too, but not for the reason you would think.  They actually managed quite well without me (aside from a rather large laundry pile).  What they did (and still do) have a problem with is listening to me as I continually talk about where I want to travel to next.

You see, while I was away and stuck in a hotel room by myself I spent a lot of time online researching where I wanted to travel to for my next trip, with my family. The more research I did the more locations I realized I want to visit.

I’m realistic enough to know I’m not going to get to visit them all but that isn’t going to keep me from trying to figure out how to visit as many of as I can.

In that quest I’m currently planning my 20th wedding anniversary trip and still trying to figure out how to afford another trip to Walt Disney World for my daughters 16th birthday.

My anniversary trip planning has had some challenges.  I booked a Disney Cruise but my husband, Wayne, has now said he doesn’t really want to go on a cruise.  I still haven’t cancelled it on the hopes he changes his mind. I planned the cruise so I could run the Wine & Dine Half Marathon and then relax on the cruise a few days later.

Since this trip is for him as well, I suggested a visit to Las Vegas so he could attend the tattoo convention and then we could tack on a few days to Disneyland for its 60th anniversary but the timing just doesn’t seem to be working out for that.

Next I found a wonderful jungle lodge in Costa Rica that seemed perfect but it’s very remote and Wayne doesn’t want to spend 2 days travelling just to get to and from our destination.  He has also said he’d prefer an all-inclusive resort but I just can’t find any I like in Costa Rica that seem true to the magnificent natural surroundings.  I’ve always said I want to experience the culture of where I travel to. I don’t want to stay in just another fancy hotel so now I’m back at square one again. I’m looking for something unique whether that be from the excursions available, location or atmosphere.

Where to go?

Looking forward to another perfect beach sunset.

Looking forward to another perfect beach sunset.

A few of my dream trips would be to Cambodia and Vietnam, Bali, Figi or Madagascar but since Wayne currently won’t go anywhere with a flight longer than 6 hours they are out of the running as well for this next trip.  We does however want to see the Great Wall of China so I have hopes that someday we’ll be able to travel farther together.

Mexico can be nice but we have been there so many times now that I’d like to visit some place different. Roatan, Honduras was beautiful but again I want to see someplace new.

Maybe Brazil, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos or Grenada. At this point who knows where we will end up but I’m having fun researching and driving my family crazy with the discussions on all the options.

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Why I love Disney PhotoPass Photo Books

Posted in Disney, Reviews by

Photobook covers

Before I get into why I love Disney PhotoPass Photo Books to show my #DisneySide, let’s start with some basics in case you are unfamiliar with the Disney PhotoPass service.  Here is a quick summary.

As you wander around Walt Disney World, Disneyland, ESPN Wide World of Sports or even Aulani you may see photographers (often wearing a tan vest) with camera in hand or on a tripod and wearing an official name tag.  These are Disney PhotoPass Photographers who can take your picture when asked and then scan it onto either a PhotoPass Card or your MagicBand.

To claim your photos after your holiday is over, you will need to create an online account for Disney PhotoPass Service then enter the code from your PhotoPass Card or MagicBand to retrieve your photos.  Once you have retrieved your photos you can edit them with the multitude of options available for customization including stickers, borders and graphics.

As a word of warning, if you don’t purchase the photos taken by the Disney PhotoPass Photographers they will expire 45 days after they are taken so if you plan to use any of their photos in your Photo Book you need to create it within this time frame.

Disney offers a Memory Maker product for $199 that provides digital copies of all photos taken by their photographers and scanned to your PhotoPass Card or Magic Band.  Memory Maker can be purchased more than 3 days before your trip, at a reduced rate of $169.  Memory Maker appeals to many people who want to be able to post the pictures taken by the Disney PhotoPass Photographers to social media and/or share with friends and family.  You can then also print your photos for putting in an album or use for scrapbooking, etc.

memory maker

Now back to why I love the Disney PhotoBooks so much. My husband was a professional photographer for years and takes a LOT of pictures when we are away so we always have way more than enough photos for me to post to social media sites without having to purchase the Memory Maker package, so as great as it is, I prefer to use Disney PhotoPass website to create a Disney Photo Book.

I upload my favorite pictures taken by my husband and also use some from the Disney PhotoPass Photographers to make my album.  I get to pick my album cover, layout (pictures per page), background and stickers to make it exactly the way I want it.  Once finished, I place the order and a few weeks later this wonderful Photo Book arrives.  It is essentially a professionally produced hard cover book like I could purchase in a book store with good quality glossy paper for the pages.  The only difference is it is designed by me with the photos and comments I want.

6 pages

I know I could create a beautiful scrapbooked album myself but honestly I have better things to do with my time than print my photos, hunt for funky paper, cut and paste everything together all without monopolizing the kitchen table for a week or more, or having one of my cats think it’s a great game to scatter everything across the floor so I have to start all over again.

Aside from the reasons set out above, for me using Disney’s website to create my Photo Book and thereby show my Disney Side is more cost-effective.  The basic Disney Photo Book comes with 20 pages for $79.95 but you can add extra pages in increments of 2 for $3.50 each extra.  I always go over the original 20 pages.  I would end up paying way more than this if I purchased Memory Maker, scrapbook paper, an album and printed the photos.

Black photobook cover

There is also the option of just saving the photos my husband takes on our external hard drive to pull up and view on our computer when we want to but I personally prefer having a book to take to family events to show everyone or just to look back at and reminisce with the kids.  They are keepsakes filled with love that I cherish and they sit in a place of honour on my book shelf.

I can’t wait for my next one to arrive any day now.