Build Your Own Adventure: Grand Canyon, Zions, and Bryce

Emily-Anne Willey • November 12, 2020

6 Day National Park Adventure

I’ve lived in Utah my entire life, and until this week I have spent very little time in South-Central Utah. It is home to state parks, and national parks. I remember going as a young girl….but all I REALLY remember is camping, and a skunk near our tent. I’ve wanted to visit, but when there is a whole world outside of Utah, I really just dismissed it. Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic I have been forced into finding fun travel destinations in my own backyard. Most people dream of coming to Utah and seeing “all the things”, so I decided it was my time to see at least some of it. We only scratched the surface, and I fully intend on going on more adventures in my state. For now, I will share with you our quick road trip adventure. 

Itinerary: 6 Day National Park Adventure
Who: Our little family of 3(2 adults, 1 adorable 5 year old)
When: November 2020 (our 8 year wedding anniversary)

Details:..................................................................................

Day 1:  We left mid-day and began our adventure driving from our home near Salt Lake City, Utah. We drove a quick 45 minutes to Provo where we had lunch. We got back on the road and headed for Beaver, Utah. There is a creamery here that has some tasty ice cream. We made a quick detour to pick up a family friend, then headed for St. George. St. George is “the place” when Utahns talk about state travel. The weather is beautiful in the fall, and we were happy to play in our hotel pool in November.


Day 2:  After a good night sleep we headed for our favorite park, Thunder Junction. This park is incredible. It is an all ability park with slides, ziplines, a splash pad, and a TRAIN! That’s right, for $1 a person you can ride around the park in a fun little locomotive. There are cute little dinosaurs all around, and it’s a fun adventure. 

 

We then hit the road for Las Vegas, Nevada. Yes, I know I said we visited Utah National Parks, but after researching the Grand Canyon, I knew we needed to go there too. The only problem is that it’s quite a long drive to see the Grand Canyon AND the Utah National Parks I had on my list. But, I had a solution…..(more of that on day 3). When we arrived in Las Vegas my husband wanted to go to Bobby’s Burger Palace. It’s one of his favorites. The problem came that it was closed when we arrived. We were super disappointed, but happily settled on Crack Shack(one of our San Diego favorites(that will soon be coming to Utah, as well)). After lunch we went to our hotel, The Residence Inn, just off the strip. This was a great hotel with a pool, for us to spend our evening in. We also checked out Pies and Fries for some tasty poutine(my favorite), and then had some of the best Italian Ice from Philly Freeze Me. It was, no joke, some of the best Italian Ice.

Day 3:  Today is a day I’ve seriously dreamed about for years. You know….bucket list!!! We went on a helicopter ride. I don’t know what it is about them, but they seem so risky, and fun. My husband had ridden in one before, and said it was pretty cool. I had no idea what we were in for, but it was a truly amazing experience. After lots of research I chose Maverick Helicopter. They were one of seven companies operating out of Las Vegas,  and  now (post Covid) only one of three. It was hard listening to how this pandemic has affected this industry. My heart goes out to them, and all businesses that continue to struggle. I chose Maverick for several reasons….their safety ratings, their prices, and the tours they offer. We chose the “Journey” tour. I suggest checking out their website to find the best tour for you, but this one was practically perfect in every way. I wanted a tour that took us to the Grand Canyon, spent time there, and gave us a tour of the Las Vegas strip at the end. My husband would have preferred an “in canyon” landing, but this one was pretty perfect. They picked us up from our hotel in a luxury bus limo at 6:40 am. We picked up 2 other parties and headed for the McCarran Field Executive Terminal where we were greeted and escorted to check in. There were about 20 other parties taking different tours and they had a great waiting area, with a fun gift shop. Our adorable 5 year old MAY have broken one of their magnets, and when we went to pay for it she told us not to worry. We still bought the magnet, and our little angel(ha!) learned an important lesson about the difference between LOOKING and TOUCHING. Maybe, you can relate but it was an adventure. 

 

After waiting until our designated flight time the pilot came and collected our group of 7. Our family of 3 sat in the front on the way out, and in the back on the return. The flight out to the Grand Canyon took about 45-60 minutes. We enjoyed listening to a carefully curated musical selection, as well as some great commentary from our pilot. Flying over the Hoover Dam was a highlight, as was the landing and take off of a helicopter. I had a seat right next to the pilot and I loved seeing all it takes to fly a helicopter(Simply amazing). We then landed in the Grand Canyon(West). I preferred landing here because I had learned it was less busy than the north and south. It is also ran by the Hualapai Tribe. I knew that my money was going to support their tribe, which was nice. Plus, their service and hospitality was top notch.

 

Once we landed we were able to take a shuttle to both the Skybridge at Eagle Point, and then on to Guano Point. We had 3 hours to explore, which was enough time to enjoy Eagle Point, get my husband out on the Skybridge(which is a true architectural marvel), hike around Guano Point, teach the child what Guano is(which 2020 is the perfect time to teach about bat poop), head back to Eagle Point for a fabulous view and  lunch, and get back to the helicopter. Eagle Point had a small trail to see some of the Hualapai teepees, and has great information inside their visitor center. The highlight of this stop is the Skybridge. I mean seriously…………

They have you leave all of your personal items in a locker(both to keep them safe, and force you into utilizing their photographers). I asked our photographer if he was the best (he was the only one available), to which he responded “I think I am.” He did a great job and we were so thankful it wasn’t busy and he could take several photos for us.  I was so proud of my husband. He hates heights, and was a champion for walking out on the glass bottom bridge. It truly was a great experience.

 

Visiting Guano Point was just breathtaking. There are very few guard rails, and lots of places to get right on the edge of the Grand Canyon. There are several little trails for hiking around. Our little Buddy loved all the space to run. My husband and I just had to keep a sharp eye on him as he climbed. We thought it was named after the giant mound that looked like possible bat pop, and were surprised to learn it was really named after the bat cave found near the top. A 3.5 million dollar tram was constructed to extract the guano, but in 1959 a US fighter jet collided with the cables, leaving only the remnants.

 

We still had time after visiting Guano Point that we headed back to Eagle Point for lunch at the ONLY dining establishment around. It was mediocre food, but the views were 5 star. I would recommend eating here to anyone. I would also suggest doing it before heading to Guano Point. You will save yourself the trip back. After lunch we took the shuttle back to the airport where we boarded the back seat of the helicopter. Buddy was in the middle and couldn’t see much, so he ended up taking a nap on the flight back. It was nice enjoying the mountain views, that turned into the city of Las Vegas. We took a trip down the strip to see all of the buildings, and stadium before landing back at the terminal. Again, the music and commentary were enjoyable. We then boarded our shuttle back to our hotel.

We arrived back to our hotel around 1:30 where we were able to go swimming again, and relax before heading out for dinner. A family friend who lives in Las Vegas suggested Ferraro’s Italian Restraurant. It did not disappoint. We finished the night with a trip to the M & M store, which our Buddy loved!!!

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Day 4: On the morning of our 4th day we woke up and headed back to Utah, as far as St. George again. This time we stopped at one of our favorite breakfast places, Hash House A Go Go. I’ve loved them for years, and you can read more about them here. We would have eaten in Las Vegas, but all locations were either closed or had an hour and a half wait. It was easier to drive the hour and a half into St George and be seated immediately (plus it broke up the trip a bit). After breakfast we headed for Zion’s National Park. On the way we stopped at a little shop/village called Fort Zion. It was a petting zoo/kid village. Very cute and worth the $1 admission. 

 

Once we arrived in Zion there were signs indicating that the visitors center was full and you’d need to take the shuttle into the park. With having a 5 year old we didn’t plan on hiking too much, so we decided to forgo the shuttle and just drive around Zion, and stop when we wanted to. It wasn’t worth the hassle to find parking outside the park, shuttle in, see sites, and then shuttle back out. I will say….Zion is MUCH smaller than Yellowstone(if you didn’t know). We had visited Yellowstone in the summer, and didn’t know what to prepare for at Zion. But, we were able to stop at several locations, drive through the cool tunnel, and get out of the park in a few hours. It wasn’t an all day thing for us. I know that we will be back, and do some of the hikes (even the shorter ones) once Buddy is a little bigger.

 

On our way out we headed towards Kanab, Utah where we would spend the night. We stumbled on the Moqui Caves. This was a fun little tourist stop just outside of Kanab. It’s worth checking out online, and then seeing in person. We enjoyed it for about 30 minutes. Admission was a little steep at $7 a person, but 6 and under are free so that helps. We then headed to the Comfort Inn and Suites in Kanab. I don’t want to brag, but we ended up in the only LUXURY SUITE on the property. It was November, which is the slow season so it was around $50 for this king suite that included a sitting area, a bedroom, and a giant bathroom with hot tub. We all enjoyed having so much space to spread out after our driving. We ended our night at Iron Horse Restaurant and Saloon. It was a quaint little place with great décor, and good bbq.   

Day 5:  As an overplaner, I made a goal not to plan too much for this adventure. But, after falling asleep around 11, I woke up at 1 am panicked that we didn’t have anything planned for this day. We planned to drive an hour to Bryce, but whether we would stay in Kanab, or head north I didn’t know. At 1 am I felt it necessary to PLAN SOMETHING. The problem was….nothing is open at this time to make a reservation. So, I did some research, and fell back to sleep with a plan. At 9 am I called to make a reservation for an adventure, but of course it was full. The girl on the phone said she would put me on the wait list should anything open. Well, I decided we would stick around Kanab until we knew if we’d be moved from the waitlist. While we waited we had lunch at Big Al’s, and visited the Little Hollywood Museum. Both were fun, and we enjoyed our time. And….guess what…..we got a call! We were removed from the waitlist after a group cancelled and we were able to head out on an EPIC adventure with Kanab Tour Company. We went on an ATV tour of Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon. This was amazing. We met at their office, got fitted for helmets, and drove to the start point. Once at the trailhead we learned about the machines, where we would be going, and other safety details. We then took off! We visited some sand dunes, stopped at several natural wonders, and of course the slot canyon. The walk through the slots wasn’t too crazy, and about a mile round trip. It was perfect with our Buddy. We all enjoyed it so much.

 

After this epic adventure we headed north for Bryce. It was such a beautiful drive, even as the weather was changing and getting a little colder. We finished with dinner at Bryce Canyon Pines. This place is probably the best place to eat in all of Bryce. The pie was AMAZING. We got a slice of blueberry, and the chocolate cream. My husband would really drive the 4 hours from our home to eat here. It’s that good! We finished our night in our cozy hotel, the Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel. It is a breathtaking lodge type hotel. The bed gave me the best night sleep of the whole trip. 

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Day 6:  After the best night sleep of the trip, we woke up to a layer of snow. It was beautiful. To be completely honest, I was hoping to see Bryce in the snow. I wasn’t ready to just get up and get going though, so we lounged around the hotel for a bit(and watched a Hallmark Christmas movie). It was the perfect way to spend our last day of adventuring. Around 11 we checked out of the hotel and headed into Bryce Canyon. A couple mile in the road was closed and we couldn’t go any further. We were okay with this. We checked out 3 different view points and decided that we definitely want to come back and hike (at least the Navajo Loop Trail). After leaving Bryce we used some back roads to head north. We stopped in Gunnison to make some sandwiches from our cooler. With only being 3 hours from home, and the roads not being perfect we decided to head straight home. This was our longest “drive” the whole trip, and Buddy did great. He ended up watching a movie the last hour. He really is an amazing road tripper.     
 

Once vacations are over it is nice to be home, but I always wish these adventures were longer. I love all of the family time and exploring the world with my little family. I also loved seeing a few national parks and exploring some of the greatness Utah has to offer. It really is BeUTAHful!

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Walt Disney World's Art of Animation Resort

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Disneyland's Magic Key

By Emily-Anne Willey • August 4, 2021
Alright friends, Disneyland Annual Pass Program(AP) is a thing of the past and the NEW MAGIC KEY(MK) Program has taken its place. The namesake is a throwback to the Pre-1968 coupon book that allowed guests access to any ONE ride or attraction. Free admission to the park with coupons to rides and attractions seems almost laughable now. But, this new Magic Key program is exactly what some people have been looking for since the AP program went away. The Disneyland website describes the Magic Key Reservation System as a “cornerstone components of the Magic Key program” which leads us to believe there is more to come…which we hope for....since we are already curious about MaxPass and PhotoPass. The system will be located on the same app we currently use to visit Disneyland, but with exclusive access to opportunities for Magic Key members. During this first launch of information on Magic Key we know there are a few perks to being a MK holder. MK holders will have access to discounts on food and merchandise in the parks as well as Downtown Disney, special dining experiences, access to the Magic Key Terrace with a custom menu, exclusive festival offerings, a special MK month(bringing back the hugely missed AP appreciation program), specialty merchandise, early access to events, Photopass opportunities, and exclusive embroidery options for those mouse ears. Speculation also indicates some pretty cool perks if you are a charter member. If you become a MK holder within the first 66 days(as the 66th anniversary of Disneyland occurs) you will receive a special welcome package. The package will include a specialty pin, celebratory button, magnet, and more. MK holders who enter Disneyland will also have access to a limited time experience at Starcade in Tomorrowland(starting Sept 1) with charging stations, photo opportunity, and other fun surprises. If all of this sounds amazing, you can begin purchasing your pass August 25, 2021 at 10 am PT . Remember, to be a charter member, you’ll want to buy before October 30, 2021. You’re pass won’t officially start until you use it, but you’ll want to hop onboard to be eligible for these charter member perks. It’s actually possible to purchase your pass, AND make a reservation, and be in the park as a charter member ON August 25. That’s right…you still need a reservation. Since the park opening post pandemic, you need a reservation. The new MK takes these reservations into consideration. Gone are the days(as of right now) of just deciding to drive to the parks for an evening adventure. Some of the fine print states “Theme park reservations and valid pass for the same park on the same date are required for park entry. Park reservations are limited, subject to availability, public health orders, and applicable pass blockout dates, and are not guaranteed for any specific dates or park. Additionally, park reservations may not be available on select holidays for certain theme parks at any time.” This post pandemic system also only allows park hopping after 1:00 pm(unless indicated differently in the app). Now, you have to decide which Magic Key is right for you. In true Disney fashion there isn’t just ONE magic key. You have 4 options. Let’s see what they are, and decide which one will be best for your family.

Legoland California

By Emily-Anne Willey • June 15, 2021
It's no secret that our little family is a Disney family through and through, however the last year has taught us that we can visit other places, and do other things that are NOT Disney. Why would someone do this, is beyond me(ha)...but trying other adventures outside of Disney has been fun. We decided about 6 months ago that we were going to go to California for Buddy's birthday, whether Disney was open or not. As the trip got closer and Disney was still not allowing out of state visitors, we decided to take on the challenge of having fun in Southern California WITHOUT our beloved Disney. I have always been a fan of the area, but only when in conjunction with a Disney trip. My goal was to do other fun things in the area...and we did. We visited Universal Studios, Sea World, my favorite beach(Moonlight Beach in Encinitas), and a trip to Legoland in Carlsbad, California. I have always wanted to go to Legoland, but have heard so many criticisms on when and why you should and shouldn't go to Legoland. Buddy is now 6, and according to the reviews I had read, this would be the perfect time to visit. So, we did it! We planned a proper Legoland vacation. We spent 2 days in the park, and 2 nights at the Legoland Hotel. Let me start...the Legoland Hotel is not cheap. At around $400 a night it is NOT something I would do every time, but because I had decided before we arrived that this would be our ONE visit to Legoland, I wanted to make it the best experience for our family. The hotel is meant for kids. I would happily compare it to a Great Wolf Lodge in that it caters to kids. We did visit while Covid related restrictions were still in place(so no Lego pits around every corner) and some activities had obviously been adapted, I think that we still received the standard service and experience. You stay at the Legoland Hotel, or the Castle hotel for 1 main reason....it's proximity to Legoland. Everyone who enters Legoland must walk between these 2 grand hotels. They are the perfect welcome to this Lego playland. The decor outside and inside are Brick-tastic. So many lego sculptures everywhere you turn. Our Buddy especially loved 2 fun features.....1 lego faucet, and the elevators. I don't want to ruin the elevator for anyone, but if you are staying on the 1st floor, you may want to just take a quick ride up to the 3rd floor. The rooms are also unbelievable. If you are looking for a nice calm place to go and relax away from the world of Lego, don't stay at these hotels. The room is covered in Lego features, bright wall decals, and carpet that I just kept thinking I was going to trip over. Buddy loved the cool Lego bugs, and pirates, and the monkey! The monkey is part of a scavenger hunt in your room, and around the resort. If you don't want to play, don't worry. Our "treasure chest" was unlocked. After Buddy accidentally locked it, it was easy to ask the front desk for the code again. It features some pretty cool treasure, that you can keep.

Build Your Own Adventure: Bryce Canyon

By Emily-Anne Willey • May 13, 2021
After our adventure last November , I knew we needed to plan another trip to South Central Utah. Utah really is amazing, and I was so excited to go see, and explore more. This time we decided to spend most of our time in ONE place. We decided to spend 3 nights at Bryce Canyon. We did not however ONLY see Bryce. We explored all around and had a really great time. Itinerary: 4 Days around Bryce Canyon Who: Our little family of 3(2 adults, 1 (still) adorable 5 year old) When: Early Spring 2021 (April) Details:……………………………………………………………………………………………. Day 1 : We left around 8:00 and headed down south. We decided to travel off the beaten path and left I-15 in Spanish Fork. We stopped in Price, Utah at a little diner called Farlaino’s. It is very similar to our favorite breakfast place, Penny Ann’s Café in atmosphere. They have a lot of random décor and memorabilia on the shelves and walls. Service was kind but took about an hour to get our food (there was only one other table). The food was good, and if you decide to go there…only order 1 pancake for the table. It is giant…Nothing special, but it is giant. It could feed several children and be a side for adults as well. We then drove about an hour and a half to Goblin Valley State Park. This place is amazing. We drove into the lookout and ended up spending a couple hours wandering among the hoodoos, and caves. There weren’t any designated trails in this area, but it sure was fun wandering around and climbing all over. We didn’t expect to spend 2 hours here, but it was totally worth it. We then drove to Capitol Reef National Park. I had scheduled us to do a couple little hikes and get pie. But, after spending too long at breakfast, and our 2 our adventure around Goblin Valley we ended up missing the pie and decided to just continue our drive to Bryce Canyon. We did see things in Capitol Reef from our car, and I want to go back again. We just continued our drive straight through (about 3 hours) and stopped at Bryce Canyon Pines Restaurant for some dinner. It is quite possibly THE BEST place to eat around Bryce Canyon. They have tasty food, and amazing pie! Don’t miss the pie. At the end of the day, we checked into our hotel, Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel . We stayed here last time and loved it. It did not disappoint, and we’d easily stay again. They offer a hot breakfast and have a fun hot tub that we enjoyed all vacation long. Day 2: We woke up early this morning…only because our son was ready for adventures. It helped us get out the door and on the trails. We headed straight into Bryce Canyon with the intent to do one hike in the morning, and another in the afternoon. I had found several great hikes from my friends here . We ended up doing 3 hikes and were done by noon. Our first goal was the Navajo Loop. It was supposed to be 1.3 miles round trip. However, the “loop” part near Wall Street was closed, so we could have just turned around, but we decided to continue and explore. We ended up leading ourselves to the Queens Garden trail which added another 2 miles to our trail. The only problem with this is that you come out of the amphitheater at Sunrise Point, so to get back to your car you need to hike the half mile back to Sunset Point. It’s not terrible, you just must be aware that you are not making a loop. After getting back to our car we decided to do the 3-mile round trip hike to Upper Inspiration Point. All 3 of these hikes had hard moments and required several breaks with little legs. But we made several friends along the trail and one mother and daughter pair became our hiking buddies and made the trip out of the canyon so much more doable and enjoyable. Always talk to people on the trail, it’s such a great way to pass the time and make new friends. After our hikes we headed back to the hotel for some lunch and some much needed pool time. The hotel pool was closed but the hot tub was nice and big, and open. We made several trips to the hot tub and it was never too hot for our buddy. Around 7:00 we headed to Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill . I had done some research and thought this place sounded like fun. It’s a dining hall where they perform nightly country music concerts. It is a unique dining experience, and I do recommend it if you are visiting Bryce between the end of April and mid September. When you arrive, they have several fun photo ops outside. We love the face cutout walls. So much fun. When you get inside, they check your reservation, give you a paper card that identifies your meal choice (that you make during reservation), and direct you to your table. We were near the front and felt like it was a great spot to view the show. You are seated at a round table for about 8 people, so you will get to know new people if you are a smaller party. We enjoyed our table mates, as well as the show. Food is served buffet style and seemed smooth considering post covid standards. I enjoyed the pork and chicken, while my husband had the flat iron steak. The entertainment was also great. We aren’t huge country music fans, but we really enjoyed the show. My favorite was the song about Bryce being founded by a guy who lost his cow . Check out this video for my favorite song of the night. After the show we headed back into Bryce to see the night sky at the amphitheater overlook. The moon was almost full so we didn’t see as many stars as we wanted, but it was unique experience that I would recommend to anyone.

Dollywood Dreams

By Emily-Anne Willey • May 7, 2021
I believe everyone should have a bucket list , and do everything they can to make those dreams happen. I have an amazing friend who lives in North Carolina, and when I realized it was 3 short hours from Dollywood, I created a dream to visit. Dollywood has been a place I knew about, but never had a reason to travel to Pigeon Forge, TN., no matter how amazing it looked online. But, with my friend living so close, I thought...why not? We made plans to visit in June of 2020, but then Covid happened. So, we postponed. A few months ago I was deciding what to do for my birthday and April seemed like the perfect time to head to Dollywood with a couple of my favorite people. We set out on the road from North Carolina, traveling through the Great Smoky Mountains(Dolly's childhood playground), and landed in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We stayed at an adorable wood cabin, nice and close to Dollywood. The night we arrived we visited the Dolly Parton Stampede, which is like Medieval Times, but more western. The next morning we were headed for Dollywood. The current spring hours are 10-6, but closed on Tuesday and Thursday. We left our cabin around 9, got to Dollywood nice and early, parking in the B(Butterfly) lot. Many things are Dolly themed, including Butterflies, Mountains, Country Music, etc. We took a short shuttle ride to the entrance. We could have walked, but the shuttle was right there, and I was ready to start our FUN! At the end of the day we walked back to our car(it was that close). Once we arrived at the entrance there was a queue to enter the park. They started allowing people in at 9:30, but the rides didn't open until 10. Much of the park was blocked off, but we were able to take a quick restroom break and line up at our first ride! Because of course, we were here for the rides, or food, or entertainment?! Rides The rides are BY FAR the best part of Dollywood. I will happily tell you about the other stuff, but first....Rides. There are so many rides to please any age of visitor, but we rode over 10 thrilling rides! That's a lot for 1 amusement park. I'd rank them, but they are all amazing, and worth riding. One of my friends noted that the more stairs you have to climb, the better the coaster would be. With the amusement park being built in the mountains, there are lots of hills and many of the ride queues lead you up many flights of stairs. And, she's right...the best ones do have lots of stairs. I do have a couple favorites, and one that could have been avoided. So, let me start with the one to avoid(just to get it out of the way). It's called Blazing Fury, and it's an indoor coaster. An indoor coaster....my first sign it wouldn't be AWESOME. The track was speedy, but with only 2 dips it wasn't "thrilling". It would be great for little kids, maybe. Now, for my favorites..... Wild Eagle seats you on the side of the track(as if you were the wings of the eagle). It's super thrilling to look down and not see the track. Lots of fun. My second favorite is the Thunderhead . This is a fast, thrilling, wooden coaster. So much fun. I loved how fast it was, and everything amazing about wood coasters makes this a "can't miss" ride. My favorite though, and I mean possibly my favorite coaster EVER was the Lightening Rod . This ride LOOKS like a wooden coaster, but it is an incredibly fast (74 mph) steel coaster. It has fast curves, corkscrews, big drops, and crazy speed. It is currently my FAVORITE coaster, by far.

Topolino's Terrace Character Breakfast

By Emily-Anne Willey • February 25, 2021
Disney World is open, and things are DIFFERENT. The magic still exists, and that is most important. It is not the same, but it is still fun, and magical, and full of exciting things. When we visited at the end of January it was especially important to me to check out the newest Disney hotel, The Riviera Resort and see and dine at Topolino’s Terrace. Topolino’s opened with so much excitement being a sit down character meal (plus an amazing view). Seeing others visit, I knew that we would check it out on our next visit. What I did not know is that when we visited it would be during a pandemic and things would be different. Sharing my experience will hopefully give you some insight into what it is like dining at a character meal, where social distancing is enforced. Let me start with getting a reservation. Topolino’s reservation are hard to come by anytime, but during the pandemic it is super important to make your reservation right exactly 180 days before your trip. Yes, if you want to eat somewhere specific you MUST book early. With this being said, if you do not have 180 days before you travel you MAY still be able to snag a table, just keep checking the My Disney Experience website or app and hope for an opening. Another thing to note is that during a pandemic you can not have large parties sitting together. Our group was a party of 11 and I knew we would not be able to sit together. At all our dining locations we made 2 reservations (group of 5 and a group of 6). Most of the time we were able to sit near each other, which was nice. At Topolino’s it ended up being just the 3 of us, so we did not have to worry about accommodating a big group. We took an Uber from the Pop Century to the Riviera. We would have taken the skyliner, which is fun, but it planned to open at 8 and our reservation was for 7:55. Taking an Uber was super quick and not more than $10. When we arrived at the Riviera, I was flabbergasted. It is a beautiful hotel. Right when you walk in you can see all the way through out to the lake. It was easy to navigate from the lobby to the elevator. Once at the top we were checked in and took some time to admire the views. It is a beautiful restaurant itself, but the views are the reason to dine here. While you are dining, or after you can also take a visit out to the terrace for views like this.

Packing for Disney During the Pandemic

By Emily-Anne Willey • January 20, 2021
Packing for an adventure can be fun. I enjoy the organizing, planning, and the “tetris” like skills it can take to actually put STUFF in a suitcase. Packing for Disney World during a pandemic adds a whole other level of organization. I love planning, so this adventure has been unique and I can’t help share some of the things I’ve learned, discovered, and just HAVE to share. First off, I’m planning for 3 people, one of which is a tiny human. I am also planning on only using 1 carry on, and checking 1 bag for a 7 day adventure. This may seem challenging, but I’ve got this! The first thing I’ve done is decide what toiletries we will need, and see if I can bring them in carry on size, full size, or if I can put them on a grocery delivery list. Yes, some things like shampoo, soap, lotion, sanitizer, and deodorant are added to my grocery pickup. I like using grocery pickup for a few reasons, all of which can be found here . After I figure out toiletries, I get down to business. I decide on outfits(ears included). I like to lay everything out and decide what bottoms can be used multiple days, which shoes go with the most outfits, and make sure I have enough underwear for the entire trip(unless I’m planning on doing laundry while away). I also make sure to grab my swimsuit, rain jacket, and a sweater. Most months are pretty warm in Florida, but when the sun goes down it can be super chilly(especially now in January/February). Now for the more random, and pandemic period items: Spray Hand Sanitizer. I like the spray kind best and Target and Trader Joe’s have some of my favorites. Reusable and Disposable Face Masks. I like having both depending on the ride and time of day. Sometimes the heat creates MASK-cne, and nobody wants that. Battery Charger. Between checking wait times and catching a character selfie “on the dot” you’ll need a extra boost of power to get through the day. Reusable Straws. Nobody should have to deal with the terrible paper straws found Disney wide. Magic Bands . Disney is going away from using Magic Bands, and opting for phones and cards with the same features. I however prefer the Magic Bands, especially to help with no contact purchases and room entry for the whole family. That’s it! I also have random things like homework, phone chargers, water bottles, and a toy or 2 for my son. The goal though is not to go overboard on anything. The time goes so fast, and we don’t need a lot. Are there things that you would add to this list? What are your “must haves” for travel?
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