Month: June 2018

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Dining at Walt Disney World: Seven Ways to Minimize Costs and Maximize Your Food Dollars

Seven Easy Ways to Save Money on Food During Your Disney Vacation

Food at the Walt Disney World Resort can be expensive.  Believe it or not, the average character dinner buffet costs approximately $46 per adult and $26 per child ages 3-9. These calculations don’t even include the most coveted reservation of all: dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom’s iconic castle which runs $70-$80 per adult and $38-46 per child depending on the time of year.   No doubt about it, eating out at Disney is not cheap. However, there are ways to minimize your costs if you plan correctly. Here are seven easy ways to minimize food costs while enjoying your time at the most magical place on Earth. Continue reading “Dining at Walt Disney World: Seven Ways to Minimize Costs and Maximize Your Food Dollars”

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Top Three Books to Plan the Perfect Disney Trip

For many families, a trip to Walt Disney World is a once in a lifetime opportunity. For others, it’s a yearly tradition.  In the 47 years since opening day, Disney World has become an international destination with nearly 20 million visitors each year. The days when you could pop into a park and just wing it are gone (unless, of course, you’re lucky enough to live nearby and have an annual pass). Disney takes planning if you have time constraints and a limited budget, and the best way to plan includes books. Continue reading “Top Three Books to Plan the Perfect Disney Trip”

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Traveling to Canada: Border Requirements for U.S. Citizens

Living less than 150 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border and having family on the other side, we travel to Canada several times a year.  I often have people ask questions about border documentation, especially since the passport requirements came into effect in 2007. There are several misconceptions when it comes to traveling with children.

Canoeing on Long Lake

Continue reading “Traveling to Canada: Border Requirements for U.S. Citizens”

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Disney Dreaming

I’m busy here planning our next trip to…Where else? The most magical place on Earth–Walt Disney World in Florida! We don’t usually go away in the summer due to Dennis’s job, and this year is no exception.  It’s actually worse because he and my brother are buying Dennis’s company. See me if you need a mover in Northeast Ohio or Northwestern Pennsylvania–I happen to know a few. Here’s a link to Dennis’s company and another to my brother-in-law Mike’s company. Continue reading “Disney Dreaming”

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Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory

Niagara Falls is a short 3 1/2 hours away for us, so it’s great for a weekend getaway. One place that I’d always wanted to visit was the Butterfly Conservatory, located at 2565 Niagara Parkway on the grounds of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens, so one weekend, Dennis and I decided to drive up. Continue reading “Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory”

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Cliffs of Moher

The view at the Cliffs of Moher is an iconic portrait of the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland, one that graces tourism sites and brochures. That being said, I wasn’t too optimistic about our actual chances of seeing the cliffs. The weather is often foggy, and while nearly one million people visit each year, many don’t even catch a glimpse of the famous sight. My friend Wanda had warned me that we probably wouldn’t be able to see anything–her own picture at the Cliffs of Moher had been taken in front of a panoramic photo in the ladies’ washroom.

Continue reading “Cliffs of Moher”

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Saint Dennis, Practically Perfect in Every Way, Except…

If you know my husband Dennis, you know that he’s just like Mary Poppins, “practically perfect in very day.” Even right this minute, as I sit here writing this, he’s out mowing, weed whacking, and getting ready to fill the driveway holes with new gravel. He is constantly cleaning something (which makes me, a cleaning slacker, feel guilty). People have asked if I’d consider renting him out–he’s that good. Continue reading “Saint Dennis, Practically Perfect in Every Way, Except…”

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Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet

On our second day in Ireland, we were offered six optional excursions on the Brendan Vacations / Trafalgar Tours Irish Highlights tour. They all sounded great, so we booked them for a total of 220 euros a person. The first of these was the medieval castle banquet in Limerick.  We didn’t know which castle, but it included dinner. I had wondered if it might be at Bunratty after seeing the padded benches in the vaulted Main Guard Hall, and it turned out that I was right. We were headed to the Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet! Continue reading “Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet”

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Ireland, Day 2: Stepping into the Past at Bunratty Castle

After leaving Galway, we headed south towards Limerick. Our plan was to visit Bunratty Castle and Folk Park in County Clare. Bunratty Castle was built in 1425 and restored in the 1950s and is surrounded by buildings typical of the era including a fisherman’s cottage and farmer’s home. Continue reading “Ireland, Day 2: Stepping into the Past at Bunratty Castle”

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Confidence: A Cross-Country Road Trip

When I was young, my mom insisted that we all learn how to swim because she wasn’t a strong swimmer herself. She took us to lessons at the YMCA in the winter and local lakes and swimming pools in the summer. We all learned to love to swim and passed it down to our children. That confidence served us well.

A History of Road Trips

My mother was also never confident about her ability to drive long distances alone. To be honest, she never had to do it.  My dad usually did most, if not all, of the driving on every trip we went on. I will always remember the first time Mom drove through Toronto. We were supposed to stop and switch drivers, but didn’t, and she passed with flying colors. It was just us girls and the kids–no men to do the driving for us. Continue reading “Confidence: A Cross-Country Road Trip”