News
The Ultimate Disney World Theme Park Packing List
In this episode, Dan and Leslie share their ultimate packing list for a trip to Disney World, along with updates on local theme park news and personal experiences. They also discuss upcoming travel pl...
The Ultimate Disney World Theme Park Packing List
News •
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Interactive Transcript
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Today we are talking about stuff.
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Hello and welcome to A DICK TO THE MOUTH.
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Today is Sunday, October 5th.
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You're listening to episode number 734.
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And this is our ultimate Disney World packing list.
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Hey everybody, Dan and Leslie here.
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Thanks for joining us today.
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Yes, stuff.
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I like how stuff is just what we're going to talk about some stuff.
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It's stuff.
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Oh my goodness.
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Uh, yeah, no, so we're going to talk all about packing list today.
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Uh, but it is a bit of dreary rainy weekend here in Orlando, Florida, which is weird.
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Cause usually whenever it rains, it rains for like a couple of hours maybe and then it's
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like bright and shiny and sunny and gorgeous.
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But yesterday it like rained for a long time.
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Yeah, yeah.
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I mean, it is the rainy season still.
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It is peak hurricane season and we had two hurricanes or tropical storms miss us, like
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one tropical storm, one hurricane miss us.
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Um, and then there's another one out there in the Atlantic.
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That may be the last one of the season in the Atlantic side.
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We will see, but usually the Atlantic dies down in October and then the Gulf and the Caribbean
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pick up.
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So, uh, well, what's that over there?
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But there was like a little kind of stalled, a little front kind of almost low pressure.
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Just right around Florida.
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So I think that's what's causing this.
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It's, uh, it's fun.
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You know, I'm, I'm ready for November weather.
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I'll put it that way.
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I will say that the, the temperature has been really lovely.
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Like, I walk outside and it's breezy and kind of cool and I'm like, oh, I like this.
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So, um, I realized after we did our podcast, um, a few, was it a few episodes ago that was
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talking about the ultimate Disney World checklist and we referenced a packing list.
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We've done a video packing list and we did a podcast like seven over seven years ago
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about what to take to Disney World.
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But we haven't done anything recently.
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So, uh, I thought this was a good follow up to that.
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And then, um, we are probably going to do a Disney cruise packing list at some point
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in the near future as well.
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Oh, I'm excited about that.
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All right.
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Well, before we do that, we have a couple of things to talk about.
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So, um, first, a little piece of news, a Star Dust racers over at Epic Universe did reopen
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this weekend.
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And it has a new rule in that anybody who is requires a mobility assistive device has
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to be able to walk independently, um, to be able to get onto the ride.
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And so, previously, anybody who used a mobility device, as long as they could basically transfer
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so they could maybe like make one small step or, uh, have a small step with assistance
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than they could, they could ride the ride, but that has changed.
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So now, they do have to be able to take, you know, several steps.
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I don't know what the, the number is, but you have to be able to walk independently for
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a short distance.
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Yep.
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Um, I'm a little disappointed that Universal has not put anything out publicly.
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So this is technically, I mean, we know it's open because we see the wait times and we
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got the reports yesterday that it was open.
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It was at a 200 minute wait time yesterday.
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It is raining in central Florida right now.
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So it's a 25 minute wait time.
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So I'm not sure if that, if it just reopened or, or what, but, um, it was quite popular
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yesterday when it reopened or appeared to be.
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Um, but Universal hasn't put anything outside of, they sent two memos to team members.
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And those got leaked.
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And so that's where this information is coming from.
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So every local news station in Orlando reported yesterday that it was, or Friday that it
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was going to reopen yesterday.
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Um, and so that's where we're getting this from.
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But I'm a little bit disappointed that Universal hasn't put in anything to everyone publicly.
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So I know.
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I know.
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Kind of strange.
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It was a little strange, but, um, anyway, so that's, I don't think I have any Disney world
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news.
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No.
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Um, nothing I can really think of.
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You went to Cirque du Soleil, uh, drawn to life last night.
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I did.
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How was that because, um, that's the first time that, so I still haven't done it.
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That's the first time you've done it.
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Yeah.
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No, it was really good.
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It was, um, it got me in the feels a little bit, um, especially at the end.
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I, I shed a couple of tears.
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I know we're all so very surprised.
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But, um, but the show itself was really good.
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There were a couple of slow parts.
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I feel like it might have been just a smidge on the long side in my opinion, but, um,
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the acrobatics were incredible.
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The, uh, honestly, they, the whole cast came out at the end.
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I don't even think I told you this, but the whole cast came out at the end.
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And I thought, I even leaned over to my friend and I was like, I thought people were just
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changing costumes the whole time, but it was like every single person that came out on
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stage in a different costume was a different person.
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Oh, wow.
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It was a huge cast.
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That's crazy.
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Yeah.
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So if you don't know, um, uh, Drondelife is the Cirque du Soleil show that is in residence
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over at Disney Springs.
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So it is on, on the west side, the far west side.
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So right across from city works and, uh, house of blues, there's that giant white looks
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like a big circus tent building.
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That is where Cirque du Soleil, John, Drondelife is.
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Would you say, um, if we were coming down for a week and we're staying, maybe at Saratoga
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Springs, like we used to do, would you say it would be worth, uh, whatever the expenses
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to buy the tickets because you actually got complimentary tickets.
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I did.
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Um, would you say would it, I don't know how much it is, but probably what $75.85
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per ticket and a couple hours of your time to do that on a Disney vacation?
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I would say yes, as long as it wasn't your first trip down.
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Okay.
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I think, you know, it's, it was an amazing show, totally fun.
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It would have been, it would be something fun.
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I think that people that are a little bit more seasoned travelers that aren't necessarily
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as park focused or, you know, maybe you just want to add a little something extra into
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your vacation, um, then absolutely, I think it'd be worth it.
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But, uh, if, if it's your first time down and you're trying to cram everything in, I
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think it would, I think it probably could wait till a future trip.
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Gotcha.
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Okay.
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All right.
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Um, do we have any reviews?
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We do.
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So this is from popcorn princess 111.
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I like the name.
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Okay.
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And it's titled Disney bride says I started listening to the podcast a few years ago when
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I was living overseas for work.
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I was feeling homesick and this podcast was so cheerful and felt a little, like a little
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bit of home.
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My family went to Disney World a lot when I was growing up and I loved reflecting on those
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fun memories while listening.
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Thank you for creating a, a great podcast and bringing some Disney cheer to some hard
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days.
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I'm getting married next year and my fiance and I are seriously considering a Disney
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World honeymoon.
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I love if you could do an episode on Disney World honeymoon ideas.
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All right.
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I think we actually did a podcast.
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It's been a little bit but over like specialty things you would do.
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Yeah, we've done, we've done specialty things.
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We've done, I'm pretty sure we've done adult trip podcasts.
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So maybe try those out and then we will keep that in the mind for the future.
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So I guess the last thing is you just checked us in for our Disney Destiny preview cruise
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sailing this morning, which I am super excited about.
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So the Disney Destiny is the next Disney cruise line ship to launch.
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It is permanently, well not permanently, but from now forward for the foreseeable future
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it is sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.
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So that is Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.
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Disney has two home cruise ports.
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One is just an hour from us at Port Canaveral and then the other one is about three hours
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in change from us at Port Everglades down in Fort Lauderdale and that is where the ship
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is going to sail from.
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It launches next month.
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I can't believe it's here already.
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I know.
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It's crazy.
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I can't believe we could check in.
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How nuts is that?
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Where that comes from?
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I can't believe it's October already.
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This whole year has gone by super fast.
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Anyway, we are very, very excited to get on that.
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So we are going on a three night preview cruise.
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It is the second week of November.
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It is what a week or two before the maiden voyage.
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So I'm very, very excited to get on this thing.
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See it for the preview and then hopefully schedule our first real Disney Destiny cruise
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for next year sometime, but I'm excited to get on it next month.
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Yes, I am so excited.
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And then that's not actually our last thing.
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I feel like we need to tell everybody what we did.
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What did we do?
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We booked.
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Oh, okay.
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Let's hold on one second here.
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So we were looking at our schedule, our travel schedule and we still, as long as both
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boys can go, we are thinking that we will do one big epic trip for the summers, for
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the foreseeable future to work on school schedule schedules.
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So we don't know what that's going to be yet.
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And then we will probably do something a little bit shorter, smaller in early June.
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So probably July will be the big epic trip and then June something.
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And we're like, what do we do before that?
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So then we started planning our spring break trip first.
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We were going to go back to Park City for skiing.
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I'm so excited about this.
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We had so much fun skiing the first time.
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I mean, it wasn't our first time, but it was the kids first time to go.
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They snowboarded and then it was essentially Dan and I's first time because it had been
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like 20 years.
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And so we all just had so much fun.
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We were very sore, but I think like, you know, it's kind of like riding a bike, right?
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Like you get back on it and it goes easier.
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So I'm really looking forward to this time to see like if it does click a little faster
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for the kids and then just like having our evenings where we, you know, hang out in
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the room and play games or watch movies or whatever.
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I really enjoy that because, you know, you're, I mean, you come to Disney World and if you
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spend four or five hours hanging out in the room at night, you feel like you're missing
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out on everything.
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I mean, everything, but skiing, everything shuts down.
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Yeah.
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Like 5pm.
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Well, I mean, there's dinners and stuff you can go to after that, but like the lift shut
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down, like 5pm, I find my right.
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So we went last spring break in 2024.
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So it'll be two years later.
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But everything shuts down, like the town shuts down.
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All the ski, obviously, you're not skiing out there.
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So there's, there's no night skiing where we went.
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So it is like a ghost town and it's just fun to hang out in the room, make dinner in
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the room, do the opera ski thing.
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So we ski to like 4 4 30 and then we take our boots off real quick before the lift shut
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down and everybody piles off the mountain and then we'll go to one of the local like little
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restaurants.
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Like kind of, I mean, we're still in our ski gear.
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Yeah.
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We just walk over there and everything and then we sit down and we have a beer and get
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a meal and it's so great.
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And then we have snacks in the room later that night.
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It's just so fun, but you don't feel bad for hanging out in the room as a family because
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nothing's open.
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It's great.
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It's really fun.
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So we booked that and then we were like, well, what, you know, what else can we do?
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Well, so part of how we make our travel decisions is because of content, right?
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So we, all of our marketing and advertising for Fantasical Vacations goes through addicted
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to the mouse.
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I mean, that is, and so we're, we're all the time we want to travel to the destinations
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that we partner with and sell at Fantasical Vacations and then so we can bring you all
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with us and show you what it's like to travel there, give you our opinions, thoughts, reviews,
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all of that stuff.
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Well, we've got the Disney Destiny and we've got Disneyland next month.
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But then we were like, okay, if we're going skiing, I'll probably do one video, but we
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don't sell skiing.
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Like, that's not a destination that we booked.
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So it's really not marketing for Fantasical Vacations.
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So we're like, we need another trip and I want to do something different, something new.
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And then we started talking or like, you know what?
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We haven't done Virgin Voyages.
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Yeah.
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So we decided that we were going to do a couple's trip and we are going to go on a Virgin
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Voyages cruise in early, no, or January, and I'm actually very excited.
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We've been watching all the videos and I'm really looking forward to getting away one
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as a couple because I will, I will die on this hill that traveling as a couple only like
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without your kids is so, so vitally important to your marriage and to just your relationship
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and really to your family as a whole, like it's just so important to get away just
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you as like the couple.
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And so that I'm excited for and then I'm excited to try this new ship, this whole new
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experience.
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Yeah.
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So we're doing a five night Virgin Voyages sailing out of Miami.
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Again, early January, like Leslie said, but it helps when number one, you've got older
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kids, one who will, you know, be 20 shortly.
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Jason's crazy.
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But it'll still be 19 when we go in January, but he will still be here because his classes
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won't have started yet because he goes back to college later than Jennings goes to high school
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and then we've got Jennings in high school.
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So they'll be here together while we do this cruise, but it helps when they, when these
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older kids, not number one can stay together at the house and take care of animals and take
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care of the house and do their own thing.
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But then it also helps that they can't go on some vacations with us because of their schedules,
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because of what they have to do.
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So it frees us up to do the couple's trips and we, you know, we feel bad if we're going
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on a cruise and not taking them.
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We don't feel bad if we're going on a couple, an adult's only cruise and not taking them
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because they couldn't go anywhere.
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Yeah, right?
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Right.
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But then I mean, right.
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So Virgin Voyages, you have to be 18 years or older to even get on the ship.
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So there's no kids allowed.
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This is going to be a totally different experience, totally outside of our comfort zone.
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This is not our vibe.
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But follow along in January when two Disney adults, these two right here, tackle Virgin
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Voyages.
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It's going to be crazy.
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I'm excited.
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I'm looking forward to it.
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And I can't say that it's not my vibe yet.
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I just, it's just, you know, it's been touted as a very much party ship.
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So it's, we'll see.
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Well, so is Utopia.
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I mean, it's the ultimate weekend at sea, right?
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Sure, yeah, great time.
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And that was great.
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I think Virgin though, being adults only and we've seen herd of some more more escape
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things that happen on these Virgin ships.
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But again, we haven't ever experienced in person.
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So I'm excited to go.
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I'm going to document the entire thing.
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We're going to record everything we're going to put out several videos and podcasts about
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it.
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And I think it's going to be great.
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It is going to be really a lot of fun.
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I'm excited.
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Dan's already kind of freaking out a little bit that night one is apparently Pajama
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night.
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And he's like, wait, what?
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So yeah, you got to buy a whole new wardrobe apparently to go in Virgin because the
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first night is Pajama night.
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So I'm going to need some pajamas.
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And then there's a Scarlet night where everybody wears red.
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So I don't have anything red.
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I'm going to have to buy something red.
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I don't know.
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Do you have anything red or do you get to get something too?
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Oh, well, I mean, I do have red things, but I'm just using this as an opportunity to
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shop.
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I'm going to buy new things for sure.
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I'm going to buy some cute new pajamas.
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Okay.
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And then I'm going to buy a cute red dress.
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All right.
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It would.
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Could we at least get Disney pajamas?
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Like is that acceptable to wear on the?
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I'm feeling a little bit missing out on my Disney vibe on this cruise.
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I'll get you some Disney pajamas.
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Excellent.
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All right.
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That'll bring it all together.
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It brings me full circle to go on a virgin cruise, but wear Disney clothes on the
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Virgin.
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It makes you feel better if you have goofy on your pajamas.
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Yeah, since I can't meet goofy, at least I can wear goofy.
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Okay.
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All right.
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Well, we can do that.
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All right.
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Let's get.
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Let's not get too sidetracked here.
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So we are going to talk about the ultimate Walt Disney world packing list.
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Mainly we're talking about what to bring to the parks.
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And then we're going to talk about things that are not allowed.
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So what to pack and then what to not bring with you into the parks.
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So without further ado, we have broken this down into a few different categories.
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The first category of what to bring with you.
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These are do-brain items.
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We're going to call this the access, technology, and logistics category.
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All right.
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So these are kind of things that like if you forget everything else, don't forget these
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things.
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Yes.
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In this first section here.
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So, you know, and we're not going to cover like, please pack your underwear.
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I mean, obviously you want clothes.
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You're not going to be streaking through the parks.
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Please pack your deodorant.
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Like those are essential too.
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Right.
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But we're not covering all of that.
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All right.
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So in this section, we're talking about like your magic band plus or your park tickets,
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whether you have them as like physical like hard tickets or if it's your magic mobile,
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if you have them on your magic band, whatever it might be, don't forget that.
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Yes.
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It is not only your key to the entrance to the park, it is also your lightning lane to
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get on rides faster.
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It is also potentially your, the way that you charge things to your room if you're paying
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that way with like your magic band plus.
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So very, very important need to bring that.
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Also, you have to have to have to bring your smartphone and a portable charger.
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And this is critical because your smartphone with the My Disney Experience app loaded onto
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it with a credit card attached and with you, the operator being familiar with that app,
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those are all very important things you have to have to have to have your phone with you.
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Even if My Disney Experience didn't exist, we would still want our smartphones to capture
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the memories in the form of pictures and videos in the parks.
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So that is a great, you can use your phone, whether it's an iPhone or an Android, you can
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use it to double as not only your park tickets, but also your My Disney Experience interface,
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but then like a camera.
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So that's very important.
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But doing all this stuff and being on your phone and constantly like paying for things using
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your mobile order for like quick service meals and scanning into lightning lanes and scheduling
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new lightning lanes and seeing what way times are checking the park map that is inside My
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Disney Experience.
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All of this stuff, it drains your battery super fast.
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So you have to have to have to have some sort of portable charger.
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We've got different kinds.
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We've got the big bricks that you have to use, cords like USB cables to plug your phone
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in and you just carry that in the backpack and leave it plugged in.
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We've got them that like just push up next to the magnetic, what do you call that, mag
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safe on the back of the phone.
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So it just kind of like, they just stick to each other and it wirelessly charges that
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way, which those kind of overheat and they're not the best, they don't have the biggest
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charge, but whatever it is, bring away to charge your phone.
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Yes.
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All right.
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And then do not forget your IDs, whatever identification it is.
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So whether it is your passport, if you're international, your driver's license, whatever.
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And then forms a payment.
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So some type of credit card cash, I recommend always having a couple of credit cards on you
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just because some places don't accept certain credit cards or maybe you have a security
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alert or something just to be safe.
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It always makes me feel better if I have a couple of different forms of payment.
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Even if we were using magic bands way back when and we were paying with the magic bands
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by charging it to the room, I would still bring a credit card, at least one with me just
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in case I wanted to eat it somewhere that didn't accept magic bands or we were heading
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off property or something like that.
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Like it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility to think that you wouldn't need
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a separate credit card if you're just charging everything to your room.
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And I totally get that and you'll probably be fine, but you may find yourself frustrated
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at a couple of spots that might not take magic bands on Disney property.
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So just know that it is possible or it is possible sometimes to walk up and then their little
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scanners not be working.
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So it's helpful to be able to just pull out a card that you can pay outside of the Disney
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system.
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That's so annoying doing that happens.
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Yeah.
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Alright, so the next little part is clothing and weather basics.
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And so we have talked about this.
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I feel like ad nauseam.
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But the first one is the shoe rule and that is to pack at least two pairs of broken in
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comfortable walking shoes.
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Please do not wear them for the first time ever in the magic kingdom.
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Like that is just asking for major blisters.
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And then also make sure you have two because as we just mentioned, it is rainy season.
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And the shoes I just wore out on our run walk just now, I am probably not going to be able
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to wear again until Tuesday because they are wet because they are now wet.
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And there's no easy way to dry them.
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We definitely we've mentioned those packets before, but when we used to use DVC points to
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rent the villas, we have been caught in thunderstorms and we have put our shoes in the dryers and
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dried them that way.
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And it is really loud and clunky and probably not what Disney wants us to be doing in those
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rooms.
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But we only have the one shoe.
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So if you bring two pair, you don't have to worry about that.
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So that is good.
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And then the second part of the clothing and weather basics category here is weather
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defense.
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And so just think everything that could possibly happen to you in Florida.
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This is a subtropical climate.
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It is basically swampy, rain forest feel down here.
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It is super humid.
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It can feel very cold in the winter, especially if you are not in the sun, especially for
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Floridians that are used to the blazing hot temperatures of summer and fall and really
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spring.
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So it can feel chilly.
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So you might need layers if you're coming anytime November or through March and to early
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April.
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I mean, when you think usually during the day, especially if the sun's out is going to
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be fine just to wear a t-shirt, but it's those days that you're going parko mid-apart
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clothes and you're staying for the fireworks and it's dark and it gets windy and maybe
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it rains a little bit and gets you wet.
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And then it gets pretty freezing, pretty fast.
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Yes, pretty frigid.
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Pretty frigid, pretty fast.
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So layers is really good.
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Some sort of rain gear is good, whether that's a poncho or a travel umbrella, something
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or maybe a rain jacket, something that you can protect yourself from and unexpected
spk_0
shower because showers pop.
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It could look like the most beautiful bright blue sunny sky, not a cloud out there whatsoever
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and then 30 minutes later it is pouring on you.
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Like rain creeps in fast because we are smack-debb in the middle of two coats.
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So regardless of where the wind is coming from, it's blowing ocean weather and it gets
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here fast within 45 minutes.
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It can get here.
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So it can pop up fast.
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And then in addition to the light layers, you want to protect yourself against super, super
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hot weather.
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So whether that is a fan or maybe a frog tag, one of those scarfs that you can douse
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in water and hold the water for you, that kind of thing, those are really handy as
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well.
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Yeah, for sure.
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All right, the next section is talking more about comfort, survival, saving money.
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So it's going to be essential items that enhance your park day and help keep those
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costs down.
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So the first one, we're kind of continuing with the weather a little bit in battling the
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Florida climate.
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Okay, so we're talking hydration first and foremost.
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Now, this is not on our essential items list, which is what we just finished because you
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can technically get water just about at any quick service location inside the parks,
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as long as they can serve drinks.
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So if you walk up to a popcorn stand, you're not going to be able to get a cold ice water
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there.
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But any sort of quick service restaurant where you can order drinks, like you can get free
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ice water, which is super, super handy.
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Lots of them just have them ready and waiting on a tray where you pick up mobile orders
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from.
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So you might check their first.
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You don't necessarily have to stand in line for 20 minutes like worth all the people
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ordering the food.
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Or you don't have to get on your mobile order and order a bottle of water for $6.
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That is a waste of money.
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But you definitely want to have water throughout the park day.
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We prefer to bring reusable waters with us and we just fill those up with that free
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ice water from quick service locations.
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But then we have our water bottle that we can take with us that is more durable than
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just those little cups.
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Yeah.
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And then Dan mentioned obviously how sunny it is here sometimes and how hot.
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And so we definitely want to take into consideration packing that high SPF sunscreen as well
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as sunglasses.
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Now we have both been guilty of it more than once I am embarrassed to say for getting
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our sunglasses at home and then we would have to purchase sunglasses once we got here
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because even though like there was one short trip that I was like I'll be fine.
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I think I can make it.
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But the summary flex off of the concrete so much that it's like you can't look anywhere
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without your eyes just burning.
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I feel like it's so sunglasses are a necessity.
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Yeah.
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Hats for sun cover and then personally personal cooling items like Dan mentioned before
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with like handheld fans and the cooling towels just to help combat that Florida sun and heat.
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Next up is the park bag kit.
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And so these are things that we are packing for not only comfort but also kind of like
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bodily repair I guess.
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So I think first aid items things like mull skin and blister bandages those can be lifesavers
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especially if you did not follow Leslie's advice early on about bringing shoes that are
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fully broken in.
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So we have been guilty of that.
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We have gotten blisters walking around Disney World, miles and miles and miles.
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And if you have blister bandages or mull skin, mull skin is really really great to put
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around a blister and then you can still continue on with your park touring and then the blister
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is not getting worse as you're walking.
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Pain relievers medicine like personal prescriptions that kind of thing hand sanitizers always
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a great one.
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We always have hand sanitizers with us.
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Yes, you can wash your hands in the park but I really don't feel like you get that great
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of a hand wash in those park bathrooms and as soon as you leave like you're likely to
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touch something else between there and the restaurant.
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So I always like to just douse my hands with a little bit of hand sanitizer before we eat
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anything where we're using our hands to pick them up.
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Well, they're come for like buffets too because you go up and everybody's touching the spoons
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and so I just kind of leave in the middle of the table so that anytime anybody refills
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their plates we just reuse it.
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That is absolutely true.
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Anna bacterial wipes are also good lip balm chapstick, whatever you want to call it.
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This is essential for me.
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I always have chapstick and it can be a like an SPF rated chapstick if you're worried about
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sun blistering your lips or just regular chapstick or lip balm.
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You know, a lot of times I get a super windy out or maybe if it's super cold in morning
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I tend to lick my lips and so this helps me to prevent that that chap to lips.
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Yep.
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And then snacks are really important.
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I feel like in your park bag.
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So bringing your own snacks will help save a little bit of money but it also helps whenever
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you're someplace that maybe a snack is not readily accessible and all of a sudden maybe
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you're starting to get a little hungry or maybe one of your kids or maybe your husband
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is, you know, whatever.
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Hey, hey, hey, hey.
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But it's just nice to have like a granola bar or fruit snacks or something like maybe
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you're in the middle of a really long line and it just kind of has started creeping in
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and hitting everybody.
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So it's nice to just have that on hand.
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All right.
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And then the third kind of category of essentials that you want to bring to the parks with
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you are things for the kiddos.
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So if you don't have kiddos, maybe they supply to you, maybe they don't.
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But the first one is entertainment.
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So think like small lightweight toys or a mobile device or tablet that kids can entertain
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themselves with while you're awaiting in lines.
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That is probably one of the worst parts about going on a Disney vacation with little kids
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is the waiting in line.
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Nobody likes waiting in lines, but it's hard to explain to like a two year old what
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the purpose of waiting in the line is and what the reward at the end of the line is going
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to be.
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So if you can just stack them with a game like maybe heads up or whatever it is or let
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them kind of play on like withdrawing on iPads, that kind of thing.
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It does take their mind off of the weight, which is, you know, really good for long cues.
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Other things that might be good for bringing with you for the little kids, maybe pins for
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trading.
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So if they want to trade with cast members and you like that lanyard, our kids did this
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when they were younger and they love trading Disney pins with cast members.
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Yeah.
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I mean, this is, I think this is adults too, right?
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Like, I like to be distracted in lines.
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So we actually have heads up on my phone so that we can play it or or download the Disney
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play app so that you can do the little interactive games throughout the different lands and
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whatnot.
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But remember that make sure that you brought your phone charger because that all drains
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that battery very quickly.
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All right.
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Another thing to bring is character gear.
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So your autograph book and kind of a big thicker pen.
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So the characters that are not face characters.
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So think Mickey and Donald and Daisy and all of them.
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It's a little more challenging for them to hold a normal size pen because their hands
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are so large.
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And so having like a larger Sharpie or something like that or a larger pen is really helpful
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for them to be able to sign an autograph book a little bit easier.
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Up next is going to be wet gear.
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So we already talked about protecting yourself from the rain.
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That's not what we're talking about here.
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What we're talking about here is something, the stuff that will help you in the parks when
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you are unexpectedly wet.
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So you've already been soaked.
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So maybe you forgot the umbrella at home and there was a massive rainstorm.
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Maybe you just happened to ride a water ride and you were the unlucky one that got soaked
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on Cali River Rapids.
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Or maybe your kids are fans of the splash pads.
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There are splash pads in I think every Disney part.
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Let's see.
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Okay.
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Yes, Epcot, yes, Magic Kingdom.
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Hollywood studios.
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Is there splash pad in Hollywood studios?
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I try to think I cannot place where it is in Hollywood studios.
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But I'm pretty sure that there's one in animal kingdom.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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So if your kids like splash pads, like ours do, there's splash pads in Disney Springs.
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You might want to bring a change of clothes.
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You might want to bring large ziplock bags so you can put wet things into the large ziplock
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bags until you get back to your room.
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If you want to put the dry clothes, like store them in the large ziplock bags until you
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need them and then swap the dry clothes, like pull them out and then put the wet clothes
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back inside those bags in their place.
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That's a good use of space right there.
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It also protects the clothes from getting soaked on whatever you chose to do that got your
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person soaked.
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All right.
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And then a stroller rain cover as well because there is nothing worse than parking your
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stroller in the stroller parking and going in for like a show where you have no idea that
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it's pouring down rain outside while you're in there and you come out and your stroller
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is now soaked.
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Soaked.
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Yeah.
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And then by the way, as long as we're talking about strollers and rain covers, make sure
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that you have something to identify your stroller.
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So if you're coming down and you're renting a stroller from one of the companies off-site
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that will deliver it to your resort, totally fine.
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We've done it before a lot in the past because we didn't want to lug our big stroller back
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from Oklahoma on the plane.
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But there has to be a way to identify yourself because all those strollers look alike.
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I mean, they're all using the same models of strollers and they're just lined up in the
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Disney park.
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So if there's nothing identifying your stroller, that is maybe not maybe somebody just takes
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your stroller and they didn't mean to.
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Maybe they meant to grab theirs and they just looked alike.
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So a lot of the stroller companies will put like your name on a placard on the back of it.
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But if you also have something like a ribbon or a balloon or something to tie to the handle,
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that is even more indication that, oh yeah, that's my stroller.
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Yeah, it's very, I remember my favorite one was we came during the holidays and I had
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purchased like the little string of lights that just came with like a little battery pack.
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And I just wrapped it around the entire handle.
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So that was also really fun because then I could like light it up at night.
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And so it was very festive.
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All right, so let's move over and talk about the prohibited items that Disney will not allow
spk_0
you to bring inside of their theme parks.
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These are very, very important to remember.
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Most of these are common sense, but not necessarily all of them.
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So we're just going to run down the list from the official Disney World website.
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So the first one is fire arms, ammunition, knives and weapons of any kind.
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I think that kind of goes without saying this is this is on the more obvious side of things.
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A adjacent to that is any sort of self-defense or restraining devices.
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So think like pepper spray that kind of thing.
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They are not going to allow you to bring any of that stuff into the theme parks.
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All right, also obviously illegal drugs, illegal substances of any kind.
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And then objects or toys that appear to be firearms or weapons are also restricted.
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And then fireworks.
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I mean, I feel like once again, all of these feel very obvious.
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Yeah, fireworks to include like any sort of explosive, anything flammable, any sort of like
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smoke machine, fire machine, anything like that, not allowed.
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Alcoholic beverages.
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You cannot bring those into the theme parks.
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You can purchase them at once.
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You're inside from Disney inside the theme parks.
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You cannot bring them into the theme parks.
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So just make sure you leave those back in your hotel room.
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You can take them to Disney resort hotels.
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So you can bring them to your hotel room, enjoy them before, well, maybe not before the
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park day, but definitely after the park day, if you want to like relax with a glass of wine
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or an adult beverage, you can have those in your hotel.
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Just you cannot bring them into the theme parks.
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Glass containers are another one.
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So you can bring in your own food and drink as long as it's not alcohol or illegal substances
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like marijuana, but you can bring in your own lunch, your own snacks, your own water, etc.
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But they can't be in glass containers.
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So you can't bring in, for example, a glass baby food jar.
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If you're, if you have a small child that needs baby food, you're going to have to bring
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in something other than glass.
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Yep.
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Any like horns or whistles or megaphones or artificial noise makers are prohibited, as
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well as like recreational devices like drones, remote control toys, skateboard scooters,
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inline skates, or those shoes built with built in wheels, which thank heavens because those
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things drive me nuts.
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Alright, going back to strollers, there are size limitations on strollers.
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So the strollers that you can bring in have to be 31 inches or less in width and 52 inches
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or less in length.
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So those ginormous strollers, stroller wagons are also prohibited, by the way.
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So those big giant stroller wagons that you see.
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Now you will see some in Disney parks and they probably got those cleared from guest services
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because of some need for the child that is inside of those.
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So they're not totally banned.
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They're just banned for all guest, minus or absent a good reason to have it.
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So if you really need a stroller wagon for some reason, you can, well, you may be able
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to still bring that in, but you have to get explicit permission from Disney by going
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to guest services and stating the reason and what you have and all of that stuff.
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And they will give you some sort of identification tag to stick on it.
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Yep.
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Alright, so any trailer like object that is either pushed or pulled or towed by some
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kind of vehicle, those are going to be prohibited.
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And then any wheeled mobility devices with less than three wheels or devices that cannot
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maintain stability or imbalance when stopped.
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That is also prohibited.
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So basically they're saying if you need an ECV, it needs to be three wheeled.
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You can't bring in like a bicycle or like the little mall cop thing.
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Yeah.
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What are those things called?
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The little segues.
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Segues.
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Segues.
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Yeah, you can't bring those in.
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Let's say suitcases, bags, coolers, backpacks with or without wheels larger than 24 inches
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long, 15 inches wide and 18 inches high.
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So you can't bring your checked bags.
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If you've just gone off your flight, you can't just wheel your checked bags in and drop
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them at the entrance to Tron and go to get on Tron.
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Like there are lockers at the front of the park.
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Like for instance, Magic Kingdom that you could put small bags in, but you can't bring
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those giant ones.
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Folding chairs are not allowed in any park.
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So leave your folding chairs at home.
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Selfie sticks or tripods or monopods that stand that cannot fit inside of a standard backpack
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or that extend over six feet are not allowed in the theme parks.
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And the location specifically.
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So balloons are not permitted in animal kingdom theme park, water parks, the ESPN Wild World
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of Sports or Disney's animal kingdom lodge.
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Obviously the animal kingdom stuff that's for the animals, they don't want to fly away
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from you and then deflate and then an animal eat it and choke.
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Same thing with plastic straws.
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These are not permitted in animal kingdom theme park, water parks or animal kingdom lodge.
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I'm assuming the water parks has something to do with like the drainage of like the water
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and getting things clogged up in the drains.
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So just keep those in mind with site specific things.
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They might have restrictions that aren't applicable to all of the theme parks.
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And then non-coast guard approved floatation devices or swim noodles at any water park.
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So if you have something that's coast guard approved, then you can take that in.
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But anything that's not coast guard approved is restricted.
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Okay, so that is the extent of the prohibited items list.
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Now, I know that there are a lot of kind of a random things that people swear by
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by taking them to the parks.
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We are not going to go into that rabbit hole, but I would like to know if we missed something
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that you consider an absolute must take.
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Like a staple that you would never even think about setting foot inside a Disney theme park.
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What is it?
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What did we miss?
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What is something that you have found is like a lifesaver for you and your family's
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trip to Disney?
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Oh, man.
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There's, I mean, there's a couple of things that we didn't even talk about that I've actually
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had so many people reach out ever since we did.
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I think it was a video over the park bag and I mentioned my body glide that I use.
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And I've had so many people email and they're like, thank you so much.
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This has changed my life.
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Okay.
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So let's talk about it.
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So that's a good one.
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So body glide is, it looks kind of like deodorant.
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It looks like a deodorant stick, but you put it on your thighs.
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And so if you're wearing like shorts or maybe a dress where your thighs rub up against
spk_0
each other, like this helps the chafing, right?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I mean, really, you can put it anywhere that you would have skin chafing, but it's so nice
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and so great in like these hot sticky days where you just feel like, like, all everything's
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just sticking together.
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It really helps with that for sure.
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Mine is my sports sleeves that cover my tattoos on my arms.
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So this is not a must pack for everybody necessarily.
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Obviously, unless you want to, but I have got full tattoo sleeves on both arms, which I
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am pretty cognizant about protecting from the heat and the sun here.
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I feel like the UV rays being, I mean, it's just so oppressive here in the sun.
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I don't want these things to get damaged if I'm staying in a theme park for hours and
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hours and hours.
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So I always, always have these sleeves that I pull on.
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They're cooling sleeves.
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So like as you sweat, the sleeves get wet and then as the breeze hits them, it actually
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cools your arms more so than they would if you didn't have them on.
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So if you see me in videos and I've got long sleeves on and it looks like it's the middle
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of July and I'm very hot.
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That's why I'm protecting my tattoos.
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But then also it is helping me cool off once you start sweating.
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So it's interesting, but I always have this with me.
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Yeah.
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People always ask them about that whenever they see them in them.
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They're like, are you covering them so that people don't see them?
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And we're like, no, it's just.
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No, I like showing them off, but I also want to protect them.
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And anytime we are out in the floor to sun for extended periods of time.
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So if we're going to a park for more than, you know, probably an hour and it's sunny
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and probably putting them on.
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So.
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But yeah, we would love to hear what we missed.
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What is a must bring for you and your family, for your Disney World trips.
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I would love to, if we can learn some added tips and tricks.
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I mean, after going for all these years and living next to Disney, I would love to learn
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what we missed.
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Yes, absolutely.
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All right, if there's nothing else, this podcast is sponsored by fantastical vacations.
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A concierge travel agency specializing in Disney, Universal, All Cruise Lines, and
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some all inclusive resorts where all of the planning services are completely free to
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you.
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You can learn more by visiting us at fantasticalvacations.com.
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So until next time, you've been listening to addicted to the mouse.
Topics Covered
Disney World packing list
ultimate Disney checklist
Disney cruise packing list
Cirque du Soleil Drawn to Life
Orlando Florida weather
hurricane season
Disney honeymoon ideas
Epic Universe news
Universal mobility assistive device policy
Disney Destiny cruise
Fort Lauderdale cruise port
family ski trip
Park City skiing
Disney Springs entertainment
Disney podcast reviews