Blog - Page 6 of 11 - Buster and the Banshee

FOOD REVIEW: Hollywood Studios Cookie Challenge

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Before our last trip, I had a co-worker mention to me she loved a cookie at Hollywood Studios, and I should try it as the resident Disney expert at the veterinary hospital. Naturally, I had to look it up. Lo and behold, I found not one but three cookies that people cited as their favorites at the park. Strictly for educational purposes, we decided to try all three and decide which cookie reigned supreme. Cookie Number 1: Jack Jack Num Num Cookie ($5.79) Jack Jack Num Num Cookie This cookie is found at the Marketplace near Pixar Plaza and the Pixar meet and…

DISNEY 101: Different Types of WDW Accomodations

Disney 101trip planning, walt disney world

DISNEY 101 is an ongoing series where we teach you the basics of a Walt Disney World vacation. In this installment, you will learn about the different types of accommodations that are available... the vocabulary that Disney uses, the different perks of each type of accommodation, and so forth. If you do nothing else, please scroll down to the bottom of the article, where we summarize the different resort type and the benefits that apply to each. We are sure that you will find it useful or your money back!! "On Property" vs "Off Property" The most common terms that…

DISNEY 101: Virtual Queue vs Genie+ vs Individual Lightning Lane

Disney 101genie+, individual lightning lane, rides, trip planning, virtual queue, walt disney world

As Walt Disney World park frequent travelers, there are a lot of things that we just take for granted: terminology, policies, procedures, and so forth. We regulars sometimes forget that many people (most people) visiting WDW don't visit quite so often. They might even be on their first trip. For those people, there can be a steep learning curve when it comes to planning their trip. To help the newbies out there, I thought I'd start a new series of articles called "Disney 101", which explains what some of these common things are in a (hopefully) clear way. For my…

REVIEW: SeaWorld Orlando. Not a Good Fit For Our Family.

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For years, we have said that we wanted to take a day trip over to SeaWorld to check it out. On paper, it seemed like a good fit for our family: Banshee and Little Buster love thrill rides, and SeaWorld has plenty of those. Our entire family enjoy animal-themed exhibits (Animal Kingdom is one of our favorites). They just opened a Sesame Street Land, and Little Banshee loves her Elmo! SeaWorld is a Certified Autism Center, which means it has met or exceed certain standards of accommodation for guests with autism. Despite all that, SeaWorld will be a one-and-done for…

Why We LOVE Staying Off-Property At Walt Disney World

Archivetrip planning, walt disney world

Many people extoll the virtues of staying at a Walt Disney World on-property hotel. Certainly, Disney hotels offer a great experience and unparalleled convenience. However, now that we have begun to stay off-property, we have discovered that the experience can be just as good, if not better. In this article, we will explore the reasons why we now stay off-property. We will also explore some of the trade-offs that we face because we aren't sleeping within the "Disney bubble". What Does "On-Property" Mean? For those who aren't Disney experts, you might be wondering what we mean by an on-property hotel.…

WDW Four Park Character Meet Challenge Recap, Part Three

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This is the third part of our recap of the WDW Four Park Character Meet Challenge where we met THIRTY-ONE (31) characters in one day across all four WDW theme parks. You can find the first two parts of this recap here: Part One: Epcot Part Two: Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios Quick Recap In our last episode, we had wrapped up our meets at Hollywood Studios. At this point, it was around 5:15pm, and we were getting ready to make our way over to the Magic Kingdom. We had met a grand total of 23 characters (11 in Epcot,…

Ten Things I Learned From Our Most Recent WDW Trip

Archivedining, parks, rides, trip report, walt disney world

Unlike the saying, you can always teach this old dog (i.e. Buster) new tricks. Even though we have visited WDW almost a dozen times as a family, each trip is unique. Given how much there is to see and experience at Walt Disney World, there is always something new to learn. This trip was no different. Since it has been a few weeks since we have returned, I've had time to reflect on this year's vacation. Here are some of the things that I have taken away from the experience. General Thoughts It's Good to be a Passholder Again Figment…

WDW Four Park Character Meet Challenge Recap, Part Two

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This is the second part of our recap of our Four Park Character Meet Challenge. The challenge was to meet as many characters as we could in one day across all four Walt Disney World parks. You can read more about the background of the challenge here. If you read the first part of this recap, you know that we ended up meeting 31 characters in one day. The Guinness Book of World Records doesn't have an entry for "Most Disney Characters Met in One Day", so I don't know if this is record. But if it isn't, it is…

WDW Four Park Character Meet Challenge Recap, Part One

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It's been several days since we completed our WDW Four Park Character Meet Challenge to benefit the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation (click here if you still want to donate). SPOILER ALERT: We ended up meeting 31 characters in one day! Since we have recovered from the experience, we finally have time to put together a recap of our experience for the community. If you want to see more pictures, please visit our Instagram page where you can get a visual retrospective. Overall Thoughts Before we get into the more detailed play-by-play, I wanted to summarize our general feelings about the challenge:…

WDW’s Disability Access Service Part 4: Using DAS In the Parks

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This post is the fourth in a multi-part series on Walt Disney World’s Disability Access Service (DAS). Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Signing Up Part 3: Making Advanced Reservations In this part, I will talk about how to use the My Disney Experience app to make same day reservations, and how to redeem them via the Lightning Lane. What Are Same Day Reservations? Same day reservations are the "bread and butter' of the Disability Access Service. This is where you use the My Disney Experience app to reserve a return time for a particular ride. When you make your reservation, you will…