Disneyland vs. Walt Disney World: A Very Non-Scientific Comparison

**Disclaimer: The following is my opinion (and some of Dan’s–I like to allow him some input now and then). Your mileage may vary and you may have alternate opinions.

 Let’s start with the first question most people ask…size:

Disneyland Resort:

2 parks (Disneyland and California Adventure)

.13 square miles

Walt Disney World Resort:

4 parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios)

43 square miles 

Do not judge these parks on size alone. We were there 5 days and still did not get to do everything in Disneyland. Park-hopping was a breeze as you are able to just walk across the esplanade to the other park. No buses or monorails required! I never realized how much I hate having to take buses to the other parks until this trip.

Hotels: WDW has more than 25 on-property options from Values to Deluxes. Disneyland resort offers only 3 on-site options none of which fall into the value category or even the moderate (cheapest around $300 plus a night). There are many, many off-site hotels that range in price from $79/night to upwards of $400. We stayed mid-range and I would argue that it was the best hotel we have ever stayed in even compared to WDW properties. We were literally a 5 minute walk and our hotel even had a water park complete with slides. Zero complaints about the staff or anything about the hotel actually!

See! Off-property and can easily see Space Mountain

Castle comparison: I have to give this one to WDW. Sleeping Beauty Castle at just over 75 feet does seem like a dwarf when compared to Cinderella Castle at a whooping 189 feet tall. The Matterhorn is pretty impressive as an alternate centerpiece though.

Rides: Some of the rides are draws as they are similar or identical to each other. There are rides. however, in Disneyland that you will not see in Florida: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Indiana Jones, Pinnochio, etc. The exterior of It’s a Small World  in California blows away the exterior of Florida’s version and I preferred California’s version of Pirates (Dan liked Florida’s version better). California Adventure offers Cars Land (If you compare Radiator Springs Racers to Test Track, RSR would come in 1st place) and Pixar Pier, which are both really well done and just lovely at night. 

Cost: cost for the park tickets are slightly cheaper at Disneyland vs. WDW but that is where the savings ends. Food is astronomically expensive in the CA. parks even by theme park standards. Another issue is there is no free transportation from the airport like the Magical Express so you are on your own for a car rental, car service or Uber when flying into LAX or SNA. That alone added another $200 plus to our trip. 

Cast Members: Dan says this is a draw as he finds most cast members to be nice and extremely helpful on both coasts. I feel we had better experiences with the cast members in California overall. We had a great interaction with the first one we spoke to, a security guard and also a 20 minute conversation with a chef who came out of the kitchen to tell us wonderful stories about Walt. However, we were both really thrown off by the cast members walking around the parks in uniform in other sections of the park that they did not work in. We saw cast members getting off the bus fully dressed and walking down the street. This is something that you would never see in WDW. 

Planning: Hands-down Disneyland wins. No pre-planning meal reservations or getting FastPasses 3 months in advance. Disneyland still uses the paper FastPass system though for $10/pp/per day you can purchase MaxPass that works much like the electronic FastPass system and I would argue even better with its inclusion of free photo downloads. I will not bore you with all the details of the MaxPass, but it is a worthy investment if you decide to travel out west. The lack of MagicBands did throw us off a bit, but we brought lanyards with us for our park tickets and that worked out fine.

Disney Bubble: We stayed off-property, so I am not sure if it feels different to stay on-site, but WDW allows you to get on site and not have to deal with the outside world at all. Our hotel was about a block away and we had to walk past a McDonald’s, Panera and quite a few homeless people and street vendors. It was tough to walk past people struggling and go about our day not thinking about them. 

Food: Taking cost out of it, Disneyland offered on the whole healthier options and it was easy to not just get stuck eating theme park food plus In-N-Out Burger is right in Anaheim. There are options like I mentioned, Panera and such, if you do not want to eat in the parks. More options for gluten free are available at WDW vs. Disneyland though. 

Some of those healthy options I mentioned: Mac and cheese cone and churro ice cream sandwich

Crowds: Maybe we were just lucky, but the parks seemed empty as compared to what we typically encounter in Florida. This might not always be the case though.

Weather: I can only speak for the summertime, but I would never, ever, ever, ever go to Florida in August. It was hot in California, but not unbearable and the nights were beautiful and cool. 

Layout: The layouts are similar when comparing the Magic Kingdom to Disneyland, but DL does seem to suffer from planning issues when it comes to ease of cutting through and shortcuts. I think this boils down to there was no way Walt understood just how popular the park would become. One major issue we felt was lack of bathrooms or maybe our lack of being able to find the bathrooms. It seems that every corner in WDW presents another gloriously themed potty. This did not appear to be the case in DL or even California Adventure as I found myself quite often adding another couple hundred steps to find a bathroom (when it is 11am and you are at 11,000 steps already this is not a good thing)

Final thoughts: DL is the original park that Walt walked in (Personally, this made the park feel that much more magical and special as Walt’s touches could be seen all around the parks; make sure to take a peek above the firehouse to see his apartment). Overall, it is tough to compare as they both have their pros and cons. I think any Disney fan should take the trip to the West Coast to see the first park and judge for yourself. I would say, overall, shockingly Disneyland comes out a little ahead of WDW for me. The size was not a negative, in my opinion, and the ease of park-hopping made it even more fantastic. The cost is a hinderance that might mean it will be a while before we head out again, but I would definitely not hesitate to book another trip in the future. Dan would go back but is more on the fence when it comes to picking a favorite. There are things he loved about the California parks, but struggled a bit more with the layout issues, lack of Disney bubble and he missed seeing where all the cast members were from (we quickly found out that 90% of the DL cast members are from California). He does agree we should go back one day. I hope next time we can stay on property and see the difference that experience brings.

Applying for the Disney Park Moms Panel

Similar to many events in my life, I recently applied to the Disney Parks Moms Panels on a whim. This is my first time applying, and I only did so because someone posted on my very favorite forum that the application process had begun. So before I take you on my journey to the panel, let me start with some background info:

What is the Disney Park Moms Panel? The panel is a group of moms (and dads…and grandparents!) that are available to answer questions and offer advice about many different aspects of Disney. There are options for a specialty, such as Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney cruise line, and so on. In a nutshell, it is a fantastic group of people who share a love of Disney and a goal of helping others. I have turned to them in the past for help, and I have always been so thrilled with the responses I have seen them give.

Okay, so the day I applied. I was supposed to be doing homework…I was on the forum instead. Pretty typical. I saw the post and just decided why not. I later found out people (probably rightfully so) agonize over their responses. They think and then they think some more. I did mine in about 15 minutes with a barking dog and my husband and daughter insisting that it was time to go swimming. At some point, I was typing with a bathing suit on my head after my husband flung it at me. I think being my first time, I did not even think about the hugeness of what I was embarking on. I knew little to nothing about the application process, so I just put down whatever popped into my head first. I did not overanalyze, but kept my usual harsh standards of grammar fully intact, which I later found out was a very large part of the screening process. On a side note, I am finally glad to see 4 years of undergrad work in English come in handy. After making my way through the questions (with dog and family fully supporting me), I hit send. That was it….

Then I started actually paying attention to the process. I realized I might have just dropped the ball by not really thinking about my answers. Little did I know that thousands of people applied for this and there are 3-4 rounds to make your way through and it is a marathon of emotions and waiting. Whew! What did I get myself into???

However, at the end of the day all I can do is wait. I have found a terrific group of people on Facebook to wait with and I have a great support system of people who listen to me endlessly talk about all things Disney, and in the meantime I can continue to obsessively check my email (Junk box too!).

I have also learned a few things that will help me if I am crazy enough to try this again:

• Pay attention to social media, so you will know when it is time to apply.
• Watch your grammar and spelling when you apply! Then recheck! Then perhaps check again. You know, texting has ruined us all.
• Do not use the abbreviations that we Disney fanatics get so used to using (I got FP+ for 7DMT  after we eat at BOG. Then we are going to MNSSHP!) You know Disnerd speak. None of that!
• Always be yourself! I love Disney, and I think that will show through in my answers.
• After you hit submit, find a group that you can sit and wait with. It makes the time go by much faster, and the support is unbelievable.

That is all for now. I am sending piles of pixie dust to everyone in the waiting rooms! Just do me a favor and send me a bit in return.

The months do just fly by, don’t they?

It has been a long time….again. It just seems there is never enough time in the day for everything and the things we love to do sometimes just get put on the back burner. Blogging was definitely something that got pushed back for everything else going on in my life. I am still here though and life is still moving forward…sometimes at warp speed.

So what has been happening?

Work/school: I am still loving my job. Though at this point, it is not so new. I have officially been in my current position for an year and an half, and can honestly say I have no complaints. My colleagues are fantastic as well as the students I have the pleasure to work with everyday. After a longer than planned hiatus, I am back in school working towards my M.S. in Educational Technology. So far, so good. I am exhausted most days, but I realize the importance of staying on track and finally achieving this goal.

The summer: It passed by too quickly once again. As usual, we had a great time though. We did a lot of day trips, and I managed to get on a beach as much as possible. My daughter loved her time off, and I loved being there as she officially reached double digits. Another year, another party (see prior post on my inability to just plan a small get together). This year we had a superhero theme. I did manage to keep things somewhat smaller than previous years without losing any of my ever-present focus on maintaining a theme. August also saw the birth of my best friend’s baby, Finn. Finn was stubborn and forced us all to sit in a hospital for what seemed like years until he decided to make his debut, but he arrived healthy and perfect. And that is all that we can ask for at the end of the day. It has been fantastic to see her as a mommy, and it has served as a means to fill a baby void. A void that is filled with some spoiling and some cuddling and then my ability to go home and nap for as long as I want.

Disney: We are also in the midst of  counting down to the next trip to Disney World! After what has seemed like an eternity, we are almost there! In the meantime, I have surrounded myself with people who love Disney as much as I do. I have also put myself into a huge pool and applied to be on the Disney Parks Mom Panel. I am but one fish swimming in a huge, huge ocean, but I figured: why not? My next post will be about this experience so far.

But for now…I have  maintained my focus on living for the day, so while I am very excited for the upcoming trip and everything else that has happened, I am trying to embrace the little moments with my family and friends because as we all know the months do just fly by.

A Grief Timeline

I have gone back and forth a lot about putting this all down in words, but it has become a necessity at this point actually. It is not for attention or for sympathy. It is to show that I am not ashamed or embarrassed. It is my way of letting go and moving on.

Grief can hit you for various reasons, but the loss of a pregnancy…. there really are no words. Where my struggle comes in my story is the length of time I was pregnant. I agonized over how much grief and mourning is appropriate. Is it in some way equal to how far along you were? Like can you use that I broke up with someone equation (a month of mourning for every year you were together) to figure out how long to be sad. So I was pregnant for 6 weeks, so I should be upset for a week? But that does not work. At least in my mind.

Monday, February 9, 2015: I did the old pee on the stick routine and sat in shock as the second line appeared. I fluctuated between shock and happiness…more shock than happy. My husband apparently skipping Sex Ed seemed to ponder how this could be. My two best friends were beyond thrilled when sent the pic of the pee stick. I went to work in shock thinking of all the ways life would change. I thought about how our house is a baby death trap, how I love to sleep A LOT, I thought about the cost of daycare and I also thought about having one child going into high school while I was registering another for kindergarten. I thought and I thought and my husband and I fought about how much this was going to change our lives. And there were moments in my terror that I wished this had never happened. I had wanted this for so long, but now it was here, I was so freaking scared that I did not know what to do. My daughter is 9, and we have a lizard and a dog and things just felt like they were complete, but now we had to factor in an infant. But underneath all that fear there was joy and there was excitement…

Thursday: I went to the doctor’s and got my due date (October 21, 2015 baby was to join our wacky family). Then I stopped to get cookies to celebrate. The giddiness was taking hold. I was armed with my huge packet of papers and my prenatal vitamins and ready to do this. I did lament the loss of blue cheese for a moment as I read through my packet of what not to eat though.

Friday: daycares were called just to give us an idea of what to expect and surprisingly it was not as much as we had thought. Baby names were also tossed around on Friday morning. A boy would be named Declan (this had been decided a long time ago) and we went back and forth with girl’s names never really settling on things. For the first time since Monday, my husband and I were having a normal “we are expecting a baby!” conversation and it felt fantastic. Then I started to bleed mid-conversation. By that evening, it was over. I went about my weekend, got my taxes done, went shopping, went to dinner, all while miscarrying. There was nothing they could do.

Monday: I went to the doctor and my once really dark second line was barely there. My blood tests the following week showed very little hormone level left and then that was it.

And yes I was barely 6 weeks. And yes it was a ball of cells that just did not stick. And I never got to hear a heartbeat, but I lived that child’s entire life in the few days that I knew he or she was there. I pictured coming home from the hospital, first steps, what the nursery would look like, first trip to Disney, school…everything. We who have lost pregnancies know it is more than just a miscarriage or a chemical pregnancy (I loathe that term), it is a loss of what might have been.

It has been a month now, and it is better most days. But not all. People ask questions like “are you going to have more kids?” And it is like a knife to the chest and suddenly everyone around you is pregnant. And there are times when I do not feel like getting out of bed and I have gained 10 pounds because I am eating my pain. I do not have the equation for how long I am supposed to be sad nor do I know how “to just get over it.” I know, for me, my loss is real. My what if is ever present. So I keep moving forward the best I know how and I guess at the end of the day that is all I, or anyone else, can do. I have to go through the stages of where my grief takes me in the hopes of reaching the other side as unscathed as possible.

21 Day Fix Update

It has once again been a long time! I successfully completed the 21 Day Fix again in October right before vacation, and while my results were not earth- shattering, I was pretty happy with them. I lost an additional 5 pounds and another 2 inches all around. Those size 12 dream shorts did not happen,but I was okay with that. I was able to pull them up and zip them,but ultimately decided that walking around in Disney for 12 hours a day in shorts that kind of fit would be not be ideal. Plus the gut overhang was slightly unattractive. They are now nicely tucked away for next summer. Fingers crossed that they will be too big by then,

I am going to start the 21 Day Fix again right after Thanksgiving as a means to reach 10 more pounds down by NYE. I am committed to this after all falling off the wagon severely after Disney. Mickey ice cream and carb overload tends to do that to you. In between, I have been struggling with a little health scare, but after having a few tests run, I am now ready to go and recommit to my lifestyle changes. I refuse to let my weight spiral out of control again. It has been a long, hard road to get where I am, and I will not just give up this time.

But back to the 21 Day Fix people always ask whether they will be hungry on it. And the answer to that is not at all. The calendar that you can find here October 2014 CalendarNew clearly shows that there is plenty of food. I did not even include all my teaspoons, which usually consist of some natural almond butter or my oils for cooking. For my salads I use balsamic vinegar (I love the free foods!), and I drink a ton of water every day.

Every plan is not for everyone, but this works for me! Again, I apologize for my sporadic posting; sometimes life just gets in the way.

My 21 Day Journey

Today I restarted a program that really helped me in the past. The 21 Day Fix boosted my weight loss back in February. During the first two rounds of the 21DF, I lost over 18 pounds and I believe it was 15 inches overall. And I cheated. probably way more than I should have. As I talked about before I am definitely a work in progress and many times the Hershey bar winds up in my mouth before I even know what is happening.Yet it still worked!  I am better than I was, but I am still a sick, recovering food addict. This time I am committed to stick this out and wait for the results to come.

The 21DF allows me to focus on what I should be eating. It helps me to see what I should be eating as far as portions and it does not allow me much room to mess up. I know what I am supposed to eat.

It takes the guess-work out for me, which is what I need sometimes. Will I eat out of these color coded containers forever? No. But it helps me to focus on getting my stuff together. I realize after doing this for a few days that I eat way too carbs. Like entire days go by with me just cramming carb after carb in. The containers help me see that a Red Robin burger with fries and shake will not fit no matter what I do. It opens my eyes to the total lack of veggies that sometimes invades my diet. Is this for everyone? it should be. But not everyone loves the idea of needing the containers or that it is called a “fix.” However, it has worked me in the past and I hope it works again. And to address the idea of the fix. It is not. It’s not a crash diet or a quick fix. You will not lose 10 pounds the first week. It is a nutrition program that helped me to get into a better mind-set.

And that is why I am restarting it now. I need to get back on track and learn to cut the carbs down to reasonable level. I want to fit into my goal shorts for vacation (20 days and counting!). I want to feel as good as I did when I was eating a nutritionally balanced diet. So here we are…I am ready to go even though everything in my body is screaming “eat all the chips!”. I will chug my water instead and hope for the best. I need to be accountable, so that is what I am doing. I need someone to hold my hand and make sure the chips don’t find themselves in my mouth. But damn they do look good….

My (slight) Disney Obsession

 

 

I have always loved Disney. The characters, the songs, the movies. Always. My husband does not share my sentiments and refers to is as the “evil empire” as many others do. However, I do not let him or others  get me down.  After endless nagging, I was finally able to convince him that we needed to take a trip down to Florida, so last year we began our plans.  Of course telling my then 7 year old that we were going would have been endless torture (when are we going?, is it soon?, and so on), so we did what good parents do and did not tell her. The morning of, we woke her up at 3:00 am and told her that we needed to go to Kentucky…for business…on a horse farm. Now my husband works on cars for a living and I teach at the college level, but my sweet, naive child just went along with it and was actually pretty excited about it. Finally at the airport we gave her the actual trip details. This trip was, of course, fantastic. And then we came home to what can only be called ADD (After Disney Depression).

The only obvious cure was to begin planning our next trip.I was out of work at the time, so the chance of the trip happening was not very good, yet it passed the time to at least dream of going again. Due to a series of great news ( my new job and a great deal), we are now heading to Disney in October for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Coincidentally, my sister-in-law and family are going during that same week, which makes for more excitement as we do not get to see them too often.

I have set some goals for this trip. Goals have kept me on track this year and forced me to look at myself and focus on the future, so I believe vacation time should be no different than the rest of the year. First, I wanted to go in really organized this time. I had some experience now and really wanted to take advantage of that. There are spreadsheets involved and I am okay with that. I know that this will be the last trip down there for a while, so I want to be sure that everything is covered. Of course, this extreme organization goes against my very nature, but sometimes you need to have focus. You know for the important things. I have planned a trip where we get to see everything we missed last time and focus on what we really want to focus on. Last year, on the advice of someone who we now know not to listen to, we split one day between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We felt rushed and missed lots of things that we regretted. We are now going to spend a full day at each. We will try new places to eat and see parades we missed. My other huge goal was to go during Halloween, which happens to be my favorite holiday by far. I have already purchased the costumes and cannot wait for my daughter to find out where she will be Trick-or Treating this year!

My last goal is in regards to weight loss. I bought a pair of shorts in a size 12. Now let me start by saying that I began the year as a tight 20. These shorts are more than just shorts. They represent all the hard work and sacrifice that has happened in the past 9 months. I cheated this morning and put them on. Drum roll……they button but with huuuuggggee muffin top. They are not outside worthy, and even if they are not in 34 days, I am still proud of my accomplishments. Last summer, I would not even dare to show my legs or arms. I actually wore cardigans the whole summer a few years ago. Yet here I am rocking dresses and shorts. And with a size 12 ready to go any day. On a side note, I truly can not express my gratitude for the all the support my family and friends have given me. The comparison pictures from last year and this year are going to be awesome and magical…as all things Disney are.

So for now, I will continue to look at my calendar and dream about our time in Florida. Packing time will be upon us soon and that will definitely solidify that we are on our way. I will post more tips and ideas as the trip gets closer. Until then, to use my husband’s favorite phrase, Have a magical day!

‘Tis Been A Long Time

I have been a negligent blogger as of late. It is not like I have not had anything to say, it has just been really insane. With summer winding down, we have managed to do a little over half our summer bucket list. I figure there is still more time to go, and judging by the heat this week in New Jersey, we are still definitely in summer. LBI is a planned trip soon now that the summer beach rush is dying down. We are also planning to see the sunrise on that same trip, which I am really excited about. Whatever we do not get done will just have to wait until next summer. You can only cram so much in.

In other news, the little one’s party went fantastically. Not as over the top this year, but still pretty well themed. Olaf in the summer was a big hit and my daughter really enjoyed her day. We had lots of friends come to celebrate with us and my dad at all the chocolate covered marshmallows. Pretty much the usual for him. The year we had an ice cream truck, he ate essentially one of everything that that the poor guy had. On a sadder note, I have to say every year gets a little bit tougher. It really is hard to watch them grow up, yet it can not be stopped. Believe me, I have tried.

We are also in back to school mode. A joyous time of year where my daughter loooooovvvees school for about 3 days. And then not so much. The little one is smart…sometimes too smart for her own good, but not into academia. The classroom is a place where she plans her escape like she is doing a bid in Attica. Homework has been known to lead to tears for everyone in the house. I know mostly it is her attention issues that lead her to bounce around like a super ball enclosed in a crack cocaine case. I really do know that. However, in the midst of the pouting and the staring and the crying, it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. All the qualities that make her an awesome ball of fun also make schoolwork not so joyous. But it is her. For better or for worse, this is her with all empathy, humor, kindness, inattentiveness, and do anything to get out of work attitude. All this makes her who she is. So we begin a new year with trepidation, but also with hope. Updates as the year wears on…

I am working on being a better blogger and actually blogging. I have a lot of ideas brewing, so stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why So Miserable?

I try to be an optimistic person. It is much easier to see the cup as half full in my opinion. Now I do not want anyone to get the idea that I am all rainbows and unicorns. I do not pee glitter or run through the enchanted forest on a daily basis. I struggle with stuff: my body image, my anxiety, my sometimes uncontrollable eating habits (stupid cupcakes!). Yet I try very hard to be a nice person. I have, in comparison to many people other people worldwide,a pretty awesome life. I have a great support system and a job I love. There is not to much to really be down about. However, sometimes there are people that you come across that just make you wonder “why are you so miserable?”

Take today for instance. A small event occurred that really got me thinking, I had to travel to another building to put some flyers up at my job. I grabbed my stapler and noticed when I got to where I needed to be that I was almost out of staples. It was a bit of a walk to get to where I was, so I thought it would be easier to just pop into another office to ask for a staple or two. I found the nearest office and for sake of anonymity let us call this office Fublic Lafety. The receptionist for Fublic Lafety was sitting there surrounded by office supplies as a receptionist will be. I walked in ever so kindly and asked for a few staples as to finish up my board. I was promptly told that she did not have any staples at all. Not even one. There was not staple to spare.

This begs the question: why? I am fairly certain that there were staples there. I need a few..why am I getting the cold shoulder? And to that question I have no idea. I would certainly give someone a staple or a whole box just like I would spare a square or help out someone in need. I also believe that there are many people like me in the world, but when you come across one who is not,it really sticks with you. Her rebuff really stuck with me through a lot of the day because I just wonder why.

There is some pain and negativity in the world and if someone needs a staple just give it him or her. Will the staple end world hunger…or cure cancer…or make poverty a thing of the past? Of course not. But it will make your little corner of the world nicer. You will help out someone in a way that is so simplistic that it doesn’t even hurt you to do it, yet you are still being a help. So for today if a pitiful girl walks in with flyers in one hand and an empty stapler in the other, throw her a bone. Or the lady in the stall next to you runs out of TP..or the old man with the grocery cart is struggling to bring it back to the corral. For one day end the cycle of miserable, shitty attitudes and help someone out.

GF Banana Bread

Our bananas were going to other side very quickly, and we didn’t want them to go to waste. So the idea of making banana bread was quickly launched. I have never made a gluten free bread before, so after scouring the internets, I picked up some tips and went forward. I have to say the result was quite delicious. My husband actually held a knife over it this morning threatening us not to get too close as the loaf was his.

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
3/4 cup corn flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, of course, though not according to my husband)

Wet Ingredients:
4 medium really ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsps. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. Mix all your wet ingredients and all your dry ingredients separately. Once they are mixed well, mix them together. Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Mine took a few minutes longer as the middle was still a bit wet. Take out cool for a while. Eat. Fight off husband or other household members for seconds.